Blizzard's customer support team is, without a doubt, among the best in the business. They're quick, knowledgeable and for the most part, empathetic.
Those qualities are important to have, considering the range of games for which the company provides support. On one end of the spectrum, there are fairly simplistic games like Diablo III, and on the other end, there are competitive games like Heroes of the Storm. HotS is worth noting, because just like other MOBAs, it has a penchant for bringing out the worst in most players, making them what others now refer to as "toxic."
Under normal circumstances, players can report a toxic player, and under most circumstances, offenders can be silenced. This would prevent toxic players from chatting in the game for a certain period. Of course, silenced players don't take too kindly to the sudden gag order and try to prove their innocence.
Recently, one player took to the Battle.net forums to do just that, except the user made one critical mistake: he lied. Apparently, on top of the aforementioned traits, Blizzard's customer support is also all-knowing, and because of the lie, had no qualms about using that knowledge to rake the user over the coals in front of everyone else.
"WOW I am soooo disappointed," the user says in a topic titled "I Was Silenced For Reporting."
"Anytime anyone on the team has a problem and gets toxic I report them, and type reported. But I guess when you do that they will report you for reporting them. I did not break any rules, but I am silenced. Thanks Blizzard. Do you even LOOK at the reports, or is the terms of service only for show?" the user continues.
At first glance, there is nothing wrong this claim. Sure, the way the user addressed Blizzard might be a little wanting, but it's true: oftentimes, toxic players will report other players who report them to Blizzard about their behavior.
However, this wasn't one of those times. As it turns out, Blizzard does check those logs and proved it in hilarious fashion. Here is what it had to say:
"For [confirmation], you were not silenced for reporting others. You were silenced for using chat like this:
"2016-06-07 19:25:03 LILI WHAT THE (double expletives) ARE YOU DOING (expletive noun)
"2016-06-11 10:46:50 kill tracer noobs (religious figure) (obscene word)
"2016-06-14 00:35:25 AWSOME the (offensive words) THAT CANT REPLY TO MY INSULTS TOOK MY PICK"
"2016-06-14 lol I will (nicer term would've been "mess with") with him the whole game now"
The best part about all this wasn't even the fact that the customer service member had no issues with putting up the logs to prove the lie, it was that the rep did it while maintaining the air of a Blizzard employee.
"If anyone finds themselves in a situation where they believe they incorrectly were silenced, you are welcome to submit an appeal through our Support Site and our Game Masters will review the logs attached to your case," the Blizzard post concludes. "Thank you!"
The thread may be closed so no one else can comment on it, but it's still available for viewing and has amassed more than 20,000 views — quite a feat, considering that the only thing that surpasses it on the page is a thread with more than 10 pages and 200 replies.
There is a lesson to be learned from this: don't be a toxic player, and if you choose to be one, at least have the decency not to lie about it. Blizzard is watching, and while it can't punish you for lying, it can certainly make you look like an idiot for doing so.
