Feedback talk:Gaile Gray/Archive Support Issues/Mar - Apr 2011

Store not working?
Hello Gaile, Im not sure if this is the right page, but its the only thing I can think of. Im trying to log into the Guild Wars In-game store, but when I go into, my guild wars window just turns black and doesnt do anything, Ive tried to get into it on multiple computers (3 Diffrent ones). I can get into the game and acually play, but I just cant access the store. Ive also tried multiple accounts and still the same issue. Im just wondering if the store is down or something? An error, does pop up, but I havent gotten the chance to read it yeat because I restarted the computer It was on and closed the rest before they came up. Im also experiencing some issues with logging into my nc soft account, because of the new security details, but thats a diffrent issue Im pretty sure isnt related. Second Note: the Error says: Networking error. Please check your connection to the Internet and try again. (Code=173).

Personally, Im 100% sure Im connected to the internet, as I did write this on the internet (Duh). all 3 computers I tried were. Signed, Fantil Swift (Im too lazy to sign in on this comp lol) 24.239.11.71 17:40, 2 March 2011 (UTC)
 * I got into the store and it worked User Fantil Swift Sig Icon.jpg antil   Swift  18:33, 2 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Hey, Fantil -- thanks for the report. I'm sending this off to a large number of helpful people. It could be ISP-based, system-based (not likely with you trying 3 different systems!), or location (Internet backbone) based, but it could be *gasp* us! :) I'll send that mail now. Thanks again. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 04:28, 3 March 2011 (UTC)
 * @Fantil -- Talking to two different network teams, it'd be super helpful to know where you are located. City, state, country... that would help us troubleshoot this. Thanks! -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 05:13, 3 March 2011 (UTC)
 * @Fantil again. Can you answer a question for Stephen, one of our programmers? Do you get an immediate error message, or does it stall for a while, like half a minute or that sort of thing? The answer to that helps us figure out what the issue is. Stephen said, "If it’s 30 seconds later, then the transaction timed out somewhere, and is more likely to be specific to him. If it’s “right away” (less than a second or two) then it is a connectivity error, but as I said, I don’t see that from poking around." Please update me on the time it takes to get the black screen or the error message. Thanks! -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 05:21, 3 March 2011 (UTC)
 * It usually stalled for a bit, but the first times I got the error message right off the bat. and Im from Port Perry, Ontario, Canada. Ealier it was fixed, but it started again a few minutes ago. It might be that I tried to log onto the nc soft store, and since I couldnt get my questions right, it doesnt like me lol. User Fantil Swift Sig Icon.jpg antil   Swift  00:17, 4 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Okay, I think its because that I first tried to log into to nc soft store. its still the same thing, but a friend of mine can still get in on his account, but not my account. User Fantil Swift Sig Icon.jpg antil   Swift  00:22, 4 March 2011 (UTC)
 * For goodness sake, don't have a friend try to get onto your account -- that's just taking a risky ride down Security Threat Road! If you're having trouble, I'm just sure it's localized or specific to your system. Please let help you out by getting in touch with them. We certainly don't want to keep anyone out of the store -- it's what pays for future development! :) -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 04:13, 7 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Hehe lol, I went over to my friends house and typed in the info, and then left when I did that lol User Fantil Swift Sig Icon.jpg antil   Swift  04:58, 7 March 2011 (UTC)

Wrongfully banned for botting

 * Wrongfully banned for botting [Incident 110129-002998]

Hey Gaile, I just wish to get your help because my father's account was banned and I am sure it was a mistake since he never used bots, the only third party program he had is Gwx2 because he have an account for storage and doesn't have a second computer, he used to farm in the topk a lot because he wants to fill the hom for gw2 but never used bots, if you can check in the time he was logged, he used to talk in alliance, please let me know how can I prove you that he wasn't cheating, because it really hurts his pride to be called cheater when we have a philosophy of never cheat, Thanks for taking the time of read our plead, he didn't signed this because he doesnt have an account here but anything please let me know--Batousai 20:51, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
 * I have started looking into this. Thanks for waiting and not writing me 20 minutes after you submitted the ticket. ;) -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 04:19, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
 * I discussed this with the team and did some additional research. Your father should be hearing from the team very soon. It was a rather complicated issue and it took a bit of time. I thank you both for your patience. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 04:51, 17 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for helping us with this issue Gaile--Batousai 23:39, 18 February 2011 (UTC)
 * You're very welcome. It's great that we were able to review the issue and learn more information that allowed us to rectify an erroneous account closure. Most closures are correct, and even review and re-reviews don't change the outcome, but it's particularly satisfying when we're able to make things right from all perspectives. Have fun in Guild Wars! :) -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 19:55, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

Wrongfully blocked account, please help

 * Wrongfully blocked [Incident 110131-001921]

Hi Gaile! My accounts have been blocked because someone hacked into them and caused trouble. My record here is perfect, never had any bans, marks, problems at all with support or players over all the years I’ve played any of your games. You can see clearly this is not normal behavior for me or my account gameplay, I have never hacked into anyone’s account or taken things that were not mine. I am an older woman, I am not a troublemaker kid. It hurts me to be accused of something that I have not been involved with, on top of dealing with the loss of everything. I have been out of state traveling on and off over the last several months, can provide receipts if needed, and not been regularly on each account. I do not know when this occurred or how long it had been accessed. It saddens me greatly that myself or anyone else was effected by this.

I’ve shared public campus computers where I work and the connection where I live is shared with every unit in the building and I do not know everyone here, and this may be how they got my info with this insecure connection. I am never sharing an internet connection with strangers or using public computers again and have taken measures to protect myself from attacks such as this according to your security tips online. I wish I had read your tips earlier and was aware that someone could do this to me or others. It is sad to me to be treated like this after I’ve spent so many positive years in this game and hundreds of dollars on campaigns, multiple unlocks and more in a game we all love. To permanently close my accounts for someone stealing/accessing my accounts without my knowledge and doing something bad is wrong, there must be another solution to help me with this. Please help me retrieve my related accounts, do not take my account away because of my stupidity to protect myself from someone stealing my account.

This would mean a lot to me, I don’t know who else to turn to or who will take the time to believe me and correct this wrongful block. I am truly not involved in this, please let me know what I need to do to sort this out. Sorry for my wordy or confusing support messages, I thought this was caused by a different issue due to the limited information provided by support. Thank you for your time! PianoLady 19:47, 3 March 2011 (UTC)PianoLady


 * I know you are writing about one specific account, but looking at all the data, I want to know how many accounts you own, in total. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 20:23, 3 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi Gaile, thank you for your response! I have around 24 accounts that were effected by this. I tried to link them 2 years ago through Ncsoft.  Support told me they could not be unlinked and relinked together after linked already to a master account at that time.  Some of these were contest storage before the Xunlai pane update, to hold guilds, or  my error in entering code keys to successfully link Prophecies with Factions at start.  All registered in my name, and I have saved all code keys, most barely played.   I have never tried to hide these accounts are mine, and never had problems with support on any account of mine.  I have not logged on all these accounts regularly, and this may have been part of how this issue occurred.  Please let me know if there is additional information I can provide on this matter.  Appreciate your help very much. Thank you for your time! PianoLady 00:53, 5 March 2011 (UTC) PianoLady
 * I agree that you do not at all fit the profile for account closures, and I'm sorry that this took place. I went over the tickets in detail, and I even called a senior agent at the Support Center to get his eyes on it, too. When an account is found to be involved in defrauding (scamming) another player, or is found to be involved in accessing another player's account (usually for purposes of stealing items, as was the case here), it is not unusual for all that person's accounts to be closed. In this case, two of your accounts were involved -- yes, I've seen the "trail" of activities personally -- and as I believe the agents writing you explained, either you or someone to whom you gave access perpetrated the account access and item theft. With regret, I do not see how the account you're writing about (or the second involved account) can or will be restored, although certainly you can continue to discuss the matter with Support. If you wish to request the restoration of your other currently-closed accounts, go ahead and update your ticket and an agent will review the matter. (As you are no doubt aware, two other people indirectly involved with this incident have already been reinstated because their accounts were not directly involved. Such is not the case with this account.) -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 04:09, 7 March 2011 (UTC)

Support Epic Fail
Hi Gaile, I'm sorry to do this, in general I am a huge supporter of GW customer service and support, but I just have to share this exchange I just had with Support. Mikala's response to my e-mail is at the top, with my original e-mail below:

"Hello ***,

There is no way to know for sure how someone was able to gain the login information. We always recommend that you never share your login information with anyone or log into your account from a location that could be un-secure. Also, you should never use the same password and login name for multiple accounts or e-mail addresses. It is also good practice to change your passwords and security options on a regular basis.

If you have any further questions, please let us know.

Thanks, Mikala NCsoft Account Support

To contact our Billing or Technical Support by phone, please call (512)225-6359. Monday - Friday, 12 PM - 5 PM Central Time (North America) Long distance charges may apply.

Customer By Email (****)	03/09/2011 08:57 PM Hi Graham,

Thank you for your assistance, I successfully logged onto my PlayNC master account, changed my password and got back into the game, problem solved.

Sort of. Upon logging in I found that someone else had been in my account, deleted one of my characters, created an assassin with a jumbled name, and removed everything of value from all of my characters and my storage. It seems my account was hacked. I don't know what you can do, if anything, about that, but I'm sure you can appreciate my disappointment.

At the very least, I would like to try and explore how this could have happened. I do not, nor have I ever, shared my password with anyone. The password I used is not one I use anywhere else (I have used variations of it in the past, but I do not involve myself with insecure websites, and if I do I use a completely different password). I am not interested in pointing fingers regarding how "they" could have gotten my password, but I would like to try and narrow down some of the possibilities so I can make sure it does not happen again. Any thoughts or suggestions you can think of would be helpful.

