I put in the serial code but cant play?

Hi there,
I just bought Guild Wars today, came home, installed it and once it had all been done, tried to play. It asked me for the Serial code, which I entered correctly, and then took me back to the start page. From there i logged in again with my username and password and then i got a choice to create a PVP character or a role play character.....so far so good. When i choose one or the other, I then get a screen saying that "my account is cnot currently authorized tok play guildwars" and then has a "next" buttonon the bottom right. I press that and I'm taken, yet again to the input serial code screen. I did this once again to be told the key is in use. I'm totally stuck.
I also didnt receive any confirmation email to validate anything but i understand this is not needed, so i opted to change my email address. I did this and an email was sent out to the address i put in initially so it looks like that works so i changed password...this also worked so i changed it back and i still cannot get passed the "Choose Roleplay or PVP2 part of the intro.
I also play City of Heroes and World of Warcraft and have only ever had a similar problem with the U.S beta of COH because the exe file for the U.S verion was overwritten with the UK update, but I'm sure this isnt the problem.
I still have no reply from support either and now I'm gettin rather annoyed that I spent £30 on something useless. Please help if you can. Thanks

Still nothing Looking at the choice between Role play and PVP still....so tempting but no hope of getting this sorted so far.........WoW till I get some help

Are you sure you are entering a Retail CD Key and not a Pre-order Key? Outside of that I don't really know. Contact ANet, maybe they can help you.

Thanks for the reply. It;s the key that comes in that little packet in the box you hav to rip open. I just tried uninstalling and reinstalling, turning off Windows firewall and again, nothing. When i try to pick Roleplay or PVP it goes to the Serial code screen after saying that the game is not verified and when i cancel, it just has the "Roleplay or PVP" screen with a box saying "connecting" but nothing happens even after an hour. I've tried to contact everyone from plaync to the suggested email and so far, I've only had a response on this forum. Is this an indication of things to come?

have you tried ANet offical support? They should help you. Otherwise, try logging on one of ur friends accounts and see if it works are ur comp

Was the scratchy stuff already scratched off your code? Did you buy the game used? It's also possible that someone out there is using a keygen and stole your key... if you contact Anet they should be able to give you a valid key and shut down the one that's being used illegally.

Thanks very much for the replies
The game was brand new and wrapped from Game (computer game shop) and the code went in the 1st time ok, but then the game put me back to the login screen after i put the code in and from there, I'm going round in circles...After you put the code in, what are you supposed to do next? Does nobody else have this problem? I'm the only one i know with the game as everyone else is still in WoW and City of heroes
I've mailed 3 addresses now for support but still nothing but it has only been about 12 hours and they say up to 24...so I'll wait to see what they say
If anyone has any other ideas, please let me know

Thanks again

It really sounds like you might have bought the pre-order version like Deadroot has suggested.
I’m not too sure how the game is treated now, but I didn’t have any packet with a key in it other than the pre-order package. My release version had a key inside the cd case and you had to scratch off some silver stuff to reveal it.

There’s a way to find out what version you bought though just to make sure. After you enter in you log-in name and password click ‘edit account’, then check/click ‘manage access keys’, then next, and then see what it says.
If it says “early access event” then you have the pre-order and that’s why you can’t play. If it says “guild wars release” then you have the release version, and I’ll be stumped as to why you can’t play. If it says something else, I’ll also be stumped because that’s the only two I have.

Hope this helps

Hi again,
I did as you suggested to check the version etc and once i log in and "Edit Account", when i click on manage keys" etc, it just takes me to the "your account is not currently authorized to play guild wars" screen. It then does the usual and takes me to the enter serial key code screen.
I enetered the code the first time I installed it and it went in no problems so the fact i can't enter it again makes sense, but why it hasnt verified it is beyond me.

Also, the key code was in a sealed box in a wrapper that i had to rip open so I'm sure its the retail version.

how much did you pay for this? This really sounds like the preorder box.

