Guild Wars 2

Some people have been noticing increased GM activity in dungeons (NA sources) which backs up what Chris Cleary said about ramping up GM resources.

As an EU player I am yet to see one. So my question is to fellow EU players: have you ever seen one patrolling dungeon LFGs and banning exploiters?

If Chris can shed some light into this would be appreciated aswell.

From what I have been told, there are only four devs for EU as opposed to multiple times more that frequently monitor NA. So the short answer would be pretty much yes, and there’s a significantly higher chance of being caught exploiting dungeons on NA than on EU. In fact, there’s almost virtually no chance of a surprise visit from a GM while in a dungeon on EU servers.

Prove me wrong Anet, I dare ya.

I got linked to a picture earlier that showed someone getting banned by a GM for exploiting a dungeon and keeping the boss at ~50% while it was all done legit… Is that what we can expect now?

dutchiez.7502:

I got linked to a picture earlier that showed someone getting banned by a GM for exploiting a dungeon and keeping the boss at ~50% while it was all done legit… Is that what we can expect now?

Stories/pictures like that are often depicted in the way the person who was banned wants them to be. If there was more to it than just what the person said, they probably don’t want you to know because they want to make themself seem as if they were a victim of abuse.

Though I could be entirely wrong. Inbox me it?

Quoted from: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/dungeons/Selling-dungeon-paths-reportable/first#post4335848

Element Two.7316:

Unfortunately A-net has no idea if somebody is actually exploiting or not :|

http://i.imgur.com/tcacZ5W.jpg

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/10-mins-commanding-FR-zerg-and-being-reported/first#post4333888

Something don’t smell right.

Michael Henninger.7451:

Hey everyone,

I want to clarify a couple of points for you that I feel are important.

1. ArenaNet GMs very rarely send unsolicited whispers.

2. ArenaNet Senior GMs all have character names akin to GM Madi Walker and have the ArenaNet Guild Tag.

3. All ArenaNet GMs have GM ‘Hopefully Cool Alias’.#### for a display name.

4. GM whisper text is golden; not purple.

5. Impersonating a employee or agent of ArenaNet will result in an immediate suspension or termination of your account.

Hope this helps you identify real GMs versus the imposters out there.

Hunt safe.

Purple Miku.7032:

dutchiez.7502:

I got linked to a picture earlier that showed someone getting banned by a GM for exploiting a dungeon and keeping the boss at ~50% while it was all done legit… Is that what we can expect now?

Stories/pictures like that are often depicted in the way the person who was banned wants them to be. If there was more to it than just what the person said, they probably don’t want you to know because they want to make themself seem as if they were a victim of abuse.

Though I could be entirely wrong. Inbox me it?

Element Two.7316:

Unfortunately A-net has no idea if somebody is actually exploiting or not :|

http://i.imgur.com/tcacZ5W.jpg

.

Don’t get me wrong I definitely don’t think that deserves a ban at all and the GM made a moronic mistake.

I still find it pretty sketchy to purposely down yourself to the mobs, then rally off a grub, just to avoid getting teleported. That definitely seems exploity to me. Even if the mesmer did that, I still don’t think they deserved a ban.

What irritates me the most about that picture is that they didn’t even know if that’s what the mesmer did— the person could have cleared all the waves of mobs and then got Brie to 50% again.

However how do you actually know that the person there actually killed Lupi? That could have been a screenshot of just any pantheon waypoint edited into it, ya never for sure unless you’re there..

I’m more inclined to give the person the benefit of the doubt though, ngl. If this actually happened, I hope that GM gets canned.

dutchiez.7502:

I got linked to a picture earlier that showed someone getting banned by a GM for exploiting a dungeon and keeping the boss at ~50% while it was all done legit… Is that what we can expect now?

Wait, so why is the players poisiton in one location, quite a distance from the WP, then there is the stand out pic that shows him standing next to the WP? Did they run back to the WP and get banned there? Or did they WP back? But it looks like they were still in combat, so they couldn’t have used the WP…….I’m confused as to what this picture is representing. Do we know what the context of the “Dev” (not Gm as stated by other folks) is saying “legit”? Or is this person just mad they got caught?

pdavis.8031:

dutchiez.7502:

I got linked to a picture earlier that showed someone getting banned by a GM for exploiting a dungeon and keeping the boss at ~50% while it was all done legit… Is that what we can expect now?

