Dev Tracker

Personal Story Restoration update

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: BobbyStein

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BobbyStein

Guild Wars 2 Narrative Lead

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F.A.Q.
Q: I’ve never beaten the Personal Story step “Victory or Death” because it required me to play in a group. Are you making any changes to the final fight against Zhaitan?
A: Yes. With this release, we are changing a few things about the final Personal Story step “Victory or Death.” For starters, the instance has been modified to support 1–5 players so you will no longer need a full party to complete it. We have converted the story mode of “The Ruined City of Arah” dungeon to be a Personal Story step, so after this update goes live, you may only play it once as part of your Personal Story. We are also unlocking the explorable mode of this dungeon by default so access will no longer be gated by story mode completion. We are also updating the Ruined City of Arah Dungeon Track to be unlocked by story mode or explorable mode completion. Additionally, the “Master of Arah” achievement is being updated to only require completion of explorable mode paths. Please note that the core gameplay and structure of this story instance has not been changed—the difficulty has been adjusted to allow for solo play and will therefore be more accessible for players.

Q: Can I reset my character’s Personal Story progress, or revert my story progress to an earlier state?
A: No. You cannot reset your character’s story progress, either partially or fully.

Q: Why can’t I reset my character’s Personal Story progress?
A: The Personal Story was not designed to be replayable. Attempting to adjust a character’s story progress introduces a wide variety of bugs across various content and game systems. We investigated different solutions for partial and full story resets. In all cases, the changes led to unpredictable results in many different content types, including permanent blocking of story progress.

Q: If I can’t reset my character’s Personal Story progress, does that mean I can’t play certain parts of the restored Personal Story?
A: That depends on what Personal Story state your character is in when the Personal Story restoration goes live. Consult the scenarios above for more details. Also, all newly created characters will be eligible to play the restored Personal Story in its entirety.

Q: How long do I have to advance my character’s story past “The Source of Orr”?
A: While we haven’t set a release date at this time, we can confirm that you will have at least 8 weeks from the time of this posting to complete “The Source of Orr”, should you want to advance to step 1 of chapter 8, “Temple of the Forgotten God.” Otherwise, as stated above, you may miss out on much of chapter 8 with this character.

Q: What new voice-over is going into the game?
A: We wanted to update some key lines for several characters in the Personal Story, including those of Trahearne, the Pale Tree, Tonn, and Apatia. In some cases, we are merely re-recording the existing lines to get a more appropriate delivery to match context. In other cases, we are rewriting character dialog to better fit a particular scene.

Q: What should I do if I encounter issues after the Personal Story restoration goes live?
A: If you are experiencing any issues regarding the Personal Story restoration content that aren’t listed above, you can contact Customer Service for help.

Q: I have more questions about this update. Who can I ask?
A: Feel free to post your Personal Story restoration questions in this thread, and we will do our best to answer them in a timely fashion. You can also consult the Personal Story pages on the official wiki for information about each chapter and story step.

We’ll be posting more information closer to release. Thanks for your patience and all of your excellent Personal Story feedback over the past few months.

(edited by BobbyStein.2315)

Personal Story Restoration update

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: BobbyStein

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BobbyStein

Guild Wars 2 Narrative Lead

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Personal Story Restoration
Some updates to the Personal Story are coming. I’d like to take this opportunity to give you some details on what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and what to expect in the future.

Background
Back in 2014 we released the September Feature Pack, which introduced a number of changes to the game. Among those changes were revisions to the Personal Story, including a reorganization of certain story steps. The “My Greatest Fear” story steps were deactivated for many players, and three steps from chapter 8 were moved into chapter 7. This prevented some players from accessing certain content and also introduced some continuity errors.

What We’re Restoring
To put it simply, we’re reactivating the “My Greatest Fear” story steps and putting chapter 8 content back in its original position in the overall narrative. We’re also making some minor improvements to the content, like writing and recording new voice-over for a few key characters, tweaking some camera moves, updating select art assets, and more.

What This Means for You
When the update goes live, it will restore the Personal Story steps in chapters 7 and 8 to their original order. This will affect a small number of users who currently have characters in certain states of story completion. You can check your current story completion status by accessing the Story Journal in your Hero Panel. By default, you can access this inside the game by pressing H and then clicking on the Story Journal tab and selecting My Story.

  • If your character has not completed “A Light in the Darkness,” (chapter 6) you should not encounter any issues. You will be able to experience the Personal Story in its restored order along with the minor improvements that begin with this story step.
  • If your character has not completed “Forging the Pact,” you should not encounter any issues. While you will not be able to replay previous story steps to see some of the minor improvements that were made, you will be able to play the “My Greatest Fear” story content (based on the choice you made at the end of “A Light in the Darkness”) and also experience the restored chapter 8 story steps.
  • If your character has completed Forging the Pact and skipped ahead to “The Battle of Fort Trinity,” then you will not be able to play the “My Greatest Fear” story steps with this character.
  • If your character is currently playing “Against the Corruption,” “Cathedral of Silence,” “Romke’s Final Voyage,” or “The Source of Orr,” you must complete your story steps through the Source of Orr to begin chapter 8. If you do not complete “The Source of Orr” before the Personal Story restoration goes live, you will be advanced to “Victory or Death” upon completion of “The Source of Orr.” “Victory or Death” is the final Personal Story step (and you will miss out on most of chapter 8 with this character). This is due to these steps being moved back into chapter 8 and the successor steps being restored to their original state.

