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Banned from WoW because I worked in China.
hawk162
Member Posts: 36
I work for a network/data company that has a datacenter in china. I was offered to work for a 3 month period overseas in China. I never have really gone to a foreign country for more then a few days, and I was going to get a raise so I took the offer. I basically am one of the managers of the datacenter, I just make sure all the guys under me are doing the right thing and I also sit at a monitoring desk. Pretty much I was surrounded by 4 computer screens, 3 of them were just monitoring the servers, network, etc... The other screen was loaded up with World of Warcraft 
. I pretty much played whenever I was bored, I have 4 level 60's (I made 2 of them before going over to china) and I even got a friend over in America to buy me a copy of the Burning Crusade, give me the cd key. And with my resources at hand, from work I got the cd's copied to a server in the american datacenter and got it send over a high speed line over to the chinese datacenter, still took a while but I got BC .
So, thats the background story ill tell you what Blizzard did. They banned my account, with 4 level 60's on it. Want to know why? Because they though I was a chinese farmer/powerleveler/whatever... Just because I was on a chinese ip. Not because I exploited the game, not because I cheated, and I am strongly against powerleveling/gold farmers, I report them everytime I see those stupid advertisements in general chat. Pretty much, Blizzard just went over a wild assumption and thought because I was playing in china, that I was a farmer. I emailed blizzard the moment I got the banned account login message. I quickly told them my situation, and offered to get them a copy of my license and passport to prove I was a United States Citizen. I even got my head manager who is a really nice guy that also plays, to send them an email as well. They still kept me banned, even after I gave them proof that the IP I was playing under was of ownership of an American company, with a datacenter in china. They still kept me banned, and I am really pissed. Today is my 2nd day back, I am pretty much done with MMO's, I however am thinking about picking up EVE. I just got back though, have to spend some time with the girlfriend before I dedicated some time to an MMO.
. I pretty much played whenever I was bored, I have 4 level 60's (I made 2 of them before going over to china) and I even got a friend over in America to buy me a copy of the Burning Crusade, give me the cd key. And with my resources at hand, from work I got the cd's copied to a server in the american datacenter and got it send over a high speed line over to the chinese datacenter, still took a while but I got BC .So, thats the background story ill tell you what Blizzard did. They banned my account, with 4 level 60's on it. Want to know why? Because they though I was a chinese farmer/powerleveler/whatever... Just because I was on a chinese ip. Not because I exploited the game, not because I cheated, and I am strongly against powerleveling/gold farmers, I report them everytime I see those stupid advertisements in general chat. Pretty much, Blizzard just went over a wild assumption and thought because I was playing in china, that I was a farmer. I emailed blizzard the moment I got the banned account login message. I quickly told them my situation, and offered to get them a copy of my license and passport to prove I was a United States Citizen. I even got my head manager who is a really nice guy that also plays, to send them an email as well. They still kept me banned, even after I gave them proof that the IP I was playing under was of ownership of an American company, with a datacenter in china. They still kept me banned, and I am really pissed. Today is my 2nd day back, I am pretty much done with MMO's, I however am thinking about picking up EVE. I just got back though, have to spend some time with the girlfriend before I dedicated some time to an MMO.
Comments
EVE is pretty fun, if you like a game with depth, you will like EvE.
You obviously missed the changes to the EULA/TOC that specifically stated that only players from 5 nations were permitted to play on US servers. I didn't think they'd actively enforce it, but shows what I know.
They probably did this not because they thought you were a gold farmer... but in response to recent changes in Chinese law about how much time players can be allowed (by the game itself) to play each day.
Full article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4183340.stm
By actively pursuing players like yourself they can tell the Chinese government that they are doing everything they can to police the community and comply with the new law. I expect the Chinese version of WoW will be modified to accomodate the new rules.
