[resolved] Permanent Account Suspension because of use of unauthorized software

[astarion]

First of all, since this is my first post, I would like to greet everyone here. I'm a relatively fresh multiboxer (even if I played a single account for 3 years) : I started a little more than 1 month ago. I have to say that the suggestions I found on this site helped me greatly in the process, and I want to thank the contributors of the Wiki.

I run 5 instances of WoW (1 main + 4 RAF) and I was very hooked in the thing, I was closing to level my new guys to 45 when on yesterday I received a bad surprise : I got 2 emails from Blizzard notifying me of a permanent suspension of 2 of my accounts. Type of violation: confirmed use of unapproved third party software. After a quick check, I discovered that in fact all my 5 accounts had been closed.

Obvioulsy I was a bit shocked, but even more surprised because I do not think I did anything illegal with my configuration.

I use to play all 5 instances on the same machine, and I use HotKeyNet to broadcast the keys. I also have a small set of addons (Jamba, QuestHelper and DMiniMap) to the standard interface. As far as I have read, this should not be against the TOS of WoW. HotKeyNet is configured to send every time a single key to each client, with only one exception : I have a script to launch and resize the 5 WoW windows one after another, and this of course sends more than 1 command to each of them, and also uses delays.

Could this be the reason for the permanent ban? Or did I miss something else? I made a scan of the machine with an antivirus software and I didn't find viruses or keyloggers, so I don't think I have been hacked (I will do another scan with a different product however).

Also I do not believe my in-game behaviour has been particularly 'gross' or 'extremely serious' (to use words from the Blizzard webpage). When they ask me about what I'm doing, I try to explain as politely as possible. Ok, when they begin with 'bot', 'cheater' and 'little boxer is boxing' I just tend to ignore them, but this shouldn't be reason enough.

I sent a reply to Blizzard asking for more details, but from what I have read over the Internet I have little hope they will change their decision. It is really saddening to lose 5 accounts at once, at least I would like to understand what I did wrong ...

[Fuzzyboy]

Basically they can ban you for whatever reason they want and they're not obligated to tell you why. In my experience, however, they've been very reasonable in dealing with account issues. If I were you, I'd simply explain my situation and hope for the best. Write a detailed list of your systems and used software (HKN etc.) along with some links to blue posts. Ask politely if any of the used software you've listed is a violation of the terms. If you've done nothing other than what you've stated, you should be ok :-)

Edit: Assuming of course that all your accounts are in the same name, haven't been shared etc etc

[astarion]

Thanks for the suggestion. In fact I already sent an answer to their emails, writing more or less what I wrote in my previous post.

I didn't use any other software or addon besides the one I listed. Even the machine was freshly bought (with multiboxing as one of the reasons for the purchase, sadly) and there is little more than the OS and WoW on it.

And yes, all accounts were under the same name.

[Fuzzyboy]

If that is the case (asssuming your statements are the full truth), you were probably reported and some GM who didn't know better banned you. Since there are lots of people here using key broadcasting (both HKN and Keyclone) who haven't been banned, I'm pretty sure it's not something Warden has detected, e.g. an "automatic" ban of blacklisted applications.

[olipcs]

Well first of all I want to say I feel sorry for you, and I hope that you et your accounts back!
If all that you described above is true, this sounds for me like someone on blizzards site screwed up, and this would be resolved by calling/emailing them.

If you want to be sure about your used HKN-script, you perhaps may want to post it here, so that we can have a look at it and see if its ok or anything is wrong with it.

[Fuzzyboy]

Oh, also I've had good experiences with calling them instead of emailing. Email replies typically takes 3-4 days (at least from my experience) - giving them a call can't hurt :-)

[astarion]

Thanks again for the help! And about the scripts, the one I use for HKN is the following, derived from the one on the website. The reason for the 2 templates RonWoW1 and RunWoW2 is that I wanted to try using 2 copies on the HDD to see if it improved performances, but I never actually tested it so they currently point to the same location. I masked with *** the account names and password :

//================================================== ==============
// SAMPLE SCRIPT FOR TWO WOW'S ON ONE PC
//
// Instructions: Copy this entire script (all the blue writing
// on gray background including comments). Save it in a file.
// Load it into HotkeyNet.
//
// Toggle the scroll lock key to turn hotkeys off and on. (You
// can change this if you want, just like you can change
// everything else with HotkeyNet.)
//
// Requires HotkeyNet build 147 or higher.
//
// For more info, go to www.hotkeynet.com
//================================================== ==============

