Guild Wars 2

In the last few months there has been a large increase in players resorting to cheating in WvW using programs such as PVP-Bot applications. These programs allow the player to auto-counter attacks from the enemy player while still being at their keyboard – it does the dirty work for them. My concern is the lack of response from ArenaNet in dealing with those who decide to cheat within the game. I won’t say they are not aware of it, but they certainly have not put a stop to this type of behavior within the game.

In this post I am going to explain what to look for so that you, the legitimate player, know what to look for to start reporting these players to ArenaNet to help put a stop to players who decide to cheat. The amount of cheating I have seen lately in this game has caused me to lose interest in the game due to the amount of hacking/cheating/exploiting that seems to be getting worse.

*NOTE: *Please be sure that your latency is not a factor when trying to pin-point cheaters.

Auto-Dodge
When encountering an enemy you will often notice a player dodge to avoid your attack. Most everyone knows how to avoid being hit: dodge. The problem is players are using a bot application to auto detect what you’re about to do to auto counter the ability.

Example:
The other night I was in stealth for the full 8sec from Shadow Refuge. About 5sec into stealth I used Shadow Return to teleport to a player. As soon as I pressed the ability to port to him he dodged before my teleporting animation finished. So I tried again immediately – the player dodges again before my animation completed. Thinking this was luck I followed the player around a bit but keeping a distance so he/she wouldn’t know I was going after them. Each time while in stealth I was unable to successfully teleport to him to chain him due to his dodging. A few more times following him around, stealthed teleporting he would auto-dodge. This player is not the first time I have encountered these cheats.

Stealth Detection:
Many times myself and others encounter a player that continues to follow players in stealth. Lag/Latency? Not at all. Shadow Refuge will allow a Thief to stay in stealth for around 8sec. During those 8sec Thief players have mentioned within WvW that they have encountered someone who was bluntly cheating by seeing them in stealth the entire time while chasing them down as well swinging/casting their abilities for the full 8sec stealth duration.

Bot-PvP tactics:
Much like the Auto-Dodge exploiting/cheating, Bot PVP tactics will allow the player to auto select their skills for them when encountering an enemy player. The bot will select which skills best fit the situation to engage and defend against every move the enemy dishes out to them. Face it: we are all human and are not perfect. Some players are in fact very good at their class/profession in MMORPGs. The problem, however, is most of this is easily detectable when encountering the same enemy player and watching their skill usage. Those using a botted application will always react the same way: i.e. dodge unexpectically to your engagement, healing exessavily, etc., etc. This type of behavior will need more of your attention – we don’t want to spam ArenaNet with reports of cheaters who are in fact not cheaters. Try encountering the player again and again if possible to detect their behavior(s) before submitting an in-game ticket to report the player.

WP Teleporting to Contested WPs:
Yep, you’ve all seen it. Recently while out with my guild and regulars I follow in WvW we encountered this same behavior: an entire guild using a Waypoint to the keep we were attacking ‘while’ the Waypoint was contested (and yes it was contested before we reached the inner portion of the gates). This is a common exploit players use while in WvW. If you see/experience this behavior — report it immediately. Several of those around me witnessed this and placed tickets in to report the guild members using the exploit.

Please Note:
As mentioned above we do not want to waste ArenaNet’s time by submitting “angry/mad” tickets (meaning don’t accuse someone of cheating because you’re upset you lost to a fight). Be sure that what you are seeing is in fact suspicious behavior and explain in detail what this player was doing.

When submitting a ticket it is always good to give ArenaNet the following:

- Date:
- Time:
- Server (enemy player):
- Map/Location:
- Suspicious Behavior:
- Player Account (if possible):

Again this post is to put word out to players who are sick of the abusiveness of cheats in the game who are legit players. Already I have had three of my longtime friends quit the game due to the massive amount of exploitation, cheating and hacking within the game. I have gamed with these folks for several years. All of us stopped playing AION due to the amount of cheaters plaguing that game and never again will we return to that type of behavior. I want nothing to do with those that resort to cheating, and I certainly won’t continue playing a game that does not take serious actions against the usage of such tools.

Support this thread with your thoughts, and support your game!
Email support@guildwars2.com to report suspicious player behavior in WvW/sPvP.

TAKE BACK YOUR GAME, REPORT SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR!

I would have to be 1000 handed Buddha to be able to facepalm at this topic properly.

