Guild Wars 2

So I’m not using any 3rd party programs at all, but just got a 22 hour ban for using 3rd party programs.

After Michael Henninger’s “This is allowed behavior” comment, I dusted off my Necro (which I never played anymore) and geared it up to try Minion Farming. I’ve been doing it without using ANY third party programs. Nothing to push any keystrokes at all or move my character. I don’t even keep my heal on autoattack. I just sat my Necro down and had autoloot collecting the goods.

Is this no longer allowed? Or is there something that looks like a 3rd party program? I have Teamspeak, but that’s really the only other thing I have running. If there’s something running that looks 3rd party, I want to know as I’ve never used a bot or keyclicker in any game.

You’d have to appeal it, if it wasnt botting then it was a mistake and they can work with you, the forums wont be able to help on that.

That being said they made it so the auto looting feature wont reset the afk timer so in order to afk farm, you have to have some sort of input in order to not tim eout of the game.

It was never allowed behaviour, as discussed in many other topics, and concluded by the developers themselves. All Michael said was gaining loot from pet kills was ok, not actually using them to farm via unattended play.

@Taegos It isn’t logging me out quickly, and I’m honestly not using anything but autoloot. I’m not putting any skills on autoattack either. I just set my character down and sit there.

@Penelope If it wasn’t allowed behavior I wouldn’t do it. Like I said, I dusted off my Necro that I wasn’t even playing to try it. I wouldn’t risk a ban for a few stacks of bags but I saw the post where Mike Henniger said this was okay.

Edit: I will say my character doesn’t stay logged in forever. When I come back after enough time, it will be timed out and I have to click my character and reset minions. However, it does last a while, and I am not lying about the fact that I have no programs installed to hit keys on my keyboard or click my mouse or anything like that.

Havana.8625:

@Penelope If it wasn’t allowed behavior I wouldn’t do it. Like I said, I dusted off my Necro that I wasn’t even playing to try it. I wouldn’t risk a ban for a few stacks of bags but I saw the post where Mike Henniger said this was okay.

With all due respect, you clearly did risk a ban for a few bags.

It was discussed to death over two or three topics, with the conclusion from the devs themselves that it is not allowed behaviour. People have been actioned over it, even before an in-game fix was made.

That said, it’s not necessarily the case that your current suspension is anything to do with AFK farming, and could well be a mistake or for something else, though with the information you’ve given in this topic, the odds are stacked against your favour there. Feel free to submit a ticket of appeal anyway, in case it actually is a mistake (the email address should be at the bottom of the suspension notice you get when you’re trying to log on).

Good luck all the same, at least it’s only 22 hours and not an account termination.

First off, thank you very much for the very respectful reply. If you’re correct I’d like to see any comment that leaving your minions up and letting them farm till you get logged out is not allowed by the devs. I did see several threads both here and on reddit, and the conclusion I saw in both places was that this is “intended behavior” but that Anet may change their opinion in the future. If this is not allowed I would like to see what was officially said.

I don’t regret giving information in this thread, as I wasn’t doing anything that I was trying to hide. I am very open about what I was doing and the fact that I did not do it at all until that developer comment. It’s actually probably easy to check that I didn’t play my Necro at all until after Henniger’s comment, and that I’ve spent almost all my time sitting in one location on that character.

I was not using any third party program. I did not try to put my heal on auto and my character was not attacking. I am aware that some people may use click software to keep their character in longer, but I was not doing that.

Havana.8625:

First off, thank you very much for the very respectful reply. If you’re correct I’d like to see any comment that leaving your minions up and letting them farm till you get logged out is not allowed by the devs. I did see several threads both here and on reddit, and the conclusion I saw in both places was that this is “intended behavior” but that Anet may change their opinion in the future. If this is not allowed I would like to see what was officially said.

I don’t regret giving information in this thread, as I wasn’t doing anything that I was trying to hide. I am very open about what I was doing and the fact that I did not do it at all until that developer comment. It’s actually probably easy to check that I didn’t play my Necro at all until after Henniger’s comment, and that I’ve spent almost all my time sitting in one location on that character.

I was not using any third party program. I did not try to put my heal on auto and my character was not attacking. I am aware that some people may use click software to keep their character in longer, but I was not doing that.

This thread may shed some light on the issue:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Please-a-clear-statement-re-AFK-farming/page/6#post6161450

Good luck.

Well I was definitely AFKing, and definitely would have been unresponsive to anyone asking because I was AFK, but I wasn’t hitting any key repeatedly. And I didn’t have any program to hit keys for me and never even looked into such programs as I know they violate ToS. (I even open stacks of bags by hand even though I’m sure there are programs to click for me.) I didn’t have my heal on auto and my character wasn’t attacking. According to that link (which says that it’s only illegal if you are doing all three) then I -definitely- should be good according to Anet.

