I tried to login this morning and got a message saying that my accounts been locked. Switch over to battle.net and it says my account has been banned, but only 1 of the 3 accounts under my battle.net account has been banned. I can't think of any portion of the EULA that I violated and recieved no e-mail from Blizzard stating a reason for why I have been banned. I have filed my petition for an appeal and now I am just waiting for a reply.
So anyone been through this process before and have any advice?
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Anyone had success with a Banned Account Appeal?Follow
Dosn't really matter now. Blizzard replied to my appeal with
Still have no idea what I did to get my account banned or what previous offences they are mentioning. This is the first contact I have ever had with a GM.
Quote:
Thank you for your follow-up contact. An additional review of the previously communicated action taken against the World of Warcraft account on has been completed. Unfortunately, we have confirmed our initial findings. The account action will not be reversed or amended. We base all of our actions on the severity of the violation, and take previous violations into consideration. This action has been taken in accordance with the Terms of Use (http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/legal/wow_tou.html) and our In-Game Policies (http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/20309), which all players acknowledge and agree to prior to participation. While we understand that you may disagree with some of the policies or conditions, the bottom line is that they allow us to maintain a fun and safe game environment. If you need any information on your already paid for game time, you'll need to contact the Billing Department to see about a refund. We hope this has resolved any concerns you may have had. Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.Regards,Game MasterBlizzard Entertainment
Still have no idea what I did to get my account banned or what previous offences they are mentioning. This is the first contact I have ever had with a GM.
you behind an authenticator? As if not it may not have been you.
Blizzard responded and told me that I had been banned for botting. Which was a surprise to me since in the 12 years I have been playing MMOs I have never used a bot. I guess I need to change this thread to "So what's a good game to try since WoW dosn't want my money anymore"
I think you may have missed Gwenorgan's point -- you may not have been botting; however, that does not mean that your account wasn't used for botting.
If you let someone else use your account, they may have used an inappropriate addon. If you did not let someone else use your account, botting may be a sign that it was hacked.
It is also possible that some addon you don't think of as a typical bot program might violate TOS/EULA. Multiboxing is not a violation, but if you have three accounts you may multibox and something you use for that may go too far in automating keystrokes. I'm not sure but I think I remember certain programmable keyboards and mice may cross that line.
If you let someone else use your account, they may have used an inappropriate addon. If you did not let someone else use your account, botting may be a sign that it was hacked.
It is also possible that some addon you don't think of as a typical bot program might violate TOS/EULA. Multiboxing is not a violation, but if you have three accounts you may multibox and something you use for that may go too far in automating keystrokes. I'm not sure but I think I remember certain programmable keyboards and mice may cross that line.
I have had an authenticator on my account for the last few months. I used pwnboxer software when I multibox which does broadcast keystokes but I was under the impression from what I read that it didn't violate the EULA because it didn't automate play. I don't really know the reason for my ban or why they only chose 1/3 of my accounts but either way I'm out 8 85s and 4 years of time on this account.
My big concern to be honest is that I might lose my free D3 which was linked to the account that got banned. That would really just be rubbing salt in the wound.
My big concern to be honest is that I might lose my free D3 which was linked to the account that got banned. That would really just be rubbing salt in the wound.
Check to see if you got hacked or if someone used your account (roommate or family member for example). If you find malware or evidence you got hacked, I'd suggest screen shots. It is odd that only one account was banned, that may point towards someone using your account without your knowledge.
Call them?
I always find issues easier to work out in a conversation rather than trying to play email tag with a corporate entity. At least that way you can explain to the GM exactly what's going on and perhaps they can shed a bit more light from their end of exactly what was done and when which violated the rules.
I always find issues easier to work out in a conversation rather than trying to play email tag with a corporate entity. At least that way you can explain to the GM exactly what's going on and perhaps they can shed a bit more light from their end of exactly what was done and when which violated the rules.
Pantherfern wrote:
Call them?
I always find issues easier to work out in a conversation rather than trying to play email tag with a corporate entity. At least that way you can explain to the GM exactly what's going on and perhaps they can shed a bit more light from their end of exactly what was done and when which violated the rules.
