I had a blast in beta weekend 3 and have been going back and forth over whether or not to pick this game up during the last few days, but the more I read about the way ANet is handling this launch, the more I think I should wait until they have all the necessary tools and staff in place to deal with operating such a high-population MMO because it really doesn't seem like they were prepared for any of this. I even think the OP has a point that the ban notice is poorly worded and not very professional. Surely, with all the writers they had working on quests and lore, they could get someone to type up a more respectful, tactful notice to present to disciplined players...something like "Access to this account has been revoked for [insert infraction here]. If you feel that this action is unwarranted, please contact Customer Support at [instructions] to discuss your situation with our staff."

I think I may have to hold off on buying this until I start reading that Anet's site and Official Forums are up and running properly, their methods of investigating and responding to misconduct have improved, and some of the launch wrinkles have been ironed out.

Originally posted by MMOGamer71

Originally posted by Enok4Twunni

Originally posted by MMOGamer71
Hopefully you learn something about account security.

Yea I have, it's lacking.

Ummmmmmmmm.........your responsible for it, and your right it probably was lacking.

That's a bit unfair, tbh.

If you look at Anet's system, there are currently some glaring holes that make it easy for hackers. For one they tie your account to the same email, didn't build in any security checks for launch, and didn't have much of a live support team standing by just incase. The result is thousands of accounts being comprimized, and Anet is still working out how best to deal w/ it.

I did some poking around, 'cause I'm in the same boat as the OP (except my account hasn't been stolen, just banned). What I found out is that Anet basically blanket banned all accounts that had questionable activity to 'protect the user'. Now, this in & of itself is fine. However, they don't have much of a response team in place for people to varify that they have taken steps to secure their account. What this means is that of the 1000s of banned accounts, there are at least a few 100 people who have their accounts, are innocent, had a few questionable login attempts, and have been waiting for days to resolve the issue. Some people have been waiting 6 days to resolve this. For a AAA MMO that is abyssmal customer service.

- Anet is taking steps to prevent hacking, and is doing their best to correct the issue. However, to say Anet is blameless is a bit ridiculous. They knew they had a hit on their hands, and they are still launching w/ securit & customer support that was only acceptable back in 2004. I wish them luck fixing the issue, but they really need to stop blaming some of these customers like Anet is blameless. I would have more respect for them if they did the mature thing, admitted they messed up, and politely asked people to be patient while they tried to correct their mistake.

Originally posted by bonzoso21

I think I may have to hold off on buying this until I start reading that Anet's site and Official Forums are up and running properly, their methods of investigating and responding to misconduct have improved, and some of the launch wrinkles have been ironed out.

Might not be a bad idea.

They have done quite a bit to put a lid on the hacking situation (not perfect, but it definitely is helping). The main issue is they have kinda screwed over a lot of loyal fans by blanket banning a lot of accounts. They really need to have a larger live support staff, that is open 7 days a week, instead of (i think its 3days?). Not only are their hours a bit absurd, but they make it way too difficult to get in contact with an actual person.

Either you used the same password for GW2 as you did for some other site, or you have a keylogger.  If they try to change your password you get an email notification that requires you to click a link.  Whether the email notifications are real or fakes I don't know, I got two myself the other day sayting that I requested a password change and I deleted them emediately.

However, from what you've written it doesn't sound like they changed your password, which means they got it somehow.  keylogger or you used the same one someplace else.  In which case, that's your fault.

Your account getting banned is actually good.  If you can't get into it, they can't either.  If you weren't buying gold from a 3rd party group, and your issue is legit, then I hope that you can get it sorted out.  But it is the internet, so nothing personal, I ust don't trust the "I got banned for nothing" stuff; seen it way to many times from people who were in fact cheating.

To the OP- If you havent talked to a live person yet, or sent an email please, please, PLEASE remember to try and be calm a polite when dealing with them.

You can see that your account has been hacked, because someone is logging in from different locations, its not NCSofts/ArenaNets fault.

But if you rage on the person on the other end, and I might add, the person who youre going to ask help from they will be less inclined to help you. Be calm, be polite, be adamant that you didnt do these things, but dont rage, either in emails or talking to them.

Originally posted by Psychow

Log onto MMORPG.com and rage. That usually works best.

 

Oh nevermind, you already did that. Ok, second course of action would be to contact them. But ONLY after you rage on MMORPG.com's forums!!

He could always go rage on GW2 official forums ... o wait 

Originally posted by bonzoso21

I had a blast in beta weekend 3 and have been going back and forth over whether or not to pick this game up during the last few days, but the more I read about the way ANet is handling this launch, the more I think I should wait until they have all the necessary tools and staff in place to deal with operating such a high-population MMO because it really doesn't seem like they were prepared for any of this. I even think the OP has a point that the ban notice is poorly worded and not very professional. Surely, with all the writers they had working on quests and lore, they could get someone to type up a more respectful, tactful notice to present to disciplined players...something like "Access to this account has been revoked for [insert infraction here]. If you feel that this action is unwarranted, please contact Customer Support at [instructions] to discuss your situation with our staff."