Thanks, ****"

As you can see from my original e-mail, I'm not asking for much, just a few ideas of how this might have happened, and maybe a little sympathy. What I got was a response from someone who clearly did not even read my e-mail (e.g., "I do not, nor have I ever, shared my password with anyone." gaining a response of "We always recommend that you never share your login information with anyone..."). As helpful as that was, I don't think I'll be asking Mikala for any other ideas. Also, she spelled my name wrong. And I have a 4-letter name that is one of the most common names in the world. ( Satanael |  talk ) 03:50, 11 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Their job doesn't involve giving out sympathy beyond the obligatory "I'm sorry". Typos will happen with the most common words, and they have to send a lot of emails. Don't get worked up over it.
 * If there were a sign of an account breach, they would have blocked the account off until you claimed it. As it is, not only do they have no way of knowing how your account was accessed, they have no idea whether it even was. So it makes sense that all you're going to get is a generic response. Furthermore, there are any number of ways your account could have been accessed, and any number of websites you can find via Google that will spell them out for you; it's not a good use of their time to make a list for your convenience.
 * Not to speak for Support or on behalf of Gaile, of course, but this is my assessment. --ஸ Kyoshi [[Image:User_Kyoshi_sig2.png|19px]] 04:33, 11 March 2011 (UTC)
 * I can give you a couple of possibilities considering you never share the password and use a unique password for everything... A keylogger or some other malicious tracking software that is logging your keys is installed on the computer. You play the game on a insecure network where someone with some difficulty decrypts the password you've typed. You were a victim of a phishing attack (FYI: some of these attacks require no input from you.  Some of these attacks will just silently install a program and starts logging your keys).  You used a smartphone that is infected with a keylogger (Yep smartphones aint safe anymore), and logged into NCMA... that's about all I can think right now of the most common ways to obtain a password with out you sharing it with anyone. Like kyoshi said, this isn't on behalf of gaile or Anet. Just some info for you. --Lania  [[Image:User Lania Elderfire pinkribbon.jpg]]04:44, 11 March 2011 (UTC)
 * We are genuinely sorry when players find themselves in this position. We don't have access to your computer, and I'm sure you'll appreciate that doing detailed exchanges with each customer who gets his account hacked is not a service we can offer. Please read the Account Security article I posted here on the Guild Wars Wiki. The article will provide you with security tips and may help you figure out what took place on your system. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 20:17, 11 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks Gaile. I think that if the generic response I had gotten was a little more like Lania's response above, I would have been happy, perhaps just linking to the article you just gave me (which was helpful, by the way, so thank you for sharing it). Even though it doesn't really give me "the" answer, it enumerated some possibilities that I didn't know about, and allows me to reexamine the ways I keep my accounts and passwords secure. I've worked in customer service before, and I know exactly how difficult it is to respond to the same question for the thousandth time, with a thousand more to go, and still take that extra moment to make sure my response is as helpful as it could be; which is precisely how I know that Mikala could have done better. ( Satanael |  talk ) 02:15, 12 March 2011 (UTC)
 * I guess I don't see the issue. You said "I used a unique password" and the agent confirmed that is what we always suggest that people do. I don't see an error -- I see a misinterpretation of the messaging. Not ignoring what you said, but repeating yes, that's what we tell folks. In any case, I wish you well and hope that you can rebuild after the loss of items. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 03:08, 12 March 2011 (UTC)
 * I just want to say that there is kinda of a general shift in trends in account security breaches. While simple passwords and shared passwords still remain the most common way any online accounts are stolen, there is a growing trend towards social media related phishing attacks through facebook, live journal, twitter, myspace etc. Right now, that is the fastest growing method of online account theft as it allows attackers to co-opt friend's names and IDs in their messages using malicious apps on facebook. This allows attackers from doing anything from phishing and fool users to go to attack websites that installs malicious software silently on the victim's computer.  The popularity of this attack comes from the higher rate of success because the phishing message appears to be coming from a friend, and in twitter's case a tinyurl link on a friend's twitter feed.  Also because many of these attacks exploit newly discovered vulnerabilities in the browser, flash etc and contain code that allow it to evade AV detection, it reduces the effectiveness of any security software on the computer. The rate of success is also high because awareness of this type of attack is rather low at the moment. --Lania  [[Image:User Lania Elderfire pinkribbon.jpg]]06:20, 12 March 2011 (UTC)
 * All good and valid observations, Lania, and I thank you for sharing them. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 06:31, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

Hacked account aftermath
Incident: 110308-002305 and Incident: 110304-005182

Hi Gaile,

I have 2 incident numbers as one was for reactivating my account and the other about the aftermath of a ransacked account. Support themselves wouldn't separate the two issues so now both tickets are still active as such.

What happened? My account was hacked and terminated as per the rules. I found out on the Friday after the new update and I was eager to get the game updated and buy some mercenary slots. However, I'd just been hacked that week and now that my account is active again my account was returned to me in a ransacked state. I suppose I could consider myself lucky that my dedicated weapons were still there (destroyer and tormented) so I had at least something left of 5 and half years of playing the game.

I have come to understand that Anet/NcSupport have no tools to restore any items and there lies the issue. Regardless of who's fault was what, I feel account hacking is a fact of (e-)life. I am sure that for you it's a constant battle but there are no guarantees that it will never happen. For this reason other companies (that I shall not name by name here) do have restoration services for their players and this something that GW1 and also GW2 could look into. In fact I am not even sure I would want to play GW2 if there is no restoration service because the risk of losing almost everything again is not something I would care to run again.

So what am I talking about here? I lost over 45 elite armour sets, two of which were FoW armour sets and some Vabbian sets were among them as well and a pair of chaos gloves. Gear such as a r8 broadsword, r9 str. Echovald shield and r9 Voltaic Spear were bad to lose as well, but especially the armour sets hurt a lot. Especially now with the mercenary slots for which these armour sets would've made perfect skins, but alas I have mostly naked characters. Two have decent, normal armour but nothing worth showing off as such. Then because also all the runes and insignia have been stripped off my heroes, the 7 hero-party is another thing that is out of my reach.

In essence I have to start all over, without having quest and mission rewards since I did all those and well, it's gonna take a long time to replace all this. I am not a big farmer so I earned most of it with gameplay as time went along.

I did offer ideas to support like making HoM skins available as costumes or skin options for mercenaries but they said they don't talk to the devs and to contact you here (as you can see in the incidents). So, I guess my question in the end is, that since Support have gone as far as they could, is there anyone at Anet who can help me with this or is this basically "tough luck, sh*t happens"?

PS: I do not presume to be able to tell people what to do but I do not wish for people to turn this into a "who's fault it was that I got hacked" discussion. This already happened on the forum and hasn't added anything constructive. Et In Gehenna Vixi... 12:11, 8 April 2011 (UTC)


 * First, I'm really sorry that you got hacked, and that you lost such valuable items! You had a lot of great things, and I sympathize with how upsetting their loss would be. I can certainly pass along the idea of offering some purchase-able items such as you mentioned. We've not done that in the past because we didn't want to be in the position of selling items that made a character inherently more powerful. A costume that makes him look better is quite a different proposition that one that gives him greater survivability or enhanced fighting power. Decisions like this would involve a lot of teams but I can assure you that this sort of planning and consideration is in everyone's mind now and for the future.


 * When you say that you want to know if someone at ArenaNet can help you, I'm not sure what you mean. None of us can generate items. None of us -- from the president of the company on down -- can offer a rollback or a character reset. Some companies do offers those services, and I've been pretty outspoken in what I feel we should offer in Guild Wars 2, although naturally those decisions lie with others. Whenever someone proposes a reset, a restoration, a roll-back, or a new-at item generation process, though, there are significant consequences for the economy. People can hand off items, claim a "hack," get a "restoration pack" and thereby double their footprint on the economy.


 * So at this point, we don't offer this service, but perhaps in the future we may. If we cannot offer you any sort of reset now, maybe someday we will be able to do that. But before we implement any of that sort of system, we will look at it -- big picture and small -- and make sure we do it in the best way possible.


 * All the best as you rebuild! -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 08:11, 12 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Thank you for your quick reply and understanding.


 * Well, this is the core of the matter I guess. All that I have dedicated at the HoM...my armours and some weapons are of no real trade value anymore the moment they were dedicated. Returning these items without runes, mods etc. would not damage the economy in any way. To me the HoM is a great element that can allow this as it proves that they are there. Of course I am not sure what would happen to the HoM if your characters get deleted but in the end there are options there, that are not detrimental to the economy.


 * I am faced with the decision whether this loss is worth rebuilding or not. GW2 is around the corner, so is a new big time investment worth it? Also you cannot promise me I will never get hacked again. This is logical because it is impossible to promise such a thing, but it does make me wonder if I want to risk this again...both in GW1 and GW2. I hope that you can appreciate that the words "maybe someday" are not enough for me to say that my concerns have been addressed and I am happy.


 * To be honest I am not sure what you mean by "selling items that make a character inherently more powerful". As max stat items have always been easy to get, this was never a real issue in GW. All that was of value are things that are purely cosmetic in nature. So I just wonder how this was seen as a possible issue. The economy point I fully get, but as I mentioned, armour and weapons that have been dedicated to the HoM do not have this issue as they are all dedicated/customised.


 * So I guess for me it's back to deciding whether I will be a GW customer anymore at all or not. I have gone from playing over 6000 hours of GW1 and really looking forward to GW2 to wondering if I want to play at all anymore, simply because when you lose everything because of a malicious hacker, which is unfortunately something that is a realistic event, Anet/NcSoft do not have anything in place to assist in pretty much the worst thing that can happen to any player. Perhaps this is something that is worth considering/rethinking.
 * Gaile has already said that she's speaking out to ANet/NCsoft about exactly what you're suggesting. Reiterating the point isn't going to "convince her" any more, and she can't simply decide for the company that this should happen. --ஸ Kyoshi [[Image:User_Kyoshi_sig2.png|19px]] 16:49, 12 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Initially I spoke of using the HoM to allow skins to be used as costumes for characters or for the mercenary slots in GW1. After Gaile's response where she also mentioned she wasn't sure about what I meant with my question I felt it was fair to pick that up and also to ask for a clarification about something she said. Then I ADDED the idea or suggestion of ACTUAL restoration via the HoM or home instance in GW2 as this avoids the economic effects she mentioned (again as a furthering of my suggestions, not repeating them). So to me this is expansion and clarification but certainly not reiteration or convincing. I hope that clarifies my intention for you Kyoshi. Thanks, Gehenna.


