Hello,
I hope you are having a good day.
I would like to share some feedback regarding two issues that I believe may be worth reviewing. I understand that maintaining the integrity and security of World of Warcraft is extremely important, and I fully support Blizzard’s efforts to combat bots, fraud, and unauthorized software. However, I am concerned that some legitimate players may occasionally be affected by detection systems designed to combat these problems.
- Payment verification and regional restrictions
Players from certain regions, including Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other countries affected by financial restrictions, often cannot purchase Blizzard services directly using their own local payment methods.
As a result, legitimate players from these regions may have to rely on larger third-party retailers or intermediaries to purchase game time or other Blizzard services.
This can sometimes result in multiple unrelated players having purchases made using the same payment method, card, retailer, or even similar network environments.
I understand why such activity could appear unusual to an automated fraud-detection system. However, I believe that using the same payment method or purchasing through the same retailer should not, by itself, be considered evidence of account sharing, botting, or fraudulent activity when the accounts themselves belong to different legitimate players.
- Bot detection and legitimate players who spend long periods farming
My second concern is related to bot detection.
Some legitimate players genuinely choose to spend very long periods farming gold or materials. A player may decide to spend an entire day, several days, or even a week farming in order to afford expensive items and then spend the rest of their time enjoying other aspects of the game.
This type of gameplay can naturally look repetitive and unusual compared with the average player’s behavior. However, repetitive gameplay alone does not necessarily mean that a player is using a bot, cheat, or automation software.
I have personally experienced a situation where I spent a significant amount of time farming, while still playing manually and making normal human mistakes. I am concerned that legitimate players who choose to play this way may sometimes be incorrectly identified by automated detection systems.
I completely understand the importance of protecting World of Warcraft from bots and other forms of abuse. My intention is not to criticize these systems, but rather to suggest that unusual playtime or repetitive farming behavior may sometimes deserve additional human review before a permanent account closure is applied.
The time and money that players invest in their accounts can represent a significant commitment. Losing an account because of a false positive can be extremely discouraging and may cause legitimate players to leave the game entirely.
I hope Blizzard can continue improving these systems while also ensuring that legitimate players who simply have unusual but legitimate play patterns are given an opportunity for proper review.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read my feedback and for considering these concerns.
Kind regards,
Toten