WoW Classic: Blizzard accidentally bans countless players, then apologizes meekly

There was a huge wave of bans in WoW Classic. But that probably caught innocent people in particular, who are now complaining loudly.

In World of Warcraft Classic, the pre-patch for “Wrath of the Lich King Classic” has been live for a few days. Many players use this to quickly bring a character to level 70, so that they can finally hike back to Northrend in a few days and experience the old adventures there again. But for some heroes, the journey was already over after the first PvP matches – because they were banned for inactivity. The outcry was great, so Blizzard now had to row back.

What were people banned for? Over the past few days, there has been a collective outcry on the WoW Classic forums and subreddit. Hundreds reported being banned from WotLK Classic for a whopping 30 days. The justification is almost always “PvP non-participation”. This is when a character signs up for PvP, but doesn’t actually take part in the battle and just stands around afk somewhere to collect honor and experience points without participating in the game.

What do those affected say? Those affected say that they mainly played normally in Alterac Valley to gain experience via PvP battlegrounds and thus level their characters. Many report that they acted more defensively and, for example, protect towers from being taken. This in turn seems, it is believed, to result in the system classifying these characters as afk. You cause little damage and little healing if you stoically defend a bunker for the whole battle and don’t dare to attack a rogue or druid just by being there.

Many are outraged by this decision and believe that Blizzard’s automatic detection simply failed here. The disappointment is great because you would miss the launch of WotLK Classic.

At least some take it with humor and comment, for example:

“In this way you can also reduce queues, simply ban a large part of the players.”

This is how Blizzard reacts: It is now clear that the many people affected obviously told the truth and many of them were wrongly banned. More and more reports that the developers have since sent an apology and have activated the affected accounts again. So only very few have to serve the full 30 days.

If you are affected by the wave of bans, then check your emails. The ban may have already been lifted.

Were you also affected by the ban and are you unlocked again now? Do you know someone who is affected?

Some would also like to have special treatment in WoW Classic – like the streamer Asmongold.