Using my wifes account.. is that sharing?

[Quoth]

Hi all,

i've been tri-boxing (soft) on my PC and while I bought two new accounts, I'm also using one thats in my wifes name - she played for a few months at release but it's just been doing nothing. Now, it has my surname and address, but obviously her first name.. I keep seeing how tight they are on this kind of thing and don't want to get banned while I'm just playing legit.. it's a lot of effort to change the name on the account so is it necessary?

Any thoughts would be welcome

Cheers

Q.

[Blackguarde]

Hi all,

i've been tri-boxing (soft) on my PC and while I bought two new accounts, I'm also using one thats in my wifes name - she played for a few months at release but it's just been doing nothing. Now, it has my surname and address, but obviously her first name.. I keep seeing how tight they are on this kind of thing and don't want to get banned while I'm just playing legit.. it's a lot of effort to change the name on the account so is it necessary?

Any thoughts would be welcome

Cheers

Q.


Technically due to the EULA the only account you can share is if you are the guardian of a minor.

From a realistic stand-point thats a bunch of BS you cannot share an account with ones spouse. But the good news is as long as the last names are the same, you dont really have anything to worry about.

[Quoth]

That sets my mind at ease. Thanks for the quick reply =)

[Blackguarde]

Just remember by advise is still a "at your own risk" thing. But a majority of issues that happen when playing multiple accounts is when the last names do not match and the IP address range is not anywhere near the same as the one on record (aka sharing an account with a friend in California when you live in Georgia).

[Oswyn]

I made an account for my wife a year ago hoping that she would play, but she never got into the game. I ended up leveling a few toons on it and got them to 60. I multiboxed for a few months, but didn't want to take chances. I ended up creating another account and just transferred all the toons to the new account. Better to be safe than sorry I suppose.

[phara]

I'd certainly not be worried about ever losing them "forever", but you do run the risk of a dimwit GM banning them because the first names are different, it's at their discretion. Same thing could happen if both are in your name but some of the info is different. In any case if it did happen I'm sure you'd get it back, it might just be a pain.

[Suvega]

Yes, it is account sharing is the correct answer.

Yes it is technically against the ToS.

Yes you can get banned for it.

Do you want me to refer to the many -many- people on these boards which have been banned for using their spouses account while multiboxing.

[Vyndree]

From a realistic stand-point thats a bunch of BS you cannot share an account with ones spouse. But the good news is as long as the last names are the same, you dont really have anything to worry about.

I would not encourage someone to break the ToU/EULA -- particularly on this forum ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&postID=14540').


http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=20460

You may not share your Account or password with anyone, except that if you are a parent or guardian, you may permit one (1) minor child to use the Account instead of you (in which case you may not use that Account at the same time). (Section 1A of the ToU)

http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=21487&searchQuery=account%20sharing&pageNumber=1

Further, sharing your account information with anyone other than your one (1) minor child is a direct violation of the World of Warcraft Terms of Use and may result in account access being disabled in addition to further action up to and including account closure.

http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=20576&searchQuery=account%20sharing&pageNumber=1

Account Sharing

Your account is where your characters, their items, and your personal information are stored. Someone with the password for an account is free to access characters, inventory, and all other aspects of your account information. If someone logs into an account using the valid password, changes made to the characters or account information may not be reversible, nor is Blizzard Entertainment liable for any damage that occurs. For this reason, account security is critical.

Our Terms of Use prohibits the sharing of accounts except in the situation where a parent or guardian authorizes access to one child.


Unless your wife is also your minor child, you cannot play or access her account.


Here is some reading material from past Dual-boxing.com discussions on why account sharing is bad:
http://dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&postID=24229#post24229
http://dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&postID=78169#post78169
http://dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&postID=75284#post75284
http://dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&postID=74121#post74121
http://dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&postID=82456#post82456
http://dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&postID=65734#post65734
http://dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&postID=80803#post80803
http://dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&postID=82893#post82893

[Boylston]

Unless your wife is also your minor child, you cannot play or access her account.

