Guild Wars 2

I am still banned, I made a ticket 11hr ago and still no response [Ref: 130418-000096]. I would be glad if I could get my account back sooner.

As for how secure the game is.
I know of two major incidents where the game database was compromised (hacked). In both situations the company’s involved announced it fully and without outside pressure. The first I know was a breach in the security of the Sony playstation network. The second was Blizzard.

In the end it comes down to trust. If you don’t trust Anet you shouldnt be playing this game. Anet officials have stated that if their database is breached, they will let us know. This announcement never happened. I am going to assume that they are clear and all hacks are cause of client security issues or third party security issues.

I have heard many claims of people saying they where not doing anything wrong and for my guild I have investigated a few. In the end the cause of the hacked account was always found and it wasnt anet’s fault.

For those asking what the exploit was. It is against the rules to advertise exploit methods, so dont expect to even get a hint.

For those who appealed the decission: it takes 72 hours max for support to get back to you. I know that sucks, but it is as it is.

Hope they can get back asap. Anyone knows their working hours? That would be helpful.

This is just another proof of their automated banning system.
I’ve had 6 guild members been banned so far in the last couple months, 2 for emailing gold and 4 for “botting” , 3 of them were farming mats for their legendary in Southsun Cove. No emails were ever sent with an explanation as to why they were banned or anything just the error box as they were trying to log in.
They all got their accounts back thankfully but 3 have since quit the game all together due to the unjustified bans and the fear of putting in more game time to just have it all go away in an instant.
Heck now I won’t even step foot in Southsun Cove due to the fear of be mistaken for a bot or even use the mail system to send anything to anyone, even to my alt account. It sucks that you have to always worry about the “ban” hammer dropping on you for normal game play.
I understand that they’re trying to get rid of botters and gold sellers but too many innocents are being taken down in the process. So their guilty until proven innocent stance has to end or more good people will leave the game.

Rikkimarru.4701:

This is just another proof of their automated banning system.
I’ve had 6 guild members been banned so far in the last couple months, 2 for emailing gold and 4 for “botting” , 3 of them were farming mats for their legendary in Southsun Cove. No emails were ever sent with an explanation as to why they were banned or anything just the error box as they were trying to log in.
They all got their accounts back thankfully but 3 have since quit the game all together due to the unjustified bans and the fear of putting in more game time to just have it all go away in an instant.
Heck now I won’t even step foot in Southsun Cove due to the fear of be mistaken for a bot or even use the mail system to send anything to anyone, even to my alt account. It sucks that you have to always worry about the “ban” hammer dropping on you for normal game play.
I understand that they’re trying to get rid of botters and gold sellers but too many innocents are being taken down in the process. So their guilty until proven innocent stance has to end or more good people will leave the game.

Anet has stated more then once that people are NOT banned automaticly. Everything is reviewed and if one is banned falsly that is a human made mistake.

I, fortunately, was not banned, but I’m terrified. I don’t think I’ve done anything exploitative or banworthy, but then again, I can’t be sure that my normal gameplay doesn’t include something banworthy in the eyes of ANet.

Some disclosure and transparency with whatever the ban was, now that it has been closed, would be greatly appreciated. If we don’t know the details of the exploit, there’s a huge feeling that anyone could get banned at any time without their knowing something they did was wrong.

^ This a bazillion times!

toafarmer.8401:

Geotherma.2395:

nchandler.3697:

fragnstein.3486:

nchandler.3697:

My account was preordered and never touched because my computer couldn’t run it. I finally get a new computer, find out my account’s been hacked, spend three days with customer service to retrieve it, try to log in to find that the account was suspended due to suspicious activity, spent another two days with customer service to get it unsuspended, and now this. I seriously haven’t even gotten to play yet. Yes, my account was hacked, so it’s possible that the gold spammer who hacked the account used an exploit. HOWEVER, I’ve consulted support about the hack, and I should NOT be held responsible for YOUR COMPANY’s security flaws.

I would greatly appreciate if you would review my ticket. I do not want to spend three more days waiting to use the product I payed for ages ago.

#130418-000521

If Anet had security flaws, dont you think there would be alot more that got hacked and not just you. Sounds like you went to a bad web site, thats your security flaws.

My security flaws? I don’t think so.

