Legitimate 2v2 Team Banned by Blizzard

#0 - July 12, 2008, 1:41 a.m.

On Thursday, June 26th Deedoubleyou and Glasroy were given a 72 hour suspension and had all of their s3/s4 arena gear and arena points removed. The e-mail stated that the suspension was for win trading.

Glasroy quickly sent in a petition explaining that he did not participate in win trading. He received a reply stating that a secondary review of the issue was conducted, and have found that the actions taken will not be reversed. In this e-mail it was confirmed that the supposed win trading occurred in the 2v2 bracket on the team "ahwqtdfbajkqweryuivnmhgf"

I have since also sent in a petition, receiving the same response.

We were banned during the first week of season 4, however the supposed win trading occurred during season 3 (since all of our season 3/4 gear was removed)

Last season we ended...
~2500 in 2v2, ~3rd place.
~2400 in 3v3, ~10th place (were in 4th place before the final day of season 3).
~2550 in 5v5, 1st place.

We attempted to find out who you thought we win traded against, asking most every team we played at 2300+ rating if they got banned. We could not find any other team banned (how can you win trade by yourself?).

We realize that it may have looked like we win traded against the team "JoeyIsARetard" however those were set up games that we were playing seriously. There is no easy way to show that these games were not win trading without knowing what information you are able to view. However we can assure you that these were serious games. We are not even sure this is why you think we traded (since their team didnt get suspended) however if that is the case we have a few ways to show it was not. One reason is motiv: We never received points/titles/gear from 2v2. We always received more arena points from 5v5, and even got #1 in 5v5. We did not get #1 in twos and we were already in gladiator range before playing JoeyIsARetard. If we were win trading we would have kept playing them until #1. Again we do not even know if this is the team you think we traded against, as they were not suspended (we could not find any team we played against suspended).

The above situation occurred when our team was ~4th place and "JoeyIsARetard" was ~3rd place. It ended with us in ~3rd place and "JoeyIsARetard" in <10th place. If this was win trading, what did we accomplish? Both teams started ~2500 rating (which at the time there were no active teams within 100 points of 2500 other than the teams being addressed here).

If that was win trading, then why did we not get banned in 5v5 where we played the team JAC for ~12 games in a row. Is it because we were in the same server/guild in 2v2? If so, Why should such factors matter?

If that was win trading then why did the team "Out of the Blue" who we played against the last day of season 3 ~15 games in a row starting with us in 4th place and them in < 6th place, ending with them in 1st place and us in < 9th place not count as win trading?

In conclusion, we did not win trade. We had no motive to win trade in 2v2. There does not seem to be anyone else suspended in 2v2 that we played against (since it takes 4 to win trade). We are #1 in 5v5, top 10 (at one point #3) in 3v3, and were rightfully #3/4 in 2v2. It should be obvious that we are capable of achieving that rating in 2v2 given our ratings in the other brackets, and again there was no reason for us to trade in 2v2 because of our #1 rank in 5v5.

At high ratings there is sometimes ~100 point gaps in ratings, and >500 point gaps in currently queuing teams ratings. The >500 point gaps causes queues to take 5+ minutes and are not fun games as the other teams are not on your level of play. This is not fun, and hence why high teams attempt to play against other high teams.

Since the reply to my petition was declined I have since closed my world of warcraft account. Is there any other action I can take to try and have this reversed? Or should I keep sending in petitions until my game time is up and hope I finally get someone who understands how their game works?

edit: unless you are blue, please do not reply directing me to account administration. This post already describes the details of my interactions with them. It is an attempt to make the other divisions at blizzard aware of the issue since AA does not appear to be able to handle it correctly on their own.

Reythur

#15 - July 12, 2008, 3:18 a.m.

Dee, I can assure you that these situations are investigated thoroughly and as such something with the way you were participating in the arena system triggered the actions taken. With this in mind, I would recommend continuing your dispute with our Account Administration department if you feel that the actions taken were unwarranted.

Please continue to e-mail them accordingly as they will be the only department that will be able to assist you in this matter.

Reythur

#219 - July 13, 2008, 1:29 a.m.

As all situations regarding an issue such as this — especially with one that has such an in-depth investigation method — we're unfortunately unable to be very forthcoming with information regarding the specifics surrounding the methods we use to determine whether or not something of this nature is taking place. This is primarily to prevent any possible workarounds from occurring; as those that wish to violate our policies in such an egregious manner tend to try to find ways to not get caught.

With that in mind, something regarding the Arena Team as mentioned in the original post triggered an investigation and a reactionary penalty for the actions witnessed. This means that there was either specifically Wintrading going on or something very, very close to it. That is why we have our account action dispute system through our Account Administration; with this, folks are able to provide their input into the situation and a possible explanation regarding the actions taken.

While we are unable to guarantee anything coming from a dispute other than perhaps an upheld action, it is always best to dispute any actions you disagree with in order to receive another attempt at redemption. Transgressions of the wintrading sort are dealt with a heavy hand and we are not lenient in regards to those that we take action upon. However, we only take action upon those after doing a very thorough investigation into the situation.

If something comes from that investigation that is deemed appropriate to action, then the actions will be taken. After a dispute is placed, another investigation is done and the appropriate thing will be done regarding the matter. That is the only way to address this situation; I understand that many of you have concerns and what appear to be misconceptions regarding the wintrading ruling.

The Game Master department and in turn those of us that post on this forum are unable to make that determination. As Malkorix stated in the post that a few of you quoted:

Q u o t e:
On the other hand, that is also the risk that comes with being on top. You lose more points to lower rated opponents. You might run into a highly skilled (but lower rated) team, or a decent counter comp that gives you a rough time. A large number of highly rated teams, (the majority, really) don't participate in organized scheduled 'queuing events' and are far more subject to those kinds of losses. They have to take those risks, and after getting to the heights, they have to sc##%@ their way up the ratings ladder on low point wins.

The guys that do engage in organized 'queueing events' can achieve huge ratings, and crushing advantages toward titles at the top while also dodging some of those trials. This is why we have policies regarding win-trading. Is avoiding a fight really in the spirit of competition? If a lower rated team defeats a much higher rated team, do they not deserve the points they earned?

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=7903651662&postId=79028013009&sid=1#139

Intentionally fighting against a single team for an extended period of time could very easily be construed as "Wintrading". It is quite possible that some of you have taken the term "Wintrading" and created a misunderstanding and a misnomer; the policy is in reaction to those that wish to attempt some possible strange things — some which happen to use "coincidence" as a means — in order to fight against only a very small grouping of teams on purpose.

Sure, there are circumstances where you end up fighting another team several times in a row; but a significant number? Not likely. As I mentioned before, there is a very significant and in-depth investigation that takes place in regards to "Wintrading" actions. In all cases of actions regarding "Wintrading" there was something that triggered them and as such it is always best to just dispute them with our Account Administration department.

Q u o t e:
If a 2400 team faces a ~1600 or lower team at the end of the game the rating points are all screwed up (e.g. 1166600060) and neither team gains or loses rating.

That is wholly incorrect and a misunderstanding of an issue that has been reported to transpire on rare occasion; I do believe that the matter is being investigated by our Quality Assurance department. I'm unaware of any specific findings, however.

This thread has gone decisively off course of what it appears to be the original intention: to dispute the actions taken; as such, it will be locked accordingly. You have my sincere apologies that this thread has digressed as much as it has already, Deedoubleyou; I wish you the best of luck in your communication with our Account Administration department.