Guild Wars 2

Lafiel.9372:

Question is irrelevant because those are not exploits. It’s like saying, would you stop breathing air because the government told you to. It’s a very part of the game. Exploits aren’t.

Whew, it’s a good thing you’re so well versed on what is, and isn’t an exploit in GW2. Would you be willing to post your email so those of us who aren’t sure can contact you and ask? Would you be willing to defend me if I accidentally get banned for an exploit you were wrong about?

Theoldman.6483:

When is an exploit an exploit and I not talking about bots.

For example(s):

A skill point or veteran is to strong for me to solo. I happen to discover that if I position myself behind this ledge or whatever I can attack him but he can not attack me. It that an exploit or using tactics. Maybe it isn’t so obvious as a gap in the rocks instead its using 3 well placed trees. If this is exploitation then I’m guilty

If there is a Mesmer on top of the water falls in lions arch that is teleporting other players so they can get to the jumping puzzle chest without do the jumping puzzle is that an exploit? Who’s exploiting, the Mesmer or the player taking advantage of the Mesmer skill? Does the Mesmer asking for tips impact if it is an exploit or not? Hum, at what level does the Mesmer get this skill?

If I figure out I can level a toon faster by only doing dailies and only running the starting area is that an exploit? ie 30 minutes at say level 60 verses two or more hours in the level 55-65 area. Guilty again

If a player got to level 80 only by crafting because a lot of other players feed him all the mats is that an exploit? Now that he achieved master status and can craft items that sell for lots of gold and then splits the profits with the mat farmers is that an exploit?

If a player buys gems, sells the gems for gold and buys all his armor/buffs to better compete in WvW or pvp is that an exploit?

If I share my gold with another family member is that an exploit? They did not earn it or have to buy gems to get that extra character slot they bought with the gold I gave them. Guilty again

Since I don’t care about having the best armor or weapons, skins, mini pets or buying exp/karma buffs etc. am I exploiting the game by not buy gems?

Here is my question to you personally. Would you stop doing all those if ANet told you that they were exploits and you would lose your account if you continued doing them?

tolunart.2095:

Crazylegsmurphy.6430:

tolunart.2095:

LOL good luck with that.

Thank you. And with support of players like you, I’m sure they’ll get right on it.

Like I said, millions of people don’t have a problem with it. Obviously you do. I wouldn’t expect anything to change anytime soon.

Ahhh, the ol’ Argumentum ad populum (argument from popularity).

tolunart.2095:

LOL good luck with that.

Thank you. And with support of players like you, I’m sure they’ll get right on it.

tolunart.2095:

Crazylegsmurphy.6430:

Problem is, no one knows what ANets cutoffs are. I may do something ten times and never realize it was an exploit (where could I ever find out unless banned?)

Second, I like the rules. I want exploiters to be banned. I don’t want anyone to take advantage of the game and potentially ruin it for others.

Just let me know what the rules are and I’ll follow them. Don’t just say, “Don’t exploit!” cause that isn’t always clear, as I’ve stated above.

It’s not a problem for several million people – and that’s just for one game. Millions more play WoW and other games under the same “we know it when we see it” rules.

It cannot be clearly defined because setting these limits to begin with invites exploitation in itself when people use the excuse “but it doesn’t fit the definition of exploiting!”

The answer you already have is the best answer you will get. You have two choices:

1: Accept it.

2: Don’t play.

Wrong. Those are not my two choices.

I can continue to ask ANet for transparency. As long as I continue to discuss this rationally and reasonably, I can sit and hope that things change, or I am lucky and don’t do anything that gets me banned.

Plus, I never said, “define what may be an exploit.”

I said, “Tell me when ANet has determined what they have found to be an exploit, so I can avoid it.”

As I told ANet staff, my actual choice is that until I am given the tools to protect myself from having my account terminated without warning for something I didn’t even know I did, I can’t become anymore financially invested in this game.

EDIT: You may want to check out the accounts page for how easily those “millions” of people can find themselves on the other side of the coin without explanation. Seems it doesn’t work out for everyone as nicely as you would like to claim.

Leths.6751:

I guess, I just thought it’d be in everyone’s interest to add a new dungeon or some new kind of harder content, maybe 10 man dungeons or something, I’ve had a few friends quit already cause there’s not enough content, I mean I’m still sticking around doing my farming and fractals and I love gw2 for the gameplay and everything, I just feel like I’m doing the same thing over and over, but yeah you do have a valid point there crazy.

To be honest, I started the first day this game came out, and I’m STILL working on all the content. I’ve only been in like three dungeons, and still have two JP to do. I haven’t finished my personal story, or my girlfriends personal story.

