Curse

Jamion · Nov 26, 2010, 10:46 PM // 22:46

Both a friend of mine and my account were blocked on November 20th. When we inquired why they told us they were hacked and they had blocked them to prevent future damage. But when we went to confirm our accounts they told both of us that we were not the ones that owned the accounts. Needless to say we were surprised. I have had my account for over 5 years and my friend has had his account for over 4 years. It's been 6 days of arguing back and forth about it and still nothing.

We are both very confused as to what is going. Also more to the point why during a hack attempt the account would be blocked. As NCSoft and ArenaNet have time after time put account security on our shoulders, saying they are not responsible for it. At this point I am very angry. I am obviously contacting them through the email associated with the account. I also have bought multiple items through the in game store with credit card, and even if my name (for what ever reason) is not the one registered on the account I have obviously spent money on the account under my name over the past 5 years.

I am contemplating taking legal action at this point, although there is not much I can really do. Anyone else having this issue? or any idea what is going on and how to fix it?

Kook~NBK~ · Nov 26, 2010, 11:25 PM // 23:25

As soon as you threaten A-Net with legal action, support will refer you to their legal department and have nothing more to do with you.

The problem you have is one that can be easily solved by supplying the proof of ownership that support asks for of anyone claiming that they're the rightful owners of said account.- access keys, order numbers, etc.

Lasareth · Nov 26, 2010, 11:39 PM // 23:39

Unless you want to be laughed at I'd suggest against wasting money on anything legal unless you've read their Guild Wars terms of service (here)

Your best chance is to do as the above poster said and provide proof of ownership that correlates to the info you entered into your NCsoft or game account. Prepare to accept that you are SOL if they choose not to comply.

DokkyDok · Nov 26, 2010, 11:41 PM // 23:41

If you got this message: "Your Guild Wars has been blocked for an account issue. Please contact Support for more information", then I know a couple of people who have gotten the same problem as you these past few days.

RedDog91 · Nov 26, 2010, 11:47 PM // 23:47

NCsoft did not steal your account. Not to accuse you of anything, but there's a good chance that you and your friend both gave some amount of account info to someone. That person then used your account for illegal practices and it got blocked. The only way to prove the accounts belong to you and your friend are to take pictures of the box and scan the access keys that were provided and send it in your next email to support.
NCsoft is not out to get you. For all they know, your email was also hacked. That is why they don't re-instate your account simply by contacting them through the same email address.

And to be brutally honest, any legal professional you bring this case to will laugh at you. They may take the case without hearing the full story, but when you give the details you posted here -- and the ones that I'm sure haven't been posted -- they'll drop it but still charge you the fee for hiring them.

fowlero · Nov 27, 2010, 12:06 AM // 00:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by DokkyDok

If you got this message: "Your Guild Wars has been blocked for an account issue. Please contact Support for more information", then I know a couple of people who have gotten the same problem as you these past few days.

I know two also who this've happened. One guy got an email saying it was because someone else had attempted to access his account so they blocked it.

Some kind of issue? Or maybe to do with the attack on guru recently?

galactic · Nov 27, 2010, 01:24 AM // 01:24

Just happened to me. Sending ticket now.

and yeah i think its bc of guru because i used the same email and password on this website as i did for my account. stupid.

DokkyDok · Nov 27, 2010, 01:32 AM // 01:32

The two people to whom I was referring do not have Guru accounts, though. :/

SpyderArachnid · Nov 27, 2010, 01:41 AM // 01:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jamion

and even if my name (for what ever reason) is not the one registered on the account I have obviously spent money on the account

This should answer your own question easily.

Your name is not on the account, meaning the account is under someone else's name. So when they say, "you are not the owner", they are completely right.

It doesn't matter if you bought stuff with your credit card or not, the name on the account is not yours. I'm guessing the information on the account isn't yours either if the name is not yours.

Seems the only logical way to prove that the account is yours, but in a different name, is to have the serial codes for the account and get in contact with the original owner of the account to supply proof that they have given you the account. If you bought the account from someone else, then you're a screwed. Anet frowns upon selling ingame content for real money, that includes an account.

obastable · Nov 27, 2010, 01:45 AM // 01:45

Support is incredibly lax at times with peoples information. My son once forgot his password, and not having a master account there were no security questions or anything to use to reset it. He emailed support, gave the email address on the account and one character name .. that's it ... that's all ... and they emailed him a new password.

This was shortly after the mass hack event of recent months. Perhaps some GM's are more particular than others, but that instance in particular made me cringe a bit inside. I often wonder how many "hacks" are simply smart people squaring off with shoddy GM's.

On the topic of legal action: If you have proof of ownership you can successfully take a software company to court for refusing you access to the game without justification (and in one case for refusing to restore a hacked account but I don't think that one was in North America). It's been done before (trespass against chattels is the piece of legislation in the U.S. that makes it possible) much to the dismay of many companies who are now pushing for firm legislation in regards to their rights & responsibilities in "virtual worlds".

Not saying it's is a good idea for the OP to pursue this, because he seems to be leaving a lot of information out, but if one has the necessary information + a willing lawyer + the monetary means to go for it then it's actually quite possible to win. You have to remember, regardless of what a ToU or EULA says, they're only biding where they don't conflict with state/federal/provincial/whatever legislation.

Just sayin'....

*Darcy* · Nov 27, 2010, 02:00 AM // 02:00

I know some people who when registering games, give false name, address and birth date. Why I have no idea, but in cases like this it makes it difficult to retrieve a blocked account.

