Blizzard responds to thread on streamers' gold — RMT buyers and recipients face account action too

What the reply was about

Kaivax's reply was not a new announcement but the 43rd post in "Gold buying rules", a forum thread a player started on September 28 (US). The original poster claimed:

• Right after OTK announced another classic dueling tournament on the beta at level 30 with a $50,000 prize pool, a number of streamers found themselves loaded with gold they should not have.
• One streamer was traded over 500 gold split between two level 1 characters and laughed about it, knowing it wasn't legit gold — with no punishment.
• The "no more lenience" gold-buying enforcement was once again all a facade.

Before Kaivax replied, the thread went back and forth:

• Those who said it wasn't bought: streamers preparing for the tournament get gold farmed for them by guildmates and viewers; some players make hundreds of gold in a few hours selling shield spike and boot enchants or fishing; you can't call it gold buying without evidence.
• Those raising fairness: there are reports of regular players being suspended for mailing 5 gold to an alt, yet no action was taken when another well-known streamer admitted buying gold on stream.

Kaivax's reply

Kaivax didn't mention any specific account, replying that not only sellers but also buyers and those who receive the gold can be actioned.

Hello. We just want to reiterate some key points about this subject.

Real money transactions (RMT) are not acceptable in World of Warcraft, and we're taking steps to address RMT in the WoW: Forever Beta, and of course, when WoW: Forever goes live and beyond.

It's important to know that while we have always actioned RMT seller's accounts as quickly as possible, we will increasingly take action against buyers' accounts. That means that we will remove the illicit gold from the recipient, and/or take further actions, which can include closing accounts.

We're once again asking all players to be very cautious when it comes to accepting gifts from strangers or other one-sided transactions. If it becomes apparent that a recipient knew or should-have-known that gold wasn't from a legitimate source, they may be subject to account actions as well.

Reactions after the reply

• Calls continued for streamers to be punished the same as everyone else — players have been suspended over silver for a summon, so is it being let slide because the tournament promotes the game? One of the characters that traded the gold was named "Delivery", and one reply said to "put your ban button where your mouth is."
• On the other side, some pointed out that with thousands of viewers each sending a little, 500 gold adds up fast, and cautioned against assuming cheating.