by Byron Mudry on Dec 22, 2005
Blizzard has taken a hard stance on players that violate their terms of use either through farming / selling items and gold or running cheater applications. Here is Blizzards latest message to the community.
In keeping with Blizzard's aggressive stance against cheating in World of Warcraft, we have permanently closed more than 18,000 accounts over the past three months for participating in activities that violate the game's Terms of Use.
A majority of these accounts were found to be using third-party programs to farm gold and items. Such actions can severely impact the economy of a realm and the overall game enjoyment for all players.
We will continue to actively monitor all World of Warcraft realms in order to protect the service and its players from the negative effects of cheating. Please note that selling World of Warcraft content, such as gold, items, and characters, can result in the permanent removal of the involved accounts from World of Warcraft.
A portion of the account closures announced today came as the result of tips reported to our GMs in game or emailed to hacks@blizzard.com by legitimate World of Warcraft players. If you suspect that a World of Warcraft character is using an illegal third-party program to farm gold or items, or is otherwise violating our Terms of Use, please report the suspected infraction via one of the means listed above. All reports will be investigated, and those that prove false will not result in corrective action.
Thank you for your continued support, and good luck with your adventures in Azeroth!
-Blizzard Entertainment