I played WoW for less than two months, and suddenly my account got banned for no reason. I want to talk to a GM to figure out what went wrong and if there was any software that misjudged me (I swear I didn’t use any third-party tools). But the ticket I submitted online hasn’t gotten any real feedback for a whole day. Without any real response, I can’t confirm where the problem is or how to avoid it in the future, it’s really frustrating. I’m willing to cooperate with the GM for any checks, submit my game plugins, background software, computer processes, etc., but there’s just no one to respond. I really love this game and want to keep playing, but this situation makes me feel really insecure.
I can’t play World of Warcraft, this weekend feels so boring. I’m sorry for passing on the negative vibes, but I’m really in a bad place right now, feeling super down, like time is dragging on.
If you received an account action for Unauthorised Third-party Tools, you won’t be told exactly what was found. That information would be valuable to bot/hack makers.
Your only option would be to appeal. An appeal is not a discussion, it’s a request to have a different set of eyes look at the data to see if a false positive happened. Blizzard can only go off their own logs when reviewing account actions and will not accept any evidence you provide.
Appeals are not a conversation, or a means to pleads one case, they are simply a review of the game logs and verifying if the penalty was warranted. One has never been able to submit a appeal by anything other then web ticket.
Your only avenue is appeal tickets. You can keep appealing until implicitly told that no more will be looked into.
Appeals are not a means of discussing anything, there is no way to speak directly with a GM like that. They will never tell you what they detected on your machine that was caught.
I’d dona sweep of your computer and see what you’ve got. Things like Autohot key or streamlining programs some people use for work could be detected and cause problems.
Now I’m applying for a real GM to check the logs, but the ticket hasn’t been replied to.
Every time you appeal, a real GM does look at the logs. You won’t get any details about the account action. You will receive a templated response, and they are not automated. They use templates in order to ensure everyone receives the same information.
You are allowed to appeal until you receive a reply that states the issue is closed and they will no longer accept any more appeals.
The only software that might involve “automation” is Synology (NAS) sync software, but it syncs the D drive, not the C drive where the games are. It’s really frustrating not being able to find a real GM to respond to my request for a review again.
Each appeal ticket is handled by a real GM. It can take a few days or longer to get a reply. You want them to take longer, it proves they are doing a thorough check of the account.
All your appeals are looked at by real GMs. However, as has been stated, it’s not a conversation. You don’t get to plead your case, you don’t get to provide insight. You can only put in another ticket.
The only answer you’ll get is whether or not your account action is overturned or upheld.
I hope, as you said, they are seriously reviewing it. I remember before, after submitting the form, if the game character was online, the GM would communicate in-game through private chat. Has that been canceled now?
That hasn’t been a thing for years and, if I recall, it was never meant for account actions.
It haven’t been a thing once they got tools to do their job without needing to log into world. They’re not going to talk to someone before applying an account action.
When wow was the only game, and ticket times were below average, possibly.
But your dealing with a appeal, you can’t login so no conversation is possible in game.
Live chat used to be available for billing/tech support, but never for appeals, and unfortunately overused for the wrong purposes. Web tickets are the only avenue.
If the appeal is sent for a further review, until that is completed the only answer will be the penalty is upheld.
Alright, it’s been many years since we last played, and back then it felt really cool to have a GM chat with you in the game, plus issues could be addressed and solved right away. It’s a shame that’s gone now.
Not all issues were able to be solved nor were all of them easy to solve.
And appeals were never one of them.
Just keep appealing until they tell you that you can’t anymore. Someone is looking into those appeals.
Thanks, got it. I’ve never appealed before, this is the first time I’ve been punished, and it’s still kind of confusing. At that time, I was also communicating with the online GM about some technical issues in the game.
That was never an option for Appeals. That was for Billing issues, and some in-game issues. Long ago. They no longer have that option for any ticket.
Appeals are a one way means to ask someone to double check the logs. In the case of Hacks/cheats/thirdparty software/exploits the account action is determined by the Hacks team. They use a variety of anti-cheat methods to detect targeted software and/or behavior.
When you appeal, you will get a GM who at first, just verifies that yes, your account does have a flag on it.
If escalated, it goes to the Hacks team who can dig into their detection criteria to verify that their methods did not have a false positive. False positives are rare, but DO happen. Hopefully your ticket gets escalated. It will be a while though. Usually if a false positive is found, they fix the detection criteria, run the scan again, and group unban the false positives.
Here is a bit of a generic list of things that fall into the Hacks/cheats/third party software/exploits category:
- Real money trading/receiving illicit gold.
- ANY form of automation including macros that can’t be made using the in-game macro maker. We can not macro together cast rotations, or anything else the in-game tool does not allow.
- Botting, even “just” fishing bots.
- Any third party software that changes game files, touches game communications, alters display, etc.
- Exploiting any bugs, terrain, or game flaws for advantage.
Whether it is via a GM or the Hacks team, depending on the penalty, it is viewed by a real human being.
Blizzard does not use Bots. Blizzard does not use AI. Each review, each response, is by a real person at the other end.
Thank you for your patient explanation, I don’t have any of the things you mentioned, but I have a clear conscience. I hope for a good outcome.
Just a quick question, did you mean to say “We”?
I only ask, because account sharing can also get you in trouble. I’m not accusing you of anything, but it’s important to be clear about these things.
I wish you luck in your appeal process.