<Template RunWow1><Run "E:\WoW\WoW.exe"><EndTemplate>
<Template RunWow2><Run "E:\WoW\WoW.exe"><EndTemplate>

<Template SendLabelList><SendLabel w1, w2, w3, w4, w5><EndTemplate>

<Template ResWinMain><Resize local %1% 1280 800 0 0><EndTemplate>
<Template ResWin2><Resize local %1% 400 300 0 750><EndTemplate>
<Template ResWin3><Resize local %1% 400 300 400 750><EndTemplate>
<Template ResWin4><Resize local %1% 400 300 800 750><EndTemplate>
<Template ResWin5><Resize local %1% 400 300 1200 750><EndTemplate>

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// SUBROUTINE TO RENAME A COPY OF WOW.
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<Command Rename>
<SendPC %1%>
<RenameWin %2% %3%>

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// PRESS CTRL R TO RENAME WOW'S IF YOU LAUNCH THEM MANUALLY
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<Hotkey CapsLockOn Ctrl R>
<Rename local "World of Warcraft" WoW1>
<Rename local "World of Warcraft" WoW2>
<Rename local "World of Warcraft" WoW3>
<Rename local "World of Warcraft" WoW4>
<Rename local "World of Warcraft" WoW5>

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// SUBROUTINE TO RESIZE A COPY OF WOW.
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<Command Resize>
<SendPC %1%>
<TargetWin %2%>
<SetWinSize %3% %4%>
<SetWinPos %5% %6%>

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// PRESS CTRL W TO RESIZE WOW'S IF YOU LAUNCH THEM MANUALLY
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<Hotkey CapsLockOn Ctrl W>
<ApplyTemplate ResWinMain WoW1>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin2 WoW2>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin3 WoW3>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin4 WoW4>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin5 WoW5>

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// PRESS CTRL F1/2/3/4/5 TO RESIZE WOW'S IF YOU LAUNCH THEM MANUALLY
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<Hotkey ScrollLockOn F1>
<ApplyTemplate ResWinMain WoW1>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin2 WoW2>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin3 WoW3>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin4 WoW4>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin5 WoW5>
<Hotkey ScrollLockOn F2>
<ApplyTemplate ResWinMain WoW2>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin2 WoW1>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin3 WoW3>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin4 WoW4>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin5 WoW5>
<Hotkey ScrollLockOn F3>
<ApplyTemplate ResWinMain WoW3>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin2 WoW2>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin3 WoW1>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin4 WoW4>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin5 WoW5>
<Hotkey ScrollLockOn F4>
<ApplyTemplate ResWinMain WoW4>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin2 WoW2>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin3 WoW3>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin4 WoW1>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin5 WoW5>
<Hotkey ScrollLockOn F5>
<ApplyTemplate ResWinMain WoW5>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin2 WoW2>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin3 WoW3>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin4 WoW4>
<ApplyTemplate ResWin5 WoW1>

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// SUBROUTINE TO LAUNCH AND RENAME A COPY OF WOW.
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<Command LaunchAndRename1>
<SendPC %1%>
<ApplyTemplate RunWow1>
<WaitForWin World 9000>
<Wait 450>
<RenameTargetWin %2%>
<Wait 400>
<SendWin %2%>
<text %3%>
<wait 40>
<key tab>
<wait 40>
<text **********>
<wait 40>
<key enter>
<wait 1000>
<Command LaunchAndRename2>
<SendPC %1%>
<ApplyTemplate RunWow2>
<WaitForWin World 9000>
<Wait 450>
<RenameTargetWin %2%>
<Wait 400>
<SendWin %2%>
<text %3%>
<wait 40>
<key tab>
<wait 40>
<text **********>
<wait 40>
<key enter>
<wait 1000>

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// PRESS CTRL L TO LAUNCH AND RENAME ALL WOW'S.
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<Hotkey CapsLockOn Alt Ctrl L>
<LaunchAndRename1 Local WoW1 **********><ApplyTemplate ResWinMain WoW1>
<LaunchAndRename1 Local WoW2 **********><ApplyTemplate ResWin2 WoW2>
<LaunchAndRename1 Local WoW3 **********><ApplyTemplate ResWin3 WoW3>
<LaunchAndRename2 Local WoW4 **********><ApplyTemplate ResWin4 WoW4>
<LaunchAndRename2 Local WoW5 **********><ApplyTemplate ResWin5 WoW5>

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// DEFINE MAIL LABELS FOR SENDING KEY STROKES
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<Label w1 Local SendWinM WoW1>
<Label w2 Local SendWinM WoW2>
<Label w3 Local SendWinM WoW3>
<Label w4 Local SendWinM WoW4>
<Label w5 Local SendWinM WoW5>