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/ingame/thousands-guild-wars-2-accounts-hacked-985019

Try again.

Try reading it..

""Hackers have lists of email addresses and passwords stolen from other games and websites, and collected through spyware, and are systematically testing ‘Guild Wars 2’ looking for matching accounts," ArenaNet staff wrote on this wiki page tracking the issue. "

Stolen from other games using phishing and spyware. Wow.. Don’t use the same passwords and logins for everything and this don’t happen. No ones brute forcing into Arenanet server and spy-snagging your uber account.

Well, that was what Anet said. We will never know for sure if this is all the truth or if Anet had some information leaked and just wont tell us (they forced me a password change and my password was used only on GW). They sware the fault is everyone else’s, but I have my doubts.

I believe Anet is legally required to tell us, their customers, if there was a security breach in their system. I believe blizzard tried to pull one of these earlier in their years and got found out and fined heavily? But, feel free to put those tin foil hats and believe in these unjustified claims. The plain fact is, it is much much more likely for a user to have their security compromised then Anet having their system compromised.

Onto the question of people getting banned with exploits, do you think it’s to do with the bugged events in orr? I’m glad I never took part in those.

Rising Dusk.2408:

I, fortunately, was not banned, but I’m terrified. I don’t think I’ve done anything exploitative or banworthy, but then again, I can’t be sure that my normal gameplay doesn’t include something banworthy in the eyes of ANet.

Some disclosure and transparency with whatever the ban was, now that it has been closed, would be greatly appreciated. If we don’t know the details of the exploit, there’s a huge feeling that anyone could get banned at any time without their knowing something they did was wrong.

Has anyone stopped to think that by ANet not disclosing exactly what the exploit was, they are trying not to give people any ideas? If they explain what the exploit was, people who didn’t know about it before the current fix may try to exploit in a similar way.

If you ever have to stop to yourself in game and say “this is too good to be true”… “or will this get me banned”, the answer is probably yes.

As for the people who got wrongfully banned, ANet has apologized for their error and if you can’t forgive them for not allowing you to play a video game for 12 hours, I don’t know what to say to you. They are doing their best to eliminate greedy people who exploit and bot and sometimes people could be wrongfully accused. Is that ANet’s fault? Yes. Did they apologize? Yes. Would you rather them sit back and do nothing?

Thank you ANet, apology accepted.

Even if you just started playing the game and have been killing mobs or crafting for an hour or 2, you should have a pretty good idea of what constitutes “normal” drops or rewards.

If you find a way to get rewards much faster than you normally would have, and you keep doing that action to get more and more rewards, expect a ban.

If, instead of performing that action repeatedly, you decide to not take advantage of it, you should expect to continue playing as you have been.

Yes there will be accidental bans for exploits, but if you’re choosing to repeatedly take advantage of bugs / exploits, expect the ban hammer to hit you hard.

Kayeli.2305:

Rising Dusk.2408:

I, fortunately, was not banned, but I’m terrified. I don’t think I’ve done anything exploitative or banworthy, but then again, I can’t be sure that my normal gameplay doesn’t include something banworthy in the eyes of ANet.

Some disclosure and transparency with whatever the ban was, now that it has been closed, would be greatly appreciated. If we don’t know the details of the exploit, there’s a huge feeling that anyone could get banned at any time without their knowing something they did was wrong.

Has anyone stopped to think that by ANet not disclosing exactly what the exploit was, they are trying not to give people any ideas? If they explain what the exploit was, people who didn’t know about it before the current fix may try to exploit in a similar way.

If you ever have to stop to yourself in game and say “this is too good to be true”… “or will this get me banned”, the answer is probably yes.

As for the people who got wrongfully banned, ANet has apologized for their error and if you can’t forgive them for not allowing you to play a video game for 12 hours, I don’t know what to say to you. They are doing their best to eliminate greedy people who exploit and bot and sometimes people could be wrongfully accused. Is that ANet’s fault? Yes. Did they apologize? Yes. Would you rather them sit back and do nothing?

Thank you ANet, apology accepted.

