Guild Wars 2

I suppose my problem with the current policy is that the punishment seems to be quick, harsh, and generally unforgivable. We’ve all dedicated a lot of time and / or money into this game, and the thought of having all of that taken away due to some over sensitive, vengeful, or misinformed person.

For example, let’s say my girlfriend are in a party as we often are. We’re questing and decide to pull in a third for help. During that time my girlfriend are talking to each other and perhaps I mention, or reference something personal, or based on our personal views.

Now, here are a few facts.

1. No one knows we’re dating. Not this other party, or ANet.
2. Our conversation may appear very inappropriate to someone who has differing views, or tolerance levels.
3. There is a lot of room for subjective interpretation.

So, this third party is playing and decides that the way I am talking to my girlfriend (which they’re unaware of), is inappropriate, or objectionable. They can report me, and because ANet also isn’t aware of my relationship status, I could favce a permanent ban without warning.

I understand the polices are in place to stop harassment, and to make the game accessible and fun for all, but the problem is that the policy is way to open to interpretation, and doesn’t follow proper procedures to allow for context.

It’s sad that so many feel that they must resort to third party methods of communicating. As a someone who enjoys the role playing aspect, I’m also disheartened because it makes it risky to do so. In a game designed to be social, (what is the point of it being massively multiplayer) it’s risky to be social.

So, in the end, because I can’t guarantee everyone will find my humor, language, cultural references, personal conversations, or occasional venting, appropriate, I’ll just refrain from being social until ANet refines thier policy.

Im actually quite stunned that ANet is not more conscious of accessibility issues…especially one as common as colorblindness.

Personally, I think this should be a top concern.

Godmoney.2048:

I wouldn’t trust any chat in game. I was 3 day banned for mentioning a flesh light in a joke. Literally the only thing I said. I wasn’t arguing with anyone, harassing or any of the above. I simply made a short quip about a flesh light and was almost instantly banned.

I would assume this.

You work in a large corp with a very strict HR department. There is a girl at work taht you’re not attracted to but you enjoy talking with her occasionally. One day you can tell she got a new haircut and you say “Hey, I really like your haircut” She smiles and says “thanks!” The next day you are called into the office with no explanation and fired on the spot.

Just imagine if you and your girlfriend break up and she’s resentful……..there goes your 1000 hour account. They will ban you for things way way less vulgar than swearing. It is probably best to avoid using chat entirely.

This is exactly why I’m asking this question. Swearing and questionable language is very subjective. Where you’re from, what your background, or religious affiliation is, can all shape to what degree someone takes offense to something.

Because it seems like the policy seems to be to hand out bans based on someone else’s reporting, I am very concerned about how easily this can be abused. While I understand that ANet employees must review the claim, I’m not convinced they always have the time or interest to know the whole story.

It’s kind of an guilty until proven innocent approach. I’m very concerned that people with varying degrees of tolerance, have the power to have my account banned.

Personally, I think the reporting system should work via a threshhold system. If someone is doing something truely bad, they’ll get reported quite frequently. The odd fight, disagreement, or issue can easily be solved by using the block, or profanity filter options.

Only when a player has had multiple hits against them are they investigated. The player should have the right to plead thier case before facing a ban. If they’re found guilty the, sure, hand out suspensions.

I dunno, all I know is that this report/review/ban system seems way too open to misinterpretations, revenge, and/or tolerance levels. I think the penalty is much to harsh, and it scares me to hear of people getting banned for simple jokes, not meant to harm, or troll.

With all the talk of people getting banned for language (which I think is totally redicilous of ArenaNet), I am wondering if it applies to all chat.

For example, if my girlfriend and I are flirting with each other, or my buddy and I are going at each other in private chat, is it A) monitored and saved by ArenaNet? B ) a bannable offense?

What is the policy regarding role-playing? My girlfriend and I enjoy the role playing aspect, and have convinced her old group of RPGers to join, if part of the character is to use mild language between ourselves, will we see bans?

I am broke.

I’m simply not making enough in the trading post. Because so many people are selling at the same price as vendors, and the 30% tax, I’m not able to profit of my costly Armour and jewelery builds.

What advice can you give for selling things in a market saturated by items selling at cut throat prices?

In WoW I used to build up bundles of things and sell them in bulk. This would usually result in some nice returns, but GW2 doesn’t work like that. I’m not completely sure where to go from here. It seems as though crafting isn’t worth it while the market is flooded.

vic.7065:

When you buy stuff in the gem store you will be asked whether or not you want to save your credit card information for future purchases.

True, but that doesn’t mean it’s secure. How can I be sure the payment system is safe in game and not being exploited by hackers? We’ve seen people able to run bots and such that effect the game for everyone, and exploits, and questionable security measures by ArenaNet, how can I be sure it’s safe?

I submitted this to ArenaNet as well. I prefer my UI to be set to small, but it means the text in the BLTP is near impossible to read.

I’ve been thinking about this and I have come to the conclusion it would be cheaper for ArenaNet to just refund everyone who has had their accounts compromised.

