In an effort to preserve an enjoyable and fair experience for all players, we constantly monitor all World of Warcraft realms for exploitative activity. Using internal tools and special processes we can detect behavior that is harmful to the game environment. Accounts found to be participating in this behavior are promptly suspended or closed. We strive to protect our players from the negative effects of such actions. We reserve the right to evaluate each incident on a case by case basis, and in extreme cases, take action beyond what is detailed here.
Bug Exploitation
We have a top notch Quality Assurance team who work tirelessly to stamp out bugs in the World of Warcraft. However, they face a constant uphill struggle with a game as large and complex as World of Warcraft. Some bugs are minor and do not affect gameplay, but sometimes these bugs can be used to provide an unfair advantage to certain players or to negatively affect the service itself. Factors included in determining an appropriate penalty for knowing exploitation of a bug include:
Whether or not the exploit is performed intentionally, maliciously, and/or repeatedly
Whether or not the exploit damages another character, their gameplay, the service itself and/or its economy
Whether or not an attempt has been made to conceal the exploit’s use
If a player is found to have abused/distributed an exploit, they may:
Be given a verbal warning if exploitation is unintentional and no attempt has been made to hide its occurrence
Be temporarily suspended from the game
In extreme cases the account will be closed outright
Bug exploitation that we consider extreme includes, but is not limited to:
Any exploit that has a severe negative impact on a realm’s economy
Causing disruption in service or intentionally crashing a realm/server
Abuse of Game Mechanics
The distinction between exploiting bugs and abusing game mechanics is a fine one. While bug exploitation involves the abuse of what is essentially a programming mistake, the abuse of game mechanics is the act of taking advantage of the limitations of the World of Warcraft game systems. Since the line between the sanctioned use and the abuse of game mechanics is sometimes unclear, we prefer to educate players before taking any action against the account being used. This category includes using/distributing game mechanics in a manner unintended by their design that:
Negatively affects another character, their gameplay, the service itself and/or its economy
If a player is found to have abused/distributed such game mechanics, they may:
Be given a verbal warning
Subsequent related offenses will result in temporary suspension from the game
Unapproved Third Party Software
A third party program is any file or program that is not a part of the World of Warcraft software, but is used in addition to the game to gain unfair benefit or advantage. These programs may increase movement speed or teleport characters from one place to another beyond what is allowed by game design. It also includes any programs that obtain information from the game that is not normally available to the regular player or that transmit or modify any of the game files.
Normally, this classification does not include UI modifications, except those UIs that require an external application to function. Some possible results of the use of third party programs can be instability of the game to the point that a player “crashes” from the game. External programs can also be used to transmit viruses, spyware, and other unwanted programs into a player’s computer. Third party programs can also be used to obtain information from the player’s computer, such as account, password, and personal information.
