Cross faction communication

I have 2 accounts on the same server. 1 account is horde and other account is alliance. Is there something in the TOS not allowing a person to do this or having an issue with communicating between factions?

It seems an absurd concept to block someone from doing this as what are acceptable criteria? Different computers, different networks, GPS coordinate limits, same person not allowed?

It would be great if a blue post can point this out to me so I can get clarity because many people claim it’s “ban-able” but it seems like a very fine line as to what constitutes a ban for this, hence voiding the idea.

I have Googled and cannot find anything and before I have trouble with my accounts I would like to know.

If you have to work around the in-game language barrier in order to be understood by the other faction, smart money is on do not do it.

Chatting with people of the opposite faction via the Blizzard App social feature is not really something they take action on.

I’m confused. I play horde exclusively. However there is nothing stopping me from making an alli toon on my server.

Are we talking Classic or something?

Isn’t there a potion in BFA that you can buy to talk cross-faction?

Understood but I want to see it in the game TOS. People can’t claim it to be an issue just because they don’t like it. I need to know that Blizz has an issue with it.

If they didn’t have an issue with it, there would be no language algorithm.

Well then in the movie we shouldn’t have been able to understand Orcish.

It seems like a petty idea to restrict it and make it “ban-able”. Again I just want a blue post to provide a yes or no.

Classic or retail? If it’s retail, you can get around the language barrier with a potion.

This is for Classic.

Then I don’t know if there’s a specific rule against it, but it’s probably a good idea to avoid it. My rule of thumb is that if you have to ask, don’t.

I also think there’s an element of “RP” to not be able to do it.

I don’t recall anyone being banned over cross-faction communication, and I’ve been perusing this forum for about a decade.

That said:

  • There used to be a project to analyse the languages and provide translation services. Blizzard broke it.
  • Cross-faction communication was possible during the original beta(?) but it was trimmed at least partly due to rampant trash-talking.

I doubt you are going to get a yes or no.

That said I know during the PvP rankings people would get in trouble for collusion. Take that for what itnis worth.

You can use the Battlenet App to talk cross-faction, even in Classic. It can not be done natively in-game in Classic. Urban legend is that you could be actioned for typing something that will display as plain English to the other faction. It was more likely for what they said rather than specifically them doing it.

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Ruffle makes an excellent point here.

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Obviously, the content matters, as well. But just the act of manipulating what you say to send a readable message to the other faction was completely against the rules in Vanilla.

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Pretty much this. Once blizzard banned xfaction communication in the original Classic, efforts to circumvent the ban were liable to be penalized.

15 years later, there are out-of-game capabilities for Xfaction communication which makes the issue somewhat moot.
Still, I would use discord or some other out-of-game means.

I wouldn’t count on them ever allowing the direct mailing of items or gold cross faction but the ah method has been around since classic without repercussions.

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The bans on crossfaction communication, I believe, were originally set out to prevent trash-talking the other faction during PVP, and also to prevent having a friend help you with PVP by being a mole in the other faction, keeping the opposing team informed when there were less means for out-of-game communication like Discord.

I think what it mostly comes down to is what you plan to do with your ability to communicate. If you use it to break something, cheat, or be awful to someone, you’ll likely find yourself with an action against your account.

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I think Classic also has the rule about not being allowed to have characters from both factions on the same license. I’ve been told that it is, in part, to prevent players from being able to “spy” on the enemy faction in advance of an assault or calling out false information to draw the defending forces away from the actual attack point. Or as a defender to be able to warn their faction of where the assault team is poised to attack from.

In that spirit, maybe part of the restriction on cross faction communication is to avoid giving that sort of an edge to an attacking or defending faction. So I’d avoid that sort of communication (in addition to the inappropriate language and taunting that others have mentioned).

That doesn’t exist, I have classic characters on both factions on one server…

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