And I play way more than I should. :/

^ This a bazillion times!

Leths.6751:

Not when you undergo 3 surgeries in 5 months. Regardless, I would like them to add more content that takes more than 5 minutes to complete, and doesn’t require a grind of stuff that’s been there for 6+ months

Kitten! Sorry to hear.

But…you could perhaps try other games, or do another hobby. I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but you’re kind of a special case. Most don’t have hours and hours to sit around gaming.

ANet is releasing a lot of content, and I think most players (aside from the hardcore ones) probably find most of it takes up a reasonable amount of time.

Spring is here and mountains exist outside as well.

tolunart.2095:

Anet is generally sensible about these things. Do something ten times and realize it’s a bug/exploit, no problem. Do it a hundred times, get banned, appeal and say “hey, I stopped as soon as I realized it’s an exploit.” They say, “ok you can play the game.” Do it a thousand times and you can’t come back.

It’s their sandbox and they make the rules. Whether you like the rules or not is irrelevant, you don’t get to tell them what the rules are. If you don’t like it, single player games have cheat codes posted, you can play Skyrim or something and have unlimited gold, all the best equipment, etc. And no one will ban you.

Problem is, no one knows what ANets cutoffs are. I may do something ten times and never realize it was an exploit (where could I ever find out unless banned?)

Second, I like the rules. I want exploiters to be banned. I don’t want anyone to take advantage of the game and potentially ruin it for others.

Just let me know what the rules are and I’ll follow them. Don’t just say, “Don’t exploit!” cause that isn’t always clear, as I’ve stated above.

Vayne.8563:

Crazylegsmurphy.6430:

Vayne.8563:

Okay let’s say you’re right. Anet makes an annoucement. Some people read it, some people don’t.

A bunch of guys who love to grief people tell other people about it, just to see them gt banned. You can’t say that wouldn’t happen, because it can. There are always people out there ready to do stuff to kitten other people off.

I can see where you’re coming from (and it’s not the first time you’ve made the argument), but I don’t see it being implemented. The potential for griefing alone at that point is pretty big.

You’re absolutely right!

If not all players are informed, then it opens the door for abuse. However, if you’ve seen my argument before, you also know that my solution was simple.

Player logs in, a screen pops up with the announcement (justified annoyance factor in this case as consequences are high), and the player must press, “OK” to continue.

If players choose to skip the text and press “OK” then that is their choice, however it guarantees all players will see the official message. No forum posts, no Twitter, no Facebook…right on the main login screen overtop your character. You can’t do anything else without closing the dialogue box.

Okay…I see what you’re saying. It’s my belief the biggest percentage of players will skip that screen anyway, but at least if they get banned then, it will be because they skipped a screen.

Then if they exploit, well, that’s fine.

Doesn’t really change what I said in the other thread though. An exploit can exist for X amount of time before the company even learns about it. So this system will encourage anyone who learns about it before Anet to hurry up and exploit the exploit as fast as they can, until the message comes up, because they know it’s a free pass.

How do you deal with the fact that the company might be too late to stop the exploit, and those who do exploit will remain unpunished?

Well, as I mentioned before. I don’t think it should change the current system.

Exploits are still covered under that Terms and Conditions. ANet would still have to do what they currently do to determine whether a players actions are punishable.

The difference is that because ANet can’t always hot fix exploits (they probably know about them long before they act), they can inform the community ASAP, thus cutting off any further people being, “caught in the net”

I’m not saying I have all the answers, but I honestly feel that the system could be tweaked to give the largest number of players the opportunity to avoid unnecessary bans.

Theoldman.6483:

Where is this cave of rats?

In my mind.

Vayne.8563:

Okay let’s say you’re right. Anet makes an annoucement. Some people read it, some people don’t.

A bunch of guys who love to grief people tell other people about it, just to see them gt banned. You can’t say that wouldn’t happen, because it can. There are always people out there ready to do stuff to kitten other people off.

I can see where you’re coming from (and it’s not the first time you’ve made the argument), but I don’t see it being implemented. The potential for griefing alone at that point is pretty big.

You’re absolutely right!

If not all players are informed, then it opens the door for abuse. However, if you’ve seen my argument before, you also know that my solution was simple.

Player logs in, a screen pops up with the announcement (justified annoyance factor in this case as consequences are high), and the player must press, “OK” to continue.

If players choose to skip the text and press “OK” then that is their choice, however it guarantees all players will see the official message. No forum posts, no Twitter, no Facebook…right on the main login screen overtop your character. You can’t do anything else without closing the dialogue box.

whiran.1473:

No way.

