Social Environment
Some people have taken issue with the recent wave of account bans that Blizzard enacted several days ago. TJ, and the Bloggingest Guild in Warcraft: Aetherial Circle on Drenden, had one of their friends banned. They, perhaps rightly so, are certain he did nothing that would warrant having his account banned, even if he cheated*. I don’t know the fellow at all, but the Aetherial Circle people all seem very nice from the blogs and it really sucks that they’ve lost their friend.
Whether the ban was appropriate or not, there seems to be a complete lack of information coming from Blizzard regarding it. He was not provided with specific information as to why he was banned, just which section of the ToS or EULA (I’m not sure which) they believe he violated.
Blizzard has a pretty poor reputation for their service and communication. At times, apparently, lying to their customers (consider this). What we do know is that Blizzard has a woefully ineffective system for communicating with and responding to customers, even when Blizzard asks for feedback!
World of Warcraft is not just a game, it is a social environment. Non-gamers may not understand, but the relationship that are formed because of virtual interactions are just as “real” as any others. Some of us spend as much time playing with the same set of people, the same set of friends, as at a full-time job! The goal is to forge a group identity and accomplish goals no individual could alone. The very essence of most people’s World of Warcraft experience is in being a part of a guild, or a raid, or PuGs, and being involved in relationships with other people. These relationships are the strongest element keeping people playing. Blizzard seems to forget that it is because of those relationships that their game has grown to be the success it has. If they start banning people, they really should be very explicit in why they have done so: people are less likely to be angry when they are empowered by - at the least - having full information.
Kirk at Priestly Endeavors has a very thorough look at contacting Blizzard and how their corporate structure is part of the problem and ways that it can be worked with. Lamaa, I hope this can be resolved quickly, and at the very least you can be told exactly what the violation was. To the members of Aetherial Circle, I hope you get your friend back.
EDIT: As Kirk pointed out in his comment, he posted even more information.
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Since you linked, I think I will to ask you to send some love to the subsequent post. There are changes and opportunities in the offing. Thanks.
Kirk’s last blog post..Pursuing Blizzard corrected