Guild Wars 2 Official Forums: Code of Conduct (“Forums Code of Conduct”)
Welcome to the Official Guild Wars 2 Forums! We hope you will find your participation here beneficial, fun, and engaging.
The Guild Wars 2 Forums are provided as part of the Guild Wars 2 game service and are subject to this Forums Code of Conduct, the Guild Wars 2 User Agreement, the Guild Wars 2 Rules of Conduct, and our Guild Wars 2 Website Terms of Use.
We believe the Guild Wars 2 community is one of the friendliest and most welcoming group of players anywhere. We are delighted to host these forums, which are intended to provide Guild Wars 2 players with a safe, hospitable, and friendly environment to exchange information, get the latest news, share community-created content, interact with ArenaNet staff members, and discuss Guild Wars 2 with other members of the community.
We encourage you to get involved, and welcome your comments, questions, reports, input, feedback, and suggestions. If there’s a conversation on the forums about a specific topic, join in! If a check of the search engine doesn’t show a current thread about a topic you’d like to discuss, feel free to start a new thread. Visit our Community Corner for assistance with the game, to search for a group or guild, to find an in-game event, or to share your Guild Wars 2-related art.
Our Philosophy
The best community forums are those in which members treat their fellow players with courtesy and respect and where member comments are constructive and on topic. Our requests of every member are simple, and can be summed up in these few phrases:
- Keep it clean
- Keep it civil
- Stay on topic
- State your thoughts in a constructive manner
- Be responsible
- Report posts for moderator review if they violate these guidelines
Forum Membership
Your game account and forum account are linked. While anyone is welcome to read the forums, only someone whose paid game account is in good standing and has accepted this Forums Code of Conduct can enjoy the privilege of forum participation, including posting and providing reactions to posts. Essentially, your ability to participate in the forums is a privilege and not a right. ArenaNet reserves the right to suspend or terminate your access to these forums at any time for reasons that include, but are not necessarily limited to, your failure to abide by our guidelines.
Moderation
Below, we will provide a list—full, but by no means comprehensive—of the types of comments that may result in the suspension or termination of your forum privileges. Please keep in mind that our forum moderators retain full discretion to address behavior that they feel is inappropriate, whether that behavior is specifically listed, and whether you may personally define such content differently.
We will evaluate each incident on a case-by-case basis. Actions taken in one case may vary from actions taken in another, similar case. Actions may involve a warning, a brief suspension, a lengthy suspension, or permanent closure of your forum account. In nearly all cases where a moderator takes action on a post or thread, the post or thread will be removed.
Moderator actions will be reviewed, upon appeal. Submit legitimate (not frivolous) appeals to Forums@Arena.Net.
Examples of Infraction Categories
We prohibit overt or disguised language or links to websites containing language or images that fall into the general categories listed below. For your assistance, definitions or examples are included with each category. This list is not comprehensive, and issues that arise outside those listed below will be addressed on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of our moderation team and forum leadership. For additional information, see the Guild Wars 2 User Agreement.
- Off-Topic / Spamming / Trolling / Derailing / Non-Constructive
- Inappropriate Language
- Personal Attacks / Harassment / Naming and Shaming
- Racial / Ethnic
- Sexuality / Obscenity / Violence
- Real-Money Trading / Account Sales / Advertising
- Release of Real-World Personal Information
- Sexual Orientation / Gender Identity
- Hacks, Cheats, Exploits, or Malicious Programs
- Impersonating an ArenaNet Employee
- Unreleased or Data-Mined Content
- Major Religions / Religious or Political Figures
- Nationalism
- Drug Abuse or Illegal Activities
- Discussing / Debating Moderator or GM Actions
- Creating Duplicate Threads / Cross posting
- Circumventing an Account Suspension or Termination
We prohibit posts or comments that fall into the following general categories:
Off-topic / Spamming / Trolling / Derailing / Non-Constructive
- off-topic (not related to GW2) or irrelevant
- excessively repeated
- nonsense or valueless
- non-constructive
- derailing, aggressive, antagonistic, or harassing
- intended to cause forum unrest or forum member discomfort
- conspiracy theories
- quitting the game
- threats about or encouragement of the pursuit of legal action
- all caps, excessive punctuation, “leetspeech,” etc.
