Patch 5.3 interview with Ghostcrawler
Mystery of the Unborn Val'kyr
The latest patch 5.3 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsMartin Fury cheat draws Blizzard ire
by Adam Holisky 
Apr 30th 2009 at 5:37PM
WoW Insider had a chance to sit down today and talk with Karatechop, the man at the center of the cheating scandal that has been rocking World of Warcraft to its core.We'll have the full interview up for you soon (later today hopefully, or tomorrow at the latest), however one thing we learned from the interview is that his account has been closed, permanently. While we cannot verify this with Blizzard directly, as there are privacy concerns that forbid them from talking about other people's accounts, we can verify that the account administrator who dealt with the closure is real, and that the template used in disseminating the account closure information is legitimate.
The account closure email was forwarded to us from Karatechop during the interview, and we are confident in its authenticity. You can see the full email after the break. We have his express permission to reproduce and report on the actions taken against his account.
The other thing to note is that despite claims on other websites, he is not an employee of Blizzard. There is no evidence to support such claims, and he made a point of telling us today that he is in no way affiliated with Blizzard Entertainment, which we believe.
The full account closure email, sans personally identifiable information, after the break!
From: "wowaccountadmin@blizzard.com" <wowaccountadmin@blizzard.com>
To: REMOVED
Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 6:30:24 PM
Subject: World of Warcraft - Account Issue
Salutations,
Thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding the World of Warcraft account you are using. We apologize for any gap in communication, yet our in-game Player Relations team sent an email detailing the account issue and resolution to the registered email address on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 7:55:14 PM Pacific Standard Time. We have included a copy of the original message for your review and apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced.
*********************************Original Email*******************************************************
Subject: World of Warcraft - Account Closure
****Notice of Account Closure****
Greetings REMOVED,
Account Name: REMOVED
Realm: Vek'nilash
Character Name: Karatechop
Account Action: Closure
Reason for Action: Terms of Use Violation - Abuse of Game Mechanics
• Using or exploiting errors in design, features which have not been documented, and/or "program bugs" to gain access that is otherwise not available, or to obtain a competitive advantage over other players;
• Anything that Blizzard considers contrary to the "essence" of the Game.
After a thorough investigation, Account Administration has determined that the account above was found to have participated in exploitive activities.
The character, "Karatechop," on the realm "Vek'nilash" was found to have obtained an item (inaccessible by standard game play) from another player and trivialized the World of Warcraft raid contents with the exploitive use of this item. Consequently, this character was able to assist with the accumulation of items and achievements through the use of this item that is not obtainable by "normal" means.. The character's actions gave the account an unfair advantage over all other players. As a result of the violation of the World of Warcraft Terms of Use, this account will be permanently closed.
This action has been taken in accordance with the Terms of Use (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html) and our In-Game Policies (http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/20309). Any recurring subscriptions on this account have been suspended to prevent further monetary charges.
Only the Account Administration department can address disputes or questions you may have about this account action. To learn more about how we are able to assist you, please visit us at http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/21505.
Regards,
REMOVED
Senior Account Administrator
Blizzard Entertainment
www..blizzard.com
*********************************Original Email*******************************************************
Thank you for your patience and understanding in this matter. Please feel free to contact us with further questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
REMOVED
Account Administrator
Blizzard Entertainment
www.blizzard.com
----------------------
"Players who buy gold are supporting spamming, botting, and keylogging."
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/basics/antigold.html
"How to Stay in the Game"
http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=21506
Filed under: Bugs, News items
Reader Comments (Page 12 of 13)
Mike May 6th 2009 8:33AM
Well it´s blizz game and rules, they made their call. He knew it´s something wrong with the item and should have contacted a GM right away. He said it was only for fun blabla, maybe it was, might as well be big talking now.
