Blizzard Account Administration told not to restore hacked characters

[Tim]

In a stunning revelation from a veteran account administrator at Blizzard, WoW.com has learned that account administrators are being told by Blizzard managers not to restore people's characters and items after their account has been ransacked by gold sellers and keyloggers. Instead, account administrators are being told to give people a "care package" and get them to accept the package in lieu of total account restoration.

If the player does not accept this care package, they are then forced to go into a character restoration queue that is consistently several days to weeks long. According to sources familiar with the situation, this "care package policy" has been implemented in order to lighten the work load of those Blizzard employees who perform account restorations. Similar policies have existed at other times account compromises have been high, such as during the transition from Vanilla WoW to The Burning Crusade.

This care package being offered consists of the following:

• 2,500 gold
• 2 Emblems of Frost
• 10 Emblems of Triumph for every day the players has had to wait to receive the care package

If the player accepts the care package, their restoration case is considered closed and no additional items or gold will be restored on the account that were lost because of the security compromise.

WoW.com believes that this practice, while potentially making some sense logistically, stands firmly against the best interest of the players. Sources that we have spoken with tell us most account administrators do not agree with this policy, however their hands are tied due to Blizzard management (it is their job, after all, and they have to do as they're told).

WoW.com believes Blizzard can do a better job at solving long restoration queue times without placing player's hard work as a secondary concern. Instead of offering players a care package, Blizzard can employ more staff, and as we will discuss in a later post, train those staff in better ways to prevent account compromises and exploitation. The serious consideration given to mandatory authenticators is also part of this solution.

Thanks to Poyzon for the heads up!