Inappropriate Language
- objectionable, offensive, combative, or rude
- attempts to circumvent the Word Filter, including “creative spelling”
Personal Attacks / Harassment / Naming and Shaming
- insults, verbal attacks, or ridicule directed towards forum members, players, guilds, teams, game worlds/servers, or groups of people
- insults, verbal attacks, or ridicule directed towards ArenaNet, ArenaNet employees, or ArenaNet teams
- exposure of a player by name or screenshot in an attempt to prompt moderator or GM action.
Racial / Ethnic
- promotion of racial/ethnic hatred
- racial/ethnic slurs
- symbols of racial/ethnic hatred or images that may be perceived as such
Sexuality / Obscenity / Violence
- sexual acts
- violence in any capacity not directly related to the game world
- human anatomy or bodily functions
- pornography
Real-Money Trading / Account Sales / Advertising
- advertise, promote, or facilitate the sale, transfer, or trade of a Guild Wars 2 account, item, or currency for real-world money or other compensation
- advertise, promote, or facilitate, transfer, or trade of other items, such as non-Guild Wars 2 game accounts or merchandise via a third-party site, an auction site (such as eBay), or any other unauthorized point of sale
- promote any non-beneficial, non-ArenaNet business, website, or organization
Release of Real-World Personal Information
- release real-world personally-identifiable information (PII) about another player or an ArenaNet employee
Sexual Orientation / Gender Identity
- reference to any aspect of sexual orientation or gender identity in an insulting manner, including comments about oneself or another individual
Hacks, Cheats, Exploits, or Malicious Programs
- promote the use of hacks, cheats, or exploits
- link to sites that offer hacks, cheats, or exploits
- expose forum members, directly or indirectly, to malicious viruses / programs
- Note: Please report exploits, cheats, or hacks to ArenaNet via an e-mail to Exploits@Arena.Net. Do not post such information on the forums.
Impersonating an ArenaNet or NCSOFT Employee
- purport to be an ArenaNet employee in order to post false information
- choose a character or display name that closely mimics that of an ArenaNet staff member
- intentionally misquote an ArenaNet employee
Unreleased or Data-Mined Content
- discuss, display, or link to conversations that include any data not available through normal gameplay, such as unreleased in-game items, equipment, or game areas that have been unlocked by datamining
Major Religions / Religious or Political Figures
- negatively portray major religions or religious figures
- negatively portray major political figures or national or world leaders
Nationalism
- promote national hatred
- use slurs or terms intended to insult people from a specific country
- allude to symbols of national hatred
Drug Abuse or Illegal Activities
- refer to the abuse of drugs
- refer to the performance of illegal activities
Discussing / Debating Moderator or GM Actions
- challenge the removal of a thread or post; instead e-mail Forums@Arena.Net with questions
- debate the closure of a thread
- petition on behalf of a forum member whose forum or game account has been suspended or terminated
Creating Duplicate Threads / Cross posting
- repeat an existing topic in the same forum or a different subforum; please use the “Search” feature
- repost a thread about the same topic after a thread is locked
Circumventing an Account Suspension or Termination
- using an alternate account: your own or someone else’s
- having someone post on your behalf
In addition, you may not:
- abuse the forum reporting feature by sending false alarms, valueless or retaliatory reports, or nonsensical messages
- use the private message system to appeal an infraction; appeals should be submitted via e-mail to the Forums Team
- use the private message system to request account assistance; all such requests should be submitted to the Support Team
- use the private message system to petition a developer for attention to a particular thread or topic
IMPORTANT
- Repeated violations of this Forums Code of Conduct, the Guild Wars 2 User Agreement, or the Guild Wars 2 Rules of Conduct usually will result in permanent termination of forum privileges.
- The policy applies to all languages, on all forums.
Thank you for being a part of the Guild Wars 2 Forums! We welcome your suggestions and feedback on how to make this a better place. Please post your ideas in the forums themselves. If you need to contact a forum team member, please e-mail forums@arena.net. Due to the volume of mail we receive, we cannot answer every e-mail, but we will read all feedback that you share with us.