If any one of these people had the thoughts “too good to be true”, shouldn’t at least 1 person have an idea of what they did that led to this ban? All the previous bans were given reasons, I am not sure why this particular one is an exception. And why would people get any ‘ideas’? Obviously, you are punished pretty harshly if you take it upon yourself to be creative with learning about exploits. Your reasons are invalid. It’s always best to keep the community informed.

mercury ranique.2170:

Rikkimarru.4701:

This is just another proof of their automated banning system.
I’ve had 6 guild members been banned so far in the last couple months, 2 for emailing gold and 4 for “botting” , 3 of them were farming mats for their legendary in Southsun Cove. No emails were ever sent with an explanation as to why they were banned or anything just the error box as they were trying to log in.
They all got their accounts back thankfully but 3 have since quit the game all together due to the unjustified bans and the fear of putting in more game time to just have it all go away in an instant.
Heck now I won’t even step foot in Southsun Cove due to the fear of be mistaken for a bot or even use the mail system to send anything to anyone, even to my alt account. It sucks that you have to always worry about the “ban” hammer dropping on you for normal game play.
I understand that they’re trying to get rid of botters and gold sellers but too many innocents are being taken down in the process. So their guilty until proven innocent stance has to end or more good people will leave the game.

Anet has stated more then once that people are NOT banned automaticly. Everything is reviewed and if one is banned falsly that is a human made mistake.

Sure, they say that they review it, but come on this latest ban wave proves otherwise.
The review process I think is some guy hitting “ban all” once their filters generates a list of accounts to be banned.
No an actual person reviewing on a case by case basis, if they were this sort of stuff would not happen.
Also an email with an explanation as to why you were banned, with actual proof would be in order.
I mean it’s $60 and countless hours of your life just flushed down the toilet without any sort of explanation, just the generic box you’re given while trying to log in.
Anet you need to do better than that.

ArcTheFallen.7682:

If any one of these people had the thoughts “too good to be true”, shouldn’t at least 1 person have an idea of what they did that led to this ban?

I spend a lot of time (aka too much) reading the forums when I’m supposed to be working. I’ve seen countless posts from people saying they don’t know why they were banned. Then an employee, usually Gaile, will occasionally reply hinting at what the person did and will sometimes mention the several other times the same player received suspensions in the past. When the game launched ArenaNet was posting in a Subreddit showing exact comments people had made in the in-game chat after said people were complaining they did nothing wrong.

Now I’m not saying anyone who got banned this time around was guilty. All I am saying is that you can’t assume that what players claim is true. Likewise, you can choose to believe or not believe anything I have said. Without having access to the customer service system and the game logs, we just don’t know if players’ claims are true.

Rising Dusk.2408:

I, fortunately, was not banned, but I’m terrified. I don’t think I’ve done anything exploitative or banworthy, but then again, I can’t be sure that my normal gameplay doesn’t include something banworthy in the eyes of ANet.

Some disclosure and transparency with whatever the ban was, now that it has been closed, would be greatly appreciated. If we don’t know the details of the exploit, there’s a huge feeling that anyone could get banned at any time without their knowing something they did was wrong.

Yes, we need some type of explanation. Especially for those players that mostly play dungeons and Fractals. Even something as simple as, “It was a map exploit” or, “It was a chest exploit” or, “There is no possible way that you could engage in this particular 5 step exploit without realizing that there was an issue.” Something to assure legitimate players that they couldn’t be engaging in a bannable offense without ever realizing that it was happening.

Just my 2 cents:

- “Bug” reported and announced but player choose to do it => Guilty.
- “Bug” kept secret and not announced and player continue doing it => Oblivious.

You can’t possibly have a player to know what he can or cannot do without proper information.

Do we even know what kind of exploit this was? Dungeon? Open World? Crafting? Getting double rewards? What?

Rikkimarru.4701:

This is just another proof of their automated banning system.
I’ve had 6 guild members been banned so far in the last couple months, 2 for emailing gold and 4 for “botting” , 3 of them were farming mats for their legendary in Southsun Cove. No emails were ever sent with an explanation as to why they were banned or anything just the error box as they were trying to log in.
They all got their accounts back thankfully but 3 have since quit the game all together due to the unjustified bans and the fear of putting in more game time to just have it all go away in an instant.
Heck now I won’t even step foot in Southsun Cove due to the fear of be mistaken for a bot or even use the mail system to send anything to anyone, even to my alt account. It sucks that you have to always worry about the “ban” hammer dropping on you for normal game play.
I understand that they’re trying to get rid of botters and gold sellers but too many innocents are being taken down in the process. So their guilty until proven innocent stance has to end or more good people will leave the game.

