I was reading this in real detail on a new account I created yesterday.... and I made a few observations that bother me a bit...

The following is simply summed up to skill the legal jargon, and be more direct, but it is more or less as accurate as I understand it. Correct me where i'm wrong in my understanding.

1) The player has zero rights to: Play the game, have or retain characters, items, currency, or any other aspect of the virtual world of "World of Warcraft". What this means is that Blizzard can take your account, or any thing on it for any reason, or just on whim. They can also place on your account any action that they want to.. also with or with out reason. This means that... If you buy the 0ne year subscription, and on day two, some one at Blizzard decides they don't like you, or is just having a bad day, well... They can do what ever they want to your account. They can ban you, delete your characters, or strip you bare. You have no recourse. They own your character, and every thing on it.

2) Once you open the game box, or the expansion box, or the game card box... You are stuck with it. You can not return it for refund. I have talked to managers at both Wal-Mart, and EB. They have both stated that Blizzard has a no return policy. Ie they will not take back opened product. I have not seen documents on this, so they are the only info I have to go on here. This refusal to refund the game is irregardless of if you accept the ToS or not.

3) All rights you have to use the courts to decide on an issue in the game are lost when you agree to the ToS. What this means is that a blizzard employee can say or do any thing in the game that they want to you, and you have zero recourse. This also shields abusive players if blizzard chooses not to act on them.

4) You forfeit all consumer protections by accepting the ToS. You lose all rights.

5) They can shut the game down at any time, for any reason... With or with out warning. Also with out compensation for time lost. According to the ToS Blizzard could run the game for 30 seconds during one month... and not have to refund one cent.

6) Their is not rules in the ToS for things like fairness, ect. They can punish two identical malbehaviors, in two different ways. Or punish one, and not the other at all. Again.. you have no recourse or rights.

7) If for some reason you have some problem that the ToS does not already tell you "tough luck" on, then you may seek remedy in LA court out in California. That is after you go through an arbatrater, if Blizzard wants to use one. Irregardless of what is decided, you still pay all fees involved for both parties.
If some how you get past all of this, a trial may be possible, but highly unlikely.


It bothers me, as a consumer, that their seem to be no protections in place at all for players. It is all to easy for years of work... literally thausands of hours of effort, to be taken from a player for any reason, or no reason at all, with out recourse. This is in addition to not being able to talk to an actual person about the issue.

This is not a post intended to rip on blizzard, or start a flame war... it is simply my understanding of the ToS, and some of the concerns I have about it. In no way is this an accusation of bad practices on the part of Blizzard or its employees.

Arryth, was there a particular issue you needed assistance with?

Those of us on this forum are Game Masters, we are not the legal department and as such will not being delving into an in-depth discussion of our legal Terms of Use or other such documents.

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Q u o t e:
Now that is not a fair statement at all sir. If the agreement is beyond the understanding of the gm's (which I very much doubt, as you must be rathor bright, and have some aptitude to get such a job), How can a normal player understand it?

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I'm sorry, I'll clarify - as I never meant to say that the Game Master department does not understand it. Simply put, the Game Master department only addresses in-game issues and concerns; obviously that document covers a much broader aspect of the World of Warcraft than the Game Master department deals with. With that in mind, we cannot provide you wish the answer you seek as it is simply outside the realm of our department.

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Q u o t e:
My issues, to answer your question are:

1) the complexity of the document

2) The seeming lack of any real protections for the customer ( I may be wrong, but I just do not see them there).

3) The (what seems to me, again, I could be wrong) overwhelming one sidedness of the document.

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If you feel that aspects of the document should be changed the only place I can direct you is our Suggestions Forum, as legally we're restricted from processing suggestions.

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Q u o t e:
This is a consumer service issue for me, and I suspect many others. Security, and protections are of great importance to my players that I know... and of late.. many are becoming nervous to the point of quiting the game, due to some recent bannings. Simply put... losing a character with tons of time put in can be tramatic to a person, and scare them off playing, with out a system in place to show them that it is fair and balanced, and that if their is a problem, there will be a person to talk to you, who will not be rude, and understands our issues.

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Aha! I knew there was an underlying issue here, and I had a feeling that it may have had to do with you or a 'friend' having had their account closed. You're welcome to read the legal documents pertaining to the World of Warcraft, and tear it apart as well - but unfortunately the fact will still remain that the only point of contact at Blizzard Entertainment that can address account action disputes is the Account Administration department. They are very good at what they do, and if an account owner is not involved in any inappropriate behavior then they have absolutely nothing to fear.

Also, if you're finding yourself with spare time to do some reading I would highly recommend reading the How to Stay in the Game Guide (http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaa/?id=aDisplay02046p) - I would guess that reading an understand the information detailed there may be of more practical and immediate use to you. :)

Arryth, I completely understand that you are concerned and that you feel this is something my department should address - unfortunately it does not change the fact that the Game Master department can only assist with in-game issues and concerns. Again, this is not an in-game issue or concern and thus is beyond our ability to help with.

