Why do people powerlevel? The answers are many, but this post is not about judging you or promoting any point of view.
What is Powerleveling?
Giving your character to another person or company so they can level up your character.
Powerleveling is Against Blizzard's Terms
Powerleveling is against the essence of WoW and you will be banned, if caught. However, it is not illegal.
How Blizzard Gathers Info
* Blizarrd keeps a log of your IP address anytime you login to the game. This is common practice on the internet. What is an IP and what does it mean? It tells Blizzard what city you are in. Check this out: http://www.ip2location.com/ Yep, that's for real.
* Blizzard uses "Warden" spyware to look for things on your computer. It can see all open windows and read your email list.
* Blizzard logs what IP address you use when you login to the WorldofWarcraft.com website separately from the game itself.
What Blizzard Looks For to Catch You
* Rapid changes in IPs: IP = Your City... so let's say you live in Los Angeles and you log in to WoW at 6pm Pacific time. Then you hire a powerleveling company at 7pm. Then somewhere in Thailand someone logs on at 9pm. So what did Blizzard just see? They just saw you magically teleport from Los Angeles to Thailand in 2 hours. You have shared your account and violated the Terms. You will be caught.
Sidenote: IP shifts within USA from city to cityare not as heavily monitored but THEY ARE STILL SUSPICIOUS. If you are a business traveler playing on your laptop in wait 24 hours between logins. Don't check your auctions in the airport.
* Multiple IPs on website and game: Logging into the game and logging into the www.worldofwarcraft.com website are two separate things. Each one logs your IP - separately. So let's say for a week the kids in Country X have been leveling your new toon. You are bored and decide to log in to WorldofWarcraft.com and change your account settings or post something on the forums or just cruise around and think about how you will build your talents when you are 70th. Blizzard sees you simultaneously logged in from Country X and Los Angeles at the same time. You are caught.
* Multiple Accounts with the same name on at the same time: Some people have more than one account. Let's say one account is being powerleveled and one account is not. Ok, but if you cannot share your account with anyone according to Terms, how could you possibly be logged in to both accounts and playing at the same time? Much less one account in Los Angeles and one from Country X. Not ok with Blizzard. You are caught.
* Huge Proxy Servers: Some Powerleveling companies, in an effort to protect your account, us a Proxy server in the USA/Canada It is basically a way to disguise their Country X IP by forwarding traffic through a USA computer to replace their Country X IP with a USA IP. This is nearly as suspicious as an IP from Country X because it basically looks like 258 accounts from one Powerleveling company logging into WoW from the same IP address somewhere in North America. So you went from logging in from Los Angeles to logging in from Nowheresville, USA along with 257 other accounts all playing WoW. Suspicious? Highly. You are caught.
* In Game Reports: If your toon is behaving suspiciously in any way kids from all over USA/Canada love to report you as a "bot" or "farmer". Only a fraction of these claims are investigated, but if you are investigated and a GM msgs your toon and you don't answer, non-english speaking worker in Country X could be warned. If non-english speaker doesn't answer the warning, you are caught.
* Activity Logs: If you play normally 3 or 4 hours a day, and suddenly one week your IP changes from Los Angeles to Country X and your toon starts playing 18 hours a day, this is suspicious. You will be caught.
What Will Happen
* If Blizzard catches you powerleveling red-handed and they without a doubt prove you shared your account willingly, they will ban your entire account (not just the one toon) within 3 days to 3 weeks after the sharing occured. You will not get a warning. If you appeal the customer service reps will double-check to make sure they caught you and then kindly tell you in more detail why you are banned. But there is no "second-chance". It is OVER.
* If Blizzard sees only one or two of the above "gotchas" and cannot without-a-single-doubt prove you shared your account, you will be suspended. Generally it will be straight to "final warning" and a 72 hour suspension.
* The lifetime of your account factors into this formula. For instance if you have a brand-new account you are more likely to be banned. The formula goes something like this. If more than half of the "total hours" /played for this toon are suspicious or likely powerleveling, then a ban will occur. If less than half of the "total hours" for this toon appear to be powerleveling then a suspension will occur.
Selecting a Service
* Select a powerleveling service that has a phone number in the USA or Canada. It is just one college student with a cellphone, mind you. The real action happens in Country X, but it is better than nothing.
* Do not select the cheapest service, select one that is a good price but not the absolute lowest.
* Select a company that at least "claims" to not use bots, hacks or cheats.
* Select a company that at least "claims" they will not play your toon 24/7.
* Do not select a company that offers a money back refund. There is no way a company can guarantee anything in this risky endeavor. Any company offereing guarantees is either scamming or will be out of business soon. Instead look for a "unused portion" guarantee, so if you stop the leveling or you are banned you will get a partial refund.
Tips to Not Get Caught
* If you don't already have an account, create it and do not login to it for 24 hours minimum prior to handing over your username/pass to the company to start. This is for IP-Swithing reasons. Even better is give the company a game-card number and CDKey and have them set up the account for you, enter all your information, name, etc etc etc and even create the character and name you want. This requires some trust but this whole process is risky so keep your eyes open.
