I'm curious if this is a more common problem. I tried to log into my GW2 account last night and got a message that my account has been permanently banned for botting, using macros, unattended play, etc. So far I can't get the staff to respond. If I had actually done something like that, I could take my lumps. But, I've been playing incredibly casually since headstart, my highest character is only level 68, with a 20 and some lowbies, and I have barely over 1g currency. Basically if they think I've been cheating, I must look like the absolute worst cheater in the history of gaming. I just don't know what in the world they could have seen that triggered a ban. Maybe I got hacked? I do occasionally go afk (maybe 3-4 times in the last 2 months I didn't make it back before being logged out automatically), but always do it in a town, vista, or other safe place, not somewhere where I would rack up benefits from people completing objectives around me. Every mmo I've ever played simply logs you out after being afk too long, including GW1, so I can't imagine GW2 actually permanently bans your account over it. I'm just trrying to think of anything that might have triggered such a drastic, automatic response, other than basic error on their part. Really bums me out considering I've supported the game by pre-purchase, cash shop purchases for bag space and character slots, and I've been planning to play for the long term.

When was the last time you logged in before last night?

Maybe your account was hacked, and some farmer used it to bot before he got detected and banned.

You can appeal the ban, of course. I have no doubt it will be lifted if you are innocent.

I feel for you, I'd be pissed if that happened to me.

EDIT:

To appeal the ban, you have to go here and create a support account, since those are separated from the main account (try use a different password too ;)):

 https://en.support.guildwars2.com/app/utils/create_account

Then create a ticket with the right reason and with all your details.

Originally posted by garbonzo
I'm curious if this is a more common problem. I tried to log into my GW2 account last night and got a message that my account has been permanently banned for botting, using macros, unattended play, etc. So far I can't get the staff to respond. If I had actually done something like that, I could take my lumps. But, I've been playing incredibly casually since headstart, my highest character is only level 68, with a 20 and some lowbies, and I have barely over 1g currency. Basically if they think I've been cheating, I must look like the absolute worst cheater in the history of gaming. I just don't know what in the world they could have seen that triggered a ban. Maybe I got hacked? I do occasionally go afk (maybe 3-4 times in the last 2 months I didn't make it back before being logged out automatically), but always do it in a town, vista, or other safe place, not somewhere where I would rack up benefits from people completing objectives around me. Every mmo I've ever played simply logs you out after being afk too long, including GW1, so I can't imagine GW2 actually permanently bans your account over it. I'm just trrying to think of anything that might have triggered such a drastic, automatic response, other than basic error on their part. Really bums me out considering I've supported the game by pre-purchase, cash shop purchases for bag space and character slots, and I've been planning to play for the long term.

GW1 doesn't log you out after being afk. Or atleast, when you're in towns it doesn't. I know this because I've gotten messages saying "You have been playing for 1 week, please take a break." because sometimes I just left the game on overnight for days at a time. 

it's very possible your account was mistakenly flagged, possibly by another player who saw you next to actual bots at one time or another.   Regardless, you'll get your account back if you didn't do anything wrong.

Originally posted by The_Korrigan

When was the last time you logged in before last night?

Maybe your account was hacked, and some farmer used it to bot before he got detected and banned.

You can appeal the ban, of course. I have no doubt it will be lifted if you are innocent.

I feel for you, I'd be pissed if that happened to me.

EDIT:

To appeal the ban, you have to go here and create a support account, since those are separated from the main account (try use a different password too ;)):

 https://en.support.guildwars2.com/app/utils/create_account

Then create a ticket with the right reason and with all your details.

Thanks, Korrigan. I did exactly that.

