Guild Wars 2

Despite ArenaNet pushing for secondary authentication, in your case, the default email authentication is actually more secure (unless you’re sharing an IP). By attaching an authenticator to your account, you lost the security that your email provided. The attacker only needed a single code from your authenticator to gain access.

How did the attacker gain your authenticator? Assuming you’re using an app on a mobile device, if you’ve ever connected it to something you’ve found in a public area (a public charging station for example), you can assume it’s compromised. If you’ve used a public wireless connection, assume someone else could see what you were doing. If you’ve ever entered your authenticator’s code and it oddly didn’t work, you were hacked in real time, likely either through phishing or a keylogger (I’ve been able to do this to a friend over their twitch stream – never let someone watch you enter your code since the first one to use it wins).

With enough information, an attacker can also trick support into removing the authenticator. I assume however that it would have reverted to email authentication (but maybe not), which SMS should have prevented. If your device was compromised however it would have allowed someone else to see your texts.

You were likely either phished or someone you know did it.

Alternatively, your authenticator wasn’t stolen at all, but rather your IP was. If you’ve chosen to remember your IP, anyone within your IP range can login without needing the authenticator. If you’re using a free VPN for example, you’re likely sharing it with a lot of hackers already. If you only use the IP that has been given to you by your ISP however, then only a few people (likely on the same ISP) would be sharing it, unless your ISP leases private IPs, in which case everyone on that ISP is sharing it.

In this case, your computer is either compromised with a remote access trojan, or someone you probably know in your daily life did it.

If you bought the game from buy.guildwars2.com within the last 30 days, you can contact support to request a refund.

Note that healing will only be useful in raids and raids are not designed for PuGs. As a guild group, your raid should be scheduled, thus you shouldn’t have to wait on someone. I doubt full healing builds will even be required, assuming ArenaNet didn’t cave and take the easy way out. If you’re a group of bad players however, you will find healing very useful, since you’ll need to save people who like to stand in fire.

Aristide de Beaumont.8623:

And it’s back.

If you don’t want to see it, simply change your system’s clock or block GW2 from accessing the URL https://s3.amazonaws.com/gw2-loading-info/v2/dates.json

Run Gw2.exe directly as an administrator. If you’re using the -shareArchive command line option, note that you cannot modify your settings while it’s enabled.

Your Windows user account could be corrupted. You can try setting up a new temporary user account as a test.

Beldin.5498:

Local.dat is under \Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Guild Wars 2

By default, it’s under appdata/Guild Wars 2/. If that one becomes corrupted however, it changes to Documents/Guild Wars 2/, which takes priority (if it exists).

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

The files (the client) are the same whether one has access to HoT, or not.

This is their first actual expansion so that may not be true. Without HoT, you may only have to download a ~5GB patch whereas with it, 10GB+. It depends on how lazily their patcher is implemented, however the streaming client is already capable of doing that.

It doesn’t matter however when it comes to launching multiple accounts, as long as the game is fully updated using the HoT account.

sirsquishy.8531:

what you need is GW2 Multiclient.exe

(alternatively)

Uninstalling the software that contains LavasoftTcpService.dll is the simplest option. Alternatively, if the software supports it, add an exception for GW2. Start by looking for Lavasoft software, such as ad-aware.

LavasoftTcpService.dll is interfering with GW2, which is causing the crash. Find it and stop it.

You’re only reinstalling GW2? That’s a placebo. Deleting everything in the GW2 folder except Gw2.dat and deleting your settings (%appdata%/Guild Wars 2/ and Documents/Guild Wars 2/Local.dat) should have the same effect. Replace the deleted Gw2.exe with Gw2Setup.exe and rename it to Gw2.exe. Also make a copy of Gw2.dat to ensure the disk isn’t corrupted (copying will hang/fail if it is).

2 million (~2 GB) memory usage is not really abnormal.

Just because your ping is fine on something else, doesn’t mean your connection to everything will be good. The route you take to GW2 is going to be very different than something that is located somewhere else. You’d need to use a program like PingPlotter to run a trace over time to catch where the route is failing. That problem is likely being resolved over the time it takes you to install the game. There was/is a bad network in EU for example that would drop packets every day during certain hours.

Ensure that your system drive (usually C:) is not full. A full system drive can cause problems as Windows tries to shift resources around.

