Game Master Interaction Policy
"Every human being, of whatever origin, of whatever station, deserves respect. We must each respect others even as we respect ourselves." -- U Thant
At some point during your travels in Azeroth, you may interact with a Game Master (GM) for one reason or another. Whether this interaction is in response to a petition for assistance you submitted or in regards to an issue he/she has approached you for, it is important to be sure you are speaking to a real GM. There are three methods by which a GM may contact you; clarification on what constitutes each category can be found by clicking on the links below.
Once you have established that you are communicating with an in-game representative of Blizzard Entertainment, we would like for your experience interacting with GMs to be expedient and pleasant. Although we understand you may be upset about the topic being discussed, we expect you to conduct yourself in an appropriate manner. We take the following categories very seriously.
If a player is found to have violated any of these categories, he/she may:
Be temporarily suspended from the game
In-Game Chat
Most often, GMs will contact you in-game via whispers. You can tell whether or not the person contacting you really is a GM by the Blizz graphic preceding their name, exactly as shown below.
"In Person"
On occasion, a GM will need to make him or herself visible when contacting you. Visible GMs can be identified by the GM tag that is located above their avatar, before their name, as shown below.
Email
You can identify an email from a GM because it will be in the
[GM Name].WoWGM@Blizzard.com (i.e.
Blizzardhelp.WoWGM@Blizzard.com) format. Though this holds true for most emails from GMs, occasionally we will send emails from other email addresses, such as
WoWAccountAdmin@Blizzard.com. However, all email communication from our GM staff will have the
@Blizzard.com suffix.
Impersonating a GM
Unfortunately, some players will attempt to use the authority vested in GMs to take advantage of others. All GMs will contact players using one of the methods detailed above, if they do not appear this way, they are not official Blizzard Entertainment employees and should be reported to the GM staff. Though we have little tolerance for impersonation in any capacity, if evidence of an attempt to use this impersonation to defraud or scam another player is found, serious action will be taken.
Defrauding or Attempting to Defraud a GM
Whenever possible, we try to give players the benefit of the doubt in questionable situations. We hope players do not attempt to take advantage of this trust, and provide their full cooperation. However, if we later find that an attempt was made to defraud a GM, the offending player may have action taken against them. Attempts to defraud a GM include, but are not limited to, misdirecting a GM's attention, withholding information, providing false information, and any attempt to "trick" a GM.
Disobeying or Ignoring GM Instructions
At times it may be necessary for a GM to ask a player to perform certain actions or refrain from performing other actions. In addition, if a GM contacts you regarding a violation of policy, please try to be as cooperative as possible. In any situation, the GMs will be attempting to preserve the enjoyment of the game for the majority of players and any interference with this work may result in an account penalty.
Harassing the GM Staff
Time spent dealing with issues that have already been closed keeps the GM staff from addressing other players' pressing issues. If a single player or multiple players repeatedly send abusive tells, abusive petitions, or multiple petitions on the same closed issue to the GM staff, they will be asked to stop, and if they continue, may receive an account penalty.
Excessive use of Abusive Language
It is understandable that a player contacting the GM staff might be upset over an issue stemming from an experience they had in the game. However, the use of abusive or foul language directed toward the GM Staff is inappropriate and unproductive. If a player uses this type of language when communicating with a GM, they will be asked to stop, and if they continue, may receive an account penalty.
IMPORTANT
- Repeatedly violating any area of the Terms of Use (ToU), including the areas detailed above, will often result in temporary suspension from the game.
It is important to follow these guidelines in the immediate situation when dealing with a GM. A GM will never ask you to do anything that would compromise an account or its contents. Though the GM's motives may be unclear, there may well be a valid justification for the request, but the GM may be unable to articulate this for various reasons. Rather than disobeying in protest against the request being made or the action being taken, please oblige him/her and later express your concerns to the
wowgmfeedback-us@blizzard.com email address. Emails sent to this address go directly to the Senior and Lead GMs, who will investigate and address any instances of potentially inappropriate GM actions.
GMs will make every attempt to show you the respect you deserve as a valued customer. We ask that you, in turn, show us the same respect. We take no joy in assigning account penalties, but sometimes must do so to preserve the integrity of the service. We look forward to our interactions with the players and hope to resolve issues quickly and painlessly so you can get back to enjoying the game.
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