Amen!

Crazylegsmurphy.6430:

So…….

Are some of you now starting to understand what I’ve been talking about? How does it feel as a player to be accused of something, and then banned without explanation? How does it feel to know that at any time you can lose access to everything you’ve worked, and paid for, without ever being told why?

When I started a thread asking for more transparency when it comes to exploits, I was met with resistance, before the thread was locked. When I contacted support, I was basically told that any intelligent player should realize an exploit.

I haven’t logged in yet, so lets hope I wasn’t also banned for some mystery exploit I wasn’t even aware I was doing.

Perhaps more incidents such as this will force players to start demanding some transparency by ANet.

In my support ticket I asked ANet what specifically I could do, to protect myself against getting banned, for using an exploit I was unaware even existed?

The answer is clear. You can’t. We are all apparently at the mercy of ANet and their ban-hammer. Personally, I have decided to not become financially invested in this game. If ANet is unwilling to provide its players with information in which they can use to protect themselves, then I can’t feel confident putting money into this game.

I’m happy that so many of you got your accounts back. I encourage you to contact support and let them know how being accused of an exploit, and then banned without explanation makes you feel.

I just hope one day I can play this game knowing there is some player protection measures in place.

Another Amen, brother!

Solid post. Sums up exactly how I feel about this game. Players have no recourse if you disagree with this (and any game’s) EULA’s one way justice system other than to act with your wallet and game play time.

Gaile Gray.6028:

We closed a serious but not-widespread exploit, and banned those accounts that performed it and those that received or stored the wealth they generated.

So… an exploiter can get OTHER people banned by giving them gold or items? A friend or guildmate tossing me a few gold to help me out can cost me my account?

That’s a bit terrifying.

Palador.2170:

Gaile Gray.6028:

We closed a serious but not-widespread exploit, and banned those accounts that performed it and those that received or stored the wealth they generated.

So… an exploiter can get OTHER people banned by giving them gold or items? A friend or guildmate tossing me a few gold to help me out can cost me my account?

That’s a bit terrifying.

Yup, that’s what is happening.
One guildie got banned after sending his brother 90 gold that he needed for the achievement a few months ago and the other by lending another guild member 80 gold so he could buy ectos when they were cheap a while back.
Full messages were included on the mail not just a plain mail with gold in it.
All to guild members within the same guild, same server, no monkey business.
If they were really investigating and reviewing the accounts there’s no way the mail would seem like it was gold selling or anything fishy.

Rikkimarru.4701:

Palador.2170:

Gaile Gray.6028:

We closed a serious but not-widespread exploit, and banned those accounts that performed it and those that received or stored the wealth they generated.

So… an exploiter can get OTHER people banned by giving them gold or items? A friend or guildmate tossing me a few gold to help me out can cost me my account?

That’s a bit terrifying.

Yup, that’s what is happening.
One guildie got banned after sending his brother 90 gold that he needed for the achievement a few months ago and the other by lending another guild member 80 gold so he could buy ectos when they were cheap a while back.
Full messages were included on the mail not just a plain mail with gold in it.
All to guild members within the same guild, same server, no monkey business.
If they were really investigating and reviewing the accounts there’s no way the mail would seem like it was gold selling or anything fishy.

I don’t think this is the only thing that’s happening, to be honest. There have been several people stating they were mid-fractal runs when this occurred and my guildie, personally, was in WvW at the time. I can understand why information related to each case wouldn’t be made public but I’m sure they’ve received massive amounts of emails and tickets regarding this issue.

my guildy is still banned and was just doing his daily in WvW when it happened. should he post his support ticket number here?

mcarswell.3768:

my guildy is still banned and was just doing his daily in WvW when it happened. should he post his support ticket number here?

No need to do that.
Support is going to review his ticket and posting it here won’t speed that proces up.
The maximum reaction time for a ticket is 72 hours. If it takes longer then he can post his ticketnumber in the sticky.

Hello everyone,

I might be a newbie here on the forums and this is the first post I’ve ever made. My account has also been banned for the exactly the same reason as stated in the Topic. After being totally surprised by the ban I’ve first started to submit a ticket 12 hours ago (130418-000557) Which is also the first time for me.

