Posted by iTZKooPA on Friday, May 1st, 2009 - 65 Comments
Tags: 353892967, banhammer, blizzard pr, blizzard pr sucks, darkfall, developer item, eve, karatechop, martin fury, ultimate power corrupts ultimately
I first heard about the whole Karatechop case early this week. I even ventured over to the forum thread that followed the “investigation,” only to be dismayed at how unreadable the blues made it via deletions. Due to the confusion, conjectures, and chaos surrounding the topic at the time I chuckled at the situation and decided to move on. It wasn’t until yesterday that a more reputable collection of information was gathered by WoWInsider’s Alex Zeibart.
To summarize Alex’s investigation, Karatechop appeared on the radar because of the way the toon exploded onto the raiding scene. His guild and his character were previously a normal raiding guild, dressed in mostly Naxxramas loot. All of a sudden they began dominating Ulduar’s hard modes left and right, while scoring the achievements to boot. A quick trip to Karatechop’s Achievements list and it became obvious that something was up. I don’t care how overpowered you are, no one does ~354,000,000 damage in a single blow. Since the report went live other team members have followed up with a full interview and confirmation of Karatechop’s account closure.
The topic at hand has taken the greater WoW community by storm. I’ll admit, I would almost certainly use the item. If I thought there was a remote possibility that I wouldn’t get banned, I’d definitely go dominate everything. But I am a realist, I know that if I didn’t report the error Solidsamm would get hit with the banhammer. My character is too precious to me, so I honestly believe I would have tried it out, reported it to a GM, and then abused it while I awaited a response. It could elicit a ban anyways, but hopefully it’d be a temporary one.
In my opinion Karatechop was in the wrong and deserved what he got. Friends and guildies who participated in the raids also deserve some sort of punishment, perhaps an Achievement reset and a temp ban, since they also exploited the game. To me, the punishments and who deserves what is a secondary issue.
How did Karatechop get Martin Fury - a developer item - in the first place? (In the interview he claims it came from Blizzard via an in-game mail as part of an account restoration to a friend’s hacked account)
Blizzard needs to get their PR to tell us exactly what happened, and what has been done. The community knows that mistakes happen. Missed keys, a rogue keystroke, a ferret running across the keyboard, these are all common typing blunders. The bottom line is that we need to be reassured that there wasn’t any foul play. The kind of stuff that we have heard about in EVE and Darkfall. We want to know that Blizzard is on top of this, instead of swinging the hammer at a pinata while blindfolded and dizzy. I doubt it’ll happen though, and that is what I hate most about Blizzard.
I told you I couldn’t hold back completely, what about you? As the saying goes, “Power corrupts and ultimate power corrupts ultimately.” Do you think that Karatechop deserves the permanent ban he has been handed or should they have come up with some other solution? What are the odds that Blizzard will make anything on the topic public?
Related Posts: Jewelcrafting Nerf: Dragon’s Eyes Will No Longer Be Prismatic, Interview With Karatechop Of Martin Fury Fame, Exodus Suspended, Oh My!, Understanding Item Level, Wintergrasp Rewards,
By Henry on Friday, May 1st, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Isn’t the purpose of the permanent ban because the person is and will be a continued threat to the WoW community. w/o the item, Karatechop is harmless.
By Crys on Friday, May 1st, 2009 at 3:00 pm
they should have known better… really… they used it like 14 times… honestly.. its making us all look bad in the WoW community because one person decided to do something that they KNEW was wrong
By Batzertzul on Friday, May 1st, 2009 at 3:10 pm
I think that the permanent ban is a terrible thing! Sure the guy did something stupid but does the account needs to be hang for it?? It’s scarring the hell out of me! In RL stupidity is not a crime nor is it an excuse but in Blizz world they make the rules and it seamed that for them stupidity is a terrible crime!
Wouldn’t a warning + revoke achievements + delete gear they got from Ulduar had been enough?
People are getting away with racist comments, hates and so much more which affect people in real life. The only entity affected by Karatechop is Blizz and now himself.
It’s a terrible and scary ruling.
