A bunch of players logged into their emails to find some bizarre notifications this week. For some, they were learning that not only had their subscription been cancelled but their accounts were permanently disabled. While MMO Fallout is not a stranger to reports of mass bans over cheating or bug abuse, this one is a bit peculiar. As it turns out, Zenimax Online permanently banned players over their Morrowind game codes.
The issue, at least for many, appears to stem from the player having entered an early access code for Morrowind without later entering in the full product code (which would indicate that they pre-ordered for early access and simply cancelled). Others noted that they had cancelled their pre-orders due to issues with Amazon not shipping/delaying physical copies of the collector’s edition. Others went further, stating that they had not only received their copies but had entered the codes only to find their accounts banned due to not owning the content anyway.
The thread discussing the incident can be found here, with players complaining of being locked out despite customer service claiming to reactivate their accounts for 24 hours to resubmit their product key. Codes which, for users who already redeemed the keys on their accounts, will be useless.
“Thank you for reaching out to us about your account. Our records show that this account has been deactivated as a result of not applying a valid Morrowind game code. This account has been notified on multiple occasions that we required a Morrowind Collector’s Edition code to be redeemed on the account, and as a result of this code not being redeemed, the account has been turned off.
However, we are willing to make a one-time exception and have reactivated this account for 24 hours. During this time, we ask that you please redeem a valid Morrowind game code to your account. Should your account not have a Morrowind game code redeemed on it within 24 hours, the account will be permanently deactivated. If you have any questions or issues redeeming a code, please respond to this message, and we’d be happy to provide assistance.”
The accounts have since been reactivated. Zenimax’s official statement:
Yesterday, we deactivated a few hundred game accounts due to not applying a valid ESO: Morrowind game code. However, we found that some game accounts were wrongfully suspended and we are in the process of fixing those accounts now. This should only take a couple hours to complete today; we appreciate your patience while we correct this issue. If you are still not able to access your account by this afternoon, please contact our Support Team and they will follow up with you. Thanks in advance, and we apologize for the confusion this has caused.
MMO Fallout 