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// DEFINE HOTKEYS FOR 0-9 (SENT TO ALL INSTANCES)
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<Hotkey CapsLockOn 0-9>
<ApplyTemplate SendLabelList>
<Key %Trigger%>

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// DEFINE HOTKEYS FOR <SHIFT> 0-9 (SENT TO ALL INSTANCES)
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<Hotkey CapsLockOn LShift 0-9>
<ApplyTemplate SendLabelList>
<Key %Trigger%>

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// DEFINE HOTKEYS FOR C, P, B, L (SENT TO ALL INSTANCES)
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<Hotkey CapsLockOn C, P, B, L>
<ApplyTemplate SendLabelList>
<Key %Trigger%>

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// DEFINE HOTKEYS FOR INSTANCE 2 ONLY -> CONVERTED AS ALT+KEY
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<UseKeyAsModifier Oem1>
<Hotkey CapsLockOn Oem1 0-9>
<ApplyTemplate SendLabelList>
<Key lctrl %Trigger%>

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// DEFINE HOTKEYS FOR INSTANCE 3 ONLY -> CONVERTED AS ALT+KEY
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<UseKeyAsModifier Oem3>
<Hotkey CapsLockOn Oem3 0-9>
<ApplyTemplate SendLabelList>
<Key lctrl %Trigger%>

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// DEFINE HOTKEYS FOR INSTANCE 4 ONLY -> CONVERTED AS ALT+KEY
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<UseKeyAsModifier Oem7>
<Hotkey CapsLockOn Oem7 0-9>
<ApplyTemplate SendLabelList>
<Key lctrl %Trigger%>

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// DEFINE HOTKEYS FOR INSTANCE 5 ONLY -> CONVERTED AS ALT+KEY
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<UseKeyAsModifier Oem2>
<Hotkey CapsLockOn Oem2 0-9>
<ApplyTemplate SendLabelList>
<Key lctrl %Trigger%>

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// DEFINE MOVEMENT KEYS THAT WILL GET SENT TO BOTH WOW'S.
// ADD MORE KEYS IF YOU WANT.
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<MovementHotkey CapsLockOn up, down, left, right>
<ApplyTemplate SendLabelList>
<Key %Trigger%>

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// BROADCAST MOUSE CLICKS. HOLD DOWN OEM3 (ON U.S. KEYBOARDS,
// THAT'S THE SQUIGGLE KEY IN UPPPER LEFT CORNER) WHEN YOU
// WANT TO BROADCAST.
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<UseKeyAsModifier Oem4>
<Hotkey CapsLockOn Oem4 LButton, MButton, RButton, Button4, Button5>
<ApplyTemplate SendLabelList>
<ClickMouse %TriggerMainKey%>

[astarion]

And this is the configuration file of the software itself, if it helps :

acSignature = HotkeyNet Settings File
Version = 0.0.0 build 0
bStartAsServer = true
bUseSockets = true
bMoreThanOnePC = false
acServerDottedDec = [null]
acServerName = [null]
uPort = 0x1ce7
bStartCommAutomatically = false
bShowKeystrokes = true
bShowTimestamps = false
iWaitAfterCommands = 0
acMacroFile = E:\WoW\_\hotkeynet_151\3w1p.txt
bShowRenameConfirm = true
bHotkeysAreOn = true
bDontShowCloseDialog = true
iClickMouseDelayBefore = 15
iClickMouseDelayAfter = 15
iDelaySendMod = 1
iDelaySendWinTBefore = 10
iDelaySendWinTAfter = 10
iBackgroundFocusDelayBefore = 0
iBackgroundFocusDelayAfter = 15
bShowVerbExec = true
bShowButtons = false
bStartHidden = false
bDoNotShowSplash = true
acPassword = [null]
bClearModifiers = true
rectMainWindow = 419, 487, 1194, 996
eLoadOrReload = load
bUseWinsockBuffering = false
bUseNagleAlgorithm = false
bPartialWindowNameMatch = true
bDisableForegroundLock = true
bAttachThreadsForSendInput = true
bSimpleSetForeground = false
bSubstituteSendWinSWithClickMouse = true
bTranslateLocalIP = true

[olipcs]

The scripts looks fine for me, only thing where blizz could argue is the Mousebroadcasting if you ms-delays were set very high. May I ask which setting you used for this?

EDIT: ah I see, 15/15 it would be.