This $ comparison on your account etc is just wrong; and beside that, post #20 or so saying the money transfered to your account by the bank belongs to you.... well you can only be US citizen, cause no other law system is that f-ed up logically as yours. In (most) other law system the money doesnt belong to you, BUT the bank isnt allowed to take it away from you, so you got to give it back to them, but it is NOT your money. Thats a huge difference. And yea I am european:)
Logically he should have realsied it. Or what does he need? a huge banner saying: Possible cheat item BEWARE! like on coffee cups for the brain dead saying:HOT! Oh really thats what coffe normaly is. But we patronize that guy because Blizz never stated their rules and never told him thats a cheat item.
Seriously, how dumb you expect him to be, how careless?? Common sense, and he got the answer.
Actions are followed by consequences, thats how life works. Simple.
mix1 May 6th 2009 8:44AM
And probably with a lot of lag -.-.
If you really want to experience the patch I guess we better wait for an hour or so.
Nobody_Holme May 7th 2009 7:18AM
Well, I've had 2Billion (yes, 2 billion) gold accidentally credited to my level 46 druid (who I virtually never play) instead of 20silver, which is what the GM intended...
I was tempted, but reported it and had it taken back (plus an extra 20g, which was returned by a much nicer GM), and was left a message saying "this was actually all your fault".
If it happened again, i'd park it on an alt, and never use it.
Anywho, point being, actually, yes, I would return the item unused. A game is for fun, not for being OMGIPWNEDYOUIMAWESOMEYOUFAIL good, from stuff you shouldnt even have. If you're that good of your own skills, then fair enough.
Taiki May 6th 2009 3:46PM
This is complete BS.
If anything they could have EASILY removed the achievements, gold, and items he got from the dungeon and banned him/his guild, for a long period of time.
The fact he used it in Ulduar is irrelevant, it isn't that uncommon for a person, given the ability, to want to instantly see something that is saved for the highest end of players. And just because he was able to do this keeps no one else from being able to go in and legitimately raid the instance, so NO HARM DONE.
Blizzard in this case should be apologizing for sending an item not attainable in game to a player, because that's exactly whose fault this all is, Blizzards.
Funny and weird things happen in the game all the time, and the ticket system usually takes hours for a GM to even respond, so it's not unbelievable that Karatechop thought it was some kind of joke that he received the item, and wanted to go try it out before telling any of the higher-ups.
This is something 99% of the population would have done, whether they'd like to admit it or not. This isn't comparable to a million dollars worngly dropped by a druglord, or transferred by a bank, but rather finding a winning lottery ticket for $500 in a parking lot, something NO ONE would pass up on turning in.
I'm sure being perma-banned was the last thing on his mind in terms of consequences, because in reality, it should be. I'm also fairly sure he knew they would eventually trace it from all the achievements and loots he was getting in such quick succession, and upon doing so, would stop him, remove what he's earned and banned him for a short period.
The fact that they are removing this players account indefinitely is ridiculous, considering he probably has more than one toon, devoted many many hours in progressing them, and they (Blizzard) were in the wrong.
TL:DR version: Instead of easily clearing the rewards and banning everyone for a short time, they went completely overboard on this one, simply because it was a wrong on the companies side.
GG Blizzard, your policies continue to amaze me.
IIthryn May 7th 2009 12:42PM
"trivialized the World of Warcraft raid contents with the exploitive use of this item." - says it all, doesn't it? Blizzard is taking their own game too seriously. It's just a game.
sagist May 19th 2009 2:25PM
Yeah, it's just a game. And the account is also a game account
Think about the FAIRNESS of those who can get First achievements RIGHT AFTER them
It's not about game or real life. It's about people's attitude and equality
Hippi May 7th 2009 9:51AM
yall are fucking stupid HE should not get banned he dint do anything to TRY n get it. u find money on the floor you take it.u dont ask why u just do the GM THAT GAVE IT TO HIM should get fired or what ever for giving it 2 him. i DARE!!!! blizz to give me that wep. ill write a ticket saying " blizz i got this in my mail i dont know how i got it but its cool" and since it takes blizz a year and a day to get to somebodys ticket i would of soloed everything
Vengence May 7th 2009 10:08AM
Through all this hub-bub about the guy that got the item and used it, we are missing a really important issue. That issue is, who sent Karate the item and what is his/her situation.
