Selling Accounts Part 2: EULA Clarification
by Christopher Linton 
Jan 11th 2006 at 9:30PM
In my previous post regarding selling
accounts, there were several people who commented on the ethical implications of selling accounts. That wasn't what the
post was about, but I feel like there is a myth regarding selling accounts that needs to be addressed.Blizzard allows you to sell your account.
You can put it up on eBay and sell it for thousands of dollars. Blizzard is fine with that. If you examine the End User License Agreement on the WoW homepage, it clearly states that as long as you permanently sell, not only the account, but the game disks and manual, you are within your rights as an owner. This is not to say that selling the gold or items within the account is legal, but the account as a whole is yours to do with as you please.
Filed under: Odds and ends, Blizzard
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Raktor Jan 12th 2006 3:55AM
Um, no. From the TOS:
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html
E. Blizzard Entertainment does not recognize the transfer of Accounts, and any authorized transfer of the World of Warcraft software (as set forth on the worldofwarcraft.com website) will result in the permanent deletion of the Account attached to that software. You may not offer any Account for sale or trade, and any such offer is a violation of this Agreement and may result in suspension or termination of the Account.
boneyard Jan 12th 2006 4:35AM
haha, you are SO WRONG, that certainly isn't how you should read that. just phone blizzard and ask them, you are NOT allowed to sell your account.
i find it kinda typical how people working on a wow blog so clearly show how they are breaking the rules of the game they are writing about.
Speed Jan 12th 2006 8:01AM
Looks like the EULA and Terms of Use are in conflict...
Badelf Jan 12th 2006 10:06AM
That EULA is the one Blizz cut and pasted to get a EULA up on the web from one of their single player games... look at the date 29 jul 2004... the one with the game reads different and the one you have to read before entering the game has been revised from that.
Matthew Jan 12th 2006 10:13AM
Who really cares, its done and always will be done and Blizzard probably wont do anything about it.
Oh well, build a bridge and get over it is all.
Christopher Linton Jan 12th 2006 11:21AM
Actually, I looked at the new EULA that I had to agree to in today's mini-patch, and Blizzard has not changed it. The current EULA still allows for selling accounts. The TOS may conflict, but that's Blizzard's fault, not mine.
Ryan Jan 12th 2006 12:12PM
So I think everyone is right here. This is why on every account for sale on ebay there reads something like this:
Disclaimer:
World of Warcraft is a trademark of Blizzard Entertainment. All characters, items, gold pieces, or other intellectual property in World of Warcraft are the sole property of Blizzard Entertainment. This auction is not for the ownership of their intellectual property but rather for the time spent working on these characters and acquiring items. Before bidding on my auction you must read and agree to Blizzard's EULA located at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/eula.html. By viewing OR bidding on this account you assert that you are in no way affiliated or employed with Blizzard Entertainment.
Not sure if this is actually legally viable...but hey at least they are trying right?!?
L'Emmerdeur Jan 12th 2006 1:40PM
I'm sorry, but you guys really need to be making a stronger stand against people selling stuff for real-world money, be it items, gold or accounts. It's fine to post about it, and discuss the consequences, but when one of the contributors posts that they
participated in such activities, it invalidates the whole site.
Regardless of the EULA and TOS, selling your account
is fundamentally dishonest, and makes the game experience worse for those of us who have to deal with the noob who purchased your account. Don't fool yourselves into believing there is a gray area
here, and don't hide behind the idiot mistakes of Blizzard's lawyers when they drafted the EULA and the TOS. This is black and white, right and wrong territory. Sell the software, you are fine, because the purchaser still has to put 100% effort into creating
toons, which means they will learn2play (and if they don't, you are blameless). Sell toons, gold, or equipment, and you enable a person
who knows nothing about the game to waste the time of countless other honest players.
I wasted over 30 minutes replacing a warrior for a Scholo 5-man once, after he wiped us on the first
difficult cluster of mobs, and then admitted he had recently purchased the account, and didn't know what he was doing. He even had the audacity to ask us to help him learn how to play his warrior. The other party members eventually got tired of waiting and left. That's precious play time WASTED because somebody like you decided to sell their character to this noob. Shall I send you the bill for my time? My going rate at work is around $85/hour.
So when one of you sold your 60 Warrior for $ on Ebay, you created a bunch of situations like this, wasting the time of countless other players. GG.
L'Emmerdeur Jan 12th 2006 1:44PM
And I apologize if I come across as an ass in my previous comment, but I feel VERY strongly about this issue, as well as the trade in gold/items/characters in general.
I try to avoid travelling to Beijing, walking into some random citizen's home, and taking a giant shit on his Xbox. And I would appreciate it if he would avoid doing that to my MMO environment.
boneyard Jan 12th 2006 3:44PM
it is simply not allowed, call blizzard and ask them, they will tell you. the silly remarks on ebay are just to make people not feel like they are doing something illegal, but that is exactly what it is.
Brandon Jan 12th 2006 3:48PM
The two docs do seem to conflict but my interpretation is that EULA allows you to sell your copy of the game while the TOS prohibits selling the actual account with login info.
So you can sell your physical copy but you cannot give them the login credentials for the account that you created.
Pretty stupid if you ask me. The copy is worthless without an accout or unused cd key to create one with. They shouldnt even care if you make copies of the game and give them away. No one can really play the game without an account.
Sosric Jan 12th 2006 4:36PM
Oh, for cripes sakes. From the EULA you link to:
"The Game may only be played by obtaining from Licensor access to the World of Warcraft massively multi-player on-line role-playing game service (the "Service"), which is subject to a separate Terms of Use agreement (the "Terms of Use")."
Those Terms of Use say:
"Blizzard Entertainment does not recognize the transfer of Accounts, and any authorized transfer of the World of Warcraft software (as set forth on the worldofwarcraft.com website) will result in the permanent deletion of the Account attached to that software. You may not offer any Account for sale or trade, and any such offer is a violation of this Agreement and may result in suspension or termination of the Account."
It can't be any clearer. There's no conflict. The box is subject to the EULA, but the /service/ -- which is your account -- is subject to the TOS. And the TOS says "no sales."
Christopher Linton Jan 12th 2006 9:52PM
I just fired off a letter to Blizzard asking for a final clarification on this issue, and hopefully will soon be receiving a definitive answer. Your comments are appreciated, and I may be printing an apology, depending on Blizzard's response :).