Well it seems as though my in-game WoW harassment has stopped, or is at least in a lull for the time being.

Unfortunately for me, this hasn’t been the first time I have had to deal with harassment in the game, although the only other severe incident I have had to deal with bordered more on sexual harassment, and was taken care of when the offender eventually left the server.

I can also assume that, as a lot more people on the server know me, and know that I’m female, that this will certainly not be the last time I have to deal with harassment. Unfortunately for us WoW Ladies, this is something that most of us have to deal with at some point, and on some level, while playing this game we love.

So I have decided to put together some tips on how to deal with these types of incidents.

Get acquainted with Blizzard’s Harassment Policy.

This is probably something good for everyone to look at, whether or not you are being harassed. You may, unknowingly or not, say something that may offend someone, which can result in your account being banned. It covers everything from Racism, Violence, Religious Views, Gay-bashing, Drugs, Spamming, Advertising, and in my case, spreading Real Life Information. It also covers not just things said, but “Zone/Area Disruption”, which covers blocking NPCs and spell spamming, among others.

Screenshot. Everything.

If its questionably, screenshot it. Yes, the GMs of today can look up everything you do, ever, but having some kind of record for yourself is valuable. Especially if you have to remember when something happened. And, unless you have changed it somehow, the screenshots get saved with the date in the name of the file. Also, there are many add-ons that will let you keep track of whispers. I currently use HeyFu for FuBar.

Put them on ignore.

Putting someone on your ignore list should be a first line of defense. Immediately putting someone on ignore will put a stop to the harassment, at least temporarily. A determined harasser will log onto other alts. Immediately put those alts on ignore as well. Do not give in to demands to remove a person from ignore. Your ignore list is no one else’s business.

Tell your Guildies.

If you are in a guild, tell your guildmates that it is happening. Chances are, as guildmates, they will have your back and will do whatever they can to protect you. Ask that in case the harasser contacts them that they let you know, and they screenshot it as well. I wouldn’t recommend that you say it in Guild Chat, but rather one on one with the people you trust most in the guild. Word will spread, but it doesn’t have to be a big deal.

Tell your Guild Officers and Leaders.

If the harassment is happening within your own guild, let an officer or the guild leader know immediately. Their main role as a guild leader is to lead, and to make sure everyone is happy. A lot of Guild Leaders forget this, but it is still a fundamental role to make sure everyone gets along and everyone is treated fairly.

Open a Ticket to a GM.

As soon as something crosses the line of making you uncomfortable, report it to a GM. Every single time something happens, report it to a GM. If you do not report it, nothing will ever happen. Don’t think of it as a last resort. Chances are you are dealing with some teenager who doesn’t truly understand the repercussions of what they are doing, and will not stop on their own. And after all, you are paying these GMs salaries with your monthly fee, so get what you are already paying for!

Keyword: “Ongoing Harassment”

If the harassment doesn’t stop even after being reported to a GM, open another ticket every single time that it happens, using the words “Ongoing Harassment”. This will let the GMs know immediately that this is a more severe and serious issue, and will hopefully stress the importance of this matter.

Change your name.

If someone has you on their friend’s list, you will still show up even if you change your name. But it may be something to consider, especially if someone has been spreading information about you across guilds or the whole server.

Be careful where you blog.

Be careful about where you write, and also about what you write. Harassment is never anyones fault but the harassers, but limiting how much someone knows about you in any one place is something you can do to lower the chances of it happening to you. When you apply to a guild, don’t go into more detail than you have to. If you blog about WoW, only tell your most trusted friends from Azeroth. Keep your profile on forum sites limited. Also remember that you can keep Myspace and Facebook profiles private to friends only.

Call the police.

If harassments become threats, or if personal information is spreading like wildfire, Blizzard GMs may suggest you contact the police. You have a right to safety online and in game, and sometimes you need a higher power than just a GM. There are people out there who will not take no for an answer, no matter how hard you or a GM tries. There is also the threat of your WoW account being compromised if too much information is leaked. Or worse, a credit card. This should only be used as a last resort, but for some, it is the only thing that will stop the harassment.

