Feedback talk:Gaile Gray/Archive Support Issues/Jul - Aug 2011

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Changing email issue

Hi Gaile, a friend of mine and her husband are having problems, and Support won't really listen to them. Maybe you can hand this over to someone or .. anything. The thing is, their Ncsoft Accounts use email adresses. Clearly, every acc does. Their hoster shut down a while ago without warning, so they missed their window to change their adresses in the store, or do anything worthwhile anymore - since the mail adresses are nonexistent, everything they could do ends in a big digital black hole. Is there really no possible way to have ncsoft change their mail adresses without a confirmation mail that is sent to a nonexistent adress? As far as I know, their anet accs use the same old nonexistent adresses because they can't confirm an adress change anymore. Usually I'd not come to you with this, but now that my friend got hacked through that security gap of not being able to change anything over at ncsoft, I thought I'd better give it a try. (Now I just need to figure out how to give you their acc IDs without putting them anywhere near this description..) Golgarit Raven 22:30, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

If you give her the support ticket #'s, she can receive the information through those. Keep in mind that certain accounts cannot have their email addresses changed, I believe it is those that are linked with an NCSoft Master Account. This is not something support can help with, because it is not possible, it doesn't have anything to do with not being able to send a confirmation email. -- FreedomBound 02:24, 8 July 2011 (UTC)

Curses, the simplest things always are the hardest to remember. Ticket would be 110708-000943. She wasn't too clear on the subject and it's in german, so please inquire further if needed. Golgarit Raven 16:53, 8 July 2011 (UTC)

Stance on more 3rd party mods

First off, this page seriously needs an archiving, haha. Anyways, I was wondering what Arena-Net's official stance was towards some of the more recent mods that are appearing, namely the CamUnlocker, DressUp, and Vanquisher tools from Argos-Soft.net. I assume that these will follow the same pattern that Texmod and others do, but I wanted to confirm it, just in case there's some reason these would be bannable programs. Thanks in advanced for the clarification, and I hope these are allowed, they can make some wicked screenshots. ~FarloTalk 08:08, 8 July 2011 (UTC)

ANet has repeatedly said that they cannot provide details about what they do and do not allow. TexMod and GWx2 have been around for a long time, so people have assumed that ANet has an official stance on them, but that's not accurate. What ANet has also said is that people are banned for behavior, not solely for the use of software. Some software is obviously designed to give an advantage (e.g. map unlocking tools), but other software is not as obvious (e.g. TexMod could be used in nefarious ways).

Personally, I am not prepared to trust Argos-Soft programs because (a) it's closed source (I cannot verify if the program only does what it purports to do) and (b) they have already demonstrated that they don't care about player privacy or security (the Estimator is a great price-checking tool, but it also makes public information about players without any sort of implied, let alone actual, approval from players).

However, for those willing to assume good faith, CamUnlocker, Dressup, etc do more or less what various TexMod plug-ins are able to do. In other words, if you would use TexMod to show you what your armor would look like dyed with Green and Yellow (and if you trust Argos-Soft), then you are taking the same risk by using the alternative software. — Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 12:32, 8 July 2011 (UTC)

Positives of Dressup are that you could potentially do all the Armor renders for free which would finish a significant amount of the armor project. --File:User Chieftain Alex Chieftain Signature.pngChieftain Alex 12:49, 8 July 2011 (UTC)

I would just like to point out that all of Argos-Soft's programs are written in C# .NET; You can decompile them and look at the source. -- Cat Slayer Calli 15:03, 8 July 2011 (UTC)

Still, like TEF said, ArenaNet does not take any stances on third party programs. People may find an illegitimate version of a safe program, or that program may be changed to be unsafe. If ANet gave programs the go-ahead, and then they were edited to be unsafe and people started getting accounts banned or stolen, it wouldn't look very good. --ஸ Kyoshi 15:25, 8 July 2011 (UTC)

How have they not taken a stance on any tools? There are two massive quotes from Anet employees about Texmod. I know they can't disclose anything about how they ban and track people or whatever, but I was just wondering if, because it let's you zoom out really far, or see more info than directly provided by the game client, that it would be a step further than they would allow, or if they would see it as an advantage over normal play. ~FarloTalk 16:40, 8 July 2011 (UTC)

