Curse

Gaile Gray · Apr 05, 2007, 05:20 PM // 17:20

Last night, I was made aware of the blocking of a Guild Wars guild. The reason given was that the name was offensive. I scratched my head and wondered, for while the name was a double entendre, it wasn't something that would be likely truly to offend anyone. The fact that this guild had been active for a long period, the fact that they had placed well in the Celestial Tournament and had only recently received their silver cape trim made the incident even more hurtful, to the guild, and puzzling, to me.

I've spoken with our support team, and they confirm that yes, due to a communication issue, one of the team members did block the guild. The team lead was fully on board, as was the European team lead, that the name was acceptable. Suggestive does not equal offensive. But in all honesty, I can see that it's not an easy call to make at times. This decision was made months ago and the guild was not actioned early on because it was agreed that the name was ok. The problem was that this wasn't communicated to everyone.

We apologize for the block. We are going to reverse it immediately. We do not know how a reversal of a guild block will work -- we don't know if that has been done before. But we're hopeful that everything will be in order and all will be restored to the guild. If that is not the case, please write [email protected] and we will do our best to try to correct anything that we can correct.

Again, both ArenaNet and NCsoft are sorry for this situation. We reacted as quickly as we could once we were made aware of it. Please note that other guilds, recently pointed out to the team, will likely be blocked. We've not been as watchful as we should, and regrettably a few guilds have stepped far across the line on naming. They'll be blocked, and there will be no appeal. In this case, we are not reversing the action because of complaints; we are reversing the action because the team made an error, we were made aware of it, and we do our best to correct our errors and, as you can see, we do it publicly and with apology.

dr1zz one · Apr 05, 2007, 05:36 PM // 17:36

question- What happens to the user accounts when the guild is blocked? Does that mean each account is banned?

What if the guild I currently am part of gets blocked for a potentially offensive guild name? Can you leave the guild and not suffer the consequences of the guild block?

Billiard · Apr 05, 2007, 05:42 PM // 17:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by dr1zz one

question- What happens to the user accounts when the guild is blocked? Does that mean each account is banned?

What if the guild I currently am part of gets blocked for a potentially offensive guild name? Can you leave the guild and not suffer the consequences of the guild block?

I am pretty sure it affects only the guild and not individual accounts in the guild. Basically all guild related activity is inhibited (guesting/inviting/GvGing/etc).

KamikazeChicken · Apr 05, 2007, 05:45 PM // 17:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by dr1zz one

question- What happens to the user accounts when the guild is blocked? Does that mean each account is banned?

Guilds with "offensive" names are asked to disband within a certain amount of time; the members are not individually banned from the game. >.>

Feminist Terrorist · Apr 05, 2007, 05:58 PM // 17:58

I'm glad the guild will be unblocked. Kudos to Arenanet for admitting a mistake was made and has now been corrected.

The circumstances of the block/ban were ridiculous to begin with.

unknown_kaos · Apr 05, 2007, 06:12 PM // 18:12

Yes, I am glad they are doing something about this. A few of the members (Including myself) were about to quit guildwars over this issue. The fact that we have been around for almost 2 years and we get banned 2 days after we get our silver trim. It is ridiculous.

I would also like to thank everybody that has supported us on this issue, It means a lot to know that people care ^.^

Theus · Apr 05, 2007, 06:15 PM // 18:15

Wait..Wait.

Battery Powered Best Friend [Vibe] was the reason the guild was blocked?

...Wow.

*Darcy* · Apr 05, 2007, 06:19 PM // 18:19

Gaile, thank you for the information and ANet for the correction.

To the guild affected, glad to see things have been straightened out for you. Great job in the tournament (I picked you for one of the top 8).

And it's nice to know that ANet does enjoy some of the amusing names out there and can differentiate between amusing and offensive.

Zeph · Apr 05, 2007, 06:25 PM // 18:25

And rightly so!

It was pretty sickening after they had just got their silver trim.

Well done on putting things right ANet, maybe now the guys at [Vibe] can celebrate properly.

Legendary Shiz · Apr 05, 2007, 06:27 PM // 18:27

Kind of odd that this happened NOW. The guilds been around for how many months now?