Gold Transfer Changes

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Chris Cleary

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Chris Cleary

Game Security Lead

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500G may seem like an entirely arbitrary number, but I guarantee it is not. I took a look at our mail data (believe me, you guys really like mail and there is a lot of data) and set the value based on that. At 500G, it is not only functionally effective, but also it will only impact 0.175% of our players during an entire month’s worth of mails (if an account would hit the restriction once per month/30 days).

Looking more directly at those transactions, a large majority (98.228%) of those mails are being sent by RMT or compromised accounts (after selling off everything of value on an account).

Yes, there are going to be some edge cases that this is going to bump into, and as we look more into the impact that this change will have, we might change the restriction. However, we feel that this change is going to significantly impact RMT in our game along with help remove a very large reason to compromise accounts.

This is just the first step in our plan to help users keep their accounts secure. More will come as we progress through the year (and forevers!).

Professor of Bearbow Math @ Tyria State // @Shazbawt // “The Crippler”

Death Breakdown

in PvP

Posted by: Evan Lesh

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Evan Lesh

PvP Gameplay Programmer

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The button could be more flashy I suppose. I generally only open it when I get destroyed on glassy builds to see what to avoid next time.

Personally I think that UI needs an overhaul and the damage history doesn’t seem to accumulate everything correctly. (may need to extend record length)

Bluxgore (80 Warr), Xilz (80 Necro), Ivo (80 Eng)
Bra (80 Guard), Fixie Bow (80 Ranger), Wcharr (80 Ele)
Xdragonshadowninjax (80 Thief)

Filter items results by type?

in API Development

Posted by: Lawton Campbell

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Lawton Campbell

Web Programmer

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There is currently no way to filter the list of items by type with the official API. I believe there are third-party APIs which provide this functionality, but am not sure which.

Belliegerence and Vulgar Language

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Gaile Gray

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Gaile Gray

ArenaNet Communications Manager

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Zaoda, I do understand your concerns. But I’ve been working with the filter for a long, long time, and I was involved with similar systems before I came to ArenaNet 14 years ago. The fact is, it’s not possible to add every possible spelling of potentially-offensive words. The minute we add “ghey” someone will use “gaye” or “gae” or some other “creative spelling” that avoids the filter. It becomes a case of chasing one’s tail, and at some point you start censoring legitimate words because they might be misused.

The best we can do is filter the words and some variations, and hope that players will let us know when someone is intentionally subverting the filter with “creative spelling” or the use of spaces or dashes to avoid getting censored.

Also, the filter has been somewhat locked from modification for a while, but I believe the CS Team will be adding to it in the future. So you might consider making up a short list of potentially block-able words and sending to CS through a ticket.

If action is not taken, it’s not through a lack of will to do the right thing. We definitely do want to deal with offensive language and the use of unacceptable words. As I’ve said previously, player reports are key to our being able to do that.

Gaile Gray
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet

Verbal abuse is getting worse and worse

in PvP

Posted by: Gaile Gray

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Gaile Gray

ArenaNet Communications Manager

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We have a similar discussion in the general forums, as well. Go here for suggestions on how to report players who use offensive language.

This is an issue we take seriously. We recognize that players can get heated, and competition can bring out less-than-stellar language, but tolerance and understanding are only part of the picture and those who use abusive language often will find themselves warned, suspended, or, in the worse cases, looking at a terminated account.

Gaile Gray
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet

Belliegerence and Vulgar Language

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Gaile Gray

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Gaile Gray

ArenaNet Communications Manager

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There is another popular post about this in the PvP forums, if Galie Gray thinks this is not an issue she needs to play guild wars 2 more.

But nonetheless, this is the internet, it’s bound to happen.

First, I’m Gaile, not Galie. Second, as I mentioned earlier in this thread, I play GW2 every night. I play on my own time because I love the game and I just don’t think I can increase that.

I’ll be happy to post in the PvP thread, as well. It’s a shame we have two threads about the same topic, but because the one in PvP seems specifically about PvP-related issues, where this thread is broader and discusses chat concerns in all forms of play, we’ll leave them both running so players can share their thoughts.

I see the worst kind of language in Edge Of The Mists on a daily basis. Mainly homophobic remarks and sexual remarks. Most words, of which, aren’t censored – despite me having my filter on max settings.

Most derogatory homophobic words aren’t censored, and that’s one that surprises me the most because I’ve complained about it many times before, but Anet still does nothing about it. So I’ve just moved on, knowing nothing’s going to be done about it, and I just have to get used to people belittling us gay folk.