Also, in that case, I should probably pull down all the software from them on our database until someone with a bit more knowledge of that stuff can decompile them and take a look at what's inside. ~FarloTalk 16:52, 8 July 2011 (UTC)

They have taken stances on various features that programs would allow, but never on the programs themselves. For instance, it was said implicitly that legitimate Texmod is allowed because it just changes textures. However, Texmod is not considered simply and always safe, and they make it a point to mention that whenever they talk about it. I'm not sure what the position would be on the details you mentioned, so you should probably bring it up on the new support forums if you want an answer. For the moment, Gaile is not active here, and she's said on the forums she is not sure of her plans for this page right now. --ஸ Kyoshi 19:43, 8 July 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, understandable that they aren't explicitly allowed to OK a program, that just introduces a slew of problems. I guess I asked wrong, and I did mean the processes they do and the techniques used. I completely forgot the forums existed, so I'll bring them up there. Thanks. ~FarloTalk 01:04, 9 July 2011 (UTC)

Also, if anyone decided to read the Terms and Conditions (which we all agree too each time we log on) it says no third party tools. with that in mind, text mod is a third party tool and if they wanted too, could ban you for using it. the fact that they actually understand why people are using it and haven't shows that ANet actually has a stance on it. the stance on it is as followed (summerized) : We do not take any liablity to text mod or any 3 party software, any corruption that can take place... we do not support... use at your own risk. With the Argos-Soft.. I wouldn't recommend it since as someone said, it doesn't care for My privicy... it's nice to know who is selling things but lets change the program a bit... here is all my account info for my game... my password is cake, my user name is bob@bob.com and my characters name is pie is great. and then yours is what now?

My thoughts on it Ocren 03:12, 9 July 2011 (UTC)

So anybody dissect DressUp and CamUnlocker? I want run both of these but with no second account there is no way that's happening. Previously Unsigned 11:31, 11 July 2011 (UTC)

I'm going to say the same thing I've always said: No one at ArenaNet is able to condone the use of any program, even those that people mistakenly think we've "approved." We have never approved a program; we have noted that a few do not appear to give an advantage and therefore should not raise the specter of a ban. But approve? No. And again, we simply do not have the capacity to check (and continually recheck) external (third-party) programs to see if they're acceptable for use in Guild Wars.

As a player, I would not risk it. I do not risk it. I've seen good and decent players get banned because the program they used was adulterated, or contained components they didn't know would raise the bot or abuse flag. There's nothing -- absolutely nothing -- that any of those programs would do for me that is worth taking even a smidgen of risk in relation to my beloved accounts.

Each and every player will make his or her own decision concerning these programs. But I'm sharing my candid remarks as both an ArenaNet rep and a passionate Guild Wars player. -- Gaile 00:10, 24 August 2011 (UTC)

Support ticket 110923-002810

Hello Gaile. I have recently been banned for the use of third party tools. At first i didnt know what the ban was for as a code 045 does not state specifically, so i thought it was perhaps because i was playing JQ the day before and maybe raised some flags. So i wrote support and asked for an explanation, the ticket number was 110923-002008. I recieved word back a short time later from LemonCobra, he explained that i was actually banned for the use of third party tools, my ip address was bouncing all over and was never the same. That didnt make sense to me considering i have never used a third party tool, including TexMod. I then responded and told him that i dont use those, ticket number 110923-002810, so i had to have been hacked, thats the only thing i could think of. He wrote back and said after checking chat logs it is clear that i didnt get hacked, and persisted on telling me that its my fault what others do on my account, ie. little brothers, sisters, cousins. No one has my account info.I run mobile broadband, and that got me thinking maybe my internet provider messed up, so i contacted At&t, and asked them about it. The guy i talked to confirmed my suspicions by telling me that i run a dynamic ip, which means it changes when i disconnect and reconnect,and depending on the time of day, goes to different hubs around the country. I had him send me a document explaining what dynamic ip was, and another email, from him personally, explaining what happened in his own words, also attached to the same document he had sent previously, which you recieved yesterday via email.I just want this fixed, i LOVE GW and have been playing avidly for about 2 years now. worked hard on the meager 30/50 that i have, and i want to continue playing and not see all my progress towards GW2 stamped out because of my service provider. Thank you for your time and thank you for looking at this!Bathorys Misery 15:47, 29 September 2011 (UTC)