VitisVinifera · Apr 05, 2007, 06:27 PM // 18:27

there have been plenty of false bans, now we have false guild bans. GG anet. You might want to institute some sort of peer review policy when it comes to the up-till-now very lightly taken method of banning people/guilds. Bit more professionalism, please.

seekjy · Apr 05, 2007, 06:31 PM // 18:31

It's far worse in WoW. You can get your own name, or guild renamed if it even resembles a real-life name, or trademarked name (and somebody bothers to report it).

Guilds and players on RP-PvE realms can also get names reported if they do not fit within lore.

No other game would even let you get away with half the names we're allowed to use in Guild Wars.

savage vapor 33 · Apr 05, 2007, 06:40 PM // 18:40

Anet deserves a big round-of-applause on this 1. Not sarcastically either. Last night the thread about (a certain guild) was about 4-5 pages long targeting Anet and other networks within GW. Gaile came on and admitted that the blocking of the guild looked strange but she would look into it.

They quickly acted on it, and now the situation looks to be almost resolved if the reversal can happen. Either way...

1. Anet has admitted a mistake.
2. When a problem was brought to their attention by the community, they listened to us right away.
3. Gaile saved the day once again.

*Claps*

unknown_kaos · Apr 05, 2007, 06:42 PM // 18:42

Ok, I like the fact that people support us on this, but after reading the other post on this, it is ridiculous how much people are flaming Anet for this. Gaile Gray has done nothing but try to help us on this matter, and she is getting flamed and blamed for this. That kind of support is unacceptable, I'm just glad they are trying to revert the decision. Besides, we have never gotten this much publicity

Ritual del Fuego · Apr 05, 2007, 06:48 PM // 18:48

Gaile - it's nice to see that A/Net took action on this swiftly and professionally. It's good to hear that you guys have learned from this and are taking steps to make it better going forward.

To all the people last night that used the other thread as a reason to flame (I think some posts were even deleted from what I remember seeing last night before it was closed), take note and try not to be so over reactive next time. The OP in the other thread wasn't flaming a/net so why should the rest of you, you weren't even the ones that were affected.

Grats to [Vibe] on getting this resolved...

Flowah · Apr 05, 2007, 06:48 PM // 18:48

You haven't even SEEN anything. I got some screenshots, they are laugh out loud hilarious. Will show later.

sixdartbart · Apr 05, 2007, 06:54 PM // 18:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by savage vapor 33

Anet deserves a big round-of-applause on this 1. Not sarcastically either. Last night the thread about (a certain guild) was about 4-5 pages long targeting Anet and other networks within GW. Gaile came on and admitted that the blocking of the guild looked strange but she would look into it.

They quickly acted on it, and now the situation looks to be almost resolved if the reversal can happen. Either way...

1. Anet has admitted a mistake.
2. When a problem was brought to their attention by the community, they listened to us right away.
3. Gaile saved the day once again.

*Claps*

Well said.
I hope the people that were attacking Gaile last night will take note of this and perhaps even apologize

[I seriously doubt that will happen] so in the future perhaps you could simply grace us all with your silence before you fly off the handle and attack someone who says they are looking to resolve a problem!!!

savage vapor 33 · Apr 05, 2007, 06:57 PM // 18:57

Rofl, of course you have screenshots flowah, you were prob the most hilarious. lol!

I will apologize to Gaile, i flamed her, even though I had no reason to since im in no relation to Vibe. But i'm just glad this situation will soon be resolved, and Vibe can keep getting good rankings in ladder and in tourneys.

Juicey Shake · Apr 05, 2007, 07:01 PM // 19:01

thanks for all the support guys, the flaming was a bit excessive, but really, thanks for the support

and thanks gaile for resolving this problem so quickly, we appreciate it.

could it have been that because a member of the guild was banned, the guild also received a ban? seems most likely

whatever the case, thanks for the resolving the issue

Thomas.knbk · Apr 05, 2007, 07:18 PM // 19:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Legendary Shiz

Kind of odd that this happened NOW. The guilds been around for how many months now?

Bout 2 years I think
And they used to win halls A LOT. Kind of odd indeed.