WoW players “harrassed” by spam ads for boosting and gold-selling in-game
Blizzard EntertainmentWorld of Warcraft’s boosting problem is reaching new heights with an in-game “harassment” ad campaign that sees players’ mailboxes full of spam.
As with any online videogame featuring character progression, “boosting” can be observed within World of Warcraft. Boosting occurs when high-level players offer their services to lower-level characters or people who seek to conquer very specific hard challenges. These services are provided for in-game gold, items, or most commonly real money.
At the beginning of 2022 WoW devs promised to crack down on organizations and individuals behind boosting services. This seemingly did not pan out well, because players are reporting a massive flood of spam mail promoting boosting and gold-selling websites.
WoW community’s reaction to the advertisement campaign
Many members of the community were quick to point out that this problem has been a persistent one for a while now.
“Been a thing since I started in BC. Not new, but increasingly infuriating since nothing is really done about this s**t,” comments one user.
The individuals and groups behind these boosting and gold-selling operations appear to have gotten increasingly creative, not only utilizing in-game global chat and mailboxes of users.
“As soon as my alts hit 70 my f**king calendar is blinking with OMG WTS VAULT RUN invites. How is this even a thing that randos can send you calendar invite alerts,” another player expresses his frustrations.
It will be interesting to see the developers of the game and content creators sharing their opinions on this problem. Asmongold previously praised Blizzard’s statements about cracking down on boosting, but at the same time, he has a past of being Blizzard’s most devoted critic.