Thanks Anet :-/

>_<

You mention you’ve complained about it but I’m not sure what that means. Specifically, are you reporting these players? I talked to our new head of customer support about chat violations a few hours ago, and he confirms that the team continues to monitor in-game reports. (He also confirmed that we don’t have automatic reactions, that each report is reviewed by an agent.)

If you have been submitting tickets, there’s a better way to report, and I encourage you to use it. We do not tolerate homophobic chat any more than we condone racist chat, or chat of a sexual nature, or any of the other things called out in our Rules of Conduct. Check out the RoC, and notice the very first item deals with exactly what you find objectionable. Please help us by reporting, or continuing to report, so that we can take care of these issues. Thanks.

Gaile Gray
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet

(edited by Gaile Gray.6029)

I'm done.

in PvP

Posted by: Evan Lesh

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Evan Lesh

PvP Gameplay Programmer

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I agree with one of the posters who said if our points are going to be assigned based on our chance to win we should probably know if we are expected to win or lose before the match begins. It would also probably clear up a lot of these posts.

I’ll +1 this.

I would probably do something to reduce the same questions that come up over and over. In this case, displaying whether or not a point is gained at the end of a match. Show odds of winning along with it.

Showing odds of win before the game starts could discourage a team, even make a person go afk, because they “think” they have no chance.

Currently the ladder is a ‘beta’ season. We are testing numbers, but this is not the feature complete design. This means things are missing that will be included later.

Bluxgore (80 Warr), Xilz (80 Necro), Ivo (80 Eng)
Bra (80 Guard), Fixie Bow (80 Ranger), Wcharr (80 Ele)
Xdragonshadowninjax (80 Thief)

I'm done.

in PvP

Posted by: Evan Lesh

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Evan Lesh

PvP Gameplay Programmer

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It doesn’t seem right to me that if you are within 100 pts of the winning team, i.e.—400-500 or closer—that you should lose points. Especially if said team has at least one groupqueue in them. Even if their MMR/skill is lower, the communication factor is pretty huge.

This is how it works for even or unfair matches not in your favor. This was also true for matches in your favor until the change on Friday. Now if you are favored to win, you will only go up or down.

Bluxgore (80 Warr), Xilz (80 Necro), Ivo (80 Eng)
Bra (80 Guard), Fixie Bow (80 Ranger), Wcharr (80 Ele)
Xdragonshadowninjax (80 Thief)

Belliegerence and Vulgar Language

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Gaile Gray

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Gaile Gray

ArenaNet Communications Manager

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With regards to obscene guild names, is reporting individual players the best way to address the issue?

A ticket is better. The report options have nothing to do with the guild name so they won’t know that’s what you are trying to report. Get the Display name and character name as well as the guild name and tag and report it on a ticket.

Correct. Please submit a ticket. The in-game report is expressly for character names.

What do we do for pet names? I’ve seen a few rangers running around with pets that have some obscene names, and others downright derogatory towards a certain demographic.

Submit a ticket. But please be sure you include the exact spelling of the character name or the display (name.1234) name, so that the team can look into the matter. It isn’t possible to pull a pet name without account-related info.

Thanks for asking.

Gaile, could you hand up a suggestion to the policy folks? Rather than split efforts on tickets and reports, would it be more comprehensive for the report form generated by in-game reporting to include not just name, but current pet name and current guild representation as well?
This would streamline the process for the people moderating names and would make it an easier process for players to engage in.

Implementing this would take resources that are not available at this time and wouldn’t be available in the near future. This is not a trivial request, as it would need to pull information from the database on a few different levels.

Gaile Gray
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet

Belliegerence and Vulgar Language

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Gaile Gray

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Gaile Gray

ArenaNet Communications Manager

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Because i happen to know someone who was forced to change their character names when there is absolutely nothing offensive about them. So if there is an actual professional moderation team at work, why are they not professional enough to spot the difference between offensive/insulting/inappropriate and normal?

And no, the names in question are not – in any way – inappropriate.

The problem with the “inappropriate character name” thing is that it’s set to automatically force a renaming after a certain number of reports are made against the same name (I’ve heard multiple times that the number is four). Someone in my guild was forced to change his name (which is the name of a goddess and multiple fictional characters) because enough people reported his name due to the same four letters being used as an acronym for a terrorist organization.

So yeah, something needs to change there.

I see that someone referred to earlier statements I made about this, but I want to make it clear, again, that we do not have automatic blocks based on the number of reports. Auto-blocks based report numbers would encourage (and support) mass griefing. Consider: “Report Fred.1234 for an offensive name, and if enough from our guild do it, that person will be blocked!” That’s just not the way things happen, not for behavioral issues, not for offensive chat, not for names.

Rest assured that reported names are reviewed by a human being, and a human being — not a report-counting automaton — decides on the appropriate action, often with input from another human being on the team.