I always find issues easier to work out in a conversation rather than trying to play email tag with a corporate entity. At least that way you can explain to the GM exactly what's going on and perhaps they can shed a bit more light from their end of exactly what was done and when which violated the rules.
Best course of action right here. Calling can remind you a bit of trying to call in and win a radio contest, but keep trying, and expect a wait.
It's really worth it, though, things get resolved so much more quickly and painlessly when you're talking to someone instead of having to re-explain through email again and again.
idiggory, King of Bards wrote:
I have a racist ****.
Steam: TuxedoFish
battle.net: Fishy #1649
GW2: Fishy.4129
Before calling, you might want to familiarize yourself with the following threads:
http://blue.mmo-champion.com/topic/216469-blozzard-falsely-banned-my-guildie/
Blue post addressing how to appeal
http://blue.mmo-champion.com/topic/216473-new-way-to-get-banned/
Blue post on botting bans
http://blue.mmo-champion.com/topic/216469-blozzard-falsely-banned-my-guildie/
Blue post addressing how to appeal
http://blue.mmo-champion.com/topic/216473-new-way-to-get-banned/
Blue post on botting bans
xinaskin wrote:
I have had an authenticator on my account for the last few months. I used pwnboxer software when I multibox which does broadcast keystokes but I was under the impression from what I read that it didn't violate the EULA because it didn't automate play. I don't really know the reason for my ban or why they only chose 1/3 of my accounts but either way I'm out 8 85s and 4 years of time on this account.
My big concern to be honest is that I might lose my free D3 which was linked to the account that got banned. That would really just be rubbing salt in the wound.
My big concern to be honest is that I might lose my free D3 which was linked to the account that got banned. That would really just be rubbing salt in the wound.
Some keyboards and mice also have script capabilities, so it's possible that's what flagged your account. The general rule of thumb I've seen on the forums is 1 key-stroke/click = 1 action (per client) is okay. Anything else is no bueno.
That doesn't include macros though, as far as i'm aware. As long as the macros are made inside the game via /macro
Yeah, I could have been a little more clear. Anything you can do with in-game macros or add-ons is also okay, as Blizzard can change (and has changed) the way macros and add-ons work to break things they don't like.
I like how they said in that 2nd link above "If we banned it, that means we had proof".
Uh, sure Blizz.
Lemme tell you a true story about my mom's account, for a sec...
My mom, 56, has been playing on her account ever since she got it, without a hitch. We've never used a bot program, and she wouldn't know how to install one even if she wanted to.
One day, upon trying to log on, she gets some kind of "wrong password" error. She tries a couple more times and then the error changes to "Your account is suspended". I appeal that, and they re-instate it. We attach her account to an authenticator, figuring someone tried to hack her account.
Fast-forward a couple months later, she gets banned again, this time for "Exploitation of Economy". I send the appeal for that, and they un-do the ban, and in that email, the responding GM says that her activities were "suspicious" because she appeared to be doing "excessive farming". Now, it is true, mom would farm for 5+ hours a day, but she's 56 and she has nothing else to do for entertainment.
Two weeks later, she gets perma-banned. I appeal, this time they say "Sorry, nope, we're not going to reverse it this time" basically (pretty much the same wording as the person above C&P'd).
Well, we decided to start over. I use Recruit-a-Friend to start a new account for her, but we hit a snag in trying to upgrade it to TBC because she had a Draenei Paladin and she wanted another Draenei Paladin. So, I call Billing and during the conversation, it came up that her original account was banned. I explained to the guy who claimed he knew someone in AA (Account Administration) about the fact my mom's 56, she has health problems which prevents her from having an active hobby (one slip and fall could easily put her in the hospital with broken bones), and the fact she's a housewife with no job.
Two days later, we get a mail saying that her account is re-instated.
"We have proof" my ***.
She never botted. Not once. I checked her computer up, down, and sideways, checked every single folder on her HDD, checked all of her addons, everything.
EDIT: Since then, she's cut her farming way back and we've not had an incident since, especially since Cataclysm was released. She hardly ever does farming now, only doing about one 4-5 hour stint per week, usually only for V-Life when our Gbank gets low.
With 150k in the Gbank, and the fact we almost never buy anything from the AH and we make 200-300 gold daily from our daily activities... we don't need to farm anymore.
