Let me set a few things straight as I’ve had numerous dealings with ArenaNet/NCsoft in the past—specifically having to do with Guild Wars 1 back in February of 2012. Keep in mind at this time it was very easy to get a response from someone at ArenaNet —usually within the first 24 hours.
I was unable to purchase a few vanity items in Guild Wars 1 so I opened up a ticket. I tried to make purchases with several credit cards from two different banks. After going back and fourth with NCSoft Support they indicated that my account had been flagged by their “Fraud Management System.” Should this system deem necessary it will flag your account based on various criteria and will refuse all financial transactions on your account.
===
From NCSoft Support
To protect our customers, we have implemented a Payment Risk Management System to detect possible unauthorized transactions or account use. When you receive a message stating that your purchase was declined due to “Risk Management.” This means that something about your transaction is being perceived as high risk by our system.
===
Recently I tried to make a purchase and my Bank failed the transaction because it was a transaction from Texas. I called them got the issue fixed so I could make purchases from NCSoft; however, I’m unable to make purchases of any sort i.e. Paypal, Credit Card, Debt Card, etc. I’ve even tried to make purchases from entirely different locations. REF# 120912-000702
Anyone who is unable to make purchases of any sort has likely been flagged. The only way that you’ll be able to make purchases from here on out is contacting support and waiting for them to unflag your account for 24 hours so you can buy gems. In Guild Wars 1 this wasn’t a big issue as I’d open up a ticket and I could buy whatever I wanted once they approved it. With Guild Wars 2 and the sheer number of tickets they have to go through you are looking at 2 or 3 week turn around times on being able to purchase gems. This is all a result of this system which you literally cannot get off of. Trust me, I escalated to the highest level I could and they told me to hit the bricks.
===
Response from Me:
I received a similar e-mail last time and opening up my account for 24 hours isn’t a viable solution. I don’t have this problem with any other online vendors. I’d prefer this continue to be escalated and the issue resolved—I don’t want a 24 hour patch. I intent to purchase several other items on my credit card and I also intend to purchase Guild Wars 2 and whatever online content you have available. I don’t want to contact you every time I make a purchase. Can’t we just remove this safely feature? It’s causing more trouble than it’s worth.
XXXX
Response Steve S. via Email 03/06/2012 04:38 PM
Response From NCSoft Support
There is no option to remove the Risk Management system from your account as it is not associated with your account. The Risk Management system is built-in to our billing system. Any new authorization will be reviewed by our security features.
Creating a temporary window to assist you with completing purchases is the most we can do for you. You would not be receiving the Risk Management messaging if there was not something about your purchase attempts that was considered high risk.
Regards,
Steve S.
NCsoft Payment Review
Customer XXXX via CSS Web 03/08/2012 07:42 PM
Steve
===
Guild Wars 2 is a great game and I believe the development team has done a fantastic job; however, the support team is quite honestly seems understaffed and incapable of handling and or prioritizing issue effectively.
This is a complete failure by AreanNet’s Support, their billing team, and outdated billing infrastructure. You would think a company that has a great game in which people want to give them their money would have a system in place that was better than what was available in Guild Wars 1.
Diz