Last Update: 12 September 2017
Welcome to the Official Guild Wars 2 Forums! We hope you will find your participation here beneficial, fun, and engaging.
The Guild Wars 2 Forums are provided as part of the Guild Wars 2 game service and are subject to this Forums Code of Conduct, the Guild Wars 2 User Agreement, the Guild Wars 2 Rules of Conduct, and our Guild Wars 2 Website Terms of Use.
We believe the Guild Wars 2 community is one of the friendliest and most welcoming group of players anywhere. We are delighted to host these forums, which are intended to provide Guild Wars 2 players with a safe, hospitable, and friendly environment to exchange information, get the latest news, share community-created content, interact with ArenaNet staff members, and discuss Guild Wars 2 with other members of the community.
We encourage you to get involved, and welcome your comments, questions, reports, input, feedback, and suggestions. If there’s a conversation on the forums about a specific topic, join in! If a check of the search engine doesn’t show a current thread about a topic you’d like to discuss, feel free to start a new thread. Visit our Community Corner for assistance with the game, to search for a group or guild, to find an in-game event, or to share your Guild Wars 2-related art.
Our Philosophy
The best community forums are those in which members treat their fellow players with courtesy and respect and where member comments are constructive and on topic. Our requests of every member are simple, and can be summed up in these few phrases:
- Keep it clean
- Keep it civil
- Stay on topic
- State your thoughts in a constructive manner
- Be responsible
- Report posts for moderator review if they violate these guidelines
Forum Membership
Your game account and forum account are linked. While anyone is welcome to read the forums, only someone whose paid game account is in good standing and has accepted this Forums Code of Conduct can enjoy the privilege of forum participation, including posting and providing reactions to posts. Essentially, your ability to participate in the forums is a privilege and not a right. ArenaNet reserves the right to suspend or terminate your access to these forums at any time for reasons that include, but are not necessarily limited to, your failure to abide by our guidelines.
Moderation
Below, we will provide a list—full, but by no means comprehensive—of the types of comments that may result in the suspension or termination of your forum privileges. Please keep in mind that our forum moderators retain full discretion to address behavior that they feel is inappropriate, whether that behavior is specifically listed, and whether you may personally define such content differently.
We will evaluate each incident on a case-by-case basis. Actions taken in one case may vary from actions taken in another, similar case. Actions may involve a warning, a brief suspension, a lengthy suspension, or permanent closure of your forum account. In nearly all cases where a moderator takes action on a post or thread, the post or thread will be removed.
Moderator actions will be reviewed, upon appeal. Submit legitimate (not frivolous) appeals to Forums@Arena.Net.
Examples of Infraction Categories
We prohibit overt or disguised language or links to websites containing language or images that fall into the general categories listed below. For your assistance, definitions or examples are included with each category. This list is not comprehensive, and issues that arise outside those listed below will be addressed on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of our moderation team and forum leadership. For additional information, see the Guild Wars 2 User Agreement.
- Off-Topic / Spamming / Trolling / Derailing / Non-Constructive
- Inappropriate Language
- Personal Attacks / Harassment / Naming and Shaming
- Racial / Ethnic
- Sexuality / Obscenity / Violence
- Real-Money Trading / Account Sales / Advertising
- Release of Real-World Personal Information
- Sexual Orientation / Gender Identity
- Hacks, Cheats, Exploits, or Malicious Programs
- Impersonating an ArenaNet Employee
- Unreleased or Data-Mined Content
- Major Religions / Religious or Political Figures
- Nationalism
- Drug Abuse or Illegal Activities
- Discussing / Debating Moderator or GM Actions
- Creating Duplicate Threads / Cross posting
- Circumventing an Account Suspension or Termination
We prohibit posts or comments that fall into the following general categories:
Off-topic / Spamming / Trolling / Derailing / Non-Constructive
- off-topic (not related to GW2) or irrelevant
- excessively repeated
- nonsense or valueless
- non-constructive
- derailing, aggressive, antagonistic, or harassing
- intended to cause forum unrest or forum member discomfort
- conspiracy theories
- quitting the game
- threats about or encouragement of the pursuit of legal action
- all caps, excessive punctuation, “leetspeech,” etc.