Edit: After reading that thread, I should add that I do have a G710+ logitech keyboard and G602 mouse. Neither of these is set to do any automatic keystrokes. In fact I haven’t programmed any of the programmable keys on the board or buttons on the mouse, because I haven’t wanted to read how to set these up properly yet.

Havana.8625:

Well I was definitely AFKing,

‘nuff said. Suspension deserved. Just don’t do it, it isn’t worth the hassle.

They’ve stated that farming this way is allowed so long as you’re still at the computer and can respond to messages. Once you step away from the computer and leave your character logged in and collecting goods it becomes disallowed.

I still think it’s strange that here ( https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Please-a-clear-statement-re-AFK-farming/page/6#post6161450 ) Cleary specifically says you have to be using skills while AFK for it to be considered wrong. It says in that post that they only consider this type of farm wrong if you’re doing ALL three. I was definitely doing 2 of the three, and I’ve been very honest about that this whole time. But I’m also being honest about the fact that I was only doing two of the three things listed.

The ban was very short and I’m not angry, but I want to know what the policy actually is for the future, if it’s not what they said in that post.

Just don’t AFK farm—-simple way to deal with it and not have to worry about the hammer falling. Just admitting it shows your are trying to get around the 3 ‘rules’. If a GM makes a decision, it’s Anets choice to do so regardless. (especially if there is a history or reports from others)
Anet can decide whatever they want whenever they want.
Rule of thumb-forget about what Anet has said -don’t AFK farm and there will never be a problem.

This is plain dumb.
Sometimes I afk and my pet will protect my kitten in case some trash mob attacks me.
Because I have autoloot I might be tagged as a bot?
Just plain dumb and silly.

Deepcuts.9740:

This is plain dumb.
Sometimes I afk and my pet will protect my kitten in case some trash mob attacks me.
Because I have autoloot I might be tagged as a bot?
Just plain dumb and silly.

If you’re not in an area where mobs constantly spawn at, the chances are slim.

However, unless it’s an emergency that warrants you immediately leaving without doing anything, you can do things to ensure that you don’t get reported as potentially being a bot and then potentially banned for it:

1. Turn off autoloot in the options menu.
2. Waypointing to a city or other location that is widely known to not have enemies spawn (such as the waypoints near the map entrances/exits or dungeon entrances).
3. Exiting to the character select screen.
4. Shutting the game down.

3 & 4 are my favorite options as they are completely foolproof.

If it’s just a quick bathroom break, you’re likely not going to be found guilty of botting should anyone report you during your few minute break.

Seera.5916:

Deepcuts.9740:

This is plain dumb.
Sometimes I afk and my pet will protect my kitten in case some trash mob attacks me.
Because I have autoloot I might be tagged as a bot?
Just plain dumb and silly.

If you’re not in an area where mobs constantly spawn at, the chances are slim.

However, unless it’s an emergency that warrants you immediately leaving without doing anything, you can do things to ensure that you don’t get reported as potentially being a bot and then potentially banned for it:

1. Turn off autoloot in the options menu.
2. Waypointing to a city or other location that is widely known to not have enemies spawn (such as the waypoints near the map entrances/exits or dungeon entrances).
3. Exiting to the character select screen.
4. Shutting the game down.

3 & 4 are my favorite options as they are completely foolproof.

If it’s just a quick bathroom break, you’re likely not going to be found guilty of botting should anyone report you during your few minute break.

You could add going to the pvp area or guild hall. Both are free and let you return to the same spot in the open world.

I could “add” a lot of stuff, the idea is that is stupid.
Anet added auto loot and pet auto attack.
Being told you are doing something wrong when you are doing absolutely nothing the game itself does not allow, is STUPID.
If Anet thinks this is “bad behavior”, they should remove auto loot or pet auto attack.

Deepcuts.9740:

I could “add” a lot of stuff, the idea is that is stupid.
Anet added auto loot and pet auto attack.
Being told you are doing something wrong when you are doing absolutely nothing the game itself does not allow, is STUPID.
If Anet thinks this is “bad behavior”, they should remove auto loot or pet auto attack.

You obviously do not know what the definition of exploit is as it pertains to MMO’s.

Exploit: using bugs or unintended side effects of a game to gain advantages that other players do not that the game developer did not intend to happen.

It should be expected to find out that AFK farming is an exploit.

Deepcuts.9740:

I could “add” a lot of stuff, the idea is that is stupid.
Anet added auto loot and pet auto attack.
Being told you are doing something wrong when you are doing absolutely nothing the game itself does not allow, is STUPID.
If Anet thinks this is “bad behavior”, they should remove auto loot or pet auto attack.

AFK while you take five minutes to use the bathroom: not an exploit.

AFK while you go to work/school for 8-10 hours: exploit.

It’s not hard to figure out.