Permanently Banned from Guild Wars 2

Last night I tried to log in to Guild Wars 2 and found out that I have been permanently banned.  The possible reasons they gave include: botting, extended unattended game play, exploiting, etc.  The only thing I am guilty of is walking away from my computer alot becaue I am a casual gamer and I attend to my family when they call me.  So, technically it is a violation of the TOS - I guess.  I have never had this happen to me.  I have played LOTRO, RIFT, Age of Conan - and many times I just get up and leave my character in the world. 

Has this happened to anyone in the Guild?  I was on Raid Call last night and I received good advice from guild members.  I have submitted a support ticket.

I am really upset.  I have never exploited, botted, bought Gold, etc.  I never got a warning from AreaNet.  I am just a casual player who enjoys playing the game at my own pace.  I will never leave the game unatttended again.  It was recommended to me by other guild members to always log off to the character select screen when AFK.  I will always remember this advice.

Yikes, I do that all the time. I just assumed they would disconnect me if it was a problem.

Wow, I also do this like every day. I might walk away to play with the baby or chase the baby or just go eat. I forget about the game and come back to character select screen all the time. Well the log in is quick and easy, guess I wont make that mistake again. Very sorry to hear Glielhry.

Step 1: Don't Panic. This has been happening to a lot of people in the last 2 weeks or so. ArenaNet finally implemented some bot detection mechanisms, and they've apparently got it set a little too strict, because it's been catching legitimate players along with the bots. They claim that there are no automated bot killers on their end, but I think we can all agree that's a big pile of horse feathers. Follow through with your support ticket. According to ArenaNet, these issues are being resolved in under 24 hours. It's unlikely that being AFK is the problem - the game logs you out automatically if you're AFK for too long. It's not a violation of the TOS unless you set something up to prevent you from being logged out. The reasons they gave you are all botting-related. I did, however, get a talking to from a GM in another game for being semi-AFK - I was AFK, but every few minutes I'd run over to my computer and hit space bar to keep from being logged out. This was not smiled upon, and I don't recommend it. Nobody knows for sure what ArenaNet is looking for when they're banning bots (which is good), so there's really no advice I can give to avoid being detected as one. I'm sure they're working on it (this has happened to hundreds of people), and things will hopefully get better soon.

That sucks... hopefully you get it worked out with them.

I really hope I can get back in the game with you all soon!

It happened to me almost 2 weeks ago. I submitted a ticket and I waited for 4 days. Then I posted in this thread: https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/support/account/Tickets-for-Review-3-days-and-older-merged/page/41#post620487 Then the next day I heard from a support rep. We went back and forth twice and my account was restored. It took about five and a half days to get back in.

A friend had this happen, but it was due to their account being hacked, so definitely be patient and follow up on support tickets if you do not get a response within 3 days. Good luck, I am sure they will sort it out.

Thanks everyone :)

>extended unattended game play I doubt this means staying logged in while going afk. With the associated reasons, it's probably just another wording for botting. If they banned people for going AFK in game.. then that would just be ignorant, and bad practice.

Watch out if you AFK for any length of time while in a WvW zone, and **never** use a macro (keyboard/mouse/windows) to remain connected. You will get reported and banned, Anet is hardcore about that because of the queue lengths.

Anet has actually been making a lot of false accusations sadly, I've seen a few other people randomly get perma-banned WITHOUT reason,sometimes this is all they say to you: "Hello, The decision to terminate the account is final. This decision has been thoroughly reviewed by our team, and we maintain absolute confidence in our conclusion. The account will remain permanently closed and is not eligible for reactivation under any circumstances. At this time I must also inform you that any further inquiries regarding this account may be closed without a response. Sincerely, GM Roland NCsoft Account Admin Team" Its always an ongoing battle between the securities at Anet and the botter/hacker/exploiter around the world, and where there is war, the innocent will always suffer.

Hm, has anyone who has been permanently banned used a SMAA injector? I've read that some of those will sometimes trigger anti-hack detections of some games.

*edit* I get to share my account with someone in China =D

» Edited on: 2012-11-15 17:17:34

Sekkerhund: Unless it's been added recently, GW2 doesn't have any anti-hack detection. I haven't seen an official ruling banning SMAA in GW2, but it often uses DLL injection techniques that make it look like hack programs, and anti-hack can't always tell the difference. Denji: Ouch :( The best route is through Customer Support, as far as I'm aware. File a ticket, then stay on top of it. Hopefully it was banned before they could steal all your stuff :)

4 Days and still no response to my ticket. I followed up in the three day old ticket forum post. Thank you everyone for your great advice and support.

@Denji, this really sucks, especially in your case, i cant imagine how many assets were lost its like 10 accounts being hacked or something

Wow, it is sad that you paid your money to play the game and got banned. Perhaps you should look into the Rift expansion? hint-hint. I have both games, but Rift is my "true-love"

@ Slainidh I might just resub to Rift. I am so upset over Guild Wars 2. I think their Draconian action to ban me is ridiculous. I don't even know exactly why I was banned. Where is the warnings, due process? Horrible company to do this to so many people who are inocent. How's the Gaiscioch population in Rift these days? Thinking back, why did I ever leave RIFT? LOL! Bad move and now I am out over $200 in GW2 through game purchase and gems. *VENT*

@Glielhry: There's a balance to be had when fighting bots. On one end, no one innocent ever gets banned, but the bots run rampant. This is what we've seen from ArenaNet until recently. On the other end, all the bots get banned, but so do innocent people. The price we pay as players for not having the bots around is that we might get banned for doing something that bots sometimes do. Over time, ArenaNet will refine their detection processes and fall somewhere in between the two extremes. You just got unlucky this time. Stick with your Customer Support ticket, and it will all be sorted out in time. It could be a whole lot worse. In the early days of World Of Warcraft, Blizzard was handing out permanent bans for owning (not inappropriately using, just owning) certain Logitech keyboards. Most games have had problems with banning people for using overlays in TeamSpeak, Ventrilo, and Mumble (RaidCall's overlay uses a different method, it *should* be OK, assuming they ever make the stupid thing work). Several game companies have been sued because they were handing out bans based on what other software you had installed on your computer. I've even been banned for discovering exploits and reporting them through the proper channels. At least ArenaNet is banning based on in-game behavior.

@Arowfell: You make some good points. I may be angry, but your post gives me hope. I will keep my fingers crosssed!

I'm in! Game access restored / unbanned! Everything is still there! Thank you everyone for your support.

Great to hear!

awesome!

now waiting on .... Denji =.=

Submitted a support ticket Waited three days Posted on https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/support/account/Tickets-for-Review-3-days-and-older-merged/page/51 Account restored within 24 hours I hope others having this issue will have resolution soon.

Congratz - Welcome back!

Yes. Welcome back. Unwarranted banning is a scarey thing.