After some googleing I’ve found this Topic and continously updated my ticket providing more and more information including personal information, such as a scan of my passport to prove my real identity and uniqueness of the account owner etc. for I do not yet fully know the reason my account was permanently terminated for.

By now my support ticket sort of feels like a monologue, because I was expecting an answer within a few hours. I’d like to know if anyone else who had their account banned for that reason has had their tickets solved or received an response?
How long does it usually take to get an response from the Arena Net Support Staff?

Best Regards

Eglar

xEternia.9564:

Just my 2 cents:

- “Bug” reported and announced but player choose to do it => Guilty.
- “Bug” kept secret and not announced and player continue doing it => Oblivious.

You can’t possibly have a player to know what he can or cannot do without proper information.

I disagree.

Example: Assume I am farming those bird/ostrich things in an area and am getting a slab of meat after every 5 kills or so and occasionally some coin. I then run 30 seconds to another area where I start killing birds. I get 10 silver, a slab of meat, and a piece of gear after EVERY kill. This clearly seems like a bug, and I’m not going to take advantage of it.

Another example: I am throwing stuff into the mystic forge and get mediocre stuff in most of my attempts. I switch one ingredient and suddenly I crafted something amazing that is hard to get based on my prior experiences with the mystic forge. I ask others and they say they haven’t heard of this before. I do the same thing again and get the same amazing thing. Again and again. Repeatedly doing this is probably an exploit and I’d deserve to be banned.

It’s common sense in most cases.

I hope we get some explanation.

When does something stop being ‘farming’ to be considered an exploit?

I know the answer might just be common sense but everyone has a different opinion on it.

Charlie.5680:

I hope we get some explanation.

When does something stop being ‘farming’ to be considered an exploit?

I know the answer might just be common sense but everyone has a different opinion on it.

This. There’s a small part of my brain that constantly worries I’ll be banned for something I think is normal. People in my guild craft rares to salvage for ectos or throw in the mystic forge for a precursor and I’m reluctant to do the same since two of the exploits we do know about involved those actions (mithril snowflake recipe salvage and godskull weapon precursor forging).

ANet reaction seems varied, too. The mithril snowflake exploit resulted in a bunch of bans, godskull precursors apparently didn’t. I just think that it would be nice if the information was more transparent. If an exploit is closed, I’d like to know about it so I know what types of things aren’t normal and can avoid them.

Even if an exploit is known but not yet fixed I’d want to know so I could avoid doing it and stop worrying that I’m unwittingly jeopardizing my account. I’ve spent a lot of time and money on GW1 and 2, and I do not want to wind up losing access to my accounts.

I have submitted a tick about this issue for almost 24 hours now. Everyone I knew already got unbanned without even submit a single ticket. Why it is taking so long for anet to respond?

nchandler.3697:

fragnstein.3486:

nchandler.3697:

My account was preordered and never touched because my computer couldn’t run it. I finally get a new computer, find out my account’s been hacked, spend three days with customer service to retrieve it, try to log in to find that the account was suspended due to suspicious activity, spent another two days with customer service to get it unsuspended, and now this. I seriously haven’t even gotten to play yet. Yes, my account was hacked, so it’s possible that the gold spammer who hacked the account used an exploit. HOWEVER, I’ve consulted support about the hack, and I should NOT be held responsible for YOUR COMPANY’s security flaws.

I would greatly appreciate if you would review my ticket. I do not want to spend three more days waiting to use the product I payed for ages ago.

#130418-000521

If Anet had security flaws, dont you think there would be alot more that got hacked and not just you. Sounds like you went to a bad web site, thats your security flaws.

My security flaws? I don’t think so.

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/ingame/thousands-guild-wars-2-accounts-hacked-985019

Try again.

I think it’s really funny that you post that link… which has nothing to do with ANet “security flaws” and everything to do with users’ poor password behavior.

Better luck next time

Charlie.5680:

I hope we get some explanation.

When does something stop being ‘farming’ to be considered an exploit?

I know the answer might just be common sense but everyone has a different opinion on it.

Basically, if it’s too good to be true, it’s probably an exploit. If in doubt, you can actually read the EULA, but typically if you’re farming and physically pushing all the keys.. you’re ok. But if you’re using 3rd party software to help facilitate that effort, you are now botting.