SpyderArachnid · Nov 27, 2010, 02:15 AM // 02:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by obastable

On the topic of legal action: If you have proof of ownership you can successfully take a software company to court for refusing you access to the game without justification (and in one case for refusing to restore a hacked account but I don't think that one was in North America). It's been done before (trespass against chattels is the piece of legislation in the U.S. that makes it possible) much to the dismay of many companies who are now pushing for firm legislation in regards to their rights & responsibilities in "virtual worlds".

Well, the idea of taking them to court won't happen. The account is in someone else's name. And if they bought the account off someone else, then they will never win the case cause it is against the ToS to sell an account or ingame items for real money.

As well, with the account in someone else's name, they won't win the case. Anyone could of gotten ahold of the keys to the account and started using it. Just saying they used their credit card on the account doesn't mean it is their account. I've used a friend's credit card on my account, and that doesn't instantly mean it is their account.

So taking this to court, would be pointless as you would never win. It would be a waste of money and end up costing you more than you put into the effort.

Perpetua Gale · Nov 27, 2010, 02:40 AM // 02:40

There is soo much bad info offered to you from many who have no idea what to do here.
I have a couple accounts and one of them was banned by anet.... I felt that it was wrongly banned and after contacting Anet to resolve the issue their refusal to listen forced me to escalate matters.
I contacted the Better Business Bureau of Austin Texas. This is where NCSoft has their headquarters based in the USA. http://austin.bbb.org/

Go to the website, there is an online form that you can fill out explaining your situation, the BBB will contact NCSOft and request a response. They have limited time to address the situation. Failure of Ncsoft to comply results in a decreased rating for business worthiness and reference.

The BBB can NOT force any company to do something. They do help resolve issues and give grades to companies to warn the public.

The BBB was able to resolve my situation as well.... while I didn't get the account unbanned I did get a cash refund for it.

Good luck in resolving your issue.... disregard everything else left here by the random clueless... go directly to the BBB of Austin http://austin.bbb.org/
file the complaint and meet the follow up deadlines to respond.

Phaern Majes · Nov 27, 2010, 03:19 AM // 03:19

Lawl @ contact the BBB. Does anyone even look at that shit when buying video games? Seriously don't people have better things to do than be "watchdogs"

Seriously ignore that comment. Do what everyone else said. Provide the keys and order numbers. If you bought the game as a box set at the store include the UPC numbers.

If you bought the account from someone else, other than NCSoft or a retailer, meaning a friend or coworker or just off an auction site, than you are pretty much screwed. Buying an account from a third party is against the EULA, and the person who sold it to you can claim you hacked the account and have it taken back at any time.

ErrantVenture · Nov 27, 2010, 03:40 AM // 03:40

Do you still have any of the cd keys? just send support on of the cd keys and you're golden =\ That's why you con't ever throw away cd keys =\

Perpetua Gale · Nov 27, 2010, 03:46 AM // 03:46

Well my issue was resolved...the BBB acted as liason and was able to settle the issue resulting in a full refund for me.
The BBB went directly to the HEAD manager overseeing the closure of accounts.

Verene · Nov 27, 2010, 04:30 AM // 04:30

The BBB does absolutely nothing except go "Hi, we have a complaint". That is all. They have zero power whatsoever.

(and most of the complaints are grounded in absolutely nothing, too)

Anyway, you need to show proof that you own the account. Access keys are the most common way of doing so. But if your name isn't on the account (and why wouldn't it have your name? Registering it under a fake name is just dumb, and the only other reason it'd have another name is against the TOS), then you're going to have a hard time doing anything.

Killed u man · Nov 27, 2010, 02:15 PM // 14:15

A friend of mine recently worked for NCSoft (Support department I think), and he left after a few days because the working conditions are shit.

Not going to go into it too much, the interesting part is that the entire NCSoft Support structure is getting more and more based on: "Trying to get more and more people to buy GW2 and even rebuy GW1".

I've already heard before, and experienced myself, that NCSoft employees get encouraged to ban people, because that means those people, a good percentage of the time, will have to rebuy GW for the HoM.

He also told me how the entire HoM story is a scam, but that's something anyone could figure out for himself. NCSoft don't give a shit about GW players, and while most NCSoft employees don't have much choice in the matter, they do get encouraged from higher-up to try and ban as much people as possible, because the closer GW2 comes, the faster people will be eager to rebuy GW to refill their HoM's.

It's a sad truth, but I have no illusions that this doesn't happen in other companies aswell. (Profit > All)

The only reason I really care is because I fell victim of this practice aswell, as did many other of my friends.

As for the BBB: The BBB is a corrupt system which point system hasn't got anything to do with how good the company is, but rather how much money the company is willing to spend to get good grades.

I contacted them myself, and they did try to help me, but NCSoft litteraly owned their ass. They actually send an offensive email back to both me and the BBB employee, and there's nothing they could do. The employee assisting me actually personally aplogized for the way this got handled, and the below-all-level behaviour of the NCSoft employee assisting us.

He actually did offer me the option (though this was more of an automated mail) to take actual legal actions, but alone, there's nothing you can do against these malicious practices NCSoft is performing.

Welcome to corporatism...

Fay Vert · Nov 27, 2010, 02:33 PM // 14:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darcy

I know some people who when registering games, give false name, address and birth date. Why I have no idea, but in cases like this it makes it difficult to retrieve a blocked account.

Because, just like it is stupid to use the same details on forums as you do in game, it is even more stupid to give your personal information that can authenticate your bank details to a video game account! Especially one like NCSoftsecurity.

Agar · Nov 27, 2010, 03:13 PM // 15:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Killed u man

I've already heard before, and experienced myself, that NCSoft employees get encouraged to ban people, because that means those people, a good percentage of the time, will have to rebuy GW for the HoM.

You know that NCSoft has nothing to do with bans in Guild Wars right? Thats all ArenaNet.