Curse

boxterduke · Aug 24, 2006, 03:15 PM // 15:15

I was looking at the weapons you posted yesterday at the armor thread and was bummed when I saw this thread this morning.

But anyway grats that you are back in the game and I hope you feel better soon.

Wtf?Omfg!Bbq! · Aug 24, 2006, 03:48 PM // 15:48

First of all : Very much Gratz to get ur account back.

But I dont think thread should be closed allrdy because there more people having the same problem. Like me

. I got the same Error=50 and the same e-mail saying 'An ingame moderator saw (

) you using a third party program' . Since you got ur account back i still got hope, but same as you I dont use bots or any other third-party programs.

I really think Anet is going a bit crazy with the banning based on "a ingame moderator saw you using a third party program"

. Ima email them a link to this tread, theyll see they are wrong and we, as loyal GW-players are in our right to say: "Plz give us our accounts back, we are not bots

"

If there anymore people having this same problem: let them see this tread and let them see there not right banning our accounts.

warren_kn · Aug 24, 2006, 04:03 PM // 16:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loviatar

people making that statement are not thinking, are botters, or just plain bandini for brains.

*ok botters here is exactly what we are looking for in a bot so you can avoid doing any of the above to avoid being detected*

/total complete bandini brains (bandini-the finest name in fertilizer)

And so instead we should all carry on in ignorance of how this happens hoping that an ANet employee doesn't see walking in a suspicious way? Seriously, a bit more info on what they consider to be automated behaviour is not gonna hurt. And for the record, I do not fall into any of the 3 categories you described above, rather I want to know how to avoid being mistakenly banned.

Wtf?Omfg!Bbq! · Aug 24, 2006, 04:09 PM // 16:09

Yay after posting my reply i checked my mail and had the response i hoped for!

So now i got my account back same as wilderness. Im very happy, but still find it weird these problems could occour.

Have fun playing Gw! (So am i

)

Eviance · Aug 24, 2006, 04:15 PM // 16:15

warren hun, we just ignore posts like that, because he's obviously baiting people.

However people who use bots "KNOW" that they look like bots and don't really care! I mean I think if they can figure out how to use a bot program, then they are smart enough to know that it doesn't look real and they likely don't care! If they did they would spend the time to create more original runs for it.
They care about fast efficiencey and nothing more. Logical thinking FTW!

Loviatar · Aug 24, 2006, 04:27 PM // 16:27

[QUOTE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eviance

warren hun, we just ignore posts like that, because he's obviously baiting people.

QUOTE]

you are completely wrong on that.

if you really think they should give out the complete details of what the bot programs are flagging you truly are mistaken

Darkgift Risen · Aug 24, 2006, 04:37 PM // 16:37

damn didn't know u could get banned for being afk for too long..guess i gotta stop the dance partys on the RA ship..

Rahl · Aug 24, 2006, 05:03 PM // 17:03

I guess this means I gotta stop chest running out of Sledge because I just go in and out every time.. so it probably looks suspicious.

Damnit.

Eviance · Aug 24, 2006, 05:09 PM // 17:09

[QUOTE=Loviatar]

Quote:

you are completely wrong on that.

if you really think they should give out the complete details of what the bot programs are flagging you truly are mistaken

o_O my point was that calling people names was baiting and while putting it in the Eula is in my opinion senseless, so are many of the bannings that are happening..... Basically go back and read through this entire thread (or my posts in this thread). Reguardless the whole situation was fairly obvious, as are bot users and ways for those bot users to circumvent Anet if they wanted to.
The fact is, it is not the PROGRAMS that are getting flagged, its the impression Anet is getting from bot and regular farmers that is making them become flagged as bots. - They are NOT scanning for 3rd party programs - they are watching some people and then banning them (real human players - NOT bots) based on what they saw and not facts or examples, just "You "looked" like you were using a third party program to the GM so we banned your account!"
And in the end, what makes us look like bots? Repeatedly doing the same action over and over or lack thereof in some cases. You could auto run to the merchant and be flagged as a bot by a GM - does that mean you are?
Maybe... maybe not...
The fact is that now whether you were running a bot program or not, you have been flagged once and thusly if you run the wrong way again you are so screwed!
If Anet is banning innocent players then those players have the right to know at least personally/privately what they did that Anet saw as "bot like". That's the point people are trying to get across...

To say put it in the Eula just seems to be a waste of time for them since half the bloody people playing haven't bothered to read the damned thing anyways! It says the "use" of third party programs is prohibitted but in the case of the OP, Anet could not say with certainty that he was using a third party program and refused to give any indications that they themselves had any real proof to offer.

If you were not a bot and caught up in this same situation, wouldn't you want to know what the hell you did, so you could avoid it a second time?
Again I state this is not the first time for mistaken bans by Anet in which they stated "It was your own doing for using a third party program" and then later taking it back and saying "Well we MIGHT have made a mistake."
It's better to know then to risk it again when you KNOW Anet was wrong the first time!

badfish34668 · Aug 24, 2006, 06:55 PM // 18:55

i'm very concerned. since im done with pve, while i wait for nightfall, i decided to farm for the materials for a fow set for my new dervish.....which involves many, many hours 55 monking in uw, and solo fow trips.

am i gonna be banned for killing time, and saving up for fow armor? how the hell am i supposed to get all the materials, without farming?

i wish the devs would chime in, to give the legit players some hope....maybe tell us that it is ok to farm? im sure im not the only one concerned about this.

Gun Pierson · Aug 24, 2006, 07:03 PM // 19:03

I'm a little worried... I always thought it was easy for A-net to see someone using a bot program. That they had the utilities/technology to discover this 3rd program bot and ban someone based on facts. It seems it doesn't work like that though.