As pointed out, paying for support in a business model like Guild Wars 2 would mean that the incentive for ArenaNet would be to include bugs in releases.

Terrible idea.

That makes no sense. Putting out a buggy game just to make a few bucks on support tickets is not a viable long term business model.

Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough. MY fault.

What I was suggesting is, would you pay for additional one-on-one support for gems/money?

So, for example you were having game crashes and couldn’t sort them out. You could pay ANet for a “Second Tier” customer service. Because you’re paying for it, you get a dedicated customer service rep, with more power to do things than the standard rep.

For the standard problems, customers would still have access to the current “free” customer service.

Here is the point I am trying to make.

First, I am in no way suggesting that exploits not be addressed. I think exploits hurt the game and the players.

Second, whenever a large group of people are given a vague set of rules/guidelines, every one of them will interpret those rules differently based on personal experience, morality standards, and emotion.

As we’ve seen with this hypothetical example (20 rats), we can go around for days arguing whether something is, or isn’t an exploit. On these forums, hypothetical situations don’t hurt anyone, but when a player is faced with a choice in game, it can be the difference between getting banned and having a long, fulfilling experience in-game.

The only way we can all know for sure, and make choices accordingly is for ANet to let us know.

Now, please hear what I’m saying.

I am not for a second saying that ANet should explain every detail of the exploit. I am saying that by informing the community that an exploit exists, and that anyone using it from this point on will be banned, we are all informed gamers.

Now, I know some of you will try and argue using slippery slope arguments, (Such as, “If they tell us, people will do it anyway out of curiosity.” or, “You’re just going to teach others how to find exploits.”), but these argument aren’t logical.

Exploits will happen regardless. Every time ANet updates, or adds to the game, someone will find a way to take advantage of a flaw. The people who do this knowingly and without regard should be banned. But for those of us who want to avoid bans, and continue playing, we need to be educated to avoid mistakes.

Imagine if the answer to the 20 Rats exploit was something like:

“We have determined that there is an exploit that allows players to gain the “indiscriminate Slayer” achievement by killing a bugged number of rats in the Trolls Cave. This will be fixed in the next patch. Any players using this exploit will risk permanent account termination."

If you have any questions or concerns, please submit a support ticket HERE."

See?! Easy right?

The guesswork is gone, the consequences are clear, ANet is fair and honest, players are educated and can now make informed choices, and bans are avoided.

Vayne.8563:

My personal experience says no one would be hurt by my doing it, which is something I’d definitely filter an exploit for. Since it couldn’t hurt anyone else, it’s probably fair to do. When it could affect other people, I start thinking in terms of exploits.

So you wouldn’t consider it an exploit because no one got hurt? Yet, ANet just plugged an exploit that allowed players to gain “Thirst Slayer” by using a bugged bottle.

So, since we’ve established that, “not hurting anyone” isn’t valid criteria for describing an exploit, would killing 20 rats in a group be one? Is this part of the game, or a bug?

Vayne.8563:

The tone of your continual posts about exploits, not the first one, seems to say that you think Anet is being particularly unfair. Since they’re following what has become the industry standard in procedure, Anet is not being more unfair than any other company.

And yes, if a single person gets banned wrongly but it saves the games economy so a few hundred thousand people aren’t hurt, yeah, I’d say that’s acceptable collateral damage. This is a game, not someone’s livelihood. If it’s a borderline case and they contact support it probably wouldn’t be perma-banned anyway, unless they REALLY exploited it. And if they did, yeah it’s a lesson learned.

If everyone one of my life’s lessons learned was being banned from a game I’d be a happy, happy man.

So you’re saying that because it’s industry standard, it means it’s the best system?

I’m simply saying, as a player, I want the tools to be able to protect myself from account ban. I don’t want to exploit at all, but I have nothing available to be able to determine what is, or isn’t an exploit. I am left to determine that myself, and only once I’m banned might I be able to deduce what I did.

However, because ANet won’t release details about exploits, you’re left banned, accused, convicted, and never knowing why.

Also, I’m concerned that you’re ok with innocent players who payed hard earned money getting banned.

Vayne.8563:

Crazylegsmurphy.6430:

Vayne.8563:

Crazylegsmurphy.6430:

Here is a question for those who claim exploiting is obvious to spot.

You’re running along and notice a group of 20 rats in some cave. You realize that if you stick around and stomp a few, you can quickly get your daily, and lifetime indiscriminate achievements.

Is this an exploit, or part of the game? Why?

If you were banned a few days later for an exploit, yet were never told what the exploit was, would you assume it was due to the rats, or something else?

