Guys, thank you for all those who have provided helpful info during the past week. I lost my account due to a false ban for supposed involvement in RMT, and now after a week's pursuit at Support, Gaile, and two Anet staff I found here, it is finally back.
What I don't get is, they don't even give you a fair explaination about what have gone wrong.
To be honest, this is scary. I wrote an email to support and Gaile Grey hoping they could shed some more insight. You know, being wronged like that, and the dreadful waiting. It is really scary knowing that you can just get banned like that for no apparent reason. I am hoping to learn more about it.
Anyways, my advice based on the information I gathered during the week when I was banned, as a warning to others.
1. When you want to transfer large amount of valuable items or gold to your other accounts or friends. Be very careful. This could get you banned by mistake. There is really nothing you can do about to control the odds, just know that this sometimes trigger a false alarm as the action may appear as involvement in RMT.
2. Do not bot, do not get involved in RMT. DO NOT EVER. They may not catch you now, but most certainly, they will catch you at some point. I've read some really heartaching pleads from players who committed small offenses at using a bot, but Anet takes botting SERIOUSLY, and there is no forgiveness no matter how long you have played or how dedicated of a fan you were. So if you have tried it at one time or another, just never do it again and hope that they don't find out. Remember that!
3. Getting support takes time. In my case, it is almost a ten day since I got banned then reinstated. So be patient. If you didn't do anything wrong and got banned, most likely you will get your account back, provided you did NOT do wrong. I have read that repeated smaller offenses, like the abuse of other players and scamming get people staying banned, even though they successfully proved they were falsely banned for something else.
So do NO wrong, and be nice to others. or they can really mess with ya. :P
Got my account back!
Hellswung
micut12
Hello, gz on getting ur account back, 3 months ago i got banned aswell for no reason but got my account back in like 3 days, im rlly happy for you.
Have fun and Enjoy GW
Have fun and Enjoy GW
drkn
I often trade kinda valuable items, like a stack of picks or 100 zkeys, with my fiancee, sometimes just via MultiLaunch to get her surprised, and i have wondered several times what to do if i got banned for false positive in that case. Thanks for some insight.
Axeman002
my mate got his back after 18 months of arguing....when he got it back it was missing items (one being a polar bear) and 3 titles 0.o...we can only assume it was rolled back 2 years
Hellswung
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Originally Posted by drkn
I often trade kinda valuable items, like a stack of picks or 100 zkeys, with my fiancee, sometimes just via MultiLaunch to get her surprised, and i have wondered several times what to do if i got banned for false positive in that case. Thanks for some insight.
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well, in your case, all I can say is, make sure you have proof so you can readily prove that you are trading with someone you know (fairly well) and be careful.
drkn
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| well, in your case, all I can say is, make sure you have proof so you can readily prove that you are trading with someone you know (fairly well) and be careful. |
S H A D O W sin mg
I got banned during the bot banning, never used a bot or thrid party programs besides textmod EVER. contacted support several time they wont help it all, its being ridiculous really.
Gratz on getting your account back dude.
Gratz on getting your account back dude.
snodaard
I'd say be happy you got it back, and don't QQ about false bans. They just ban ppl that act suspicious and ppl that didn't do anything wrong will get those accounts back. So don't QQ if you got what you wanted after all imho.
Dzjudz
I trade a lot of valuable stuff between accounts often.
Reason you won't get banned doing this? IP. Can't be mistaken for RMT.
Reason you won't get banned doing this? IP. Can't be mistaken for RMT.
Shadowspawn X
Congratz, sounds like a very scary experience. Glad it worked out for you.
Hellswung
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Originally Posted by drkn
I trade a lot of valuable stuff between accounts often.
Reason you won't get banned doing this? IP. Can't be mistaken for RMT. |
Yeah, like I said, it sometimes make a false alarm from what I gathered. I didn't read anything about getting banned for trading between accounts of same user, but I did read that someone was banned right after handing large amount of ectos to a guildmate or relative.
So it happens.
AngelWJedi
their is a reason to QQ about false bans. the op is one example and im another. i to was accused of this but it was proven a anet eployee made a mistake got my account back. we have to wonder how many more people have or will get falsely banned before they admit they have a issue with that way of checking for bots. and grtz on getting your account back. i hope you still have everything.
Hellswung
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Originally Posted by AngelWJedi
their is a reason to QQ about false bans. the op is one example and im another. i to was accused of this but it was proven a anet eployee made a mistake got my account back. we have to wonder how many more people have or will get falsely banned before they admit they have a issue with that way of checking for bots. and grtz on getting your account back. i hope you still have everything.
