In Guild Wars 2, players often buy gold for real money. However, direct gold purchases through third parties are strictly prohibited. There have been cases where gold purchases were exploited to have other players banned through support.
Update from November 2:ArenaNet has responded to the allegations and made a change to the guidelines regarding gold purchases for real money. Players who do not accept the gold, return it, and report to support are no longer at risk of being banned.
Additionally, Community Manager Gaile Gray commented on questions, confirming that support will seek a joint solution with the player in cases of attempted manipulation by other players. Accidentally accepting gold will not initially lead to a ban. However, the gold will be removed from the player’s account.
Finally, a lead game master also apologized to Reddit user Europaea for the inconveniences and confusion caused by the previous statement .
Original report from October 31:
What happened? Reddit user Europaea found gold in his mailbox. This gold was sent to him by a foreign account. He took the gold out of the letter but quickly realized that it might be gold that was bought with real money. So he sent a message to the support of Guild Wars 2, indicating that it seemed another player had bought gold for his account. At the same time, he sent the gold back to the person from whom he received it.
How did support respond? Initially, support warned him the night before he accepted the gold via email. Additionally, Game Master Ultra Viper responded to Europaea’s ticket. According to the GM’s statement, the player has still made himself criminally liable in this situation:
No matter if you actively buy gold for real money or passively receive gold from a buyer, the owner of the account is always guilty.
In this particular case, the player got off lightly. He only received a warning because it was the first incident. Still, the message sends the wrong signal. Get-out-of-jail-free card for all players? This statement from the game master is fatal and is received poorly in the community. Many now see the opportunity to get rid of unwanted players by simply investing a few euros and sending gold to the players. Apparently, nothing can happen to them in the process.
Reddit user Treize also suggested buying gold for the GMs. This sparked a discussion about whether the game masters would ban each other. In any case, this action would draw attention and perhaps lead to a rethink on this matter.
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