 * Just to be clear -- we do not have the capacity to spawn items for hack replacements in Guild Wars. I do not know what we will develop for Guild Wars 2 to address issues related to theft and hacks, but I know enough to know that it does not involve a simple process, nor is it an uncomplicated decision. I do not foresee the developers implementing a "replace your Guild Wars items in Guild Wars 2" mechanic. And if you think about it, that would be impossible, because not a single item can be carried forward into Guild Wars 2, nor carried from Guild Wars 2 back to Guild Wars. Again, I certainly do not see the Live Team recoding the game to allow spawning directly in Guild Wars -- I believe it would not even be possible to do that. If it were, certainly it would take a huge amount of time and expertise that is better spent developing new content that benefits everyone, such as Embark Beach, Mercenary Heroes, the Pre-Searing Quests, etc. Items dedicated in the HoM do not go away, even if the items themselves are stolen. I think that is a very good and comforting feature for those who experience an account theft.


 * As far as promising you will not be hacked again, I cannot possibly do that. It would be impractical and unrealistic for anyone to develop the expectation that we could somehow protect against external elements that make hacking possible. We can't take responsibility for someone sharing his credentials, for using an insecure password, for using a password that is used elsewhere, for sharing a game account, for getting a keylogger on his account, for using a seemingly-harmless third-party program that actually contains malicious software or for the other factors that can render an account insecure. We have strong internal security, that is, features that protect your account on our end. But it was not on our end that the hacking occurred. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 19:31, 13 March 2011 (UTC)
 * I think Gehanna was not asking for GW2 items to replace GW1 lost items, but rather that items already dedicated to the HoM, such as a tormented shield or Obby Armor, be able to be recreated in the hall by the character that dedicated it. It's not a bad idea, since it wouldn't necessarily be spawning new items, but rather checking the HoM database for the item and recreating it, similar to the festival hat guy.--[[Image:User Pyron Sy sig.png|19px| ]] Pyron Sy 23:02, 13 March 2011 (UTC)
 * I am not a game designer, nor a programmer. But I feel that I know enough to say this: Getting a HoM retrieval feature "plumbed" would be extremely time intensive. It's quite likely it is not do-able at all, due to the structure of the game, the item system, etc. The implementation of the Hat Collector took a goodly amount of time. Adding a retrieval system for hundreds of HoM items with even more hundreds of variables sounds daunting to me; something that might take a number of team members and an large amount of time. After all, it would take time to design, to test, to implement, and to adapt and update over time. All this for a feature that would benefit a small percentage of the population, as opposed to a massive update like the Embark Beach Update that benefits all players. Having said that, you are more than welcome -- in fact I encourage you -- to post your suggestion on the proper portal. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 05:07, 14 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Well, thank you for answering in any case Gaile. Having had the experience now and realising how devastating it was to find out that Support has no tools to help and now to find out that for GW2 nothing is being done in this respect, at least I have honesty from your side and I do appreciate that.
 * I was indeed not asking for GW1 items to be restored to me in GW2, that is not realistic at all, I completely see that. I also know that once you've had the experience of being hacked, you don't look at gaming online the same way anymore. Other companies have instruments in play that help with retrieval and I know it requires some investment of note to implement such a system but I guess I feel that for me the risk of this happening ever again and facing the same, well, devastation is what is, is something I can no longer just shrug off as, "well, I doubt it will ever happen to me again." Once bitten, twice shy as they say.
 * I will accept that this is not Arenet's priority and I understand that this will likely not change in the near future. It does bring me to the end of the road of my enquiry/question. Just as my final comments (and please do not see this as a threat because it isn't) I must conclude that I have a need as a customer that Anet cannot meet and so our business relationship must end here as I choose not to expose myself to this possibility in neither GW1 nor GW2 again. GW2 will no doubt be a big hit (also without me) and I hope that you will do well as I know you do a lot for you customers in general but I also hope that you can understand that after this experience, I cannot see myself going back to GW1 or start GW2 knowing that this can happen again and that nothing will be done for me then either. So thanks for all the good things in the game I enjoyed so far and your efforts here. It was a good ride up to this point.
 * I just want to point out that my thoughts about the retrieval concept relate only to Guild Wars. I have no idea how such issues will be handled in Guild Wars 2. I have every hope that we will have most extensive tools for dealing with such matters in the new game. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 18:04, 15 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Well, if I ever see this feature announced for GW2, I will be very happy to play GW2, because other than this issue, GW2 looks absolutely fantastic.
 * I'm concerned about this issue. If items such as armor and weapons are to be made "retrievable", what's to stop players from selling them (or hackers from taking them), "retrieving" them and selling(/taking) the copies? Wouldn't it be far too similar to "dup'ing"? If such a system is implemented, another would need to follow it to prevent its obvious potential. Getting hacked sucks, but there's nothing in GW and will probably be nothing in GW2 that cannot be reacquired. At the very least, I'm sure that the those items in GW2 that may be unique will have special circumstances tied to them to keep them from being irretrievable or taken by others. You lost something high-end? Well, now you have a renewed reason to play GW(2). It's frustrating, but better than getting bored. Teddy Dan, yo. 10:22, 26 March 2011 (UTC)
 * PS: Dedicated/Customized items can still be sold. They can still affect the economy of the game, especially if they can be repeatedly reproduced without any effort. Teddy Dan, yo. 11:28, 26 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes, the intentional "duping" of items is one of my biggest concerns with any sort of replacement system. If we could actually retrieve, we'd be talking about a single instance of an item. Even then, retrieval has its risks because you may be retrieving from a third party, someone who innocently traded for the stolen item with the person to whom the "pretend hacking victim" passed the item in the first place. And retrievals, in any concept I can envision, are time-consuming and wrought with other challenges, as well. Yes, I have spent a lot of time thinking about this; the subject fascinates me on both a personal and academic level. You you can be sure that if any system is put in place, a whole lot of us will be looking at the various permutations and deciding how to proceed, including deciding which risks are acceptable in the name of good customer service and which are not. I've heard of giving hack victims a "starter pack" when their accounts are wiped, but those have not been seen as a wholly-satisfactory system, either. It is a very interesting subject! -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 19:45, 26 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Perhaps suggesting and encouraging the customization of cherished items, and perhaps allowing any item be taken to an NPC (either new or modified) for customization. After which disabling the sale/trade of all customized items and then the implementation of a retrieval system for deleted-only items. Customized items can be "tagged" with certain (probably difficult) code, much like that which already prevents one character to use the customized items of another. Does this help, at all? Teddy Dan, yo. 10:57, 27 March 2011 (UTC)
 * As for trade, you have a system to prevent the trade of Zaishen coins. I'm thinking certain existing code can be copied and modified to broaden their scope. However, I'm not a programmer. I'm just the guy with the oversimplified ideas. Teddy Dan, yo. 11:04, 27 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Sorry for all of the edits, I just keep getting thoughts in my head. When an item is deleted, where does it go? Does the code disappear or is it transferred elsewhere? If it disappears, can the code not be retyped? If it is transferred, can it not be returned? I know this isn't Programming101, and I'm sure there's nothing I know that you don't, but perhaps this uneducated monkey can do(/say) something clumsy that sparks an idea. Could it hurt? Teddy Dan, yo. 11:12, 27 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Was the idea really that bad? T_T Teddy Dan, yo. 02:08, 30 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Oh goodness, they were good ideas, I've just been busy and didn't notice the additions. :) I think you may have something in the whole "customized item" concept. But what about add-ons, and what about salvaging? Do you make customized items both tied to a character and "no salvage" to prevent abuse? Because I'm sure you'll agree that if something can be salvaged for a Sup Rune, for instance, its replacement is going to impact the economy. And quite frankly, I don't see players liking the concept of customization when the cost is so high: no trade, no use by other characters, and a no-salvage rule, too? That's pricey!


 * It's late-ish and I have a miserable head cold and what I've written may not make sense. :) At the core, I don't believe that items will be reconfigured for Guild Wars in such a way that we'll be able to restore items. I am nearly certain that item retrieval will remain impossible except in extremely rare cases, as it is now. But the Live Team is constantly amazing me with what they do, so who can say? I just have an instinct that things will remains as they are for GW, and nothing more than that instinct based on what I've learned in the past. In regards to Guild Wars 2, I'm still in the process of pinging folks to see if I can learn what they have in mind. And of course, any public revelation or discussion of what they have in mind will be pending... the usual things. :) -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 05:57, 30 March 2011 (UTC)

I'm thinking modifications can be treated much like dye in this case. Not salvageable but replaceable. Only once applied to a customized item, of course. Still salvageable from drops and non-customized trades. It would be pricey, as you won't have any financial return during the replacement process. But, again, it's no different than the dyeing process except that one could still salvage the mod from a non-customized item.

