Poster: Azmodan at 8/15/2006 10:51:49 AM PDT
Subject: Can they be punished? |
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Lately I've been hearing from a numerous amount of people that they could get banned/suspended for certain things that I didn't really see on the Terms of Use. There were two issues specifically that had me thinking, and a quote from the ToU itself that made me wonder:
"(v) Anything that Blizzard Entertainment considers contrary to the "essence" of World of Warcraft."
This was under the part where it had the rules of gameplay. Everything else seemed to be fine, but then I stumbled upon THAT quote and I almost didn't believe it. What exactly does this mean? Does this mean that regardless of how wrong or right something is, you, the Blizzard people can judge it however you want? What is the "essence" of the World of Warcraft?
The two things I was concerned about are as follows:
1) Constantly attacking a city (such as Bloodhoof Village) where many civilians die (for hours), or anything to do with disturbing a city in general (except training mobs).
2) Using real life methods to stay in a BG without going AFK, such as either running back to the keyboard and pressing a button every 5 minutes or so, or setting up an actual mechanism that presses the button for you every few seconds, such as one of those little bird things that poke the floor every few seconds. My friend said that he set up his keyboard next to his fan (the kind that sweeps from side to side while activated) so that the fan would continuously press the space bar key, preventing him from AFKing in AV.
I know there are a lot of wanna-be Blizzard people out there. I don't want your response. I want an official response. Why? There have been many rumors about the AFK thing and no one seems to know. If I were to get an official answer, I could share this information with certain people, and everyone would win.
I made this topic a few days ago, and I never got an answer. For some odd reason, it was deleted. I have absolutely no idea why, but I still need an answer! This is important, because this will effect game play, and I need a GM's help. Can I please get an answer? I just want to know if people are allowed to do those two certain things.
| | | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-customer-service&t=108839&p=#post108839 | | | Poster: Batta at 8/15/2006 12:41:37 PM PDT
Subject: Re: Can they be punished? |
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Q u o t e:
Why is it taking them so long to answer me? They have the nerve to delete my freakin post but they can't answer it. Maybe they don't know themselves.
I don't know why your post was deleted, Azmodan. I can tell you that if you did not delete the post yourself, you shouldn't be creating reposts in the first place.
We have not responded to you because you seem to be digging for loopholes in our policies. It sounds to me like you're looking for a fine line to walk without getting in trouble.
Q u o t e:
Anything that Blizzard Entertainment considers contrary to the "essence" of World of Warcraft.
This is really a simple statement when one stops to think about it. Do you feel you are playing the game according to its intended design? I'll apply it to one of your examples.
In Alterac Valley, for instance, do you think it is part of the "essence" of the World of Warcraft by design for players to use strategically-placed real world objects for interacting with the keyboard enough to keep a character from being rendered AFK? Do you feel that the developers wanted people to watch TV while a oscillating fan or drinking birdy played the game enough for them so that they could receive some sort of credit for nothing? Usually, when a player is really bothered by this statement and what it means, it's because he/she might be looking for a rather cheap way around the game mechanics.
It is a violation of our policies to use any methods for preventing one's character from going AFK beyond the player physically sitting at the keyboard. My response to a different thread on the subject which has been qutoed here clearly states this.
Attacking a contested town is entirely contigent upon the case. There are many variables which may or may not cause such a situation to be considered contrary to the "essence" of the World of Warcraft, and against our Terms of Use.
For example, if a group of twenty Alliance members attack Tarren Mill in order to provoke World PvP, this is not a violation of our policies in and of itself. If, however, an Alliance Rogue is sitting in Tarren Mill on a PvE realm and repeatedly killing one single Horde quest NPC to prevent players from completing a quest for an extended period of time, this may constitute zone/area disruption.
I hope I've at least provided a little bit of clarity regarding your questions. Additionally, I hope you can understand our reluctance to respond to such issues given that there are always grey areas or exceptional cases.
The earth died screaming while I lay dreaming of you
| | | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-customer-service&t=108839&p=#post108939 | Poster: Batta at 8/15/2006 2:32:11 PM PDT
Subject: Re: Can they be punished? |
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I don't see the contradiction, Azmodan. It is contrary to the "essence" of the World of Warcraft to prevent your character from going AFK by using found objects. This does not necessarily mean we're going to dictate to every player how one should spend one's time in Alterac Valley, as I said in the other thread (provided you are at your keyboard and not violating any other policies concerning harassment, abusing game mechanics, botting, etc). So long as you are physically at your keyboard, we're not going to force one to fight or attack towers. If one, however, wants to take liberties with that and not even be at one's keyboard, then one may face account penalties if a Game Master attempts to contact the character.
Q u o t e:
It's clear that no one can get punished for constantly attacking a city on a PvP server, thanks to you.
I never said anything close to this. There are cases where physical harassment/zone-area disruption may still apply on a Pvp realm. I simply provided you with a clear cut couple of scenarios that identified when a Game Master would or would not take action for attacking an enemy town in any form. I also stated that these cases are entirely contingent upon the circumstances.
Q u o t e:
I know you think I'm digging to deep into the policies, but it's for a good reason. Say, if I were to decide to do something along the lines of a drinking bird, I'd want to know if it's a violation or if it's allowed.
Do you really feel this is a legitimate method for advancing in the game? This is exactly what I was referring to when stating players like to walk a fine line to discover how far they can go without getting in trouble.[ post edited by Batta ]
The earth died screaming while I lay dreaming of you
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