Still though... "We have Proof" ... no, they have "Suspicions". Which might not be 100% accurate.
Edited, Jan 28th 2012 6:55pm by Lyrailis
Uh, sure Blizz.
Lemme tell you a true story about my mom's account, for a sec...
My mom, 56, has been playing on her account ever since she got it, without a hitch. We've never used a bot program, and she wouldn't know how to install one even if she wanted to.
One day, upon trying to log on, she gets some kind of "wrong password" error. She tries a couple more times and then the error changes to "Your account is suspended". I appeal that, and they re-instate it. We attach her account to an authenticator, figuring someone tried to hack her account.
Fast-forward a couple months later, she gets banned again, this time for "Exploitation of Economy". I send the appeal for that, and they un-do the ban, and in that email, the responding GM says that her activities were "suspicious" because she appeared to be doing "excessive farming". Now, it is true, mom would farm for 5+ hours a day, but she's 56 and she has nothing else to do for entertainment.
Two weeks later, she gets perma-banned. I appeal, this time they say "Sorry, nope, we're not going to reverse it this time" basically (pretty much the same wording as the person above C&P'd).
Well, we decided to start over. I use Recruit-a-Friend to start a new account for her, but we hit a snag in trying to upgrade it to TBC because she had a Draenei Paladin and she wanted another Draenei Paladin. So, I call Billing and during the conversation, it came up that her original account was banned. I explained to the guy who claimed he knew someone in AA (Account Administration) about the fact my mom's 56, she has health problems which prevents her from having an active hobby (one slip and fall could easily put her in the hospital with broken bones), and the fact she's a housewife with no job.
Two days later, we get a mail saying that her account is re-instated.
"We have proof" my ***.
She never botted. Not once. I checked her computer up, down, and sideways, checked every single folder on her HDD, checked all of her addons, everything.
EDIT: Since then, she's cut her farming way back and we've not had an incident since, especially since Cataclysm was released. She hardly ever does farming now, only doing about one 4-5 hour stint per week, usually only for V-Life when our Gbank gets low.
With 150k in the Gbank, and the fact we almost never buy anything from the AH and we make 200-300 gold daily from our daily activities... we don't need to farm anymore.
Still though... "We have Proof" ... no, they have "Suspicions". Which might not be 100% accurate.
Edited, Jan 28th 2012 6:55pm by Lyrailis
In all fairness, that was several years ago if I recall correctly. They have probably updated their bot checks and from your own post it appears they said it was exploiting the economy, not necessarily botting.
Your mother's situation is one that deserves empathy, but it is highly unusual. Farming for 5+ hours per day would appear indistinguishable from plain old gold farming. Even given your mother's unusual situation, it stretches any standard definition of entertainment to keep playing whack a node with that intensity; you've mentioned brittle bones, not OCD. We all find different things entertaining, but 5+ hours of farming every day? I can't imagine how she stood it instead of turning to TV, some other game format or even just burning down regular mobs for drops and XP.
Were it someone else, let's say XiaoxiaoJJ, and his answer was: "sure, I farm 5+ hours a day and sell the mats, but I just graduated, I'm unemployed and I'm darned bored", would that go over well? To a certain extent, your mother was exploiting the economy. A player under more regular conditions would not be able to duplicate her behavior and would find the nodes already picked clean. Perhaps Blizzard should be given some credit for eventually understanding her special circumstances.
Your mother's situation is one that deserves empathy, but it is highly unusual. Farming for 5+ hours per day would appear indistinguishable from plain old gold farming. Even given your mother's unusual situation, it stretches any standard definition of entertainment to keep playing whack a node with that intensity; you've mentioned brittle bones, not OCD. We all find different things entertaining, but 5+ hours of farming every day? I can't imagine how she stood it instead of turning to TV, some other game format or even just burning down regular mobs for drops and XP.
Were it someone else, let's say XiaoxiaoJJ, and his answer was: "sure, I farm 5+ hours a day and sell the mats, but I just graduated, I'm unemployed and I'm darned bored", would that go over well? To a certain extent, your mother was exploiting the economy. A player under more regular conditions would not be able to duplicate her behavior and would find the nodes already picked clean. Perhaps Blizzard should be given some credit for eventually understanding her special circumstances.