This can be used in GW2, if a modification process returns, to mend the old wounds of GW and provide a more secure and trustworthy experience for every player. Players of GW may not like the idea, at first, but once the rate at which hackers cause their mayhem begins to drop then I'm sure they'll be the ones left QQing. I vote for a safer environment, regardless of the cost. Realistically, I'd rather pay a little extra to put an end to theft than end up paying everything I have because I was hacked. It doesn't have to be now, it's just an idea for the future. I got worried when the responses came daily but then ceased for a few. Now that I know your circumstances, I hope for your recovery. :D Teddy Dan, yo. 11:29, 30 March 2011 (UTC)
 * For the sake of a safer environment, whom else would be willing to do the same? (Yes, I know I'm asking this in a relatively unpopular section.) Teddy Dan, yo. 17:17, 31 March 2011 (UTC)
 * You mean "who else". And this is better suited to the user feedback portal than Gaile's page, especially if you're requesting feedback. --ஸ Kyoshi [[Image:User_Kyoshi_sig2.png|19px]] 18:40, 31 March 2011 (UTC)
 * (edit indent) Is it "who else"? Interesting. Anyway, I wanted Gaile's opinion (and the opinions of those whom/who most of this page directly interests) before I began officially suggesting the impossible. I want to know how many others would feel they'd benefit from my suggestions, so I don't end up making wholly self-centered suggestions. Teddy Dan, yo. 08:34, 1 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Gaile, to answer your other question about salvage. In GW1 especially armour is an issue for me. Armour is automatically customised as it is and there is such a thing as perfect salvage kits. If perfect salvage kits were the only possible way to salvage runes from elite armours, what would that do? Hackers wouldn't destroy you armour because they had no choice but to use perfect salvage kits. And even then if they deleted armours out of spite, what would be the problem to give people back their armours that were registered in their HoM? Of course you give them the armour back without any runes or insignia but at least the hard work to earn these armour sets is protected. This is what I was looking for. Why would you need to be able to destroy FoW armour for a couple of Ecto's anyway or do you actually get a lot of ecto's for salvaging it? And how many people would be upset if they were no longer able to salvage those Ecto's from ripping FoW armour? Aside from the gold sellers I mean :)
 * Hackers could use the player's own funds to craft/purchase perfect salvage kits. Teddy Dan, yo. 20:04, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Gaile, do you think this is good enough to take to Feedback or are there any concerns you, as a knowledgeable representative, may have that could be hammered out here before the final draft? Teddy Dan, yo. 22:27, 5 April 2011 (UTC)
 * @Teddy Dan. Of course they can make perfect salvage kits but they will not destroy the elite armour sets when they use them to rip the runes etc off. In the end I want to make clear that I am looking for support from Anet/Nc when someone's account gets hacked. There is none at the moment and I hope this discussion will help create some ways of support. Account hackers will not stop and cannot be stopped 100%, so the idea is that they will add support options or as I suggest here, some ways that prevent hard earned items to be destroyed casually by hackers/gold sellers. Whatever works. Et In Gehenna Vixi... 12:11, 8 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Hackers are generally malicious individuals. They lack the ethical decency and wisdom to understand what doesn't belong to them, so it's best not to assume they won't simply delete your armor and customized weapons just for kicks and giggles. To understand malice, you have to think maliciously. If you truly possessed no capacity for human decency, what would you do if you hacked somebody's account and found that everything you wanted to take and sell for your own benefit was customized? All the impish effort you put into clawing your way into their account, for next to nothing. Would you simply let it go and move on or would you delete everything they had because you're a spiteful, malicious, irredeemable coward? That is what hackers are. That is what they do. Perhaps not all of them are so devoted to greed, and may be of the lazy sort, but are you willing to put all of your potentially hard-earned possessions on the line for such a gamble? I'm not. There's one way to fight it, all of it, and you either support it or you don't. Teddy Dan, yo. 21:30, 8 April 2011 (UTC)
 * This is getting off-topic from a discussion which is off-topic on Gaile's page to begin with. If you have an idea then make a feedback page. --ஸ Kyoshi [[Image:User_Kyoshi_sig2.png|19px]] 00:06, 9 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Isn't this about what Support can do (in the near future) after a hacking incident? O_o Teddy Dan, yo. 00:10, 9 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Bleh, don't know what my thoughts were when claiming it was off topic. But this is getting cluttered, and it would be best to just go and create a feedback page to house your thoughts in an organized and less rambling fashion than this section is accomplishing. Are you really so adverse to that? --ஸ Kyoshi [[Image:User_Kyoshi_sig2.png|19px]] 04:52, 9 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Nope, just wanted a good reason. Teddy Dan, yo. 04:59, 9 April 2011 (UTC)
 * After much procrastination, I finally made the feedback page. Feel free to gaze in awe and wonder... and maybe say a thing or two to make me feel good about myself.  Here  it is. Teddy Dan, yo. 22:23, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

Due to its length, alone, this section should probably be archived. I don't think anyone else is going to be adding anything new to it any time soon, based on the dwindling responses I've witnessed. It's all yours, Gaile. Teddy Dan, yo. 22:54, 17 April 2011 (UTC)

Copyright Issue

 * Sup Gaile

How do you feel about other people using Guild Wars' icons? http://www.playdota.com/heroes/necrolyte for example has the Death Nova icon.--83.82.62.210 19:45, 11 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Take it to Gaile. She's already handling a similar case. -- Oiseau | User_Oiseau_Melandru.jpg 19:51, 11 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks, Oiseau, that's right -- I discuss these situations with our legal counsel, so I'm a good person to send them to.
 * Thanks to you, 82, for bringing this to our attention. I've scoured the site to see if there are more uses of GW art, but so far I haven't spotted any. However, Death Nova is ours, no question about it. Because of that, I've forwarded a request to discuss this with our legal counsel and we'll pursue it if he feels that's the right course to take. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 03:05, 12 March 2011 (UTC)
 * They use a recolouring of Ether Renewal as well. And I recall the use of Conjure Phantasm's icon as well, though that has been taken down now, it seems. - Infinite - talk 03:26, 12 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Found it here; their hero "Mercurial" used a slightly toned down version of Conjure Phantasm's icon. Currently they use this, though. - Infinite - talk 03:33, 12 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks for catching those, Infinite! I didn't see either of them, although I was checking that skull out reeeeallly carefully. (It's not ours.) -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 04:27, 12 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Please read what I have to say, Gaile, before making a decision. It was redirected, but it's easy enough to find if you just follow the link. Thanks! -- Nathe  00:02, 14 March 2011 (UTC)
 * I've read it. I will not allow you to use my pages to engage in promulgating your biases. Copyrights are in place for a reason. Companies will decide on an individual basis how to deal with them. Please desist from future posting on this subject. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 01:18, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

Account Theft

 * Hello Gaile!

Serious business this time.

I just got someone logged into my account, removing all the stuff I've hoarded and it looks like a mess. Is this common and how does it happen?

So I just changed the gw and ncsoft passwords. My question is if that's enough? I don't want this to be repeated in a month or so when I've got money for runes. Thanks! -Cursed Angel  15:46, 19 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Ok, if you have magic powers. Could you ban the account with a character called "Stoned Chaplain"? Cuz he's the guy who got into my account. If you have even more magic powers. Could you give me the password to his account to get my stuff back?
 * I have no idea how it works but don't just give me a "hi, get a better password kthx :)" when I've got this guy's name. -Cursed Angel File-User Cursed Angel Signature3.jpg 19:10, 19 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Assuming it isn't another innocent victim being used as a cut-out. --Valshia 20:04, 19 March 2011 (UTC)
 * First of all, there is a part where you have to report this (can't think of where Cursed), secondly, you have to first send a ticket to support with all your information, they can help you better then gaile. Gaile is here for when you have either questions, notice bots, and to help motovate support. thirdly, when you do change passwords make sure that it is something diffcult, so as long as it has numbers, and caps and lower you should be fine. forthly Gaile does have magical powers, but she will not give you the person who you think hacked your account on the full fact of A, it is based off a huntch, B how do we know YOUR not using this to hack them and C, there is no actual way to roll back the game without having to do it to EVERY character who played. lastly It is a tragidy when you log on and your hard work is gone, My advice is to change the password often, and if you have guild mates to keep an eye on your characters. But I feel your pain, hasn't happened to me yet but I am worried when I can't log on. Send that Ticket off and give AS MUCH information as possible when you send the ticket off. side note, make sure you sign your comments to make it easy on other people Ocren 21:18, 20 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Since you know the person who stole your items, it's especially important for you to submit a support ticket. Tell them what you've told me, along with date and time (and time zone) of the hack. Please contact them and let me know how it sorts out. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 19:22, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

About Leeches in PvP
We all know this one. However, it seems support can't do anything. Apperently they need corroboration of reports before they can take action, which is a strange idea, to say the least. Please let me know if this is the right place or not, Thanks. Klefer
 * It would help to know what "place" you were looking for. Please read the banner at the top of this page entitled . Perhaps you were looking for Feedback talk:Gaile Gray/Botwatch? Or maybe Report? G R E E N E R  05:07, 14 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the suggestions, but no, neither of these places really cover what I meant. I'm screenshotting leechers, both in game and out of it, with the famous dishonor hex at different times of day (one char was seen 6 times in one day!!!). I sent these to Ncsoft (i.e. raising tickets) for investigation and get the response that there's nothing that can be done about it, unless someone else reports these too. Obviously they are being reported in game by other people and still getting away with it, which is, imho, a ludicrous situaution. Please could you shed some light on this regrettable state of affairs? Klefer
 * I would also like to know what should be done about it, since the current report system is pretty ineffective for legitimate leechers. Anyway, this is definitely not the place to post character names; it can be taken as slander especially if you're wrong (and I'm not saying you must be). If Gaile wants to know about it it'll be by email or another private means, so I'd definitely wait for a response from her. --ஸ Kyoshi [[Image:User_Kyoshi_sig2.png|19px]] 16:52, 15 March 2011 (UTC)
 * There was a suggestion on a Guru forum that makes sense: Flag count the amount of /reports for chars going into the system. If this happens repeatedly, then it's obviously not a coincidence. Apart from that, serious leechers will obviuosly use illegal software to get into matches, i.e automated SW. This can be discovered in most cases, hopefully. I'm not talking about the ppl who go into battle and then fall asleep etc. or the legitimate leech, as you so nicely put it.
 * I'm not actually sure what I meant by legitimate. --ஸ Kyoshi [[Image:User_Kyoshi_sig2.png|19px]] 17:35, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Account Wrongfully Banned

 * Incident 110315-002876]

Hi Gaile, I need assistance on an account of mine that was banned for use of "third party" while I was actually playing the game. Nothing was used and no third party software was running except for my AV and on-screen display for my graphics card. I was not using any bot and was actually farming manually in ToPK which I have been doing for years now. I think I was caught in a sweep of A/Me bots and was banned as well since I just found out people actually bot there. I rushed to support right after I got banned just moments after it. I was even watching my title window and browsing the new changes for the drunkard title and rushed to use all my stashed drinks. Please help me out as I have not used any bots and have been loyally playing Guild Wars for year and I am working on titles on my main character (Descendant Of Zion) every now and then and also farming in ToPK to get money.

Please look into it. Thank you and waiting for your reply.