Gaile Gray
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet

(edited by Gaile Gray.6029)

Belliegerence and Vulgar Language

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Gaile Gray

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Gaile Gray

ArenaNet Communications Manager

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With regards to obscene guild names, is reporting individual players the best way to address the issue?

A ticket is better. The report options have nothing to do with the guild name so they won’t know that’s what you are trying to report. Get the Display name and character name as well as the guild name and tag and report it on a ticket.

Correct. Please submit a ticket. The in-game report is expressly for character names.

What do we do for pet names? I’ve seen a few rangers running around with pets that have some obscene names, and others downright derogatory towards a certain demographic.

Submit a ticket. But please be sure you include the exact spelling of the character name or the display (name.1234) name, so that the team can look into the matter. It isn’t possible to pull a pet name without account-related info.

Thanks for asking.

Gaile Gray
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet

Can we get a response about the Lag

in Account & Technical Support

Posted by: GM Talon.8726

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GM Talon.8726

Lead Game Master

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Keep in mind that my initial reply was speaking for connectivity issues in general, as the posts prior to mine indicated a general latency issue across the board.

If you are having continuous latency issues whilst connected to the European data center, please post in this thread. Consistent latency issues specific to those connecting to the European data center are being tracked there.

Also, as a reminder, please keep replies to this thread constructive in nature. Please remember that non-constructive posts may be removed and infractions may be issued to those who do not follow the Forum Code of Conduct.

Won match -> Get Loss & 3 Minuspoints???

in PvP

Posted by: Evan Lesh

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Evan Lesh

PvP Gameplay Programmer

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Can you be more specific on when you played? I can look up your change in points.

Bluxgore (80 Warr), Xilz (80 Necro), Ivo (80 Eng)
Bra (80 Guard), Fixie Bow (80 Ranger), Wcharr (80 Ele)
Xdragonshadowninjax (80 Thief)

I'm done.

in PvP

Posted by: Evan Lesh

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Evan Lesh

PvP Gameplay Programmer

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You were favored in your first two matches, so you lost one point in both. The third match was even, but you got over 400 points so your ladder points didn’t change. This is working as intended, but it sounds like you think the match prediction should weigh premades more versus solo players.

Bluxgore (80 Warr), Xilz (80 Necro), Ivo (80 Eng)
Bra (80 Guard), Fixie Bow (80 Ranger), Wcharr (80 Ele)
Xdragonshadowninjax (80 Thief)

Launching /v2/account (w/ Authentication)

in API Development

Posted by: Lawton Campbell

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Lawton Campbell

Web Programmer

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I have not tested if the Guild Wars 2 OAuth server really supports response_type=token (it has to, based on the RFC.) Did anyone tried this?

We do not support the implicit grant flow — we want clients (e.g., OAuth2 implementations) to be authenticated.

Gold Transfer Changes

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Gaile Gray

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Gaile Gray

ArenaNet Communications Manager

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Xdmatt — this is great, what a fine community spirit you’re showi… wait a minute, I see what you did there!

Iason — I am not sure about the answer to this. As pdavis and mtpelion point out, the wallet is account bound and does not have a limit. So I’m curious why you feel a second storage option is needed.

steve and others — I will ask about the functionality of a “sent items” system. However, off the top of my head I suspect that implementing such functionality would not be a trivial or easy process, and I can see it would involve several teams (programming, UI, art, etc.). As Ic points out, it may be seen as more a QoL factor than an essential system change. But again, I’ll see what I can find out or a dev may post here to answer this question.

suffish — I have not heard that there’s a motivation factor involving preventing player-to-player trading. As the statement says, this is about curbing fraud, RMT, and the oft-related account thefts.

Rising Dusk — another question I’ll need to ask. But when accounts are proven to have been hacked, the account is restored (rolled back) so would that not accomplish the same thing that you’re proposing? And wouldn’t doing what you propose make restorations a moot factor?

hrasna — you’ve hit a very important point here: This change will impact very, very few players. In fact, in previous statistical reviews, the percentage of players who would be impacted would be in the low single digits.

Gaile Gray
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet

Can't connect to my characters

in Account & Technical Support

Posted by: Ashley Segovia.8276

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Ashley Segovia.8276

Technical Support

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Hey everyone,

As you all may have guessed, this does appear to be an issue with Comcast. A simple search engine search for “Comcast Outage Map” should provide more info on the areas this is affecting.

This said, I can only advise getting in contact with your ISP for more information or for further assistance with this issue.

The fate of the Leaderboard [merged]

in PvP

Posted by: Evan Lesh

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Evan Lesh

PvP Gameplay Programmer

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I’m not sure how to look at past snapshots, but your current leaderboard status is accurate with 92 points.

Bluxgore (80 Warr), Xilz (80 Necro), Ivo (80 Eng)
Bra (80 Guard), Fixie Bow (80 Ranger), Wcharr (80 Ele)
Xdragonshadowninjax (80 Thief)

leaderboard paradoxon

in PvP

Posted by: Evan Lesh

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Evan Lesh

PvP Gameplay Programmer

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Did you play more before or after the update on Friday? Before the change, losing did not remove points often enough. This will even out over the remainder of the season.