If you are worried about your account being compromised due to personal information being leaked, purchase an Authenticator from the Blizzard Store. They are unhackable, unless someone physically steals the authenticator from you and knows all your account info. For only $6.50 it will give you peace of mind that is damn near priceless.

If you are being harassed in game, don’t be afraid to do something about it.

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If you have any other tips, please let me know and I will add them!

Help. I don’t know what else to title this post, other than “Help”. I need help from the greater WoW communities of Bloggers and the WoW Twitterati.

I have been having a problem in WoW. Not with gear, or a raid, or anything actually having anything to do with the game itself. There is a player on my server that has been spreading personal information about me around the server. As in, full name, birthday, address, my cat’s name (wtf?), and I’m sure other juicy details. I do not know this person, have never been in a guild with them, have never grouped with them, and I have never talked to them until I was in Naxxramas for a 10man with the guildies.

Some other run must have wiped, because people started talking in general chat. (Yes, Naxxramas general chat.) Someone said something about one of my guildies, so I light-heartedly defended them. I don’t remember what I said exactly, but that doesn’t really matter. It was nothing mean, I know that. So then they say something about me being a girl and calling me by my full name IN GENERAL CHAT!!! Now my first name isn’t that hard to figure out from my character name, but my first name is a less common variant of a much popular first name that many people think of first. Then he whispers me my LAST NAME, and ok, I am PISSED. Then he tells me the town I live in. WTF?! After that, I put him on ignore, and wait until after the boss we are on to write up a ticket to a GM.

He is in a guild I applied to and never heard back from. He whispered a guildie of mine and told him my birthday (which idc, because that member is my friend on facebook…) and then told him that he got it all off of my application. I never put in my birthdate, just age. I never put in the town I live in. Here, see for yourself:

Quote:

1. Your Name, Character Name, Class, Race, and server you currently play on:
Kathoid

What is your age?:
24

Provide us a link of your armory profile with you logged out in your PVE gear and with the spec you use in raids:
*removed*

List your previous raid experience in this game both pre BC and BC:
BC- Bits and pieces of everything but Sunwell.

Wrath – Naxx- I’ve seen everything but not all on the same difficulty.
Winterspring raid heroic
Sartarion normal and heroic

What days and hours do you most frequently play WOW?:
everyday. after 8pm server.

Do you have Vent and a mic? You dont necessarily need a mic but you need to be able to listen to instructions:
Yes and yes.

Do you have any problems with having to sit out a raid from time to time? Sometimes we have to stack the group with a certain makeup to make things work.:
Depends on the situation but generally speaking, no.

What guilds have you been in previously and why did you leave?:
*removed*

Is there any current members of our guild that can vouch for you?:
Im not sure on everyone who is in yoru guild, but I just did a /who and I have been in a few raids with *removed*.

Thank you for taking interest in *removed* and good luck with the application.

Guildlaunch, the site their guild website is on, has my birthday in my profile, but I am pretty sure that isn’t able to be seen by everyone. That still doesn’t explain how he knows the town I live in, or my cat’s name, or any of the other stupid things he knows. I deleted my Myspace, several old blogs, and anything else that I thought was questionable. (I have yet to figure out how to delete guildlaunch.) I removed a few friends on Facebook, too, not that had anything to do with this, but now I am paranoid.

And even if they are some amazing internet slueth with nothing better to do with their time, one fact stands out: This is blatantly against Blizzard’s Terms of Service, right there under the Harassment Policy. And I quote:

Real-Life Information and Threats

This category includes both clear and masked language which:

• Refers to violence in any capacity that is not directly related to the game world
• Releases any real life information about other players or Blizzard employees

If a player is found to have used such language, he/she may:

• Be given a warning for releasing general personal information
• Be temporarily suspended from the game for real life threats and/or releasing detailed personal information
• Incur further real-life repercussions depending on the severity of the threat

The GMs aren’t doing enough, in my opinion, because of the fact that they haven’t fixed the situation so that it does not happen again.