 * Hello. While I sympathize with what's going on, it's looks like it has only been a few minutes since you submitted your ticket. As I explained in the first post on this page, players should work with Support and allow them to address issues as fully as possible. The team is able to completely resolve the vast majority (probably 99.9%) of issues that arise. In relation to account issues, I am here to assist players who do not get a response from Support after at least three full business days -- which is very unusual -- or in cases where there may be an issue with a decision -- also quite uncommon -- or when someone needs more information about policies and procedures. You can contact me again at the end of the week if one of these applies to your situation. The core facts are that I'm not a court of appeal and I'm not a alternative source for issue resolutions. And I'm sure that folks will see that it would be inappropriate for me to move tickets up in the queue. Thanks for understanding, and good luck with the situation! -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 00:49, 16 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Okay I'll contact and update you when I really need the assistance. Thanks for the reply and hope that everything will work out fine with my account. Thank you again!--Descendant Of Zion 00:57, 16 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Since I haven't heard in the last week or so, I'm going to figure this issue has been resolved. I'll archive next time I do a tidy-up. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 19:38, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

[Incident: 100524-001310]
Hi Gaile! Almost a year ago, following your advice from this wiki i packed two incidents regarding a account lock because of the old ncwebsite issue (number 100517-001163 and 100524-001310) into a newer one (stated on title). Till now, i have not received an e-mail answer and i was wandering if you can have a peek on the issue to check if i was lost in the supporting process (at that date it was a mess) or there is an error on my side (aka i was answered indeed). Thank you so much in advance. Ragnagard 00:59, 4 March 2011 (GMT+1)
 * Ok, I took a look. The incident in the title -- 100524-001310 -- was closed because it related to an earlier ticket. All info in 100524-001310 was merged into Incident 100517-001163, as I had mentioned would happen. And yes, the team did respond to you on May 29, 2010, via Incident #100517-001163, saying that the ownership verification information you had provided was not accurate. That is, the date of birth you provided was not the one that is tied to that Guild Wars account. They then offered you an alternative means to prove ownership, which is something they must do to ensure they are giving access to the actual account owner. I would suggest that you go to the NCsoft Support page and update Incident #100517-001163. Alternately, you can create a new ticket, but it would be helpful if you provide all the old ticket numbers in any new message, to speed the merging process and put all the info you've provided in the hands of the team as they review this matter again. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 19:21, 4 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Hi again, Gaile! The old ticket was closed so I created a new one gathering all the ticket numbers and also sent the Gamecard photos.I hope that's enough to go back to GW. Thanks for the support and sorry for the overwork ;). Ragnagard 22:25, 4 March 2011 (GMT+1)
 * Oh hey, Ragnagard, it's no trouble at all! Please let me know when everything gets sorted for you. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 22:08, 4 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Took a little longer (accounts config) but i'm now going to have a "new beach" session inside the game. Thanks for all Gaile!. -- Ragnagard 12:25, 8 March 2011 (GMT+1)
 * You're welcome, Ragnagard. Have fun with Embark Beach! :) -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 20:39, 11 March 2011 (UTC)

GW Account Wrongfully Removed
Hi, Gaile, I've been playing GW since release and this is the first time that I've addressed you. On the day of the Feature Build I discovered that my GW account was removed from my NCSoft Master Account. So I can't log in anymore. The reasoning is "We've evidence to prove that your account involved in the controversial game currency transaction"...in '''Aion. A game I never owned nor played'''. The closest relations I have with this game is seeing the Aion Wings on GW players. Please, help me retrieve my beloved account. I haven't done anything wrong. (I enlist on Monday so I might be on bootcamp for a period of time). -- Itamar    09:58, 5 March 2011 (UTC)
 * You should be sending a support ticket before coming to Gaile, and then you should be waiting until a point where support is not responding to you. Gaile is here to give support a nudge or take a second look at support tickets that players are still debating.
 * If you do have a support ticket relating to the incident, you should post the ticket number here. --ஸ Kyoshi [[Image:User_Kyoshi_sig2.png|19px]] 16:11, 5 March 2011 (UTC)
 * It sounds as if you have been discussing this with Support, and I am more than happy to help, but I will need the 12-digit Incident (Ticket) Number in order to start some research on this situation. Thanks. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 03:59, 7 March 2011 (UTC)

Incident 110302-001504
Hi Gaile

I hope you can help with the incident number above. My Guild Leader has been banned for botting, more precisely for using the G15 for the drunkard title last week on a different account to his main account. Firstly the wrong account had been banned and the community was under the impression that whilst the G15 maybe against the EULA in some areas that appropriate use was fine e.g. drunkard title. Not to make money or abuse or exploit the game. The following day drunkard becomes spammable which makes the G15 timer macro redundant. I hope you can help with this incident to a very loyal guild wars fan.

Thank you.


 * First, I should point out that it's always preferable for a player to post here directly, rather than having a friend or family member post on his/her behalf. However, I know you're trying to help, so I'll give you what info I can in a generic sense. Despite design changes made via the March 3rd update -- changes that ease a player's ability to achieve the Drunkard title -- using a macro or an auto-clicker is still disallowed, as it always has been. (And yes, I actively confirmed that fact with our Live team, since we have had team member changes and I wanted to make sure we were all on the same page.) Our consistent and continuing requirement is that players must play the game. Using a macro, tool, utility, AFK bot, exploit, or any other means of progressing in the game without the player's active involvement is prohibited. Such accounts are subject to action, up to and including termination. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 21:01, 7 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Thank you Gaile for taking the time to respond. I understand where you are coming from, my friend and I understand that it was against the EULA to use the G15. However, I know Anet have sometimes turnd a blind eye to the drunkard title due to its awkward implementation, you only need to look at afk nine rings to see many folks using something similar. Having said that, whilst it was wrong, the wrong account had been banned in this instance. He freely admits to using the G15, but the wrong account was banned. Please have a look at the incident and if you are going to uphold the ban, please ban the correct account. His main account had already achived drunkard title two years ago.


 * Again thank you for looking into this. Silver


 * Hi Gaile. It's Cliff,
 * Silver was talking on my behalf as I was not sure how to set up and post on the wiki page. Silver is correct on what he has said. I totally admit to using the G15 macro for a drunkard title on a different account to my main account. I know it was wrong, but in this case my main account was banned instead of the account that the macro was used for.Please feel free to e-mail me if you wish to discuss this further....Please Gaile you are my last and only hope to get this resolved.
 * Hi Cliff. I can check the ticket, but perhaps it's easier to ask you here -- have you pointed out the "wrong account blocked" situation to Support? -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 21:47, 7 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks Gaile for responding. Yes I have pointed this out but they claim I was botting all the time and not looked into the wrong account being banned, I know I was using the G15 but not on the account that was perma banned.


 * hi Gaile Gray if you would like any more information please let me know and i look forward to hearing from you soon, Cliff. 10 March 2011
 * I have sent off an email to enable a discussion with one of the senior agents. It seems highly unlikely one account would be suspended or terminated based on what happened on another account, so my first thought is that both accounts were somehow involved in a UA breach. But I will follow up with the team to learn more. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 21:06, 11 March 2011 (UTC)

Having just heard from my associate and after looking at the data he provided me, the account that was blocked was involved in the use of an auto-clicker. (Yes, the account that was blocked, not a different account.) The termination is unrelated to use of the G15 Keyboard. Use of an auto-clicker was and remains disallowed in Guild Wars. I want to point out that there is a difference between going AFK on 9 Rings and using an autoclicker program. Being AFK doesn't require any clicking; using a program that clicks while you're absent -- or while you're chatting in the GH or playing on another account -- is cheating. -- Gaile 22:11, 11 March 2011 (UTC)

Hi Gaile, I would like you to reconsider the ban on Cliff's account. I have played a lot of GW, account Omnis Cure, and in this time I have gotten to know Cliff as well as one can know someone over the internet. I can tell you with absolute certainty that he would not do something that would negatively impact the game or that he felt was a violation of the game's policy. If Cliff was using a bot to win matches in PvP or to farm gold, then I would congratulate you for moderating the game well in order for the game to remain fun. However, I wonder why ANET feels that banning someone for using an auto click for the drunk title would create a positive impact on the game? It was well known that before the recent update it was pretty ridiculous to achieve the drunk title, having people continuously mapping out of towns or just staring at the timer to know when to use the next alcohol. I am sure this is the reason that the drunk title was changed so that the points are now spammable, great update by the way. Personally I feel that using an auto clicker for obtaining the drunk title would be along the same lines as using a text mod for completing an explorer title. The player obtaining the drunk title still needs to collect the resources to obtain the alcohol and then to take the time to get the alcohol itself. The clicker just takes out a tedious part of the game that wasn't fun. The clicker doesn't negatively impact the game, no one loses a match because of it, no items or materials become devalued because they are overfarmed due to it. If the clicker ruined the game for someone else, than I would feel differently about this ban, but I don't think you will find many people who would feel negatively impacted because someone used an auto clicker to get the drunk title. The clicker circumvented a part of the game that ANET agreed wasn't something that should have been a part of the game, again great update. Cliff is such an avid supporter of GW that I really think it would be a shame to have him stop playing. Cliff has helped out countless people enjoy GW. He has taught people everything from killing Mallyx, to capping flags in AB, to running relics in HA, and everything in between. He got more titles on his account than anyone else that I know, which is pretty amazing. 99.9999% of these titles were accomplished by playing throughout early mornings, rainy afternoons and late nights; without the use of any third party programs or macros. Again, please reconsider this ban as I think that this will only take away from GW, not add to it.

Thank you,

Omni --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:Omni co (talk).


 * Gaile Gray;


 * As you stated above, Cliff's account has been block due to the use of an auto-clicker, under the basis that the use of an auto-clicker is cheating (i.e. it violates section 22 of the rules of conduct that refers to third-party programs).


 * Section 14 of the EULA states NC Interactive's right to suspend or terminate an account and describes the basis for which a suspention or termation can occur. As a basis for suspention or termination it states "upon game play, chat or any player activity whatsoever which is, in our sole discretion, inappropriate and/or in violation of the spirit of the Game(s) as described in the Rules of Conduct."


