Since Account Admins Seem to Be Illiterate...

#0 - Aug. 27, 2010, 11:54 p.m.

Since they refuse to give me a number to call to have a real conversation, refuse to actually read my submissions and just keep sending me back the exact same response (this last time from a "supervisor"), I'll post my complaints here. I'll probably get flamed by the legions of "Blizzard can do no wrong" fanboys, just as I did at the CS forum (your fault you got hacked - deal with it, you probably sold them and are a douche who wants them back - got what you deserved, etc.), but that's okay.

So let's summarize quickly. A few years ago I quit playing WoW. I also stopped checking the corresponding Email, since it was a spam-filled mess that I only used for WoW. Sometime shortly after, as I've come to find out since then, my account was hacked and my four "high" level characters (a 70, 70, 61, 49) were transferred from my account and server to another (who pays 25 dollars to steal a level 49 rogue, seriously?). Anyway, my buddy started playing again recently, so I decided I might, but I couldn't get back on my account. Blizz returned my account to me, but they refused to return my characters for me since it had been so long.

I'm aware that they don't like to do things without verifying them and they don't keep adequate enough records to "verify" that the transfers were committed by a thief, but I'm not really sure I understand what needs to be confirmed. Knowing that I had them is no problem, they're still in my transfer history. Knowing where they are now is no problem, since Blizz keeps transfer records and deletion of level 50+ records permanently. This is what I've tried to argue with them to no avail. There really only seem to be three possibilities as to what happened to my characters. All of which should result in the characters being returned to me in some way (although not necessarily in me being able to play them - read on).

1) I made the second account and transferred my characters to them to play on them (for no reason, since I hadn't played on the original account since then). If this is the case, then the second account is also mine, which it clearly isn't. But again, if Blizz believes that I transferred them, then the second account must be mine, right?

2) I was hacked and they were stolen. Pretty obvious solution here: put them back on my server and my account either as they were when he transferred them, as they are now, or as blank slates at least the same level as they were when transferred.

3) I sold them/gave them away. Slightly less obvious, but according to the Terms we all agreed to, Blizzard will make any transaction of characters or items of this type "null and void." That means returning them to my original account/realm and banning (or whatever they do to account sellers/buyers) both accounts in question.

There's no fourth possibility. Either I should get the second account if it's mine (not the case), they should return my characters (the option that should be taken), or they should return my characters and ban both accounts (not ideal, but still the third best option). They somehow are opting for choice 4: to do nothing; let the thief/account buyer/imaginary me on my second account I have no access to keep characters he didn't earn, create or obtain in any legal fashion (unless it was me on both accounts - easy to figure out this isn't the case); and screw me over for being hacked after I quit.

Do you see what I'm getting at? Even if they can't verify what actually happened, the end result of all possible options are roughly the same. The only possible downside to any of those three options is if situation three is what actually occurred, but even then, they're just going from screwing over the account seller to screwing over the account buyer. So basically, if they chose any of the three options, they punish an account thief/buyer and reward either an innocent person or an account seller. If they chose their ridiculous fourth option, they punish either an innocent person or an account seller and reward an account thief/buyer.

I'm not sure how insane you have to be to not realize that former is better than the latter. It'd be sort of like if two people get into a fight over a few hundred dollars and almost kill one another. One is a convicted felon and the other is someone who has never been accused of any crime. There is little to no evidence about what actually happened, but you know without question that the criminal is a criminal (obviously) and that the money initially belonged to the seemingly innocent guy. The criminal ended up with the money from the fight. The police, not being able to verify exactly what happened, decide to let the criminal keep the money and neither person is charged with anything.

There is no proof I've done anything wrong. We know without question that the current user of my characters broke some rules of Blizzards. Blizzard isn't punishing me (makes sense - they can't prove I did anything wrong... since I didn't), isn't punishing him (makes no sense - he clearly either bought, was given or stole characters), and is letting him keep characters they know that I was initially in control of.

Does that make sense to anyone?

Anyway, flame away if you must. I likely won't be checking back here, since Blizz has made it clear that they won't be returning my characters, regardless of how idiotic that is. So really I just felt like complaining and wanted to let it be known that Blizzard clearly isn't the fair, CS-first company they claim to be.

#10 - Aug. 28, 2010, 1:12 a.m.

Q u o t e:
I'll post my complaints here.

I'm sorry, Lenetty, but this is not a complaint forum, any commentary that you make here will only be seen by those who moderate this forum. Though I may be able to sympathize with your plight and might be able to offer some advice, the complaint will not likely been seen by anyone who can appropriately review it.

If you believe our policies should be changed to allow the reversal of such transfers at the registered user of the source accounts request or you have some other suggestions please post in our Suggestion forum. It is there that your constructive feedback can be reviewed by the appropriate parties.

Now, regarding your situation. It is important to note that the registered user is responsible for all activity that takes place on the account, authorized by you or not. Though in the cases of a compromise we will endeavor to verify what happen and repair what damage we can, what can be done is entirely dependent upon what can be verified.

So taking 1-3.

1. If you transferred the characters yourself you should have access to that account, if you do not and can verify yourself as the registered user we may be able to help.

2. If we were able to verify that the characters were transferred maliciously then yes, they could be returned but much depends on time.

3. Null and void doesn't necessarily mean returning them to the original account. That section of the Terms of Use also says:

Q u o t e:
Blizzard owns, has licensed, or otherwise has rights to all of the content that appears in the Game. You agree that you have no right or title in or to any such content, including without limitation the virtual goods or currency appearing or originating in the Game, or any other attributes associated with the Account or stored on the Service.

In these cases we can only go off of what can be verified. The characters may have been transferred off, but if a compromise and malicious transfer can not be verified we are unable to reverse it. If we are unable to verify specifically that the characters were sold/gifted we may not take further action on the source account, giving the benefit of the doubt based on what is known.

We are unable to provide information about another account that you have not been able to verify that you are registered to so we would be unable to provide information about that account. It is very possible that because of the possibility that the account violated our Terms of Use that the account was locked and requires verification before it will be unlocked. Making the characters that were transferred inaccessible until such time that verification is provided.