You can try disabling all nonessential software using msconfig. Press WindowsKey+R and open msconfig. Under the services tab, check hide all Microsoft services, then disable all. Under the startup tab, click disable all. OK and reboot. If still enabled, add except to your security software for GW2.

Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to bring up the task manager. When the problem occurs, look for other CPU intensive programs.

Queen Jennah? She revealed HoT. She’s also the voice for female sylvari.

Refunds were simply easier to implement, especially if it was a last minute decision.

If they plan on repeating this next expansion, the refund probably will be displayed as a discount (in-game upgrade option).

If you’re copy/pasting what the support page says, you’ll need to put -diag (your second example) instead of –diag (your first example).

Instead of using a shortcut, you can also simply enter the path directly into a folder’s address bar. For example, if Gw2.exe is located under C:\Games\Guild Wars2\, enter C:\Games\Guild Wars 2\Gw2.exe -diag

If you do not know where it is, simply right click the shortcut and select open file location (or properties, then open file location under the shortcut tab)

ohginge.7809:

It’s not the USB because the back lighting does not go off and it is doing it in other USB ports.

That’s doesn’t mean it’s not the USB. One of the pins on the USB plug could be damaged while the other pin that supplies power still works fine, or there could be a small break in the wire. The chip controlling the keys or the keys themselves could also be damaged. If the entire keyboard becomes unresponsive for a short time, the drivers are likely crashing.

Check the plug for any visible damage and do the same for the port, which could be full of dust for example. If it came with drivers, uninstall them and try the default generic drivers, then try installing the latest drivers available for it. You may also want to check for any firmware updates for the keyboard. Unplug all other USB devices as a test.

If the problem happens regularly, you can try booting into safe mode as a simple way to ensure that other software isn’t causing problems.

You may want to look into updating the BIOS for your motherboard. If you motherboard supports it try disabling 3.0 in favor of 2.0.

Lastly, contact the manufacture or return the product.

Loli Ruri.8307:

Ah thanks for this information. But what happens if somebody uses a pre-paid MasterCard? You can’t refund credits back to those things.

There shouldn’t be any problems like this, since support would reject the refund request. Personally, I would still wait ~3 days however since there’s no reason to rush at this time and I’d rather avoid the 0.001% chance of getting locked out of my account for ~1 week.

Mordliss.4270:

This is the reason these issues don’t get corrected, because when people justify a broken system, it stays in place.

Justification? No. Risk management. Even if their system was working flawlessly, your bank could see the transaction as suspicious and force a chargeback, which has happened in the past. Although these problems can be very rare, I’d still rather avoid them.

There is a physical pre-purchase edition, but the actual physical standard edition will not be available until after launch. It sounds like you’ve pre-ordered the standard edition. In that case, you will not receive the free character slot, which is granted by simply applying a HoT serial key before launch.

Loli Ruri.8307:

Oh boy, and from the official website too. I still have to buy my copy of HoT. Looks like I could end up facing a bumpy ride as well.

Easily avoidable by buying it through the website and waiting 3-7 days to apply the key.

There’s no risk if it gets refunded before you apply it.

StrangerDanger.3496:

Hey, I’m a new player. WTH is this with the red icons? What am I suppose to do when I see someone with it? What does all this mean?

The red icon is ArenaNet’s logo. The ArenaNet guild has a custom guild tag which shows their logo instead of [anet]. You can assume that anyone with that logo works at ArenaNet, though there can be exceptions. Keep in mind that they’re not all developers either. In this case for example, Gaile Gray is the forum communications lead.

Dradiin.8935:

Please A-net, fill just one 20 slot bag with containers that have full stacks then salvage them all and come tell us the players what you think of doing that is like.

20 × 250 bags? That’d take the average player more than a year to acquire. If you’re going to do all that in a single sitting, of course it’s going to be tedious.

SW chest farming will soon be nerfed, which will help alleviate your problem.

Simply use a macro to spam clicks or simply rebind your entire keyboard to mouse clicks and roll your face around. Optionally use the rarity color coding to help automate the salvaging process.

If you are no longer able to generate your authenticator’s code and you didn’t save the original secret key to recreate it, you’ll need to contact support to get it removed.

Assuming you installed GW2 at the same time you created your account, right click the folder and select properties to see the date it was created.

If you registered the account at the same time you purchased it, you can just look at the receipt.

