Can not play Guild Wars outside China anymore

So, I guess this is more like a goodbye post more than anything else...

I'm Portuguese and I've been working in China for about three years and playing Guild Wars for more than two years. I was quite happy that Guild wars allowed me to play with friends in Portugal and from other parts of the World. In appreciation, I've been merrily buying everything the online shop has to offer and playing with my friends from American and European districts throughout this time.

But since this last week, it has been impossible to play anything. I would always get stuck as soon as my characters would step into any district, including the empty Korean ones.

I was already suspicious that something BAD happened, but nevertheless I called support about my problem. This was their answer:

"Unfortunately, people with Chinese IPs can not connect to the servers that host the EU and US districts. This is not a limit of the game itself, but is a limit imposed by the Chinese government. Chinese Guild Wars players can only play in the Chinese districts."

This... really... sucks...

I'm really sad about this, but it seems it's done.

Goodbye people. It was fun.

so let me get this right... your account is filed under "european", crrect? well, i have a friend who moved to china from germany and requested to have her account territory changed and PlayNC did this for her. try this? hope it works for you as well.

overall-- sorry to hear this... it's messed up to have something you love so dearly violently ripped away from you.

Total kick in the face. Sorry, dude.
Is there any way you can get on the other server?

Btw you could always change your name and identity and move back to China. I did that once but I was found 5 years later hiding in the back my my mate's pub drinking whisky and Rye and had to move back to Japan.

Please don't turn this political. I'm wondering if there was an announcement from NCSoft or ArenaNet concerning this? I wouldn't imagine it would be announced on the US or Euro site but am wondering when this change happened?

Chinese guild wars has never been connected to the rest of Guild Wars.

Yes but you could select what region you were associated with. It sounds to me like he is forced to be in the Chinese region now.

The OP was referring to having a chinese IP. He wasn't trying to play the Chinese Guild Wars but connect with a chinese IP to other regions/countries.

Seems like they've decided they want business to stay within their country.

Nothing new D:

In any case would TOR be of help?

What are you guys talking about I work in Shanghai and nothing has changed with Guild Wars since I moved here. My coworker friend did a trials with no problems either. Neither accounts created overseas or here have stopped being able to connect to the American district game. Granted, the ping is horrible (minimum 250ms, average 500-1500ms or more), but that has nothing to do with the servers at home. Amon, I am surprised you suspected a change because the internet is so unreliable here hiccups, blackouts, or just plain slow access is a frequent and normal occurence.

Ennes, the answer he was given was from support. I'm assuming NCSoft support. Which is why I was asking how recent this change was.

I was on minutes ago to check.

Maybe NCSoft is just giving a "canned" answer then. Not really much we can do to help Amon.

Yeah, it seems that Ennes X, who is also playing from China, is the best placed to offer any insights into the situation.

Amon Warrior, perhaps an ISP change? I dunno.

Just making my point, video game in China, Japan and Korea(south, duh) are HIGH. So the governments have to find ways to lower that.

But if you can play WoW in China....shouldn't you be able to play GW in China as well? (I mean, what does the districts do, seriously? why can't we change our districts at will?)

Ask Arena Net if there's anything to do.

Well... yes, I could try that. But that way my account could only be used in China. I wouldn't be able to connect to other territories besides China.

One of the reasons I was playing GW was the connection to the "outside" world and that seems to be gone now.

I'm staying here for one more year and a half. Basically, if I wanted, I could still play GW one month of the year when I go back home on vacation.

My guess is that they're wrapping up the beta in China and certain details are being worked on now.

I've always had some lag, like you, but now GW is unplayable. No Taiwan earthquake happened to damage underwater cables, my internet is working in normal parameters besides Guild Wars and I got this very clear answer from support.

Shanghai is more open than other places and the firewall structure around China is pretty complex. I'm in the special economic area near Hong Kong and Macau. The situation here, as far as I know it, is as I described.

I surely hope that this is just a glitch in the system and that support could be incorrect. But it's strange that this glitch is happening only to Guild Wars.

Anyway, I appreciate all your support and sympathy. Thanks guys.

What impact does this have upon the selling of gold? I hope it cuts down on the whisper spam, if not the entire practice.

Off-topic, I know, but an interesting notion...

Not just Guild Wars. Many games released to the world are banned in China (especially MMOs) because the government is suspicious about the games content or something. I don't have all the facts but it does seem that way.

In any case sorry for the major inconvenience OP. That's one major damper on your fun
Hopefully NCsoft/Anet can help get it sorted out.