CNET talks to Blizzard about banned players
by Mike Schramm 
Mar 23rd 2007 at 1:42PM
I've tended to stay away from reporting about players angry at being banned, for reasons I'll get into in a second. But we periodically receive notices from players who think they've been unfairly banned, and there's lots of forum complaining on the same subject. The complaints have been loud enough, it seems, for CNET to take a look at the allegations, and get a nice quote from Blizzard about it.Most of the angry players (if you are one, feel free to leave a comment below with your own story) say they try to log into their account one day and are simply banned for no reason at all. Some of them say they've even had their accounts hacked, and are then finding them banned afterwards. Most of them, in my experience, sound just like Zak, a 14-year-old interviewed in the article. He says he was banned because "I was leveling excessively and very fast, which is what power levelers do." One day he had an email in his inbox that said he was kicked out of WoW.
CNET then does what all of these players haven't seemingly been able to do, which is get a response from Blizzard about the whole thing. "We conduct a very thorough investigation before the actual ban takes place," says the Blizz spokesman. He says all bans are carried out only once Blizzard has decidedly determined that there has been action that goes against the Terms of Service and/or the End User License Agreement (that's the long text which pops up after you install every patch).
And the reason I don't have a lot of pity for the people who say they're unfairly banned is that I, for one, tend to believe him.
I tend, actually, to echo the same thoughts expressed by a few WoW players in the CNET article. (I'm not Mike, in case you were wondering, but I do agree with him).
"It's quite possible that the people who have complained about 'heavy-handedness' have not taken the time to read the terms of use," a WoW player named Mike wrote in an e-mail to CNET News.com. He also asked that his last name not be used. "Ignorance is not an excuse. It's just ignorance."
Stephen Kittel, another WoW player, echoed Mike's sentiments in his own e-mail. "When someone gets banned, there is a reason for it," Kittel wrote. "Blizzard does not wantonly expunge loyal customers. Most of the time, the complainer is not being forthcoming about what he has done."
Frankly, that's pretty much how I feel. Blizzard has taken a lot of care to make this game, and they've served well as a company for years. I don't believe that they are randomly banning players for no reason at all-- generally, I think that if these players have been banned, they're either "not being forthcoming about what they've done" (they only downloaded a bot "that one time," or they've shared their Login info with someone else, which is against the ToS-- owning more than one account is as well*), or they simply haven't understood that what they're doing is breaking the rules.
I'm not saying that Blizzard doesn't make mistakes. I'm sure they do (everyone does), and if you believe you've been banned unfairly, you should do exactly as they've said all along, and take it up with them through the appropriate channels (they ask that you email wowaccountadmin@blizzard.com with your information). I have also heard many tales of Blizzard releasing banned accounts once the situation was clarified, so it's not that Blizzard isn't answering concerns-- it's that they're not answering concerns of players who they seriously believe have broken the ToS.
I've never been banned, but I do understand that getting banned unfairly is a very frustrating thing to go through. If you've been banned by Blizzard and have sincerely never broken the ToS, I agree that's what happened is unfair. However, I also think that Blizzard is doing the best they can on both ends-- not only are they making sure that those of us legitimately playing the game aren't bothered by rampant cheating (although those ingame gold ads are getting a little annoying), but they're also doing what they can to listen to banned players' concerns and, if nothing has happened, try to get them back into the game.
*Update: I was wrong about this (thanks, ijovanovic!). The ToS says you may have one account per key, not only one account. It is not against the ToS to own multiple keys.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, News items, Economy
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Crooth Mar 23rd 2007 4:02PM
Forgive me, but I don't believe owning multiple accounts is not against the Terms of Service. Several people I know have multiple accounts for 2-boxing or for use with multiple family members (husband and wife, father and son, etc.) I looked through the entire document and I can't find any reference that would imply you can't own more than one account. Did I miss something? Or are you saying the xZin shouldd guy be banned?
whiteliqht Mar 23rd 2007 3:41PM
My friend owns two accounts with same address, e-mail, credit card etc.
While on his alternate account he asked a question to a GM about getting items back on his main character on his main account because they were deleted. Blizz then banned his alternate account and he recieved two emails froms blizzard four minutes apart. The first one was to the alternate account talking about the initial reason he was talking to the GM. The second one (which was to the same email addres, from the same GM) was telling him his main account was banned because he was logging on to someone elses account.
ijovanovic Mar 23rd 2007 3:54PM
Owning more than one account is NOT against the ToS, btw.
priest Mar 23rd 2007 1:58PM
Generally I agree with you that Blizzard tend to be right, and the players are leaving something out.
