Is syncing RA a bannable offence?

TheSavageRabbit

TheSavageRabbit

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Feb 2010

I've heard rumors that syncing together to get in the same team for RA was now an offence. I'm wondering if someone could clarify this for me...thanks.

Marty Silverblade

Marty Silverblade

Administrator

Join Date: Jun 2006

By syncing, you are deliberately trying to give yourself an advantage that is not meant to be available. It's definitely not going to be approved by Anet, but whether they ban people for it is another issue (haven't heard anyone talk about it). Be on the safe side and don't do it.

Ninja Ninja

Ninja Ninja

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2006

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheSavageRabbit View Post
I've heard rumors that syncing together to get in the same team for RA was now an offence. I'm wondering if someone could clarify this for me...thanks.
I'm against RA syncing but unless you guild sync its really not traceable.

Hells Fury

Hells Fury

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Aug 2009

W/D

Long time ago Gaile said it wasn't. Regina said it is and that Gaile is not in position to give such comments anymore. So i wouldn't mess with Regina.

RhanoctJocosa

RhanoctJocosa

Legendary Korean

Join Date: Aug 2006

The Benecia Renovatio [RenO]

W/

no lol.

anyway, everyone just leaves their guild before you sync up and rejoin later so you can't prove it at all (especially if you count down on vent).

if they actually do ban people for syncing it's about as dumb as when they used to ban for /fame on corpse.

Hells Fury

Hells Fury

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Aug 2009

W/D

Quote:
Originally Posted by RhanoctJocosa View Post
no lol.

anyway, everyone just leaves their guild before you sync up and rejoin later so you can't prove it at all (especially if you count down on vent).

if they actually do ban people for syncing it's about as dumb as when they used to ban for /fame on corpse.
I heard rumors about bans cause /fame on corpse . When did that happened? And how many were banned?

I wonder what's their excuse for that when you can now nail a corpse with an spear,axe,hammer, sword falling from the sky, then use /fame emote then dance on poor basterds corpse in Ra while he waits bittered for timer to count down from 10 to 0 so he can return to outpost w/o getting dishonor.

FoxBat

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Apr 2006

Amazon Basin [AB]

Mo/Me

The syncing they were referring to is "match manipulation", when you sync two teams to face each other and choose which one wins. This is done to farm codex and champ points without any actual opposition. This kind of syncing does more harm to "competition" by cheapening the stakes (a team entering with intention to lose) and granting a pvp title without actually doing any pvp.

Eragon Selene

Eragon Selene

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Feb 2007

USA

[eF]

R/A

RA cant be proved............it is still random. Even if you count down on vent there is still a good chance not all 4 will be on the same team.

What if your in a larger PvP guild and you end up on the same team as 2 other guildies........was this a sync? Or a random event.

I was in a guild that had 15-20 players and ended up with 1 of my guildies on the same RA team and I didnt even know he was in RA.

Sync in RA would be very very hard to prove...........unless you get 3-4 25 win streaks in a night, and all of them had the same players on the team.

RA is dead atm until they fix the mesmer buff..........monks explode in about 10 seconds.

Shayne Hawke

Shayne Hawke

Departed from Tyria

Join Date: May 2007

Clan Dethryche [dth]

R/

I would not put it past them to ban for this. However, the Gamer crowd that I'm familiar with doesn't seem to have lost any players for this reason, and we are regulars at syncing the festival arenas. It seems like it getting counted as an offense is currently very unlikely.

Oleg

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Mar 2008

The Apologetti

W/

Has anyone making these coments read the EULA? Just wondering.

Sirius Bsns

Banned

Join Date: May 2010

PonG

W/Mo

I personally think that, though syncing is unfair to other players, Anet shouldn't ban others for it simply because: if Anet doesn't "approve" of syncing, then they should by all means fix it! It's a bug if it's not meant to be happening, hence they should find a resolution instead of just banning players (the easier, less profitable route as the customers == moar monies!). Now, if it were something like duping or exploiting a glitch of a sort to the extent that it causes severe game-breaking damage to the economy, or the integrity of the game itself, then by all means does it deserve a ban. Syncing doesn't have a significant impact on the game's integrity, nor the economy, nor is it game-breaking in any way. Additionally, there'd be sooooooo many more players that've synced in RA whose accounts would be banned if syncing were given that unjust level of punishment.

