Welcome to the World of Warcraft discussion forums! These forums are here to provide you with a friendly environment where you can discuss ideas, give game play advice, role-play, and converse about any other aspects of World of Warcraft with other players. Community forums are at their best when participants treat their fellow posters with respect and courtesy. Therefore, we ask that you conduct yourself in a civilized manner when participating in these forums.

The guidelines and rules listed below explain what behavior is expected of you and what behavior you can expect from other community members. Note that the following guidelines are not exhaustive, and may not address all manner of offensive behavior. As such, the forum moderators shall have full discretion to address any behavior that they feel is inappropriate. Also, suspension or banishment from the game will always result in the same in regard to forum access. Your access to these forums is a “privilege,” and not a “right.” Blizzard Entertainment reserves the right to suspend your access to these forums at any time for reasons that include, but are not necessarily limited to, your failure to abide by these guidelines.

We reserve the right to evaluate each incident on a case by case basis. The action we take may be more lenient or more severe than those listed under each category.

Racial/Ethnic

This category includes both clear and masked language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

• Promote racial/ethnic hatred
• Are recognized as a racial/ethnic slur
• Allude to a symbol of racial/ethnic hatred

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Be temporarily banned from the World of Warcraft forums
• Be given a final warning, any further Code of Conduct violations may result in permanent ban from the forums

Account Trading

This category includes both advertising your account or characters for sale or trade, or advertising that you are looking for an account or characters to purchase through:

• Forum posts
• Linking to eBay
• Listing you have something for trade and then offering your contact information

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Be given a final warning, any further Code of Conduct violations may result in a permanent ban from the forums
• Be permanently banned from the World of Warcraft forums

Guild Recruiting

This category includes either advertising/recruiting for your guild, or requesting characters to transfer to your realm to join your guild through:

• Forum posts outside of your guild’s realm forum or the Guild Recruitment forum

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Be given a final warning, any further Code of Conduct violations may result in a permanent ban from the forums
• Be permanently banned from the World of Warcraft forums

Extreme Sexuality/Violence

This category includes both clear and masked language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

• Refer to extreme and/or violent sexual acts
• Refer to extremely violent real life actions
• Pornography

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Be permanently banned from the World of Warcraft forums

Real-Life Threats

This category includes both clear and masked language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

• Refer to violence in any capacity that is not directly related to the game world

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Be temporarily banned from the World of Warcraft forums
• Be given a final warning, any further Code of Conduct violations may result in a permanent ban from the forums

Distribution of Real-Life Personal Information

This category includes:

• Releasing any real-life information about other players or Blizzard Entertainment employees

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Be permanently banned from the World of Warcraft forums

Sexual Preference

This category includes both clear and masked language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

• Insultingly refer to any aspect of sexual preference pertaining to themselves or other players

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Be temporarily banned from the forums
• Be given a final warning, any further Code of Conduct violations may result in a permanent ban from the forums

Posting Cheats, Hacks, Trojan Horses, or Malicious Programs

This category includes:

• Posting links to cheats, hacks, or malicious viruses / programs
• If you would like to report information regarding cheats or hacks to Blizzard, send it to hacks@blizzard.com. Do NOT post it to the forums.

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Be permanently banned from the World of Warcraft forums

Impersonating a Blizzard Employee

This category includes:

• Passing yourself off as a Blizzard employee to post false information

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Be given a final warning, any further Code of Conduct violations may result in a permanent ban from the forums

Posting Unreleased Content / Hacking Data Files

This category includes language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

• Show unreleased in-game items, equipment, or areas that have been unlocked by hacking into client data files
• Show the results of hacking or any tampering of the game’s MPQ files
• Discuss, or display any data not available through normal game play

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Be permanently banned from the World of Warcraft forums

While these repercussions may seem harsh, we feel very strongly that this behavior has no place on the World of Warcraft forums due to its extremely offensive and inappropriate nature.