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everything is intact, and thanks
Thanks also to Shadowspawn X and micut12
In my case, I can safely say that I am mistaken for the reason that I trade a lot, because that is like one of the chief things I do in game. Well, we all get our kicks out of different things :P
Anyways, besides trading, I was also scammed by a player with the 100Gold/100Platinum trick for 14 ectos. I am guessing that might have been what triggered the alert.
The speed of the customer service is horrible. The first actual human assistance who replied to me (after about two days) just simply said: "Your account is terminated because you have been caught engaging in RMT or gather items to be sold at a future time." Therefore, sorry, you are banned and thanks for playing. Then it is just endless waiting.
Look at how helpful it is.
ErrantVenture
If you're moving large amounts of valuable items, do it through a drop trade instead of the trade system. Anet does not and cannot monitor the transfer of valuable items through drops the way they do in the trade system.
afya
Recently, my friend's 6 account got banned, Anet thought they are hacked. He only managed to get 4 back.
But big grats to you anyway
But big grats to you anyway
Ghost Dog
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Originally Posted by ErrantVenture
If you're moving large amounts of valuable items, do it through a drop trade instead of the trade system. Anet does not and cannot monitor the transfer of valuable items through drops the way they do in the trade system.
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dts720666
For acronym noobs like me...what is RMT? I'm guessing..."Real Money Transaction"? such as buying GW gold for real world cash?
Aqrab
Congratulations on getting the account back.I guess it would help to have a friendly conversation when you are trading between friends and such, since anet can read the logs you might avoid getting wrongly banned.
Close, Real money trade
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Originally Posted by dts720666
For acronym noobs like me...what is RMT? I'm guessing..."Real Money Transaction"? such as buying GW gold for real world cash?
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Dzjudz
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Originally Posted by dts720666
For acronym noobs like me...what is RMT? I'm guessing..."Real Money Transaction"? such as buying GW gold for real world cash?
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ErrantVenture
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Originally Posted by Ghost Dog
You don't know that.
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snowman relic
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Originally Posted by Axeman002
my mate got his back after 18 months of arguing....when he got it back it was missing items (one being a polar bear) and 3 titles 0.o...we can only assume it was rolled back 2 years
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my personal preference when trading items between accounts is to make a specific chat log showing i own both like finishing sentences or saying on both accounts that they are mine
Johny bravo
I got banned for RMT by mistake as well. It had to do with a bunch of different factors including a move to China, a spike in playing time and me giving away a bunch of mini's and items to guildies all in a short period of time. The issue was resolved in about 5 days but it took a couple of persistant email for me to get to the level where they would seriously look into it.
In general it seems their process is:
Get email saying false ban -> reply you were banned for this
Get follow up email -> restate the reason you were banned provide a little explanation
Get third follow up email -> forward it to senior service person to actually look into it
In general it seems their process is:
Get email saying false ban -> reply you were banned for this
Get follow up email -> restate the reason you were banned provide a little explanation
Get third follow up email -> forward it to senior service person to actually look into it
joea64
I bet that process happens that way in order to weed out the people who have actually broken the rules, whom ANet is betting will drop the case quietly rather than dig the hole they're already in deeper, and people who are innocent, who will pursue their case and provide evidence to prove it.
Bellatrixa
Having worked as a GM on a pserver for another MMO, it's much easier to ban someone for suspicious activity and be on the safe side than let things slide. In the 2 years I was on staff there, the worst problems occured when other GMs simply weren't monitoring reports and giving people benefit of the doubt. Some people who hack will appeal. We ended up introducing a system where they could submit an appeal BUT there would be proof behind their ban (screenshot of them hacking, damage reports, database evidence) and also certain staff had the ability to access their accounts. The database could also track changes in inventory, currency, experience and damage. In the case of damage hacking we'd jump on the account and try to re-create their damage or use a GM character to try and replicate the circumstances. There were so many ways that we could catch hackers.
If that is what staff on a private server could do, I'm sure Anet have similar means. If you appeal your case, they have no concrete evidence of whatever you did and they can check what you claim happened, it's a no brainer that you'll get the account back.
10 days is pretty good going imo. The retail manafacturer of the other RPG I was talking about used to rarely answer support tickets, hardly ever banned hackers and now is having to have a massive shakeup of the game to get people back from pservers and other games.
How to avoid getting banned? Use common sense.
If that is what staff on a private server could do, I'm sure Anet have similar means. If you appeal your case, they have no concrete evidence of whatever you did and they can check what you claim happened, it's a no brainer that you'll get the account back.