Wait, so why is the players poisiton in one location, quite a distance from the WP, then there is the stand out pic that shows him standing next to the WP? Did they run back to the WP and get banned there? Or did they WP back? But it looks like they were still in combat, so they couldn’t have used the WP…….I’m confused as to what this picture is representing. Do we know what the context of the “Dev” (not Gm as stated by other folks) is saying “legit”? Or is this person just mad they got caught?

Could have been a while between the top pic and the banning, the person got ooc and waypointed to show him it wasn’t exploited. And if someone permabanned for the grub rallying trick, that’s really low. Although I doubt Anet employees know about that lol.

pdavis.8031:

Wait, so why is the players poisiton in one location, quite a distance from the WP, then there is the stand out pic that shows him standing next to the WP? Did they run back to the WP and get banned there? Or did they WP back? But it looks like they were still in combat, so they couldn’t have used the WP…….I’m confused as to what this picture is representing. Do we know what the context of the “Dev” (not Gm as stated by other folks) is saying “legit”? Or is this person just mad they got caught?

I’m pretty sure the picture of pantheon waypoint is supposed to represent the buyers standing at the waypoint, not the seller.

That’s what I mentioned in the post above yours— we have no way of knowing with absolute certainty that the person actually killed Lupicus in their run. They could’ve just copied and pasted the map from another path that was done in a group, who knows.

Like I said, I feel more inclined to give the person who got banned the benefit of the doubt in this circumstance.

Well. Mesmer doesn’t have the console buff so… that’s something I guess?

Purple Miku.7032:

pdavis.8031:

Wait, so why is the players poisiton in one location, quite a distance from the WP, then there is the stand out pic that shows him standing next to the WP? Did they run back to the WP and get banned there? Or did they WP back? But it looks like they were still in combat, so they couldn’t have used the WP…….I’m confused as to what this picture is representing. Do we know what the context of the “Dev” (not Gm as stated by other folks) is saying “legit”? Or is this person just mad they got caught?

I’m pretty sure the picture of pantheon waypoint is supposed to represent the buyers standing at the waypoint, not the seller.

That’s what I mentioned in the post above yours— we have no way of knowing with absolute certainty that the person actually killed Lupicus in their run. They could’ve just copied and pasted the map from another path that was done in a group, who knows.

Like I said, I feel more inclined to give the person who got banned the benefit of the doubt in this circumstance.

If Lupicus was skipped then it would still say “Navigate the Labyrinth of Arah”. Come on Miku you’re supposed to know this kitten.

Wow if this is true (which it probably isn’t) it’s kittening pathetic, unban this guy and give him 10 legendaries fot corporate incompetence holy kitten!

“Pan’s lab, more like Pan’s Slab”

Element Two.7316:

If Lupicus was skipped then it would still say “Navigate the Labyrinth of Arah”. Come on Miku you’re supposed to know this kitten.

Purple Miku.7032:

Element Two.7316:

If Lupicus was skipped then it would still say “Navigate the Labyrinth of Arah”. Come on Miku you’re supposed to know this kitten.

Well done.

I extend an invitation to any GM to join me on a dungeon tour. It will be most enlightening and there will be an angry australian on the voice coms for entertainment.

Inb4 swifty banned for shouting ‘kitten’ too often.
GM’s might call that exploiting.

AC p1 thief “solo” is still a huge thing in EU. So no. Also dungeon selling is bad now. Arah p3 is like 3g. You’re better off afk in LA.

robertul.3679:

AC p1 thief “solo” is still a huge thing in EU. So no. Also dungeon selling is bad now. Arah p3 is like 3g. You’re better off afk in LA.

3 man lvl 50 fractals and sell the last spots for ~20g.

Makes fractals atleast somewhat difficult and profitable.

I would pay gold to see swifty run with the GMs

Taku.6352:

robertul.3679:

AC p1 thief “solo” is still a huge thing in EU. So no. Also dungeon selling is bad now. Arah p3 is like 3g. You’re better off afk in LA.

3 man lvl 50 fractals and sell the last spots for ~20g.

Makes fractals atleast somewhat difficult and profitable.

Why are you sharing this@

SHHH… we don’t want the same thing happening here as what happened with Arah

About that picture, might be because you kept Brie at half HP and she couldn’t attack you back?

Purple Miku.7032:

Taku.6352:

robertul.3679:

AC p1 thief “solo” is still a huge thing in EU. So no. Also dungeon selling is bad now. Arah p3 is like 3g. You’re better off afk in LA.

3 man lvl 50 fractals and sell the last spots for ~20g.