If you’ve never changed your password before, you can login to account.arena.net and view its source. Search for “last_password_change” to see the date your password was set, which if you’ve never changed, would be the date the account was registered.

Danikat.8537:

I’ve heard they are but also heard they were going to do it and then change their minds and not seen sources for either statement.

The increase to ascended stats was listed in the patch notes that were released early to certain people for the LA patch. The change was cancelled. The only way ascended will be increased now is through infusions, which was actually the original plan.

To be eligible for the refund, the account had to be purchased from buy.guildwars2.com between January 23 and June 16 and the code had to be used within that timespan.

To receive the refund, you simply had to pre-purchase HoT through buy.guildwars2.com. The price you paid for the original game would have been automatically refunded.

The deadline was July 31 however, so this deal is expired.

Bishop.6120:

You need 100 bolts or 300 scraps of silk to do your daily cooldown. I farmed Highpeaks Waypoint today with 300% magic find for 30 minutes. I got 13 scraps of silk. I played in WvW for 6 hours yesterday and got 18 bolts. These drop rates are out of whack.

Due to the personal loot system, loot in GW2 is balanced around the community as a whole, so if you want to see a decent score, you’ll need to use the trading post. It’s why loot can appear to be so bad on an individual level, but step back and it’s far better for the group as a whole compared to other MMOs.

13 scraps in 30 minutes by specifically farming them, vs ~200 scraps in 30 minutes by farming gold and relying on buy orders.

zeldara.4127:

I have no idea what exactly you want to say or ask

“Anybody that paid for the (original) game should get Heart of Thorns for free.”

“Since the game is now free and Heart of Thorns is the same price as the original game, it should be given to existing players for free.”

(maybe)

uhohhotdog.3598:

They should really just move the key to a higher level point in the story. If people really want to go through 30 or more levels just to get a key then why not.

They basically did considering you get keys from the personal story at level 40, 60 and from S2E6.

You can see a behind the scenes on creating hair styles:

She uses Maya, ZBrush and Photoshop.

Sounds like you’re trying to use a broken shortcut.

Locate Gw2.exe and run it. Alternatively, locate Gw2.dat, which should be around 20 GB. Gw2.exe should be in the same folder as Gw2.dat. If it’s not, download Gw2Setup.exe, rename it to Gw2.exe and place it with Gw2.dat.

To prevent some problems, move the folder from “C:\Program Files (x86)\Guild Wars 2” to somewhere else like “C:\Games\Guild Wars 2\”. Program Files is a restricted directory, so you’ll need to run Gw2.exe as an administrator if you want to keep it there.

There are no official options to do so. Using the (default) streaming option however, you can begin playing about 30% through.

You can try using a different server to download from. You can find some of the asset servers listed on http://gw2status.de/. You use them by using a command like this:

Gw2.exe -assetsrv 174.35.52.86

Unofficially, there has been torrents for Gw2.dat, but I wouldn’t count on finding any live ones.

Email authentication is still a thing, however ArenaNet has decided that it is not enough. It is good enough if you know what you’re doing, but the problem is, most people don’t, so email authentication is pointless when they additionally get their email hacked (but then they have much bigger problems to worry about) or casually accept the IP verification request.

The alternative to SMS is using an authenticator. Any device that can display a web page can run an authenticator. For Windows, WinAuth is recommended. Unlike SMS, you can setup your authenticator on as many devices as you want by simply using the authenticator’s secret key that you’re given during setup. That is also its downside however, since the authenticator is useless if that key is ever compromised. If you have a USB drive, simply stick your authenticator on there. If not, simply write down your secret key on a piece of paper and carry it with you whenever you’re planning to use it somewhere else.

It might have simply scanned Gw2.exe as it was being written to, causing its signature to be invalid for a brief moment, or your Gw2.exe could be partially corrupted. Simply view its signature manually to confirm.

In short, find and disable the program that contains LavasoftTcpService.dll

50%+ off is very unlikely, but the game will go on sale, just not from ArenaNet. Various official retailers have already had the game on sale for around 20% off, so you can expect to see something similar. After launch, any retailer will also be able to carry copies of GW2, so the cost may be localized at that point if you have to deal with exchange rates.

If you wait that long however, you’ll probably miss a few of the living story episodes, assuming they start it a month after launch, though they may try to bank on Wintersday and hold off until January. Each episode will likely cost 200 gems, so even if you do get 50% off near the end of December, it won’t be as much as it looks (assuming you see the monetary value in gems).