Remember, in China, you piss the government off and they can just shut you down...no questions asked... so companies tend to comply with any edicts handed to them.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
What's the point in playing an mmorpg if your forced to play on servers that serve a few countries? I have played a ton of mmorpgs and made friends with people from eygpt,japan,england, and dozens of other countries. It's been ages since i played wow and i don't know what they have been doing, but this goes against the whole concept of being able to play and meet with people that you wouldn't otherwise.
I am the type of player where I like to do everything and anything from time to time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor - pre-WW2 genocide.
Do yourself a favor and play eve when you cool off. They did you a favor belive me that game was like running in a hamster wheel. Atleast in eve you can blow up other peoples wheels.
You keep stating you are an American Citizen so you should be ok to play. Umm news flash there are alot of Americans abroad that are not allowed to buy this game because of those restrictions. You even knew you were not suppose to, because you admitted to copying BC cds. You should have just followed the rules, and stopped playing WoW while you were in China. Then when you came back you could resume playing and would never have been banned.
When you break rules be prepared to suffer the consequences.
Good for blizzard for actually inforcing the rules they have. Most games dont enforce any rules
Anybody who is willing to give up any freedom for security deserves niether -- i believe that was Franklin.
Unfortunately, I don't think there's anything you can do. Perhaps you can get your friend to contact a GM? They seem like friendly and reasonable enough people, if only a bit automated.
You have every reason to be pissed. The authentication codes should be localized, not servers! And who the hell reads the EULA/TOA, anyways!
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
Spot on.
I hate that quote. Its silly. I give up my right to kill another man, so I can have the security of knowing that I wont be killed randomly.
I give up my freedom to sell drugs, so I know that other people wont, and it will keep where I live safer.
You cant have security without taking away freedom. To say that by attempting to provide or receive protection you dont deserve it.. is asaine.
after 6 or so years, I had to change it a little...
Well after doing a bit of research, then if what you claim is true, that you were banned because you played from China. Was that before Jan 11th? Because according to Blizzard they have changed that policy in thier terms of use. If that is the reason you were banned, you should be able to call customer support and get that changed, because Blizzard has changed thier policy on that. Here is the information. Its also possible some idiot person banned you based on the old ToS? Should be able to play from anywhere now.
1. Eligibility.
You represent that you reside in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or Singapore, and that you are an adult in your country of residence. You agree to these Terms of Use on behalf of yourself and, at your discretion, for one (1) minor child for whom you are a parent or guardian and whom you have authorized to use the account you create on the Service.
^ This has been in the game since it started so nothing new here...
December 11, 2006 - You can view this ToS via the button on the main screen when you start up WoW:
4. Limitations on Your Use of the Service.
A. You may only access the Service from within the territorial boundaries of the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or Singapore. Any access to your Account, whether by you or anyone else, from any location outside those countries is a breach of this Agreement.
^ This was something NEW put in. This also gave Blizzard the right to ban players who live outside the stated countries.
January 11, 2007 - Currently can only be viewed here: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html
1. Eligibility.
You represent that you are an adult in your country of residence. You agree to these Terms of Use on behalf of yourself and, at your discretion, for one (1) minor child for whom you are a parent or guardian and whom you have authorized to use the account you create on the Service.
".Those who choose to access the Service from locations outside of the United States, Canada, Australia, Singapore, or New Zealand do so on their own initiative contrary to the terms of this Agreement, and are responsible for compliance with local laws if and to the extent local laws are applicable."
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I would have bought a new copy of the game to take to China. At least then you'd still have 2 60's.
Hawk as much as I can empathize with your situation, Blizzard basically has the right to ban anyone they want.
It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line.
It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line.
If you get excited by that then you are skimming over some good posts yourself...
Because in the midst of all the spam, there is always a well thought out response.
Well I'm sorry to hear that they would instant ban you on a recently added rule. They have a lot of customers to work with and they don't have much time to talk/think on a personal level.
Personally, I wouldn't have tried to connect to a server designated to be played in a different country unless I read the rules and it clearly said I could
Heck, there's plenty to do then play WOW.