Casinos are generally considered to be a game created by players using the /roll mechanic. Casinos are not a mechanic of the World of Warcraft game, and may or may not be considered spamming and scamming.
Terms of use[]
The following are quotes of the official Terms of Use Agreement that are relevant to casinos.
US Terms of Use[]
See here for the official most up to date version.
- Part 9, Section B
(ii) Carry out any action with a disruptive effect, such as intentionally causing the Chat screen to scroll faster than other users are able to read, or setting up macros with large amounts of text that, when used, can have a disruptive effect on the normal flow of Chat;
(iii) Disrupt the normal flow of dialogue in Chat or otherwise act in a manner that negatively affects other users including without limitation posting commercial solicitations and/or advertisements for goods and services available outside of the World of Warcraft universe;
(iv) Sending repeated unsolicited or unwelcome messages to a single user or repeatedly posting similar messages in a Chat area, including without limitation continuous advertisements to sell goods or services;
(vii) Participate in any action that, in the sole and absolute opinion of Blizzard, results or may result in an authorized user of the Game being "scammed" or defrauded out of gold, weapons, armor, or any other items that user has earned through authorized game play in the Game;
- Part 9, Section C
(iii) Anything that Blizzard considers contrary to the "essence" of the Game.
EU Terms of Use[]
This is from the English version. See here for the official most up to date version.
- Part 4, Section 2
(2) Carry out any action with a disruptive effect, such as intentionally causing the Chat screen to scroll faster than other users are able to read, or setting up macros with large amounts of text that, when used, can have a disruptive effect on the normal flow of Chat, or using tools that distort or interfere with oral communication of the users;
(3) Disrupt the normal flow of dialogue in Chat or otherwise act in a manner that negatively affects other users including without limitation posting commercial solicitations and/or advertisements for goods and service available outside of the World of Warcraft universe;
(4) Sending repeated unsolicited or unwelcome messages to a single user or repeatedly posting similar messages in a Chat area, including but not limited to continuous advertisements to sell goods or services;
(9) Participate in any action that, in the sole and absolute opinion of Blizzard Entertainment, results or may result in an authorized user of World of Warcraft being "scammed" or defrauded out of gold, weapons, armor, or any other items that user has earned through authorized game play in World of Warcraft.
- Part 4, Section 3
(5) Anything that Blizzard Entertainment considers contrary to the "essence" of World of Warcraft.
Blue posts[]
This is a collection of blue posts explaining the official policy on layman's terms.
Aspect of the game[]
European versus US policy[]
The European scam policies can be viewed at:
http://www.wow-europe.com/en/policy/scam.htmlCurrent policy[]
That said, we are monitoring the practice and the overall response to it very, very actively.
As I stated in my prior post:
While this practice may not, in an of itself, necessarily represent a violation at the moment, there are activities associated with running an in-game casino which certainly can represent violations; such as spamming or scamming.
Also, if it appears that this practice is being abused or is simply having a deleterious effect on the game play environment, we are certainly willing to revise our stance on the subject. Please remember that our ultimate goal is to provide the best and most fun environment for all our players.
It remains unwise to run an in-game casino, as it is inherently risky. Merely because you can do something does not mean that you should.
Running casinos is not recommended[]
Long story short - it's a really bad idea to try running an in-game casino, and we'd counsel against it. Please do not be surprised if, despite a lack of policy on the casinos themselves, that other account actions result from associated activities, including scamming.
There are better ways to turn a profit and entertain oneself in-game.
Spirit of the policy[]
A "casino" is not considered scamming because of randomizing. Casinos became a problem because certain individuals realized math was on their side, and managed to obtain large sums of gold from players lost in the heat of the moment. Human nature is drawn to games of luck under the right circumstances, and this is what the "casino keepers" took advantage of. It was therefore determined to be in the best interests of World of Warcraft to prohibit such gambling activity altogether.
Our casino policy exists to limit potential for scamming; it's not aimed to eliminate random factors from the game, nor to make guild-held events more difficult. Randomizing recipients for in-game goods is, in itself, fine - even the built-in looting systems do this all the time. Regardless, you may not accept "entry fees" of any kind during the distribution process, nor otherwise imply potential for "winning" anything, as this would be considered gambling.
Do you have in-game goods you would like to distribute among your guild? By all means do so. Simply don't make it into a lottery requiring participants to donate gold or items in order to participate.
Please feel free to request further clarification if needed.
In game mail[]
In February of 2008, some players received the following emails about casino gambling:
Dear <your name here>,
This email is to inform you of our policy regarding player-run casinos. We realize that many players enjoy running or patronizing casinos, and we did not come to this decision lightly. However, due to the many issues caused by casinos, we have decided to prohibit this form of gameplay until further notice. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and hope this doesn’t detract from your enjoyment of the game.
This email is simply a notification of our new policy regarding casinos. Your account will not be negatively affected at this time. However, future violations of this new policy may result in disciplinary action. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
For any game play questions, please refer to our site at http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowgm/
*** Please do not respond to this email as all conversations on this matter would be best handled online. ***
This mail was confirmed as legitmate by a Blizzard poster on the forums shortly after:
This was just a heads up -- nothing more, nothing less.
If you have any further questions, let us know.
Guild lottery[]
In short, provided such a lottery is kept within guild members, with no spamming of public channels, then we would generally overlook this as a misdemeanour, and not take action against the organising player.
Gambling: Pay to play[]
Original policy announcement[]
Be advised that casinos encourage spamming and scamming, and there have been a resounding number of complaints about the gambling practice. As such, should a character be found running a casino disciplinary action will be taken in accordance with the rules against Spamming and Advertising, found here:
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/policy/harassmentp2.shtml#S
We hope this will dramatically improve the atmosphere around Ironforge and Orgrimmar, and reduce the scamming reports we have had. Thank you for being patient with us while we deliberated over this issue!