Temporary Economy Holds can freeze your trade and mail

Blizzard’s Kaivax announced a new tool against Real Money Trade: the Temporary Economy Hold. An account suspected of selling or receiving illicit gold can have it applied, cutting off trading, mail, the guild bank and the Auction House while Blizzard looks into it.

The point, Kaivax said, is to choke off suspicious gold before it moves through the economy or gets traded away, buying the team time to investigate properly. A player going about the game normally is unlikely to ever see one. A hold is lifted automatically once the triggering activity is cleared, or followed by account action if RMT is confirmed.

The system is new and may misfire while Blizzard tunes it, Kaivax said, but a hold by itself leaves no lasting mark unless RMT is later proven. It follows an RMT trade warning announced on October 1, and Blizzard said every anti-RMT system here will reach the rest of WoW if it works.

Why it matters: playing normally should keep you clear of it, but gold from a shady trade or mail drop could now lock you out of trading, mail, your guild bank and the Auction House until Blizzard checks it out.