[astarion]

15 ms, if your are referring to iClickMouseDelayBefore/iClickMouseDelayAfter. But I'm pretty sure I never used that combination, it is basically a leftover of the default HKN file I downloaded from the website. It was always a mess when I had to cast AOE, jumping between the windows (I had 4 mages + 1 paladin) ...

[Freddie]

I'm very sorry to hear that this happened. This is the first time anyone has reported a problem like this with HotkeyNet.

I don't see anything in your script that violates the rules. I loaded your script into the program and checked the expansions of all the hotkeys to make sure I'm not overlooking anything.

The program itself has been tried by about 10,000 people over the course of nearly a year, with about 1200 current steady users, and there's nothing new in the program -- I haven't posted a new build in nearly a month -- and as I said, this is the first time anyone has reported a problem like this, so I don't think the program itself is the culprit.

If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know. And please post anything new you learn (either here or to me by email).


I have a script to launch and resize the 5 WoW windows one after another, and this of course sends more than 1 command to each of them, and also uses delays. Could this be the reason for the permanent ban?
Launch and resize commands are directed to the operating system, not to WoW, so the delays in those hotkeys don't have any effect on in-game actions. I can't imagine that Blizzard would care about them.

[suicidesspyder]

I just think its some gm's inability to realize that what your doing is allowed. I know most of us have seen the video from the game director of blizzard am i right. If not heres the link:
http://www.beckett.com/beckettMOG/default.osi?v=3

Even in this small interview the director says its perfectly legal to do. He even says lots of gamers prefer this style of game play, and he would not want to take it away from them. Like i said its a lack of knowledge of whats going on by the gm, and maybe hes lazyness to check to see what your doing so instead he banned you. But, in all good hopes if nothing was done wrong on your part you should get your accounts back. So just keep plugging at it and yea the best thing is to call in and talk to them directly, respones and actions will get done ten times faster. Lots of people email so lots of things to read not many call so easier to take care of problems. Good luck.

[puppychow]

This is just my theory, but Blizzard has 3+ kinds of bans.

1. Warden detection. Minimal GM involvement here, if warden detects something it thinks is illegal, it flags it to the server and a auto ban follows shortly after a quick GM review.

2. server-side logging investigation. A user reports a person for botting, the GM flags that account for extra logging and they check if the account is staying online too long, if they are repeating the same commands in exactly the same time intervals, etc.

3. GM-investigation. A person reports someone, and a GM follows that account around (invisibly usually) to see if they are teleporting, hacking, botting, etc.

Blizzard is always updating Warden and I'm afraid of false-positives, which is one of the major reasons I stay away from AHK (derived from AutoIT I believe, a popular hack/bot platform) and Innerspace. I 100% know AHK and Innerspace themselves do not constitute hacks/bots/etc and 100% know there are tons of legit uses for both, but I don't really trust Blizzard to not make a mistake and accidently ban the wrong people. Hopefully someone at account admin realizes their mistake and reverses their ban, please do let us know if they give any more info on why you got banned and if they reverse it. It can take a few days or even weeks for someone to email you back, depending on how backlogged they are from key logging (a high backlog at the moment I'd imagine).

btw I don't think calling does anything, Billing/CS can't reverse this and accounts-admin has no phone numbers afaik :(

[astarion]

First, let me thank Freddie, the author of HotKeyNet, for his support, and even more for its program. I tried several softwares when I started multiboxing, but I found HKN to be the best for me, it is very easy to configure and use, and yet so flexible and powerful. If my game experience has been so good until now, I owe it greatly to HKN.

Besides, I really don't know if the program itself is the origin of my problem : I tried to follow the suggestions stated on Freddie's site about the composition of the script, to avoid problems with Blizzard's TOS, and I'm relieved to hear from the users of this forum that my script should be ok. It could be something else on my PC : I'm running a third antivirus scan right now.

On Monday I will try to contact the billing support directly (I understand they are closed during the weekend), and to send a reminder by email, if nothing happens. I will post the results.

In the meantime, thanks to everyone for the hints and the help.

[Talos]

as mentioned, the billing and support phone support wont be able to help you with this

only way to get this hopefully fixed is by sending in a dispute trough the email adress you received in the ban email.
something like accountreview@blizz
only they have the power to return your accounts and revoke a GM's decision.

Just write them politely that you think you have been banned injust, explain that you are multiboxing which has been deemed legal so far, and perhaps include your HKN script to show them what you are using.

[Sam DeathWalker]

See what starts on your computer using this:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

you might find something that shouldn't start up.

