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An inexplicable banning and no way to contact Blizzard Entertainment for an explanation other than by email adds up to this: forget about having me as a player.

You might think a business with 10 million customers would have a way to work with them outside of email. Such logic does not apply to Blizzard, operators of the world's biggest MMORPG, World of Warcraft.

About five days into our ten-day trial, where we have been trying out different characters to get a feel for the game, I was in the middle of taking a Forsaken mage through his paces when boom, disconnected. Upon reconnecting, I received this message: "This World of Warcraft account has been closed and is no longer available for use."

The accompanying link noted I should check my email for a follow-up message, and noted an email address to contact. Here's the astonishing message I received:

Access to this account has been permanently disabled for exploitation of World of Warcraft through associated accounts which have been closed for intended exploitation. While we try to be as lenient as possible in our assessments of the results of exploitation investigations, reoccurring trends in exploitative endeavors on your accounts have ultimately lead to their closure. The recurring subscription on the account has been disabled to prevent further charges.

Wow, I must be some kind of horrid person, right? Um, wrong. I downloaded a trial directly from the official site, then installed the full version from a new, purchased box set of software. I've only logged in through the regular software client.

There's no spyware, rootkits, or any other threats my various little defensive software tools have found on my system. I don't have any problem blaming Blizzard for taking a remarkably stupid action, compounded by arrogantly hiding behind an email address instead of making someone useful available by phone.

To summarize, I'm sure as hell not doing anything that could be considered exploitative.

Maybe if they hit 15 or 20 million subscribers they might consider the benefits of real customer service and shell out some bucks for a phone contact option. Disney figured that out for both of their online games, ToonTown and Pirates of the Caribbean.

How a company with 10 million customers can thrive and grow while arbitrarily and erroneously screwing over a player simply eludes me. I'd only considered World of Warcraft recently, as a way to reconnect with my idled interest in fantasy gaming, sparked by the passing of Gary Gygax.

Looks like I'll be picking up Neverwinter Nights or something else. In closing, Blizzard, get a clue, tell whoever manages your customer service to take a class or two in communications (a first for you, perhaps?), and have a nice day.