Bluxgore (80 Warr), Xilz (80 Necro), Ivo (80 Eng)
Bra (80 Guard), Fixie Bow (80 Ranger), Wcharr (80 Ele)
Xdragonshadowninjax (80 Thief)

Gold Transfer Changes

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Gaile Gray

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Gaile Gray

ArenaNet Communications Manager

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We are introducing a change to gold transfers as part of an effort to address fraud and account theft. Beginning on March 31, 2015, there will be a limit on how much gold a single player can receive through in-game mail and/or the Guild Vault each week. This limit, which is based on historical data, should not affect the normal transfer of gold between players. It is designed to prevent rapid and abusive transfers of gold that may be part of account takeovers, fraud, and RMT (gold selling).

Full details about the system:

  1. Each account will have a limit on how much gold can be moved from its mail in-box and Guild Vault into its wallet each week.
  2. If you receive more gold through in-game mail than you can accept in a week, the gold will remain attached to the mail in your in-box and can be retrieved up to the limit the following week or in subsequent weeks.
  3. For the purposes of this limit, a week begins at 12:01 AM UTC each Sunday (5:01 PM PDT/4:01 PM PST Saturday).
  4. Gold received from the Trading Post is not subject to this limit.
  5. The maximum amount of gold that can be sent via a single in-game mail will be 500 gold.
  6. The maximum total amount of gold that an individual player account can accept in a week will be 500 gold.
  7. We will monitor this system and may make changes to the limits if we find that changes are necessary.
Gaile Gray
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet

Belliegerence and Vulgar Language

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Gaile Gray

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Gaile Gray

ArenaNet Communications Manager

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With regards to obscene guild names, is reporting individual players the best way to address the issue?

A ticket is better. The report options have nothing to do with the guild name so they won’t know that’s what you are trying to report. Get the Display name and character name as well as the guild name and tag and report it on a ticket.

Correct. Please submit a ticket. The in-game report is expressly for character names.

Gaile Gray
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet

GM Proheals is running around WvW.

in WvW

Posted by: Michael Henninger.7451

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Michael Henninger.7451

Game Support Lead

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Pssst, Michael, come back to Mag

I thought you moved!? Are you back there?

GM Delicious Intent
Twitter: @ANetCSLead
GM Delicious Intent.5928

Can't connect to my characters

in Account & Technical Support

Posted by: Ashley Segovia.8276

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Ashley Segovia.8276

Technical Support

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Hi everyone!

In an effort to narrow down the cause of this issue, please provide us the following information:

Server:
Region:
ISP:
Zone you are experiencing this issue:
Number of characters this is affecting:
Does this happen on multiple accounts or systems?:

The more information you all are able to provide the better understanding we will have in regards to this issue. Thanks everyone for your patience. We will get to the bottom of this!

(edited by Ashley Segovia.8276)

Belliegerence and Vulgar Language

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Gaile Gray

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Gaile Gray

ArenaNet Communications Manager

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On the Kittenizer™: Yes it’s an automated system but it’s also a thing here, now. In fact, I find myself saying “kitten” in actual speech. Which is fine at the office, where everyone understands. Might be a little awkward IRL. For instance, “Well, kitten, none of the kitten avocados are ripe enough for guacamole” at the grocery store."

:D

Gaile Gray
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet

Belliegerence and Vulgar Language

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Gaile Gray

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Gaile Gray

ArenaNet Communications Manager

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Our Kittenizer™ is not in the game.
Frankly, I wish it were. It would be tubs o’ fun to see that.
But as B pointed out above, it simply places asterisks for the filtered word.

BTW, I am quite proud of our Kittenizer, even if the “trademark” there is only a figment of my imagination. I had a blast talking about it with players in Boston (PAX East) and London (EGX Rezzed). It’s quite a fun topic of conversation.

Gaile Gray
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet

Belliegerence and Vulgar Language

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Gaile Gray

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Gaile Gray

ArenaNet Communications Manager

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First, you can report any kind of chat: Map, Say/Tell, Guild, Party, even whispers. If someone whispers someone else in an offensive manner, it will be reviewed and the appropriate action taken.

I would say if you’re not sure how to report in the game, you can submit a ticket. This will take longer to review, but it will be reviewed.

I cannot speak to a specific case of harassment, but over the many years I’ve had a part in analyzing them, I’ve learned that many cases of alleged harassment involve mutual antagonism and some cases are exaggerated for the sake drama or sympathy. That may sound a bit harsh, and please be assured we do review each with an open mind. However, I’ve read the logs and I’ve seen someone claim harassment while overtly encouraging that very behavior, or of doing one thing while telling others he/she was doing something altogether different. Some who claim harassment decline to simply block the person and move on, which is very effective because without a reaction, the harassment usually stops altogether. And of course some are truly cases of harassment and the team will handle that.