44 posts
Now there is a spyware item called PINGER that is nearly undetectable. Blizzards scanner doesn't pick it up but this is what it does. It changes your IP address every time you reboot your computer or it sits a while. The only way I was able to get rid of it was to installed ESET anti-virus and it worked like a CHAMP. So start one of the computers and ctr-alt-del and look at processes. If you see pinger or PING32 then that is probably what Blizzard saw. I kept having to use my authenticator to log in but I would go from FL to Virgina, to Alaska to China and around. Also knowing a few former admin I know its kinda a pain in the **** to keep a permanent on someone. I'd have your mother call and talk to them and have her tell them that she needs to know exactly why. If they DO NOT give you a reply ask for their supervisor. They HAVE TO channel it up. Eventually someone will have to explain cause you paid for a product. Now you said yourself that you were using a multi-box program. I know in the past those have been allowed but I also know that some of them are not allowed. Maybe something with that, but its all speculation. I got temp banned during the time I was traveling from the US, to Puerto Rico, to Spain, and then to Russia and it took a week to get unbanned. You just got to be persistent in calling and being calm and respectful.
Rhodekylle wrote:
In all fairness, that was several years ago if I recall correctly. They have probably updated their bot checks and from your own post it appears they said it was exploiting the economy, not necessarily botting.
Your mother's situation is one that deserves empathy, but it is highly unusual. Farming for 5+ hours per day would appear indistinguishable from plain old gold farming. Even given your mother's unusual situation, it stretches any standard definition of entertainment to keep playing whack a node with that intensity; you've mentioned brittle bones, not OCD. We all find different things entertaining, but 5+ hours of farming every day? I can't imagine how she stood it instead of turning to TV, some other game format or even just burning down regular mobs for drops and XP.
Were it someone else, let's say XiaoxiaoJJ, and his answer was: "sure, I farm 5+ hours a day and sell the mats, but I just graduated, I'm unemployed and I'm darned bored", would that go over well? To a certain extent, your mother was exploiting the economy. A player under more regular conditions would not be able to duplicate her behavior and would find the nodes already picked clean. Perhaps Blizzard should be given some credit for eventually understanding her special circumstances.
Your mother's situation is one that deserves empathy, but it is highly unusual. Farming for 5+ hours per day would appear indistinguishable from plain old gold farming. Even given your mother's unusual situation, it stretches any standard definition of entertainment to keep playing whack a node with that intensity; you've mentioned brittle bones, not OCD. We all find different things entertaining, but 5+ hours of farming every day? I can't imagine how she stood it instead of turning to TV, some other game format or even just burning down regular mobs for drops and XP.
Were it someone else, let's say XiaoxiaoJJ, and his answer was: "sure, I farm 5+ hours a day and sell the mats, but I just graduated, I'm unemployed and I'm darned bored", would that go over well? To a certain extent, your mother was exploiting the economy. A player under more regular conditions would not be able to duplicate her behavior and would find the nodes already picked clean. Perhaps Blizzard should be given some credit for eventually understanding her special circumstances.
My apologies for my... spirited post earlier in the thread.
It is still a touchy subject for mom and I (she nearly quit the game entirely over it), and every time we hear Blizz say "If we banned it, it was because we had -proof-", we find it a little hard to swallow. Yes, sure, mom's actions might have looked strange on their end, but I wouldn't call that proof. Now, hopefully you are right and that their detection methods have improved since a couple years ago, but I do know that if this were to happen again, mom would quit, and she'd have no real hobby (unless I could convince her to try another MMO, maybe Rifts) that would keep her mind active, and I myself would find myself wondering if I truly had an interest to keep playing as well.
And yes, I do realize that Blizz did us a great service in eventually un-doing the ban, but like I said, it is still a touchy subject. My mom couldn't possibly be the only bored elderly person in-game, surely. Especially with how they are making classes harder and more complicated to play (she plays a Ret Paladin... in Wrath, she could do Heroics. But not in Cataclysm; Ret is far too difficult for her now, and the dungeons are harder too), dungeons are getting harder, and PvP was nigh-impossible for her as it is. What else could she do, other than farm and dailies?
