At 12pm Friday 4th August I received an email which explained that my Blizzard account had been banned. Apparently permanently. The reason given was a vague one, being something related to abuse of in game mechanics. At this stage I was under the impression I was either a system error, or due to a common issue in relation to nefarious in game reporting by organized groups which gives rise to an automated ban, and which are (as I now read online) usually quickly reversed). There was some confusion on me end because my computer was turned off at home, I was at work and no one was at home until 3 hours after the ban was applied, I thought that it must be a delay from the night previous at 9:30pm which was when I was last online. Blizzard has failed to inform me when the asserted offense took place. I explained my position to Blizzard, that it is not possible the infringement came from my computer (if indeed the ban occurred when the asserted infringement took place, as opposed the night before) - in which case i have been hacked. To support my position, I have cctv recordings of me leaving work at 3pm, timesheets from work, and internet service providers records showing no one from my home was actively connected to the internet, let alone to a gaming server. I also preemptively addressed the alternative scenario which is: 1 - I was banned due to mass reporting from the night before.. or 2- i was automatically flagged in error by the Blizzard cheating protections. To address the alternative scenario i noted that the entire nights play was very likely recorded on the twitch platform, and that in game records will show that no exploitation software was used. To substantiate this further, i asked Blizzard to actively check the number of infractions/events which are being classed as infractions, my thought process being that if an exploit had occurred x 1, then this is presumably explained by chance. It would be highly unlikely to accidentally perform an exploit due to statistical reasons. i invited Blizzard to check its logs in this regard. Blizzard has responded to my tickets. First, i received 2 additional emails setting out different reasons for my ban. The first reason is for abuse of in game mechanics. The second email set out that the reason for my automatic ban was that i had been reported by fellow gamers. Further, the penalty itself appears to have changed, from being a permanent ban to a 6 month suspension. I informed Blizzard that this was likely an orchestrated effort to abuse the in-game reporting system and advised Blizzard to check my chat logs as i had engaged in some back and forth communications the night prior with some unfriendly people. Blizzard responded. Firstly, Blizzard has refused to tell me if the asserted offence happened the night before, or during the day on Friday when my PC was turned off and i was at work. Next, i was informed that the issue had been investigated and it was shown that an exploit had been used, and that it had been used from my location. This is not possible. Blizzard has failed to comment on any of the points i set out in my defense: my CCTv evidenced, my ISP records showing i was not online, my work time sheets, the in-game logs showing i was not exploiting, the recordings of the games played on the Twitch platform- any of which would be exculpatory in nature. When i raised that i was unhappy with what appeared to be little to no investigation, i also raised the fact that the penalty for any such offense was also disproportionate, noting that my account had not received any sort of similar infraction notice for over 10 years- yes i have played the game daily for approximately 13 years !. Further, i raised a ticker with Blizzard regarding quality of the investigation by the GM (Games Master), however my ticket about this was cancelled by the same GM i raised the quality issue about. I am now banned for 6 months, with no investigation having taken place. I recently purchased 3 months of game time 1 week before the ban, and if i wish to continue to play, i must pay for another copy of the game and buy game time. This seems a clear abuse of terms and a money grabbing scheme.
i used "appeal penalty" service and explained that i've been playing just like everyday i did during last monthes and have no idea about any kinds of cheat programs even i don't belive there are any that would work and actualy hack an official online game server!! after an hour i resived another email :
Action(s) Taken:
Account Suspended
Violation: Cheating
Your fellow players reported you for cheating.
now this part is actually very funny which i couldn't decid betwin geting angry or starting to lauph at that moment when i received their respond to my ticket: ((your patience has been rewarded. The closure of the account has been overturned to a 6 month suspension out of nowhere they changed permanent closer to 6 month suspend))
They charge you for expansions of the game and if you stop playing, they keep your money. I didn't even play the expansion and they would not refund the money... for a product I didn't use. They add things to the game before it comes out so if you do or complete something, they can say "well, u did play this part of game". The point is the expansion wasn't out and it's a video game I didn't play. They should have refunded the money for the game I didn't play. They RIP people off consistantly and they get away with it. Beware of this money hungry, joke of a company.
