WoW: Forever has a new kind of ban to deal with real money trading
World of Warcraft: Forever is implementing a new anti-cheat measure called the Temporary Economy Hold to combat real money trading (RMT). Under this system, accounts suspected of involvement in buying or selling in-game gold illicitly face temporary restrictions on trading, mailing, guild bank access, and auction house functionality while under investigation.
Notably, this approach differs from traditional permanent bans. Blizzard emphasized that a Temporary Economy Hold itself does not constitute a permanent strike against an account. Players may see their restrictions lifted if they are later determined to be innocent of real money trading violations. The system acknowledges the possibility of false positives during its rollout and refinement phases.
This represents a more measured enforcement strategy compared to outright account bans, allowing Blizzard to investigate suspicious activity while minimizing disruption to legitimately innocent players. The announcement comes as gold buying remains a persistent problem in online games, particularly in long-standing MMOs like World of Warcraft where secondary markets have thrived for years. The system is currently in deployment with feedback being accepted to fine-tune parameters and reduce false positives.