I’ve never seen Anet ban people for an exploit that doesn’t affect the in game economy or direct competition such as PvP or WvW. Plenty of people stop rats in caves for their daily and their achievement.

Do you know someone banned for this? I certainly haven’t heard of anyone.

I didn’t ask if anyone has ever seen anyone banned for this. I asked if you would consider this an exploit or not?

Please give it another read and let me know what you think.

If I were stomping on rats in a cave, I wouldn’t think of it as an exploit, because there are rats in a cave. However, I also know that doing what I’m doing, whether an exploit or not, isn’t hurting anyone. Furthermore this example is self-limiting. Once you get your achievement, you get no more advantage to continuing to do it.

But if I went into a cave, started stomping rats and they kept dropping gold items, yes, I’d know that was an exploit and I’d stop and report it.

Interesting.

So based on your personal experience in the game, you wouldn’t consider this an exploit. And furthermore, you’re convinced it’s not an exploit because you can’t exploit it indefinitely.

See how easy it is for you to brush off and justify actions because it fits with what you feel is reasonable? See how you had to exaggerate the example to make sure it was black and white enough for your own personal line?

Vayne.8563:

All five of your points are true. They also don’t change these facts.

1. Every MMO out there takes exploting seriously and none of them talk about it for very obvious reasons. No reason to give people ideas about other types of exploits.

I never implied that they don’t, or shouldn’t be taken seriously. I said MMO’s are complex. Complexity means it can be harder for people to understand every detail.

Vayne.8563:

2. Leaving exploiting unpunished is bad for the game. It encourages people to try and say they didn’t know. It has in other games in the past completely destroyed in game economies and caused inflation problems to the point where honest players couldn’t play the game at all.

Who said anything about not punishing exploits? I said that all players have different levels of experience. So if the policy is to leave it in the individual players hands to determine what is an exploit, you have to accept that all players may have a different standard or example of what they believe is an exploit.

Vayne.8563:

3. If someone really did something accidentally a bit, I’ve seen no evidence that Anet has perma-banned them. People are perma-banned for SERIOUSLY exploiting. Will the occasional person be unfairly banned. Maybe. Without those bans, could the entire game economy be ruined for everyone. Sure. Given that situation, I’d feel bad for the person wrongly banned but I’d still think the company is doing the right thing.

I see, so you feel that innocent players being banned without reason or by mistake is reasonable collateral damage?

Vayne.8563:

4. Anet has set the bar for what an exploit is pretty kitten high. Plenty of people exploited a bit and didn’t get banned. You’re making it sound like OMG all these poor innocent people got banned. Ever walk into a prison? Everyone didn’t do it. What are the odds?

So you’re saying they’re all guilty? They MUST have done something wrong if they’re banned despite them claiming to be totally oblivious as to why?

Vayne.8563:

In general, keeping people from exploiting is a positive thing for an MMO to do, not a negative thing.

Agreed. Who claimed otherwise?

Vayne.8563:

Crazylegsmurphy.6430:

Here is a question for those who claim exploiting is obvious to spot.

You’re running along and notice a group of 20 rats in some cave. You realize that if you stick around and stomp a few, you can quickly get your daily, and lifetime indiscriminate achievements.

Is this an exploit, or part of the game? Why?

If you were banned a few days later for an exploit, yet were never told what the exploit was, would you assume it was due to the rats, or something else?

I’ve never seen Anet ban people for an exploit that doesn’t affect the in game economy or direct competition such as PvP or WvW. Plenty of people stop rats in caves for their daily and their achievement.

Do you know someone banned for this? I certainly haven’t heard of anyone.

I didn’t ask if anyone has ever seen anyone banned for this. I asked if you would consider this an exploit or not?

Please give it another read and let me know what you think.

xEternia.9564:

Anyone has any idea what this “exploit” is?
To be banned without any information feels silly.
And is there any note about this supposed “exploit” and any prominent warning about using it?

Have sent a ticket, please expedite =>
Incident: 130418-000891

Wouldn’t that be great?! I would love to know how to avoid this.

Just a quick question.

If ANet offered you custom, one-on-one support for anything you needed, at the cost of gems/money, would you use such a service?

Here is a question for those who claim exploiting is obvious to spot.

You’re running along and notice a group of 20 rats in some cave. You realize that if you stick around and stomp a few, you can quickly get your daily, and lifetime indiscriminate achievements.

Is this an exploit, or part of the game? Why?

If you were banned a few days later for an exploit, yet were never told what the exploit was, would you assume it was due to the rats, or something else?

Vayne.8563:

Oh please! Are you really saying that someone who comes along, looks at a vendor, sees ten of one type of thing for 2 gold and sees 1 of the same thing for 2 s, doesn’t know that there’s an error somewhere?

