Blizzard has taken action against a prominent World of Warcraft: Forever streamer, banning Payo for publicly endorsing and encouraging his audience to purchase in-game gold. This move comes as the developer signals an intensified effort to combat real-money transactions (RMT) within the upcoming MMORPG, which is currently in beta.
Gold buying, the practice of acquiring the game's primary currency through third-party websites often employing bots, has been a persistent issue throughout World of Warcraft's history and is against the game's terms of service. However, Blizzard has recently acknowledged a past leniency on the matter and indicated a more aggressive approach to punishing not only gold sellers but also those who buy the gold.
This renewed focus was highlighted during a recent controversy involving another streamer, Ziqo. During the lead-up to a $100,000 prize pool PvP tournament, Ziqo was observed accepting substantial amounts of gold from unknown players. The community widely suspected this gold was purchased and gifted, prompting calls for Blizzard to intervene. While Blizzard removed the questionable gold from Ziqo's account, the streamer himself faced no ban or suspension.
The situation escalated when Payo, participating in the same tournament circuit, stated on stream that he openly encouraged his viewers to buy gold on his behalf. Shortly after these comments, Payo's account was banned from the game. He has since apologized, claiming he has never personally bought gold and expressed that the ban demonstrated Blizzard's seriousness regarding RMT. Although his primary account was suspended, Payo was permitted to create a new account and continue streaming, stating he learned from his mistake and would no longer promote gold buying.
Following Payo's ban, Blizzard reiterated its commitment to tackling illicit gold activities. Community manager Kaivax announced that actions would continue against botting accounts and individuals who have bought or knowingly received ill-gotten gold. Furthermore, World of Warcraft: Forever will now feature an in-game warning for players trading with strangers, cautioning them that accepting gold from suspicious sources could put their account at risk if the provider engages in RMT.
Kaivax emphasized that any account found to have participated in the generation, sale, purchase, or receipt of illicit gold is subject to gold removal, account suspensions, or permanent closure. Despite these pronouncements, some players remain skeptical, citing ongoing botting issues in existing WoW titles and pointing to the lack of permanent bans for streamers like Payo and Ziqo as evidence of continued leniency. Others view the introduction of an in-game warning system as a significant escalation in Blizzard's efforts against RMT.
The World of Warcraft: Forever beta, which requires a purchase for access, has reportedly broken participation records, necessitating multiple increases to the population cap. The beta is set to conclude on October 21, with the full game launching on November 4. The developer's current stance suggests that the beta period is serving as a testbed for its enforcement policies, particularly concerning the long-standing issue of gold buying.