10 days is pretty good going imo. The retail manafacturer of the other RPG I was talking about used to rarely answer support tickets, hardly ever banned hackers and now is having to have a massive shakeup of the game to get people back from pservers and other games.
How to avoid getting banned? Use common sense.
lemming
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Originally Posted by Bellatrixa
Having worked as a GM on a pserver for another MMO, it's much easier to ban someone for suspicious activity and be on the safe side than let things slide. In the 2 years I was on staff there, the worst problems occured when other GMs simply weren't monitoring reports and giving people benefit of the doubt. Some people who hack will appeal. We ended up introducing a system where they could submit an appeal BUT there would be proof behind their ban (screenshot of them hacking, damage reports, database evidence) and also certain staff had the ability to access their accounts. The database could also track changes in inventory, currency, experience and damage. In the case of damage hacking we'd jump on the account and try to re-create their damage or use a GM character to try and replicate the circumstances. There were so many ways that we could catch hackers.
If that is what staff on a private server could do, I'm sure Anet have similar means. If you appeal your case, they have no concrete evidence of whatever you did and they can check what you claim happened, it's a no brainer that you'll get the account back. 10 days is pretty good going imo. The retail manafacturer of the other RPG I was talking about used to rarely answer support tickets, hardly ever banned hackers and now is having to have a massive shakeup of the game to get people back from pservers and other games. How to avoid getting banned? Use common sense. |
Bellatrixa
Bear in mind that what I cited was a pserver and the retail version had much lower standards. We were exceptional in our staff team being such a long running server, but we were simply using the tools that the retail staff had at their disposal.
I'd almost put money on the fact that NCSoft have something similar at least in terms of database changes but I have no idea how they handle reports. We worked on the basis that there would be at least one member of staff on (be it an intern or full GM) who would receive damage reports and player reports. These could vary from harassment/abuse to hacking to glitching. We would have the ability to warp in hide mode, view chatlogs and deal with the situation as applicable. We had different types of punishment for various offences (mutes, temp bans, perma bans). Staff would SS or Frap the ban so evidence was there if the ban was contested. Yes, sometimes we made wrongful bans. There's such a thing as human error. Sometimes lag could make things seem like someone was hacking, sometimes the damage reports screwed up. No system is perfect and I'm sure NCSoft has the same problems.
What we SHOULD be happy about is that ban appeals DO get dealt with, even if it's not instantaneous. They have more restrictions than what the staff on my old server did (i.e. their staff are paid and ours were voluntary) and the game mechanics are very different being completely different games (just to clarify that it wasn't a GW pserver I worked on but another MMO that's f2p). A ban appeal system has to be quite strict to stop people who DID break the rules crying with "OHNOES I GOT B&, UNB& PLZ I DID NUTIN RONG!!1!".
From what I've seen, NCSoft has better customer support and relations than the company I mentioned above who shall remain nameless.
I'd almost put money on the fact that NCSoft have something similar at least in terms of database changes but I have no idea how they handle reports. We worked on the basis that there would be at least one member of staff on (be it an intern or full GM) who would receive damage reports and player reports. These could vary from harassment/abuse to hacking to glitching. We would have the ability to warp in hide mode, view chatlogs and deal with the situation as applicable. We had different types of punishment for various offences (mutes, temp bans, perma bans). Staff would SS or Frap the ban so evidence was there if the ban was contested. Yes, sometimes we made wrongful bans. There's such a thing as human error. Sometimes lag could make things seem like someone was hacking, sometimes the damage reports screwed up. No system is perfect and I'm sure NCSoft has the same problems.
What we SHOULD be happy about is that ban appeals DO get dealt with, even if it's not instantaneous. They have more restrictions than what the staff on my old server did (i.e. their staff are paid and ours were voluntary) and the game mechanics are very different being completely different games (just to clarify that it wasn't a GW pserver I worked on but another MMO that's f2p). A ban appeal system has to be quite strict to stop people who DID break the rules crying with "OHNOES I GOT B&, UNB& PLZ I DID NUTIN RONG!!1!".
From what I've seen, NCSoft has better customer support and relations than the company I mentioned above who shall remain nameless.
Smarty
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Originally Posted by Hellswung
The first actual human assistance who replied to me (after about two days) just simply said: "Your account is terminated because you have been caught engaging in RMT or gather items to be sold at a future time."