However, Blizz also has a slightly heavy handed, and somewhat sterotypically racist policy.
Didn't know that?
Here it is: they monitor IPs from countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and, if they see anything slightly suspicious (say a warlock farming the satyr in Felwood) - instant ban.
How do I know? I lived in Thailand and had friends who played. I know of a number of people in these countries who were banned for no reason, then, a week or two later, without an apology, reinstated. They never give a reason, never apologise, never reimburse.
And it's not just my friends. People like us played on the Oceania tagged USA servers, and if you read those forums, you hear about this a lot.
freehugz Mar 23rd 2007 2:16PM
"Most of them, in my experience, sound just like Zak, a 14-year-old interviewed in the article. He says he was banned because "I was leveling excessively and very fast, which is what power levelers do.""
The joys of being 14.
quaunaut Mar 23rd 2007 2:06PM
Not to mention, there are a lot of other things that aren't nearly as questionable that get people banned. A guildy of mine was banned because he sent 9 different people 800g each in 1 day- handing them their epic mounts, specifically, out of appreciation for some stuff they had all done for the guild.
She was banned within 2 days of that, with little explanation other than "Exploitation", and whenever she asked to see the report of why she was banned, she was pushed to the wayside and never told the specifics. She has yet to be able to get her account back(which may I note, it was an account that had gotten to level 70 but just a week earlier, the expansion not even having been out a month).
Ragbar Mar 23rd 2007 2:13PM
I'm sure almost everyone can relate to this on a personal experience in their own lives.
I've experienced this countless times. I think growing up as a teacher's kid at the high school your parent teaches at exposes you to it frequently. Kids would always ALWAYS come up to me and complain about my Dad "banning" or "kicking" them from class, when "all I did was ask Johnny what page we were on...".
At first glance, it seems like the kid did nothing wrong and my Dad was "heavyhanded". Later on though after talking to other kids in that same class and my Father, you find out that kid has been babbling the entire class-time, had been warnved several times, and then finally kicked when he was caught talking agani.
I think in this case, people have to not take the bannee's story so readily. Sure, maybe they were banned "without a reason" at this particular time, but how many times were they warned in the past they were violating the ToS?
Like Mike said, I don't think Blizzard wants to start booting their customers for little reason. It's losing business and income! I trust Blizzard is doing exactly what us paying ToS abiding customers want.
griffdog Mar 23rd 2007 2:12PM
"owning more than one account is as well"
No it isn't. As long as you pay for it, you can own as many accounts as you wish. Not sure where you got that idea...
Ragbar Mar 23rd 2007 4:11PM
@#2
800g each to 9 different players. So your friend just happened to have at least 7200g sitting around on their character? Not to mention probably much more than that to leave enough for themself and also to allow them to be so generous.
I'm highly suspicious already of where/how that gold was earned/gained.
Deathlike Mar 23rd 2007 2:17PM
I have a friend who logged on one day and was banned.
After inquiring about it a little while, he figures out that his account has been hacked or keylogged. The next day he found out that the logger bought gold for the character; soon after that the account was re-released to him and his 59 rogue had leveled to 60.
I'd say this is what happens to the majority of the accounts where people think they do nothing.
Todd Mar 23rd 2007 2:22PM
Uh, people who claim that Blizzard is infalible need to wake up. Blizzard is run by people, and people are inherently falible. Blizzard is not God and is completely capable of making mistakes. Sheesh, let me put it another way.
Innocent people do go to prison. Innocent people do get banned. However, in both cases, it takes more time, money, and effort to undo the damage than is usually worth. People get fucked over, it's a way of life.
Drifter Mar 23rd 2007 4:14PM
"owning more than one account is as well"
Then why do they allow you to transfer characters between accounts where you are the subscriber?
From the FAQ:
What is the Paid Character Transfer feature?