Okay let’s say you bought the thing for 2 silver. That doesn’t earn you a ban. But if you bought 500 of them and used the mystic forge to get better stuff, which they you then listed on the trading post…obviously that’s a bug in the game, or typo.

Those who bought a dozen of them weren’t banned. Only the worst offenders are banned, and if they know exactly what they’re doing.

Add to the mix that people who sent in mails to support had their accounts unbanned as long as they agreed to a roll back.

We can argue specific examples, but its pointless. What we need to remember is the following:

1. MMOs are complex

2. Not everyone has the same experience with specific game mechanics, or MMOs

3. No information is provided by ANet, leaving it in the players hands to decide what is, and isn’t an exploit

4. Not everyone wants to exploit, and many don’t want to get banned

5. Not everything is black and white.

Angelyne.2936:

Can someone explain what exploit was that, what part of the game affected (don’t need to know how in detail).

That’s exactly what I’ve been requesting from ANet. I don’t want to exploit! I want to continue playing this game for a long time. But I need some information to make informed choices.

I need to know what not to do, so I can avoid doing it. If I know that, I can feel confident in knowing that I would login to find myself banned for something I had no idea I was doing.

Reikou.7068:

Because to be honest, most of the people are just playing the game the way its meant to be played. Anet then comes and retroactively claims something you are doing is an exploit and then bans you.

In the current form of the EULA, Anet does not attempt to define “Exploit,” and thus literally anything and everything you do in game can be labeled as an “exploit,” and result in a ban. This is fully in their legal right, but honestly very bad customer service.

Agreed.

When the law can switch without warning, and players are deemed guilty without given proper information, you’re left with little options.

Most people assume exploiters are these devious players with long mustaches that systematically test the system like the Raptors in Jurassic Park, but in reality a lot of players are likely playing the game and assuming its meant to be that way.

I’ve argued before that in a complex, fantasy setting, players are bombarded with conflicting and inconsistent information all the time. Depending on a players experience level with the game, or the genre in general, it can greatly influence their ability to recognize something out of place.

The problem is when these players are lumped in with those few who are actively trying to circumvent the system.

Until players, and game companies start to understand that players have a vested interest in seeing games succeed, they will start being open and honest about what isn’t supposed to happen in game.

I don’t want to exploit. I want to have a long and fun experience with this MMO, but ANet doesn’t give me the tools I need to make informed choices. They leave it in my best judgment to decide what is, or isn’t an exploit, then reserve the right to tell me my uninformed choice was the wrong one.

And my punishment for making an uninformed choice? Suspension or lifetime ban.

You assume that everyone knows they’re exploiting.

P.s. this thread will be locked.

This is why leader boards are of little use, and why I am not interested in them, or being on them.

The way they’re currently set up, it appears unfair to those who do care. I don’t think daily/monthlies should count at all.

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.

Step 1: Zoom Out
Step 2: Position Camera above head
Step 3: Methodically walk the SAB in a grid pattern taking a screen shot every 10 steps
Step 4: Use Photoshops stitch function to put it all together

Should only take you…oh…. two or three months…give or take.

The last few days my girlfriend and I have made use of the dragon timers for the first time in order to get some of the achievements we were missing.

I never realized until this point how many people camp the dragons for loot.

Standing there for 20 minutes gave me time to ponder this, and in the end I found it very sad. The reason is that you have these epic dragons in the world, but they are reduced to tasks or loot machines.

In my eyes a dragon landing in the role should be an epic event. It should be something that causes word to ripple throughout Tyria, and players to run from all over to experience. Bringing down a dragon should be something that causes everyone to cheer and talk a out for days. And the loot, the sweet loot that should accompany a dragon kill should be sought after and revered.

I understand that ANet wants to give everyone a chance to participate in this content, but these clockwork events are making the game stale.

Take the Maw for example. Does anyone even care about that event? All it takes is a, “Maws up” in map chat and people run the same predictable paths, line up in the same predictable places, and do what they do every day.

I think ANet meets to consider adding some real dynamic content. Content that isn’t on a timer, or in the same place every time. Imagine what would happen if a dragon showed up randomly one day in Queensdale. First, people would be confused and shocked. Second, the word would fly across the worlds so fast it would be amazing to watch.

As more players rushed to participate in the battle, it would become more, and more epic. In the end, IF the dragon was beaten, it would be talked about for days.

I look forward to a day when dragons aren’t on timers.

I have a love/hate relationship with the new SAB pets.

Ever since they were introduced into the game, I’ve struggled with accepting them. Below is what I believe to be the good, and not so good things about them.

