WoW: Forever Community Demands Blizzard Action After Streamer Accepts Suspicious Gold

World of Warcraft: Forever players are questioning Blizzard's commitment to fighting gold-buying after WoW Classic streamer Ziqo accepted substantial amounts of gold from strangers on stream ahead of a $100,000 beta dueling tournament scheduled for October 17.

In clips circulating through the community, Ziqo received 380 gold from a level one character and 175 gold from another low-level account named El Delivery. During one trade, Ziqo acknowledged the gold could not be "natty" (earned legitimately) but accepted it anyway. In WoW Classic and Forever, these amounts represent significant wealth, especially in a beta that had been live for only two weeks.

The community raised immediate concerns. Players worried that Ziqo could use the illicit gold to purchase gear and consumables before the tournament, giving him a competitive advantage. The r/wowforever and r/classicwow subreddits filled with calls for Blizzard to penalize the streamer, with Reddit user Nino171 writing: "We can all agree it's not good for the integrity of the game when streamers get showered with free gold on stream. Treat everyone equally. Streamers should have to watch what they accept for free, just like any other player."

In September, Blizzard community manager Kaivax outlined the studio's stance on real-money transactions in a forum post. "While we have always actioned RMT seller's accounts as quickly as possible, we will increasingly take action against buyers' accounts," Kaivax stated. "That means that we will remove the illicit gold from the recipient and/or take further actions, which can include closing accounts." Blizzard warned that recipients who knew or should have known gold came from illegitimate sources could face account suspension or closure.

According to Ziqo, Blizzard removed the suspicious gold along with some legitimately earned currency, but has not announced further penalties as of now. Many players argue this contradicts Blizzard's public commitments and call for a permanent ban or at minimum tournament disqualification to maintain competitive fairness.

The incident reflects broader frustration in the Forever community about gold-selling activity persisting despite Blizzard's stated intentions to crack down. Some players are calling for harsher permanent bans on accounts caught in real-money trading to "make an example" and deter future violations.

WoW: Forever's beta, accessible for $60, runs until October 21 and has proven popular enough that Blizzard increased the population cap. The full version launches November 4 with over 1,000 new quests, new dungeons, raids, and zones.