* If you have an account full of 60s that you care about, do not risk it. It is absolutely ESSENTIAL that you setup a separate account for your toon. Instead do one of two things.
-- Commit to having two accounts in the future and paying two monthly fees. Set up the separate account under a fake name so both accounts can be online.
-- Set up a second account with your own name, understanding that during the leveling process you ABSOLUTELY must not log on to the WoW game or the WoW.com website with either account. This will trigger withdrawl for you addicts I know but it must be done...heh!
* Don't be a fool and for no reason should you login to the account being leveled during the process. Not the game or website.
* When the process is done, do not login for at least 24 hours. Instruct the company they are NOT to login to the account after the account hits the desired level.
* If you created a separate account under your same name, you may attempt to transfer the character to your other account when the leveling is done, but wait a week or two first before you do this just to see if you're gonna get banned.
What Can Go Wrong
* The company sucks: They bot, they are scammers, they are slow, you name it. You are screwed and have little recourse.
* You are banned midway through. If this happens, I hope the company is repuatable enough to give you a refund of the unused leveling. You are out about $20-80.
* The leveling finishes and you are banned AFTER. Even worse than banned midway though because you are probably not going to get any refund.
What Can Go Right
After a few weeks and a couple of hundred bucks you have a new level X character and you finally get to play that class/race combo you've always wanted to without seeing the same old "grind" again for 150 hours. You are still a) married b) employed c) hygenic d) getting passing grades or e) all of the above. ;-)
I am In Over My Head!
If you have already started powerleveling and want to stop, that is okay. As long as it's been less than a week Blizzard will PROBABLY forgive you. Play dumb and say you didn't know it was wrong. Ask for forgiveness. They may delete your new PL'd character and might suspend you but they probably won't ban you.
Summary
Powerleveling is risky. Don't fool yourself. However if the risks are worth it and you really MUST have that new character without the grind then I hope my hints and info help you make an informed choice.
Technorati Tags: World of Warcraft WorldofWarcraft WOW
What is Powerleveling?
Giving your character to another person or company so they can level up your character.
Powerleveling is Against Blizzard's Terms
Powerleveling is against the essence of WoW and you will be banned, if caught. However, it is not illegal.
How Blizzard Gathers Info
* Blizarrd keeps a log of your IP address anytime you login to the game. This is common practice on the internet. What is an IP and what does it mean? It tells Blizzard what city you are in. Check this out: http://www.ip2location.com/ Yep, that's for real.
* Blizzard uses "Warden" spyware to look for things on your computer. It can see all open windows and read your email list.
* Blizzard logs what IP address you use when you login to the WorldofWarcraft.com website separately from the game itself.
What Blizzard Looks For to Catch You
* Rapid changes in IPs: IP = Your City... so let's say you live in Los Angeles and you log in to WoW at 6pm Pacific time. Then you hire a powerleveling company at 7pm. Then somewhere in Thailand someone logs on at 9pm. So what did Blizzard just see? They just saw you magically teleport from Los Angeles to Thailand in 2 hours. You have shared your account and violated the Terms. You will be caught.
Sidenote: IP shifts within USA from city to cityare not as heavily monitored but THEY ARE STILL SUSPICIOUS. If you are a business traveler playing on your laptop in wait 24 hours between logins. Don't check your auctions in the airport.
* Multiple IPs on website and game: Logging into the game and logging into the www.worldofwarcraft.com website are two separate things. Each one logs your IP - separately. So let's say for a week the kids in Country X have been leveling your new toon. You are bored and decide to log in to WorldofWarcraft.com and change your account settings or post something on the forums or just cruise around and think about how you will build your talents when you are 70th. Blizzard sees you simultaneously logged in from Country X and Los Angeles at the same time. You are caught.
* Multiple Accounts with the same name on at the same time: Some people have more than one account. Let's say one account is being powerleveled and one account is not. Ok, but if you cannot share your account with anyone according to Terms, how could you possibly be logged in to both accounts and playing at the same time? Much less one account in Los Angeles and one from Country X. Not ok with Blizzard. You are caught.
* Huge Proxy Servers: Some Powerleveling companies, in an effort to protect your account, us a Proxy server in the USA/Canada It is basically a way to disguise their Country X IP by forwarding traffic through a USA computer to replace their Country X IP with a USA IP. This is nearly as suspicious as an IP from Country X because it basically looks like 258 accounts from one Powerleveling company logging into WoW from the same IP address somewhere in North America. So you went from logging in from Los Angeles to logging in from Nowheresville, USA along with 257 other accounts all playing WoW. Suspicious? Highly. You are caught.
* In Game Reports: If your toon is behaving suspiciously in any way kids from all over USA/Canada love to report you as a "bot" or "farmer". Only a fraction of these claims are investigated, but if you are investigated and a GM msgs your toon and you don't answer, non-english speaking worker in Country X could be warned. If non-english speaker doesn't answer the warning, you are caught.