Each case will be reviewed, but please know that very often the cases are not as they are told to others, and they often involve more complicated interactions than might be perceived by a person on the outside of the situation.

Gaile Gray
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet

(edited by Gaile Gray.6029)

Belliegerence and Vulgar Language

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Gaile Gray

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Gaile Gray

ArenaNet Communications Manager

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Having reread the thread, I see a few different things:

  • Some players, like me, only rarely see extreme instances of offensive behavior.
  • Some players don’t see issues at all.
  • Some feel they see them daily and have modified their game experiences to avoid such instances.
  • Some say “Buck up and ignore it.”
  • Others say, “I have a god-given right to offend you, and you have no right to complain.”

End of the day, why don’t we let the professionals decide? Why don’t each of you who see offensive chat report it and let the moderation team make a decision about the overall offensiveness of a word or phrase in the context of the game. The team is not draconian, they understand the difference between a word spoken in the heat of the moment and a pattern of abusive language. Report and forget and trust that things will be taken care of in the best and more fair manner possible.

Gaile Gray
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet

Belliegerence and Vulgar Language

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Gaile Gray

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Gaile Gray

ArenaNet Communications Manager

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Lol you need to get over yourselves. There’s a profanity filter and a block option, if you can’t take people swearing, or talking about sex and drugs, then filter them out.

They’re not obligated to mind their manners around you. Remember, online actions and interactions are not rated by the ESRB.

It’s not there so players are free to use vulgar and profane language.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/support/Why-is-there-a-Profanity-Filter/first#post4436966

Then what is it for? I say the f-word in almost every single sentence I make. That’s how I grew up, that’s who I am, that’s the way I speak. Many many people have blocked me because they don’t like to hear the f-word so much. I understand and respect that, but I am never going to stop saying it because of how others feel. That’s what the filter/block is for.

No, you’re absolutely wrong. If you have so little self control that you can’t avoid saying a word that is offensive to a majority of people, then stop talking in the game. It’s that simple. You do not have a license to swear because of the filter. You do not have permission to offend others because of a lack of self-control, or your personal belief system, or your feeling of an inherent right to do as you want.

Our games are played on private game servers, and everyone who plays our game — everyone — agrees to abide by the User Agreement and the Rules of Conduct. If you cannot uphold the agreement that you freely accepted in order to join our game then again, I encourage you not to use any of the public chat channels but instead restrict yourself to those that are of a private nature, such as party chat amongst like-minded friends.

Edited to change “vast majority” or “a majority.” Arguments about percentages, global interpretations, personal preferences, or semantics will not be entertained. This is an important topic that should be joined only with the intention of legitimate and helpful participation.

Gaile Gray
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet

(edited by Gaile Gray.6029)

Belliegerence and Vulgar Language

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Gaile Gray

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Gaile Gray

ArenaNet Communications Manager

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I play the game every night, including weekends and holidays. And as much as I am concerned that someone may think I’m telling you “the party line” or that I’m in some form of denial, I simply do not see what some of you are describing.

Does someone occasionally drop the SwearWordBomb™? Yep. Does someone occasionally slip into something inappropriate? Sure. But the OP and others seem to imply this is a persistent, enormous problem and, as a player and as an employee who is directly involve with fan relations, I just don’t see it. (And yes, I have my filter completely turned off precisely to try to spot such issues if they arise.)

I make use — all players should please make use — of a very efficient and effective report system:

  • Select the person by clicking on them in the game window.
  • Right click their avatar on your screen
  • Alternately: Right click on the person’s name in the chat bar to select that player.
  • Choose “Report” from the drop-down menu.
  • Choose “Verbal Abuse” for the reason.

A report will be seen within minutes and often will be acted upon in a similarly fast timeframe. I report and move on.

I strongly recommend that everyone use the in-game report system to help make the game a better place to be. We take reports seriously and we appreciate the assistance of our community members!

People can complain all they want about how some act in this type of system but in the long run there is not a lot anyone can do.

But yes, there absolutely is something that players can do! See above and please, take the easy steps I’ve outlined to make the game world a better place!

Gaile Gray
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet

(edited by Gaile Gray.6029)

Ladder Test Season Changes - 3/27

in PvP

Posted by: Josh Davis.6015

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Josh Davis.6015

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Clarification: These changes do not only apply to high MMR players.

Is this some kinda backhanded slight to the larger base of players? Seems kinda rude coming from a dev. I guess takes a bold person to try to pull that off.

I addressed it because I had a few players message me, very concerned that this change would only affect high-MMR players, thus making it harder to climb. I just wanted it to be clear that this applies all ranges.

(edited by Josh Davis.6015)

The Reality of New Leaderboard Algorithm

in PvP

Posted by: Josh Davis.6015

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Josh Davis.6015

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Thanks for writing up your concerns so succinctly.

