http://www.1up.com/do/my1Up?publicUserId=5775180
Source URL.
Tyler Carstensen was treated like many other Blizzard customers, and banned.
Unlike alot of us, Tyler had the correct idea right away: Contact the better Business Bureau.
I highly suggest ANYONE who has any issue about Exploiting/3rd party software/etc and believes they are innocent to deal directly with the BBB INSTEAD of Blizzard. Blizzard will only give you generic email forms back, and will (in my experience) take no action to actually rectify the situation.
Don't deal with zarborough, deal instead with someone who actually will listen.
http://www.labbb.org/BBBWeb/Forms/Ut...hForm.aspx?sm=
For the value, add together the purchase price for each game, plus any strategy guides, and your total subscription fees etc.
http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowb.../?id=abl01025p
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
How Blizzard combats violators of it's EULA.
Know of World of Warcraft's End User License Agreement?
That's the agreement any user of Blizzard's "World of Warcraft" has to scroll down the side and quickly hit accept to get rid of. You know alot of people who regularily read it? Neither do I.
I bring this up because hidden inside of it is the following:
5. Consent to Monitor. WHEN RUNNING, THE GAME MAY MONITOR YOUR COMPUTER'S RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM) FOR UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAMS RUNNING CONCURRENTLY WITH THE GAME.
This is important because of Blizzard's policy in combating botters and others, which has 2 main methods.
1) In game reporting. Inside of the game, a player can Issue a Ticket to report to a GM about a player exploiting, botting, or other offenses.
2) Spyware.
Due to Blizzard's policy of not actually paying for enough GMs to regularily respond to tickets fast enough, (Tickets regularily take several hours to respond to, by which time the player reporting often has logged off.) Blizzard's other method is to use the Warden Client, a piece of software that according to rootkit (Blizzard is quiet on details about Warden, and doesn't explain it other than messages that boil down to "you can trust Blizzard")scans your computer every 15 seconds searching for something you might not even know is there. Once it finds something Blizzard Entertainment doesn't like, it sends a message back to Blizzard that informs them that the client's (i.e. Player's) computer has something on it.
The next step is Blizzard waits.
Blizzard doesn't inform it's customer of such a software (Claim is that the customer should know that it is there), or that it is against the EULA (They claim all knowledge should be known to the customer, who frequently may not have known), or that they can expect a ban.
Often the first sign of such a ban, is the ban. Due to the sheer logistics (total number of people) of each ban, and that fact that Blizzard doesn't fund enough GMs, and that the GMs regularily ban on the spot, all the people banned are banned because of the Warden Client. (Opinion here, perhaps a better name would be Gestapo Client, Americans normally are innocent until proven guilty, it was East Germans and others who were contantly spied upon in history.)
Not to worry though, Blizzard Entertainment assures us that such incidents are well done and that the rare mistakes are quickly rectified with Blizzard's email inquiry system.
Want to talk to a real person to find out why you're seeing a ban message on your "World of Warcraft" account? Tough. World of Warcraft offers no help except to head to this website.
Once you fill out the email form and send it in, you'll eventually receive a response such as this:
Thank you for contacting the Account Administration team regarding this issue. This is an automated email to let you know that we have received your inquiry. Please do not reply to this email; a response to your message will be sent to you as soon as possible.While we will attempt to address all concerns as promptly as possible, it may be several days before we are able to respond depending on the total inquiries we receive. We must ask that no additional emails be submitted regarding this issue, as additional emails will ultimately result in undue delays in response time.In the meantime, we offer other forms of support that are immediately available to you while we process your email.======================================================Website Support:A wide variety of Account Administration questions and answers are available on our web site at: http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaa============================================================================================================Server Status Forum:If you cannot log onto World of Warcraft, you may want to check the Server Status Forum for current maintenance downtime and information at: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.html?sid=1&forumId=11113============================================================================================================Game Masters:Game Masters (GMs) are Blizzard Entertainment personnel that are available in-game to assist you with your gameplay related questions, problems, etc. Learn more about Game Masters, including how to contact them at http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowgm/============================================================================================================Best regards,World of Warcraft Account Administration Teamhttp://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaaBlizzard Entertainment*Emails to our Account Administration team may not receive a response for the following reasons:- Use of profanity- Spamming (sending the same email multiple times)- Attachments containing viruses (these are deleted automatically)- The message is a form of feedback or comment which does not require or request a reply
When you see the part about several days, they mean it, and it most likely will be something like this:
***Notice of Account Closure***
Account Name: ********
Offense: Use of Third Party Automation Software
This account has been found to have employed third party software designed to automate many aspects of the World of Warcraft game play experience. Such software runs contrary to the essence of World of Warcraft and provides an advantage over other players. In addition, use of this software can lead to exploitation and destabilization of the World of Warcraft server economy. As such, this account has been closed and will not be reopened under any circumstances. The recurring subscription on the account has been disabled to prevent further charges.Please review the World of Warcraft Terms of Use at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html, which you accepted when you installed World of Warcraft and established the account(s). Section 2, Paragraph C details the limitations of game play modifications and use of any third-party or packet sniffing software. In addition, Section 3, Paragraph C, parts iii and iv restrict the use of any hack, scripting or macroing software which obtains information from World of Warcraft to gain a competitive advantage over other players.Any disputes or questions concerning this account action can only be addressed by the World of Warcraft Account Administration department. To learn more about how Account Administration is able to assist you, please visit us at http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaa/.Thank you in advance for your understanding in this matter and respecting our position and all statutes within the World of Warcraft Terms of Use.Regards,ZarboroughAccount AdministrationBlizzard Entertainmentwww.WorldOfWarcraft.com
Formatting was lost when transferring this, but notice a few details:
1) No where does it say WHY they believe you have done what they claim.