By Mac on Friday, May 1st, 2009 at 3:11 pm
The ban is bs imo
By Nextgener on Friday, May 1st, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Blizzard F’d up by giving the item to a player in the the first place.
He F’d up royally by using it and knowing it was wrong with some 20 other people knowing the same thing.
But Blizz is covering there asses on this situation and failing at it.
Either there hiding something, or some piece is missing from this whole story.
By cocopuff on Friday, May 1st, 2009 at 3:35 pm
i agree the perminit ban is terrible here whati whuld have done if i was in blizz shoes give him a temp ban and completly reset his account erease all the addon all the macros and all th char and give this guy a warning
By Grido on Friday, May 1st, 2009 at 3:53 pm
I would love to be GOD for a day, then report it.
It would be so much to taking out revenge on bosses that have given me grief in the past or run into Org and announce “I AM A GOD, I SMITE YOU ALL” Click.
So much fun to be had.
By batmunkh on Friday, May 1st, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Most likely Blizz will not address this problem publicly, hopefully they will fix the internal problem and keep better track of their ‘meant for GM’ items so the they don’t fall into random hands.
As for Karatechop, the item was a cheat (it says it on the item itself) meant for GM’s, whether or not he understood that he should’ve known that Blizz wouldn’t give him Ultimate power just because a friends account got hacked. And taking it to Ulduar where some world firsts are still going underway was asking for a ban imo.
By Hund on Friday, May 1st, 2009 at 6:04 pm
i can’t see how it was wrong. I mean if YOU got the martain Thunder you would probobly use it. Maybe not to the extent of Karate, But you would still use it. Karate should only be banned if he did something that would enable him to get that item.
By Snaggly on Friday, May 1st, 2009 at 7:30 pm
So they closed his account? Did they ban his credit card or something too? I don’t see how you can be banned for life from wow. Either way that was far too harsh, remove the achievements and any loot he got but that seems a bit too far.
By Rhev (Koopa's GM) on Friday, May 1st, 2009 at 8:18 pm
FYI not ALL of us have ferrets running across our keys.
By Azurko on Friday, May 1st, 2009 at 8:57 pm
That’s just craziness. If given the GM Weapon, I’d use it for one “what the hell” run then delete / report it. Maybe sell it to a vendor for major cash
By Luigi on Friday, May 1st, 2009 at 11:57 pm
I think that this is the coolest thing ever happened in wow.
Gives a whole new depth to the game. See at the GMs as the gods of wow… by mistake they dropped a god-like item in azeroth, some mortal used it and now they are furious with him.
I find this amazing you?
By Lemur on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 12:24 am
Kids these days… You probably play all your games with god mode cheats.
By Karatechop (US-Vek'nilash) on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 12:37 am
Thanks guys, Big Fan of the show.
Let Me Know if you Need an Interview, I’ve already been called on wow-insider
By Braindead on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 2:10 am
I think part of the fault lies on blizzard’s side. If i was given the item after having my account hacked I’d just think its a way of Blizz’ saying “there you go, help urself and get your stuff back with this”.
By Hark the Herald on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 2:46 am
They’re just people playing a game. Plain and simple. Blizzard was too harsh on the ban. So what they got world firsts and whatnots? Those kinds of things can be taken back (along with the achievements). It’s not like they sold/bought a character on eBay or actually hacked the game
By Aggrø on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 2:47 am
It’s hard to tell aferwards, because you know the consequences.
I think I would’ve had some fun with it in Naxx or Sarth, but not spoil it for guilds like Ensidia and go to all of the new content.
I agree with iTZKooPA that I like my account to much to risk getting banned so I would probably report it.
BTW: If you really want Godpowers, go play on some Private server with Kill-commands or something.
By Brandon Hugg on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 2:49 am
i see him as a modern promethous who found fire that the gods had created and decided to cook with it and now they are pissed and punishing him for it
By Redaurora on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 5:11 am
I do not agree with the long term ban. I think Blizz is setting an example. I am sure they feel if he had not tried for a world first Karatechop would not have been caught. Perhaps down the road someone would have finally caught on but what would you do then? How long has he had the item what all have he done with it? Can you be sure what achivements are his and what are from the item?