In summary, if Anet disapproves of syncing in RA, then they need to find and fix the issue to prevent having to ban anyone at all [period]. It'd save so much drama from happening, and customers wouldn't be potentially driven away from everything with the NCSoft/Arenanet logo on it.

bhavv

bhavv

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Sep 2006

Banning people for pressing enter battle at the same time, and making sure they are on the same countdown would be beyond retarded.

HigherMinion

HigherMinion

Forge Runner

Join Date: May 2008

East Anglia, UK

Order of [Thay]

N/

Quote:
Originally Posted by FoxBat View Post
The syncing they were referring to is "match manipulation", when you sync two teams to face each other and choose which one wins. This is done to farm codex and champ points without any actual opposition. This kind of syncing does more harm to "competition" by cheapening the stakes (a team entering with intention to lose) and granting a pvp title without actually doing any pvp.
This^. If you try and sync constantly two teams in GvG, HA, Codex, etc; you will be banned. In RA all you're really doing is just trying to get into the same game as your mates because that's more fun than playing with randoms. I've not yet encounted a FULL perfect synced group, e.g. 4 players with the same tag, or recognised ally.

Oblivious Moose

Oblivious Moose

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2006

Sinister Swarm [Sin]

P/

No, you cannot get banned for syncing a team battle to actually earn your glad points through legit fights.

However, you can get banned by making a deal with the other team to quit for any reason other than their own. Including paying them off a z-key to resign spike.

As mentioned above, those players that would create 2 teams, just to sync matches, and have one forfeit to obtain title points and/or faction were banned.

IMO the majority of those "wrongful bannings" are those who cheated the pvp system, even though they are b----ing about not using bots.

Ariena Najea

Ariena Najea

Silence and Motion

Join Date: Jul 2006

Buffalo NY

New Horizon [NH]

Quote:
Originally Posted by September 1st, 2009 Update
Fixed a bug that allowed teams to sync join in random PvP.
At this point, syncing is considered an exploit. It is possible that in the future, support will begin targetting RA syncers.

Del

Del

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Sep 2009

In a van, down by the river.

RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GO if I know, ask Lynette.

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Oblivious Moose View Post
No, you cannot get banned for syncing a team battle to actually earn your glad points through legit fights.
Perfectly legit to give yourself an unfair advantage over another team.

HigherMinion

HigherMinion

Forge Runner

Join Date: May 2008

East Anglia, UK

Order of [Thay]

N/

What I hate more than the syncing itself is:

1. The people who find they don't have a monk and /resign and just leech until you're dead.
2. The people who leave if their sync didn't work or just wand until dead, like the above.

If you RA often enough, you'll be playing mostly with people you vaguely know, and their play-styles. It's a small advantage, but nothing serious, as their builds will generally reflect the meta anyway; AS will any random pug team.

Trub

Trub

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Mar 2006

Sitting in the guildhall, watching the wallows frolic.

Trinity of the ascended [SMS]+[Koss]+[TAM]=[ToA]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Del View Post
Perfectly legit to give yourself an unfair advantage over another team.
I C wut U did thar.

oh yeah..on topic and stuff:

Match Manipulation= Big, humongus, NO NO!!

Sirius Bsns

Banned

Join Date: May 2010

PonG

W/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by HigherMinion View Post
What I hate more than the syncing itself is:

1. The people who find they don't have a monk and /resign and just leech until you're dead.
2. The people who leave if their sync didn't work or just wand until dead, like the above.

