Just a thought… This is Europe. Companies don’t have as much liberty to abuse their customers as they do in the USA. Elon Musk and others like him regularly cry because they actually have to follow some laws to keep operating here. Let’s take the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) as an example.
The GDPR is mostly concerned with safeguarding people’s sensitive personal data, such as social security numbers and medical records. In-game data, such as the (lost) items in our guild banks, might not seem like traditional personal data, but if it can be tied to an identifiable user account, it could be argued that it falls under the GDPR’s broad definition of personal data.
Under the GDPR, organizations must take appropriate steps to safeguard the data they hold. Even if the lost data isn’t technically personal, Blizzard might be seen as failing to properly protect it. If users feel their in-game data has been mismanaged, this could raise questions about Blizzard’s overall data protection practices.
Even if Blizzard is not obligated to restore the lost data, they are required under the GDPR to be transparent about how they handle user data, including any technical failures. Depending on the circumstances, if they’re found to be negligent or lacking transparency, it could reflect poorly on their compliance with broader data protection principles.
Outside of the GDPR, various European consumer protection regulations could come into play. We pay for subscriptions and have lost items due to Blizzard’s failure to maintain their data. This could fall under unfair business practices according to European consumer rights laws.
We’re unlikely to get back what we’ve lost, but it would be satisfying if there were spiteful enough people out there to push this issue and potentially cause Blizzard to pay fines in the millions. Here’s a quote from the official GDPR website:
The less severe infringements could result in a fine of up to €10 million, or 2% of the firm’s worldwide annual revenue from the preceding financial year, whichever amount is higher.
Assumably, money is all they care about. We aren’t getting more effort from Blizzard to solve this issue because, in their calculations, it would cost too much to do so. Perhaps adding the threat of hefty fines into their calculus could motivate them to help us players in the long run?