World of Warcraft: Difference between revisions

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==Consumer impact summary==

*'''Forced arbitration:''' Blizzard's [[EULA|End User License Agreement]] contains clauses that [[forced arbitration|mandate arbitration]] and waives the user's right to [[class action]].<ref>{{Cite web |author= |title=Blizzard End User License Agreement |url=https://www.blizzard.com/en-us/legal/fba4d00f-c7e4-4883-b8b9-1b4500a402ea/blizzard-end-user-license-agreement |website=Blizzard Entertainment |date=1 Jun 2018 |access-date=17 Oct 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919091644/https://www.blizzard.com/en-us/legal/fba4d00f-c7e4-4883-b8b9-1b4500a402ea/blizzard-end-user-license-agreement  |archive-date=19 Sep 2018}}</ref>

*'''Forced arbitration:''' Blizzard's [[EULA|End User License Agreement]] contains clauses that [[forced arbitration|mandate arbitration]] and waives the user's right to {{Wplink|class action}}.<ref>{{Cite web |author= |title=Blizzard End User License Agreement |url=https://www.blizzard.com/en-us/legal/fba4d00f-c7e4-4883-b8b9-1b4500a402ea/blizzard-end-user-license-agreement |website=Blizzard Entertainment |date=1 Jun 2018 |access-date=17 Oct 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919091644/https://www.blizzard.com/en-us/legal/fba4d00f-c7e4-4883-b8b9-1b4500a402ea/blizzard-end-user-license-agreement  |archive-date=19 Sep 2018}}</ref>

*'''Ownership:''' Per the EULA, it is stated that the end user is only sold a ''license'' and does not own their copy of the video game.

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===Warden anti-cheat (''2005'')===

:''Further reading: [https://warcraft.wiki.gg/wiki/Warden_(software) Warcraft Wiki: Warden (software)]'', ''{{Wplink|MDY_Industries,_LLC_v._Blizzard_Entertainment,_Inc.}}''

In 2005, it came to light that Blizzard Entertainment was utilizing an in-house anti-cheat program when the video game company filed an infringement lawsuit against MDY Industries, LLC, who sold a {{Wplink|Video game bot|botting program}} called {{Wplink|Glider (bot)|Glider}}. The legal filings were the first time that Blizzard acknowledged both the anti-cheat's existence and its official name (Warden). The {{Wplink|Electronic Frontier Foundation}} (EFF) denounced Warden as [[spyware]] due to the lack of transparency and concerns over the privacy and retention of collected data.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ward |first=Mark |title=Warcraft game maker in spying row |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4385050.stm |website=BBC News |date=31 Oct 2005 |access-date=17 Oct 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051103043944/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4385050.stm |archive-date=3 Nov 2005}}</ref>

~~Further reading: [https://warcraft.wiki.gg/wiki/Warden_(software) Warcraft Wiki: Warden (software)], ''{{Wplink|MDY_Industries,_LLC_v._Blizzard_Entertainment,_Inc.}}''~~

===Real ID (''2010'')===

Real ID was a change introduced by Blizzard, where players would use their real first and last name when posting on WoW forums (instead of their preferred WoW character, as it was before). Originally announced as optional, it was quickly changed to obligatory, with Blizzard arguing it to be a vital step for reducing toxicity in the gaming community. Community push-back was massive and united, with many citing privacy threats as the main concern. Blizzard initially tried to downplay the danger, even banning several people, but eventually buckled under the pressure. Then-CEO Mike Morhaime declared that, following user feedback, using Real ID to post on the forums would not be required.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yin-Poole |first=Wesley |title=Blizzard scraps Real ID for its forums |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/blizzard-scraps-real-id-for-its-forums |website=EuroGamer |date=9 Jul 2010 |access-date=14 Apr 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250828164928/https://www.eurogamer.net/blizzard-scraps-real-id-for-its-forums |archive-date=28 Aug 2025}}</ref>