Hopefully that helps clear it up for you a bit.

Automated banning system? Check out this Automated Support system

I put in a ticket as soon as I noticed I got banned. About 20 minutes later I was unbanned, probably when Gaile first posted in this thread.

I totally forgot about closing my ticket

I check today and there’s a automated-response from NCSOFT asking me to verify my purchase with proof blah blah before they can assist further, all the while I am not even banned anymore.

Nyspar.6103:

Automated banning system? Check out this Automated Support system

I put in a ticket as soon as I noticed I got banned. About 20 minutes later I was unbanned, probably when Gaile first posted in this thread.

I totally forgot about closing my ticket

I check today and there’s a automated-response from NCSOFT asking me to verify my purchase with proof blah blah before they can assist further, all the while I am not even banned anymore.

You sure your auto response was not a phishing scam that’s been going around

no it quoted my original Ticket submission

Ok making sure I have not logged on since 10 last night hope when I get hone I am okay

Just speaking to my guildie about this right now and we’re both feeling very uncomfortable with this situation. Not knowing what’s going on and why people were banned in the first place just leaves the rest of us in the dark leading to the point where you don’t know what you can and can’t do. For now, we’re thinking to just stick with dailies and dungeon runs.

Would farming a very profitable place be considered an exploit? Or grinding the same area for hours just because you CAN be considered “botting”? I am personally putting down a lot of time grinding for my first legendary, so how am I now supposed to feel safe about doing just what the game offers me?

I have been banned for 23 hours and counting. My brother and guildmate got unbanned like 3-4 hours after they got banned. Why is anet taking so long to response to my ticket??? It’s like i’m beating on a dead horse here.

130418-000026

Gaile Gray.6028:

xEternia.9564:

Btw, is the support 24/7 or otherwise? Just curious..

Yes. Appeals can take a bit longer than other issues, because there’s a pretty intense level of research involved. But we have team members active 24/7/365.

Those of you whose account was terminated should first verify that the account was not reinstated. If that is the case, and if you wish to appeal, you should submit a ticket. There’s really no point in posting about this in the forums; the team will answer you as quickly as possible. If you find you still need help after three days—and I must emphasize that it’s highly unlikely that you will wait that long!—feel free to post in the Tickets for Review thread, which is at the top of this Account Support sub-forum.

3 days???!!!! I can’t wait that long. That’s 3 daily, it ruins my achievement points and laurels reward -.-

Sammet.6542:

Just speaking to my guildie about this right now and we’re both feeling very uncomfortable with this situation. Not knowing what’s going on and why people were banned in the first place just leaves the rest of us in the dark leading to the point where you don’t know what you can and can’t do. For now, we’re thinking to just stick with dailies and dungeon runs.

Would farming a very profitable place be considered an exploit? Or grinding the same area for hours just because you CAN be considered “botting”? I am personally putting down a lot of time grinding for my first legendary, so how am I now supposed to feel safe about doing just what the game offers me?

People will gravitate towards the current hotspot for farming. Why farm anywhere else when there is somewhere better?

My view is if its “too good to be true” then you should consider viewing it an exploit. There are several points on the map that you can easily earn 5-8 gold an hour with decent MF. Certainly this level of income must be safe considering I can make this during properly working event chains like “The Gates of Arah” and “Temple of Grenth”.

I think if your siginicantly over this you should take a look at what your doing.

In know its difficult for admins to comment on this without giving up their power, but it would be nice for some guidelines as to what is acceptable. What level of income is qualifies as “gaining a gameplay advantage over other players”?

Sammet.6542:

Just speaking to my guildie about this right now and we’re both feeling very uncomfortable with this situation. Not knowing what’s going on and why people were banned in the first place just leaves the rest of us in the dark leading to the point where you don’t know what you can and can’t do. For now, we’re thinking to just stick with dailies and dungeon runs.

Would farming a very profitable place be considered an exploit? Or grinding the same area for hours just because you CAN be considered “botting”? I am personally putting down a lot of time grinding for my first legendary, so how am I now supposed to feel safe about doing just what the game offers me?