 * It is clear that Arena Net feels that Cliff violated the Rules of Conduct; but I do not feel it was in violation of the spirit of the game.


 * It was not an intentional violation of the rules of conduct
 * It did not negatively affect the game or other players
 * No items or gold were obtained
 * It still required him to obtain the items (alcohol)
 * It still required the same amount of in game time


 * The spirit of the game commonly refers to both sportsmanship and honor. Sportsmanship usually refering to the use of respect and fairness in the interaction between players; and honor meaning the conscious effort to play within the rules.  Cliff never intentionally violated the rules of conduct.


 * Many players are confused as to what does and does not violate the spirit of the game, with respect to the drunkard title. With the release of the update to the drunkard title, Arena Net made this statement: "Players previously attained points by having characters spend time drunk, maxing out at 10,000 minutes. This method was convoluted and not clearly explained; players did not receive points unless they were at a minimum tier of drunkenness. Because players went down a tier for every minute spent drunk, many players had to use counterintuitive methods for keeping track of their progress on the title. The new version of acquisition is easier to understand and does not rely on hidden systems."


 * It is clear with this statement that Arena Net agrees that there was confusion with regards to the drunkard title and that is a reason for the update. I personally know of several players (including entire guilds) that promoted and used the auto-clicker with no intention of violating the Rules of Conduct or the spirit of the game.


 * It was never Cliff's intention to do anything wrong and he has always supported and contributed greatly to Guild Wars (and the Guild Wars community). With that being said and the wide confusion surrounding the drunkard title, it is my hope that Arena Net will implement a suspension (including the time during which the account has been blocked and under review) of Cliff's account instead of a termination; so that he can continue to support and contribute to Arena Net and their vision.


 * Thank you for your support and attention. I am looking forward to your response.


 * Sincerely,
 * Michael Gill
 * Mechanical Engineer


 * Proud Supporter of Arena Net --The preceding unsigned comment was added by 220.73.70.68 (talk).


 * A few comments to address your points, one by one:
 * I don't know of anyone who downloads, uses, and promotes the use of a cheat program who is not involved in an "intentional violation of the User Agreement."
 * Every time someone gains a title through a cheat, it lowers the perceived "specialness" of the titles for those who earn it legitimately. Saying that cheating for a title has no impact on others is simply untrue.
 * The fact that one did not earn items or gold through a cheat is immaterial. Obviously, gold and items are not the only things of value in Guild Wars.
 * I think a large number of players would agree that the most daunting part of gaining the title is not gaining the items, it's spending the time.
 * Of course the title took the same amount of time. The point isn't time spent, it's quality of time or the focus during the time spent. Was the time spent in acquiring the title? Or was it spent having a sandwich, watching TV, sleeping, or even playing on a secondary account whilst the other one "earned" the title.


 * Questions that I wonder about: How could someone use this program and not see that it was a cheat? How could someone bot a title and say he'd never used a bot? Why the denial of using such a program (until it was clear we knew it had been used)? There are other points of concern: The claim that the wrong account was blocked; the possibility that someone else was on the account (and using the cheat program) in order to acquire the title for the account holder. In the end, is it possible for someone to use a cheat program and still be following "the spirit of the game?" Is "the spirit of the game" subject to personal interpretation to conform to each player's own standards and views? Or is "the spirit of the game" expressed and enforced -- as I believe it is -- through the User Agreement and the Rules of Conduct?


 * The matter is complicated, and I promise that I will look into it again. But if I should come to have any further dialogue about this, with anyone, I expect complete and full honesty. Not prevarication, not disingenuousness, not personal interpretation of a community-wide set of rules. For it is only with honesty that we can come to the best possible outcome, for the individual player and for the community as a whole. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 04:54, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

Gaile Gray;

Thank you for the fast response, we all really appreciate it. It was not my intent so speak with prevarication or to be disingenuous. If that is the way it sounded then I sincerely apologize. I understand that what I wrote was my interpretation of the rules and I should have made that clear. I was only trying to communicate why several of us feel that what Cliff did isn't deserving of his account being terminated, but rather suspended. I understand that this decision is in Arena Net's sole discretion; I am just trying to get my point of view across.

I am new to Guild Wars and have a fairly small amount of experience. In the small experience that I have, it was my understanding that the Guild Wars community viewed an auto-clicker as tolerated by Arena Net. I have not personally used an auto-clicker, but I have heard many players promote it by describing it as comparable to 9 rings and texmod. I have been told by multiple players that because an auto-clicker doesn't move your character, you are unable to do anything else while it is running, it still requires the player to obtain the items, and it takes the same amount of time, that Arena Net tolerates its use. I understand that the use of an auto-clicker is wrong and violates the Rules of Conduct and am not trying to argue otherwise. I am just trying to communicate the level of confusion that there is surrounding the use of an auto-clicker. Also, I think that some confusion may have come from players who gained the drunkard title through the use of an auto-clicker and never had Arena Net take action against their account. I can understand why many players, including Cliff, may have viewed an auto-clicker as a tolerated method instead of a blatant cheat (i.e. a "bot").

Thank you for taking a second look into the matter.

Sincerely,

Michael Gill Mechanical Engineer Proud Supporter of Arena Net


 * Hi Gaile Gray,


 * Thank you for taking a second look into the matter of my account. I just wanted to respond to your statement by clarifying that I never used what I considered to be a "bot."  I never used a third party program (what some refer to as "the drunk bot"), but a macro that I myself created on my G15 Logitech keyboard.  I have been open and honest in admiting that I did use a macro in obtaining the drunkard title partially on a recent account; and I do admit to using the macro on this account (3 years ago).  I can provide you with a copy of the macro I created and used if that would be helpful.


 * When my account was initially blocked, I was confused with regards to the reasoning being that a "bot" had been used on the account. I did not consider a basic macro to be a "bot."  That is why I denied any use of a "bot" on this account.  I aquired the drunkard title approximately 3 years ago with the use of my G15 macro.  Because of the length of time between then and now, it didn't initially occur to me that the macro was the cause for action being taken against the account.  At the time that Arena Net took action against my account, I had been using it on another account and admit to having recently used the macro on that account.  You can understand why when I realized that the term "bot" may be refering to the macro, I thought the wrong account had been blocked.  I hope Arena Net understands my confusion over something that happened so long ago.  I am sorry if anything I said came across as dishonest.


 * With the recent changes to the drunkard title, and the confusion that Mr.Gill has discussed, I am only hoping for leniancy in a suspension instead of a termination of my account.


 * Thank you again for your time,
 * Cliff


 * Bots are basically glorified macros from a technical perspective of this rule. The spirit of it is that you are having a sequence repeat to play the game for you.
 * On an unrelated note, could you two please indent your posts? You do so by adding a number of colons before your comment (as you should see while editing), and traditionally, you add one more than the person before you did unless you intend to reset the indent. It helps keep wiki discussions organized. --ஸ Kyoshi [[Image:User_Kyoshi_sig2.png|19px]] 16:50, 14 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi Gaile really appreciate your efforts, would be grateful to know any likely outcomes, hopefully positive. Many many thanks. Cliff --Legendary H E R O[[File:User Legendary H E R O sig.png]] 19:59, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Support Site Down Time
We wanted to let you know that the NCsoft Support Site will be offline this evening while some of our support tools are upgraded. The upgrade project will begin at about 8:00 PM Pacific time on March 9, or 4:00 AM GMT on March 10. The process will take about five hours, and during that time the Guild Wars support site will be unavailable, meaning you won't be able to view the Knowledge Base, submit new tickets, or view/update old tickets via the website during that time. In-game petitions and e-mail will be queued until the sites are back up, so nothing will be lost. :) If you try to log into your Master Account in the five-hour span, you will see a "Please check in a little later" message, in which case we invite you to log in after 1:00 AM Pacific time or 09:00 GMT. -- Gaile  01:02, 10 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Update: All went just fine with the upgrades and the systems were back on line as predicted. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 22:12, 11 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Thanks for letting us know in advance and for posting the outcome. — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 22:38, 11 March 2011 (UTC)

Promoting Christianity in-game
Lately, I stumbled on this christian guild, which blatantly states on their page: ""We take our relationship with Him very seriously and consider this guild to be a wonderful way to be able to worship and serve Him and spread His good news to the Guild Wars world."" . Now, freedom of religion is one thing, but throwing it into someone's face and promoting a religious view is something entirely different. Besides, the Rules of Conduct Explicitly say this:

""8. You may not market, promote, advertise, or solicit within the Guild Wars game or on the official Guild Wars websites."" It literally states promoting in any way is prohibited, including promoting religious views. Can you do something about this guild? Koda  20:58, 10 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Besides their name, have you actually seen them solicit in-game? --JonTheMon 21:01, 10 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Does that matter? They deliberately violate the rules of conduct, that is the issue here. Koda [[Image:User_Koda_Kumi_Horns1.GIF‎|19px]] 21:03, 10 March 2011 (UTC)
 * It's a freaking video game, does it really have to put up with this? — smøni  21:05, 10 March 2011 (UTC)
 * I do not much like when people force their religious views on others, but any action couldn't be taken against the whole guild could it? -- 'Mai Yi ' {T    C}  21:09, 10 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Just report it to and let them sort it out.  No need to bother Gaile with it. --Lania  [[Image:User Lania Elderfire pinkribbon.jpg]]21:10, 10 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Not to bash them down, as I am a Christian myself (Although, hey, if I chose to believe, so can you not to), but I have seen them advertise, mainly in Lion's Arch. And yes, it gets annoying, not only because of the spam, but also because it generates huge troll wars. --[[Image:User Large sig.png|talk]] Large 21:25, 10 March 2011 (UTC)