About the way points, you sure that wasn’t done during that small window when the points tick over and you have a couple seconds to port?

VOLKON.1290:

About the way points, you sure that wasn’t done during that small window when the points tick over and you have a couple seconds to port?

Please read what I said and you will clearly see that was not the case. More than 40 players witnessed it.

Crawford.4135:

VOLKON.1290:

About the way points, you sure that wasn’t done during that small window when the points tick over and you have a couple seconds to port?

Please read what I said and you will clearly see that was not the case. More than 40 players witnessed it.

You didn’t state anything to answer his question in your statement…If you were not on inner or in the lords room, you can not confirm they were streaming in the WP while it was contested. For all you know they mass ported when the small window came up (which is very common to happen) and the commander had people hang back to hide there numbers. (which is also very common)

I’m not saying it didn’t happen, I want to say that I have seen it once before but it was only a few at a time of a short period of time. (after the mass port in during the uncontested window) So it could have been lag or culling for me.

I haven’t seen most of these things, but are these bot-fighters even very good? Are you sure they aren’t just bad players working on a poor rotation? I am just curious.

Also, while I have seen some people use exploits to get into keeps, 99% of people on my server will refuse to take the structure or whatever because that’s not how we want to win. Before you get too upset, go ahead and report them, then go on have as much good, clean (and bloody!!!) fun as you can

Edit: Also, as Zikory pointed out, I had a hard time understanding the WP thing. My server always calls out the count on the WP opening up (about every 3:00 mins) so we can start spamming it to arrive with supply/manpower. It is possible that they did that, then grouped up to wipe while attacking the lord. It also could have been a portal at a safe-spot to group up.

Crawford.4135:

Please read what I said and you will clearly see that was not the case. More than 40 players witnessed it.

I read what you posted and it’s not clear. approximately every 3 minutes a contested waypoint becomes uncontested for a bit less than 2 seconds. whether you were already at the inner gate or not isn’t relevant.

you should expect to see a large number of people waypoint in, all at once, at this interval. it would actually be more suspicious if you see a few people waypointing in over the span of a couple minutes. but seeing a ton show up all at once is completely normal — it’s the only way to get in when the waypoint is contested.

-ken

As the WP timer isn’t visible to the attacks, I think this one is bunk. You have no way of knowing whether or not it was in the window, and some people take 20-30 seconds to port even in the same map (IE my 5 year old laptop), so they still could have activated the WP when it was open, and only showed up half a minute later.

Zikory.6871:

Crawford.4135:

VOLKON.1290:

About the way points, you sure that wasn’t done during that small window when the points tick over and you have a couple seconds to port?

Please read what I said and you will clearly see that was not the case. More than 40 players witnessed it.

You didn’t state anything to answer his question in your statement…If you were not on inner or in the lords room, you can not confirm they were streaming in the WP while it was contested. For all you know they mass ported when the small window came up (which is very common to happen) and the commander had people hang back to hide there numbers. (which is also very common)

I’m not saying it didn’t happen, I want to say that I have seen it once before but it was only a few at a time of a short period of time. (after the mass port in during the uncontested window) So it could have been lag or culling for me.

At least on our server, we even give a countdown to a contested keep for the window of opportunity. Its really, really common. I know that pretty much every server we have faced does the same.

That said, the exploits, hacks, etc seem to have declined overall in my experience. They are still ever-present, but I think they were much, much more common around the time that we had orbs. Perhaps it was also just that it was more apparent, but I feel like less people are doing this sort of thing.

Anyway, WP into a contested keep when it comes off CD and right before it becomes contested again is a very common strategy. OP, what you wrote doesnt actually address this to anyone who is experienced with the mechanics. It sounds like what you describe is a pretty common thing, and not an exploit. Reporting such actions may not get the results you want…

Aren’t players in stealth hidden from other players by the data not being sent from the servers to the client? Otherwise I’d imagine there would have been hacks for seeing stealthed players from day 1.

I have never had anyone follow me while I was stealthed, especially not to the degree that would make me suspicious of them hacking. A simple 180 about-face would be more than enough to check something like this, especially if they were do it at the same time as you (and multiple times).

WP exploitation is quite common. We were inside the inner walls of Bay. The WP was contested for well over 15min. As we were 50% on The Lord the guild WP’ed inside and wiped the entire group. This is a know exploit, google it if you wish to read more on the details, I will not go into details on these forums.

