author: Michael Zegar
Blizzard to Crack Down on Entities Offering Boosting in WoW
Blizzard has announced rule policy changes that have been slapped on organizations that offer „boosting” in World of Warcraft. The studio also corrected how these reforms will affect guilds.
- Blizzard has "outlawed" organizations that offer "boosting" in World of Warcraft;
- Members of such organizations who do not comply with the new rules will be banned;
- Some in the community have concerns about the announced changes.
"Boosting" in online games is not a new phenomenon - especially in World of Warcraft. Last October, we wrote about one Blizzard Entertainment executive who openly admitted to "raid boosting." Yesterday, the studio released a statement announcing changes to its rules policy against this phenomenon.
"Boosting" in online games refers to various services - often paid - offered by advanced players. In it, they perform certain actions in a given game for the client's gain.
For example, someone offering "boosting" may log into a less experienced player's account to increase the former's rank in a title. In most titles, such services are not prohibited as long as they are not offered for a fee.
Blizzard's announcement
"As of today, we will now prohibit organizations who offer boosting, matchmaking, escrow, or other non-traditional services, including those offered for gold. World of Warcraft accounts found to be in violation of this policy are subject to account actions. These actions can include warnings, account suspensions and, if necessary, permanent closure of the disruptive World of Warcraft account(s)."
- Blizzard also corrected how these changes will affect guilds, among other things:
"This policy update does not restrict individuals or guilds from using the provided in-game tools (“trade channel” chat) to buy or sell in-game items or activities for in-game currency. However, “boosting communities”, especially those who operate across multiple realms, are no longer permitted."
- These organizations often gather on external platforms (like Discord), where they can cover a much larger portion of the community than in-game guilds.
Community concerns
- While the above rule update is sure to change many aspects of World of Warcraft for the better, some players have expressed their concerns. They claim that organizations specializing in "boosting" will most likely now move to the aforementioned chat room to spam with advertising of their services there - thus completely dominating it.