===Real ID (''~~July~~ 2010'')===

[[Real ID]] was a change introduced by Blizzard, where players would use their real first and last name when posting on WoW forums (instead of their preferred WoW character, as it was before). Originally announced as optional, it was quickly changed to obligatory, with Blizzard arguing it to be a vital step for reducing toxicity in the gaming community. Community push-back was massive and united, with many citing privacy threats as the main concern. Blizzard initially tried to downplay the danger, even banning several people, but eventually buckled under the pressure. Then-CEO Mike Morhaime declared that, following user feedback, using Real ID to post on the forums would not be required.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yin-Poole |first=Wesley |title=Blizzard scraps Real ID for its forums |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/blizzard-scraps-real-id-for-its-forums |website=EuroGamer |date=9 Jul 2010 |access-date=14 Apr 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250828164928/https://www.eurogamer.net/blizzard-scraps-real-id-for-its-forums |archive-date=28 Aug 2025}}</ref>

===Major data loss (~~August~~ 2024)===

===Major data loss (''2024'')===

When [https://warcraft.wiki.gg/wiki/Patch_11.0.2 Patch 11.0.2] was released on 13 August 2024, a serious bug caused the contents of some [https://warcraft.wiki.gg/wiki/Guild_bank guild bank(s)] to go missing to varying degrees of severity (up to everything) regardless of player faction and world region. The only official acknowledgement of the problem at that time was a support article that was created four days later, on 17 August.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Blizzard Support - Items Missing from Guild Bank |url=https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/000363630 |website=Battle.net |date=17 Aug 2024 |access-date=19 Sep 2024 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240818102435/https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/000363630 |archive-date=18 Aug 2024}}</ref> Except for a Customer Support agent on the European forum,<ref>{{Cite web |author=Felranys |title=Guild Bank items gone |url=https://eu.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/guild-bank-items-gone/528709/38 |website=Blizzard |date=16 Aug 2024 |access-date=2 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240927065929/https://eu.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/guild-bank-items-gone/528709?page=2#post_38 |archive-date=27 Sep 2024}}</ref> what followed was silence for over a month.