Hopefully, MoP with its promises of easier dungeons actually holds out. Hopefully, the Ret Talent Tree continues to be less proc-dependent (unless you CHOOSE things like Divine Purpose), so that she can actually participate in the game again.
Also, hopefully Pet Battles don't go the same way that Path of the Titans did -- a Turn-based combat system would be Heaven for her. She would actually have the time to think.
I know it's beside the point, but why does your mom prefer to grind away in WoW all day instead of watching TV? I mean, WoW is awesome and all, but farming nodes all day must be boring^2. I almost didn't make it through the Thorium grind when I was leveling Blacksmithing.
Please "talk up" if your comprehension white-shifts. I will use simple-happy language-words to help you understand.
Mazra wrote:
I know it's beside the point, but why does your mom prefer to grind away in WoW all day instead of watching TV? I mean, WoW is awesome and all, but farming nodes all day must be boring^2. I almost didn't make it through the Thorium grind when I was leveling Blacksmithing.
She played FFXI.
She used to farm for hours and hours because it was required in that game.
When she first came to WoW, she was amazed at how easy it was to farm, and she had already been used to doing long farming grinds.
That, and when she first got to Level 80, she was trying to build up some nice money on our characters so we could buy the purples on the AH, etc. Well she did that and then some, lol.
Now our GBanks (both of them! One Horde, One Alliance two different servers) have 150k+ in them, and at least 40k on both of our characters mostly thanks to her (and some 1-3k a week I do too in daily quests and random crap I come across).
Back before she was banned, we'd do probably 10k a week in Sholazar mining, if not more.
But I suppose now that we're set up fairly nicely, we don't have to farm much, and she's been saying she's kinda bored... been trying to find her another decent game to play, but... she has limited coordination between both of her hands; she has serious trouble trying to have both hands on the keyboard simultaneously (or mouse+keyboard). This is why she cannot do PvP -- she's a keyboard turner and there's no stinkin way she's going to run the mouse and the keyboard simultaneously.
I wanted to get her into Terraria, but again... Mouse + Keyboard simultaneously doesn't work for her. That leaves out 90% of everything on Steam, except maybe Civilization... meh. She used to play Sim City way back in the day... and she can handle a playstation controller oddly enough (even though it requires two hands), but she's all thumbs when it comes to trying to do the keyboard and mouse simultaneously.
So you imagine the sheer challenge I face when trying to get her into a game.
Oh, and TV? There's nothing -on- TV that she likes. She misses the "good ole days" when she used to watch things like Babylon5, Space:Above and Beyond, the old BS:G (she hates the new one, she thinks they ruined it), some of the older shows she was used to.
That and ever since Dad retired, he watches History and Redneck Channel almost 24/7, so he's always hogging the TV anyways.
Edit: One other thing, she used to paint (oil/acrylic), she used to do latch-hook too, but she hasn't done that in years. She used to play old console J-RPGs (in the SNES and PS1 days) and when she did, she'd grind up to ludicrous levels that would just amaze me. Name a SNES J-RPG and I'd tell you some ludicrous level she ground up to and how many of the game's bosses she killed in 1-3 hits. lol.
Edited, Jan 29th 2012 7:03pm by Lyrailis
Lyrailis wrote:
Oh, and TV? There's nothing -on- TV that she likes. She misses the "good ole days" when she used to watch things like Babylon5, Space:Above and Beyond, the old BS:G (she hates the new one, she thinks they ruined it), some of the older shows she was used to.
oh my god, if I wasn't already married.. and of course, if your mom wasn't already married....
she sounds like the kind of woman I'd have proposed to!!
capcanuk wrote:
Lyrailis wrote:
Oh, and TV? There's nothing -on- TV that she likes. She misses the "good ole days" when she used to watch things like Babylon5, Space:Above and Beyond, the old BS:G (she hates the new one, she thinks they ruined it), some of the older shows she was used to.
oh my god, if I wasn't already married.. and of course, if your mom wasn't already married....
she sounds like the kind of woman I'd have proposed to!!
Well, before dad retired, we used to watch CSI:NY, CSI:Miami and Criminal Minds.