Make sure if you post this on the official support site. Gaile is still on here but there has been times where she forgets to check it out here. Side note, smart move in getting documentation from your Service Providor Ocren 04:26, 30 September 2011 (UTC)

@Ocren -- I asked Bathorys Misery to post here because, since he account is banned, he cannot created an account on the GWSF. But you're right, posting on the GWSF is the preferred means to contact me now. -- Gaile 19:17, 30 September 2011 (UTC)

@Bathorys Misery -- As you were told via the original ticket today, a team lead will be looking into this matter. The dynamic IP isn't the issue, I assure you. (We make games and host nearly 7,000,000 accounts -- we know about Dynamic IPs. :) ) Other factors raised the "bot flag," and those have to be assessed. I believe you will hear from the team member involved in doing another check on this by Monday. -- Gaile 19:30, 30 September 2011 (UTC)

Right, Never thought of that. Sorry Gaile Ocren 01:43, 1 October 2011 (UTC)

Thank you. i just hope it can be worked out, cuz whatever flags were raised, they were just that, cuz i dont bot or cheat.. Not my style. im sure u guys have heard it all, but i wouldnt be going through the hassle i have been going thru for the last two weeks trying to get my account back, if i had in fact cheated in any way. Cuz if u cheat u gotta expect that The BanHammer is imminent. Thanks for your help GaileBathorys Misery 02:05, 3 October 2011 (UTC)

Well thanks for trying Gaile. It seems that the story cannot be set straight, cuz the email i recieved back said that the account being played in different states is not the problem, even tho for over a week i argued with GM LemonCobra about that exact thing. Now it is just that" a third party tool was used" they wont even explain what it was to me. i cannot help but feel i am getting screwed over, because i honestly never used 3rd party tools ever, not even TexMod.That and the fact that the story has changed. I have filed a complaint with the BBB about this. Nothing against u Gaile, ur about the only good one on the whole anet team. Thanx for trying--Bathorys Misery 20:42, 3 October 2011 (UTC)

Can't get back into my account

Okay so once upon a time I had my first guild wars account about a year ago. Basically I stopped playing for a while..my parents switched our email provider and i forgot my password to my account. So I could not send a new password to the email because i didnt have access to it anymore since we switched providers. I went through all this stuff with ncsoft support staff but they kept saying that i needed all of my access keys from all my campaigns. That wouldnt be a problem if I had kept them all in one place safely accessible for a whole year, but i didnt. I didnt think i would have the desire to play Guild Wars ever again but sure enough a year later i had a craving... I destroyed my whole house looking for the access keys but all i came up with was my EOTN one. I have since bought the guild wars triology again and have started playing regularly, but a fellow guildie told me that just maybe you could help me out of this ridiculous situation and somehow i could gain access back to my old account. Im content with what i have now but i wouldnt mind having my old account back. If you can't help I understand but i just though i should try :) thanks for your time72.181.252.153 08:47, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

They shouldn't require the access keys; I've gained access to my account after losing the info, without the keys on hand. Keep trying with support; Gaile typically doesn't step in unless support has stopped responding, and she isn't very active here anymore. --ஸ Kyoshi 05:40, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

with your Eye Access key it should help with getting it back. just keep asking them for help and hopefully it gets done and nothing happened to it in your break. with the access keys you show ownership. hope all works out for you Ocren 23:42, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

Please post in the Account Support section of the Guild Wars Support Forums if you still need assistance. Thanks. -- Gaile 22:58, 23 August 2011 (UTC)

[Incident: 110826-000928]

Hi, Gaile. I don't know if you're involved with my most recent ticket, but some very interesting things have come up. The incident is [Incident: 110826-000928], and it's regarding a very old incident. Kbar 21:01, 29 August 2011 (UTC)