For PR reasons they should come out and give a note about there feelings on the situation. So many people are talking about it.
By Shamtastik on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 5:22 am
Ultimate power comes with ultimate ROFLPWN, that`s all that matters, ban or not, it must feel good to 1-shot Ulduar
By friskydingo on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 6:01 am
i think that if he had used it on anything but ulduar, the ban would be too far on Blizzards part. Since they knowingly downed ulduar with the the item, they would have kept doing it over and over and over. If no one caught that, blizz would have had to change the instance for a guild so easily able to clear it. It is the same thing as playing a fps online and someone going around with hacks and ranking up and killing everyone.
If it was a private server, who cares, but it’s the blizzard servers. I agree that something else blizz wont talk about occured in order for karatechop to get the item. They should release something stating how they feel about the issue, and set more standards on something like that.
By Amidaman on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 6:37 am
the bastard got what he deserved,he ruined the fun for the real top guild trying for world firsts.
Its like finding a gun and shooting someone with it and saying “hey its not my fault, its the fault of the guy who lost it in the first place”
By Soroth23 on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 6:44 am
Did anyone else happen to notice that karatechop himself has left a comment for us?
Anyway, I think Blizz was definatly harsh on the perma ban, but I dont think it was right for the guildies to be punished too. They were enjoying the game as any of us would, they cant help 1 members stupidity. Permanent ban is a little harsh, but I dont think a temporary ban would have done a whole lot of good either. IMO, he f***ed up, delete the character and let him get on with his others.
By TenTonApe on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 6:45 am
Perm ban is rediculous, I would have used it, you would have used it. Everyone would. They should punish him yes, achieve reset and lose all his equip seems appropriate
By Snaggly on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 6:52 am
Amidaman, how can you actually compare the two?
By Kevin on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 7:40 am
I think the fact that the guy got his hands on a developer’s item in the first place is bs and his excuse is even more bs. The permenant ban he was handed does seem a bit harsh, i think that blizz should have taken the wep away wiped the achivement lists of all who participated and taken away all the loot that the group had gotten in Uludar and any other raid that they had done with the wep.
By Wittgenstein on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 8:07 am
@Amidamam: I understand that analogy, but, I still think that the ban was unecessary. Blizz is just trying to cover up an employee mistake! WTH Blizz, just reset achievs and items of that player down to the date of the mistake you did! It’s as simple as that! Why so much ruckus for something that may happen always?
A huge company like Blizz has to assume their mistake and repare it, just this, nothing more! ¬¬’
By Hank on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 9:02 am
GM made a mistake.
KC explioted the mistake to trivialize new content.
Maximum punnishment served.
exploit = cheat = ban.
QED
By Loki on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 10:13 am
Bad things happen to stupid people. End of story.
By Alayea on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 10:37 am
A permanent ban may seem harsh, but I believe it was necessary on Blizzard’s part to set an example of what happens to those who knowingly cheat (especially in this case, considering its magnitude). If Blizzard had only stripped away the achievements and equipment, I think it would have amounted to nothing more than a slap on the wrist because then it would become “yeah, I experienced all of the end-game content and only got the loot and brags taken away; no loss on my part”.
And if the comment by supposedly the offender himself is true… Yeah, nothing comes close to our culture when we prop up bad behavior on a pedestal.
By Enviee on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 11:32 am
its blizzards fault for giving it to him i dont think they should ban him.
By Rok on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 1:13 pm
1st: I love how they used a MTG card for teh banhammer on this article ^_^
2nd: Cmon. If you seen something like this, theres no way you wouldn’t use it AT LEAST ONCE. Just to see if it works man. Think about it. What would you do? Own some dudes in BGs in 1 shot? It would be fun in my mind. Not sure if the permaban is worth it, but at least a good 1-3 month MAYBE. Blizz is stupid for even sending it to em. Their mistake, not his. No fault. Just take away the loot and the achievements. Geez, how bad can they mess up?
