When all is said and done, when the laughs fade, the facades disappear, the personas vanish and the bravados quieten, there is a simple procedural duty of care that remains.
Clause 1A (vi) of the TOS states the following:
“Your use of Blizzard’s Websites and Forums) may result in penalties against your Battle.net Account, including suspension and/or termination of Game licenses.”
Blizzard has a fiduciary responsibility as a public liability company to undertake its grievance process in line with its own bylaws and ban Soto for his violations of the licence agreement.
Clause C Licence Limitations (2) states that suspension can be issued in the following circumstances:
“bots; i.e. any code and/or software, not expressly authorized by Blizzard, that allows the automated control of a Game, or any other feature of the Platform, e.g. the automated control of a character in a Game;”
Please monitor Soto’s farming activities and you shall find ample evidence of ‘botting’.
“Disruption / Harassment: Engage in any conduct intended to disrupt or diminish the game experience for other players, or disrupt operation of Blizzard’s Platform in any way, including:
Harassment, “griefing,” abusive behavior or chat, conduct intended to unreasonably undermine or disrupt the Game experiences of others, deliberate inactivity or disconnecting, and/or any other activity which violates Blizzard’s Codes of Conduct or In-Game Policies.“
There is evidence of this on this thread, in screenshots collated by many players and within messages on world chat/dm.
- Battle.net balance (e) TOS states the following:
“ Blizzard reserves the right to reduce, liquidate, deactivate, suspend or terminate your Battle.net Balance, or other Platform features if Blizzard determines, in its sole discretion, after investigation, that you have violated this Agreement, including the license limitations set forth in Section 1.C., misused Battle.net Balance, or have otherwise used Battle.net Balance to conduct any fraudulent or illegal activity.”
There has been a clear violence of the license limitations set forth within s1.C. As such, I find it prudent for Blizzard to terminate the Battle.net balance of Soto alongside banning his account.
The Code of Conduct outlined by Blizzard states the following:
“Hate speech and discriminatory language is inappropriate, as is any obscene or disruptive language. Threatening or harassing another player is always unacceptable, regardless of language used. Violating any of these expectations will result in account restrictions. More serious and repeated violations will result in greater restrictions.“
The Code of Conduct for Blizzard Forums similarly states the following:
“Distribution of Real-Life Personal Information
This category includes:
Releasing any real-life information about other players or Blizzard Entertainment employees
If a player is found to have participated in such actions, they will:
Be permanently banned from the forums”
“ Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity
This category includes both clear and masked language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:
Insultingly refer to any aspect of sexual/romantic orientation or gender identity/expression (male, female, trans-gender, bi-gender, pangender, genderfluid, agender or any non-binary identity not listed) pertaining to themselves or other players
If a player is found to have participated in such actions, they will:
Be temporarily banned from the forums
Be given a final warning, after which any further Code of Conduct violations may result in a permanent ban from the forums”
“ Major Religions or Religious Figures
This category includes both clear and masked language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:
Negatively portray major religions or religious figures
If a player is found to have participated in such actions, they will:
Be given a temporary ban from the forums.”
Soto, on this very thread, has violated the in-game code of conduct and the forum code of conduct outlined by Blizzard aforementioned. Soto has revealed real life personal information on this thread concerning player nationalities, ages and gender. Soto has referred to Wiv’s ‘51 year old femininity’ and even negatively portrayed the religion of scientology.
I have empirically collated the standards and regulations upheld by Blizzard and clearly outlined how Soto has violated the TOS, in-game and forum code of conduct and as such the following actions must be undertaken:
- Permanent ban of Soto’s account
- Permanent ban of soto and any alt accounts from this forum
- Seizure, liquidation or suspension of ALL of Soto’s present battle.net account balances per his violation of the license limitations referred to within Clause 1C (vi) TOS.
@Blizzard - if action is not taken in this case, all trust in your organisation will be lost.