I'm not arguing the fact that Karate violated the ToS, but without some Blizzard employee screwing up, this wouldn't have happened.
We all know Blizzard, with all the resources they have, can find out where the item came from. What I want to know is, has that person been punished in as harsh a manner as Karate was?
Carnacki May 11th 2009 2:27AM
I find some of the comments amusing... and some all but unreadable.
I don't think there was anything wrong with him using the item *once*. Even the "cheater" word on the tooltip isn't really that big a giveaway not to use it. After all blizzard put weird and amusing quotes on a lot of tooltips.
Personally, I'd have tried it on something, probably whatever was closest to the mailbox, out of curiosity. If I was busy I might have chucked it in my bag and pulled it out later and gone "I wonder if..." and tried it out. Hey, I tried "really sticky glue" on a raid boss to see what would happen (it didn't work) . I know that like the sticky glue I wouldn't expect the thing to work. Honestly, I'd expect to click it and nothing happened, or maybe a funny emote but nothing gets killed.
That said when it one-shot a mob, especially a raid mob I'd be thinking something is wrong and contact a GM. Sure the temptation to run wild would be there but common sense says they do not give you an "I WIN" button no matter how badly you've been screwed around by customer support. Common sense also says smashing multiple raid bosses is going to end badly because we've heard stories about how blizzard treat accounts that "do the wrong thing" ie: They ban them.
As for whether what they did spoiled peoples enjoyment of the game, well if I was in his raid at the time it would have bugged me. I play for the challenge not "click a single button and boss dies". Further, because it screwed up realm first achievements that does affect other people since lots of hardcore guilds *want* those more than the loot.
That said, I still think a perma ban is harsh - primarily since he didn't hack or anything to get it. Sure he was injudicious in his use of the item but he didn't *cheat* to get it. Yeah it's a pain in the butt for blizz to rollback the achievements and whatnot but I think a short suspension for the people involved while the mess is sorted out is more than sufficient. As for the GM who sent it to him, he doesn't need firing or anything like people are calling for. It's a simple mistake (which we all make) if anything it means their support tools need to be more robust (ie: don't let a gm item even be sent to a non-gm).
One thing this situation definitely highlights is that we as players need to be careful when something seems dodgy. If something seems to be too good to be true it probably is - and you should check with a GM :P
sagist May 19th 2009 2:26PM
"Ektelon said...
... Karate just got perma-banned from sidewalks for picking up the $20 that he received by mistake...."
The extremely powerful item with 1-HIT-BOSS-DIE cannot be considered as $20, it have to be considered as 1 million dollars. Where does your money come form? Is it WORTHY for your WORK?
sagist May 19th 2009 2:26PM
"4-30-2009 @ 6:54PM
Manatank said...
... They should remove your achievements from Ulduar, take the item, and apologize for wasting your time with their mistake...
It's stupid to solve the problem like that;
so HOW ABOUT PEOLE 'REALLY' GET FIRST ACHIEVEMENTS RIGHT AFTER THEM?
Is it fair?
Jason May 11th 2009 10:32PM
All of you people yelling that this ban was fair are a bunch of g** d***** wankers. Get over yourselves. He didn't hurt anyone by toying around with this item that some employee of Blizzard handed him. God I swear people are inconsiderate, high and mighty a-holes sometimes.
carpodacus May 13th 2009 1:19PM
This sorry episode is illustrative of both individual and corporate refusal to take responsibility for their actions and own their mistakes. As regards the individual, he should have known better. Any WoW player should have known better. His reported actions subsequent to receiving the gear are indefensible. The argument about keeping stolen money has been made earlier in this string so I won't repeat it here except to agree with it. There were 3 or 4 right actions he could have taken. He chose the worst option. Enough said.