If you RA often enough, you'll be playing mostly with people you vaguely know, and their play-styles. It's a small advantage, but nothing serious, as their builds will generally reflect the meta anyway; AS will any random pug team.
They leave because they have common sense and foresight to know they're going to lose. Why would they want to stay and die knowing the battle is lost to begin with? Oh yea, I forgot, there're alot of newcomers who DON'T have any common sense or foresight and explains why they hate leavers, and [ab]use the /report->"leeching" function despite not understanding the true definition of the term "leeching". If a player rushes in and suicides, yet gets reported for leeching, that's called abuse of the /report function. If a player goes afk in RA, that's a better excuse than the previous, but it still isn't really leeching. Who in their right mind would try and leech in a 4v4 platform, where minus one player due to afk makes a HUGE difference, and hence can't win in order to make balthazar faction and make leeching viable? Matches are too short, and even just ONE afk player is HUGELY disadvantageous. Leeching in RA is just illogical, yet players /report->"leech" all the time because it's seemingly the only selection that punishes players with Dishonor points [aka: abuse].

Hate them all you want, but they do it because they most likely have enough common sense to determine the outcome because of their abundant experiences in RA. Also: no monk, no glory. You can get to 25 consecs easily with a monk, whereas without one, you're lucky if you even get to 5, and if you get to 25 without a monk...? GO PLAY THE LOTTERY, BRO!

fowlero

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jan 2007

England, UK

We Are The One And Only [rR]

As much as it gives you an obvious advantage, i don't think you can really class it as match manipulation therefore i doubt it's bannable.

Trub

Trub

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Mar 2006

Sitting in the guildhall, watching the wallows frolic.

Trinity of the ascended [SMS]+[Koss]+[TAM]=[ToA]

Quote:
Originally Posted by fowlero View Post
As much as it gives you an obvious advantage, i don't think you can really class it as match manipulation therefore i doubt it's bannable.
Well, tell that to the players you left behind when you /resigned....MAYBE
They wanted to play some pvp...instead of being told to /resign?
Maybe...just maybe the other team wanted to play pvp..instead of having the opponents bail on them?

I could be wrong...

fowlero

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jan 2007

England, UK

We Are The One And Only [rR]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Trub View Post
Well, tell that to the players you left behind when you /resigned....MAYBE
They wanted to play some pvp...instead of being told to /resign?
Maybe...just maybe the other team wanted to play pvp..instead of having the opponents bail on them?

I could be wrong...
I don't sync RA myself, so uh yeah...

I always play my matches, the only time i give up is if i'm playing melee against melee hate without a monk and absolutely no form of shutdown. Thus receiving emapthy all game.

Also, what you've described still isn't match manipulation. Noone can make you resign.

Snograt

Snograt

rattus rattus

Join Date: Jan 2006

London, UK GMT??0 ??1hr DST

[GURU]GW [wiki]GW2

R/

Let's make it simple.

Synching is manipulation.

Manipulation is bannable.

Synching is bannable.

It doesn't matter that it's only RA, synching is manipulating the game mechanics in order to gain an unfair advantage.

Whether ANet has the available manpower to spend on weeding out RA manipulators is another matter. If, however, they ever do - just imagine a dev being bored one weekend - you can forsee this forum being full of howls of outrage and claims of unjust punishment.

Before you do anything like this, just ask yourself one question: Am I gaining an unfair advantage? Then see if you can answer yourself honestly...

pinkeyflower

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jan 2010

Well I've heard that it wasn't and I don't know anyone that has been banned because of it. Also, in the report command there is no option for syncing. However, Anet did ban people for match manipulation and this could be considered part of that.

TheSavageRabbit

TheSavageRabbit

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Feb 2010

Hi guys! So.. I emailed GuildWars support about syncing and got this reply.


Currently, it is not a violation to join a battle at the exact same time as your friends. This can be accomplished by something as simple as counting down in chat before entering the map. We certainly understand that it can be frustrating to go up against coordinated teams, but it is not a violation to hit the "Enter Battle" button at the same time as someone else.

The design team is aware of this concern within the community and has noted that some players would like game mechanics to reduce or prevent syncing. The design team will be reviewing possible changes in the future, although we do not have a timeframe for any possible changes.

