Did anyone else get banned?

[Yellowlab]

So when I got home from work last night, I tried to log in and saw that my account was banned for 3 days. I checked my email and it said my account had been suspended for exploiting. The email is very vague, so I had to rack my brain on what I had done recently. I got to thinking, maybe I was banned for hoarding all of my spirit pet bags and opening them on patch day since they were going to have improved loot. I noticed a few people on here had done that too, so I was wondering if maybe they had a similar story? If no, then I just have no idea why I was banned

[Risk]

That's crazy the same thing happened to me! I also held tons of bags to open on patch day. I wonder if that was what happened. It doesn't seem ban worthy though. I've never been banned at all and don't break any rules so I was very confused as to what happened!

[Gip]

I was suspended for three days last night as well. I also had saved up a bunch of spirit bags (and normal pet bags). I opened them all on patch day. Like you, I can think of nothing that I did wrong.

I did see some forum posts about an exploit some people were doing where they bought Arcane Troves (now purchasable with Elder Charms) and could then click on the trove multiple time and get extra gold/loot. I wonder if our opening all those bags on one day triggered something in their scans where it looked like we were performing the same exploit, just with a different "bag".

I submitted a support ticket to appeal the suspension. No response yet from Blizz.

[Yellowlab]

Well that solves it then! I'm sorry you got banned too. I guess I won't ever be doing that again, haha! I bet it has something to do with the "streak" system they implemented.

[Nomadking]

As Gip says, you've likely been caught up with the ban wave for people exploiting the bags.

I'd make a ticket to appeal, or call them up, since you where legitimately opening loot bags that you had already saved up. The fact there was a bug that might have given you extra loot is something you can't have know about. They should easily be able to see that you had the bags saved up, which should help back up your story. (Unless they decided that saving the bags was an exploit in itself... highly unlikely).

GL!

[Balazaar]

I received the same 72 hour ban. I opened all 19 bags I got Wednesday doing the dailies. Appealing now.

[Roarey]

This happened to me as well...I saved the pet supplies (81) over 2 characters. It appears from forum posts that it caused a flagging, however inadvertent it was. Sad that we are being punished for hard work and preplanning, however my disgust is mostly directed at people that knowingly did use an exploit to gain more from caches and treasure boxes. In the race to stamp out this illegal behavior, we have been caught up in it as well. I submitted a ticket last night at 730pm est after being told they could do nothing on the phone..an appeal in writing was required. The average wait time is listed as 24 hrs..though with the sheer numbers of poor pet people...we may be held back I will post the response I receive.

BTW, I saw a mmo-champ post...do not save up the bags to open at the end of the day either...apparently opening even the 14-18 at the end of the day all at once is flagging people as well! I used to like to get all my pain at once, now I guess it will have to be doled out after each fight...well once I get my acct back!

Got the response...they will not be revoking the suspension...safe to say, I will never open 2 bags at once...ever!!!

[Roarey]

Not sure if this will help anyone but following is a copy of my appeal ticket:

On 5/23/2013 , I was in Karazhan with my character Maelaria, and got forced logged and was not allowed to log back into the game. Error 203..looked at email and says my account was suspended for 72 hours...due to Abuse of Game Mechanics. I have never bought gold, purposely bugged an instance, or done anything to purposely exploit a mechanic. I am completely in the dark for what this accusation and investigation is in relation to..I work very hard on all of my characters progress and am flabbergasted that something I may have accidentally done could be construed as cheating. I love wow and play with both my sons and would never intentionally do something that puts that at risk.
In hindsight, I can only consider that the pet supply bags that I had worked to store up and open upon the patch day may triggered some flagged material...but you can tell that I earned them in the previous 2 weeks over my 2 characters, saving them for the possibility of a fail protection, is that exploitive?.(Roarey and Maelaria)
The past week I have logged into my account from my hospital..used my key fob authenticator to verify my information.
Anything you can do to resolve this situation would be appreciated..I would never do anything knowingly to break the terms of service. Please help!! I am beside myself with worry over this.
Sincerely, K

Followed with this, as I discovered the probable reason:

Reading through forum posts..it appears that the bags may have indeed triggered this false accusation, I can tell you without a doubt...I had upwards of 70(close to 80, I believe) pet supplies bags in my inventory prior to patch day..had even cleared inventory space in my bank and backpacks on Roarey and Maelaria.. I then opened them Roarey(in the afternoon patch day) and Maelaria after our guild lfrs that evening. In no way, shape or form did I use a hack or cheat to gain more "mirror" bags! 70+ was in my inventory..diligently stored for 2-3 weeks of daily master tamer quests! Because I opened them quickly?..I could be banned...omg...beyond insulting really. I was exhausted and eager to see if the luck gods smiled upon me before bed..only to what, get hairballs and bandages...lol..oh and a 3 day ban for all my hard work and preplanning. I know this is all supposition on my part..but since I play the game with no malice and work to be an exemplary "Wow citizen" especially since I am GM of my homespun, casual family guild..I am quite vocal about earning your way and respect to each other..this is the only thing that I see that may have triggered an auto response in your system. I am disgusted by these events, by the fact that people gained extra items from sunreaver bags, or caches...but as you will see in my history..all of the bags that were opened on that day were earned legitimately and no speed tactic was used to purposely gain extra items.(Heck I didn't even know something like this existed prior to the ban) If I did inadvertently gain extra hairballs...please do indeed remove them..but believe me when I reiterate that no malice or foreknowledge to exploit ToS was used.
I hope this matter can be resolved quickly and the restriction lifted upon your investigation into this misunderstanding. I apologize if anything I did caused you to question my honesty and loyalty.