If you see the monetary value in gems, the best deal you’ll likely ever see is pre-purchasing at 20%+ off. Factor in the free $10 character slot and that’s basically 40% off already.

Real world IP locations are only an estimation or provided by the owner of the IP. In this case, the IP is registered to NCSoft’s NA datacenter, hence why some of the geolocation databases will report that. If you bother to trace the IP yourself however, the answer is quite obvious.

206.127.159.154 is located in Frankfurt, Germany.

Eddie Mo.7169:

1) So if I start now, I am no longer able to experience season 1?

Season 1 was played out in real time. Everything that happened is either now gone, or a permanent change to the world. There is currently no way to replay this content, however that is something that they would like to eventually redo in the same format as season 2. For now, all you can do is watch the recap video.

Eddie Mo.7169:

2) If I never play living world, my game will be a certain way until I play season 2? Then those changes made by season 2 will be permanent and I cannot revert it?

No, the open world is the same for everyone.

The living world concept was to create a living world, so all changes to the world are played out in real time regardless of what you as an individual have done. If you look under the story journal, you can see the year that the events occurred. In terms of the story, everyone is assumed to have completed it regardless of if you actually have. If you jump straight into season 2 for example, your character is the commander regardless of if you actually earned that title. Playing through the story now is like reliving events that took place in the past.

Because the world changes, for the best experience, you really want to play it as it’s released. When playing through the personal story for example, you’re sent back to the old Lion’s Arch prior to its destruction which occurred at the end of season 1. The Lion’s Arch that you see today was actually just rebuilt a few months ago. Prior to that, it was in ruins.

Gibson.4036:

I want to know if I purchase HoT when it comes down to a reasonable price, if I’ll also have to pay for all LS installments between HoT launch and then.

According to the HoT site, they’ll be sticking with the ability to unlock it for free by logging in, however, you must own HoT.

If you’re a veteran account and see the $10 value in the free character slot, pre-purchasing the game on sale at ~20% off (some of the official retailers have already offered sales) will likely be the best deal you’ll ever find. I wouldn’t count on seeing any more than 25% off post launch, and 6 months in, ArenaNet will likely repackage it as another heroic edition to keep the price up. The 50%+ off sales that happened to the original game will likely never happen again. By the time that would happen, a new expansion will soon be released to reset the price, and although HoT would be given away for free, the cost of all the missed seasons will likely offset that.

Does that make their new model more clear? Buy HoT for $50 and gain the ability to unlock the living story for free. Skip HoT and buy the next expansion to get HoT for free, but those missed seasons will cost roughly the same price as HoT is now (assuming a season per year @ $20/1600 gems, -20% for the package and 2-3 years per expansion).

In short, the season 2 package that you can buy in the gem store is basically an extension to the personal story. Dry Top and Silverwastes are also a part of season 2, but those are available to everyone for free.

The living world is a concept. The goal was to create a “living” world by changing the game over time. It just means they regularly add content to the game, and it was meant to be equivalent to an expansion over time.

With season 1, they tried to simulate the real world through temporary events that changed the world. The problem with that however was that the old content was overwritten and the temporary events would soon be lost. It was fine for active players, but for everyone else, the game was just losing content and the pace was too quick for casual players to actually play through everything.

With season 2, they separated the story from the changes to the world and for the most part, everything was made permanent. Dry Top and Silverwastes were the two zones added through the season, while the 8 episodes are what tells the story. Originally, they used to call the living world the living story, so personally, I call the episodes the living story, whereas the living world is the idea behind it. You can think of the living story as an extension to the personal story, except it can be replayed and offers a hard mode for achievements.

You can read through all the episodes by following the wiki. You can also join someone else’s instance if you just want to see the story.

The first half goes back and forth between Dry Top and various zones. The second half transitions from Dry Top to the Silverwastes.

200 gems per episode is the original price. The pack was 20% off and now it’s 40%. At 8 episodes, that’s 960 gems (was 1280 at 20%, 1600 at full price).

Doekun.3905:

Tonight, my level 80 toon was getting downed in 1 hit from the vines.

The more people there are near an event, the stronger the enemies. A level 83 can easily do that.

Doekun.3905:

Furthermore, mobs were disappearing out of thin air

Event failed/complete or culling (low model limit).

