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Gold-buyer crackdown: creators say the bans are landing, and a trade warning is confirmed coming

The Dire Maul loading screen from the WoW Forever client

· ForeverDB

Since October 1 a wave of videos says WoW Forever's gold-buyer crackdown is now hitting accounts, with claims that a streamer was banned and bought a new one to evade it. Blizzard has confirmed it is acting against buyers as well as sellers and that a trade warning is coming, but it has named no one, and the specific claims are community reports the game files cannot check.

Speculation. Blizzard has confirmed in its own posts that it is acting against gold buyers, so the crackdown itself is real (see below). But the specifics creators are now adding, that named streamers have been banned, that one bought a fresh account to dodge the ban, and that an addon can read the gold a stranger trades you, rest on community reports, not on Blizzard's posts or the Forever client files. We repeat those claims only as reports.

What creators are saying

From October 1 a run of videos has said the beta's gold-buyer crackdown is now landing. Venruki titled his Blizzard Is SERIOUS About Cracking Down On Gold Buyers In WoW Forever (October 1). Sodapoppin posted Blizzard Is Cracking Down HARD on WoW Forever Gold Buyers & Sellers (October 1). WoW Classic Highlights ran Blizzard Takes Action Against Gold Buyers And Bots (October 2). WoW Forever Tavern's video (October 3) lists "Gold buyers are getting caught" and "A new trade confirmation".

PRELOAD's WoW Forever Cut Dungeon Quest XP and Now BANS Gold Buyers (October 4) goes furthest. Its description says:

In substance, PRELOAD, YouTube (video description) said (source): gold buyers started risking their accounts, a streamer got banned

LudiDeo also posted a short clip, Gold Buyers Shivering (October 1), captioned "Legacy points for everyone, well done Blizzard".

Creator reports, not a Blizzard statement. No creator here has shown proof we can verify, and the game files cannot confirm who, if anyone, was banned.

What Blizzard has actually confirmed

Blizzard did say, on October 1, that it has been acting against buyers, not only sellers. Community manager Kaivax wrote in Actions Taken Against Botting and RMT:

Since our previous note on the subject of addressing Real Money Transactions (RMT) in WoW: Forever, we have been continuously actioning accounts that were found to be botting to amass gold in the WoW: Forever Beta, as well as the accounts of those who were found to have purchased or knowingly received illicit gold. Kaivax, Community Manager

The same post confirms the change several creators describe as a "trade confirmation": a warning when you trade with strangers. Blizzard says it will "soon add" it, and gives the wording:

Be wary of accepting gold from unknown or suspicious sources. If the provider is engaged in Real Money Transactions, you could put your account at risk of closure. Please see the following support article for more information: https://support.blizzard.com/help/article/379634 Kaivax, Community Manager

So Blizzard is acting against gold buyers and a trade warning is coming are confirmed. What is not confirmed is any individual case. For the full policy, the September 28 rules and the earlier streamer accusations, see our explainer: Gold buying in WoW Forever.

Ban evasion, and the gold-reading addon

On the forums, players are pressing Blizzard on what comes next. A thread titled Proof Breaking the rules means nothing (October 1) claims:

Payo just went and purchased a new account and is begging for a powerlevel now.. Breaking the rules means nothing if you dont enforce punishments.. Perma ban these gold buyers Forum poster, Blizzard forums (US)

A related thread, Is Ban Evasion against ToS? (October 1), asks for a blue's view on whether making a new account after a ban breaks the rules. In Anything to not play the game eh streamers? (October 3) a poster complains about an "addon that parses peoples gold they are trading you". And an opinion thread, Blizzard Is Fighting Gold Buying Backwards (October 3), argues Blizzard should treat the root causes, not just enforcement.

Player reports and opinions, not Blizzard statements. We cannot confirm that any named player was banned, bought a new account, or that any such addon exists or works as described. Blizzard has named no one.

What's confirmed and what isn't

  • Confirmed (Blizzard posts): RMT is against the rules; Blizzard says it has been actioning accounts that botted for gold and accounts found to have bought or knowingly received illicit gold; penalties can be the gold being removed, suspensions or permanent account closures.
  • Confirmed (Blizzard posts): a warning when you trade with strangers is coming to the game, with the wording quoted above.
  • Not confirmed: that any named streamer has been banned, or bought a new account to evade a ban. Blizzard has named no one.
  • Not confirmed: that an addon can read the gold a stranger is trading you.
  • Not confirmed: LudiDeo's "legacy points for everyone" line. Legacy Points are earned through challenges, not through reporting buyers (see below).

What the Forever client says

Bans, trades and who streams what are handled on Blizzard's servers, so the client files cannot confirm or deny any of these reports. The trade warning Blizzard says it will "soon add" is not in the beta client data we have extracted yet. What the client does show is unchanged. Its CharBaseInfo table still lists the same roster, with nothing ban- or streamer-related in the data:

  • 9 classes: Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, Warrior.
  • 10 races: Dwarf, Gnome, High Order Skyborne, Human, Night Elf, Orc, Tauren, Troll, Undead, Windshaper Skyborne.

On the "legacy points" claim, the client's Legacy System data shows Legacy Points come from completing challenges (level milestones, professions, dungeons, raids, PvP ranks), with a seasonal cap on how many you can spend. The files show no way to earn or buy them with gold, and nothing that hands them out for reporting other players.

Client data is from the beta and can change. It describes systems, not player conduct, so it cannot prove or disprove any accusation.

Sources

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