[Quintessence]

Sorry to hear about the temporary ban!

This makes me wonder though... if Blizzard is tracking large quantities of opened items and banning based on that, what if you did all the Tamer dailies but didn't open the bags until after collecting them for that day? Or is Blizzard only tracking large numbers (greater than the number of bags you can get in a day)?

I hope they fix this soon and exclude the pet bags.

[Balazaar]

Sorry to hear about the temporary ban!

This makes me wonder though... if Blizzard is tracking large quantities of opened items and banning based on that, what if you did all the Tamer dailies but didn't open the bags until after collecting them for that day? Or is Blizzard only tracking large numbers (greater than the number of bags you can get in a day)?

I hope they fix this soon and exclude the pet bags.

Yes opening one day's worth of bags can get you banned. I'm waiting on my ticket now.

[Nomadking]

This makes me wonder though... if Blizzard is tracking large quantities of opened items and banning based on that, what if you did all the Tamer dailies but didn't open the bags until after collecting them for that day? Or is Blizzard only tracking large numbers (greater than the number of bags you can get in a day)?

I'd open them as you get them to avoid any chance of being flagged. Saving them all to then end doesn't increase your chance of getting anything (although I do appreciate that some people like to do it this way so the surprise and reward feel bigger!)

[Gip]

Blizzard has replied to my appeal and has decided to not changed my account suspension, stating they've confirmed our initial findings and actions will not be reversed. Annoyances at Blizzard for not telling me exactly why I've been suspended (so I learn the rules and avoid such action in the future) aside, my concern is now about opening all the pet bags one would acquire within the same day and possibly getting suspended again (as Quintessence, Roarey, and others have stated). I hope this is fixed soon.

[Yellowlab]

Blizzard has replied to my appeal and has decided to not changed my account suspension, stating they've confirmed our initial findings and actions will not be reversed. Annoyances at Blizzard for not telling me exactly why I've been suspended (so I learn the rules and avoid such action in the future) aside, my concern is now about opening all the pet bags one would acquire within the same day and possibly getting suspended again (as Quintessence, Roarey, and others have stated). I hope this is fixed soon.

That really sucks. I am sorry I guess my appeal won't be going through either, but tbh, I didn't even expect them to respond to me before the ban was over anyways. Fortunately for me, my work week started right at the ban, 3 12 hour shifts in a row. So I won't really even have time to play anyways. As for the hairballs that might be revoked....THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!!

[Dakaf]

I can't log into my mobile auction house. I haven't seen an email from blizzard, should I be concerned when I get home from work? Or is it just down for everyone via mobile?

[Gip]

There is a Mobile AH issue. From the @BlizzardCS twitter account (8:29am PST):

We're aware of an issue concerning the #Warcraft Mobile Auction House. The issue is still being investigated. No ETA at this time.

Hopefully your issue is associated with that tweet and not a suspension.

[Gip]

I sent a tweet to @Mumper earlier and he replied a few minutes ago.

https://twitter.com/mumper/status/337976216751583232
@jjheikkila @BlizzardCS Looking into this as we speak, should have more details soon.

Even if my opening 30-40 bags is an offense (in which case, if I knew this, I would not have hoarded them), people like Balazaar opening the normal bags each day (even if the bags are all opened at the end of the day) should not have to deal with this.

[Ravnhawk]

I opened 2 bags at once - as I am at work checking the Armory I can't do any remote action house. I am not sure if I got an email as I deleted a bunch of emails without reading them. Did anyone else get banned for opening 2? I did a fabled bag and an Aki bag at the same time.

I got a 503 error stating the page wasn't there which is what I get sometimes when the servers are down.

[Balazaar]

The news gets worse. My appeal was denied. How is this possible from opening one day's worth of bags??? I pointed this out and hopefully it'll be fixed otherwise I am on a 3 day enforced holiday from WoW.

[Jodmos]

You would think they'd be a bit more careful about annoying their customers given the subscription losses they're dealing with.

If that heppened to me I'd seriously be considering whether they deserved my money at this point - 3 days seems like a big over-reaction given how great the stuff from the bags. I opened about 10 bags on one character on Wednesday but then I reguarly forget to open them, not to mention even speaking to the trainer to get the bag. Wouldn't be the first time I went to a Tamer only to find I'd not handed in the quest the day before.

[Roarey]

Blizzard has replied to my appeal and has decided to not changed my account suspension, stating they've confirmed our initial findings and actions will not be reversed. Annoyances at Blizzard for not telling me exactly why I've been suspended (so I learn the rules and avoid such action in the future) aside, my concern is now about opening all the pet bags one would acquire within the same day and possibly getting suspended again (as Quintessence, Roarey, and others have stated). I hope this is fixed soon.

The other issue I see to this..is that now this 3 day suspension is on your account and any time you might inadvertently open too many bags (pathetic) or unknowingly be included in a mass suspension(though this is the first time in 6 years it has happen..the fact that it did happen is terrifying)..they weigh all previous "violations" and action taken on your account to decide on the next punishment. The next punishment on the tier is ACCOUNT LOSS! Makes me scared to even do anything in the game for fear of accidentally breaking some vague, unpublished rule and losing years worth of time...I am beginning to question if it is indeed worth the risk of more time investment.