Negative Aspects

- They’re annoying to listen to

Whenever they’re out, they produce this, “rrrrwrrrrrrwrrrrr” sound along with their 8-bit sounds that is super loud and annoying. At first I could figure out where the sound was coming from, and I ran off trying to get away from it. I eventually realized it was the pets, and haven’t displayed them since.

- Blue Glow & Dance Show

Other pets, in general tend to blend into the game. A lot of people have pets running around, but they’re not often that much of a distraction. The SAB pets on the other hand, stand out a tad too much.

The blue glow, the noise, and the constant movement make them quite distracting in the real world.

Positive Aspects

- They look awesome!

I think most would agree that these pets are awesome. I struggle with which one I would rather have following me.

- Super Adventure Sound

The sounds they make (note: not the rwrrrwwww), is awesome. If the sounds happened less frequently I would have no complaints.

In the end I struggle with these pets. I would like to see them patched to become a tad less distracting. This of course may lead to a influx of pets running around, but it would be cool to see while the SAB is active.

“Nintendo hard” means nothing.

For me, I was never able to pass Mega Man 1, Battletoads, Ninja Gaiden, and a bunch of others. However, my friend, while awesome at those games, found games like Zelda, and Dragon Warrior to be impossible.

SAB has, in my opinion found a near perfect balance between being difficult, and bing annoying. As I’ve mentioned above, aside from one or two places that push the game engine to its limit, making unnecessary difficulty, SAB has been one of the most pleasurable experiences in GW2.

The reason is that the players can choose how difficult to make the game. You can play through on infantile mode, or normal mode. You can choose to get all the baubles, or run straight for end bosses.

My concerns are the same as Pixelpumpkin above though when it comes to difficulty. In a video interview, Josh mentioned how because not everyone likes jumping puzzles, he added the “infantile Mode”. What Josh failed to mention are those players who love jumping puzzles, yet struggle with them on the best of days.

I hope the SAB continues to allow players off all levels to participate and not become another, “Clock Tower”.

Anyway, long story short….SAB is awesome!

In my opinion, you can never go wrong by using proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

In Guild Wars 2, I strive to form proper sentences when I have the time. During battle or when time is limited, I will resort to shorthand.

I honestly wouldn’t worry about it. As long as you avoid the common ones such as as all caps, you should be fine.

WatchTheShow.7203:

Josh Foreman.8250:

WatchTheShow.7203:

3. I use my mouse to turn. Always have. I don’t have a problem with the corner jumping. I don’t understand why some people can’t or won’t use their mouse? It’s really not that hard.

Well it IS hard if you have bad lag, have arthritis in your hands, only have one hand, or perhaps some kinds of dyslexia. I honestly wish to make my content accessible to as many as possible, while still retaining difficult optional parts. Easy mode was really important to me as it provides some form of access to the content for those who wouldn’t normally be able to succeed in this kind of content due to whatever reason. But ultimately not everyone can do well in Super Mario Bros. Not everyone can do well in SAB.

True, and I was thinking about war veterans and elderly folks when I posted, but I figured that was what the infantile mode was for. Really there’s only 1, maybe 2 corner jumps in all of the zones combined, so sucking it up and mouse turning for that 1 jump really isn’t so bad (again, only referring to people who have no disabilities). I was more or less aiming my post at the people who just prefer keyboard turning, and won’t even give mouse turning a try. It’s not for the people who can’t, it’s for the people that won’t.

I have given mouse turning a try. In fact in other games such as Batman: Arkham Asylum/City I have no issues using the mouse in this manner. The difference for me (and I assume others) is that mouse movement in GW2 just doesn’t “feel” right.

Believe me, having completed all but three jumping puzzles, there have been times I wish I could control my player with the mouse. I still have Skipping Stones ahead of me and I’m pretty sure it’s a lost cause with the keyboard.

For the most part though, by taking my time and aligning my character perfectly, I’ve been able to get by. The jump around the roots in SAB is one of the only jumps I’ve encountered where no matter how hard I tried, the keyboard just didn’t work.

For those with disabilities I don’t know if they’ll ever pass that part. I wouldn’t argue so much if the secret room contained an additional bonus, but because it’s part of the bauble completion, it does mean that for some, that achievement will have to be abandoned.

Pirlipat.2479:

pownguin.9205:

Crazylegsmurphy.6430:

Is there any way to opt out of the leaderboards?

Why would you want to?

Because I think it’s noones business to know what rank I have. And I do not appear in that ranking yet but they already said that the list will include more people so it’s totaly possible that one day I will appear there.

Exactly.