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Bellatrixa
That was how it read to me but I'm sure that they're aware that people farm things for future use (I've started collecting for Wintersday already etc). I'm going to guess it depends entirely on quantities involved. If you had say, 50k ectos... Might be slightly suspicious?
ErrantVenture
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Originally Posted by Smarty
o.O Does that really mean what it sounds like it means? That you can be banned simply for farming or buying a lot of something (ectos, decayed orr emblems, minipets, whatever), because you might be stocking it up to make RL cash from it later on? Someone tell me I'm reading that wrong, please.
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Darcy
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Originally Posted by snowman relic
So anet can roll back accounts by themselves without rolling back the whole system?
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Originally Posted by Smarty
o.O Does that really mean what it sounds like it means? That you can be banned simply for farming or buying a lot of something (ectos, decayed orr emblems, minipets, whatever), because you might be stocking it up to make RL cash from it later on? Someone tell me I'm reading that wrong, please.
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LordDragon
It looks like they are looking at large trades that do not involve a reciprocal trade.
i.e. - You trade your sister (who is on another IP) 250 ectos without having a mini/money/other-valuable-item in return. This makes it look like you have traded with n RMT and thus bans your account.
i.e. - You trade your sister (who is on another IP) 250 ectos without having a mini/money/other-valuable-item in return. This makes it look like you have traded with n RMT and thus bans your account.
Axeman002
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Originally Posted by Darcy
No they cannot. Most likely scenario is that his account was hacked, then banned for the hacker's actions.
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Hellswung
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Originally Posted by Smarty
o.O Does that really mean what it sounds like it means? That you can be banned simply for farming or buying a lot of something (ectos, decayed orr emblems, minipets, whatever), because you might be stocking it up to make RL cash from it later on? Someone tell me I'm reading that wrong, please.
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After that, they escalated my ticket to a senior staff, after about one more week of waiting, and I reached Gaile Grey, then I was unbanned without furthur explaination.
So, the point of this is, there will be mistakes if you appear suspicious. There is nothing you can do about it except to be careful from time to time. Some of the players advice here are really good.
I can understand some's reasoning to that its neccessity, but it doesn't feel that bad until you become the receiving end of the ban stick.
Bellatrixa
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Originally Posted by Hellswung
So, the point of this is, there will be mistakes if you appear suspicious. There is nothing you can do about it except to be careful from time to time.
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Before you do something, ask yourself "Does this look suspicious?" and think about ways to prove that it's legitimate.
With regards to the guy who was rolled back and lost 3 titles... I'm shocked that there's the means to store individual account info to that depth. Most times that rollbacks occur, it's the database being reloaded to a previous version which affects everyone on the server. Losing items is often quite common in a rollback however. Titles less so. Were they completely reduced to 0 points or simply reverted to an earlier point in the track progression?
Axeman002
they were reverted back...when he was banned he had 34 max titles...came back to 31 max.
Lortext
Today my account got Permanently blocked. Going through support now to see how long it takes to get things sorted out.
Skyy High
First off: grats.
Read the EULA.
As for why they're not going to tell you anything: so that it's harder to learn exactly what parameters their systems check for (and hence avoid triggering them).
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Originally Posted by Hellswung
It is really scary knowing that you can just get banned like that for no apparent reason. I am hoping to learn more about it.
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As for why they're not going to tell you anything: so that it's harder to learn exactly what parameters their systems check for (and hence avoid triggering them).
Hellswung
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Originally Posted by Skyy High
First off: grats.
Read the EULA. As for why they're not going to tell you anything: so that it's harder to learn exactly what parameters their systems check for (and hence avoid triggering them). |
Nekodesu
OKay, nice for the info, thought I knew all of this before. I get that you've been banned and your thread got removed cus of this, so why do you make another one? Perhaps not regarding the fact that you got banned, thought it is, but about tips to not get banned?
First off, anybody know that if you ever bot one time you will get banned if they catch you. Second off, ofc you get perma banned for abusing/insulting/scamming other players many times!
And the fact that you got your account back, is because of support. 7_7
I get that they can ban you. Actually, even if you did nothing wrong. I'd get epic pissed about this but, it's their game afterall. I don't own anything but a copy of the game : /
Sry if this post seems very offencive.
First off, anybody know that if you ever bot one time you will get banned if they catch you. Second off, ofc you get perma banned for abusing/insulting/scamming other players many times!
And the fact that you got your account back, is because of support. 7_7
I get that they can ban you. Actually, even if you did nothing wrong. I'd get epic pissed about this but, it's their game afterall. I don't own anything but a copy of the game : /
Sry if this post seems very offencive.