This test season is intended to test an algorithm that’s tailored towards ranking players higher for better W/L ratios, in addition to using points gained from playing (meaning games played does not become valueless). The algorithm we’re using this time around is completely different than what was previously tested, and they both have different purposes. We’re already having internal discussions on how we can adjust this season’s algorithm to better suit the goals we stated on Thursday – rewarding players who play well, not just play. These discussions will continue into the next week, and now we have an entire weekend’s worth of data that we can look at and extrapolate on.

An important thing to keep in mind is that these events are tests, and the only thing we’re testing right now is the formula behind ranking. We’re gathering a lot of useful data that we can use to help us make better decisions. These “test seasons” not a final product by any stretch of the imagination.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/pvp/Ladder-Test-Season-Changes-3-27/first

Ladder Test Season Changes - 3/27

in PvP

Posted by: Josh Davis.6015

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Josh Davis.6015

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Clarification: These changes do not only apply to high MMR players. It applies to players from all ranges. You can be favored to win a match at any MMR.

If you’re favored to win a match at any MMR, and you lose, you will lose points.

(edited by Josh Davis.6015)

Obsidian Sanctum Issues

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Chris Cleary

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Chris Cleary

Game Security Lead

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A little clarity:

Players that did this will not be actioned, as this farm was an unintended (but inevitable) side effect of the Obsidian Sanctum map. This “farming” was not an exploit, or against our Rules of Conduct. Our rules of conduct very specifically define what would be considered a violation:

“While participating in Plaver-vs-Player (PvP) gameplay, you will not participate in any form of match manipulation. Match manipulation is defined as any action taken to fix or manipulate the outcome of a match or alter or manipulate the rankings or ratings of the ladder. This also includes disrupting other people’s game experience by not actively participating in matches in good faith, a.k.a leeching.”

Since Obsidian Sanctum does not impact the WvW results, “kill trading” is not against the rules for this map or mode, and thus this rule is not applicable. However, macroing/botting this would be (I’m watching you!).

This situation is very similar to a situation found in PvE where players continually fail an event to farm monsters. While not in the best interest of community and gameplay, the game itself lends itself to interpretation of what is allowed because of how event chains are setup.

Obviously when you put 3 server spawn points so close to each other, things are going to happen.

For now, until we fix OS…

Attachments:

Professor of Bearbow Math @ Tyria State // @Shazbawt // “The Crippler”

Ladder Test Season Changes - 3/27

in PvP

Posted by: Josh Davis.6015

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Josh Davis.6015

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Hi all,

Thanks to your participation in the current Ladder Test Season we have been able to identify and correct a few issues that were preventing players from losing ladder points in certain scenarios.

After looking at the data we have collected over the past week, we have also decided to make a change to the scoring matrix that will now cause players to lose ladder points in match-ups where they were favored to win and did not.

We believe the changes outlined above will help us move towards a ladder algorithm where an emphasis is placed on winning games, rather than just playing games.

We will continue to make changes to the leaderboard as needed throughout this test season. Thank you for continuing to help us test our algorithms as we work towards building a better ladder system.

We’ll see you in the Mists!

PS: These changes are live as of 6:30pm PST.

Obsidian Sanctum Issues

in WvW

Posted by: Gaile Gray

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Gaile Gray

ArenaNet Communications Manager

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We’ve recently noted an increasing level of abuse of Obsidian Sanctum. To curtail undeserved rewards, the developers have temporarily disabled the looting of rewards from this area while they work on a more permanent fix.

Thanks for your understanding.

Gaile Gray
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet

(edited by Gaile Gray.6029)

Obsidian Sanctum Issues

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Gaile Gray

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Gaile Gray

ArenaNet Communications Manager

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We’ve recently noted an increasing level of abuse of Obsidian Sanctum. To curtail undeserved rewards, the developers have temporarily disabled the looting of rewards from this area while they work on a more permanent fix.

Thanks for your understanding.

Gaile Gray
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet

(edited by Gaile Gray.6029)

Ready Up next Friday: Desert Borderlands

in WvW

Posted by: Josh Davis.6015

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Josh Davis.6015

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Thanks for tuning in, all. I hope you enjoyed the tour and got some of the information that you were looking for.

We’ll keep an eye on this thread for any feedback/questions!

A Legendary Journey - Precursor mastery!

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: LinseyMurdock

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LinseyMurdock

Game Designer

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It was me! Sorry for the confusion.

Again, to confirm, the icons shown in the blog post are all placeholder. I am not requiring that you get Chaos of Lyssa or the Preserved Queen Bee.

