Guild Wars Account Management mess

It's no longer possible for me to frequently change my password due to a confusing number of account conventions connected to my Guild Wars account.

I was prompted to go to https://secure.plaync.com/cgi-bin/plaync_login.pl and use a master account log in.

I had no clue what that log in was because I simply never use PlayNC website.

So, after searching for some old e-mails, I reset my "PlayNC Account" but it doesn't give me the option to change my Guild Wars password. In fact I can't add Guild Wars to the "game list" for my account. <reasons detailed below>

The PlayNc account was created when I entered the official game store some months ago and I was prompted to create a PlayNc account in order to view the store. This also "links" your account to the PlayNc account.

The problem is...one wouldn't think that "linking" would mean your game account is slaved to a store account. One would think the opposite would be true.

I do not understand why my usual log in methods had to be hijacked by PlayNc in this manner.

This is poor implementation and hopefully other people can avoid being in the same muddle.

It's not that I feel my account has been compromised, I would just like to change my password every few months as a reasonable measure. Let's hope we can get this account silliness on the radar screen for ANet.

I understand the ANet and PlayNC relationship, but certainly ANet can at least update their direct customers on the situation.

I would recommend that players do not use PlayNC stores or any other of there web sites that require Guild Wars account linkage until this situation is resolved.

My current status:

-I can log into Guild Wars

-I can log into the PlayNC Master Account

-I can not change my password

Details:

Guild Wars log on screen password reset option directs me to PlayNC to change my password.

PlayNC doesn't give me the option to change my Guild Wars password. I followed the link provided on the "ADD Game to list screen".

And I am taken to another page, I have the codes but it wants me to create ANOTHER username with @plaync appended to it in addition to a new password.



Now, why would I want yet another layer of confusion to be added to my Guild Wars account?

EDIT: I took the plunge and added my Guild Wars Prophecies serial code, I received this error message:
So, I am truly stuck.

Yep, the change password option is seriously FUBAR. The worst part about it is, that if you do get your account compromised ANet do sweet FA about it when you contact them. All you get is, along the lines of "sorry we don't return stolen items", yet if they had a half decent password solution in place it would have reduced the chances of the compromise in the first place.

WTF are you talking about anyway?

i changed my store linked password yesterday.

log into the NCsoft account click manage click change password and do it.

and before you yell that it is the NCsoft password you are changing i had to change my shortcou -pass=xxxxx to the new password.

couple minutes and done

I am utterly confused.

I can log in to their Support site using my Guild Wars info...so it appears that maybe my PlayNC account is an unnecessary duplicate not associated with my account and serial codes...which would explain why I get a "code already used" message.

/sigh

Well, Lovey, I keep getting directed to plaync.com to change my password, and I can't...so read my original post and look at the pretty picture.

log in from that link and this is what i get

click manage and you will be asked to log in again and then you have free access to change everything but the account email

I could care less about changing my PlayNC account password, I want to change my Guild Wars log in password...the problem is my Guild Wars account is not listed anywhere in my PlayNC account <game list, etc.>

And, to top it all off...it appears that I have TWO PlayNC accounts, neither of which are associated to my Guild Wars account. When I attempt to associate my GW account by adding my game key...it says the code is already used.

I am fairly certain the duplication occurred shortly after I used the Store link. I was prompted to create a plaync account and at some point later when I went to change my password I must have created a new account at the log in screen.

However....neither account lists any of my 3 Guild Wars games in the games list...

from post number 3 this thread i said this

this is the game login screen password i am refering to.

you only get that pale blue link if the account is linked and when you use/look at the store they dont announce the linking.

go to manage as shown and it will take you to a confirm login account page and then to the master account where everything is listed for fast changes.

good luck and good nite all

Uh, can you explain a bit about resetting your PlayNC Account? Did you just click the Forgot Password link?

I went and checked my e-mail just for curiosity. Found a confirmation e-mail for a PlayNC account. For some odd reason it doesn't match the one I currently use for Guild Wars.

Upon reflection, my best guess is that I registered that one for the Anarchy Online free trial, and that I deleted the confirmation e-mail for my Guild Wars PlayNC account.

Maybe you did the same

Someone at <ip address> has reset your PlayNC Master Account password for account...

Message...I have 2 of them and I have 2 separate "Welcome to PlayNC" notices with 2 different Account Names.

I am certain I made the duplicate out of confusion shortly after a trip to the Online Store.

My concern at the moment is not being able to change my password to Guild Wars because neither Play NC account shows my game...

I have a ticket open...as confusing as it is.

Yay! John and Thad of PlayNC Support resolved my account! I can reset my password again!

Looks like there may be a solution for others still in my recent predicament.So, you may want to open/reopen a ticket and see what your results will be.

Additionally, the PlayNC Screen looks different, so it may be the new fix mentioned by Gaile.

Uh, I was caught in the web of linking my unlinked Guild Wars account (With all 3 chapters and most bonuses), and I was infuriated that I could not change my password via the in-game method. I never had a problem with changing my password though. Actually the account is safer now, no one can hack my GW account and change my PW, and I can buy things in the online store.
The only problem with the pass system is that they don't tell you some things beforehand. Otherwise, id say its a fair system. Not great but its ok.

"Sorry we don't return stolen items?" They are MUCH more helpful than that, at least in the situations ive been in. Only a couple of times out of a few dozen have they not helped out that much.

