WoW dev confirms harshest punishments for GDKP rule breakers in Season of Discovery
Blizzard EntertainmentFollowing the recent announcement that GDKP runs would be banned following the launch of Phase Two of World of Warcraft: Season of Discovery, Blizzard has confirmed significant punishments for those who flout the rules.
For those who aren’t aware, GDKP dungeon or raid runs are centered around players in the instance bidding WoW gold for the items that drop. The acronym stands for Gold Dragon Kill Points which itself is an adaptation of the original DKP, which rewarded overall contribution to distribute gear.
GDKP runs have become particularly prevalent on Wrath of the Lich King Classic servers, with some of the game’s most desirable items selling for thousands. This creates a major issue as many players turn to buying gold from third-party sellers to fund their loot on these expeditions.
Now, Blizzard has confirmed that the ban on these runs in Season of Discovery will be aggressively enforced.
GDKP runs in Season of Discovery could lead to permanent bans
In a post on Reddit, one user shared the official Blizzard response to a question regarding the penalties for engaging in GDKP runs in Season of Discovery.
Though it won’t be a one-size-fits-all punishment, as it is with some of the game’s most serious breaches of the Terms & Conditions, there is plenty to fear. Not only would engaging in a GDKP run make a temporary suspension likely, but the most egregious offenses could lead to permanent account closure.
Responses to the post were overwhelmingly positive, with one user saying the measures were a good first step:
“Will this get rid of bots and gold buyers? No, but it will reduce it. I think the next thing is to just up the respawn rate of herbs/mines. Will result in a massive drop of raid consume prices and people will no longer feel the need to buy gold for raid consumes.”
Others believe that GDKPs are just a small part of a far more troubling issue in gold buying. One said: “It’s so confusing why “GDKP” can’t be replaced with “botting and gold buying”. Surely the technical mechanisms by which Blizzard would go about scanning for both situations are similar…”
Whatever the case may be, it’s likely that these steps will be good for the health of the game overall. Though the punishments are undoubtedly severe, they should serve as a significant warning to potential offenders.