More than 40 of us saw what happened, we all knew the WP was contested for a very long time -approx. 15min contested.

Tuluum.9638:

Zikory.6871:

Crawford.4135:

VOLKON.1290:

About the way points, you sure that wasn’t done during that small window when the points tick over and you have a couple seconds to port?

Please read what I said and you will clearly see that was not the case. More than 40 players witnessed it.

You didn’t state anything to answer his question in your statement…If you were not on inner or in the lords room, you can not confirm they were streaming in the WP while it was contested. For all you know they mass ported when the small window came up (which is very common to happen) and the commander had people hang back to hide there numbers. (which is also very common)

I’m not saying it didn’t happen, I want to say that I have seen it once before but it was only a few at a time of a short period of time. (after the mass port in during the uncontested window) So it could have been lag or culling for me.

At least on our server, we even give a countdown to a contested keep for the window of opportunity. Its really, really common. I know that pretty much every server we have faced does the same.

That said, the exploits, hacks, etc seem to have declined overall in my experience. They are still ever-present, but I think they were much, much more common around the time that we had orbs. Perhaps it was also just that it was more apparent, but I feel like less people are doing this sort of thing.

Anyway, WP into a contested keep when it comes off CD and right before it becomes contested again is a very common strategy. OP, what you wrote doesnt actually address this to anyone who is experienced with the mechanics. It sounds like what you describe is a pretty common thing, and not an exploit. Reporting such actions may not get the results you want…

I should have been more clear, I was only stating one experience with something that could have seemed like a WP exploit. It was a 3 way battle for garrison, so the lag was almost unbearable. If you have seen this lag you know its very hard to get the correct timing on the WP when it comes up. So I assume when the WP came up the normally mass of people got in and the rest were lagging or stuck in the load screen for some time, making it seem as they were using the WP while it was contested.

Personally I don’t believe there is a WP exploit BUT since I don’t know either way I won’t rule it out.

Xirin.8593:

Aren’t players in stealth hidden from other players by the data not being sent from the servers to the client? Otherwise I’d imagine there would have been hacks for seeing stealthed players from day 1.

I have never had anyone follow me while I was stealthed, especially not to the degree that would make me suspicious of them hacking. A simple 180 about-face would be more than enough to check something like this, especially if they were do it at the same time as you (and multiple times).

This does not happen too often as those using the hack can be easily reported as it is too suspicious to often use. I have encountered this a few times as well some of my guild mates.

during a 15 minute contested period, the waypoint will become temporarily uncontested over 5 times (approximately 3 minute intervals). the waypoint will be usable for less than 2 seconds, so you have to be watching the defense timer to know when it will happen.

I think only the defender sees the waypoint temporarily become uncontested. for attackers, enemy waypoints always appear contested on the map to indicate that your team can’t use them.

your complaint about bot hacks may be legitimate, but the waypoint behavior you’re describing is a normal part of the game and is not an exploit.

-ken

Crawford.4135:

WP exploitation is quite common. We were inside the inner walls of Bay. The WP was contested for well over 15min. As we were 50% on The Lord the guild WP’ed inside and wiped the entire group. This is a know exploit, google it if you wish to read more on the details, I will not go into details on these forums.

More than 40 of us saw what happened, we all knew the WP was contested for a very long time -approx. 15min contested.

Every three minutes, that WP becomes uncontested for a short window of time. This can change depending on lag, and things like that, but every three minutes the DE runs its course and the WP will be open for a short window. This is every. single. time. the “Defend” dynamic event finishes.

I can see how this may be seen as an exploit to those who are not familiar with the game.

@Snowreap; It appears great minds think alike :P You brought up something important though, it will never appear as uncontested to the attackers. Every enemy WP is perma-contested, including spawn points. Obviously, that does not mean they are contested for the server who owns those.

Crawford.4135:

WP exploitation is quite common. We were inside the inner walls of Bay. The WP was contested for well over 15min. As we were 50% on The Lord the guild WP’ed inside and wiped the entire group. This is a know exploit, google it if you wish to read more on the details, I will not go into details on these forums.

More than 40 of us saw what happened, we all knew the WP was contested for a very long time -approx. 15min contested.