Originally posted by Serelisk

Originally posted by garbonzo
I'm curious if this is a more common problem. I tried to log into my GW2 account last night and got a message that my account has been permanently banned for botting, using macros, unattended play, etc. So far I can't get the staff to respond. If I had actually done something like that, I could take my lumps. But, I've been playing incredibly casually since headstart, my highest character is only level 68, with a 20 and some lowbies, and I have barely over 1g currency. Basically if they think I've been cheating, I must look like the absolute worst cheater in the history of gaming. I just don't know what in the world they could have seen that triggered a ban. Maybe I got hacked? I do occasionally go afk (maybe 3-4 times in the last 2 months I didn't make it back before being logged out automatically), but always do it in a town, vista, or other safe place, not somewhere where I would rack up benefits from people completing objectives around me. Every mmo I've ever played simply logs you out after being afk too long, including GW1, so I can't imagine GW2 actually permanently bans your account over it. I'm just trrying to think of anything that might have triggered such a drastic, automatic response, other than basic error on their part. Really bums me out considering I've supported the game by pre-purchase, cash shop purchases for bag space and character slots, and I've been planning to play for the long term.

GW1 doesn't log you out after being afk. Or atleast, when you're in towns it doesn't. I know this because I've gotten messages saying "You have been playing for 1 week, please take a break." because sometimes I just left the game on overnight for days at a time. 

That's actually really funny - take a break because you have been playing for 1 week. Maybe GW1 changed or removed their afk time limit when the player base dropped, but I definitely got logged out back in the day, Factions, etc.

Originally posted by Roxtarr
it's very possible your account was mistakenly flagged, possibly by another player who saw you next to actual bots at one time or another.   Regardless, you'll get your account back if you didn't do anything wrong.

Thanks. Yeah, I'm hoping it's a quick fix. I have to say it would be a pretty nasty design to permaban someone without any warning or communication based on another player's flagging, but who knows.

maybe you used botting software, not realising that you could be banned for that..

 

Glad to hear botters are getting banned.

Originally posted by Lord.Bachus

maybe you used botting software, not realising that you could be banned for that..

 

Glad to hear botters are getting banned.

Honestly I think botting is a sign that a game is too boring to actually play - what's the point? I like leveling in GW2 which is why I've been taking so long. I've never botted, and if I felt like I needed to cheat I'd play something else. 

Just out of curiosity, was your main character an engineer?

Originally posted by Serelisk

Originally posted by garbonzo
I'm curious if this is a more common problem. I tried to log into my GW2 account last night and got a message that my account has been permanently banned for botting, using macros, unattended play, etc. So far I can't get the staff to respond. If I had actually done something like that, I could take my lumps. But, I've been playing incredibly casually since headstart, my highest character is only level 68, with a 20 and some lowbies, and I have barely over 1g currency. Basically if they think I've been cheating, I must look like the absolute worst cheater in the history of gaming. I just don't know what in the world they could have seen that triggered a ban. Maybe I got hacked? I do occasionally go afk (maybe 3-4 times in the last 2 months I didn't make it back before being logged out automatically), but always do it in a town, vista, or other safe place, not somewhere where I would rack up benefits from people completing objectives around me. Every mmo I've ever played simply logs you out after being afk too long, including GW1, so I can't imagine GW2 actually permanently bans your account over it. I'm just trrying to think of anything that might have triggered such a drastic, automatic response, other than basic error on their part. Really bums me out considering I've supported the game by pre-purchase, cash shop purchases for bag space and character slots, and I've been planning to play for the long term.

GW1 doesn't log you out after being afk. Or atleast, when you're in towns it doesn't. I know this because I've gotten messages saying "You have been playing for 1 week, please take a break." because sometimes I just left the game on overnight for days at a time. 

It kicks you out to character select doesnt matter what map you are in.

Just pointing out...

Be careful what you wish for.

GW2 has a Reddit post as well.  You can challenge the Ban there, but.... just be aware that if you DID do something illegal, they'll post in out in the open for everyone to see.

If you're innocent, this could lead to vindication but if you were hacked.... well... that can get... precarious.

Originally posted by GolbezTheLion
Just out of curiosity, was your main character an engineer?

