ArenaNet banned 3,000 Guild Wars 2 players yesterday for exploiting a vendor bug for profit.
“We take our community and the integrity of the game very seriously, and want to be clear that intentionally exploiting the game is unacceptable. The players we banned were certainly intentionally and repeatedly exploiting a bug in the game. We intended to send a very clear message that exploiting the game in this way will not be tolerated, and we believe this message now has been well understood,” said ArenaNet in a Reddit post last night.
Clearly, ArenaNet wants players to know they mean serious business. That’s all well and good, but a lifetime ban seems a little harsh for a bug the developers themselves initially missed. And how, exactly, can they be sure who was and wasn’t “intentionally exploiting” the bug?
Fortunately, ArenaNet is giving players a chance for redemption: Players can submit a ticket through the game’s support site with a promise to delete the illegally-obtained items. Once they submit a ticket, players’ bans are lowered to 72 hours. Players must then delete the items the next time they log in or be re-banned.
This is more reasonable, so I suppose we can forgive them. Just make sure you don’t anger your Guild Wars overlords again, lest you feel the wrath of the hammer.
[Source]