Blizzard policing erotic role-play in WOW

Blizzard has publicly clarified its policy on "in-game harassment" in World of Warcraft and stressed that it is actively policing the issue, after complaints were raised about erotic role-play in a certain inn on a certain US server.

It seems the Goldshire Inn - which is in the starting area for the game's race of humans - on the North American role-playing server Moon Guard has become a notorious hot-spot for lewd, in-character behaviour.

The topic was raised recently on the forums by a concerned father who had cancelled his son's account after reading the obscene public chat in the inn (via WoW.com).

A Blizzard rep responded that the game operator did actively police offensive behaviour in public chat channels and via unsolicited in-game messages - although it leaves consensual private messages and party chat alone.

The rep pointed out that its efforts weren't always visible, though, since it sought to deal with such issues privately, and reminded players that "with millions of players in hundreds of servers and thousands of channels, it is impossible to manually monitor everywhere".

However, noted dens of filth like the Goldshire Inn on Moon Guard will get special attention.

"We hear perennial complaints about spots in our game where this activity is said to take place, and Moon Guard Goldshire appears in that list with some regularity," said the rep. "Members of our Customer Services team will 'patrol' Goldshire on Moon Guard on a regular basis, and take appropriate action for individuals violating the Harassment Policy."

Saucy role-players be warned: keep it private, because the fantasy sex police never sleeps.