By Bruknar on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Instead of a ban, why didn’t blizzard just take the item off him before he runs into the middle of WG fortress and 1shot everyone in sigh for massive honor …
By Alayea on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 6:12 pm
@Rok
Tempting, though, it would be to use it, I still wouldn’t do it. As for Blizzard’s part in the matter, yes, they messed up. But who’s fault is it really? Blizzard made an honest snafu, but it was Karatechop’s OWN CHOICE to use the item when he clearly knew what it was. If he had just said to a GM, “hey got this in the mail; can you take it back?”, then he would be the guiltless party. Since that’s not case, however…
By Josh on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Everywhere I have read no one has stated what is on my mind. This guy got the ultimate punishment and what did the IDIOT MORON STUPID ASS gm that sent the item to him in the first place get?
GM: “Sorry boss honest mistake.”
Boss: “It’s ok, it is the characters fault for using it, we will punish him, you are not at fault.”
In conclusion, not everyone is honest, if you find a wallet on the ground and use the hundred bucks you found in it do you deserve the death penalty?
By Taskun on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 10:20 pm
There really is no need for account deletion. Just take the weapon away, reset the stats and remove Ulduar achievements…if he looses a little in the process that is his punishment for doing what he did without informing a GM…and the GM should probably get a scolding
By niferto-chamber of aspects-EU on Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 at 12:11 am
@cocopuff
blizzard cant remove ur macros and addons since its saved on your own computer
By Jason on Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 at 1:17 am
This is like a long while ago, the playing that kited Lord Kazzak when he was in Blasted Lands. The guy kited him all the way to Stormwind and Kazzak ran a much to the point the sever had to be restarted. That guy got o permaban to from the stories I hear.
In that case it was compleatly uncalledfor as far as I feel. He did something that the game let him do and got punshed for it.
In this case, still it harsh but closer. If its not really a hack and he got the item in error, strip him and his guild of anything they got, reset and re hand out achievements and mabe even ban him for awhile. All of that can be done, blizzard enjoys showing use just how much they can do at times, but there unhappy about haveing to do the work to do so.
But still, I can’t feel bad for the guy. If you didn’t know that this would be the outcome then you just wern’t thinking. I could see mabey killing afew world mobs or something just for laughs, but running a new instance and getting achievement? Do you really think there not going to be any backlash for that?
By Kagitaar on Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 at 3:10 am
I’ve read all the information I could find on the incident and I have to say I’m on Karatechop’s side. I probably would have used it a little more subtly, but I still would have taken it out for a test drive. MMO champion has a good thread where someone who claims to be, and I believe is, Karatechop lays out the story and his motivations. He claims he wasn’t going to do the real realm firsts like Algalon, as that would screw over the real bleeding edge raiders. Can’t prove it, but it’s thoughtful at least. Either way, a perma-ban would be BS; its Blizzard’s mistake and one guy’s fun night turned hellish.
As many have mentioned, it’s a game. Multiplayer yes, but still a game. No world first’s were given out, no stealing of glory. This got so blown out of proportion.
By john on Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 at 1:05 pm
First of all, its Blizz’s mistake. Second, if anyone should get banned it should be the GM who gave him the wepon. I just dont see how he could of done it by accident.
By Alayea on Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 at 4:05 pm
@john
Oh, so Karatechop is just some innocent little lamb that got eaten by a Blizzard wolf? I think not. As I have stated previously, it was his own choice. NO ONE FORCED HIM TO USE IT. I’m appalled at how so many of you think that Karatechop shouldn’t be held responsible for what HE CHOSE to do.
By Ayameth on Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 at 5:37 pm
I agree with alayea on this point, maybe Karatechop getting the martin fury was a fluke, and blizzard should really investigate on how it happened. However nobody forced him to use it. He must take full responsibility for using the item rather than reporting to a GM.