The CD should be in a hard plastic CD case(standard type). Flipped open from right to left. The code should be on the left side(inside) of the opener. There should be some silvery thing covering the code where you scratch it off to get the access code. Is your version like that??

I bought the game from "Game" in the city. It was in their chart list. I also just took a picture of it but as I'm not too clued up on putting the pic here, I uploaded it to my website and set the link here. Please take a look and tell me if I have some pre-order thing.
Thanks again everyone for helping

Link to my box set....
http://www.air51.co.uk/albums/album2...me_box_set.jpg

also a picture of what happens now i log in. Remember, the game did take the serial code when i first put it in on 1st installation..

http://www.air51.co.uk/albums/album2...ngw_log_in.jpg

Also, i checked and no serial code in the inner box. Only on that security packet u see in the image

That looks like a fake game... but i could be wrong. My version is a USA version and it looks nothing like that. (The discs)

I'm not really sure of my version, because I live in Malaysia, not sure which version my retailer got it from. Costs me RM 229.00. Mine has 1 Manuscript Book(The same one as the one under the Book 1 The Lore of Guild Wars), that quick reference card, the box is labeled T for Teen, not 12+, no security packet like yours, theres also a card featuring NC softs games like Auto Assault, Guild wars and others, also had ATi Radeon card(just a promotional card, not the actual graphics card).
The retail box of mine looks like this

I'm sure every country packaging will vary quite a bit. The fact that it's a well known Game store "Game" also a member of i think "EB", is enough to put my mind at ease about it being a fake. I'm sure this is the UK basic retail although i know there is a delux box set, but for me this is fine.

Have you tryed to exchange the game at the retailer? It could potentially be a bum key. Although very rare, it can happen.

well, i would if the key wasn' accepted when i first put it in, but it did accept. I just dont know why I can now play the game. I'll take it back tomorrow. Giv the tech support guys some more time to see if they can sort it for me. Thanks again

I've got the UK version, has the same contents as what is in the photo, with the little packet to tear open with the key inside. Works fine for me.

Ive heard of people not even getting a cd key, methinks these people flogging keys on Ebay might work at the factory, you know what im saying? I got my cd key from their but the actual game never arrived, the cd key works fine though.

The simple answer is, go back in Game and kick up a fuss til they sort you out a new one, at the end of the day, theyve sold you faulty goods and comsumer rights are a wonderful thing.

Yes take it back.

If its asking you for the key, then your key was never accepted, and never attatched to your account.

Either someone has a niffty key gen that actually works online or the key bum, that is If you had to scratch off the silver stuff, I think it dosn't matter what copy of the game you guy from where, the key is always hidden by the silver scratchoff material for security. If you had a little card or otherwise you probably don't have a real key.

Just because it accepted the key doesn't mean it's not in use. It will probably accept any valid key when you first type it in, but it's not until the game connects to the server that it notices someone already has an account set up with that key. I know EB employees are allowed to open the games, play them, and reseal them and pretend they're new (for "testing purposes"), and I've heard stories that sometimes they forget to delete their accounts for online games. Arena.net should be able to tell you pretty easily whether or not there's already an account using that cd key. Maybe their tech support's just backed up.

I hear whgat you're saying and could understand this. The key isnt in anything you had to scratch off tho. It was completely sealed with perferated edged card and I had to rip it open. It was completely sealed. I'll take the game back tomorrow if I cant get it working tonoght>

Thanks for all your help

still waiting on a reply.....do the support guys work weekends??

Support has been backed up since the game launched. Last I heard was 3-4 days for a reply.

Fingers crossed for a reply today! No doubt I'll get one after I take the game back and get a new one, then have the same problems with that only to be at the back of the line for help once again! lol

THanks again for your help

Err, From what I know you need to make sure that the account info you have setup is in the correct region that your in (ie Euro, America, Korea). All I can think of is that your trying to enter the wrong home districts and its not letting you because your IP doesn't match the region your connecting from. (im just guessing). I am also guessing that the first time you installed it, it went through smoothly (the registration). Try changing your user info and email address if the region change doesnt work.