Creators say gold-buyer bans are landing, and Blizzard confirms a trade warning is coming

The Dire Maul loading screen from the WoW Forever client

2026-10-05 · ForeverDB

Since October 1 a wave of videos says WoW Forever's gold-buyer crackdown is hitting accounts, with claims that a streamer was banned and bought a new account to get round it. Blizzard has confirmed it is acting against buyers as well as sellers and that a trade warning is coming. The specific claims are community reports the game files can't check.

Speculation. Blizzard's own posts confirm it is acting against gold buyers (see below). The details creators have added since then rest on community reports, not on Blizzard's posts or the Forever client files, so we repeat them only as reports: 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.

What creators are saying

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

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

"That same week, gold buyers started risking their accounts, a streamer got banned, and a Burning Crusade-era quest came back because of a Make-A-Wish kid."

LudiDeo also put up a short clip on October 1, Gold Buyers Shivering, with the caption "Legacy points for everyone, well done Blizzard".

Creator reports, not a Blizzard statement. None of these creators has shown proof we can verify, and the game files can't tell us who, if anyone, was banned.

What Blizzard has confirmed

On October 1 Blizzard said it has been acting against buyers as well as 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 what several creators call 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 two things are confirmed: Blizzard is acting against gold buyers, and a trade warning is coming. No individual case is. The full policy, the September 28 rules and the earlier streamer accusations are in our explainer, Gold buying in WoW Forever.

Ban evasion, and the gold-reading addon

On the forums, players are pressing Blizzard on what happens 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)

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

Player reports and opinions, not Blizzard statements. We can't confirm that any named player was banned or bought a new account, or that any such addon exists or works as described.

Where that leaves things

Blizzard's posts confirm that RMT is against the rules and that it has been actioning accounts that botted for gold, along with accounts found to have bought or knowingly received illicit gold. Penalties can be the gold being removed, suspensions or permanent account closures. The warning for trades with strangers is confirmed too, with the wording quoted above. Nothing confirms that any named streamer has been banned or bought a new account to evade a ban, and Blizzard has named no one. Nothing shows that an addon can read the gold a stranger is trading you either.

LudiDeo's "legacy points for everyone" line is about something Blizzard did confirm, and it has nothing to do with gold buying. On 1 October Kaivax posted that every beta tester would get 16 Legacy Points to test the system, and the 8 October notes say they have been granted.

What the Forever client says

Bans and trades are handled on Blizzard's servers, so the client files can't confirm or deny any of these reports, and nothing in the data relates to bans or streamers. The trade warning Blizzard says it will "soon add" isn't in the beta client data we have extracted yet. For the record, the client lists 9 classes (Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, Warrior) and 10 races (Dwarf, Gnome, High Order Skyborne, Human, Night Elf, Orc, Tauren, Troll, Undead, Windshaper Skyborne).

The client's Legacy System data shows Legacy Points coming from completed 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.

Client data is from the beta and can change. It describes systems, not how players behave, so it can't prove or disprove any accusation.

Sources

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