Investment - Bannable?
ArenaNet Communications Manager
Players offering an “Investment service” or “a Gold Bank” or a “Sales Service” or other things of this nature are essentially offering systems that allow them to profit from players through non-game-based systems.
We’ve seen a lot of tickets from players who decline to use the Trading Post and instead use email to trade or buy items. This often turns bad.
These players then ask Support to “right the wrong” when the trade or sale goes bad, and we’re simply not able to do that. (Action the scammer: Yes. But go onto accounts, pluck off items and return them to the other player: No.) Arrangements of this kind are called “Gentlemen’s Agreements” and they, like most guild politics, are things in which we do not intercede (except to take action on the account involved in provable instances of abuse).
So players “invest” with a player and find they do not get a return, or get a return less than they expected, or find the player disappears with all their hard-won gold. They come to us to say “Do something!” and we explain that this was a private arrangement and we cannot mediate such arrangements. (Even while, again, we’ll look into the matter and, to the best of our ability, close the accounts of anyone involved in scamming or stealing form other players.)
Bottom line: We’re not going to give you overt permission or approval to do this. We will not say “Your account will not be terminated if you do this.” Conversely, we will not summarily terminate your account if you do offer this service. But be aware: If you offer this service, you do so — and those who use the service do so — at your/their own risk.
Gosh, that all sounds so grouchy and I don’t mean it to be! I can see how the system could work for everyone concerned. I just want to make sure that folks know it can also go south at high velocity. 
Gaile Gray
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet
…
Bottom line: We’re not going to give you overt permission or approval to do this. We will not say “Your account will not be terminated if you do this.” Conversely, we will not summarily terminate your account if you do offer this service. But be aware: If you offer this service, you do so — and those who use the service do so — at your/their own risk.Gosh, that all sounds so grouchy and I don’t mean it to be! I can see how the system could work for everyone concerned. I just want to make sure that folks know it can also go south at high velocity.
Thank you very much, this is exactly what I expected to see. I understand the risk on both sides, and that scamming can lead to action against an account. I am not offering it on a bigger basis, just amongst close friends, so we should be able to avoid it. I understand the risk and cautions now.
Thanks Gaile!
I have read stories of brothers killing an account through their actions. A brother usually is somebody very close to you. Experience show IMHO, that you can’t always trust family and somebody non-related is an even bigger risk.
Maybe you know your friends and you can trust them, but I would not even count on my own brothers in this regard.
As a father that is a bit different. Your love for the kids makes you trust them and it will even continue if they fail you. Such is life. It’s not always funny and bad things happen.
Don’t forget: in the world outside of GW2 I heard rumours of something that is called “divorce” (don’t even know what it is
).