Hawt!!

[mmcookies]

what if she's an imaginary MAI WAIFU

[warwizard]

The question becomes if nothing funny is going on with the accounts, is blizzard going to just ban you?

Not likely

[Perrigrin]

my 5th account was in my wifes name - but I decided that it wasnt worth the risk, so got a new one and transfered the toon to it - Same last name so transfers work fine - Just dont wanna multibox with it...better safe than sorry imo

[Vyndree]

The question becomes if nothing funny is going on with the accounts, is blizzard going to just ban you?

Not likely

Source? Data? Evidence?

As a multiboxer, you get reported because... well... you're a multiboxer. That's "funny" enough to get you reported by the masses for botting, cheating, powerleveling, hacking -- whether they know that multiboxing isn't bannable or not.

In a multiboxing thread...
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=5288579356&sid=1&pageNo=9#168


I have a question on the "legitimately" part. I have a situation recently where my cousin and her husband are getting divorced, and they have 3 accounts between them, and I have 2 accounts myself. I've been considering trying a 5 box shaman team, being a shaman since day 1 anyways, but want to clarify this before I venture forward and risk getting banned on my own accounts too.

Would Blizzard consider my using my own 2 accounts, with 2 of my cousins accounts and her soon to be ex's account (they both have stopped playing because of the recent split and will let me resume the subscriptions) to be a violation of the EULA and be a bannable offense? I would of course be paying the monthly fee on all 5 accounts going forward, as well as purchasing 5x Wrath of the Lich Kings upgrades eventually :)

Would love an answer if anyone from Blizz is still looking, thanks :D
Still am!

The answer is that if the account isn't in your name, you shouldn't be using it. It's considering account sharing/trading under our TOU and could bring a rain of fire and brimstone into your kitchen*.




*not really, just banz


http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=3168405460&postId=32344936334&sid=1#17

If they were investigated would we just go "oh they are multiboxing, they are Ok."? Absolutely not. We investigate each botting/powerleveling report we receive fully and believe it or not we actually do look at the simple stuff like account information. Not to mention we look at a great deal of other information in our investigations.

There are a good many legitimate users who actually do own multiple accounts. Why? No idea, I have two myself and barely look at the other account but to each their own. Just because they are using a multiboxing technique does not mean they are powerleveling/sharing or engaging in any other nefarious deed.

If you believe someone is violating our Terms of Use, report it and it will be investigated.


There is enough bad advice (that BREAKS the ToU/Eula and can get you BANNED) in this thread. Locking this thread as per the Forum Rules ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&postID=14540').

If you need advice, seek it from the correct source: Blizzard. Official blizzard links have been provided. Personal advice from players that contradicts these official documents = bad idea.




It doesn't matter if someone can get away with it -- just because you did doesn't mean someone else will. Do YOU want to be responsible for someone when they come crying back here, accusing you of misleading them now that their precious sunwell-geared level 70 gladiator is now gone?

Not to mention -- if you want to be "smart", following the "smart people's" advice who are saying "hey, I didn't get caught!".... Take a look at some of their sigs. Littered with character names and servers. These forums are public, but I wouldn't hold it against any member either if they chose to report you for account sharing via character transfer. It's their right to, if they so choose. It's a "smart" move, telling everyone that you've transferred characters from your sister's/brother's/cousin's/wife's/husband's/third uncle twice removed's account and then posting about it on a publically viewable forum with all of your account information prepared. If you're thinking about taking advice from a person who thinks THAT is a good idea -- think again. (Let's see how fast those sigs get edited) ;)

Please think before you post. Your words carry weight in this community -- and bad advice can leave someone worse off than before you spoke. Think about that before you next post the "ah, it's unlikely you'll get caught" -- because it's not "unlikely" unless you've taken a statistic sample of everyone who's broken the EULA as you have. You got lucky -- don't make the mistake of letting someone prove that the "unlikeliness" is all in your head. Much less the fact discussion (likelihood or not) it's against our forum policies ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&postID=14540').

Shame on you.