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DAILY MANIFESTO

Are ArenaNet Being Too Strict With Their Guild Wars 2 Terms Of Service?

Posted on Saturday, September 1 @ 16:34:41 Eastern by Jonathan_Leack

Since Guild Wars 2 launched only a week ago at least 3,000 players have had their accounts suspended and even banned. From that statistic alone you might think that its development team, ArenaNet, is a real hard ass. But there’s two sides to every story.

First of all, if you’ve spent any time browsing Guild Wars 2 forums—or Reddit—the past week you’re well aware that there are quite a few upset people out there. Actually, that’s probably an understatement. Starting at launch, ArenaNet began enforcing their Terms of Service in what many would consider a forceful manner, and commotion ensued.

In the beginning there was talk about people being suspended for 72 hours for using profanity in map chat, and even for doing something as normal in the MMO world as calling a new player a ****ing idiot. However, in the past couple days “exploiting” mispriced items from vendors has become the talk of the town. Players who decided to buy dozens of improperly priced items to turn a profit on the trading post were in for a rude awakening a day later.

Since players have gotten used to how companies like Blizzard Entertainment handle similar issues with rollbacks and item deletion, it came across as extremely surprising when bans were handed out liberally. As such, forums exploded and the world of thousands were turned upside down in an instant.

The thing that’s important to understand is that ArenaNet isn’t Blizzard Entertainment. They don’t necessarily have to handle issues in the same manner we’re accustomed to. More importantly they aren’t nearly as large of a company. Their decision to allocate so many resources to enforce policy means that they consider it to be an absolute priority.

What the last week has done is set a precedent that ArenaNet values keeping the Guild Wars 2 environment as fair and friendly as possible, even at the expense of their reputation. Some consumers might think they’re ban happy, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. It’d be a lot easier to just let everything slide, delete the items in player inventories that haven’t already done significant damage the game’s early market, and let mouthy users continue to call everyone racial slurs.

For someone like me who values respect more than anything, it feels good knowing that I don’t have to fill up my blacklist and deal with cheaters getting away with everything. ArenaNet ensures that every player agrees to the Terms of Service before playing, and if the player decides to take advantage of loopholes or drag down the experience for others, a three-day timeout is in order.

ArenaNet is the last line of defense against World of Warcraft and in the past eight years we’ve seen a handful of MMOs fall to its blade. They have several years of experience in the industry and fully understand the odds they’re against. If they feel enforcing the rules is important, then so be it. In the meantime, treat others with respect and don’t cheat. It’s really that easy. 
Related Games:   Guild Wars 2


Comments
  • De-Ting
    De-Ting

    Joined: Nov 2006
    Posted: Sep 1st, 2012 at 4:56 pm
    I wouldn't call banning cheaters "too strict."
  • Noritama
    Noritama

    Joined: Feb 2012
    Posted: Sep 1st, 2012 at 4:57 pm
    A company that is serious about it's ToS crazy. I'm all for them swinging the hammer.
  • OdiousLupous
    OdiousLupous

    Joined: Jul 2011
    Posted: Sep 1st, 2012 at 5:16 pm
    The banhammer is much like Thors, abides the users discretion. Cheaters and exploiters get no pity from me.
  • Lien
    Lien

    Joined: Feb 2008
    Posted: Sep 1st, 2012 at 5:20 pm
    What he said.

    And this ain't spam! wannafightaboutit?
  • Ranim
    Ranim

    Joined: Nov 2005
    Posted: Sep 1st, 2012 at 5:38 pm
    I'm all for the warning shots for exploiters and botters, what I'm not cool with is banning people for bad language. If the game has a filter, then it shouldn't be necessary to seek out and swat people for being what they'll always be in games, informal. Even the people using racial slurs shouldn't be a problem if the filter catches it. Attempting to evade the filter is another story, and harassing people too. The worst thing that most people don't know about is that they have a clause in the TOS that gives them the ability to arbitrarily ban you for gibberish or using internet shorthand (lol, lulz, idk, wtf, stfu, n00b), and giving your characters names that aren't politically correct or actual things or people in the real world( Patrick Swayze, asdf, ROFL, Hulk Penis). I don't think they'll enforce it, but it's still there.
  • Chunibrow
    Chunibrow

    Joined: Mar 2010
    Posted: Sep 1st, 2012 at 8:45 pm
    I agree. If you see "online content not rated by esrb" and are scared of swears buy something else
  • Imnickson
    Imnickson

    Joined: Jul 2006
    Posted: Sep 2nd, 2012 at 12:41 am
    Like you alluded to, filters are not going to catch everything. It’s probably easier and cheaper just to suspend players that use profanity and slurs.