My best guess is that this problem mostly impacts players with the retail version of the game. Online Purchases are automatically added to the game list when activated. It also didn't help that I had inadvertently created more than one PlayNC Master Account, most likely in my attempt to troubleshoot the problem. (I thought I had missed something during account creation that tied my games to the account)

Further, obfuscating things was the login/password needed to use PlayNC Support...

they will help you if you can prove you own the account... but this is exactly the kind of problem that pissed off the entire GW community when they NEVER warned us that this would happen if we even went into that NCSoft store in the game. The fact that this is ireversable is all the more disturbing. because the original OEM system for doing password and username changes was far preferable to the now disfunctional NCSoft password change and NO account name change... Prime example is when you no longer use the same email. you go to go through this mess to change it in NCSoft account webpage. BUT the original only required you to log in and make the changes in there. and all done. Didnt effect ANYTHING else.

Even Galie has expressed displeasure at this situation. So Anet knows we are unhappy with it, but there is little to nothing they can do atm to change it. So they try their best to deal with the ever growing NCSoft account problems as they pop up as fast as possibile.

This exact thing is used all to often to scam the all be it illegal ebay account buyers, by giving them an username and password and some months later the original account owner logs into NCSoft and reset the account password and steals it all. Anets response.... Its illegal to buy accounts from ebay. or another way of interprating it... "you got what you deserved" Its just a sad state of affairs as it stands at the moment.

Yes it seems the op is right and the above poster. I just checked my account and low and behold I can't change my Account login. This is absolutely unacceptable. There are a hundred better ways to integrate account management between guild wars and the PlayNC system. This has got to be the first system I have come across that not just Slaves your account but Locks your account, and by doing so places your account and its information in what would appear to be a security nightmare for the user. The idea of reverting accounts away from the system that playNC uses however is something that I am sure is way to late in the game. It seems that there needs to be some research done on how to unslave the user modifiable portions of your account and the PlayNC system while maintaining a permanent link with the PlayNC account for in-game Store operations. I'm sure it seemed like a brilliant idea at the time, however I must say I do frown on the forethought placed into this situation placing users in potentially compromising positions.

I have retail versions of the game and had no problem going in and resetting my password. However, I totally hate the fact that we are now linked through NCSoft and I am not at all comfortable with it. I understand the thought behind it is to avoid hacking our GW account, but what is to stop someone from hacking the NCSoft account?

I have taken every step that PLAYNC has told me to take and I still can not change my password. I have GW Prophacies and Nightfall, I bought both through the online store. When I log in to PLAYNC it does not show that I have the games in my PLAYNC information. Why is this? When I try to add my serial key/key code to my account it tells me "Access Key already in use". I think that is why I can't change my password. Also, I think someone has hacked my account. My husband and I have two seperat accounts and play off of one PC, he was logged in ealier today and I had not played since the yesterday, he didn't log in my account and neither did I, but it said on my guild roster that I had logged off 15 mins. ago while my husband was logged in. This happend around 4:30 pm cst today. So my husband then logged in my account with my permission to see if anything was missing, but nothing was. This is why I want to change my password. It is really making me mad. I have sent several emails to PLAYNC support and have gotten nowhere with them. I get he email saying follow the following steps, which are the steps I tryed and they didn't work. Can someone please help me????? My last straw is to stop playing GW all together if I can't get to the bottom of this. I just want the answers I am not getting from PLAYNC. Thank you for your time. Jaz

Jazmyn Zia

if you bought it from the store it is already linked and you already have an NCsoft master account.

simply click the pale blue link they give you when you click change password.

log into it and click the manage option then the change password.

if you dont know your NCsoft account that is what you need to contact support on.

I did that and it still didn't work, I know my NCSoft log in info. Nothing I try works

This is the exact problem I am having also my GW account does not have @plaync, it is @yahoo. So now what, oh yea I did everything the "help" thing told me to do for that as well and it didn't work

did you open a support ticket or just email them?

also hav you used the link provided at the top of the support ticket response to update the ticket telling them that you cannotaccess the master account?

the page i get looks like this (after support got it straightened out)

Yes I sent them a ticket.

Note, you PlayNC name may not be the same as you Guildwars login. Even if you create a PlayNC account in game to use the store you still have to create a PlayNC account name and login. Your PlayNC account login may not be the same as your Guildwars Login. PlayNC does not specifically ask for your email account as a login, rather it ask for a user name. You had to input this to create your PlayNc account regardless of if it was in game or on the website.

Changing your password is doable via the manage option on the PlayNC site, though while this is a concern and a risk, what everyone should be concerned about is that you CANNOT change your Guildwars Login information once your account is linked. So unless they send your password update to the account you have listed on your playNC account, changing your password puts you at risk if you do not own the email account that you first used to create your Guildwars account. I would seriously hope that this is not the case, that they at the very least use the PlayNC information, otherwise this is a Glaring security hole.

@aeroclown

they sent the password reset to the email address i used to open the support ticket which is not the login email address i used to open the game account

after giving them all the keys on the account they reset the password and sent me my new password and suggested i change it to what i wanted right away.

After the problems I encountered were fixed (documented in this thread) ...the biggest unresolved issue is the inability to change the user name for my Guild Wars account. approximately 7 months ago I changed e-mail addresses and was able to update my user name to my new address, with the "new" system that is no longer possible.

For those wishing to change PASSWORDs and if they have a linked PlayNC account and are having issues: I suggest they open a trouble ticket.

You will most likely be asked for your birth date and serial key codes, so be prepared.

My problem was 2-fold: I had more than one PlayNC account AND my Guild Wars game was not listed/could not be listed in the games list.

For those unsure if their accounts are linked (or not) ...the easiest way to tell is by trying to change your password...if you are linked you will be directed to PlayNC.com. <see picture>