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 ==Consumer impact summary==
-*'''Forced arbitration:''' Blizzard's [[EULA|End User License Agreement]] contains clauses that [[forced arbitration|mandate arbitration]] and waives the user's right to [[class action]].<ref>{{Cite web |author= |title=Blizzard End User License Agreement |url=https://www.blizzard.com/en-us/legal/fba4d00f-c7e4-4883-b8b9-1b4500a402ea/blizzard-end-user-license-agreement |website=Blizzard Entertainment |date=1 Jun 2018 |access-date=17 Oct 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919091644/https://www.blizzard.com/en-us/legal/fba4d00f-c7e4-4883-b8b9-1b4500a402ea/blizzard-end-user-license-agreement <!-- Oldest archived version. --> |archive-date=19 Sep 2018}}</ref>
+*'''Forced arbitration:''' Blizzard's [[EULA|End User License Agreement]] contains clauses that [[forced arbitration|mandate arbitration]] and waives the user's right to {{Wplink|class action}}.<ref>{{Cite web |author= |title=Blizzard End User License Agreement |url=https://www.blizzard.com/en-us/legal/fba4d00f-c7e4-4883-b8b9-1b4500a402ea/blizzard-end-user-license-agreement |website=Blizzard Entertainment |date=1 Jun 2018 |access-date=17 Oct 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919091644/https://www.blizzard.com/en-us/legal/fba4d00f-c7e4-4883-b8b9-1b4500a402ea/blizzard-end-user-license-agreement <!-- Oldest archived version. --> |archive-date=19 Sep 2018}}</ref>
 *'''Ownership:''' Per the EULA, it is stated that the end user is only sold a ''license'' and does not own their copy of the video game.
@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 ===Warden anti-cheat (''2005'')===
+:''Further reading: [https://warcraft.wiki.gg/wiki/Warden_(software) Warcraft Wiki: Warden (software)]'', ''{{Wplink|MDY_Industries,_LLC_v._Blizzard_Entertainment,_Inc.}}''
 In 2005, it came to light that Blizzard Entertainment was utilizing an in-house anti-cheat program when the video game company filed an infringement lawsuit against MDY Industries, LLC, who sold a {{Wplink|Video game bot|botting program}} called {{Wplink|Glider (bot)|Glider}}. The legal filings were the first time that Blizzard acknowledged both the anti-cheat's existence and its official name (Warden). The {{Wplink|Electronic Frontier Foundation}} (EFF) denounced Warden as [[spyware]] due to the lack of transparency and concerns over the privacy and retention of collected data.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ward |first=Mark |title=Warcraft game maker in spying row |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4385050.stm |website=BBC News |date=31 Oct 2005 |access-date=17 Oct 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051103043944/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4385050.stm |archive-date=3 Nov 2005}}</ref>
-Further reading: [https://warcraft.wiki.gg/wiki/Warden_(software) Warcraft Wiki: Warden (software)], ''{{Wplink|MDY_Industries,_LLC_v._Blizzard_Entertainment,_Inc.}}''
+===Real ID (''2010'')===
+Real ID was a change introduced by Blizzard, where players would use their real first and last name when posting on WoW forums (instead of their preferred WoW character, as it was before). Originally announced as optional, it was quickly changed to obligatory, with Blizzard arguing it to be a vital step for reducing toxicity in the gaming community. Community push-back was massive and united, with many citing privacy threats as the main concern. Blizzard initially tried to downplay the danger, even banning several people, but eventually buckled under the pressure. Then-CEO Mike Morhaime declared that, following user feedback, using Real ID to post on the forums would not be required.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yin-Poole |first=Wesley |title=Blizzard scraps Real ID for its forums |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/blizzard-scraps-real-id-for-its-forums |website=EuroGamer |date=9 Jul 2010 |access-date=14 Apr 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250828164928/https://www.eurogamer.net/blizzard-scraps-real-id-for-its-forums |archive-date=28 Aug 2025}}</ref>
-===Real ID (''July 2010'')===
-[[Real ID]] was a change introduced by Blizzard, where players would use their real first and last name when posting on WoW forums (instead of their preferred WoW character, as it was before). Originally announced as optional, it was quickly changed to obligatory, with Blizzard arguing it to be a vital step for reducing toxicity in the gaming community. Community push-back was massive and united, with many citing privacy threats as the main concern. Blizzard initially tried to downplay the danger, even banning several people, but eventually buckled under the pressure. Then-CEO Mike Morhaime declared that, following user feedback, using Real ID to post on the forums would not be required.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yin-Poole |first=Wesley |title=Blizzard scraps Real ID for its forums |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/blizzard-scraps-real-id-for-its-forums |website=EuroGamer |date=9 Jul 2010 |access-date=14 Apr 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250828164928/https://www.eurogamer.net/blizzard-scraps-real-id-for-its-forums |archive-date=28 Aug 2025}}</ref>
-===Major data loss (August 2024)===
+===Major data loss (''2024'')===
 When [https://warcraft.wiki.gg/wiki/Patch_11.0.2 Patch 11.0.2] was released on 13 August 2024, a serious bug caused the contents of some [https://warcraft.wiki.gg/wiki/Guild_bank guild bank(s)] to go missing to varying degrees of severity (up to everything) regardless of player faction and world region. The only official acknowledgement of the problem at that time was a support article that was created four days later, on 17 August.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Blizzard Support - Items Missing from Guild Bank |url=https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/000363630 |website=Battle.net |date=17 Aug 2024 |access-date=19 Sep 2024 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240818102435/https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/000363630 |archive-date=18 Aug 2024}}</ref> Except for a Customer Support agent on the European forum,<ref>{{Cite web |author=Felranys |title=Guild Bank items gone |url=https://eu.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/guild-bank-items-gone/528709/38 |website=Blizzard |date=16 Aug 2024 |access-date=2 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240927065929/https://eu.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/guild-bank-items-gone/528709?page=2#post_38 |archive-date=27 Sep 2024}}</ref> what followed was silence for over a month.