Then why not belive that some people learned a lesson now?
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And LOL man, at least you have developed a sense of humor about it
cormac ap dunn
Then why not belive that some people learned a lesson now?
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Zarion Silverarrow
I believe they did. they are banned from a game they may have loved for their actions. If they didn't learn a lesson from that, guess the next game they play will get them banned too. What other lesson do you need when you walk into GW2 without all your ill gotten HoM stuff?
And LOL man, at least you have developed a sense of humor about it |
Vshack
Lanier
I've never posted here before, but after reading some of these responses to those automated responses, I feel I should. Defile me as you will. Did I bot, the simple answer is yes, I tried it for a few days, grew bored with it, just as many people did with the game in general. If the ban is for third party stuff, then anyone that used textmod should also be banned. Sorry, but if you're going to ban people for using bots, ban those that alter it in anyway. Then it's fair. If I can't get my account back then I will never buy GW2. Heck, I won't even be going as far as to buy any of the stuff that was going to be release to bridge the two games. 5 years I spent on a game that I used to enjoy. Now I'm just completely frustrated. I agree that something should have been done before this, but what's done is done and I have a few people to be upset with, myself included. Did they need to use automated replies? No. Does it make it easier for them to say "Hey we're looking into it but we're flooded." Sure. But telling me that all further inquiries will be disregarded is just plain rude. You could have told me that I should crap in one hand and wish with the other and figure out which will happen first. I would have arrived at the decision to permanently boycott all NcSoft and A-Net software sooner. I have no doubt I won't get my account back and it does bother me, but oh well. They won't get another cent from me.
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shoyon456
sixdartbart
If you botted and were banned for it, then there really is no reason for you to be contacting support anyway, so why does it matter if your request is going to be disregarded?
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chief lazy horse
As a vigilant consumer, I did a little digging for those who were banned by GW.
Try the Better Business Bureau, this is the specific office which will handle NCSoft- directed complaints, http://austin.bbb.org/ Their website is very easy to use. |
Faer
Ka Tet
Kashrlyyk
Quote:
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Due to the third-party program violations committed by this account, it will remain closed. We will not accept appeals in cases such as this because of the depth of the analysis prior to the block. |
Please note that this is the final communication we will be giving in response to this appeal. Subsequent communication about this matter will be closed without response. |
cormac ap dunn
I completely agree with Gladiator Motoko.
Proof of their innocence? Have you read the emails "support" sends out? What "proof" do you think they would accept, especially since NO evidence is ever shown to the accused? How can you refute evidence of your "botting" you have never seen? Do I have to keep a logfile of what I did when and how in GW? ANet's support refuses them their right to appeal. That is exactly what this thread is about. And anyone who believes that innocent people will not stop responding after the last quoted part has to be extremely naive and stupid. Players that did nothing wrong will stop responding and they will loose real money because of "supports" arrogant and unhelpful treatment of "appeals". I think it is worse that some are happy with ANet being accuser, defense lawyer, judge and executioner in a non-public trial without presence of the accused. |
Ashius
Why are you so frustrated? You botted, even for just a little bit, and that little bit of botting gave you the punishment that any other botter recieved. The only people who have a right to be frustrated with support are those who actually were wrongfully banned and who actually do need to contact support to launch an investigation into the situation surrounding their ban. If you botted and were banned for it, then there really is no reason for you to be contacting support anyway, so why does it matter if your request is going to be disregarded?
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dancing gnome
Sorry to disagree with you here, but I personally think that the universal perma-ban response by A-net was a bit harsh. It would be reasonable to say that the largest portion of those banned were people who have probably only tried these third-party programs out of curiosity, and that only a small percentage of those banned were actually the hardcore bot abusers who gained a significant advantage from this.
If the aim of A-net was to eliminate these serious offenders, then I suggest that this was not met. These serious offenders are likely to have numerous accounts where their wealth is stored, and if they were actually considering selling this gold, they would have resources in place to prevent the loss of their assets. Like I previously stated, they would have numerous accounts, and as it is possible to have an alternating IP address, it is likely that these accounts were not detected. These types of botters have no regard for the game, they use it as a source of revenue and it really doesn't matter to them whether they get one or even a few of their accounts banned. They will still find a way to access Guild Wars, and abuse it as there is never a surefire way to prevent bots in any MMO. These bans haven't really addressed the real issue at stake, which is the serious abusers of these bots. What they have done is heaped the minor offenders, who like I said probably tried these bots out of curiousity rather than as a way to gain an unfair advantage, with the serious offenders and issued the same punishment. And this has only really affected those minor offenders, as they would probably still value the game for its gameplay and are likely upset. This is not an issue for the serious botters. I believe the punishment should suit the crime, and that each account should have been reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Instead, those minor offenders have suffered the same fate as those who were serious offenders. As it seems that the GW Guru community seems to like their real-life metaphors, I'd like to compare this to a petty criminal who suffers the same fate as a leader of a major crime organisation. This shouldn't happen in any case, so why let it happen on Guild Wars? P.S... I wasn't one of those who were banned, I have just been thinking about this since the announcement of the bans, and I think it raises some valid points. Sorry for the long read ^^ |
Kiky
Ashius
Agreed.