Makes fractals atleast somewhat difficult and profitable.

Why are you sharing this@

SHHH… we don’t want the same thing happening here as what happened with Arah

Any doofus can go into Arah and skip/bug most of it but you can’t really do that in fractals.

Its not really an exploit or the players fault if a boss doesnt reset when you walk out of range of a rooted boss. Its a design flaw. Completely unjustified ban.

Joe, she has the buff and the player isn’t phase shifted.

He exploited by going out at 50% to reset the encounter without having to deal with mobs.

IMO justified ban, but not permaban :’(

Running away from a boss is not an exploit. Theres no justification in any form of ban if the boss is poorly designed. You could be low hp and run away to heal and the result would be the same.

Exploits would be safespots to attack the boss etc.

I played over 2k hours on a big EU server (Gandara) and ran dungeons quite regularly. I never saw any dev in open world or dungeons. But who cares, I hardly play anymore.

The raging mob can calm down now ^^ That screenshot was made purposely to make the gm look like a bad guy.

Chris Cleary.8017:

I’ll go ahead and play this game. The “screenshot” http://i.imgur.com/tcacZ5W.jpg you’ve provided while “awesome”, doesn’t discount the fact that no one in this screenshot has been actioned. You are posting on the forums, which is a clear indication that you are not banned. None of the people in this party chat are banned. So while the “Legit” is being put into say (according to this screenshot), no action was taken against anyone here.

I know you wanted to post a screenshot of an account being banned, but you are posting a screenshot from the launcher back in 2012. We are on build 38057 not 15377.

My guess is that the GM was putting into question the validity of the tactic being used, but did not action as there was nothing against the rules.

Purple Miku.7032:

Taku.6352:

robertul.3679:

AC p1 thief “solo” is still a huge thing in EU. So no. Also dungeon selling is bad now. Arah p3 is like 3g. You’re better off afk in LA.

3 man lvl 50 fractals and sell the last spots for ~20g.

Makes fractals atleast somewhat difficult and profitable.

Why are you sharing this@

SHHH… we don’t want the same thing happening here as what happened with Arah

Most people get their kitten handed even on lower levels in a full group. There aren’t many people (I assume) who could trio one fractal on difficulty 50, let alone a whole set.

etb.2703:

The raging mob can calm down now ^^ That screenshot was made purposely to make the gm look like a bad guy.

Chris Cleary.8017:

I’ll go ahead and play this game. The “screenshot” http://i.imgur.com/tcacZ5W.jpg you’ve provided while “awesome”, doesn’t discount the fact that no one in this screenshot has been actioned. You are posting on the forums, which is a clear indication that you are not banned. None of the people in this party chat are banned. So while the “Legit” is being put into say (according to this screenshot), no action was taken against anyone here.

I know you wanted to post a screenshot of an account being banned, but you are posting a screenshot from the launcher back in 2012. We are on build 38057 not 15377.

My guess is that the GM was putting into question the validity of the tactic being used, but did not action as there was nothing against the rules.

Lol!

Miku Lawrence.6329:

About that picture, might be because you kept Brie at half HP and she couldn’t attack you back?

Chris Cleary.8017:

Standing outside a stationary boss’s range is not an exploit, the boss “should” reset after an extended period of time, but is not. This is an example of poor boss implementation, and not an exploit.

etb.2703:

The raging mob can calm down now ^^ That screenshot was made purposely to make the gm look like a bad guy.

Chris Cleary.8017:

I’ll go ahead and play this game. The “screenshot” http://i.imgur.com/tcacZ5W.jpg you’ve provided while “awesome”, doesn’t discount the fact that no one in this screenshot has been actioned. You are posting on the forums, which is a clear indication that you are not banned. None of the people in this party chat are banned. So while the “Legit” is being put into say (according to this screenshot), no action was taken against anyone here.

I know you wanted to post a screenshot of an account being banned, but you are posting a screenshot from the launcher back in 2012. We are on build 38057 not 15377.

My guess is that the GM was putting into question the validity of the tactic being used, but did not action as there was nothing against the rules.

And the original:

Thats not the same pic. :P

spoj.9672:

Thats not the same pic. :P

I don’t understand what’s happening O_O

J Eberle.9312:

I extend an invitation to any GM to join me on a dungeon tour. It will be most enlightening and there will be an angry australian on the voice coms for entertainment.

