Got banned - then unbanned.

[snakey]

Hey,

I got this in me email today.

[email protected]

0*:00 (7 hours ago)

to me
***Notice of Account Closure***

Account Name: WOW1

Reason for Closure: Terms of Use Violation -- Exploitative Activity: Abuse of the Economy

This account was closed because one or more characters were identified exchanging, or contributing to the exchange of, in-game property (items or gold) for "real-world" currency. This exchange process negatively impacts the World of Warcraft game environment by detracting from the value of the in-game economy.

Even if this is the result of account sharing, the account owner can still be held responsible for the penalty because of the impact it had on the game environment.

We've found the above behavior is many times directly related to groups responsible for compromising World of Warcraft accounts; we take these issues very seriously. To better understand our position against exploitative activity and the risks involved, please review this article: Gold Buying and Power-Leveling - Support - Battle.net Support

The exploitative activity that took place on this account violates the World of Warcraft Terms of Use. We ask you take a moment to review these terms at Blizzard Entertainment: Blizzard Legal Documentation. Note that additional Terms of Use violations may result in more severe actions against this account, up to and including permanent closure.

If you believe your account was compromised, please go to the following website https://us.battle.net/account/support/account-recovery.html. Our support staff will assist you as soon as possible. If you are unable to access your account due to the password being changed, please visit our Login Support site here: https://us.battle.net/account/support/password-reset.html

For any disputes of this action or further information on Exploitive Activity, please visit the Exploitative Activity FAQ and contact page here: Support - Battle.net Support

Regards,

Customer Services
Blizzard Entertainment
World of Warcraft

Since I was unable to call them by phone I issued a support ticket and this is the reply I got in around 15 minutes.

World of Warcraft Account Action Dispute

Thank you for contacting us concerning the recent action taken against the World of Warcraft account *********#*. While we understand your concerns regarding the status of this account, we take matters involving the integrity of the game environment very seriously.

Please take a few moments to look over the World of Warcraft Terms of Use (Blizzard Entertainment: World of Warcraft Terms of Use), which all players agree to upon initially logging into the game.

The Terms of Use state that you will not "...modify or cause to be modified any files that are a part of the Game Client or the Service in any way not expressly authorized by Blizzard" or "...use cheats, automation software (bots), hacks, mods or any other unauthorized third-party software designed to modify the World of Warcraft experience..."

Additionally, the Battle.net Terms of Use (Blizzard Entertainment: Battle.net Terms of Use) state that "You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the Login Information, and you will be responsible for all uses of the Login Information, including purchases, whether or not authorized by you."

Due to a second thorough review of the circumstances involved in this account action, we have made the decision to modify the previously communicated penalty. This additional review took into consideration a variety of factors including the history and standing of this account. Please understand that should another incident arise in the future, it is possible that a different outcome will be reached.

Please review our in-game penalties policy (Account Penalties - Support - Battle.net Support) which states that "we must also factor in the severity of the infraction and how often the player has violated our policies in the past. Based on these factors, the penalty may be moved up the Penalty Volcano, up to and including Account Closure."

If the previously issued action resulted in the closure of this account, the account has been reopened and access restored. Should any action be required in order to regain access to this account, an additional email will be sent from an @blizzard.com or @battle.net email address with further instructions. If no additional correspondence is received, you should be able to access this account using the password that was valid before the account closure.

Thank you for your continued correspondence in regards to your account and for respecting our position.

Regards,

******
Game Master
Blizzard Entertainment
World of Warcraft

Now here's the thing... I had been botting 9 hrs a day since the past week in a single map. But i was not the only one who got this email. Players from my guild have been getting their accoutns locked for no reason and this is the same email they get. Those guys have never even heard of a bot.

So i am not sure whether this lock was the result of my botting. MY RAF Gametime or just a random lock which WoW keeps passing around to show players whose the boss.

Regardless, I am now going to change my botting methods. Will be getting an alternate account now for botting. Can't afford to lose my main. ( i know it was stupid to bot on my main in the first place )

Also if anyone is wondering what i wrote in the support ticket.. then it was jsut the usual rant.

- I am a very dedicated player
- Worked too long and hard for progression raidss
- No idea how this happened
- I have some trojans on my pc .. maybe they must have cause this lock to happen ( imp to act like an idiot )
- i can assure that i have conducted no suspicious activity on this account
- and so on

Thanks,
Snakey

 

[Giwin]

I had been botting 9 hrs a day

This is why you got unbanned, it was from one of their triggers as the US are trigger happy when it comes to bots but they're getting a lot of false positives from legit players which means that eventually they'll have to change their system to be more relaxed.

As long as the US botters stay under 10 hours or 12 hours per day then you'll avoid account closure and win on appeal (powerlevelers do 12 hours but I'd do 10 if US)