VPN and Blizzard.

[Xeh.-]

Hi community,

For the last couple of days my ISP been acting up a lot with battle.net and anything related to it. I cant play, I cant open armory, I cant log into battle net, cant even open any Blizzard related websites that are not EU.

Since my country is bullshit (pure bullshit) I have been thinking about paying for a VPN service since its not a proxy and doesnt use a different IP, aka: No auto Blizzard permanent ban (which is something i had twice before when I used to use a proxy server)


So, questions.

1) Can I get banned for using a VPN service?
2) Is it true it uses my IP?
3) Do you guys recommend ExpressVPN? (google has it as the best VPN service)

[burnabull]

1. Yes.
2. What uses your IP? The VPN or Blizz? If the VPN, then yes and no - you still connect to the internet via your normal ISP/IP, but the VPN acts as a tunnel that shrouds your real IP.
3. ExpressVPN is OK - I prefer proxy.sh, but for simplicity sake, I'd say Incognito, PureVPN or Incognito.

A GM explained to me a while back that accounts can get banned using VPNs not for any action they are doing or ToS they might be breaking as you might guess. VPN's can have thousands+ of IPs at their disposal, but there is always an upper limit (HMA currently has the most IPs, but also the most blacklisted/"marked" IPs because of the typical clientele). So if you happen to connect to WoW on an IP that has a history of abuse in any way, your account can risk being attached to that IP and any issues that may have come from it or may come from it eventually.

Free services (like Express) are magnets for hackers, trolls, jerks etc (anyone who wants to "hide' themselves so they can be as douchey as they please), and the chance of you using an IP that has a history of abuse is pretty damn high. Services like HMA more or less facilitate shady activity through their branding. So companies like proxy.sh, PureVPN etc, are a good way to go. High speeds, many thousand IPs, low marketing profile and marketing that DOESNT gear towards trolls are generally going to be a safer bet.

That being said, run a VPN at your own risk. I've heard of bans to VPN users being revoked, and i've heard of them sticking to their guns with a ban. Hard to say the number of VPN users vs. the number of users banned FOR using a VPN, but it absolutely is a concern. If you want to use a VPN, i strongly suggest getting on the phone as well as email with Blizz, asking this same question - both to get an official "verdict" as well as to tie your account to the idea that you will be using a VPN because of connection issues between blizz and your ISP. Should a ban come down the line later, it might be helpful to have that set as a precedent. Until Blizz either fixes their issues between battle.net and outside ISPs (*sigh* good luck) or comes up with a mutually beneficial solution to said issues, this one's gonna be a head-scratcher.

[chazus]

What country is it, exactly? Some countries do not allow WoW, which may be part of the issue. But generally using a VPN is a bad idea because A) as burnabull said above... You might get an IP that is blacklisted, and B) Distant/changing IP's indicates a compromised account, which they will lock.

[Xeh.-]

1. Yes.
2. What uses your IP? The VPN or Blizz? If the VPN, then yes and no - you still connect to the internet via your normal ISP/IP, but the VPN acts as a tunnel that shrouds your real IP.
3. ExpressVPN is OK - I prefer proxy.sh, but for simplicity sake, I'd say Incognito, PureVPN or Incognito.

A GM explained to me a while back that accounts can get banned using VPNs not for any action they are doing or ToS they might be breaking as you might guess. VPN's can have thousands+ of IPs at their disposal, but there is always an upper limit (HMA currently has the most IPs, but also the most blacklisted/"marked" IPs because of the typical clientele). So if you happen to connect to WoW on an IP that has a history of abuse in any way, your account can risk being attached to that IP and any issues that may have come from it or may come from it eventually.

Free services (like Express) are magnets for hackers, trolls, jerks etc (anyone who wants to "hide' themselves so they can be as douchey as they please), and the chance of you using an IP that has a history of abuse is pretty damn high. Services like HMA more or less facilitate shady activity through their branding. So companies like proxy.sh, PureVPN etc, are a good way to go. High speeds, many thousand IPs, low marketing profile and marketing that DOESNT gear towards trolls are generally going to be a safer bet.

That being said, run a VPN at your own risk. I've heard of bans to VPN users being revoked, and i've heard of them sticking to their guns with a ban. Hard to say the number of VPN users vs. the number of users banned FOR using a VPN, but it absolutely is a concern. If you want to use a VPN, i strongly suggest getting on the phone as well as email with Blizz, asking this same question - both to get an official "verdict" as well as to tie your account to the idea that you will be using a VPN because of connection issues between blizz and your ISP. Should a ban come down the line later, it might be helpful to have that set as a precedent. Until Blizz either fixes their issues between battle.net and outside ISPs (*sigh* good luck) or comes up with a mutually beneficial solution to said issues, this one's gonna be a head-scratcher.

I am from Argentina and a couple of days ago i started experiencing this. Its not common but it does happen and as a core raider I cant have these issues while raiding hours.

My idea is to get ExpressVPN which is a paid service that has no free trial. Meaning there shouldnt be any hackers using it? Also notify Blizzard about it via ticket.

I find it hard to believe the ppl you know didnt get their bans lifted. Are you 100% sure they were not doing something against ToS themselves? (Bot, cheating, etc)

EDIT: For what I have been reading, VPN uses my IP and not others like proxy servers? Is this correct?

[Vash The Stampede]

EDIT: For what I have been reading, VPN uses my IP and not others like proxy servers? Is this correct?

VPN is something you tunnel through to get somewhere. Blizzard won't get your IP through a VPN. Not sure about being banned using a VPN, but I've never played WoW through a VPN.

[cwkdub]

I am from Argentina and a couple of days ago i started experiencing this. Its not common but it does happen and as a core raider I cant have these issues while raiding hours.

My idea is to get ExpressVPN which is a paid service that has no free trial. Meaning there shouldnt be any hackers using it? Also notify Blizzard about it via ticket.

I find it hard to believe the ppl you know didnt get their bans lifted. Are you 100% sure they were not doing something against ToS themselves? (Bot, cheating, etc)

EDIT: For what I have been reading, VPN uses my IP and not others like proxy servers? Is this correct?

I don't know if you are still looking to have this answered, but I am actually going through this right now.

I moved to China and continue to play on my NA server with my friends, and I paid for ExpressVPN. Now my acocunt is closed for buying/selling gold, which I have never done. I think my problem is, but not confirmed by a Blizzard source, the fact that ExpressVPN allows for many VPN locations, and my ISP is very unstable. I would connect to one location through ExpressVPN, the game will ping well for 10 min up to couple of hours (it varies day by day), then the ping will spike to unplayable level (i.e. >10,000ms). I would have to then switch my VPN location and in some case turning off my VPN, then the game will become stable again.

Through ExpressVPN, I have been playing the game through many VPN locations, and I believe this is the reason why my account was closed. I am still trying to appeal for this, and will update as soon as I get a reply from Blizzard.

[Wikko]

I've sometimes played Overwatch with VPN on because I forgot to turn it off, no idea that you could get banned for it or not.

[cwkdub]

I've sometimes played Overwatch with VPN on because I forgot to turn it off, no idea that you could get banned for it or not.

I do understand why blizzard won't give a straight answer for this. But in your case, I think as long as you only connect to one location on your VPN, you should be ok.

I have never played overwatch, but if there's a currency exchange in game, jumping VPN location is suspect, my situation is a combination of these factors, so I wouldn't say that because i use a VPN, blizzard banned me.

At least this is my understanding right now. Will provide some updates when I understand it more.