Gonna do that tonight, but just for a Lupi duo. (need to get my kicks somehow)

J Eberle.9312:

spoj.9672:

Thats not the same pic. :P

I don’t understand what’s happening O_O

The one pic has a mesmer player in it and the other pic has an elementalist player in it, why does Chris post a pic which is clearly not taken at the same time and then post it saying it gives context to the GM’s actions?

dutchiez.7502:

J Eberle.9312:

spoj.9672:

Thats not the same pic. :P

I don’t understand what’s happening O_O

The one pic has a mesmer player in it and the other pic has an elementalist player in it, why does Chris post a pic which is clearly not taken at the same time and then post it saying it gives context to the GM’s actions?

So the mesmer’s picture is definitely shopped due to the time difference between lyssa backpiece and the build of the ban screen shot. There’s no evidence the mesmer was actually banned. On the other hand the screen shot Chris posted is from a different instance so I’m not sure what its relevance is.

Basically, there’s two sides to every story, and we should always be alert that one side could be falsifying or dressing up their account so it makes the other side look bad. That doesn’t mean we should always take ANet’s side, or always accuse them of abuses of power. Always take each case on its own merits, and keep an open mind.

As per Chris’s post in the other thread, the mesmer got a 3 day ban for not exploiting, that’s a pretty gud job Anet. Certainly turns me off from selling if I’m just gonna get banned for doing it legit.

dutchiez.7502:

As per Chris’s post in the other thread, the mesmer got a 3 day ban for not exploiting, that’s a pretty gud job Anet. Certainly turns me off from selling if I’m just gonna get banned for doing it legit.

srsly, you just need to be educated, it’s okay… we can understand that after 2 years you still have trouble to understand what is an exploit and what isn’t. but sorry, – i won’t tell you either. but if you’re sincerely intrigued i suggest you to write a support ticket about this issue at once!

nonono see you just need to wait until you get a warning to know what is and is not a bannable offence.

Thank god I have this helpful list that tells me what is and isn’t an exploit, surely nothing can go wrong now.

I have an idea for Anet, if they don’t want us to use terrain, and environment why don’t they just put us in a circle room with the kitten boss, this would fix everything?

Their definition of exploit are unclear, an also depend on the GM perception of what is and what is not which is wrong in every possible way. Things like Brie an Belka not reseting when you get out of combat, it’s not like I have an option, the boss just stay there and do nothing.

Trice.4598:

I have an idea for Anet, if they don’t want us to use terrain, and environment why don’t they just put us in a circle room with the kitten boss, this would fix everything?

Their definition of exploit are unclear, an also depend on the GM perception of what is and what is not which is wrong in every possible way. Things like Brie an Belka not reseting when you get out of combat, it’s not like I have an option, the boss just stay there and do nothing.

Just throwing it out ther because I thought it was funny. Lupi is in a big circular room, and we blow him up using an “exploit”

Really though they do need to clarify things. SEp3 is exploited by the majority of PUG groups every single day, are we going to see the majority of hte people who run that path banned? Heck SEp1 as well, how many people jump to the right at the begining?

Those are pretty clearly against the rules Chris put down, but again, they go on daily for the majority of groups from what I’ve seen.

Then there are grey area situations. Like Belka, it’s apparently ok to use the environment and it’s ok to run away from rooted enemies. But, in her case the popular place to run away gets you out of combat, which is cool, but then it also bugs her to make her stop teleporting… so…are we in the right as far as going there, but then in the wrong because it causes a bug? So in the end are we not allowed to run away?

Brie, you can fight to 50% then leave the bubble and kill all the adds while being invincible to protect the turret and then move back in for a safer kill ( no need to rush). But then apparenly if you’re downed and while downed if the terminal is killed you won’t be teleported, but then you can get back up from killinga grub… is that an exploit? Couldn’t that just be an act of desperation and happen by chance? Is the intent of using it as an exploit the bannable offense or if it just happens are you obligated to restart because you accidently exploited?

HoTW Ice Troll Safe spot… need I say more?

CoFp2 there is a safe spot during the fight before the last boss, however when you have agro there the enemies do go invulnerable, so sounds like everything is working as intended. Though the idea is that say a squishy ele can stand up there laying down massive AE damage while being completely safe as if they pull agro they can’t be hit and the enemies can be killed as soon as they agro someone else. Is that an exploit? Sounds like everything is working correctly, no abuse of mobs not going invulnerable when they can’t reach you, but still taking advantage of a spot where you can’t be attacked.