The Paid Character Transfer feature allows you to move characters to other realms and even from one account where you are the subscriber to another account where you are the subscriber, subject to certain restrictions
Savok Mar 23rd 2007 2:27PM
Blizzard has what? 7 million subscribers? They quite honestly don't care about you if you think/know you've been wrongly banned. You're a drop in a vast ocean and in no way important.
michel Mar 23rd 2007 2:31PM
"zombie" (computers controlled remotely by a spyware) is often why people can be banned : their information will be used somewhere . blizzard cannot know
-
other thing, I'm working in computing support and I swear it's true, it's not people are bad or stupid but it's very very true :
People DOES NOT know or understand everything they do to/with their computer
"oh I do not know why that software is here" (a "cool" software put by a friend one evening, for example)
"I just click here" (in fact accepting norton tools installation given in a new computer but it changes many things)
"I did nothing, only seeing that website" (exploiting a horrible security hole of an old windows..)
and so on , everyday.. every weeks, every years : personal computing is a failure.
it's very hard to know if someone is lying or just clueless about the PC nightmare.
Zuuler Mar 23rd 2007 2:34PM
I find most people are unwilling to accept resonsibility for their own actions. People who say their accounts were banned unfairly probably just don't want to admit they made a mistake and want someone else to look like the bad guy.
Does bliz have a customer service phone number to call? Some of these people claim they are getting the run around from blizzard over reinstatement of their banned accounts. Its a lot harder to avoid a phone call than it is to avoid an email. If you really feel you were unfairly banned, it may be a benefit to you to spend some time on the phone to get it back.
The last part of the problem may be blizzard employees unfamiliar with the game itself and only know the policy. They might see someone farming the same mobs for hours as suspicious activity, but if you are a tailor and need felcloth, there are only certain mobs that drop it. Same goes with the large gold transfer. By itself it might be suspicious, but if they looked into it enough to see it was transfered to guild members, it should then become less suspicious, or even a non-issue.
Zuuler Mar 23rd 2007 2:37PM
@Savok
If you really think thats how businesses view their customers you probably haven't worked in the real world yet.
Vince Mar 23rd 2007 2:42PM
everyone know's blizzard's banhammer is heavy, and they've been known to drop it from time to time.
freehugz Mar 23rd 2007 2:44PM
@ #6 So wait, someone hacked your friends account... didn't change the password... then bought gold for the account?!??!
Well, there's an idiot somewhere in this story. Either the guy that hacked your friends account, or you for believing the story.
Gamerz22 Mar 24th 2007 4:40AM
@1 - You see mto think it is racist? How about statistics? I'd say you're racist for thinking Blizzard is doing so, as yo uwould assume Blizzard is of a different race, which many are not American and even some Asian. Ther ecould be many reasons, such as farming or botting or (what could be more common) players outside North America and Australia playing on the US/Aust realms. They have their own service setup where they are, and thus should use those, or they could be banned.
Points from this post and that of others' comments:
1. Blizzard isn't out there to cause harm. Everytime they ban someone, they've jsut lost a $15 revenue source (US/Aust value I mean, other countires vary on the revenue value system)
2. As #1 above states, They do the investigations to ensure there is actually a reason to ban. It could be for the most out-thought little reason, but if the TOS/EUA has it, penalities of violations will occur.
3. Mentioned in their TOS/EUA (and MANY other businesses' contract agreements as well), they don't have to warn or anything of the sort. They hold right to take action as they see fit, and agrees within the TOS/EUA.
4. (@9) I agree most or all banned people did something wrong that they may "feel" not to be a big deal (which doesn't matter when they agree to a TOS/EUA), but the phone thing doesn't work most of the time. They'll tell you just to stick with the one who is doing the report, as he'll have the resources. That is only via email, of course.
Jim Mar 23rd 2007 2:52PM
That's absolutely how business looks at customers, Zuuler. Not all customers are worth keeping. And if you have to spend more than a few minutes thinking about if a customer is worth keeping, he probably isn't. Even if he's a good customer, the investment of resources to determine the suitability of the customer is such a cost that it puts the customer into that unsuitable category.
Many people have "umlimited Internet" via cable or ADSL, where there is no bandwidth cap. Rest assured, however, that if you download too much, they'll cut you loose.
Act suspiciously in a retail store, even if you've never stolen so much as a piece of candy in your life, and you will be asked to leave.
This is similar. Act suspiciously and you could be banned. The ToS allows Blizzard to terminate service for any reason (or no reason!) Players should avoid behaviours that may draw attention, including, but not limited to farming the same subzone for more than an hour or two, transferring large amounts of gold, participating too heavily in the auction house, and so forth.
Blizzard claims to fully invetigate players before they're banned. I guarantee that few such investigations last more than a couple of minutes. It is more resource-efficient to simply err on the side of caution. It is, after all, merely the account that is banned and not the player. The player can put another few bucks in Blizzard's pocket by buying another license if they really want to play that badly.