It’s sort of like running a marathon for breast cancer research and having your times, distance, speed, etc. all broadcast on live TV. Not everyone is interested in competing, and not everyone is comfortable having their names/servers displayed online for all to see.

There is a thread currently going about privacy concerns in GW2, and this, to me is another example of my account name/details being broadcast to everyone.

Just let me opt in. If I am interested in going head-to-head with others online, then I will add my name to the leaderboards.

hildegain.2106:

It’s how the system is implemented that’s debatable and some people are getting overly paranoid and having a nice feud over it.

Perhaps you wouldn’t mind answering a few questions of my own?

1. Why does anyones personal reasons for wanting to remain private concern you?
2. Why do you feel it necessary to belittle other peoples experiences?

For those who have been on the receiving end of abuse (in-games or out) it is very real, and very serious. By chalking it up to nothing but paranoia and/or drama, you are victim blaming.

Lets be perfectly clear here. Abusers have no place in this game in the first place. Bullying, stalking, or gathering personal information should be a bannable offence, no if, ands or buts.

It’s unfortunate that threads like this even exist, because like many other real world examples, the last thing we should be doing is allowing this behaviour to be tolerated in game. Unfortunately, the reality is that we can’t expect others to always have our best interests in mind. This is why we need tools (and laws) to protect ourselves against those who would seek to harm us.

When it comes to a video game, allowing users to effectively control who can interact with them in-game and online, is something that should have been implemented from square one. Even 13 year old programs like MSN Messenger have basic security features to protect users from abuse.

Online abuse is very real, and serious. We need more people like Snow White demanding tools and policies that protect us, and less people like you who trivialize everything.

To be honest, I have no idea what “QQ” even means.

Is there any way to opt out of the leaderboards?

Hicci.8761:

I just have to comment since this feels like such a weird topic. First of all yes, privacy is important, no matter where you are. I also agree that you should have to accept the friend request before they can actually see you.

Still, all this brings up a question: WHO and WHY would anyone actually “stalk” you in-game to that extent where you start feel uncomfortable…And why do you care? If it’s some bitter brat who you kicked out of a party because he was slowing you and your partys progress, you could just easily report him. Or is it some other in-game drama, which I honestly don’t understand anyways.

Does it really matter the reason they do it? The reason stalkers stalk, and bullies…bull…is really irrelevant here. What matters is the result it has on the person on the receiving end.

Bullying/stalking doesn’t always start in-game. Sometimes the game can simply become a convenient tool for these people to continue what they started previously.

For example, when my girlfriend was in university, she had a stalker that started in real life. As it progressed this person was able to use her forum nicknames and email addresses to see her online status. Eventually by using the information gathered online, he was able to find out, and purchase the games she was currently playing. This allowed him to further keep tabs on her, and because she lived alone, he was able to deduce that because she was online in-game, she was obviously at home, and would show up at her door.

This of course was quite a while back, and some things have changed in terms of privacy (she also learned better privacy techniques since then), but it may help to show how these things can progress.

The point is, we have to be very careful not to blame the victim in these situations. Brushing off privacy concerns by saying someone is being overly sensitive, stupid, unrealistic, unreasonable, dramatic, or whatever, takes the responsibility off the people who act without consent, and game developers.

One thing to understand is that online stalking isn’t always about what the other person may, or may not do to you. Sure, we can sit here and come up with a million different “stalker” horror stories, but in reality it can often be about power.

The constant pressure of knowing you have no privacy from someone can be very stressful. If someone in game has the ability to constantly remind you that they’re forcing themselves into your life, and that your only recourse is to stop playing, it can be very hard to deal with.

It can also be hard for those who find themselves in bullying situations. It can be psychologically stressful to know that a person/people can essentially find, and follow you in-game.

I can’t speak to how often these situations occur, but even if they’re happening to a small percentage of players, doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter. As I said, all gamers have the right to privacy in game. ANet needs to be aware of potential problems, and take the steps necessary to make sure everyone has a great gaming experience.

Mirta,

Exactly!

My account name should not be public information on here, or in-game. Sure, I realize we all need usernames, but why is my username displayed in-game as well?

For me, the difference between the forums, and in-game is that if my forum experience is being ruined by others, I can easily avoid the forums. If someone (or a group of people) in-game decides to make my life hell, then the whole reason for being here is threatened.

I should have the ability as a player to choose what information other see. If I want to post on these forums with a different username, then I should be able to. If I want to hide my username, location, online status, to other in game, I should be able to.

Here are my concerns with how the current system works.

In game, other players can easily gather enough information to make life hard for others. Take my username for example. Unless I’m mistaken, that username was assigned to me when I signed up for these forums.