The company seems to be spending a huge amount of time and resources dealing with hacked accounts, which must cut into any profits they’ve made from the initial sale.

Why not just offer refunds to the credit cards that are associated with the accounts and let the player re-purchase the game? Sure, they may have to use a new email address, but they really should be doing this anyway.

It would be the fasted way of getting players back in the game no?

While I understand that most of the current account “hacking” is due to information acquired via other sources, it is obvious that there is a systematic attempt to steal account information, and/or accounts.

I purchased gems in the trading post, and was not given any indication it was secure. How can I be guaranteed my credit card information is safe when using Guild Wars 2 in light of all the hacking attempts?

Hello fellow Apple users,

I have created this thread in an attempt to allow us Apple users to collaborate and hopefully find the best settings for running Guild Wars 2.

Below I have outlined my current settings for running the game. If you have a Mac, please post your computer and results in the same format.

Computer:

PC – 17-Inch, Late 2009
OS – Windows 7
RAM – 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
CPU – 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
GPU – Nvidia GeForce 96000m GT – 512MB
Driver – GeForce 306.02 Driver BETA – August 27, 2012

Guild Wars 2:

REZ – 1920 × 1600

Refresh – Default
Animation – Low
Anti-Aliasing – None
Environment – Low
LOD Distance – Low
Reflections – None
Textures – Low
Render Sampling – Native
Shadows – Low
Shaders – Low
Post Processing – Low

[off] – Best Texture Filtering
[off] – Depth Blur
[off] – High-Res Character Textures
[off] – Vertical Sync

Performance:

FPS (High Pop) – 8 – 20
FPS (Low Pop) – 20 – 40

Notes:

I messed with the graphic settings for the better part of an hour and found that whether I set the settings to low, and the resolution to low, I was getting roughly the same performance (within 4-5 FPS). I opted to go with the native resolution and the current settings as I can get playable FPS when questing (cities kinda suck).

I have been setting the CPU priority to “High”, but I’m not sure it has much effect.

Yoshi,

This exploit does allow me to potentially make double the money that other players can. The problem is that it’s not clear whether it’s an exploit, or just part of how the game works. I have asked my guild and they aren’t sure either.

Some of my friends continue to take advantage of this, and some are on the fence. The general consensus is that it’s no our responsibility to take detailed notes about the game to make sure we’re not exploiting it. (sorry can’t go into more detail).

I have no problem not doing what I’m doing, but I’ll be a little peeved if I find out that it’s actually considered totally cool, and I’ve missed out on a lot of gain by trying to do what I thought was the right thing.

I feel like I’m the one being penalized for trying to do the right thing. I’m the one who risks getting banned if I mention, or take part in what may, or may not be an exploit. ArenaNet has not stated they’ll make a public statement, or even message me back, and so we’re all sitting here wondering what to do.

I think the problem I have with the policy regarding “strong language” and getting banned is that this is very subjective. Because this game is played in by many different people, in many different countries, with many different tolerance levels, it’s almost impossible to not offend someone.

For example, as a Canadian, I’m not particularly offended by the term “kitten”, and so if I read that in-game, I would think nothing of it. However, someone from the UK may take more offence, and report players using that word.

In my opinion I think that the policy should reflect the rating on the box. The game is currently rated T for TEEN. On the official ESRB website it explains what this means:

“TEEN
Titles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older. Titles in this category may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language.”

- Crude Humor – Depictions or dialogue involving vulgar antics, including “bathroom” humor
- Strong Language – Explicit and/or frequent use of profanity

http://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.jsp

In my opinion this means that anyone buying this game should expect that these things may be a part of the game. The entire reason for these ratings is so people can make informed decisions about what types of things they subject themselves and their children to.

As well, the game provides users with a built in profanity filter which doesn’t need to exist, but does as an added bonus for those users who decided to accept the games rating.

So, in my opinion, users should not be banned for the use of mild language and/or crude humour in general. What really should matter is context and intent. There is a huge difference between two good friends or role-players having a conversation amongst themselves, and someone actively trolling other players.

Being disruptive, insulting, and annoying through the use of language, or other means is really what should constitute a suspension. Let those who are offended by mild language use the profanity filter, and suspend anyone else who is being disruptive. Anyone else should be safe under the terms set out by the games rating.

A few days ago I submitted what may be considered an exploit to the email address provided by ArenaNet. The problem is, I’m now confused as to what to do.

According to ArenaNet’s policy anyone publicly promoting an exploit risks being suspended or banned. However, even asking if the exploit is in fact an exploit is considered promotion of said exploit.

This leaves me in a bit of a bind. Without fully knowing if what I’m doing is an exploit, I run the risk of having my account suddenly suspended or banned, yet if it isn’t, by being a responsible gamer, I risk losing out on an opportunity that could help my character advance.

So, my question is how are players supposed to know what is, and isn’t an exploit? As someone who isn’t very well versed in MMO’s I have no idea if what I’m doing is even considered bad at all. In fact, it may be expected. However, I’m not able to even ask the question without risking my account.