Anti virus software is good but I think this is better, altough lots will argue that its not.

The other thing would be the delays. Anything that allows programable delays (and if you can set it to 15/15 then you could set to something else I am assuming) is well ....

[Basilikos]

See what starts on your computer using this:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

you might find something that shouldn't start up.

Anti virus software is good but I think this is better, altough lots will argue that its not.

The other thing would be the delays. Anything that allows programable delays (and if you can set it to 15/15 then you could set to something else I am assuming) is well ....Sam is right - you need to check and verify that your system is not compromised, since your accounts likely were too. If your accounts were compromised, then it's likely that someone used them for something that you're being banned for.

Also, regarding the delays, it's not a problem as long as you don't use them. HotKeyNet and AutoHotKey have been in use for a looooong time and they've never been a problem for WoW. Other MMOs might or might not allow the delayed events, which is why the options are available. If any program that could cause delayed events is auto-bannable, then most people here would be ought immediately.

[Doostin]

are Logitech G15 keyboard macro scripts still bannable if they use delays? you didn't mention if u use a g15 or g11 keyboard or not. just a thought. hope everything gets resolved if you're honestly playing legitly.

[keyclone]

umm... out of curiosity... were you using the strobing follow thingie from jamba?

[keyclone]

[Addon] Jamba - An assistant for multiboxers. 10th Update - 0.4b released.
source: [link ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=12887') ]
Jamba-Follow - New Features
Options added to not warn about follow breaking if character in combat, or any team member in combat. Follow strobing can be paused for characters with a special tag: In combat. When any team member is in combat. When the character is drinking. also from the main site:
Jamba-Follow: Manage character follow interactions, including strobing follow commands, automatically following after combat. i just read this today on another thread. it's main use was to help melee boxers not have to worry about losing /follow after engaging in melee (which breaks follow normally)

[Kicksome]

What classes where you boxing? e.g. 5xShaman. And were all the accounts under your exact name?

Also, what were you doing exactly before you got banned? Were you grinding or questing?

And what keyclone said, were you using the Jamba follow thing?

[astarion]

See what starts on your computer using this:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

you might find something that shouldn't start up.
Anti virus software is good but I think this is better, altough lots will argue that its not.

The other thing would be the delays. Anything that allows programable delays (and if you can set it to 15/15 then you could set to something else I am assuming) is well ....

I tried that software as well, but I could not notice anything blatantly suspicous (but my exprience in this filed is limited, I have to say). I also had installed on the computer a small program called WinPatrol which should have avoided unwanted software to register for loading at startup.


are Logitech G15 keyboard macro scripts still bannable if they use delays? you didn't mention if u use a g15 or g11 keyboard or not. just a thought. hope everything gets resolved if you're honestly playing legitly.

At the beginning I had a G15 keyboard installed, but it didn't work well : I just tried it out a couple of times. The software of the G15 is still installed on my old computer, however it is more than a month that I do not connect the keyboard itself, and anyway I never used it while running WoW. So I do not believe this is the problem.


What classes where you boxing? e.g. 5xShaman. And were all the accounts under your exact name?

Also, what were you doing exactly before you got banned? Were you grinding or questing?

And what keyclone said, were you using the Jamba follow thing?

I was mainly playing 1 paladin + 4 mages (currently level 45), and sometimes a group of 3 Shamans (around level 15 now). All accounts were under the same name and same credit card number.

I mostly quest when I level (I had QuestHelper installed) : in other words, I do not spend hours farming on the same group of mobs with a somehow recurring pattern, as a bot could do.

I last played the group of 5 on Wednesday in Tanaris and the group of 3 on Thursday in Azuremyst, then I received the notification of the ban on all 5 accounts on Friday.

About Jamba, the options for the "auto-follow after combat" and "warn if I stop following" were turned on. I do not think any of the others were on. I used jamba mainly for the auto-follow, and for the group accept and turn in of the quests.

[Jafula]

I'd be very surprised if Jamba was the culprit, and would definitely like to know if that was the case. Jamba is an WoW addon, and can only use Blizzard approved functions.

Posts 5 and 6 in this thread ('http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=11381215&sid=1') might clarify Blizzards stance on addons vs 3rd Party Programs.

[Kicksome]

I've read of situations like this before where the ban was an accident (or not legitimate) and was overturned several days later. Make sure you write them an email to contest the ban. With the info provided, it sure doesn't look like anything is wrong. If your server has no other multiboxers, it's possible a GM didn't know what was going on, maybe he's never seen it before, and just banned you.