Totally with you on that – I got “banned” after farming Arctodi for Vials of Powerful blood for the very first time. After a long day at work I enjoyed just sitting at my computer and worked out a route that is long enough to respawn by the time I’ve finished…and just kept doing that for a couple of hours… I find it hard to believe they “reviewed” my actions before banning me – which was well after my farming period and during a time when I was doing a Guild Quest (yep and thanks – due to that I missed out on getting a gold and credits).
I later got reinstated saying that I had done nothing wrong and my account was blocked in error. Coincidence that it was after the first time I ever farmed the same mob type over and over again? Doesn’t seem like it was a human error…

I now am too scared to continue farming because I don’t want to risk being accused of being a botter and banned – I hate not being able to log in when I want to… and it kind of affects my play style – I don’t like dungeons or talking in guild chat – I just like doing my own thing and sometimes that includes finding an area and just killing things for their loot…

I now feel like I have to do things like recording interactions with other players – join groups, talk in guild chat just to make sure…

Gaile Gray.6028:

Sammet.6542:

Just speaking to my guildie about this right now and we’re both feeling very uncomfortable with this situation. Not knowing what’s going on and why people were banned in the first place just leaves the rest of us in the dark leading to the point where you don’t know what you can and can’t do. For now, we’re thinking to just stick with dailies and dungeon runs.

Would farming a very profitable place be considered an exploit? Or grinding the same area for hours just because you CAN be considered “botting”? I am personally putting down a lot of time grinding for my first legendary, so how am I now supposed to feel safe about doing just what the game offers me?

I understand that you and other player are expressed concerns about this. I want to put your mind at ease.

• We don’t ban without review.
• We’re gamers too, and some of us are really into farming. Farming a rich area doesn’t make you a botter or an exploiter. Now, naturally, Botters and exploiters can farm a rich area right alongside the legitimate player, but we do understand the distinction.
• If someone is banned (account terminated) or even suspended, they can appeal and the team will review the situation yet again.
• If we make an error, we are not afraid to say it, and we do not hesitate to reinstate an account that is suspended or terminated in error.

Thank you ever so much for this. With this comment, I will resume my regular farming for my legendary as I am investing my free time to do so without trying to tweak anything in-game. I really appreciate the answers you have gone out with tonight.

Riaky.8965:

3 days???!!!! I can’t wait that long. That’s 3 daily, it ruins my achievement points and laurels reward -.-

Gaming addiction is a serious issue mate. Get some help. or even better get some sunlight and breathe some fresh air

Gaile Gray.6028:

Sammet.6542:

Just speaking to my guildie about this right now and we’re both feeling very uncomfortable with this situation. Not knowing what’s going on and why people were banned in the first place just leaves the rest of us in the dark leading to the point where you don’t know what you can and can’t do. For now, we’re thinking to just stick with dailies and dungeon runs.

Would farming a very profitable place be considered an exploit? Or grinding the same area for hours just because you CAN be considered “botting”? I am personally putting down a lot of time grinding for my first legendary, so how am I now supposed to feel safe about doing just what the game offers me?

I understand that you and other player are expressed concerns about this. I want to put your mind at ease.

• We don’t ban without review.
• We’re gamers too, and some of us are really into farming. Farming a rich area doesn’t make you a botter or an exploiter. Now, naturally, Botters and exploiters can farm a rich area right alongside the legitimate player, but we do understand the distinction.
• If someone is banned (account terminated) or even suspended, they can appeal and the team will review the situation yet again.
• If we make an error, we are not afraid to say it, and we do not hesitate to reinstate an account that is suspended or terminated in error.

This sets me at ease I suppose. Just because what ever this bug was there was no way I could have performed. For the passed two weeks I’ve been leveling my OP warrior. Also, My guild leader has been banned for almost two days now. I’ve been playing with him since launch. Doing dungeons, grinding events, etc. It’s really a problem that he is not online because it interrupts our core groups activities. I.E. Dungeon running, wvw, etc. So if you could please quicken the pace of your “intense research” that’d be grand.
kbye.

Guild Leader is back. Good job.

Thanks for the post, Mike. Always good to get more information about a banning and why it happened, if only to put minds at ease.

It honestly baffles and concerns me how you can accidentally ban accounts “humanly” that had ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with something that is so obviously a cheat. Quit trying to cover your kitten butts and be real.

It was a script that went through and banned us and it is obvious. Good day.