I bet a lot of the people who were banned for botting when they only botted once out of curiousity won't touch an A-Net product again. There was no lesson learned by these people, they were not reformed, they are just no longer a part of the commmunity that they could have been positive members of. The bots who botted for hours, weeks or even years will buy new accounts and still be a problem for the Guild Wars community. The asian botters will certainly not go away, they will just hack more honest people's accounts and make many honest players experience in GW a miserable one. So they threw out the net, killed off some honest people, killed off some people who gave into temptation (after an extended period of no action on botting) and didn't even cause a blip in the activities of hard core botters. |
Zarion Silverarrow
Lets look at this shall we?
"(Reset indent) First, no one is getting an automated response (after the first, which is clearly labeled as automated). Each ticket is reviewed by a real live human being who then sends the petitioner a carefully worded and detailed response to his appeal. The reply is seldom customized to say "I read this sentence and here is my response." After all, we want to be both consistent in our messaging and speedy in our responses; therefore, the response will often read the same to all who fall into a specific category, such as this week's botters. Let me be clear that there is a tremendous difference between "automated response" and "uniform response." We are using a uniform response because it has been written to include a lot of detailed information, it has been reviewed by the Live Team to ensure it meets with their standards, and it provides everyone with the same high level of detailed information, which is the fair and appropriate thing to do. (Otherwise, someone could be missing details, or might get a shorter letter than leaves them dissatisfied with another player's expanded response.) That uniform response is sent after human review and is not triggered automatically. . -- Gaile 19:04, 29 May 2010 (UTC)" To say that the responses here are "unfair" or selective is a bit silly, folks I've said it before, I'll say it again, ITS A HOLIDAY WEEKEND. relax already. right there should be a thread closing answer. Gaile's response to several of the sillier ban questions can also be found here http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/User_...Hello.2C_Gaile. Also i believe there is mention of a few Responses that can come back, lets look shall we? "All cases are being reviewed. Every single one. Not every account holder is getting that response. Those who have a legitimate appeal are being handled individually and would get a different response. However, those people are very, very few in number. Consider that more than 3,700 accounts were closed. Many of those people will appeal, although they know full well they are guilty. Many others will appeal because they don't feel they were guilty, but they were. The appeals of people who were caught dead-to-rights fill up the queues and delay responses to people who have other issues or who may have a legitimate reason for an appeal. It is not reasonable to expect that support agents will sit down and pen a personal response to each person. The response that you've seen contains all the pertinent information in a clear, concise, and informative form. Trying to write a different letter to hundreds of people is an unnecessary waste of time and it risks possibly leaving out some information, as well, or opening the door to the sorts of strange fan forum speculations we're familiar with, like "Why did that say 'definitely' and that other one say 'positively'? I suspect a conspiracy of some sort!" So, if someone gets that response, then that response is appropriate to the situation. It is not a brush off. It does not indicate that the team is not reading the tickets. It does not mean that a single appeal has been ignored, or that the circumstances that lead to the block were not carefully reviewed. The detailed and informative response is sent after a review, after verification of the block, and after the decision that the particular response is the best way to give each person the most accurate and complete representation of the situation. It is only sent to those to whom it applies; it is only sent when it is appropriate. As to the "My dog ate my homework" errr... sorry... let's call it the "My roommate downloaded a bad program that somehow I used 10,000 times on my account" excuse. Each of us is responsible for our account. For keeping it safe. For not using cheat programs. We're similarly responsible for the integrity of our computer. It's just nearly unbelievable that someone was banned because "some other evil person" downloaded and used an unacceptable program on his or her computer. I doubt that such a situation applies to even one of the people with a terminated account, but we included that information to make it clear that "I didn't know it was on my system" is not an acceptable excuse. And I'm sure it's crystal clear why that can't be accepted as an adequate defense. -- Gaile 05:19, 29 May 2010 (UTC)" I think her answers sum things up rather nicely. Now lets let the poor overworked staff enjoy the Holiday, and i suggest everyone here do the same. |
Kiky
sixdartbart
Totaly agree whats stated above, I sent them a letter and the same responses from the same "GMs" were sent to me. Anet trolling again =D
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Originally Posted by Gaile