If you feel that changes should be made to our legal documents please post in the Suggestions Forum. At this point I don't see how I can make this any clearer to you.

Arryth, was an account of your's recently closed?

Arryth, if your wife's account was honestly incorrectly closed then you should pursue it with Account Administration. If you're not willing to do that then no, there is nothing else that can be done - and again picking apart the Terms of Use and attempting to create an uproar on the forums by scaring players into thinking their accounts are going to be closed randomly and for no reason isn't going to result in your wife's account being re-opened.

See, this is actually what is happening in this thread folks. The original poster's account, or his wife's account, has been closed for behavior that violates the World of Warcraft (and also just plain and simple disrupts and ruins the gaming environment). After disputing this closure and having the account fully investigated (I checked, and believe you me the situation was thoroughly looked into) the closure was appropriately upheld. Well, rather than learning from the lesson or continuing to dispute the matter through the proper avenue the original poster decided that they would see if catering to the emotions of many here on the forums and creating a spectacle could produce better results. Well, no, it won't.

Folks, please know that your accounts are safe - and that unfortunately there are some bad eggs out there that do partake in behavior that is contrary to creating a fun, safe and fair gaming environment - those same individuals will continue to be dishonest and in an attempt to attain their own goals and get back at 'the man' they will breed chaos and confusion. Do not be fooled, Blizzard Entertainment has absolutely no vested interest in closing legitimate accounts - to the contrary, we wish for them to stay open.

In cases where an account may become compromised and the compromising party takes part in harmful behavior, yes it is possible that the account will be closed. No, it isn't because we want to make your life harder and yes, it is because there was harm being done to other players and/or the economy on the account and we have every intention of stopping it. Yes, Account Administration will help to return your account and no attempting to claim your account was compromised when it was not will not get you anywhere.

For those that wish to push and pursue information on our investigation process, you will not be provided with it; despite whether your intentions are good or if they are intended to do damage. The fact remains that disclosing our internal investigation processes would simply be like issuing a public manual on how to bypass our investigation processes, and thus bring down the economy and ruin the fun and amazing game that is the World of Warcraft.

I see this issue time and time again on the forums, and I know that it is difficult for some who are not here in our office personally able to see what is going on behind the scenes - but know that I personally do get to see this, and I have been looking at these issues for a long while (note, I have a unique ability to have a very fresh perspective on issues that are 'old') and there is no conspiracy, there are no mistakes being made that are resulting in hundreds of thousands of players being incorrectly banned and there is a department of competent and expert individuals that are dedicated to ensuring your disputes are fully read and processed (Account Administration).

I cannot stress this enough. :o)

EDIT: Minor typo and grammatical corrections.

There is far too much idle speculation in this thread – by both sides. On one side players certainly do not get banned because Blizzard “doesn’t like there name” etc. But similarly one doesn’t need to insult someone just for claiming that. Please avoid from flaming each other as this just tends to result in threads getting locked. Instead try to keep the posts constructive.

Let us get this thread back on track and focus on the issue at hand. Arryth, I took a look into your email correspondence history on the account you are posting from. From this I see that you emailed our Account Administration Department a few days ago and that they recently sent you an email containing certain important requests. This email seems especially relevant when compared to what you detailed above so once again I would like to request that you read through this and follow the directions within if you have not done so already.

I realize that this doesn’t entirely place the situation under your control but unfortunately in cases like this a third party is the “victim” and thus their involvement and validation is not only useful but is required. Merely contesting this matter alone may be insufficient, as the issue was in a sense originated by this third party. I am sorry if without such collaboration things can not be resolved in your favor but please keep in mind that Blizzard Entertainment is committed to protecting the interests of all players involved and must not neglect concerns by a “victim”. Hopefully you can get your friends to aid you in this matter and I wish you and your wife the best regardless.

There is far too much idle speculation in this thread – by both sides. On one side players certainly do not get banned because Blizzard “doesn’t like their name” etc. But similarly one doesn’t need to insult someone just for claiming that. Please avoid from flaming each other as this just tends to result in threads getting locked. Instead try to keep the posts constructive.

Let us get this thread back on track and focus on the issue at hand. Arryth, I took a look into your email correspondence history on the account you are posting from. From this I see that you emailed our Account Administration Department a few days ago and that they recently sent you an email containing certain important requests. This email seems especially relevant when compared to what you detailed above so once again I would like to request that you read through this and follow the directions within if you have not done so already.

I realize that this doesn’t entirely place the situation under your control but unfortunately in cases like this a third party is the “victim” and thus their involvement and validation is not only useful but is required. Merely contesting this matter alone may be insufficient, as the issue was in a sense originated by this third party. I am sorry if without such collaboration things can not be resolved in your favor but please keep in mind that Blizzard Entertainment is committed to protecting the interests of all players involved and must not neglect concerns by a “victim”. Hopefully you can get your friends to aid you in this matter and I wish you and your wife the best regardless.