Obscene/Vulgar

This category includes both clear and masked language in posts, signatures, and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

• Are an inappropriate reference to human anatomy or bodily functions
• Are pornographic in nature

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Be given a temporary ban from the World of Warcraft forums, depending upon severity

Inappropriate language

This category includes both clear and masked language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

• Are a mildly inappropriate reference to human anatomy or bodily functions
• Are otherwise considered objectionable
• Bypass the Mature Language filter

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Be given a temporary ban from the World of Warcraft forums, depending upon severity

Harassing or Defamatory

This category includes both clear and masked language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

• Insultingly refer to other characters, players, Blizzard employees, or groups of people
• Result in ongoing harassment to other characters, players, Blizzard employees, or groups of people

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Be given a temporary ban from the World of Warcraft forums, depending upon severity

Harassment takes many forms, and is not necessarily limited to the type of language used, but the intent. Repeatedly targeting a specific player with harassment can lead to more severe action. The idea behind this is to prevent any one player from consistently being uncomfortable in the World of Warcraft forums.

Major Religions or Religious Figures

This category includes both clear and masked language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

• Negatively portray major religions or religious figures

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Be given a temporary ban from the World of Warcraft forums, depending upon severity

National

This category includes both clear and masked language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

• Promote national hatred
• Are recognized as national slurs
• Allude to symbols of national hatred

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Be given a temporary ban from the World of Warcraft forums, depending upon severity

Illegal Drugs or Activities

This category includes both clear and masked language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

• Reference to abusing illegal drugs
• Reference to performing illegal activities

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Be given a temporary ban from the World of Warcraft forums, depending upon severity

Spamming and Trolling

This category includes:

• Excessively communicating the same phrase, similar phrases, or pure gibberish
• Creating threads for the sole purpose of causing unrest on the forums
• Causing disturbances in forum threads, such as picking fights, making off topic posts that ruin the thread, insulting other posters
• Making non-constructive posts
• Abusing the Reported Post feature by sending false alarms or nonsensical messages
• Numbering a thread, IBTL, TLDR, or any other fad statements

If a player is found to have been spamming or trolling, he/she will:

• Be given a temporary or permanent ban from the World of Warcraft forums, depending upon severity

Creating Duplicate Threads

This category includes:

• Creating threads about existing topics
• Creating a separate thread about an existing topic for further discussion in more than one forum

If a player is found to have been creating duplicate threads, he/she will:

• Be given a temporary ban from the World of Warcraft forums, depending upon severity

Cross Linking Threads

This category includes:

• Linking to threads from other forums
• Creating threads with the sole purpose of linking another post

If a player is found to have been cross linking threads, he/she will:

• Be given a temporary ban from the World of Warcraft forums

Advertising

This category includes advertisement of:

• Any non-beneficial, non- World of Warcraft related businesses, organizations, or websites

If a player is found to have been advertising, he/she will:

• Be given a temporary ban from the World of Warcraft forums, depending upon severity

Discussing Disciplinary Actions

This category includes:

• Creating posts or threads to discuss disciplinary actions taken against a player, including chat logs and email correspondence between a player and a World of Warcraft Game Master (GM)
• Creating posts or threads to discuss disciplinary actions taken against a character or account on the forums

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Be given a temporary ban from the World of Warcraft forums, depending upon severity
• Each department has its own channels for you to express any comments or concerns through:
• Forums: wowcmfeedback@blizzard.com
• GMs: wowgmfeedback-us@blizzard.com

Circumventing a Suspension/Ban

This category includes:

• Posting on another account
• Having someone post on your behalf

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Be permanently banned from posting on the World of Warcraft forums

IMPORTANT

• Repeatedly violating any area of the World of Warcraft Terms of Use or Forum Code of Conduct, including the areas detailed above, will often result in permanent banishment from the forums.
• This policy is not language-restrictive. Language that falls under this policy will always be subject to the repercussions listed, whether it is inappropriate in English or any other language.

The bottom line is that we want World of Warcraft to be a fun and safe environment for all players. World of Warcraft is a Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, and the key words are “Massively Multiplayer.” In playing this game and posting on its forums, you will encounter thousands of other players who share different experiences and come from vastly different backgrounds. While certain language and images may not be offensive to you, consider the fact that that same language and images may have a completely different effect on someone else. We’ve done everything we can to make this a great game but now it’s up to you, the players, to breathe life into the world.