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/User_...Support_Issues
cases are being reviewed. Every single one. Not every account holder is getting that response. Those who have a legitimate appeal are being handled individually and would get a different response. However, those people are very, very few in number. Consider that more than 3,700 accounts were closed. Many of those people will appeal, although they know full well they are guilty. Many others will appeal because they don't feel they were guilty, but they were. The appeals of people who were caught dead-to-rights fill up the queues and delay responses to people who have other issues or who may have a legitimate reason for an appeal. It is not reasonable to expect that support agents will sit down and pen a personal response to each person. The response that you've seen contains all the pertinent information in a clear, concise, and informative form. Trying to write a different letter to hundreds of people is an unnecessary waste of time and it risks possibly leaving out some information, as well, or opening the door to the sorts of strange fan forum speculations we're familiar with, like "Why did that say 'definitely' and that other one say 'positively'? I suspect a conspiracy of some sort!" So, if someone gets that response, then that response is appropriate to the situation. It is not a brush off. It does not indicate that the team is not reading the tickets. It does not mean that a single appeal has been ignored, or that the circumstances that lead to the block were not carefully reviewed. The detailed and informative response is sent after a review, after verification of the block, and after the decision that the particular response is the best way to give each person the most accurate and complete representation of the situation. It is only sent to those to whom it applies; it is only sent when it is appropriate. Gaile 05:19, 29 May 2010 (UTC) |
Ka Tet
JoeKnowMo
I bet a lot of the people who were banned for botting when they only botted once out of curiousity won't touch an A-Net product again. There was no lesson learned by these people, they were not reformed, they are just no longer a part of the community that they could have been positive members of.
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The asian botters will certainly not go away, they will just hack more honest people's accounts and make many honest players experience in GW a miserable one. |
So they threw out the net, killed off some honest people, killed off some people who gave into temptation (after an extended period of no action on botting) and didn't even cause a blip in the activities of hard core botters. |
Originally Posted by Ashius
It would be reasonable to say that the largest portion of those banned were people who have probably only tried these third-party programs out of curiosity, and that only a small percentage of those banned were actually the hardcore bot abusers who gained a significant advantage from this.
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If the aim of A-net was to eliminate these serious offenders, then I suggest that this was not met. |
Like I previously stated, they would have numerous accounts, and as it is possible to have an alternating IP address, it is likely that these accounts were not detected. |
What they have done is heaped the minor offenders, who like I said probably tried these bots out of curiousity rather than as a way to gain an unfair advantage, with the serious offenders and issued the same punishment. |
I believe the punishment should suit the crime, and that each account should have been reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Instead, those minor offenders have suffered the same fate as those who were serious offenders. |
Ashius
BoxOfCox
cormac ap dunn
The responses are from people who were already planning on buying GW2. Nothing gained; much lost.
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Emunator
What more do people want to hear? If you used a 3rd party program that went against the criteria that they used for finding and banning, you are guilty. If you feel you have been wrongly accused these appeals should be made to Anet support after the Holiday weekend. This is coming from an Anet staffer.
Trolling forums accomplishes one thing, it makes YOU feel better. It won't get your account back, it isn't even a step in getting your account back. |
cormac ap dunn
I agree with you on this.
But it seems to some people that a-net actually isnt looking into stuff. And the timing just before this Holliday weekend could have been better. They know that guilty and non guilty people will contact them after such a ban wave. In this thread my ticket and mail from Gaile are up for reading. I have good faith that they will look into it after this weekend since they did help me out before. But it probably means it will take at least a week or longer before i can get on again for the second time. And i wrote that ticket with the full understanding that they keep logs and they should be able to verify my claims. I also know that there are people that complain just to complain. Bottem line those responses seem autmatic for me, i get the feeling no-one actually looked into it untill i mailed Gaile. Now i know it's not being looked into because of the weekend and i can only hope to get my account back. Well i will keep you guys posted if something new turns up. |
shoyon456
The responses are from people who were already planning on buying GW2. Nothing gained; much lost.
