Greetings,

Account Name: XXXXXXXX
Realm: Gorefiend
Character Name: Trisha

A user of the above account has recently been involved in actions deemed inappropriate for the World of Warcraft by the In-Game Support staff of Blizzard Entertainment. This decision was made after a thorough investigation of the situation as a whole.

When a harassment report is made, all players involved in the incident are subject to review, which may result in account penalties. Though we are unable to discuss the outcomes of our investigations due to privacy concerns, rest assured that this incident has been looked into very thoroughly, and the appropriate actions have been taken on all involved accounts.

Any disputes or questions concerning the following account action can only be addressed by Account Administration. To learn more about how Account Administration is able to assist you, please visit us at http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaa/.

Account Action: Warning
Offenses: Harassment Policy Violation - Racial/Ethnic
This category includes both clear and masked language which:
* Promotes racial/ethnic hatred
* Is recognized as a racial/ethnic slur
* Alludes to symbols of racial/ethnic hatred

Details (Note - Times are listed in Greenwich Mean Time, GMT):
2007/12/28 17:22:27 (GMT) - Trisha says in Trade - City " [The Nicker] stole my bike."

For further information, please view the World of Warcraft Policies and Terms of Use Agreement: (http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowgm/?id=agm01712p) and (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/termsofuse.shtml). Please be aware that additional inappropriate actions may result in further disciplinary action, up to or including account closure.

We understand that these policies may seem harsh, but they are in place to ensure that every player is able to fully enjoy their travels in the World of Warcraft. Thank you in advance for respecting our position.
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Pretty much my subject heading sums up why I am posting here. I want to know why I would get a warning for linking an in-game item. I will even provide a link of this item:

http://www.wowhead.com/?item=13285

If I am not mistaken, I've never heard the term "Nicker" used as a racial term before. Maybe it's a new term, but I feel that this warning is unjustified, because there is nothing racial in the nature of the comment that I made in trade chat, especially seeing as I was linking an in-game item in conjunction with a sentence completion.

If anybody here can tell me how my statement promotes racial/ethnic hatred, is recognized as a racial/ethnic slur, or alludes to symbols of racial/ethnic hatred, then I should like to see the reasoning here. And if the linking of this item can be grounds for account action, then I feel that this item must be renamed. It is simply not fair.

These threads at once amuse me and shake what little faith I hold in humanity; it's the most fascinating sensation. Let's begin, shall we? :)

First and foremost, Trisha, let's drop the pretenses. You know what you meant; we know what you meant; hell, even the people in the General Discussion could probably divine what you meant. To feign ignorance of your intent frankly insults all of our intelligence, and certainly doesn't contribute any legitimacy to your case. My honest recommendation? Heed this warning and refrain from such offensive behaviour in the future; while you're welcome to contact Account Administration should you truly believe that you've been wrongfully accused, I don't feel it's likely for the prior judgment to be overturned. Our representatives are more than familiar with such attempts at "cleverness," and justice is swiftly meted out.

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Q u o t e:
Well, the issue here is that it wasn't intended to be a racial slur reference. From what I understand, there was a game of "who stole my bike?" going on, and this was posted as part of the fun in trade chat.

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Helpinghand, I appreciate the fact that you're here attempting to defend your guildmate's actions; that sort of solidarity is to be admired, especially in the face of such enormity. But I'm sorry to say that "what you understand" is inaccurate — no such "Who stole my bike?" game was taking place in Trade chat. Instead, it seems a number of players spontaneously decided to post racially offensive statements including the name of this axe in place of a well-known slur, and your friend was among them. I see here no evidence whatsoever to suggest his innocence in this matter.

I realise it's so terribly witty to use in-game items to make offensive statements, but must you try to justify your actions afterward? It's tiresome.

This thread is becoming double-plus ungood. Locking to preserve the absence of thoughtcrime topics.