Meanwhile I think blizzard may’ve gone a little too far for his punishement. Karatechop should’ve been ban only if it was proved he had somewhat hacked the game to get the item, in which case a ban is more than deserved. However if he really had recieved the weapon via the ig mailing system I think a temp ban would’ve been sufficient
By Sovann on Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 at 6:45 pm
doesnt this kind of seem kinda like deathnote lol. Like Karate is Light and the item is the deathnote. idk just a thought
By lawman30 on Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 at 7:50 pm
The ONLY scenario in which the perma-ban makes ANY sense to me is if, in fact, Karate got the item via hack. He has claimed repeatedly that this is not the case. HIS account of receiving the item has not changed. BLIZZ has not addressed how Karate got the item AT ALL. I tend to believe Karate on this end. I share Koopa’s frustration with how Blizz can sit on the whole story here.
That being said, if Karate did get the item AFTER Blizz mailed it to someone then there’s NO WAY he should get a perma-ban. I concede that the EULA and the TOS both contain language that allows Blizz to do this. That is not the point. The point is that if this all STARTED with a Blizz f-up, then no way should the punishment be permanent.
I only wish he’d killed Algalon with it and revealed part of the loot table. Although an Algalon kill would have driven the Ensidia boys into a state of clinical depression so maybe its best it didn’t come to that. =P
By Nomzz on Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 at 9:01 pm
I think it’s a test of integrity. Presented with something that was obviously cheating, (it said on the tooltip it was cheating) Karatechop and guild failed to do the *right* thing and give it back.
Also, he wasnt very smart in using it. I mean, sure, do some hard acheivements. But not in a situation where no one else has done so. (ie Ulduar) And definitely not when youre in Naxx 10 gear.
Just my 2 cents.
By Nethya on Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 at 9:18 pm
i think it is 100% blizzards fault. if they did infact send this item accidentally then they are the only ones to blame. i think his achievements and etc should be reset but i think a ban is ridiculous. blizzard cant make that kinda of mistake and punish someone else for their mess up. they should apologize to the community and not let it happen again.
By davie on Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 12:03 am
If he got the item as he says, tho obviously a developer item, in an email from Blizz and not a hack then i think a permaban is to much. I am sure there is a mention in the EULA and the TOS that allow Blizz the first born male child of any offender, or a permaban for this offense.. but maybe blues should at least post what happened and why…. is that too much to ask for instead of just pretending it didnt happen.
Of course I would never have… but if I got this item and told no one, used it on lesser quests after I contacted a ingame manager to report it… and in about a week when I got a response, would I be banned for life? Or any guildies that didnt know about it who joined me in a raid?
Just take his stuff, rep, items, achievements etc. Maybe a 1 month ban, JMHO
By Gilnid on Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 12:03 am
I personally think Karatechop deserves the ban, but Blizzard should let the WoW community know what the heck happened.
By Babyshadow on Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 12:08 am
this guy was on ym server, imo if he was using the thing he desevres the ban…i mean really? you know that this thing is killing everything around you and yet you continue to use it just to get loot and achievements….to me it doesnt matter how he got the item…what matters is her used it and abused the hell out of it
By Lil ole me on Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 5:13 am
I remember back in EQ1, a friend of mine was a guildmate and friend of one of the EQ developers. This developer would flaunt his “powers” whenever we’d group with him, making stuff fall over dead if we were in a tight spot… and sometimes just because he could.
At some point, he gave my in game friend a weapon that would be instant right click and deal high amounts of damage to undead mobs. Ofcourse, this was used to level his characters in record speed and, before Bind on Equip/pickup was implemented in EQ1, I was allowed to use it for one of my characters that I was struggling to level.
In the end, no one was punished for it, but this case seems like a very similar situation where a game developer just wanted to show off their über powers, and probably went too far with handing an item they should not, to a player.
But, until Blizzard fesses up, we can only speculate. And, it is not the same game developer that I knew, ’cause he’s working on Warhammer Online now…
By Cozmus on Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 7:10 am
Can anyone honestly say they would not have done the same thing? I mean really, if that thing showed up in my mailbox the first thing I would do is /g “Hey, who wants to see Ulduar?” I would call anyone who says they wouldn’t do the same either a liar or Amish.