Thanks for the imput anyway

HigherMinion

HigherMinion

Forge Runner

Join Date: May 2008

East Anglia, UK

Order of [Thay]

N/

Well, [NuFS] wasn't disbanded, so I'd say it's not bannable. You can still lose as a Sync team, and can still sync bad builds. The real problem is syncing TWO teams constantly; and you can't sync while waiting for the next battle.

Eragon Zarroc

Eragon Zarroc

Atra estern?? ono thelduin

Join Date: Jan 2008

Madness Incarnate

[Duo]

W/P

i really don't see how they would be able to track and prove that people were trying to sync when there are so many people always attempting to enter RA at the same time... so extremely doubtful.

Snograt

Snograt

rattus rattus

Join Date: Jan 2006

London, UK GMT??0 ??1hr DST

[GURU]GW [wiki]GW2

R/

Heh, it isn't a violation because it's not possible to catch people doing it ^_^

FlexBuffchest45

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Feb 2009

West Coast

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by HigherMinion View Post
What I hate more than the syncing itself is:

1. The people who find they don't have a monk and /resign and just leech until you're dead.
2. The people who leave if their sync didn't work or just wand until dead, like the above.

If you RA often enough, you'll be playing mostly with people you vaguely know, and their play-styles. It's a small advantage, but nothing serious, as their builds will generally reflect the meta anyway; AS will any random pug team.
Sirius Bsns is right. Teams without a monk are completely worthless the majority of the time. There are exceptions to the rule, however, but they are far and few between. I've played RA for the last 3 years and I've only hit 20+ with w/o a monk twice. It takes a very lucky group with lots of synergy, dps, and common sense. Most of the time, it's not worth hopping that your three other team members have bars that compliment yours and vice versa, so for the love of god please resign.

Swahnee

Swahnee

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jul 2008

Italy

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by FlexBuffchest45 View Post
Sirius Bsns is right. Teams without a monk are completely worthless the majority of the time. There are exceptions to the rule, however, but they are far and few between. I've played RA for the last 3 years and I've only hit 20+ with w/o a monk twice. It takes a very lucky group with lots of synergy, dps, and common sense. Most of the time, it's not worth hopping that your three other team members have bars that compliment yours and vice versa, so for the love of god please resign.
Since RA is now meant to be a place where to grind glad points, you are right.

If RA was what it was designed to be, a place where to move the first steps in PvP, learn the basics techniques, or experiment new builds, then you would be very wrong, imho: who cares if we don't have a monk? We can learn a lot about kiting, positioning, weapon swapping, etc. etc. simply playing, there's no need to win. If someone wants a place where to play seriously, where to play to win, there are HA and GvG (and there used to be TA).

I, for myself, always resign if they ask me to, but only to avoid to start up flame wars, not because i think it's right to do it. In my opinion, actually, resigning in RA when it's obivious that you can't win is completely wrong, because such a random game can't be played to win at all costs, it has no sense at all. You play to win when you get a good team, in the other cases you play for the fun of it. If you don't like this, noone is forcing you to play RA (this is a generic "you", not a personal attack).

HigherMinion

HigherMinion

Forge Runner

Join Date: May 2008

East Anglia, UK

Order of [Thay]

N/

I wouldn't even resign in a 3-monk team; simply because I don't like giving the other team a free win. It's supposed to be competitive; and sometimes the opposing team will get annoyed and leave/resign themselves. Giving us a free win, and then a chance to leave and join a less-retarded setup.

Da Bears

Da Bears

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: May 2010

...my greatness

Saviors of [Evil]

W/

ok for starters i DO NOT consider syncing cheating. Syncing doesnt require the use of any mod and it is easy for anyone to do, all it requires is a vent/skype(skype being free) and wahla. also with ta now gone and codex a ghost town syncing is the only means for anything close to ta. i understand ppl complaining about the use of bots in game as ppl walk away from their computer and farm loads of cash/faction/glad points/fame. another thing to is i dont think anet meant this when they mentioned match manipulation. true match manipulation is logging on multiple accounts via multiple computers or third party programs allowing many gw windows and entering ra to cripple a team by having an afk teammate while the team u r playing on rolls them. doing this can also net u loads of fame. if u ask me syncing ra seems trivial compared to these offenses so stop whining.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheSavageRabbit View Post
Hi guys! So.. I emailed GuildWars support about syncing and got this reply.