I miss those days. Now, dad's on the TV 24/7. gaah.
And you know? I kinda agree with her about the 'nothing on TV' and the 'good ole days'.
I'm only 32, and even I have to agree that they just don't make shows like B5, S:AAB, and the old BS:G anymore.
Edited, Jan 29th 2012 8:44pm by Lyrailis
Lyrailis wrote:
capcanuk wrote:
Lyrailis wrote:
Oh, and TV? There's nothing -on- TV that she likes. She misses the "good ole days" when she used to watch things like Babylon5, Space:Above and Beyond, the old BS:G (she hates the new one, she thinks they ruined it), some of the older shows she was used to.
oh my god, if I wasn't already married.. and of course, if your mom wasn't already married....
she sounds like the kind of woman I'd have proposed to!!
Well, before dad retired, we used to watch CSI:NY, CSI:Miami and Criminal Minds.
I miss those days. Now, dad's on the TV 24/7. gaah.
And you know? I kinda agree with her about the 'nothing on TV' and the 'good ole days'.
I'm only 32, and even I have to agree that they just don't make shows like B5, S:AAB, and the old BS:G anymore.
Edited, Jan 29th 2012 8:44pm by Lyrailis
There really isn't anything on TV period. I'm a housewife and stay at home Mom. I never turn the tv on during the day. I don't want my kids sitting there watching tv all day and not moving around and secondly, besides PBS, everything else is garbage, yes even Nick Jr. I hate Nick Jr. >.>; Stupid Dora and Diego with their half-butt Spanish >.>; Blah. Nope, back when I was 2, I played with sticks and rocks and she will too! LOL *jking about the sticks and rocks, we do activities and educational things if she is not playing on her own :D*
Yeah, daytime TV sucks balls. There are a few night time shows that I like though. Glee, Once Upon a Time, House (though I'm still 1.5 seasons behind and trying to catch up), Drop Dead Diva on Lifetime, and Weeds. You guys might like Grimm since you enjoy detective type shows. I think it's on NBC on Fridays? I heard Eureka on ScyFi was pretty good, but it got cancelled.
Just throwing it out there, but why don't you guys get another TV? Hell, if we lived nearby I'd give you one. There are at least 5 TV's in my parent's house and two of them aren't even used.
If she liked Sim City have you thought about having her try The Sims? It can be pretty fun playing around with the different relationships and designing/decorating houses, and that's before you get into the different expansion packs.
Just throwing it out there, but why don't you guys get another TV? Hell, if we lived nearby I'd give you one. There are at least 5 TV's in my parent's house and two of them aren't even used.
If she liked Sim City have you thought about having her try The Sims? It can be pretty fun playing around with the different relationships and designing/decorating houses, and that's before you get into the different expansion packs.
I could watch TV all day long. We don't have 300 channels like you crazy people, but damn if they don't know how to make us stick around. I've managed to stay glued to the TV for an entire day (literally, an entire day - 24 hours) on just three channels worth of stuff.
Few things in life are better than mindlessly watching TV all day.
Few things in life are better than mindlessly watching TV all day.
Please "talk up" if your comprehension white-shifts. I will use simple-happy language-words to help you understand.
Mazra wrote:
I could watch TV all day long. We don't have 300 channels like you crazy people, but damn if they don't know how to make us stick around. I've managed to stay glued to the TV for an entire day (literally, an entire day - 24 hours) on just three channels worth of stuff.
Few things in life are better than mindlessly watching TV all day.
Few things in life are better than mindlessly watching TV all day.
You people need to please teach Americans how to do TV.
idiggory, King of Bards wrote:
I have a racist ****.
Steam: TuxedoFish
battle.net: Fishy #1649
GW2: Fishy.4129
Yeah and the thing that really sucks about the 300 channels, most of us don't want that many. There are a handful of channels that we actually like, but to get those channels, we have to pay for a package that has 300 channels.
If any cable company ever decided to allow people to purchase channels singularly, so we only had to pay for the channels we actually watched, they would make a killing.
If any cable company ever decided to allow people to purchase channels singularly, so we only had to pay for the channels we actually watched, they would make a killing.
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