Curse

Solange · Feb 27, 2008, 03:34 AM // 03:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by October Jade

What impact does this have upon the selling of gold? I hope it cuts down on the whisper spam, if not the entire practice.

Off-topic, I know, but an interesting notion...

there might be ways around it like connecting to a proxy server outside of china then connecting to guild wars from that proxy server

I'm sure these gold sellers are on top of stuff like this moreso than the common user so we'll still probably see gold sales

I've only used proxy servers for my web browser to bypass United states rules to connect to media on NBC or MTV websites but I think its possible to direct traffic from an entire machine through a proxy as well....I Just wouldn't know how

arsie · Feb 27, 2008, 03:41 AM // 03:41

Could it be the other way round? That Anet is blocking Chinese IPs from the other servers?

There WAS a lot complaints here about gold seller website spamming, this could be an action taken by Anet to stop that.

Pleikki · Feb 27, 2008, 06:16 AM // 06:16

If arenatnet cant do anything then play int or eu/eng?

Agyar · Feb 27, 2008, 09:14 AM // 09:14

Sounds like the great firewall of China in action. Honestly you have to expect things like this living in a country like China. Normal "rights" don't exist and quality/provision of services can't really be expected.

If you want to play what you want, try another country.

Amon Warrior · Feb 27, 2008, 12:43 PM // 12:43

I'm back!

So... I had an interesting conversation with people from my ISP and they insisted that there's no deliberate blocking of online games in China.

They have actually been very helpful with my problem and something finally happened, because I'm now able to play Guild Wars again.

That contradicts what NCSoft support services told me. It is possible that there's a misconception on how Guild Wars is being handled in China and I REALLY hope that blocking of Chinese IPs NEVER becomes a reality.

I in fact took their indication seriously and after a week without being able to play I even made this thread to share my sorrow and bid farewell.

But you never know what the future holds... I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

The input gained from this thread was invaluable, including the one from Ennes X, another player in China.

I guess you're right Inde, I got a "canned" answer.

I'm on my way to bash some heads now. W00t!

Amon Warrior · Feb 27, 2008, 12:58 PM // 12:58

Huh, guys please don't politicize this.

It's not the proper place and despite the indication given from support, my current problem seems to have had a different origin.

I have friends from South Africa complaining about the same thing (serious lagging) a week before.

Numa Pompilius · Feb 27, 2008, 01:04 PM // 13:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amon Warrior

So... I had an interesting conversation with people from my ISP and they insisted that there's no deliberate blocking of online games in China.

They have actually been very helpful with my problem and something finally happened, because I'm now able to play Guild Wars again.

Sounds like someone (your ISP?) had filtered GW by mistake, but China does monitor events and conversations in virtual worlds, and does crack down when deemed "offensive".
Basically, don't discuss the Tiananmen Square massacre in your favorite MMO.

Divinus Stella · Feb 27, 2008, 01:39 PM // 13:39

If worst comes to worst then you can always play through a proxy, you can encrypt your traffic and send it on a fairly innocent port to a machine in somewhere like France or Germany where it gets sent to its intended destination free of communist intervention.

Its called HTTP Tunneling, google it and have a read, ive recommended it to a few people that have had similar problems and its worked for them, not sure if its legal but i doubt they will find out since you have so many ways of covering yourself.

Ive used it to play GW a couple of times and you can get away with lower pings than normal which is really suprising.

Amon Warrior · Feb 27, 2008, 02:02 PM // 14:02

@Divinus Stella

Thanks!

prism2525 · Feb 27, 2008, 02:49 PM // 14:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Numa Pompilius

China does monitor events and conversations in virtual worlds, and does crack down when deemed "offensive".
Basically, don't discuss the Tiananmen Square massacre in your favorite MMO.

honestly, how could the chinese government monitor ALL chatting done by and to chinese users?? There must be MILLIONS of players playing and surely there aren't enough employees to supervize everything that's being written.

Any pointers on this?

PS: I don't live in China, even though I'd love to visit as I like oriental cultures very much. However, this put me off living there at all.

Numa Pompilius · Feb 27, 2008, 04:03 PM // 16:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by prism2525

honestly, how could the chinese government monitor ALL chatting done by and to chinese users??

I'm not sure they monitor everything, but they use packet sniffing and have computers searching through the data stream for forbidden words.

That's not unique to China: the US does the same with their Echelon programme, which scans all traffic on the internet and all conversations using cellphones in the world, plus a large portion of all telephone conversations using landlines; and the EU (which a couple of years ago got wise to the US using Echelon to give US companies unfair advantages in defense contract bidding wars) is in the process of setting up their own surveillance.

It is a brave new world.

EDIT: People worried by the fact that there is no such thing as a private conversation on the net, might want to look in to this...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TOR_(anonymity_network)
...and this...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy

However, be advised that in an ever-increasing number of countries using software such as the above is illegal.

llsektorll · Feb 27, 2008, 05:06 PM // 17:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amon Warrior

So, I guess this is more like a goodbye post more than anything else...

I'm Portuguese and I've been working in China for about three years and playing Guild Wars for more than two years. I was quite happy that Guild wars allowed me to play with friends in Portugal and from other parts of the World. In appreciation, I've been merrily buying everything the online shop has to offer and playing with my friends from American and European districts throughout this time.

But since this last week, it has been impossible to play anything. I would always get stuck as soon as my characters would step into any district, including the empty Korean ones.

I was already suspicious that something BAD happened, but nevertheless I called support about my problem. This was their answer:

"Unfortunately, people with Chinese IPs can not connect to the servers that host the EU and US districts. This is not a limit of the game itself, but is a limit imposed by the Chinese government. Chinese Guild Wars players can only play in the Chinese districts."

This... really... sucks...

I'm really sad about this, but it seems it's done.

Goodbye people. It was fun.

lol?.... proxy ftw?

jurrit · Feb 27, 2008, 05:21 PM // 17:21

When I was in China I noticed some sites were blocked. But when I logged in to my VPN connection from my Dutch University I could access all these blocked websites.

VPN is not blocked by the chinese firewall, and with vpn you get a different IP adress. You actually access the internet from THAT location.

**cosyfiep** · Feb 27, 2008, 08:35 PM // 20:35

Just glad you are back OP!!!
and lets go bash some Charr!!!

Lady Yuna · Feb 28, 2008, 12:43 AM // 00:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Numa Pompilius

I'm not sure they monitor everything, but they use packet sniffing and have computers searching through the data stream for forbidden words.

That's not unique to China: the US does the same with their Echelon programme, which scans all traffic on the internet and all conversations using cellphones in the world, plus a large portion of all telephone conversations using landlines; and the EU (which a couple of years ago got wise to the US using Echelon to give US companies unfair advantages in defense contract bidding wars) is in the process of setting up their own surveillance.

It is a brave new world.

EDIT: People worried by the fact that there is no such thing as a private conversation on the net, might want to look in to this...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TOR_(anonymity_network)
...and this...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy

However, be advised that in an ever-increasing number of countries using software such as the above is illegal.

Nothing political, but EVERY major country monitor their people's internet/all the other sources of information to some degree(Patriot Act anyone?). So it is only fair for us common people to accept that all governments hold secrets that they doesn't want others to know, simple as that, there is nothing we can do. And hey, getting a website blocked is better than spending time with the cops, right?