Doekun.3905:

and nearly EVERY EVENT that showed a reward chest ended in me checking my inventory to find nothing at all.

Bandit crests go in the wallet, everything else can be hidden in stacks. Compare what the loot chest windows says versus what’s added to your inventory.

Unless you’re following the zerg farming bandit chests, you’re not really going to get noticeable loot.

Linken.6345:

A Man you kitten noob I wrecked you
B If I were on so and so class I would so f you up

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Costume_Brawl

Back in beta, the PvP dev said that open world dueling was something they would like to do. It just had no priority. GW2 is based around team combat, so what they ended up offering was just that, team dueling through custom arenas. Guild halls will also offer the ability to duel and I doubt open world dueling will ever be implemented now.

People that normally play together would complain if their dailies were different.

If you want people to spread out, the best they could do is make the tasks less specific. Instead of focusing on a single area, they could give you multiple choices or simply base it on the region. For example, instead of bloodtide coast event completer, it would be krytan even completer or a choice of bloodtide coast, dredgehaunt cliffs or iron marches.

There are hundreds of authenticator apps you could use. Google’s authenticator is an open standard and it’s really not even that difficult to make one yourself.

Here’s a sample, make one yourself: https://jsfiddle.net/agsptqqv/

The x16 slot is usually at the top, so when you look at the back of your computer where all the slots are, your monitor’s cable should be at the top. If there are available slots above it however, chances are they put the GPU in the secondary slot. Since it’s pre-built, I’m guessing it’s either an odd motherboard, the case didn’t fit or they had no idea what they’re doing.

Consult the manual of the motherboard or simply google the model to quickly find out the proper layout. If it’s simply in the wrong slot, fixing it should take no more than a minute.

It’s a very short walk from Lion’s Arch. Simply take the east exit (Cavern Waypoint).

Confirm it’s in the proper slot. Your board has two x16, but one is meant for a dual GPU setup and is only x4.

Also confirm that all power connectors are connected. It generally won’t turn on if it’s not, but some do.

You can assume that raids will be a special 10 player party or a 10 player squad (2 groups). Obviously you’ll have to be 1 group as a whole, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to get into the same instance. If you’re thinking 2 party missions like GW1, no, raids are meant to be challenging 10 player dungeons for coordinated groups; they’re not meant to be PuGd.

Raids are supposed to be challenging. It shouldn’t be hard for your group to split up and be in different locations so that your nearby members get priority. Also consider that half of the raid will likely be dealing with gimmicks, which they’ve vaguely mentioned.

Rikimaru.7890:

So are you sure you want to run raids with a team of 5 players and 5 NPC’s?

I’ll take 1 player and the rest heroes, all manually controlled. That’s how I did all of GW1’s elite areas.

When you purchase a key directly from ArenaNet, you have full control over the account it’s applied to. By contacting support and providing the transaction number and payment information, or by simply forcing a chargeback, you can cause their account to be closed at any time within the next 30-90 days after purchase. I don’t believe you have this option with a paysafe card, however, by using support, you could potentially take control over the account by knowing their personal information along with the serial and transaction information.

Unless you 100% trust the person you’re receiving a key from, it’s only safe to use a serial from a physical sealed copy, or from an official 3rd party vendor since those can’t be refunded and the transaction information can’t be used like a password for support.

If you don’t plan on screwing anyone however, buying the key direct is fine. There have been cases where the bank has automatically refunded the transaction however. To be safe, wait several days to apply the key. There’s no need to rush, the next BWE is still roughly a month away.

That kind of mail is account bound. What you’re seeing on each of your characters is the one mail.

The sender likely simply mistyped the name.

If you’ve received the chest before on your live account, you will not receive it again. Some people for example got the HoM achievements without actually earning them, which were removed. If you receive the chest because of that, you will not get it again. If something like that hasn’t happened to you however, then you’ll need to contact support.

They should have just let the events give karma, let the mobs rarely drop blooms and gave a zone bonus reward based on the number of events completed. It would have been fine.

As it is now, the event is okay if you assume the rewards are meant to be a last chance to get these items, and they’re intended for dedicated players. ArenaNet doesn’t want to just give away these veteran items, but at least you get a chance to get something you might have missed.

This event was originally advertised to find guilds however and for new players, this event is rather pointless. Can’t even level.