Main character is a thief. I have a level 20 engineer but haven't played it in over a month. I've seen those mobs of people/bots set up at that bridge choke point (don't recall name), and I can see that an engineer could set up some turrets to farm afk, but I never even used the skills for turrets - I went the direction of grenades and flamethrower.

Originally posted by garbonzo

Originally posted by Lord.Bachus

maybe you used botting software, not realising that you could be banned for that..

 

Glad to hear botters are getting banned.

Honestly I think botting is a sign that a game is too boring to actually play - what's the point? I like leveling in GW2 which is why I've been taking so long. I've never botted, and if I felt like I needed to cheat I'd play something else. 

No, botting is a sign that the game is perceived as popular enough to warrant bots farming stuff.  That's it.

 

Originally posted by FrodoFragins

Originally posted by garbonzo

Originally posted by Lord.Bachus

maybe you used botting software, not realising that you could be banned for that..

 

Glad to hear botters are getting banned.

Honestly I think botting is a sign that a game is too boring to actually play - what's the point? I like leveling in GW2 which is why I've been taking so long. I've never botted, and if I felt like I needed to cheat I'd play something else. 

No, botting is a sign that the game is perceived as popular enough to warrant bots farming stuff.  That's it.

 

Fair point. I guess it depends on who is doing the botting, players or farmers for profit. Actual players who bot to skip leveling, gathering etc are who I was referring to.

Originally posted by Ikeda

Just pointing out...

Be careful what you wish for.

GW2 has a Reddit post as well.  You can challenge the Ban there, but.... just be aware that if you DID do something illegal, they'll post in out in the open for everyone to see.

If you're innocent, this could lead to vindication but if you were hacked.... well... that can get... precarious.

Thanks. I'll check that out.

Originally posted by GolbezTheLion
Just out of curiosity, was your main character an engineer?

 If your refering to using turrents near an npc thats near mobs and going afk or whatever im pretty sure i read that you cant be banned for that

Originally posted by FrodoFragins

Originally posted by garbonzo

Originally posted by Lord.Bachus

maybe you used botting software, not realising that you could be banned for that..

 

Glad to hear botters are getting banned.

Honestly I think botting is a sign that a game is too boring to actually play - what's the point? I like leveling in GW2 which is why I've been taking so long. I've never botted, and if I felt like I needed to cheat I'd play something else. 

No, botting is a sign that the game is perceived as popular enough to warrant bots farming stuff.  That's it.

Theres plenty of unpopular games with bots as well. It depends on what the bots are being used for. Some people are bored of leveling and are using botting to level, don't pretend its not happening, but a vast majority are just gold farmers spamming multiple accounts to farm. Thats the case with virtually every game not just GW2. 

Simply put: Most bots in play WILL be farmers, with the amount of players varying depending on how bored people are with the game. Considering the lack of real end game, Its not to likely as many players are botting their ways through levels though I'm sure some might be botting end level for the sake of WvW. Over-all as much as I felt the game was lack luster in experience, I just don't see a high ratio of players as bots due to the fact its set up in a way where its more focused on play then earning something.

I too, was banned for botting on Thursday evening. I was in the middle of doing Grenth when out of no where i started getting ported around and I thought  I was lagging. After a few ports I got a black screen and had to alt f4. Once I tried to log in afterwards it said I was banned for botting. A ton of innocent people are getting hit by the bans it seems and I hope to god all the innocent accounts as well as my own get restored. I have always been a firm Anet fanboy, but this is pretty terrible. Hopefully they sort it all out soon..but know that you are not alone. Check out the account issues section of the forum. There are tons of people on there talking about the same stuff.

Yer I got hacked and banned about two weeks ago, they used my toons to spam gold and sold everything that I had in my bank and inventory only leaving me what was still being worn by my toons, personally i hope the hackers die a slow painful death, the mods also banned my account for what they did, I got it back by creating a support ticket, the mods were quite quick at getting it back for me which was great, whole situation still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I also suggested to the mods that helped me that maybe adding a pin/password to the ingame bank would be a good idea, I mean why make it easy for the those hacker pricks to get our gear.