It can not be contested for 15 minutes straight…There are small windows of time (around 2 seconds) when the repel enemy timer hits zero. At this time the WP is open and can be used, like I said for a very short time. I don’t know if Anet intended it to be that way bit its not a exploit. If anything it would be a bug but that is up to Anet to say.

Crawford.4135:

Xirin.8593:

Aren’t players in stealth hidden from other players by the data not being sent from the servers to the client? Otherwise I’d imagine there would have been hacks for seeing stealthed players from day 1.

I have never had anyone follow me while I was stealthed, especially not to the degree that would make me suspicious of them hacking. A simple 180 about-face would be more than enough to check something like this, especially if they were do it at the same time as you (and multiple times).

This does not happen too often as those using the hack can be easily reported as it is too suspicious to often use. I have encountered this a few times as well some of my guild mates.

I would have to see a statement by a Dev to make me think otherwise. I can’t imagine players who are stealthed continue to have that information passed to other players’ clients.

This is how most games make use of GMs when they are trying to catch cheaters. The server does not pass GM information to other clients unless the GM enables it. This makes detecting the GM literally impossible since the clients are not receiving information pertaining to the GM.

Tuluum.9638:

Crawford.4135:

WP exploitation is quite common. We were inside the inner walls of Bay. The WP was contested for well over 15min. As we were 50% on The Lord the guild WP’ed inside and wiped the entire group. This is a know exploit, google it if you wish to read more on the details, I will not go into details on these forums.

More than 40 of us saw what happened, we all knew the WP was contested for a very long time -approx. 15min contested.

Every three minutes, that WP becomes uncontested for a short window of time. This can change depending on lag, and things like that, but every three minutes the DE runs its course and the WP will be open for a short window. This is every. single. time. the “Defend” dynamic event finishes.

I can see how this may be seen as an exploit to those who are not familiar with the game.

I understand where you’re coming from and what you’re saying. The problem is we have caught these same guild members using WP hacking several times. Sadly we are fighting the same guild again this week. Just prior we caught one of their guild members using a speed hack. He WP to a WP that was contested and speed hacked past all of us. We had killed the player approx 1min before we saw him again. His travel would have been 10min for him to reach us if he had legitimately walked back to us according to the map contested WP’s.

Many of us witnessed this, not just me. We all reported it. His guild has been one of the most suspicious guilds we have witnessed in the game. This guy was clearly hacking/cheating.

Crawford.4135:

I understand where you’re coming from and what you’re saying. The problem is we have caught these same guild members using WP hacking several times. Sadly we are fighting the same guild again this week. Just prior we caught one of their guild members using a speed hack. He WP to a WP that was contested and speed hacked past all of us. We had killed the player approx 1min before we saw him again. His travel would have been 10min for him to reach us if he had legitimately walked back to us according to the map contested WP’s.

Many of us witnessed this, not just me. We all reported it. His guild has been one of the most suspicious guilds we have witnessed in the game. This guy was clearly hacking/cheating.

Speed hacks are very easily identified, and they are definitely not uncommon to see. So, thats one thing.

The WP though, just judging from the fact you said you contested it for 15 minutes straight, leads me to believe that you have correlated a speed hackers behavior to mean that everything you dont understand is a “hack.” I definitely dont intend that in a mean way, so please dont take it that way!

Like all of us are saying, you can WP in to a contested keep every three minutes. The only exception to this is when things lag out. Otherwise, it is something everyone can do, and is even utilized by organized groups.

The fact it was a guild leads me to believe that they just had someone communicating the countdown through chat. The speedhacker should definitely be reported. But, just because you said you contested a keep for 15 minutes straight does lead me to believe you dont understand the mechanics behind it. Now, whether they are intended to work that way or not will need to be clarified by Anet. But, given how easy it is to contest a keep/garri/etc, it doesnt seem unreasonable that being able to WP into a place every three minutes is accepted.

How can you proof that the WP was really contested at that time the guild ported?

As others have stated it is impossible for the attacker to notice the time when a WP becomes shortly uncontested.

Hi everyone,

While we understand, and support your concerns about this issue we can’t allow the discussion to continue as it may lead to character assassination and/or links to those exploits. Please rest assured that the team is doing all they can to fix those problems.

In the meantime, as stated, please make use of the in game report tool and, if you can – we understand that it is not easy to report in W3 – report any suspicious activity.

Thanks for your understanding.
This thread is closed.