and
2) The absence of a real name, or a non-email way of inquiring further into the account.
While the occational ban is lifted, it is relatively rare, and usually (as least to the appearance of the writer) happens after a large media backlash against Blizzard.
This backfires in major ways. (Opinion of the writer. No statistics are ever offered by Blizzard about how many innocent players are regularily banned, or how many are subsequently unbanned after they do their media press release about their latest banning of "x number" of "cheaters".)
1) The true botters/gold sellers/exploiters frequently get back on it a matter of minutes, and
2) "Innocent"(Except to Blizzard's Spyware) players are basically out of a service they had paid for, labelled cheaters, and cut off with no notice to any of their friends inside of the game.
That is why it is the recommendation of this writer that NO ONE should ever purchase another Blizzard product, or that if you are a current user, you should be prepared to be banned at any time, for any reason, and should never expect to hear the reason why.
That's the agreement any user of Blizzard's "World of Warcraft" has to scroll down the side and quickly hit accept to get rid of. You know alot of people who regularily read it? Neither do I.
I bring this up because hidden inside of it is the following:
5. Consent to Monitor. WHEN RUNNING, THE GAME MAY MONITOR YOUR COMPUTER'S RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM) FOR UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAMS RUNNING CONCURRENTLY WITH THE GAME.
This is important because of Blizzard's policy in combating botters and others, which has 2 main methods.
1) In game reporting. Inside of the game, a player can Issue a Ticket to report to a GM about a player exploiting, botting, or other offenses.
2) Spyware.
Due to Blizzard's policy of not actually paying for enough GMs to regularily respond to tickets fast enough, (Tickets regularily take several hours to respond to, by which time the player reporting often has logged off.) Blizzard's other method is to use the Warden Client, a piece of software that according to rootkit (Blizzard is quiet on details about Warden, and doesn't explain it other than messages that boil down to "you can trust Blizzard")scans your computer every 15 seconds searching for something you might not even know is there. Once it finds something Blizzard Entertainment doesn't like, it sends a message back to Blizzard that informs them that the client's (i.e. Player's) computer has something on it.
The next step is Blizzard waits.
Blizzard doesn't inform it's customer of such a software (Claim is that the customer should know that it is there), or that it is against the EULA (They claim all knowledge should be known to the customer, who frequently may not have known), or that they can expect a ban.
Often the first sign of such a ban, is the ban. Due to the sheer logistics (total number of people) of each ban, and that fact that Blizzard doesn't fund enough GMs, and that the GMs regularily ban on the spot, all the people banned are banned because of the Warden Client. (Opinion here, perhaps a better name would be Gestapo Client, Americans normally are innocent until proven guilty, it was East Germans and others who were contantly spied upon in history.)
Not to worry though, Blizzard Entertainment assures us that such incidents are well done and that the rare mistakes are quickly rectified with Blizzard's email inquiry system.
Want to talk to a real person to find out why you're seeing a ban message on your "World of Warcraft" account? Tough. World of Warcraft offers no help except to head to this website.