What you see on the website you "stumbled on" is irrelevant. What matters is what any group does in the game. Someone posting occasionally seeking guild members for a Christian guild is no more prohibited than someone inviting folks to join a guild made up of Eagle Scouts or plumbers. Or PvP Players. ;) If they spam, report them. If they are simply doing what every other group does, and you are not interested in joining their group, then I suggest you simply ignore them. -- Gaile  07:37, 11 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Large, I would suggest that if their simple, non-spammed guild invitations are spawning troll wars, then the trolls are at fault, not the guild members. Feel free to contact me if you see such a situation, with date, time, and any character name you see involved in the issue and I will look into it. And of course, if the guild members are guilty of spamming or of aggressive or otherwise unacceptable behavior, they will be actioned accordingly. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 07:40, 11 March 2011 (UTC)
 * were playing a game based around the beliefs of a set of gods and religions, wanting to remove a guild cause they worship someone irl is almost as silly as removing one thats called followers of grenth for example, thats just my oppinion on the matter though, i cant see any reason personally to remove someone based on their beliefs isnt that technically being recist (possibly wrong one)?Spark-TBa 11:13, 30 March 2011 (UTC)
 * I have seen this guild advertising, but as far as I remember they are simply advertising their guild which happens to be christian. I am not a fan of christianity, to put it mildly, but speaking objectively I don't think they are breaking any rules. If they were trying to convince people about their truth or jesus or whatever then it'd be different. But in the end advertising a christian guild is no different in that sense than advertising for kurzick or luxon guilds. These people that I've seen advertising don't usually involve themselves in the troll discussions. It's other people who respond to that. So let me say that I, as an anti-christian do not see the problem,since, in my experience they haven't tried to convince anyone about there beliefs....and I do believe in equal rights Et In Gehenna Vixi... 21:40, 22 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Actually, they are breaking rules, both on this wiki and in-game, by promoting their cause. Koda [[Image:User_Koda_Kumi_Horns1.GIF‎|19px]] 15:13, 1 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Gaile just said it isn't. Don't start this up again when it's already been resolved. --ஸ Kyoshi [[Image:User_Kyoshi_sig2.png|19px]] 16:05, 1 May 2011 (UTC)

Let's chat about security again.
I know, you're probably still tired of me from the last time, but let's rap here for a second! Yesterday my girlfriend and I discovered that sometime in the past 48 hours or so, her Guild Wars account was absconded with. We've submitted a ticket to get it resolved, but there are some things that are bothering me about the situation, and I thought maybe you'd like to look into them. Now ArenaNet added the requirement of a character name in order to log in to accounts, so whoever removed her character from our guild definitely had that. And NCSoft recently added a new security measure that requires you to verify the computer you are logging in on, so you'd assume they had that too, but here's the kicker: my girlfriend, in her infinite wisdom six or so years ago, created the account with a false birth date that she can't remember now, which prevents her from verifying her log in location as NCSoft requires her to provide that date in order to log in. So somehow somebody figured out the false date not even she can remember, along with the second security answer, and got into the master account and changed her account password, either before or shortly after logging into her game account and doing who knows what as of yet. This strikes me as a bit strange and improbable, as having an email address, game password, character name, NCSoft account name (not related to the game account name), NCSoft account password (not the same as the game account password), and answers to two security questions (one answer as mentioned unknown to even the account holder) would be quite a lot for someone to obtain from a person who isn't allowed to stop making me sandwiches long enough to give any information out or click any fishy links. Before I start blaming it on security flaws though, I thought we could talk about it. I've really got no idea what happened here, but I figured you might have some insight as an employee of NCSoft. Oh, and if you want to follow the ticket for whatever information gets brought up there as we work it out with Support, it's Incident 110313-000462. -Faer 07:16, 13 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Just FYI... you don't need NCMA login credentials to change your guildwars password. The Guildwars client password can be changed from within the game itself, thus locking account access unless changed through the NCMA or via Anet account lock.  So all the account thief needs is the email, password, and character name, and wouldn't need the answers to the birth date or the security questions.  Now that the NCsoft master account's security is boosted, I suspect that the GW client is now the weak link in account security. And as far as "fishy" websites go, some attack sites look benign as it can be.  One attack site i looked at was a fake update to firefox.  Yes, it knew what browser I was using as well as the correct version.  If I had allowed it to install the "fake update", my computer probably would have been compromised with malware. I dunno, maybe this might help figure out what happened. Also FYI, I am not affiliated with Anet or NCsoft in any capacity other than I love to play their game :). --Lania  [[Image:User Lania Elderfire pinkribbon.jpg]]08:04, 13 March 2011 (UTC)
 * You can't change or reset your game password from within the client when it is linked to an NCSoft Master Account, and haven't been able to for some time now. -Faer 08:29, 13 March 2011 (UTC)
 * You can't reset the password from the login screen, but you can change the password after you've logged in. Also, when you change the password this way they is no email notification sent unlike when you reset it from the NCMA.  (This should really be changed, IMO.) --Valshia 16:48, 13 March 2011 (UTC)
 * I see. Yes, I agree, that certainly needs changed. -Faer 17:45, 13 March 2011 (UTC)
 * For further reading on passwords and attack websites-> User:Lania Elderfire/Rant/Passwords. --Lania  [[Image:User Lania Elderfire pinkribbon.jpg]]18:02, 13 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Working in web development, I'm not so unfamiliar with the subject of clickjacking and malicious scripting that I require reading material from the wiki of a video game, but thanks for the concern. I merely overlooked the possibility to change a password from the client after already being logged in, without the requirement of verification (perhaps ArenaNet should follow the steps of many companies and require validation of the request through e-mail before accepting the password change request placed from the character selection screen). -Faer 19:02, 13 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Oh, you again, eh Faer? :) Seriously, though, I am sorry about the account theft. I would say that now that you understand the game password can be changed from within the account, that would explain what took place. (There is still the question of how someone knew user name, password, and character name, of course.) I'm going to let Support give you more information when they are able to address the ticket. I think the reason that a password-change email is not sent to the email address that forms the GW user name is that (1) players may have used a "pretend" email when creating the account (there's no verification system that proves proves the email address is authentic, something I regret, actually), (2) players may have used an email to which they no longer have access, so sending a notification falls into a void. I guess there's a further possibility: (3) if someone loses ownership of his email account, sending an email about an account change plays into the hands of the email account thief, but I think that one's a pretty remote possibility, particularly since the email doesn't say "You changed your password to [insert password here]" it simply says "you changed your password."


 * Having said that, I am going to pass along the suggestion that we do send an email for both NCMA and in-game password changes. Decisions of these sort don't rest with me, but I think it's a valid suggestion and I'll share it with the team. (And share it with the GW2 team, as well.) Thanks. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 17:58, 14 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Oh hi. Yeah I still don't know exactly how her information got out (apparently to gold sellers? Weird. We barely even play GW anymore) but I'm going to do some digging. Could very well be that she snuck out of the kitchen... At any rate, some quick comments on stuff! (1) Something for everyone to think about for GW2, perhaps. Making sure that there is a (verified) method of contact is important! (2) I know that feeling. One of my accounts uses an e-mail address tied to a long dead website, but at least it's linked to my NCMA so I can still get support for it (yeah okay so maybe I don't hate the NCMA system entirely). (3) Yes, it is certainly always a concern that someone may have lost control of their e-mail address if they have lost control of another online account, especially in cases of both using the same password; still though, since both being compromised isn't always the case, the verification e-mail would be very nice, as it would prevent unwanted password changes in some cases (when the e-mail account is still locked nice and tight), and if your e-mail has been compromised they are going to be changing your password anyway, so it wouldn't hurt that situation any. Thanks for passing the idea along, I'm sure a lot of players will appreciate it, especially if we get tighter account security for GW2 from day one, which should help to prevent another huge wave of stuff going missing like what happened in... what was it, 2009? Been doing this community stuff for too many years to keep track of it all. -Faer 02:25, 15 March 2011 (UTC)


 * I agree -- people using a real, honest-to-goodness contact email address would be a good thing. I'd like to make sure they do, maybe verify their identity (email address, taht is) when setting up the account. No fake email address, a real one that you access and verify before you play. Of course, folks move, they change ISPs, they get a new account... and in cases like that, they can leave behind a trail of dead email accounts. I was actually thinking just now, what if somehow the game verified that you were who you were via email before you logged in? And then I smacked my forehead and said "What are you thinking!?" Can you imagine the pain in the patootie it would be to somehow verify "Yep, I'm still Fred at Fred.com, please let me into my account." :) Still, I think there is a definite tie to real, verifiable information and security. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 06:01, 30 March 2011 (UTC)

NCSoft Support Email
Hi Gaile, I'm having a bit of a dilemma, I tried to log into my account about a week or two of inactivity and my password wasn't working; I kept on getting the 227 error code even though all of my details were saved and I'm pretty sure I didn't mistype my password repeatedly. Apparently, as below, my account was accessed by gold sellers and I have no idea how, because I've never given my account info to anyone, posted anything stupid on any forum and use anti-virus software, etc, etc. I emailed the support team and the email that I got back was the following:

Hello,

Your account was blocked because it was accessed by gold sellers. We will be happy to help you recover your account, but will need you to verify your account information first.

What first and last name did you use when you created the account? What street address did you use when you created the account? What date of birth did you use when you created the account? What are the 25 digit retail access keys currently registered to your Guild Wars game account? (Please include the retail access keys from each campaign.) What is your Guild Wars login name? What are the last 4 digits of the credit/debit card used to make any Guild Wars purchases online from us? (if applicable)

Regards, GM ApplePython The Guild Wars Support Team

I know its of the right format, but I'm still a bit dubious, and I can't remember my access keys - I bought my account online and the card I used doesn't exist anymore... 94.169.250.10 23:01, 21 March 2011 (UTC)Dusk Spectre
 * That's a pretty standard reply. They need to verify the information you gave them originally so they know it's really you trying to gain access, and not another hacker. Just give them everything you can and they'll get you fixed up.--[[Image:User Pyron Sy sig.png|19px| ]] Pyron Sy 23:04, 21 March 2011 (UTC)
 * No request for your password or anything else sensitive. Looks legit, especially if you got it as a direct reply to your email. --ஸ Kyoshi [[Image:User_Kyoshi_sig2.png|19px]] 03:26, 22 March 2011 (UTC)
 * As Kyoshi said, we need to make sure that you're you. Or that you're the owner of the account. :) Please go ahead and provide the information. For added security, instead of answering the email, you could log into the NCsoft Support Site and update your ticket. That would perhaps put your mind at rest and would accomplish the needed verifications that allow the team to help you get back on your account. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 19:12, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Possible hacked or deleted account?? (Incident: 110428-001257)
Hi Gaile.

