Recent Wave of Account Actions

[Chumbucket]

I was given a 3 hour suspension after "several warnings". I was never given a warning. Just suspended. By the nature of their obvious "premade" form letter, it seems they are harassing boxers into quitting. They give two blanket replies which don't even specify the violation beyond "exploitation" and say they have investigated and confirmed the violation.

I wrote that I had cancelled all of my accounts and they didn't even acknowledge it; they just stated they would not reply to any further inquiries on this issue. I think there is a potential class action in this as they are creating damages by taking our money and not allowing us to play without giving us a specific reason for the bans. As such we are likely to violate the mystery policy over and over, losing game time while continuing to pay.

They have said on the record many times that boxing is fine and I have been boxing the same way for many years. In fact I was thinking I hadn't changed anything on my teams forever, even my macros need updating. It reminds me of when insurance companies would deny claims with blanket form letters claiming "preexisting condition" without actually looking at the condition. Like the insurance scenario we are paying a premium but are not getting the benefit of our bargain and the burden of proof is shifted to us. In the meantime we pay and they take away our game time.

There has been a long course of dealing with boxers where the exact behavior we are doing now was approved by Blizzard and they continued taking our money for years with full knowledge of that behavior. They now seem to be changing the rules but are refusing to say in what way. This only creates uncertainty and resentment and I for one have had it with Blizzard.

[heyaz]

I think there is a potential class action in this

oh god, here we go

yeah let's sue them. we're all out $75 at least

[Chumbucket]

oh god, here we go

I realize I overreacted. I just feel cheated by a long time friend. : (

[Multibocks]

without doing battlegrounds at all?

No she was doing AV during the weekend. I asked if she used any scripts to enter the BGs and she doesn't. I wish I had videos of everyone boxing that gets a suspension so I can see if there is any link. I boxed all weekend and didn't get any suspensions.

[Void]

I logged in after not playing for a week. I did 2 normal BG's (AV, we won both). Then I did 3 RBG and lost all 3. Did 1 arena and lost. 5 min after that arena 3/4 shamans were suspended. Odd part is i was running 5 chars in the normal bg(druid+4shaman) and 4 chars in rated bg+arena. I don't understand the method to being flagged. If it were the normal BG's that flagged me wouldn't it have suspended the 4 shamans in tow? In this case it seemed like it was the rated bg or the arena that flagged me because it was the 3 shaman in tow that got the suspension. Pretty much done at this point. They assured me in my last petition that it would be fixed and yet it still happens. Unsure where to go from here.

[Percocet10n1]

Again, how will you know when it's fixed? I understand canceling in protest, but I don't understand canceling until its fixed. There likely won't be an announcement.

I've been playing a long time and have made a lot of friends that multi box. So it's just a matter of keeping in touch and updated. There's also the forums to watch, here and a couple of other places. Good question though. I also expect that if things do change people will post it here.

[Chumbucket]

Strangely they just suspended two more of my accounts, I guess from playing yesterday. I haven't even played since I cancelled all my accounts. So now they are suspending my cancelled accounts. Same reason:

Type of Violation: PvP Arena/Battleground Exploitation
Details of Incident: Exploitation of PvP Battlegrounds and the honor system
Consequences for Account: Account suspended for 3 hours

[widdle]

Yeh i have cancelled my subs on 9 out of 10 accounts.
The trouble to box and get suspensions for doing nothing wrong is just not worth the money.

[Ualaa]

I was given a 3 hour suspension after "several warnings". I was never given a warning. Just suspended. By the nature of their obvious "premade" form letter, it seems they are harassing boxers into quitting. They give two blanket replies which don't even specify the violation beyond "exploitation" and say they have investigated and confirmed the violation.

I wrote that I had cancelled all of my accounts and they didn't even acknowledge it; they just stated they would not reply to any further inquiries on this issue. I think there is a potential class action in this as they are creating damages by taking our money and not allowing us to play without giving us a specific reason for the bans. As such we are likely to violate the mystery policy over and over, losing game time while continuing to pay.

They have said on the record many times that boxing is fine and I have been boxing the same way for many years. In fact I was thinking I hadn't changed anything on my teams forever, even my macros need updating. It reminds me of when insurance companies would deny claims with blanket form letters claiming "preexisting condition" without actually looking at the condition. Like the insurance scenario we are paying a premium but are not getting the benefit of our bargain and the burden of proof is shifted to us. In the meantime we pay and they take away our game time.

There has been a long course of dealing with boxers where the exact behavior we are doing now was approved by Blizzard and they continued taking our money for years with full knowledge of that behavior. They now seem to be changing the rules but are refusing to say in what way. This only creates uncertainty and resentment and I for one have had it with Blizzard.

oh god, here we go

yeah let's sue them. we're all out $75 at least

I could care less about a small percentage (3 hours here or there) of each account's $15 cost, at least in monetary terms.
It's the disruption of game time...

However, even if someone were to launch a class action suit...
Blizzard is probably covered, as they don't guarantee uninterrupted game service or the like.
I'd imagine they have a team of lawyers who have designed their EULA and Terms of Service...





That said, the squeaky wheel gets the grease...

At the moment, the masses are incorrectly reporting us as AFK (even though we're not AFK), because they dislike boxing.
And these AFK reports are resulting in automatic suspensions.

Boxers might make up 1% or 2% of the player base, a very small percentage anyway.
So we have a small number of people complaining about the new system.
And a large number are relatively happy with it, as they can report away... so far without repercussion.

If a larger percentage of the player base were unhappy with the current system, that would be a much squeakier wheel.
However, randomly or intentionally reporting everyone in your BG on a consistent basis is likely a bad idea.
Once enough people are complaining, for Blizzard to remove/modify the functionality of the system... they will likely look at who is reporting non-AFKs as AFK.
While I don't have any issue with the assholes who are reporting boxers receiving a penalty, receiving one myself for reporting others AFK is not something I want.

It is tempting though...

[Percocet10n1]

For you guys that are cancelling your subs. While I canceled my sub because the game changed to make it so I couldn't enjoy the game anymore I would like to think I was sending a message to blizzard that they will be loosing my business unless things change. That being said, we are by far in the minority. Realistically saying cancelling our subs, or even if all the boxers out there cancelled their subs it would probably not come up on the radar. We are just flea's on a elephant's back.

For instance. I searched out this recent activity of suspensions and bans via the WoW forums. Everyone that I came a crossed was closed. Meaning even if you went to complain via the forum's about what is happening to you, blizzard doesn't really care. They won't talk about in a public forum other then saying that yes, multi-boxing is allowed. But try to fix an issue where you are being what is in my opinion harassed or targeted via the game mechanics and they will not even acknowledge that you exist. Understand that the WoW community is not a democracy, and that it is more like a dictatorship. What they say or don't say goes. You, as an individual do not have much input when it comes down to the bottom dollar as a boxer.

So if you are closing your accounts, or taking some time off, realize that blizzard really doesn't care. Do it because you don't want to waste your money on a game that has changed and isn't fun for you to play anymore. If you can't find another aspect of the game, other then BG's to enjoy about the game then turn it off. Move on and enjoy your life.

Don't close your accounts because you want to make blizzard to know that you as an individual customer are not happy. They don't care. I would personally like to think that blizzard as an entity would consider me closing my 5 accounts a big deal, but realistically my 5 accounts are all ready paid for. They are just loosing out on monthly charges and there are way too many single account players to make up for my little insignificant protest.