I've reported botters before. A GM responded with something like "I've observed so and so, and he is indeed a botter. I've turned it over to our botting/hacking team". This particular player was botting several hours after I got the GM response, so it's not a quick process, at least in this case.

My guess is that a GM flags an account for review by specialists. This is probably so that the hacking/botting team can double check, and check on the warden logs, processing running and commands being sent to the wow servers. Probably so that they can use this info to catch botters more effectively in the future. I'm sure they log the exact reason the acct. was banned, they just don't share the info.

[astarion]

When I got the notification on Firday, I actually answered in the way you suggested, and I just received 5 identical emails from Blizzard, one for each account, and they removed my ban!


Greetings,

Account: **********

We are writing to inform you that, after a careful investigation of your account closure, we have agreed to remove the permanent suspension of your account from the World of Warcraft servers.

This change has already been put into effect, and your account should again be available for play.

Please be aware that the removal of this suspension is not to be taken lightly and should further issues arise with regards to your account in the future, this incident will be taken into consideration when determining the consequences to your account.

Should you have other questions or concerns, feel free to contact us again, via our webform: http://eu.blizzard.com/support/webform.xml

We hope you continue to enjoy your experience in World of Warcraft!

If you wish to review our current Rules and Policies, they can be found at:
http://www.wow-europe.com/en/policy/

Regards,


Zucbar

Account Administration Team
Blizzard Entertainment Europe

That's a huge relief ... I still have no clue about the specific reason for the ban, at this point I believe they just acted without considering the possibility that I was just multiboxing. I will answer again to thank them (meh...) and to try getting some additional information, but now I'm convinced that there was really nothing wrong in my configuration. If I get any useful answer I will post it here.

Thanks to everybody who posted in this thread, the suggestion and the support where really appreciated!

[Freddie]

Phew. :)

[keyclone]

:thumbsup:

[PyrostasisTDK]

Am I the only one that is pissed off about this line "Please be aware that the removal of this suspension is not to be taken lightly and should further issues arise with regards to your account in the future, this incident will be taken into consideration when determining the consequences to your account."

So... basically they are saying, oops we fucked up, but, in the future, if there are ever any issues with your account this is going to count as a strike against you?! IMO the language should really be, We are sincerely sorry for any inconvenience due to our mistake and have granted you two weeks of free game time for the hassle. We will be taking steps to make sure this doesn't happen again in the future, and once again we strongly apologize for our mistake.

Wow...just wow.

[TheBigBB]

Am I the only one that is pissed off about this line "Please be aware that the removal of this suspension is not to be taken lightly and should further issues arise with regards to your account in the future, this incident will be taken into consideration when determining the consequences to your account."

So... basically they are saying, oops we fucked up, but, in the future, if there are ever any issues with your account this is going to count as a strike against you?! IMO the language should really be, We are sincerely sorry for any inconvenience due to our mistake and have granted you two weeks of free game time for the hassle. We will be taking steps to make sure this doesn't happen again in the future, and once again we strongly apologize for our mistake.

Wow...just wow.This message is probably just a pre-constructed response. It's cleverly worded so that it doesn't actually say it in a bad or good way, but if you did anything wrong it would make you extremely paranoid. In this case, the wording of it is GOOD though, because it means that if he does the SAME thing again, they will see this past account action and not ban a second time. Hopefully.

[oogally]

Wow, nice to get the ban removed, but I would think they would try a little harder to retain customers after their own goof. Not to mention those paying 5x the normal rate. Customer service is a rare find these days. (Makes me appreciate HKN and Keyclone!)

[astarion]

Am I the only one that is pissed off about this line "Please be aware that the removal of this suspension is not to be taken lightly and should further issues arise with regards to your account in the future, this incident will be taken into consideration when determining the consequences to your account."

The email was identical for all 5 accounts they restored, so I assume as well it is just a generic standard message which is sent automatically when a ban is removed. So far so good :)

[Littleburst]

Am I the only one that is pissed off about this line "Please be aware that the removal of this suspension is not to be taken lightly and should further issues arise with regards to your account in the future, this incident will be taken into consideration when determining the consequences to your account."

So... basically they are saying, oops we fucked up, but, in the future, if there are ever any issues with your account this is going to count as a strike against you?! IMO the language should really be, We are sincerely sorry for any inconvenience due to our mistake and have granted you two weeks of free game time for the hassle. We will be taking steps to make sure this doesn't happen again in the future, and once again we strongly apologize for our mistake.

Wow...just wow.

/agree

And hopefully enjoy the boxing :)

[Skuggomann]

I'm always a bit baffled on this kind of thing...