Inappropriate Language
- objectionable, offensive, combative, or rude
- attempts to circumvent the Word Filter, including “creative spelling”
Personal Attacks / Harassment / Naming and Shaming
- insults, verbal attacks, or ridicule directed towards forum members, players, guilds, teams, game worlds/servers, or groups of people
- insults, verbal attacks, or ridicule directed towards ArenaNet, ArenaNet employees, or ArenaNet teams
- exposure of a player by name or screenshot in an attempt to prompt moderator or GM action.
Racial / Ethnic
- promotion of racial/ethnic hatred
- racial/ethnic slurs
- symbols of racial/ethnic hatred or images that may be perceived as such
Sexuality / Obscenity / Violence
- sexual acts
- violence in any capacity not directly related to the game world
- human anatomy or bodily functions
- pornography
Real-Money Trading / Account Sales / Advertising
- advertise, promote, or facilitate the sale, transfer, or trade of a Guild Wars 2 account, item, or currency for real-world money or other compensation
- advertise, promote, or facilitate, transfer, or trade of other items, such as non-Guild Wars 2 game accounts or merchandise via a third-party site, an auction site (such as eBay), or any other unauthorized point of sale
- promote any non-beneficial, non-ArenaNet business, website, or organization
Release of Real-World Personal Information
- release real-world personally-identifiable information (PII) about another player or an ArenaNet employee
Sexual Orientation / Gender Identity
- reference to any aspect of sexual orientation or gender identity in an insulting manner, including comments about oneself or another individual
Hacks, Cheats, Exploits, or Malicious Programs
- promote the use of hacks, cheats, or exploits
- link to sites that offer hacks, cheats, or exploits
- expose forum members, directly or indirectly, to malicious viruses / programs
- Note: Please report exploits, cheats, or hacks to ArenaNet via an e-mail to Exploits@Arena.Net. Do not post such information on the forums.
Impersonating an ArenaNet or NCSOFT Employee
- purport to be an ArenaNet employee in order to post false information
- choose a character or display name that closely mimics that of an ArenaNet staff member
- intentionally misquote an ArenaNet employee
Unreleased or Data-Mined Content
- discuss, display, or link to conversations that include any data not available through normal gameplay, such as unreleased in-game items, equipment, or game areas that have been unlocked by datamining
Major Religions / Religious or Political Figures
- negatively portray major religions or religious figures
- negatively portray major political figures or national or world leaders
Nationalism
- promote national hatred
- use slurs or terms intended to insult people from a specific country
- allude to symbols of national hatred
Drug Abuse or Illegal Activities
- refer to the abuse of drugs
- refer to the performance of illegal activities
Discussing / Debating Moderator or GM Actions
- challenge the removal of a thread or post; instead e-mail Forums@Arena.Net with questions
- debate the closure of a thread
- petition on behalf of a forum member whose forum or game account has been suspended or terminated
Creating Duplicate Threads / Cross posting
- repeat an existing topic in the same forum or a different subforum; please use the “Search” feature
- repost a thread about the same topic after a thread is locked
Circumventing an Account Suspension or Termination
- using an alternate account: your own or someone else’s
- having someone post on your behalf
In addition, you may not:
- abuse the forum reporting feature by sending false alarms, valueless or retaliatory reports, or nonsensical messages
- use the private message system to appeal an infraction; appeals should be submitted via e-mail to the Forums Team
- use the private message system to request account assistance; all such requests should be submitted to the Support Team
- use the private message system to petition a developer for attention to a particular thread or topic
IMPORTANT
- Repeated violations of this Forums Code of Conduct, the Guild Wars 2 User Agreement, or the Guild Wars 2 Rules of Conduct usually will result in permanent termination of forum privileges.
- The policy applies to all languages, on all forums.
Thank you for being a part of the Guild Wars 2 Forums! We welcome your suggestions and feedback on how to make this a better place. Please post your ideas in the forums themselves. If you need to contact a forum team member, please e-mail forums@arena.net. Due to the volume of mail we receive, we cannot answer every e-mail, but we will read all feedback that you share with us.
Last Update: 12 September 2017