Forum post of the day: "Blizz, help me find the gold I bought"
by Eliah Hecht 
May 2nd 2007 at 5:20PM
I missed this last night since I don't spend much time on the Customer Support forums, so thanks to Halicante for bringing it to my attention. It seems that a player bought gold from a web site and only received some of it; the gold sellers claimed the unreceived part got "lost in the mail." Our protagonist then decided to run to the forums and ask Blizz for help reclaiming his lost gold. That he had bought.Now I kinda wish I hadn't used the ASCII headache man for the Carson story, so I could use it here. Revel in the WTFness of the post (names have been removed by forum mods to protect the guilty):
i bought gold on line from Removed.com and they sent it to me as fallows
22 2007-04-27 16:30:44
22 2007-04-27 18:55:28
56 2007-04-28 07:21:25
the two 22 gold were sent buy the character [Removed], but i only got 1 of the 22g and the 56g. they said they sent the gold and that it was lost in the mail system, so i should contact you guys. can youz help me?
here is my info for the order with the company (doubt that will do you any good though)
559271 Name Removed
WOW US - Mug'thol - Horde - 100 Gold
This in Blizzard's official forums. Sometimes I just have to shake my head and move on...but seriously, folks. Could this possibly be for real? Honestly, who pays money for 100 gold?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
isamu619 May 2nd 2007 5:25PM
Wow... just when you think people can't surprise you with their sheer stupidity anymore, someone steps up and takes one for the team. Haha. Thanks for the post, it brightened my day.
Strongmark on Arthas May 2nd 2007 5:26PM
LOL, hahahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahhahahahahahhahahaha
Thats the best one yet!!
Seraph May 2nd 2007 5:27PM
And this year's Darwin Award goes to...
Gatowag May 2nd 2007 5:43PM
/sigh
This is some way saddens me, but seeing as how I'm an Alliance on Mug'Thol, it's settling to see what I'm up against...
Matt May 2nd 2007 6:02PM
Wow, I can't believe I'm going to defend this guy but here goes. Most people on this site have been playing the game for a long time (I believe this is a fair assumption). Try to remember back to when you first started (man I hope this guy was new to WOW). With all the in game mail advertising gold for sale, direct whispers telling you about gold for sale, etc. it could be a little confusing to a newb. I have never purchased gold but at the begining I certainly considered it before I fully realized the implications. It's not like we all had our lawyers review the Terms and Conditions before we hit accept...
With all that said, WFT???
singlemalt May 2nd 2007 6:09PM
I really hope this was not a legit post. Hard to believe anyone can be that stupid. However, post @5 makes some good points. With all the in game whispers telling peeps to buy gold, a new, young player might think this is sponsored by Blizz.
Lulea May 2nd 2007 6:25PM
Can't it be a trial account? after all, the poster is just level 15...
Corrodias May 2nd 2007 6:23PM
Indeed, this suggests to me the troubling possibility that people might think Blizzard doesn't mind gold selling/buying, given how we receive so much spam and Blizzard doesn't seem to have any messages in the game that you're not supposed to buy any. I think it's very possible that a casual player who doesn't visit the forums very often and sees all these ads would think nothing wrong with paying a few bucks to get a leg up on their mount money, if nobody ever told them it's not allowed.
Baluki May 2nd 2007 6:25PM
I guess I can see how some people wouldn't realize that you're not supposed to buy gold (and what a waste of money).
You know why they don't know? Because the EULA (and every other EULA you've ever seen) is written in indecipherable, horrible friggin' laywerspeak.
Look at this:
"This software program, and any files that are delivered to you by Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (via on-line transmission or otherwise) to "patch," update, or otherwise modify the software program, as well as any printed materials and any on-line or electronic documentation (the "Manual"), and any and all copies and derivative works of such software program and Manual (collectively, with the "Game Client" defined below, the "Game") is the copyrighted work of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. or its licensors (collectively referred to herein as �Blizzard�). "
Translation: "Property of Blizzard".
I know they can't get rid of this legal bullshit completely, but they can certainly simplify things. What they should really do is make a bulleted, simplified EULA and then provide links to the full legalspeak for each bullet if someone actually wants to read it.
Jes May 2nd 2007 6:27PM
You need to tell me this guys name.. I must send him one of those 'ArgentDawn' Gift COD emails. :)
Artaz May 2nd 2007 7:11PM
I remember back when I first started playing in December 2004. I started with a couple of mates, 1 of which I leveled with regularly. We had lots of fun and when I hit level 40 there was this option to buy a mount. Both my mate and I had like 9 gold each if that. How the hell was anyone able to afford this?!
To make matters worse, my mate was a Palidan. So here I am running everywhere while he rides.
If there had been gold advertisement back then, would I have bought some? Hell yes! Would I have understood the ramifications of what I was doing? Nope. The fact that it was advertised in game, both through tells and the mail system would suggest to me that this activity is sanctioned by the game owners. How would I know any different?
When I ran into problems back then I would consult my manual. It had this great glossary in the back that taught me all the words that people were using. Agro, mob, LFG etc just to name a few. If Blizzard actually had somewhere easily referenceable regarding gold selling, then perhaps they would not be inundated with what the rest of us percieve as highly amusing questions.
Verit May 2nd 2007 7:22PM
What I think is amusing is all the gold/power leveling ads on this site :).
Eliah Hecht May 2nd 2007 7:23PM
Verit: We're working on it:
http://www.wowinsider.com/2007/02/15/help-wow-insider-fight-gold-and-powerleveling-ads/
Locomoco May 2nd 2007 7:42PM
I kinda almost hope Blizzard finds the post as amusing as we do, and just give the schmoe the 22G with the advice that he shouldn't do it in the future... sometimes the clueless are so darn cute.
Freehugz May 2nd 2007 7:52PM
Bah, just click on the gold faming ads 32084523704 times. It costs the site money per click and gives wowinsider a little bit more change. It's a win win situation!
Robert May 2nd 2007 8:00PM
Freehugz - Google's smart enough to disregard all of your clicks when you do something like that. Spikes in click-throughs from a site without a corresponding increase in traffic, or large numbers of clicks from a single IP, tend to get ignored. They're pretty smart about it.
Rebekka May 3rd 2007 11:46AM
I almost feel sorry for the poor bozo. Especially when you consider how many times that we receive whispers in game about buying gold. Yes, I understand that Blizzard has something in their End User Agreement about not buying gold. However, I am almost tempted to buy the gold, let Blizzard ban my account, and then sue Blizzard for not protecting me, the purchaser of their product, from the in-game whispers which are surely sponsored by them since they occur so frequently and must be paid advertisements by companies owned by Blizzard. How else could they keep on whispering me?
Jesus 2.0 May 2nd 2007 10:28PM
Wow. That's all I can say. Just when I thought I'd seen it all. =/ I guess I really didn't.
Whoever this is deserves more than just a banning. They deserve to be tared and feathered for being so damn stupid.
peeweesweden May 3rd 2007 6:26AM
If stupidity was edible, there would be no hunger.
Areis May 3rd 2007 7:50AM
@8 - Baluki, here you go:
http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaa/?id=aDisplay02046p
Nice and easy, no legalese, bulletpoints. They should put this somewhere prominent, like on the launcher screen or something