That is the same username that is displayed to all players in-game. Because I don’t have many tools available to me to limit the amount of information others can see about me while I’m online, it opens the door for abuse.

Imagine that I’m online and someone decides to plug my username into Google, or on these forums. They can very quickly find every post I’ve ever made on here. If I happen to be one of those who has an account on another website, they can start putting together information about me such as my age, location, sex, etc.

As gamers we should have the opportunity to control what information others see. While it may not seem like a big deal to some, there are situations where online stalking, bullying, and identity theft are a very real possibility.

Some people don’t care, but for those who have found themselves on the receiving end of an unpleasant situation, not having the ability to protect oneself is a big deal. Everyone should feel safe when playing games online. No one deserves to have their gaming experience ruined because a company doesn’t understand or care about privacy. I really hope ANet starts to take security more seriously.

Great job bringing this up Snow White.

Pixelpumpkin.4608:

By the way, here’s my suggestion for that one; how about putting one of those rooty trees on ground level somewhere in zone 2, so you can use that to practice the corner jumping without losing a life every time? It is world 1 after all (If there is one, I haven’t spotted it, at least not in zone 2.)

I think this is a fair compromise. I suppose if I could actually have jumps or test jumps where I could start to learn and expect the game mechanic change, then it wouldn’t seem suddenly so hard.

There are a few corner jumps in the first few zones, but nothing as extreme as jumping around an entire structure. I think Pixelpumpkin’s suggestion would at least allow those of us who aren’t mouse jumpers to practice a bit.

Rising Dusk.2408:

Josh Foreman.8250:

Crazylegsmurphy.6430:

but this particular area pushes the limitations of the engine too far in my opinion. We eventually got the achievement, but in the end it was difficult for all the wrong reasons.

You’re probably right. We don’t have much lag at the office, so I never ran into the problem. I’ll see if I can break that up a bit and compensate by getting some super annoying monkeys in there.

No, Josh, please don’t change that! That was the only part of the whole world 1 that was a legitimate challenge for me. They were all ‘edge’ jumps, which is to say I had to plan the jump perfectly and bounce in place a few times to line it up. I did it all while standing up and without inciting the lay-down animation either. I would, personally, be very sad if you changed this. If you want to make it easier, give easy mode some clouds that let you get to the top easily, but don’t change the way the normal mode plays. (Remember, players, you can get the bauble and upgrade achievements in easy mode!)

I’m not sure we’re talking about the same thing. Easy mode does not help in this particular area.

I don’t think it needs to be easier at all actually. The problem is more that it’s difficult because the game engine (at least on my machine) tends to fail quite often. This makes what should be a nice challenge into a inconsistent, and annoying task.

I personally love the concept. Those jumping/bouncing puzzles are very reminiscent of old games. If there was some way to smooth out the way the game engine behaves, it would be a very cool experience. Perhaps Josh’s idea of breaking it up with a ledge or two would be enough to at least give players a chance to do it without having to rage quit.

Either way, I hope something can be done. I really look forward to more of the same types of puzzles.

I found that its easier when the game glitches out and you’re laying flat. The reason is that the landing animation is confusing and creates a strange visual delay.

If you’re stuck laying flat, you’ll easily be able to see when to jump because it actually seems to solve the camera issues as well. The one jump near the top is a pretty far distance, but it can be reached if you get close to the edge of the mushroom

Either way, this section needs to be reevaluated. It’s simply too inconsistent. And buggy to be fun.

Welcome to the world of ANet support. I just recently dealt with them for another issue and I can tell you, “support” is a term I would use very loosely.

I believe the problem is that they simply aren’t required, properly trained, or given the power to really do much of anything beyond formulating cut n’ pasted replies. It’s like calling the customer service for mobile phones or ISP’s.

At least in those cases you can request to talk to someone in charge, but ANet bounces support tickets around to various people, which means that the story must be explained and understood by every new person. The problem is of course when one of those people just wants to go home for the day and fires off a generic response.

I sympathize with your situation. I wish ANet would come up with a better solution for dealing with events that lead to account termination.

In all honesty, my advice would be to not let it go. Continue to pursue it on, and off this website. I think too many people simply grow frustrated and give up. But this only serves to reinforce the spotty customer service.

I. Hate. That. Puzzle!!!

It’s terrible, and unrealistic. I got the achievement, left the chest, and never looked back.

Funny video!

The total size for the GW2 file on my PC is about 16gigs.

ANet has a terrible, terrible installer that doesn’t seem to support pausing, or network disconnects.

It took me a while to download at first because my wifi at the time was a tad lame.

My suggestion is to see about borrowing a physical CD of the game, or…well…other ways I can’t suggest here.