Once you fill out the email form and send it in, you'll eventually receive a response such as this:
Thank you for contacting the Account Administration team regarding this issue. This is an automated email to let you know that we have received your inquiry. Please do not reply to this email; a response to your message will be sent to you as soon as possible.While we will attempt to address all concerns as promptly as possible, it may be several days before we are able to respond depending on the total inquiries we receive. We must ask that no additional emails be submitted regarding this issue, as additional emails will ultimately result in undue delays in response time.In the meantime, we offer other forms of support that are immediately available to you while we process your email.======================================================Website Support:A wide variety of Account Administration questions and answers are available on our web site at: http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaa============================================================================================================Server Status Forum:If you cannot log onto World of Warcraft, you may want to check the Server Status Forum for current maintenance downtime and information at: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.html?sid=1&forumId=11113============================================================================================================Game Masters:Game Masters (GMs) are Blizzard Entertainment personnel that are available in-game to assist you with your gameplay related questions, problems, etc. Learn more about Game Masters, including how to contact them at http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowgm/============================================================================================================Best regards,World of Warcraft Account Administration Teamhttp://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaaBlizzard Entertainment*Emails to our Account Administration team may not receive a response for the following reasons:- Use of profanity- Spamming (sending the same email multiple times)- Attachments containing viruses (these are deleted automatically)- The message is a form of feedback or comment which does not require or request a reply
When you see the part about several days, they mean it, and it most likely will be something like this:
***Notice of Account Closure***
Account Name: ********
Offense: Use of Third Party Automation Software
This account has been found to have employed third party software designed to automate many aspects of the World of Warcraft game play experience. Such software runs contrary to the essence of World of Warcraft and provides an advantage over other players. In addition, use of this software can lead to exploitation and destabilization of the World of Warcraft server economy. As such, this account has been closed and will not be reopened under any circumstances. The recurring subscription on the account has been disabled to prevent further charges.Please review the World of Warcraft Terms of Use at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html, which you accepted when you installed World of Warcraft and established the account(s). Section 2, Paragraph C details the limitations of game play modifications and use of any third-party or packet sniffing software. In addition, Section 3, Paragraph C, parts iii and iv restrict the use of any hack, scripting or macroing software which obtains information from World of Warcraft to gain a competitive advantage over other players.Any disputes or questions concerning this account action can only be addressed by the World of Warcraft Account Administration department. To learn more about how Account Administration is able to assist you, please visit us at http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaa/.Thank you in advance for your understanding in this matter and respecting our position and all statutes within the World of Warcraft Terms of Use.Regards,ZarboroughAccount AdministrationBlizzard Entertainmentwww.WorldOfWarcraft.com
Formatting was lost when transferring this, but notice a few details:
1) No where does it say WHY they believe you have done what they claim.
and
2) The absence of a real name, or a non-email way of inquiring further into the account.
While the occational ban is lifted, it is relatively rare, and usually (as least to the appearance of the writer) happens after a large media backlash against Blizzard.
This backfires in major ways. (Opinion of the writer. No statistics are ever offered by Blizzard about how many innocent players are regularily banned, or how many are subsequently unbanned after they do their media press release about their latest banning of "x number" of "cheaters".)
1) The true botters/gold sellers/exploiters frequently get back on it a matter of minutes, and
2) "Innocent"(Except to Blizzard's Spyware) players are basically out of a service they had paid for, labelled cheaters, and cut off with no notice to any of their friends inside of the game.
That is why it is the recommendation of this writer that NO ONE should ever purchase another Blizzard product, or that if you are a current user, you should be prepared to be banned at any time, for any reason, and should never expect to hear the reason why.
Welcome to "Ban Blizzard" the official blog to warn people about Blizzard Entertainment and it's policies.
World of Warcraft is a great game...
It's also a game that isn't worth playing, since by the company's standpoint, you're guilty until proven innocent.
That company is Blizzard Entertainment.
World of Warcraft has over 8 million subscribers worldwide, a figure that seems to be growing daily and only gets larger as time goes on. As a result, oftenthere are exploiters, gold sellers, botters, and other discontents that attempt to go past the limits Blizzard has set on the game, or to make monetary rewards from such actions.
This blog isn't against that, this blog is against the actions that Blizzard takes to combat these practices.
It's also a game that isn't worth playing, since by the company's standpoint, you're guilty until proven innocent.
That company is Blizzard Entertainment.
World of Warcraft has over 8 million subscribers worldwide, a figure that seems to be growing daily and only gets larger as time goes on. As a result, oftenthere are exploiters, gold sellers, botters, and other discontents that attempt to go past the limits Blizzard has set on the game, or to make monetary rewards from such actions.
This blog isn't against that, this blog is against the actions that Blizzard takes to combat these practices.
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