Darkgift Risen · Aug 24, 2006, 07:17 PM // 19:17

they should ask blizzard for the technology..they got rid of thousands of accounts with actual proof..(think they checked for a certain exe. thing) sorry not great with comp basics...but blizzard did that in D2 with actual proof..why not a-net?

Loviatar · Aug 24, 2006, 07:41 PM // 19:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darkgift Risen

they should ask blizzard for the technology..they got rid of thousands of accounts with actual proof..(think they checked for a certain exe. thing) sorry not great with comp basics...but blizzard did that in D2 with actual proof..why not a-net?

there is a world of difference between GW which is completely server side and D2 which isnt

sykoone · Aug 24, 2006, 07:43 PM // 19:43

Blizzard was able to ban accounts for botting because the most popular bots in D2 required you to modify the exe file for the game. From there it was simply for their servers to detect. If the bot doesn't modify the exe file, or mess with the actual data being transfered to and from the server, it's nearly impossible for the server to detect.

Darkgift Risen · Aug 24, 2006, 07:49 PM // 19:49

figured as much..like i said..don't really know how that worked..does the acount user have any rights as far as being banned without solid proof?..if we pay for it does a-net have the right to just ban an account for "bot-like movement"?

Osirus · Aug 25, 2006, 04:30 AM // 04:30

My account was perma banned on monday. I sat here at work and farmed the same area for awhile, then just let my char sit in an outpost for 2 hours because connections speeds were poor, and my laptop isnt the best, unsupported Vid card Radeon 7000...woohoo. I contacted GW support, heres what they had to say:
Thank you for contacting the Guild Wars Support Team.

In response to your question about the termination of your Guild Wars account for the use of a bot program, we want you to know that we use great care when analyzing accounts prior to terminating an account. We are both diligent and conservative in determining which accounts are botting, and we take action only after we are able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that an account is using a bot program.

We do not have an appeals process for this action because of the depth of the analysis prior to the termination. We regret the necessity of terminating accounts, but we will continue to take all necessary actions to protect the Guild Wars economy and to assure that players are meeting the requirements of the User Agreement and Rules of Conduct.

Regards,

The Guild Wars Support Team

I asked them for proof and they never gave me any proof. I was reading on their support website that players in game, can take screen shots of suspected bots, and submit them to support for further consideration. After sending message after message to support and complaining about wrongful injustice, I got this message.

Hello,

Your account has been unblocked and you should be able to log in. If you display bot like activities in the future, the account will be permanently closed.

Take care,
The Guild Wars Support Team

My question, what do they condsier bot like behavior. I will admit I did farm the same area over and over again, and I did go afk for about 3 hours, but that was because I got a call at work. Im so paranoid, I dont even want to return to the game now, Im afarid to put any time into it, just knowing that if I use the same skill over and over, or walk the same line twice in a row, I might be accused of using a bot. I mean D2 was able to handle the bot problems pretty well? Why can Anet? sorry for the long post.

Knightsaber Sith · Aug 25, 2006, 05:16 AM // 05:16

Everyones ban stories are starting to get me paranoid O.o

Curse You · Aug 25, 2006, 06:34 AM // 06:34

I guess the only real solution would be to use a "third party program" of their own. Basically a program that runs with Guild Wars and checks for any odd things.

However, in the process, they would be violating our computer privacy, and might not be able to make th program "know" what is a third party program, and what is just Xfire, or TeamSpeak.

This is tricky stuff, and for now, the best solution is to tone down on the bannings.
If 1 player sends in a screen shot acusing a person of being a bot, you cannot be sure that they are telling the truth. You need to have at least 10 people verify this before you can be sure.

The best trick for a GM, is to simply Whisper the suspect, and wait for a response. They can't just send a single whisper and think that is enough, many people play with sound off, and when they are farming, a lot of text is filling their screen.
Another method may be to request to join their party. If they turn it down right away, they are probably a real person, if they ignore it, they are probably a bot. If they send a whisper asking why they requested, then they are obviously a person.

Astraea Zopyros · Aug 25, 2006, 07:08 AM // 07:08

Well, as has been stated, it's hard to tell a bot from a person (or vice versa) at times. ANet doesn't just randomly pick accounts to ban--there has to be some reasonable cause for the banning. Thus said, I believe that ANet has probably increased the total number of bannings--this seems reasonable, as it's now over a year since GW was released, and the population of GW (along with the number of exploits) has logically increased. Therefore, it could also be surmised that the number of legit bannings has increased--as have the number of "wrong" bannings. However, I believe the percentage of "wrong" bannings is probably nearly the same as in the beginning. I do not believe that this is as grave an issue as it is represented. Naturally, those wrongly banned will be noisy about it. It's human nature. However, you forget that in most of the legit bannings, the owner of the offending account is disinclined to advertise that they are poor cheaters. Of course we get worked up about "wrong" bannings. However, I believe (as previously stated) that this is proof that ANet is trying their best, but are not perfect. Give them a chance.

JiggyFly · Aug 25, 2006, 07:44 AM // 07:44

I agree, it could just be that the stance Anet has taken on bots is to just ban accounts based on what a mod suspects to be a bot or third party program user. Maybe it's not perfect since some innocent accounts will get banned in the process, but I'm sure for the 1 time "assumed" offenders who plead their case, the ban will be lifted.

Heck maybe Anet takes an aggresive in-game stance, knowing that they'll ban more farmers that way, and also knowing that the actual players they ban will message them regarding the incident. I mean the bot farmers couldn't even get their own -50 hp items after Anet banned all those bots I doubt they have the means or desire to message Anet...

Then again I did get banend for the name "I dated your sister" so who knows...

But I like to think that the company I'm pumping my money into is making an honest mistake here and there in order to catch more of the real rule-breakers, rather than assume they're godless heathens making mistakes simply because they don't give a damn.