Recently, several players in World of Warcraft were banned for using partially harmless mods. These bans have now been lifted by Blizzard, provided the mods were indeed harmless.
Who was unbanned? Players who used certain graphic mods in World of Warcraft are likely to have been freed from the recently imposed ban. The ban has been converted into a warning, which will instead be issued to players.
It concerns the use of certain mods that alter the character models of World of Warcraft. Although Blizzard does not specify any examples, it likely includes among other things:
- Nude mods, for example for specific roleplay
- Adjustment of female breasts
- Modification and alteration of certain armor
Who remains banned? According to Blizzard, mods for automating processes and abilities were also discovered during the ban wave. At least all users of these “bots” remain banned.
Why were players banned at all? The original ban due to these nude mods was justified by Blizzard with “botting”, meaning the use of third-party software that automated processes.
The bans for many players were imposed because the visual adjustments were also used to gain a gameplay advantage, not just for cosmetic change. Some players have used the mods to:
- Make flags larger in battlegrounds and make carriers easier to spot
- Make herbs appear larger for easier gathering
- Invade restricted areas
These players received bans from Blizzard ranging from 30 to 549 days (via wowhead). Most players received a ban of 180 days. The use of any such mods is generally prohibited and has so far, if at all, only been tolerated.
This is what Blizzard says: In response to the bans, Community Manager Kaivax in the official WoW forum made a statement. He writes:
Upon closer inspection, we noticed that some of the banned accounts had merely made client-side model adjustments. Therefore, this time we would prefer to respond with a warning rather than a ban.
What should I do if I am affected? Your ban should have been lifted by now. If that is not the case, and you really only used harmless mods, you should contact support.
However, using such software still violates the terms of service of World of Warcraft. Therefore, Blizzard expects players to remove the corresponding software. Otherwise, the accounts will be subject to further actions.
If such software is detected on the accounts again, Blizzard will sanction it this time with higher penalties, regardless of the type of mod.
Some of the mods have simply changed the appearance of armor to make it look less silly:
