Hey all, jumping in here.
The way we engaged with this post isn't the quality we expect of ourselves or each other at Blizzard. Customer Service is here to offer clarification and guidance, we want to make our policies clear, and we want you all to feel comfortable reaching out to us. Our behavior policies are important and are regularly evaluated to help ensure our games are great places to be for as many people as possible. To be clear, cursing is not blanket punished within our games: context matters, and in this case, the context warranted upholding the action.
Thank you for making your voices heard, and we will work to communicate with more clarity moving forward. ^KAL
In a reply on X (formerly known as Twitter), the official Blizzard Customer Support account reminds players that dropping "F bombs" and getting reported is enough to get you suspended.
Blizzard CS Reply
In response to a X user, the official @BlizzardCS account describes how "F bombs" and being reported can have action taken against you. While we don’t know what the original context is, and the ban may very well be warranted, the responses seem to indicate that any swearing is enough to get suspended with no mention of context.
In a follow up post, the BlizzardCS account reminds players that "you aren't allowed to curse in our games. Do so, get reported, there are consequences."
In-Game Code of Conduct
World of Warcraft has an In-Game Code of Conduct that players agree to when playing the game and interacting with players. One section describes communication:
Blizzard
When participating in communication of any kind (chat, voice communication, group finder), you are responsible for how you express yourself. You may not use language that could be offensive or vulgar to others.
Hate speech and discriminatory language is inappropriate, as is any obscene or disruptive language. Threatening or harassing another player is always unacceptable, regardless of language used. Violating any of these expectations will result in account restrictions. More serious and repeated violations will result in greater restrictions.
While this doesn't mention anything specifically about swear words, you can argue that some people find swear words offensive, or obscene language. If you agree with that, by definition, the "F Bomb" would be against the in-game code of conduct.
That being said, there is already a Mature Language Filter in the chat which can be enabled/disabled at will which someone could argue would remove these words from being offensive as there's an option to not see it, but an old Blue Post confirms that is not the case.
Reporting in WoW
If players can be suspended for swearing in WoW, players have previously criticized Blizzard's reporting system in the past due to the potential of it being automated and potentially being abused. There are numerous Reddit posts about players who claim to have had actions taken against their account (whether it be a chat ban, name change, or suspension) for Mythic+ runs, Guild Name Changes, Other Guild Name Changes, or even targeted by a Crafting Cartel.
If there are automated reports, and dropping a single swear word is enough for action to be taken against your account, the system could absolutely be abused to take action against a number of players who could be unfairly targeted.