By Laeltis on Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 8:17 am
Everyone has spoken their two cents, some I agree with, others not. One point that I have YET to see by anyone is, in his interview with WoW-Insider, he said it was given to his friend’s level 13 Warlock. Now please, explain to me how the heck it landed in his hands. Plus, he said it was all a joke. If you want kicks and giggles, go one shot Grobbulus or Loatheb in 25man Naxx. Not freaking FL in Ulduar. He even said he tricked, TRICKED, 3-5 members of the raid that were in his guild. I personally think that he deserves the perma-ban because he used it 14 times! If it was that he did it just 2-5 times, I would be more on his side.
And to put my two cents in about the “wouldn’t you use it to?”. NO. I would not. I love my account and characters to much to even contemplate losing it. Besides, if you need something like that to freakin’ play a MMORPG, then YOU have no life.
I admitt, they’re just a bunch of people having fun playing a game, but when you start even slightly interferring with other people’s fun and gameplay, then you deserve a slight punishment.
That’s my two cents, take it how you want. I’ve kept up-to-date with this burning issue, so I’ve waited for awhile to post on it.
____________________________________________
Ambassador Laeltis (NON CHEATER)
Illidan (US)
Relentless
By Kalgorn on Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
In my mind, this seems like just a big joke. If this had happened around this time last month, i’d call April Fool’s on it.
Maybe because i don’t go to the WoW forums and play on a pretty event-less server where there’s no widly known players(BRK, Nyhm, etc…) im oblivous to alot of stuff. I just play my hunter and try out new shot rotations and try to finally do something 99% of the WoW players have already done. Clear Naxxramas.
I hadn’t even heard anything about this in the trade chat. But, it seems like a non-issue to me. Of Cours, im saying this without having been on the recieveing of of Karate’s 354,000,000 hit. But im not going to lie here. Not even going to attempt to tell myself i wouldn’t use this item if it found it’s way into my bags.
I would totally use it. For everything and anything i can think of. Being able to hit over 350 million is enough to 1 shot anything in-game. Anything. Id finally to kill Kel and Malygos. They’ve given me so much grief it’d be nice to finally see them die so pathetically.
If i got banned. Oh well. Guess i just gotta start over. Bigger tragedys have happened in the world. Unless Blizz canceled my credit cards and destroyed my credit, i really don’t understand the meaning of ‘permanent ban’ when it’s talking about World of Warcraft.
By Cozmus on Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
” Besides, if you need something like that to freakin’ play a MMORPG, then YOU have no life. ”
It’s not a matter of need. This guy obviously didn’t “need” it to level his character to 80 and casually raid Naxx or what have you. It’s a game…..WoW is a game……
If that thing landed in my hands it would be fun to go out and play with it just for kicks. Game….game…..
If that makes me a WoW loser then oh well. Good thing I have that job thing to fall back on.
By CappyG on Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
There are two glaring issues here:
1. Blizzard has allowed items in to their production environment that are only useful in a development environment. Considering that there is no case in WOW where a Blizzard employee would need to deal damage to anything, the fact that this item exists in the production database to be spawned for anybody is simply STUPID. The only other explanation for the item is that it was somehow hacked in to existence.
2. Karatechop has plainly, intentionally abused and exploited a game flaw by using this item. This opens the player up to whatever punitive measures Blizzard deems appropriate, via the player’s agreement to Blizzard’s Terms of Service for WOW.
In light of these issues, the severity of the punishment applied by Blizzard is solely at their discretion. If the item was hacked, a permanent ban is appropriate. If the exploitation of the flaw was extensive enough a permanent ban is appropriate.
Considering that if WOW players get any idea that they’ll get a slap on the wrist for abusing flawed game mechanics, the future abuse of said flawed mechanics is guaranteed. Blizzard has to set the example for swift and severe punishment now to put the fear of casual abuse of future flaws in WOW. I fully believe that Blizzard has made the correct choice in the severity of it’s punishment, especially considering how many of the replies here indicate that the posters would freely and carelessly abuse a flawed game mechanic if they found one. Those of you who are scared by this have every reason to be, because you have show a terrible disregard for the integrity of the rules of WOW. Take to heart the punishment that Karatechop received, and expect the same if you find a game flaw and exploit it.
By Laeltis on Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
@Cozmus
If you take things so lightly in life, you’re never going to get anywhere… but whatever, we all have our opinions.