For some reason my account appears to either been hacked or outright deleted by NCsoft/Anet without any prior notice. I cant seem to login and every time i attempt to login it gives me a code 227. When i attempted to reset my password, but that was hours ago and i haven't received any emails. If someone managed to hack my account shouldn't i at least get an email asking me to confirm the changes?? So I am at a loss. and NCsoft support have gone quiet on me.

I havent really been playing at all over the last two weeks, and i have always been careful with my login details so i dont see how my account details could have been stolen. the thing is, I also have a second account i use as a storage account. and i cant login with that account either which leads me to believe that the my accounts have either been blocked or deleted by NCsoft.

MangoMamba said he/she was escalating my support ticket to Guild Wars senior staff members. but that was hours ago. Is there any chance of getting some follow up on whats happening?? (Incident: 110428-001257)

anything you can give me to calm my OCD would be great. I dont want to lose everything that i have achieved on my accounts not to mention all the sets of elite armours, weapons and shields i will lose if the account is hacked or deleted :( PLEASE HELP MEEE!!! the suspense is killing me (literally) and i cant stop thinking that the worst has happened and i have lost EVERYTHING :( Belladonna Imperia
 * Read the first section, let support do their thing. Gaile is kind of a last resort, and should only be asked to look into things after 3 business days have elapsed. Good luck. <font color="Black">-- <font color="#0104C6">FreedomBound [[Image:User_Freedom_Bound_Sig.png|19px]] 14:13, 28 April 2011 (UTC)
 * its not easy to ignore something for 3days if you have OCD. I have been trying some old passwords from the top of my head for the last hour on my main and secondary account. and i still cant get into it. If i cant get into it by tonight then im gonna commit harakiri. If my account has been hacked/deleted and I have lost all of my weapons, and armours i will commit harakiri. because this is the first time ever i have had this happen to my account, and theres nothing i can do about it but sit here and bitch and whine about wanting my account back. good day to you sir! Belladonna Imperia
 * I didn't say it would take three days, but posting here when you've admitted that it has only been hours doesn't do anyone any good. Heck, Gaile probably won't even see this before you get a response from support. By the way, if you have a NCSoft Master Account, I don't think the password reset works. You have to login through the master account and change it through there. Best bet would be to relax and wait for support, though, because I imagine that if someone sends an email hysterical about an account breach, if it wasn't locked before, that's the first thing they did. <font color="Black">-- <font color="#0104C6">FreedomBound [[Image:User_Freedom_Bound_Sig.png|19px]] 15:18, 28 April 2011 (UTC)
 * I cant even get into my NCsoft account.... Ive told them that too! the only conclusion that i have drawn is that they have blocked/deleted both accounts because I log into both accounts to trade between them and they might of thought one of the accounts might have been hacked and transferring items to the hackers account. thats why they blocked me without prior notice. otherwise a friend of mine says im still on the guild roster -- if that means anything at all. Belladonna Imperia


 * Even if your account was blocked, you should still be able to logon to your NCSoft account; ANet doesn't have any direct control over that.
 * Even though you aren't seeing a response from support, they are probably working on it. Often (as noted by Freeedom Bound), the team will take action to prevent further actions by hackers, then take time to investigate the situation more fully, before getting back to you. It's also possible that one group has noticed the account issue, but another is working on your ticket.
 * Gaile's role is to step in if the support team isn't keeping up to their standards of service. As described above, that means that you should expect a reply within 3 business days of your original posted ticket (longer if you create more tickets). If that does not happen or if you feel Support misunderstood the issues involved, Gaile can ask them to take a closer look.


 * I'm very sorry that you don't have access to the accounts. I hope things turn out well for you. Good luck. — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 16:38, 28 April 2011 (UTC)
 * thanks guys :) Finally had a response from a GM -- apparently BOTH accounts were accessed/used by gold sellers....Hopefully the gold sellers didnt find my hidden ecto stash.... Belladonna Imperia


 * Arghh! Soz you wuz robbed :-( (I hope they locked the accounts before too much was lost.) Good luck.  — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 18:33, 28 April 2011 (UTC)

The team is still working on this, as the ticket is less than 24 hours old. I hope that you have checked your email account(s) for security, and that you've done password changes wherever they might be prudent. The team will continue to assist you, and of course if you have continuing questions, you're welcome to check in with me (but please allow at least a few business days before doing so). Thanks. -- Gaile 21:35, 28 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks Gaile, I'm still working with the team, they have asked to change my password. and i have done so TWICE from my master NCsoft account but i still am unable to login. I want to know if them hackers emptied my account Belladonna Imperia
 * I think support systems have glitched and they have given up on me lol. still cant login Belladonna Imperia
 * Still locked out of my account. support says my account has been unblocked and i have been instructed to change the password time and time again, and i have done it, but i still cant login. when i still click the 'reset password' link in the login screen and enter my email address into the box, I dont receive an email back with a new temporary password which means my account is still blocked. I know its blocked because i tried the password reset before i contacted support and nothing happened. I have tried the password reset 5 times last night and i haven't received a single email yet -- account is still blocked. Belladonna Imperia
 * Is there any way to restore what was deleted or taken from my account...? almost everything is gone, my ectos, my armours, my weapons n shields.... :( I see what im left with and i no longer want to play Gw Belladonna Imperia
 * Unfortunately not. Once your items are gone, they are gone for good.--[[Image:User Pyron Sy sig.png|19px| ]] Pyron Sy 20:17, 29 April 2011 (UTC)

Oh well...Goodbye Gaile, and everyone who still plays. I'll see you all in GW2. Belladonna Imperia

Account Wrongfully Banned 2
Account Termination!! [Incident: 110324-003077]‏

Ive been wrongfully banned for this issue i feel like its all one sided and support isnt listening to what im saying or trying to say. This guy gave one of my friends his accounti have all the message logs of him in msn telling him that he dosnt play anymore and that there is stuff on the account he could have then after my friend took a few things from the account thinking it was ok he didnt even try to change the password or anything from the account then the next afternoon when i get home from work i find out that my account and 3 of my other room mates accounts have all been banned then this guy sends my friend the email from a GM showing he sent it into support showing 4 accounts have been involved in this ban and he said hes laughing at me... How is this right? ive tryed saying my side of the story but i keep getting the same awnser all im basically getting is ok if i give someone my account then tell support it was stolen they will be banned even when someone says it was ok for them to have it but i changed my mind so the other person gets banned? i spent over 3500 hours on my account i grinded for everything i own i had 7 sets of obsidian armor and over 300 ectos in stash 50/50 in HoM earned from legit playing. I feel like the support is all one sided.. --Xamthrax 07:27, 26 March 2011 (UTC)
 * I am looking at the ticket and I am confused. Are you the person to whom the original account holder allegedly gave the account? Or are you someone who got onto the account to take off some items? How did your account get involved? Thanks. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 19:36, 26 March 2011 (UTC)
 * A bit more:
 * Do you have the logs of the conversation that purported to give away the account? If you do, attached the logs to your ticket. I must say, however, that such logs can easily be faked, as we have no way of verifying that someone on an IM system is the same someone whose account was accessed. I mean, it may be the same character name, but there's no verification system between Messenger or Vent or TeamSpeak and our game, so we can't say with certainty, "There is the account holder, 100% certain, giving away his account." You are free to share those logs, though.
 * Every Guild Wars player has to know that second-hand accounts are bad news on many levels.
 * Do you have the ticket numbers of the other players who were banned in this incident?
 * If he wanted to give away his items, why didn't he get on the account and hand them off in trade? Why give his account credentials to someone else? That reads as either very foolish or very suspicious.
 * Equally suspicious is the fact that multiple accounts are often involved in account hacking, where one player learns of an account's credentials and then says "Hey, here are the credentials -- go ahead and take what you want." I am not saying that is what took place, but I've definitely seen that scenario, and that would lead to the termination of all accounts involved.
 * I'll look forward to getting more info. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 19:53, 26 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Sorry about the messy writing. I never logged in the account my friend told me this guy quit guild wars and gave him his account i seen the chat on msn to verify it wasnt a scam/hack so i didnt see a problem with yeah taking a few things. It was my room mate who started this all and i was the only one who submitted a ticket on behalf of us all should i tell them to submit ones also? and he gave away the account because he said he was done with guild wars. I do have the logs but its not screenshot format so i dont think it would help because yes it can be easily faked like an accusation of being hacked/scammed by innocent people. Also only two accounts were acctually involved in this but all accounts on the ip were banned? I cant believe this happend to me i know what gets happend to hackers/scammers my account was hacked before and a GM told me that they got who did it why would i risk it when i know i would get banned?--Xamthrax 21:29, 26 March 2011 (UTC)


 * So this is it.. i get banned for something i didnt do? thanks im really happy about wasting 3500 hour of my life for guild wars 2. The support wasnt helpful at all i worked so hard for all my things and for what to get banned for stealing items when i didnt "steal" this is ridiculous.. warning to everybody dont use someone elses account you can get banned no questions asked.--Xamthrax 04:27, 29 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Funny how your final sarcastic comment is exactly the case; the EULA, strictly speaking, says that only one person is allowed to use an account. Also, nobody but you and your friend can tell for sure that you didn't gain unauthorized access. It'd probably be best for your friend (who owns the account and can reclaim it, yes?) to get in touch with support as well, and perhaps some of this can be cleared up. --ஸ Kyoshi [[Image:User_Kyoshi_sig2.png|19px]] 05:16, 29 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes, accessing another person's account is going to lead to trouble in a lot of cases. Even with permission, there are too many things that can go wrong. As I suggested, simply giving someone your items if you decide to quit the game is much safer, and honestly, it doesn't take all that long! After all, it's unlikely a veteran player will want a bunch of wood planks and bones. :)
 * In answer to your question, each person whose account was terminated needs to contact Support directly. We can't accept appeals from a friend. The team really needs to have a discussion with the actual account holder in each case. -- Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 05:41, 30 March 2011 (UTC)