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Ka Tet
hence they are certain that well over 95% of their bannings are warranted. It doesn't mean there hasn't been a single error in bannings, but it does mean that the margin of error is probably very low. Combine the low margin of error with the number of people here that have admitted botting yet are still emailing support begging for their accounts back, and you can understand the "uniform response."
I highly doubt Anet would make this grandiose ban sweep without having their i's dotted and their t's crossed. |
BoxOfCox
mlandry
Lord Sojar
2. How can ArenaNet and NCSoft be so absolutely sure (as evidenced by Martin Kerstein's responses quoted above, and again, the automated support replies) that, in a case of three thousand seven hundred bans, there can not be any margin of error? |
Faer
Lord Sojar
If what you said was correct Rahja, then there would be no legitimate appeals at all. However, according to NCSoft (through Gaile, as posted on her wiki page and quoted in this thread a few times), that's not the case.
So either you are wrong, or the infallible NCSoft is wrong. Quite a little problem, isn't it. |
Ashius
If their detection system is using the parameters they should be using, it is indeed infallible. This isn't something that can be debated. There is no wiggle room with purely empirical evidence. If there were legitimate appeals, it was merely a bookkeeping issue, not a detection issue. If what I assume they are doing is true, then only programs that are explicitly disallowed by the EULA/ToS should be creating the result they are flagging. Any other approach would be stupid.
I'd chalk up any truly legitimate appeals to human error in regards to recording and issuing the bans, not the detection. In this case, the best course of action would be to contact Gaile herself, as she is the end all be all of this. If she finds it was human error, then so be it. However, if you botted, even if for an instant, do not appeal this, as you are wasting support's time. |
Faer
byteme!
Ashius
makosi
Would you play GW1 with me? Would you find your experience somehow tarnished by the fact that I ran a raptor bot? What complaints would you lay against me, aside from that I'm not that good of a monk?
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Lord Sojar
Human error is exactly the problem. The entire system behind the bans could not have been a set of 1s and 0s. Somewhere at HQ, a team of humans were sitting at desks working on this. And at some point, as confirmed by Gaile's statements, those humans made some mistakes. It is this human margin of error that is being questioned here. I don't think anyone of intelligence is really questioning if there were any flaws in their super duper secret mega method of detecting evil people (in short: LOL CHEK 4 DLL JEKSHUNN GUIZE).
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Originally Posted by Gaile
You are at least the second person who's mentioned PaketFaker and said you felt its use was acceptable because "it's just like TexMod." I don't know that. The support team doesn't know that. And unless you're a programmer who can read and analyze source code, you probably don't know that either. TexMod (in its original, unaltered form) is allowed because it gives no gameplay advantage. I can speculate that the other program is not totally benign, and that something in it gives advantage to the user. I do not know that, though, I truly am just speculating. If the use of PaketFaker caused your account to be blocked, then that's just another reason why we make it clear we do not give a thumbs up to third-party programs. Only a few third-party programs have been shown to pose no negative risks to the user, and even those must remain in their original form to be risk free. No one knows how many times a benign program is altered to be bad. In the end verification of a program's integrity rests with the user
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Originally Posted by Gaile
The whole process that was used in this investigation was developed by and analyzed and reviewed many times by a number of incredibly astute individuals. The chances of a "false positive" are, they tell me, pretty much non-existent. Having said that, your appeal is on file and if there is anything more to tell you about your situation, someone will get in touch via the ticket.
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Originally Posted by Gaile
I'm sorry that your account was terminated. But as you will have read, we terminated more than 3,700 account today and I don't have the bandwidth to research individual appeals. We know the bans were placed appropriately and that each account that was banned in this sweep was indeed involved in the use of a third-party program. Having said that, you are welcome to submit an appeal to support. Sorry that I cannot assist directly but I'm sure you understand there's just 1 of me and there are a lot of accounts involved.
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Originally Posted by Gaile
I have looked at the ticket. I don't see that there is anything I can do to assist. The means of detecting bot use is very reliable and I cannot overrule those findings. If there is any additional information you want the team to consider, please pass it along to them in the ticket.
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rahja the thief, shut the RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GO up u have no idea what you are talking about.
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Gill Halendt
If there were legitimate appeals, it was merely a bookkeeping issue, not a detection issue. [...] I'd chalk up any truly legitimate appeals to human error in regards to recording and issuing the bans, not the detection. |
Lord Sojar
What Rahja is saying is that the computerized detector is infallible. And I have no problems believing it's pretty much so.
The detector itself doesn't automatically ban anyone tough. This is where "human errors" might have happened. |