Overnight on October 14, community manager Kaivax outlined a new measure against real-money gold trading on the Blizzard forums. Accounts suspected of buying or selling gold lose access to trading, mail, the guild bank and the auction house while they are reviewed. The measure is already active in the Forever beta.
How the hold works
The post is titled ‘Temporary Economy Holds For RMT’. If the system suspects an account of real-money gold trading, whether it is selling or receiving gold, it temporarily blocks the features that move gold: trading, mail, the guild bank and the auction house. The aim is to intercept suspicious gold before it spreads through the economy.
There are two possible outcomes. If the suspicion is not confirmed, the restrictions are lifted automatically and, according to Blizzard, no permanent mark remains on the account. If it is confirmed, penalties range from gold removal to temporary or permanent account suspension, as Blizzard previously promised.
False positives are possible
Blizzard explicitly says the system is new and may flag accounts by mistake. Beta players are already encountering it. If the system proves effective, Blizzard plans to introduce it across all versions of WoW, not just Forever.
What happened before
This continues the fight against gold trading that Blizzard has discussed throughout October. More than 2,100 gold buyer accounts and nearly 1,600 seller and botting accounts have already been closed during the beta, and the trade window will gain a warning about gold from strangers. Read more in our digest.