Whether this rumor will prove true will likely become evident in the coming days – it would significantly reduce the spam in the trade channel on many realms and make some WoW players happy.
Most of you actually find boosting okay – as long as it’s for gold.
Boosting could soon be banned in World of Warcraft, at least on a large scale. At least a rumor is going around…
Update 6:30 PM: World of Warcraft has indeed banned “Boosting Communities.” The confirmation just came from Blizzard.
Original report: On most realms in World of Warcraft, the trade channel is primarily used for one thing: Advertising for boosting services. These are often larger groups that operate across realms and provide certain services for gold coins. This can be boosting PvP ratings in the arena, but also completing raids or dungeons at high difficulty levels.
Now a rumor is circulating in the WoW community and seems to at least be causing some boosting groups to stall: Boosting could be banned.
What is the current status on boosting? Currently, boosting in World of Warcraft is explicitly allowed as long as it is for services in exchange for gold. Players can freely decide which in-game service they wish to pay for. There are numerous boosting groups that pull paying players through dungeons and raids on a fixed schedule to earn them achievements or loot.
Only advertising such boost groups in the LFG tool is prohibited and can be reported by other players. However, advertising such activities in the trade channel has so far been allowed – even beyond one’s home server.
Boosting offers for real money – that is, payment with real money like euros or dollars – are already prohibited and lead to sanctions for both providers and buyers.
What happened? In the subreddit for World of Warcraft, some posts appeared last night discussing the screenshot of a message that was apparently shared on several Discord servers for World of Warcraft. Allegedly, the message is from developers or community managers and is preparing for something that is supposed to become active during the course of today (January 31, 2022). It reads:
From now on, we prohibit groups offering boosting, matchmaking, or other non-traditional services, including those that do so for gold. Accounts of World of Warcraft that break this rule will be penalized. These penalties may include warnings, temporary suspensions, and, if necessary, permanent account closures. Groups that operate across multiple realms and promote their non-traditional in-game sales massively are against the terms of the End User License Agreement (EULA).
This updated rule does not restrict individuals or guilds from using the available in-game tools (‘trade chat’) to buy or sell items or activities with in-game currency. But “Boosting Communities,” especially those operating across multiple realms, are no longer allowed. […]
In short, this would mean: Boosting communities that offer their services across multiple servers are in violation of the terms of use and may face account penalties up to permanent bans.
This alone could still be fairly easily faked, after all, anyone can write such a message. Additionally, the choice of words and the language used does not typically match Blizzard’s usual style. It could therefore be at most a first draft of the message or simply a private message from an informed party.
However, several boosting communities and guilds seem to take this message seriously. Some well-known communities have not announced boost runs for the coming days, and several players confirm that some boosting communities are currently dissolving or restructuring.
Some are even posting images on Reddit of the schedules of the boosting groups – which in many cases end spontaneously today. It seems as though the message is considered “real” by multiple sources.
How likely is that? It seems quite likely that Blizzard will take action against boosting spam in the chat channels. On many realms, the trade chat is virtually unusable, as dozens of boosting groups are advertising their services, often from other realms. For most players, this is mainly annoying, but newcomers might find it even more daunting.
However, it is also clear that “providing services for gold” has always been an integral part of World of Warcraft. Enchanters and other craftsmen get paid for their services, and some mages charge a small fee for water and bread in Classic, and “boosting through dungeons” is often sold as well. After all, that’s the compensation for time invested.
Whether this rumor will prove true will likely become evident in the coming days – it would significantly reduce the spam in the trade channel on many realms and make some WoW players happy.
Most of you actually find boosting okay – as long as it’s for gold.