    @Chunibrow
    Just because I prefer not to be harassed and verbally abused doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have the right to play a particular game. People should have respect for one another and stop to think, “Maybe other people are offended by things I think are commonplace”.
  • Chunibrow
    Chunibrow

    Joined: Mar 2010
    Posted: Sep 2nd, 2012 at 5:58 pm
    No one said you didn't have the right to buy it. And I don't think serious harassment should be tolerated, but generally MMORPG "harassment" is just the odd person being stupid and typing swears and slurs because they think it's funny. Dont like it? Dont group with them, there's a whole world of elsewhere to adventure and most people out there are just fine
  • Chunibrow
    Chunibrow

    Joined: Mar 2010
    Posted: Sep 2nd, 2012 at 6:04 pm
    I do completely agree with you tho that people should have respect for one another
  • friggest
    friggest

    Joined: Mar 2008
    Posted: Sep 1st, 2012 at 5:52 pm
    Cheaters/Exploiters get the ban hammer.
    As a griefer the cussing has to be able to stay. Its not like I cuss like a sailor or go off into rants, but I have to be able to express myself.
  • De-Ting
    De-Ting

    Joined: Nov 2006
    Posted: Sep 1st, 2012 at 7:22 pm
    Express yourself? Ooookay...
  • Imnickson
    Imnickson

    Joined: Jul 2006
    Posted: Sep 2nd, 2012 at 12:34 am
    If the only way you know how to express yourself is through profanity, then I would say you need to educate yourself and expand your vocabulary.
  • NecroWolf
    NecroWolf

    Joined: Oct 2005
    Posted: Sep 1st, 2012 at 6:11 pm
    This is good news. I approve, go banhammer crazy I say
  • xavier_2000_ie
    xavier_2000_ie

    Joined: Jun 2007
    Posted: Sep 2nd, 2012 at 2:29 am
    really sick and tired of this game constantley being compared to WOW. lines like "ArenaNet is the last line of defense against World of Warcraft" are a load of crap.
    seriously, get over it
  • Jonathan_Leack
    Jonathan_Leack

    Joined: Jan 2012
    Posted: Sep 2nd, 2012 at 8:45 am
    It's 100% true, though. Every MMO since WoW has been a very poor alternative.
  • xavier_2000_ie
    xavier_2000_ie

    Joined: Jun 2007
    Posted: Sep 3rd, 2012 at 5:57 am
    yet going by the way its always said, it sounds like its WOW's fault that other developers are shite.
    also, as ever before your comparing a subscription based mmo with a buy one play forever one. i still fail to see how a comparison can be made
  • killakeith123
    killakeith123

    Joined: Nov 2005
    Posted: Sep 5th, 2012 at 8:55 am
    I don't think the other devs are crap. They are just misguided. LoD online was very-much replicating WoW formula. That seems to be a staple in the MMO market. Lets make a WoW like game but based on OUR IP. Guild Wars 2 and WoW are completely different. You are right, but thats why it is our last line of defense from the behemoth. I loved WoW. Played the hell out of it. Got bored, I want something new. I loved GW so GW 2 is my go to option because it was a fresh formula then, and it still feels great with the sequel. No one is comparing the games tit for tat anymore. Its just "Which MMO will actually last in a WoW dominated market" comparison more or less.
  • Sourdeez
    Sourdeez

    Joined: Feb 2012
    Posted: Sep 2nd, 2012 at 3:43 am
    Cheaters, exploiters and botters get permaban hammer until they contact Anet. Anet is willing to negotiate them into 72 hour bans.

    I support Anet for taking a proactive stance in other big mmos they didn't do hardly anything about
    exploiters

    As for language abuse it should be temporary of course(and as far as I know they are only giving temporary suspensions to excess verbal abuse)
  • UpAndAtThem
    UpAndAtThem

    Joined: Mar 2009
    Posted: Sep 4th, 2012 at 4:26 am
    "As for language abuse it should be temporary of course".
    There should be two classes of language abuse. If it's just plain profanity, any they want to keep that out of the online community, then temporary seems suitable.

    However, if it's derogatory, then I'm all for permanent bans.
    There are people who spout a constant stream of racist and homophobic slurs while online, since there haven't been any consequences. Better for them to learn not to do that by getting banned then by getting fired when they finally get a job.

    This type of language turns many people off of online gaming, so if you can stop it in at least some games, you may expand the community.
  • UghRochester
    UghRochester

    Joined: Jun 2006
    Posted: Sep 4th, 2012 at 6:41 am
    So, I'm understanding people are doing fantasy black market business here and complaining they were banned?

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