Yesturday I had two more people whisper me, one was telling me to take the first jerk off ignore. The other was someone else sending me more personal info. I submitted another ticket after that. Today I had 4 people whisper me with again more personal info about me. I opened another ticket, which is still open.

I never get to actually talk to a GM, they just clear my ticket then email me. The first was the form letter response, the second time I got a real email, written by a real person, telling me basically I should consider calling the police. And the guy still isn’t banned, because he is still asking people to ask me to take him off of ignore. Which I’m totally not doing. So, WTF, Blizzard?? He is still no banned, still harassing me, and still spreading personal information about me. And they still get to play.

But the thing that is more troublesome than all of that is, is WHY!? I can’t figure out what I did to make this person so mad. I don’t know them. The only thing that I can come up with is that my old Guild Leader has gone completly crazy and has convinced someone to harass me until I leave the server, so that he can have his guild back. Not like that would even happen, they don’t like him, either.

I’m just not sure what to do at this point. I really can’t afford to pay for 30 people to transfer to another server, nor would they want to leave. I don’t want to leave. The GMs aren’t being helpful. And I doubt this jerk has my credit card info or actual street address, so what could the Police really do? I’m so confused.

Help?

Well with Winter Veil upon us in game and Christmas and Hanukkah right around the corner and all, it’s time to get shopping for your own WoW Lady, if you haven’t done so already. I can’t say for sure what she may love (be it a bucket of popcorn or that fancy pair of diamond earrings she has been not-so-subtly wanting) but one thing is sure: if she LOVES WoW she would probably LOVE a WoW gift.

Wrath of the Lich King: If she doesn’t have it already you are letting her slowly die on the inside. Or, if she does have it and is QQing about the lack of Companion Pets her Main has, upgrade her to Collector’s Edition! Pricey, I know, but love knows no bounds (and you do know which love I am talking about, don’t you?). The CE Edition comes with much awesomeness, but the Frost Wyrm pet is a gift that will make her giggle in delight at it’s absurd cuteness. If that isn’t holiday spirit, I’m not sure what is.

TShirts: Who needs long sleeves when she has you to keep her warm? She will definitely be in the mood for huggin’ once she unwraps one of these awesome Ts.

• Darnassus Nightsabers Women’s Tee – Let her show off her WoW Pride without it being too obvious! This WoW Tee is cleverly disguised as a Team Tee, although any WoWer out there is sure to recognize it!
• Locked Chest Women’s Tee – You better hope you play a rogue for this one though. Or else she may go elsewhere to be “lock picked”. (*I’m just realizing now that they should update the graphic on the shirt, as max level has increased.)
• Druid Class Women’s Tee – I of course have this one, so it gets my seal of approval. Actually, I’m wearing it right now! It’s a sign you WoW Lady also desires a class Tee of her own. They have one for every class, other than Death Knight, though I am sure that is to come soon.
• /Dance Women’s Tee – I also have this tee too, in Olive. A must have for any Night Elf.

Talking Murloc Plush Toy – I have a love for Murlocs. This little cutey stands (hunches?) at 9 inches tall, and sings that lullaby that is the Murloc Battle Cry: MRRLGLLRMMRRRGLLL!!! (I’m not sure on the spelling there.) If your love has a soft spot for the oft misunderstood underdog of Azeroth, pick up one of these guys so she will have someone to cuddle with when you undoubtedly stay up all night raiding.

Baby Murloc Plush – That last Murloc not cute enough for her (or you)? Seek out one of these ultra rare baby Murky plushes. As far as I know they were only available at a 2007 WWI event in Korea. Yes, he is a Blizzard Licensed Product. And oh so cute, too!! You can find them on Ebay, but the price isn’t cheap. But you know my feelings on love… (see above)

World of Warcraft Action Figures – Not into plush toys? How about hard plastic. (You know, so when its sitting out and your bros come over they won’t laugh, and you won’t have to explain who wears the WoWPants in your household…) Check out these Action Figures. It even comes in the delicious Broll Bearmantle flavor. (/insert druid crush xoxo<3xoxo /end druid crush)

And, of course, if you’re cheap, there’s always pre-paid game time cards!!