Giving Away an Account... (Questions about it)

[SCMalone1770]

I was given an account by my friend who doesn't play anymore and i want to start dual boxing. all my toons are on my main account and i want to transfer some over to the account he gave me but i need to be the owner? i currently pay for the account but how if i can, can i make it my account from blizzards stand point?

any help would be greatly appreciated.
btw i'm doing a melee group and some of the threads i have read from you guys have been most helpful

[Sajuuk]

You need to buy another copy of the game and make a new account in your name. You cannot use your friends account.

[turbonapkin]

Blizzard offers no official way of transferring account ownership and stipluates that sharing accounts in any way is a break of the EULA, resulting in a ban if you get caught multiboxing with accounts that do not have matching names.

There was a terrible story here of a five boxer who lost all their accounts for this very reason. It's not worth the gamble so I would advise you to create new accounts to give yourself peace of mind.

[Basilikos]

Read through the terms of service on the WoW website. Last time I checked, they still allow you to go through a tedious process to transfer the account, but it has very specific rules that most people can't meet for various reasons. You might give the official channels a try before creating another account. The only thing I caution you about is that if the transfer (of the account, not the characters) cannot take place, don't try to skirt the rules.

[Basilikos]

Blizzard offers no official way of transferring account ownership ...

Well, that's debatable. See my previous post. There is a VERY strict way to transfer account agreements between individuals, but I suggest everyone research the exact requirements from the ToS for themselves to see if they qualify.

[Prepared]

My first suggestion is to read the Terms of Service which is in your World of Warcraft folder or only at the World of Warcraft website where you sign up.

My second suggestion is not use the 2nd account if you want to transfer a character and the name on the 2nd account doesn't have the same last name as on your first account. If the reason you want to use a 2nd account is to transfer characters between them, purchase another copy of the game from a store and create the 2nd account with the same name as on the 1st account.

As for sharing accounts, yes this is against the rules and if caught, the account being shared will be banned. Sharing of accounts doesn't have anything whatsoever to do with names on the accounts. They are completely different subjects. If your friend is not going to play any more at all, you're not sharing it right?

[SCMalone1770]

i'm just going to make a new account for the extra $40, it's not worth getting my main account banned. Plus the name will be MUCH easier to remember.
but, can i get partial or full refund of the subscription i put into it? or have the remaining time transferred to the new account. Anyone tried?

and thanks for the help

[Ualaa]

Well, if they allow you to transfer the box, dvd/cd, manuals but not the account, there is no point.
Unless they let you use the cd-key, to make a brand new account or let you use the existing account.

From their point of view, I believe the intention is - you can transfer the physical stuff that comes with the game, but not the account once it is created.

Which is basically saying, as a retailer you can sell the unused game.
But once it (the cd-key) is used, none of it can be sold.
At least that's how they should have worded it.

[Basilikos]

Read through the terms of service on the WoW website. Last time I checked, they still allow you to go through a tedious process to transfer the account, but it has very specific rules that most people can't meet for various reasons. You might give the official channels a try before creating another account. The only thing I caution you about is that if the transfer (of the account, not the characters) cannot take place, don't try to skirt the rules.

If I recall correctly, this isn't exatly true.

They allow you to transfer (sell) the BOX, CDs / DVDs, manuals, and other crap. The actual account (virtual goods) cannot be transferred (sold).

I read somewhere long ago that if you delete all the characters on the account, then you can transfer it. (this is totally unconfirmed). Of course, this makes transferring an account basically pointless. And you still have to put up with all the bullshit games blizzard will make you play to change the name on the account.

That's an interesting take. I'm going to have to pour over the wording some time when I get a chance to really work through it, but I seem to remember the rights and obligations of the agreement being transferable. The major condition (i.e. aside from the original discs, packaging, etc.) seems to be properly notifying Blizzard of the change.

Whether or not the nonsense Blizzard has in place to deal with that is worth it to anyone is strictly up to them.

[Basilikos]

Alright - this is it: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/eula.html

Section 4B says that rights and responsibilities can be transferred to another party given certain conditions. Also, you're going to need to contact Blizzard to get contact information changed as per 4B. This, as Fursphere said, could be an absurd hassle.

So whatever you feel like doing, I guess.