Having said that, Blizzard's response was typical of a corporation too much in love with their revenue stream and too willing to defend it against all threats, real or imagined. Unless there were previous actions (and there may well have been) influencing the decision to close the account, this was the equivalent of capital punishment for grand theft auto. A better approach from this view would have been to ban 48-72 hours, remove the gear and all proceeds derived from it and perhaps exact a further penalty in gold or gear. This would have been simple to accomplish as the account was in flux due to an earlier hacking anyway. This also would have sent a sufficient message "don't mess with our content and other player's enjoyment of same" without losing the continued revenue. The EULA is not some holy scripture, it's a means to an end (profits). Blizzard lost sight of that, and I've seen no public apology either in forums or elsewhere for their culpability in this mess. Simply put, if they hadn't sent him the gear, he wouldn't have been able to do wrong. Who do we see about that?
skulltoe May 13th 2009 1:07AM
The game isn't perfect. I had one of those slowfall-inducing new year's drinks in my inventory with a duration of 1 day. After many months, it was still there and worked perfectly. I had my fun, jumping off cliffs and the like, then reported it to make sure nobody else used it as an exploit.
But yeah, he shouldn't be blamed if it wasn't his fault.
Sparcrypt May 20th 2009 2:58AM
Pathetic on Blizzards behalf IMO.
THEY screwed up. THEY sent an item to someone they should not have.. and then they ban him cause he used it?
Honestly, how many of you would not have done the exact same thing he did? You get an item in the mail from a GM through no action of your own that says 'use: kill EVERTHING'?
You wouldn't have tried it? I would have gone and solo'd naxx or something at least.
Blizzard loses a lot of respect from me for banning a player (and the whole guild from what I hear, even those not in the raid) because one of their own screwed up.
Think about what he's being punished for. He's being punished because he's not perfect and thought he'd have some fun with something he had sent to him rather then opening a ticket and being a good little boy. OK, anyone who thinks Blizzard isn't going to notice a guild clearing out Ulduar hard modes a week after they came out probably isn't the brightest person around... but a very very large percentage of players would have done the exact same thing, including a fair few who are commenting with 'Oh I'd have just opened a ticket right away!' 20/20 hindsight guys.
Anyone can make a mistake, it's how you handle it that shows what kind of person you are. Blizzard, you failed to man it up, admit fault and say 'yeah, that was our bad' and fix things properly.
If he had gotten the item any way other then having a GM mail it to him, no worries. But as he didn't? Meh, roll back his character to the day before he got the item, admit you screwed up and brought it on yourself and move on.
Nuurdraen May 20th 2009 9:57AM
I hate all ninjas and penny-ante sneaky lying backstabbing exploiters. My realm (Kil'jaeden) is sadly full of them. One of the best Alliance guilds is famous for it and proud of their evil reputation.
But this is completely different. This guy just had fun. Roll back his achieves and loot, 1-month ban, maybe even take him back to 70? Sure, heck yeah. Perma-ban for using something a GM sent him, and the GM isn't even named or shamed? C'mon....
I had tyo choose between losing my main account and starting from scratch, or forever wondering why I meekly turned over god-like power and didn't just have some awesome fun in the game? the possibilities of going down in a blaze of glory versus meekly self-reporting and having to sign an NDA to ever play again...
I don't think this guy was a jerk. A little naive and short-sighted, and it sucks for his guildies, but nothing he did was mean-spirited, jsut a hilarious romp through Ulduar. A very cool story.
