Hi everyone,

Many ask whether or not account trading is allowed. Skip to the end of this post if you want the bottom line.


Is account trading allowed?
The only acceptable trades are described here. Anything else is not acceptable.

This means that selling an account is illegal?
This first and foremost means, since it is a forum rule, that you cannot use the forums for anything else than the stated reason. Account trading is not stated, therefore it is not allowed to become a public trade.

So, can I do any trade outside the forums?
All universes have the MILKING rule, which specifies all acceptable cases in-game. It is a very crystal clear rule that allow us to persecute cheaters and not fair players.

It does not mention anything about account trading
This can mean that there is no problem. However "sale of access to the game" is mentioned in article 9 of the ToS which forbids it.

Wait, what, is it not allowed after all?
Legally speaking, no. You need to understand the necessity to protect the players from possible scamming.

So why don't you ban accounts that have been traded?
There is no legal way to prove an account trading. The ToS after all refers to the legal part of the game. Therefore we cannot ban an account based on a legal violation we cannot prove.

But you know it, why you need to prove it ? / I have proof for you, why you won't still ban?
Acceptable legal proofs are beyond to a simple testimony or observation. You would need for example a proof that a payment has been made.

Why care about proof? It is illegal as stated in the ToS, this should be more than enough reason for you to ban
You need to understand that selling an account is not considered as cheating. An account sale can be as problematic as an account switch. Account Ownership limitations can prove enough to ensure that account trading meets the same requirements. In a case where an account trading is used to cheat, we can interfere with no limitations.

Shouldn't you also disallow it in Private trade?
Private trades are private deals which are regarded as free of regulation at most countries (ie classified ads). We are not really up to forbiding something like this. Plus, we lack the tools to do so. We cannot police private deals so it would be like banning fishing in antartica.

So, if it is a private deal, can I crash a fleet in my favor?
Yes, you can make a private deal and no one will check you on this. But the result of such a private deal is easily found ,proved and it is of course cheating (MILKING rule). Therefore, a ban will be instant at all involved accounts.

Bottom line

Ultimately, can I be banned for buying/selling an account through a private deal?
We will only take action if this is inside a chain of events to cheat. Account trading action itself, is not considered as cheating.

How about a public deal?
There is a very high chance that your account will be banned before you manage to sell it. It also constitutes an automatic forum warning and a forum ban on repetition.