The old timers here have never had this problem. But new folks seem to have it pop up from time to time.

Very strange.

Its cuz we win :)

[Basilikos]

I'm always a bit baffled on this kind of thing...

The old timers here have never had this problem. But new folks seem to have it pop up from time to time.

Very strange.I hadn't heard that this usually only happens to new comers. At this point, I'm not new and I've self-reported a long time ago (which, btw, I recommend doing). Perhaps the more seasoned multiboxers have been reported so many times that the GMs just see a big old flag saying, "DO NOT BAN - EVER" which alerts them to the fact that they can just drop tickets right then and there?

[algol]

The email was identical for all 5 accounts they restored, so I assume as well it is just a generic standard message which is sent automatically when a ban is removed. So far so good :)
Okay. I expect you're right on that. However...shouldn't the default response for "whoops, sorry, we shouldn't have permabanned you" be an at least slightly apologetic letter and some free game time?

It's not like it would even COST them anything in terms of lost income, since it's an account they had previously written off. Making nice when you screw over your customers is a good idea if you want them to be happy and keep giving you money.

[mmcookies]

I'm always a bit baffled on this kind of thing...

The old timers here have never had this problem. But new folks seem to have it pop up from time to time.

Very strange.I hadn't heard that this usually only happens to new comers. At this point, I'm not new and I've self-reported a long time ago (which, btw, I recommend doing). Perhaps the more seasoned multiboxers have been reported so many times that the GMs just see a big old flag saying, "DO NOT BAN - EVER" which alerts them to the fact that they can just drop tickets right then and there?Now we need a "Don't Ban Me Bro" achievement

[Basilikos]

]Now we need a "Don't Ban Me Bro" achievement

That would rock. How many points would it be for, though? 1? 10? 100? Hard to say exactly. In fact, it could even be a feat of strength since, according to the definition, a feat of strength is something that happens very few times or never.

[Gadzooks]

I'm always a bit baffled on this kind of thing...

The old timers here have never had this problem. But new folks seem to have it pop up from time to time.

Very strange.I tend to think it's from Blizzard expanding their GM staff in leaps and bounds in the past year to combat a rising flood of scams and exploiters and account thieves has a lot to do with it - I think a GM in the CSF forums said they'd been adding a lot of new staff lately.

New GMs : potential for bannings from ignorance.

It's frustrating, but understandable. They'll all get on the right page regarding MBing eventually.

And to Astarion - kudos for being level headed and mature about it, and not freaking out and cursing and vowing revenge, like a lot of players. I know it must have been a seriously wierd time for you! You make our little community look that much better with how you dealt with this. :) :thumbsup: :thumbup: :thumbsup: :thumbup:

[cairnz]

The emails from blizz used to come from a system called sonda. All the mails are pre-fabricated and the person sending them out only tells which account to send to, the system does the rest. there is very little human input on this.


A normal GM only has the right to place a temporary 3 hour suspension on your account. Anything above (1 day, 3day, permanent) has to be done by a senior gm or someone in AA (Account Administration).

For example a hacked account/cheater/botter - a regular GM will put a 3hr suspension on the account and escalate it to a senior that does the rest. For the end user though, it just appears to be permanently banned.

[Frosty]

Now we need a "Don't Ban Me Bro" achievement That one, and a "WTF? Reported!" achievement.

[Tonuss]

Am I the only one that is pissed off about this line "Please be aware that the removal of this suspension is not to be taken lightly and should further issues arise with regards to your account in the future, this incident will be taken into consideration when determining the consequences to your account."It's boilerplate stuff, and gets sent to any account that is reinstated after review. I think that it is their way of saying that if you escaped a permaban by the skin of your teeth, don't think you'll get away with it next time. Probably more for people who got banned for skirting the edges of the rules and managed to BS their way out of it. If they have any future incidents that are similar, having the prior incidents on record can help to determine if this person is a constant trouble-maker.

Since the OP's experience appears to be a case of a GM taking incorrect action against a player who neither bent nor broke any rules, I wouldn't worry about it.

[Catamer]

if your accounts were compromised, someone else could have used your accounts to get your banned.

Hope you get your accounts back.

[astarion]

And to Astarion - kudos for being level headed and mature about it, and not freaking out and cursing and vowing revenge, like a lot of players. I know it must have been a seriously wierd time for you! You make our little community look that much better with how you dealt with this. :) :thumbsup: :thumbup: :thumbsup: :thumbup:

Thanks :)

I still didn't receive anything specific about the reason for the ban, however on today I got this message :



Blizzard Support Customer Satisfaction Survey

Thank you for contacting Blizzard Entertainment Support.

