Blizzard takes action against real-money raid clears

Blizzard announced that action has been taken against accounts violating the Terms of Use by selling raid or dungeon clears for real-life cash. The announcement comes hot on the heels of the release of the Tomb of Sargeras, which saw both Mythic and LFR difficulties open this week. Selling any kind of in-game services for real world money has always been against the rules — apparently some players may have forgotten this in their zeal to clear the latest raid.

Keep in mind, however, that it’s not against the rules to purchase raid or dungeon clears with in-game currency. If you purchase a raid clear with your hard-earned gold, you won’t have any action taken against your account. The sticking point here isn’t the clear itself, it’s how that clear is purchased — and using real-world currency isn’t allowed.

The introduction of the WoW Token muddies that argument in the eyes of some players, to a degree — after all, you can buy the Token with real-life cash, trade that in for gold, and then use the gold to pay for a clear. So what’s the difference here, exactly? I think it has at least a little to do with regulation  — Blizzard can monitor the sales of WoW Tokens, and they’re always going to be $20 a Token, regardless of the exchange rate. {PB}

But I think there’s also a lot to be said about player protection and playing fair. If someone purchases a raid run for gold, and they’re somehow cheated out of that transaction, Blizzard can take action against the offending account. If, on the other hand, someone gives another player their credit card number or a sizeable chunk of cash via PayPal or other means, Blizzard has no legal way to respond if the deal falls through.

Either way, the message is clear: The Terms of Use are there for a reason, and actively violating those terms will not be tolerated. Read on for the full announcement below.