I agree with the point that CappyG brought to the people that say Blizz went to far. If you look at the back of the box for the game it says in small print “developed by” BLIZZARD. We BOUGHT something that they invested to create a product for the world at large. We abuse something of THEIRS, then WE get punished how they deem fit.
By churchill on Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
I completely agree with kalgorn, i apologize for being so short on my opinion, but i believe he said it perfectly
By winston on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 6:07 am
First off . . . Karate can say whatever he wants as to how he got the item, he has no proof one way or the other only his STORY of how it happened. He can keep his story going forever as it is Blizz’s well known policy to NOT release any details of investigations of player misconduct, findings in those investigations, and details of their rulings. For everyone crying foul over Blizz not saying anything, this has been the standard since day one and this issue is not going to change that position nor should it. So Karate can keep saying he was totally innocent and Blizz won’t openly contest him.
As such . . for him to have received an account deletion, there surely must be a LOT more to this than a complete idiot using this obvious GM item in game, regardless of the content on which it was used. Karate is not going to change his story, lie or truth, and Blizz is never going to tell us. So basically get over that part of all the ranting, its all conjecture and a waste of typing.
As far as did poor Karate deserve getting harshed on by the man? Yes. Read your EULA . . . he engaged knowingly in conduct utilizing an error in the game which resulted in an exploit to the game. ALL players have agreed to be deleted from the game for doing what he did. For those who have never bothered themselves to read the EULA, ignorance is no defense.
IF Karate is telling the truth as to how he got it . . yes he still deserved deletion for how he chose to handle having the item. However, his story is not credible without proof and again, Blizz is not going to provide anything.
What the community is left with is simply Karate violated the terms of use in such a capacity to, in Blizz’s opinion, warrant deletion.
By vladpso on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 9:18 am
It has been in my many year of playing a games (MMO s included) that when you break the rules willingly there is going to be consequences even if this item for what ever reason is part of this game it is mark for GM use only (MEANING THAT PLAYERS ARE NOT PROMITED TO USE THIS ITEM UNDER ANY SITUATION)
Karate violated both common sence and game rules by useing the item but also by useing it in NEW content. If give the chance to have said item, my first reaction would to have been to contact a game master to report a major error in game mecanics.
THE BOTTOM LINE IS USE THE 10% OF YOUR BRAIN THAT MOST PEOPLE ENGAGE EVERY DAY AND PROCESS THAT WHAT KARATE DID WAS WRONG AND HIS PUNISMENT WAS THE VERY LEAST HE COULD HAVE GOTTEN !
blizzard had every right to the actions they took and have the same right to keep there information from the general public. We are talking about not just one person here we are talking about a multi-billion $ company here they could have tanken futher actions but did not and as such i feel that the punishment both fit the crime but also set example to thos that would otherwise not follow the rules
By Kalgorn on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Well, like i said before, if i were in Karate’s position, i honestly don’t think i’d have done anything different. It’s a game. A fun past time, but not a life. If Blizz feels the need to delete your account for this, then they have every right to do it. WoW is their game, and Azeroth is under their laws. Blizz is God in terms of WoW.
But, until i figure out how Blizz intends to permanently ban people from their game, i don’t see why everyone freaks out when they hear ‘permanent ban’
Couldn’t you just use a different credit card? Or if, like me, you pay with game time cards, how do they block those? Seriously, does this not seem like a big joke to you guys?
By winston on Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 6:42 am
There is no permanent ban from the game. If the emails he forwarded to wowinsider are legit, his account was closed with no posiible reconsideration later (as they put it) for reopening, and that’s the extent of it. IF he choses to play again it will simply have to be with a new account and starting all over with new toons.
By Kalgorn on Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 11:27 am
Okay. Big deal. lol. Sounds worth it to me.
By Kroix on Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
If he was going to abuse it he should have done a little PvPing. That would have been a much better story to tell once he got banned.
By Wello on Monday, August 17th, 2009 at 1:00 am
If Blizzard made the stats of a character 100000% better, would he/she still get perma-banned? It’s not their fault..