Furydeath2 May 22nd 2009 2:45AM
um, it makes me think that alot fo you guys are stupid, your all saying you wouldn't use the item if you got it, but YOU would of, who wouldn't? i would of, if it was in my mailbox ofc i would use it, it wasn't my fault it was whoever sent it to me. So people re-think what you've said
Wendy May 24th 2009 7:19AM
I for one would not use this item if it magically appeared in my mailbox. This guy should have reported it to a GM once he got it. He didn't and he choose to invite his guild/friends so they got the axe as well. I think Blizzard done right, he had the option NOT to cheat and to report it but him and his friends CHOSE to cheat. Gratz Blizzard, I think the punishment fits the crime.
Arkanius May 26th 2009 3:56PM
These actions by Blizzard are fail and go to show how people are just waiting their lives on this game.
Case 1: WOW hacker/spammer sends you a fake request as if they are GM which ends up TAKING several hundred gold from you. You don't realize the error until it's too late and your lowbie toon is out much gold, time, and possibly a mount. You tell the CM/GM what happened and they will do a thing about it.
[This example happened to me in the mid 60's as I was leveling through Outlands. I received an email that appeared to be an NPC or CM "rewarding" me for my actions and adventures and did not notice that it was a COD mail in-game. We all know Blizzard has MANY npcs, particularly around XMAS and other holidays, that mail you items. They did not reverse that gold, EVEN THOUGH they know breeching the mail system is a serious offense and they could easily see 250+gold was stolen.]
Case 2: After a patch goes live, you notice that several pieces of PVP gear available only from the arena vendors are now FREE or available with honor, rather than any arena points or minimal rating. This patch occurs a mere few weeks before WOTLK goes live, so it's assumed by the community that it's Blizzards way of "gearing" up toons at 70ish who don't have uber raid gear. It's also apparent that not just ONE, but MANY classes have access to free or honor-based items through the PVP system, so everyone rushes to SW and obtains various PVP epics.
Turns out that it was a "Blizzard" mistake that resulted in the NO-cost PVP epics (the fact many teams tank, win traded or just facerolled their way to FULL arena epics is irrelevant here) to be made available and Blizzard will be yoinking them back rather quickly. Their hope is you weren't stupid enough to delete or shard that epic, because you won't get it back either.
That also happened to me on my Warlock, whereby many classes obtained cheesy pvp rings worth little to the community only a few weeks before Wrath went. Everyone initially took it as Blizzard drumming up interest in PVP and the game and trying to gear toons out before WRATH to give the impression of difficult content. Not so, Kimosabi. Instead Blizzard pulled all the gear out and many foolish players who got rid of the other epics were now out TWO pieces of gear.
That example demonstrates how the community or "people" will jump on something like an exploit or arbitrage mistake, even if an Individual feigns nobility and honor. That ain't true. Any player who'd gotten it would "hope" not to be caught, or "hope" it's ok, and "hope" not to be noticed. It positively affected the gameplay of everyone in his guild/raid, but overtime could negatively affect the realm as people merely partner with this guy to ONE shot ALL content.
The result should have been "Ah, we screwed up, we'll take that item back, reset your achievements and gear, and pardon the interruption." If a restaurant drops my leftover food on the floor (their mistake), they don't make me pay for it OR they offer to give me a new meal in return. When a BUSINESS makes a mistake, whether you had preconceived notion about it OR not, you aren't at fault, at least ethically speaking.
Their system tracks EVERYTHING. I do not believe karatechop was faking firsts of any kind and if they were, it's quite obvious with the way Blizzard can track content that it wouldn't hold for very long anyways. This does NOT effect you. It has no bearing on your achievements or gameplay, at least in the realm of PVE. For certain if he went through PVP bgs, he'd have ruined the balance. I can't fault someone for doing that though, because I'd have done it. It's a game. Blizzard made the mistake, they owe it to be people, not the player, to do the right thing.
Run Jun 1st 2009 11:47AM
Blizzard screws up, customer has some fun due to their screw up. Blizzard acts like a beligerent child and punishes all who even just know this customer. = Blizzard sucks!