We hope that the information that was provided to you was helpful in resolving your issue. Customer satisfaction is a top priority here at Blizzard Entertainment, and we would like your feedback on the level of service you have received. Your response would be very much appreciated.

Here is a link to the survey:
...

This link is uniquely tied to this survey and your email address; please do not forward this message.

Thank you for your participation!


It was funny to read that. Well considering how it turned out I can say I'm pretty satisfied.

[Knobley]

Hope you get your accounts back.
8|

[Vyndree]

I'm always a bit baffled on this kind of thing...

The old timers here have never had this problem. But new folks seem to have it pop up from time to time.

Very strange.


Which of us are oldtimers??

This is what... 4th? time someone was actually banned for software multiboxing and later removed because the GMs made a mistake?

I know you and I are both hardware 'boxers for a reason, right? ;) You can't accidentally ban me for multiboxing software that doesn't exist on my computer. ;)


I do think I have decent GM rep from MY reports of anti-boxer harassment as well as their reports of me. Though I haven't seen many harassers on Archimonde in some time. I do know, however, that you can't really get yourself a "Never ban this guy ever" flag -- that would simply be ridiculous and I do have a GM quote stashed away on that topic ('http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=3168405460&sid=1&pageNo=1#17'). But perhaps with the long list of GM tickets and/or comments (and the fact that, long ago, I had asked for a "note" be put on my account regarding multiboxing), a not-so-knowledgable GM might ask for advice from a more senior GM before trying the banstick.

[Farleito]

Glad to hear you got your accounts back!

Here's what I find most amusing...


we have agreed to remove the permanent suspension of your account

remove the permanent suspension

remove permanent

permanent [pur-muh-nuhnt]:
–adjective
1. existing perpetually; everlasting
2. not capable of being reversed or returned to the original condition

remove [r?-m??v']
- verb
1. To do away with; eliminate


Blizzard has always had a "god-like" attitude about things. I really don't like this about them. You prove that your account was banned w/o reason, and they still threaten you with "Don't let us catch you doing anything. You've got one strike against you."

This is like getting a speeding ticket for going 60 MPH in a 65 MPH speed zone, having the judge throw it out but still having the point added to your driving record. Makes no sense. Just goes to prove that Bliz can and will do whatever the f they want. Rather abusive...

Nothing like www.zombo.com...where you can do ANYTHING you want. The only limit is yourself.

[Tonuss]

To be fair to Blizzard, it's just the most expedient way to handle it. You want to have a record in the event that what you're dealing with is a person who likes to walk the edges of the rules. So the second or third time he's trying to play Interweb Lawyer, the GM dealing with him can check his record and see that this is something he does all the time, and take appropriate action. The unfortunate part is that someone like the OP gets a mark on his record that he doesn't really deserve, but hopefully if a GM ever has to check his account, he'll understand the circumstances.

Sadly, it's usually much less of a hassle to be consistent than to be fair. I prefer to lay blame on the jerks who like to skirt the edges and then play Interweb Lawyer. They're the people who force companies to change their rules and add layer after layer of policies and fine print, and it makes life harder and less fair for those of us who make sure to play by the rules.

[Fef]

And to Astarion - kudos for being level headed and mature about it, and not freaking out and cursing and vowing revenge, like a lot of players. I know it must have been a seriously wierd time for you! You make our little community look that much better with how you dealt with this. :) :thumbsup: :thumbup: :thumbsup: :thumbup:
Indeed.

[Freddie]

And to Astarion - kudos for being level headed and mature about it, and not freaking out and cursing and vowing revenge, like a lot of players. I know it must have been a seriously wierd time for you! You make our little community look that much better with how you dealt with this. :) :thumbsup: :thumbup: :thumbsup: :thumbup:
Indeed.
Yep. Very admirable.

[astarion]

I received this answer from Blizzard, following my request for further details :




Greetings,

Thank you for your e-mail. We regret to inform you that we do not provide evidence of our investigations to our customers. We can, however, confirm that all such cases are thoroughly investigated, and double checked by other members of our staff, in order to ensure fair treatment.

Should you have other questions or concerns, feel free to contact us again, via our webform: http://eu.blizzard.com/support/webform.xml

If you wish to review our current Rules and Policies, they can be found at:
http://www.wow-europe.com/en/policy/

Regards,


Then I will go on using the same software and addons I used until now, at this point I have no reason to believe they were the cause of the ban.