Third time's the charm, Blizzard ban hammer strikes again

The Blizzard Ban hammer has struck again, this time in China. Blizzard China announced that 4,200 accounts have been permanently suspended for using the popular "Watchover Tyrant" cheat.

Blizzard China announced today that 4,200 accounts received permanent suspensions in the recent ban wave. This marks the third time Blizzard has initiated a major ban wave since launch. The wave mostly targeted users of the popular “Watchover Tyrant” plug in, which allows you to see hostiles wherever they are and includes a radar. According to reddit user Summon528, however, China’s hacking problem goes deeper than just a plug in. He claims

” China's hacking problem is actually very complicated. People pay the hacker and they climb rank together. After the ban wave, the hacker has already earned enough money to buy a new account and the other guy gets no punishment. I don't know if Blizzard can solve this, though. ”

The full reddit post can be found here. For Blizzard China’s full statement click here.

The recent ban wave reignites a controversial argument that Blizzard’s name and shame policy does more harm than good. GosuGamer’s own SideshowGaming covered this topic last week in his “Up for Debate” series. On Blizzard’s name and shame policy he had this to say

” There are real problems with communicating clearly on a topic as nuanced as cheating….If they communicate numbers of cheaters caught accurately they also clearly show the gaps in their system. If they intercede in every accusation that blows up, they encourage their fans to emulate the Spanish Inquisition in their quest for justice. ”

SideShow’s full article on the topic can be found here.

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