Lead Designer – Living World

Can we get a response about the Lag

in Account & Technical Support

Posted by: GM Talon.8726

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GM Talon.8726

Lead Game Master

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We’ve recently updated our Knowledge Base with an article specifically for helping to address latency issues. You can find that article here

If you have tried the solutions provided in the article and you’re still experiencing latency issues, please submit a ticket to us. From the drop-down menu on this page, please choose Technical Issue. From here, please include the following in the description of the issue:

- Your ISP
- Which data center you’re connecting to (North American or European)
- Your OS (including if you’re running on 32 bit or 64 bit)
- Whether the lag is intermittent or consistent (include times with time zones that you notice it’s worse, if applicable)
- Where you’re located (state/province)

We may request additional information about your computer after this, such as a Game Advisor report. To speed up our investigation time, I recommend generating a report from the Game Advisor and sending it as an attachment once you have received our auto-reply confirming that we have received your ticket. Doing this in advance will save us a communication step with you so that we may begin troubleshooting the issue with you sooner.

Was my wife hacked?

in Account & Technical Support

Posted by: GM Talon.8726

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GM Talon.8726

Lead Game Master

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Hackers are VERY good at having access to an email account and hiding any evidence of it from the real owner. I’d guess that 80-90% of Anet account hacks happen via hacked email accounts.

This is very true (though I don’t have exact percentages on-hand to provide at the moment). The vast majority of compromised accounts that we’ve seen start with the unauthorized individual knowing the password to an e-mail account with a Guild Wars or Guild Wars 2 account associated with it. It’s precisely for this reason that we highly recommend that players not use the same password for their e-mail account and their Guild Wars 2 account.

My Greatest Fear Plotline

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: BobbyStein

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BobbyStein

Guild Wars 2 Narrative Lead

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Thank you, Anet. I will happily spread the word to everyone I know that the story will be playable again.

I just want to be clear that we haven’t announced a release date for the Personal Story Restoration content yet. We’re posting information on Tuesday.

My Greatest Fear Plotline

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: BobbyStein

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BobbyStein

Guild Wars 2 Narrative Lead

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The end of the month draws near. Any updates yet?

The messaging has been approved and edited. It’s now getting localized. The post should go live sometime on Tuesday if all goes well.

A Legendary Journey - Precursor mastery!

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Gaile Gray

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Gaile Gray

ArenaNet Communications Manager

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Ah well, you snooze, you lose. =P

Well, this post makes absolutely no sense, after the threads were merged and the previous posts deleted. Lol.

The only posts deleted were those linking to other threads about the same subject, which were merged. This is a logical decision, to avoid a dozen fractured discussions. Nothing else was removed, to my knowledge.

Gaile Gray
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet

New WvW Maps

in API Development

Posted by: Lawton Campbell

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Lawton Campbell

Web Programmer

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While we’re talking about timers … how about the time of the next score tick?

Yeah, that’d be really useful too.

I really need to sit down and draft an initial proposal for the /v2/wvw endpoints.

That would be great, but I agree that the authenticated endpoints are more important. I unleashed my app on the world today and it seems to have been well received. If you happen to play on TC you’ll see it in action if you use the server voice comms.

That is awesome. Are you guys using Mumble or TS?

Launching /v2/account (w/ Authentication)

in API Development

Posted by: Lawton Campbell

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Lawton Campbell

Web Programmer

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Thanks! I noticed that the account scope now includes “list of guilds” in the description. Is that something currently available?

Not yet, but it’s something I wanted to add into the /v2/account response. Since OAuth2 tokens can last indefinitely if you include the “offline” scope, I didn’t want any end-users to be surprised when that suddenly appeared.

Any expected ETA on when this will be made available?

Shooting for a couple of weeks at most, might slip on that though.

Launching /v2/account (w/ Authentication)

in API Development

Posted by: Lawton Campbell

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Lawton Campbell

Web Programmer

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So in short: what is 49:1014:8008:353 and/or how can I avoid getting it.

That error code is “permission denied” and, by my reading, is only hit when the redirect_uri supplied does not match one in the application’s list of redirect_uris.

If you PM me the entire request where the error is returned (without redactions) I might be able to provide further insight.

EDIT: Note that you need to include redirect_uri both in requests to /oauth2/authorize and /oauth2/token; the value passed to each pair of requests must be the same (and in the application’s whitelist).

(edited by Lawton Campbell.8517)

FPS DROP after Patch

in Bugs: Game, Forum, Website

Posted by: FelipeRomero.4267

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FelipeRomero.4267

Lead Engine Programmer

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i still have the prob.. i had 50-55 fps now i have 35-40 fps which drops to 10-15

What’s your hardware configuration?

FPS DROP after Patch

in Bugs: Game, Forum, Website

Posted by: FelipeRomero.4267

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FelipeRomero.4267

Lead Engine Programmer

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I’ve fixed it with the help from support!!
My gpu Bus Interface was at PCI-Express 3.0 x16 @ x1 1.1 and not at PCI-Express 3.0 x16 @ x16 3.0 i remove the card,put it back and boom back to 60+fps!!
Folks open a ticket and they will help you!!!

Good to hear! I was looking into your case and it made no sense to me that you were getting bad framerate with your hardware configuration.. the latest catalyst drivers have been our for a while (Omega 14.12 12/8/2014). I assumed that wasn’t the case.