Blizzard Entertainment Reviews
At 12pm Friday 4th August I received an email which explained that my Blizzard account had been banned. Apparently permanently. The reason given was a vague one, being something related to abuse of in game mechanics. At this stage I was under the impression I was either a system error, or due to a common issue in relation to nefarious in game reporting by organized groups which gives rise to an automated ban, and which are (as I now read online) usually quickly reversed). There was some confusion on me end because my computer was turned off at home, I was at work and no one was at home until 3 hours after the ban was applied, I thought that it must be a delay from the night previous at 9:30pm which was when I was last online. Blizzard has failed to inform me when the asserted offense took place. I explained my position to Blizzard, that it is not possible the infringement came from my computer (if indeed the ban occurred when the asserted infringement took place, as opposed the night before) - in which case i have been hacked. To support my position, I have cctv recordings of me leaving work at 3pm, timesheets from work, and internet service providers records showing no one from my home was actively connected to the internet, let alone to a gaming server. I also preemptively addressed the alternative scenario which is: 1 - I was banned due to mass reporting from the night before.. or 2- i was automatically flagged in error by the Blizzard cheating protections. To address the alternative scenario i noted that the entire nights play was very likely recorded on the twitch platform, and that in game records will show that no exploitation software was used. To substantiate this further, i asked Blizzard to actively check the number of infractions/events which are being classed as infractions, my thought process being that if an exploit had occurred x 1, then this is presumably explained by chance. It would be highly unlikely to accidentally perform an exploit due to statistical reasons. i invited Blizzard to check its logs in this regard. Blizzard has responded to my tickets. First, i received 2 additional emails setting out different reasons for my ban. The first reason is for abuse of in game mechanics. The second email set out that the reason for my automatic ban was that i had been reported by fellow gamers. Further, the penalty itself appears to have changed, from being a permanent ban to a 6 month suspension. I informed Blizzard that this was likely an orchestrated effort to abuse the in-game reporting system and advised Blizzard to check my chat logs as i had engaged in some back and forth communications the night prior with some unfriendly people. Blizzard responded. Firstly, Blizzard has refused to tell me if the asserted offence happened the night before, or during the day on Friday when my PC was turned off and i was at work. Next, i was informed that the issue had been investigated and it was shown that an exploit had been used, and that it had been used from my location. This is not possible. Blizzard has failed to comment on any of the points i set out in my defense: my CCTv evidenced, my ISP records showing i was not online, my work time sheets, the in-game logs showing i was not exploiting, the recordings of the games played on the Twitch platform- any of which would be exculpatory in nature. When i raised that i was unhappy with what appeared to be little to no investigation, i also raised the fact that the penalty for any such offense was also disproportionate, noting that my account had not received any sort of similar infraction notice for over 10 years- yes i have played the game daily for approximately 13 years !. Further, i raised a ticker with Blizzard regarding quality of the investigation by the GM (Games Master), however my ticket about this was cancelled by the same GM i raised the quality issue about. I am now banned for 6 months, with no investigation having taken place. I recently purchased 3 months of game time 1 week before the ban, and if i wish to continue to play, i must pay for another copy of the game and buy game time. This seems a clear abuse of terms and a money grabbing scheme.
One day i got disconected from my game and received an email :
Account Action: Account Closure
Offense: Exploitative Activity: Unauthorized Cheat Programs (Hacks)
i used "appeal penalty" service and explained that i've been playing just like everyday i did during last monthes and have no idea about any kinds of cheat programs even i don't belive there are any that would work and actualy hack an official online game server!! after an hour i resived another email :
Action(s) Taken:
Account Suspended
Violation: Cheating
Your fellow players reported you for cheating.
now this part is actually very funny which i couldn't decid betwin geting angry or starting to lauph at that moment when i received their respond to my ticket: ((your patience has been rewarded. The closure of the account has been overturned to a 6 month suspension out of nowhere they changed permanent closer to 6 month suspend))
They charge you for expansions of the game and if you stop playing, they keep your money. I didn't even play the expansion and they would not refund the money... for a product I didn't use. They add things to the game before it comes out so if you do or complete something, they can say "well, u did play this part of game". The point is the expansion wasn't out and it's a video game I didn't play. They should have refunded the money for the game I didn't play. They RIP people off consistantly and they get away with it. Beware of this money hungry, joke of a company.