* Activity Logs: If you play normally 3 or 4 hours a day, and suddenly one week your IP changes from Los Angeles to Country X and your toon starts playing 18 hours a day, this is suspicious. You will be caught.
What Will Happen
* If Blizzard catches you powerleveling red-handed and they without a doubt prove you shared your account willingly, they will ban your entire account (not just the one toon) within 3 days to 3 weeks after the sharing occured. You will not get a warning. If you appeal the customer service reps will double-check to make sure they caught you and then kindly tell you in more detail why you are banned. But there is no "second-chance". It is OVER.
* If Blizzard sees only one or two of the above "gotchas" and cannot without-a-single-doubt prove you shared your account, you will be suspended. Generally it will be straight to "final warning" and a 72 hour suspension.
* The lifetime of your account factors into this formula. For instance if you have a brand-new account you are more likely to be banned. The formula goes something like this. If more than half of the "total hours" /played for this toon are suspicious or likely powerleveling, then a ban will occur. If less than half of the "total hours" for this toon appear to be powerleveling then a suspension will occur.
Selecting a Service
* Select a powerleveling service that has a phone number in the USA or Canada. It is just one college student with a cellphone, mind you. The real action happens in Country X, but it is better than nothing.
* Do not select the cheapest service, select one that is a good price but not the absolute lowest.
* Select a company that at least "claims" to not use bots, hacks or cheats.
* Select a company that at least "claims" they will not play your toon 24/7.
* Do not select a company that offers a money back refund. There is no way a company can guarantee anything in this risky endeavor. Any company offereing guarantees is either scamming or will be out of business soon. Instead look for a "unused portion" guarantee, so if you stop the leveling or you are banned you will get a partial refund.
Tips to Not Get Caught
* If you don't already have an account, create it and do not login to it for 24 hours minimum prior to handing over your username/pass to the company to start. This is for IP-Swithing reasons. Even better is give the company a game-card number and CDKey and have them set up the account for you, enter all your information, name, etc etc etc and even create the character and name you want. This requires some trust but this whole process is risky so keep your eyes open.
* If you have an account full of 60s that you care about, do not risk it. It is absolutely ESSENTIAL that you setup a separate account for your toon. Instead do one of two things.
-- Commit to having two accounts in the future and paying two monthly fees. Set up the separate account under a fake name so both accounts can be online.
-- Set up a second account with your own name, understanding that during the leveling process you ABSOLUTELY must not log on to the WoW game or the WoW.com website with either account. This will trigger withdrawl for you addicts I know but it must be done...heh!
* Don't be a fool and for no reason should you login to the account being leveled during the process. Not the game or website.
* When the process is done, do not login for at least 24 hours. Instruct the company they are NOT to login to the account after the account hits the desired level.
* If you created a separate account under your same name, you may attempt to transfer the character to your other account when the leveling is done, but wait a week or two first before you do this just to see if you're gonna get banned.
What Can Go Wrong
* The company sucks: They bot, they are scammers, they are slow, you name it. You are screwed and have little recourse.
* You are banned midway through. If this happens, I hope the company is repuatable enough to give you a refund of the unused leveling. You are out about $20-80.
* The leveling finishes and you are banned AFTER. Even worse than banned midway though because you are probably not going to get any refund.
What Can Go Right
After a few weeks and a couple of hundred bucks you have a new level X character and you finally get to play that class/race combo you've always wanted to without seeing the same old "grind" again for 150 hours. You are still a) married b) employed c) hygenic d) getting passing grades or e) all of the above. ;-)
I am In Over My Head!
If you have already started powerleveling and want to stop, that is okay. As long as it's been less than a week Blizzard will PROBABLY forgive you. Play dumb and say you didn't know it was wrong. Ask for forgiveness. They may delete your new PL'd character and might suspend you but they probably won't ban you.
Summary
Powerleveling is risky. Don't fool yourself. However if the risks are worth it and you really MUST have that new character without the grind then I hope my hints and info help you make an informed choice.
Technorati Tags: World of Warcraft WorldofWarcraft WOW
10 comments:
Blizzard uses a server-side detection system to root out sharing of accounts. This system DOES NOT involve the checking of abrupt change in IP locations like you mentioned. It's confirmed with a blue on wow's forums. It does, however, involve IPs in a way totally different than what you guessed. Less false-positives that way.
I find it appalling that you even post these guidelines about how not to get caught. Power-leveling is for wimps. The use of bots etc messes up normal game-play for honest players.
And you forgot to say that power-leveling services also tend to later log back in (if you forget to change the password) and effectively rob your characters for all they are worth, and resell the gold for real money.
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Great post… Great info on bounce rates… I’ll have to write an entry about the same topic some day soon… Bounce rates can tell you alot…
I tend to look at the bounce rate and then look at the keywords that brought people to the site. Does the page answer the keyword question? If No then there is some work to do on that or a new more focused post.
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I think I would feel dirty and unclean having someone into my account that I don't know. A feeling of violation even though I'd given them permission. Wondering if they are abusing my beautiful druid and giving her a bad haircut.
Some folks are too lazy to play a video game comes to mind. Sad but true.
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