Blizzard casts silence on abusive World of Warcraft players

Gamers now enjoying the craze over Blizzard’s newest game, Overwatch, should know that the game’s polished multiplayer experience and deft handling of its playerbase was likely refined over the many years Blizzard has watched over and improved World of Warcraft.

Any player who has received multiple “Spam” or “Abusive Chat” reports will be investigated by Blizzard (it won’t be automated as that can lead to abuse). If upon investigation Blizzard is concerned, the offender’s chat privileges will be severely reduced. In addition, they’re prevented from sending party or raid invitations, in-game mail, duel invitations, or create events on the calendar. Repeat offenses will double your silence duration, meaning a second silence will last for 48 hours and a third will last 96.

They will still be able to send private messages to friends, respond to private messages, and interact with other players in the same party. They will also still be allowed to create parties and raids, share quests and sign-up for premade groups.

If you’re affected by the Silence Penalty, nearly all your social interaction is disabled for 24 hours.

“Silenced players will be receiving a notification when attempting to send a message to a channel in which they have been restricted”. The World of Warcraft player experience can vary dramatically depending on who gamers come into contact with during their first steps into the world, and it’s for that reason and others that Blizzard is introducing the “Silence Penalty” for players unable to behave themselves while chatting.

A new silence penalty is coming for those who abuse World of Warcraft’s chat channels.