Currently, it is not a violation to join a battle at the exact same time as your friends. This can be accomplished by something as simple as counting down in chat before entering the map. We certainly understand that it can be frustrating to go up against coordinated teams, but it is not a violation to hit the "Enter Battle" button at the same time as someone else.

The design team is aware of this concern within the community and has noted that some players would like game mechanics to reduce or prevent syncing. The design team will be reviewing possible changes in the future, although we do not have a timeframe for any possible changes.

Thanks for the imput anyway
Want to know how to reduce syncing? bring back TA plz

Swahnee

Swahnee

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jul 2008

Italy

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Da Bears View Post
Want to know how to reduce syncing? bring back TA plz
And remove the glad title from RA. Some people would find TA too difficult and would still decide to farm noobs in RA, again, syncing.

majoho

majoho

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jul 2006

Denmark

It should be.

Martin Alvito

Martin Alvito

Older Than God (1)

Join Date: Aug 2006

Clan Dethryche [dth]

As long as there is title grind, there will be people that want to grind the title faster. As long as the minimum team size is four, there will be groups of 2-3 PvP-ers that want to play something without having to take a pug.

The basic problem with the format at present is that it is populated by both casual PvP-ers and hardcore title grinders fighting for the same rewards. Streaks are disproportionately rewarded, player skill levels vary widely and long streaks require fairly specific components (physicals, competent disruption, dedicated heals), so players are heavily incentivized to sync but that creates a huge negative externality for others.

The worst part about the situation is that it is unenforceable without dedicating huge resources. If ANet starts banning off the /report function, players will just join different guilds in the same alliance and reroll character names frequently to make themselves harder to detect. So enforcement would require a dedicated team working on the problem, which just isn't going to happen.

The gladiator title needs a rework. Players need to get more points for shorter streaks, and teams need to be kicked out after ten wins. That would reduce the externality created by the syncers, make it easier for casual players to get R3 for HoM, reduce incentives to leave, and would not make life more difficult for the hardcore title grinders. Everybody wins. It's not a perfect solution, but it's the best one available and it improves on the current situation.

Shasgaliel

Shasgaliel

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Apr 2008

[bomb]

Great so another thread about what "random" means for Random Arena...

The more you sync the less people you will see there thats for sure.

Terrible Surgeon

Terrible Surgeon

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Oct 2009

hopper

A/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shasgaliel View Post
Great so another thread about what "random" means for Random Arena...

The more you sync the less people you will see there thats for sure.
How did you reach this conclusion?

Sir Baddock

Sir Baddock

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jan 2007

Canada

Endemic Warfare

W/

Wasn't there a post a while ago by an ArenaNet employee on either the Wiki or one of the many fan sites that claimed ArenaNet couldn't stop Syncing and didn't approve of it but they also couldn't track it and therefore wouldn't ban for it as of yet. I believe the post I'm thinking of also mentioned briefly a server programmer looking into the issue and attempting to think of ways to make RA un-syncable.

Or maybe I'm just Crazy.

nologic

nologic

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jul 2006

Sweden

E/

Syncing was bad before when TA still existed didnt see the point really to sync when you really could team up.
But people even sync JQ on a daily basis.

Swahnee

Swahnee

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jul 2008

Italy

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by nologic View Post
Syncing was bad before when TA still existed didnt see the point really to sync when you really could team up.
But people even sync JQ on a daily basis.
Because TA was too hard for them, they could farm glad points easier fighting random groups in RA (syncing) than organized (more or less) groups in TA.

People don't sync to have fun playing with friends instead of random people, they sync to grind glad points.