How should we go about finding out what is and isn’t an exploit Chris? The post that explained was good but there seems to still be some grey area and questions that I think should be answered. And with that some of these regularly abused exploits really need dev attention, unless banning hundreds of people for using standard strategies is something ANet wants to do.

Jerus.4350:

Trice.4598:

I have an idea for Anet, if they don’t want us to use terrain, and environment why don’t they just put us in a circle room with the kitten boss, this would fix everything?

Their definition of exploit are unclear, an also depend on the GM perception of what is and what is not which is wrong in every possible way. Things like Brie an Belka not reseting when you get out of combat, it’s not like I have an option, the boss just stay there and do nothing.

Just throwing it out ther because I thought it was funny. Lupi is in a big circular room, and we blow him up using an “exploit”

Really though they do need to clarify things. SEp3 is exploited by the majority of PUG groups every single day, are we going to see the majority of hte people who run that path banned? Heck SEp1 as well, how many people jump to the right at the begining?

Those are pretty clearly against the rules Chris put down, but again, they go on daily for the majority of groups from what I’ve seen.

Then there are grey area situations. Like Belka, it’s apparently ok to use the environment and it’s ok to run away from rooted enemies. But, in her case the popular place to run away gets you out of combat, which is cool, but then it also bugs her to make her stop teleporting… so…are we in the right as far as going there, but then in the wrong because it causes a bug? So in the end are we not allowed to run away?

Brie, you can fight to 50% then leave the bubble and kill all the adds while being invincible to protect the turret and then move back in for a safer kill ( no need to rush). But then apparenly if you’re downed and while downed if the terminal is killed you won’t be teleported, but then you can get back up from killinga grub… is that an exploit? Couldn’t that just be an act of desperation and happen by chance? Is the intent of using it as an exploit the bannable offense or if it just happens are you obligated to restart because you accidently exploited?

HoTW Ice Troll Safe spot… need I say more?

CoFp2 there is a safe spot during the fight before the last boss, however when you have agro there the enemies do go invulnerable, so sounds like everything is working as intended. Though the idea is that say a squishy ele can stand up there laying down massive AE damage while being completely safe as if they pull agro they can’t be hit and the enemies can be killed as soon as they agro someone else. Is that an exploit? Sounds like everything is working correctly, no abuse of mobs not going invulnerable when they can’t reach you, but still taking advantage of a spot where you can’t be attacked.

How should we go about finding out what is and isn’t an exploit Chris? The post that explained was good but there seems to still be some grey area and questions that I think should be answered. And with that some of these regularly abused exploits really need dev attention, unless banning hundreds of people for using standard strategies is something ANet wants to do.

First thing I thought when I read my post was “oh dam I just described lupicus fight” The grey area is what I meant when I said, it comes down to the GM perception, is he going to do something or not. I believe safe spot should not be ban worthy, even after countless warning.

I think exploits need to have repercussions but I think I’d have to agree about safe spots. Look at SEp3, the safe spot is sitting there, calling your name “here, come to me, it’ll be easy, just sit in me and fire your range attacks, c’mon you know you want to”. Getting banned for it seems like a sick and cruel morality test on the devs part.

Jerus.4350:

Heck SEp1 as well, how many people jump to the right at the begining?

Yeaaaaaaah. No.

But, in her case the popular place to run away gets you out of combat, which is cool, but then it also bugs her to make her stop teleporting…

You get out of combat way before you hit the bone wall.

Trice.4598:

Things like Brie when you get out of combat, it’s not like I have an option, the boss just stay there and do nothing.

You don’t get out of combat. And the mechanic require you to leave. No problem there.

Originally deleted this (twice) because it felt overly aggressive and accusative.

Spot the difference.

tldr: don’t be lazy. why even give them an excuse?

RemiRome.8495:

Jerus.4350:

Heck SEp1 as well, how many people jump to the right at the begining?

Yeaaaaaaah. No.

Trice.4598:

Things like Brie when you get out of combat, it’s not like I have an option, the boss just stay there and do nothing.

You don’t get out of combat. And the mechanic require you to leave. No problem there. (Belka? Why do you expect them to take you serious when you don’t even do it yourself?)

Originally deleted this (twice) because it felt overly aggressive and accusative.

Spot the difference.

tldr: don’t be lazy. why even give them an excuse?

Yes I meant when you move out of the bubble to kill the monsters :P not out of combat. And I stopped glitching Belka a couple weeks ago, not really much harder to kill it legit once you bother trying.