 

I think I may have to hold off on buying this until I start reading that Anet's site and Official Forums are up and running properly, their methods of investigating and responding to misconduct have improved, and some of the launch wrinkles have been ironed out.

That is what I'm doing. I'm looking for a polished experience.

Originally posted by Teala
Are accounts really being hacked alot in GW2?

No.

Its probably more than any other release, but not as bad as WoW.  There is definitely a very active campaign by hackers to get accounts, but as far as I know no one in my guild of over 400 people has been hacked, which proves nothing ultimately but people, as usual, are blowing things out of proportion.

Arenanet could have taken better measures at launch, but your odds of getting hacked if you are cautious about that sort of thing are pretty damn cose to zero.

Originally posted by teakbois

Originally posted by Teala
Are accounts really being hacked alot in GW2?

No.

Its probably more than any other release, but not as bad as WoW.  There is definitely a very active campaign by hackers to get accounts, but as far as I know no one in my guild of over 400 people has been hacked, which proves nothing ultimately but people, as usual, are blowing things out of proportion.

 

Arenanet could have taken better measures at launch, but your odds of getting hacked if you are cautious about that sort of thing are pretty damn cose to zero.

400 man guild. Sounds like teamlegacy.

Originally posted by Teala
Are accounts really being hacked alot in GW2?

Its not as bad as some naysayers would suggest, but I can tell you the hackers are definately trying. I am in a pretty large guild, no one has been hacked, but I know I and several others have had their accounts spammed with 'authorize login' and 'password reset' notifications.

Do note that the 'authroize login' is a new security feature, and if it had been in place from the start, a lot of ANet's hacking issues could have been precevented.

Originally posted by Cinderfall
Same thing happened to me except I have about 2000 authorize login attempt emails in my inbox from locations in China before I'm assuming Anet termed my account. I'm hoping they didn't get in, which it doesn't seem like they did. I have a ticket in to Anet Support, so we'll see what they can do. I'm not sure how my info got picked up. I've not gone to any sites and registered anything, I'm fairly paranoid about going to unknown web pages.

Same thing happened to me (though I used Anet's system to block these login attempts. As far as I can tell they never successfully accessed my account (and I'll probably end up changing my email anyway, if that ever gets resolves).

From what I've gathered (from asking around, and reading a bunch of reddit posts), Anet basically ran a script that flagged & termed any accounts with 'suspicious login activity'. That would explain both of us getting caught in that net. I'm hoping that our accounts weren't actually deleted, as I have a bunch of characters, a lvl 60+, and all my HoM stuff tied to that account.

I'm glad they took steps to deal w/ the problem, but I don't think they are handling it well when it comes to communcating w/ their customers. I really think they need to step it up when it comes to customer support. When you get supported they are pretty great, but the response time overall is kinda bad atm.

One of the shady my friend wants to know question. My friend wants to know if he works during the week in a place 500 kms away and then during the weekend he is in another place or even during the week he is in another home can he play from both locations if they are confirmed via the ip login and save this network thing for both locations.

Sorry OP for your dilemma and I am sorry for piggy backing here.

They do seem heavy handed, verging on unprofessional.

Wouldnt surprise me with they've recruited noob GMs who are banning people for selling gold, due to the amount of trading going on through email.  Since they cant get the auction house to work.

Originally posted by Enok4Twunni

Originally posted by twitch242

I think theres a lesson to be learned from this clip...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K95SXe3pZoY

...do hope you get things resolved though.

funny, yet my passwords are never less than 10 characters with numbers and letters.

(ANet linked this earlier in the weak.)

Account Security

Protect your account! We've seen hackers systematically scan email addresses and passwords harvested from other games, web sites, and trojans to see if they match Guild Wars 2 accounts. We've taken steps to protect our players from this, but we need your help too. Make sure that you use a strong, unique password for Guild Wars 2 that you've never used anywhere else. For best security, use a unique email address too, and see our blog post for more tips.

 

Email authentication

 

We now have email authentication enabled for all players who have validated their email addresses. This feature sends an email whenever it detects a login attempt to your account from a location you haven't played from before, asking you to allow or deny the login.

We've learned of an incompatibility between email authentication and older versions of Internet Explorer. We're working on a fix, which we expect to deploy tomorrow.

If you're not receiving account verification emails or account authentication emails, please check your junk/spam folders, and add noreply@guildwars2.com to your safe senders list.