Guild Wars 2 Starter Guide (Social) and Problems

IGN has written a Guild Wars 2 starter guide for players with an emphasis on grouping, including information about overflow maps, whether you can a friend can play together regardless of race, drawing on the map, etc. Some tips are useful whether you play GW2 solo or with friends.
http://www.ign.com/wikis/guild-wars-2/Starter_Guide

Note that GW2 is having major problems.  Their servers are so full that they have temporarily suspended digital sales.  It does look like those who pre-purchased the game can still download it and play, however.  Here's a listing of the problem areas which include security issues.
http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/z3qqm/guild_wars_2_status_thursday_august_30/

Around 3,000 players have been permanently banned for buying mis-priced high level karma weapons in huge numbers and creating even higher level items from them.  GW2's developers are going to allow the permanently banned a second chance if they promise to get rid of these items.  They will be allowed back after a 72 hour ban but if you have the items in your inventory still, it's permanent ban time again.
http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/08/31/3000-guild-wars-2-players-permanently-banned-for-karma-exploit/

Here's more about account hacking.
http://www.videogamer.com/pc/guild_wars_2/news/guild_wars_2_accounts_hacked_as_ncsoft_warns_players_to_be_vigilant_3.html

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

PvP Terrain Exploits

How do terrain exploits differ from regular PvP moves?  Cynwise talks about Blizzard's rule against exploits, how this applies to PvP and the problems inherent in figuring out just what is bannable and what isn't in the PvP world.
http://cynwise.wordpress.com/2010/09/02/the-walls-of-wintergrasp-and-terrain-exploits/

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Arathi Basin Bug Gives Alliance Unfair Advantage

Apparently there is a bug in the Arathi Basin that allows Alliance players to capture bases before the game starts. The Horde can't use the bug so this exploit gives Alliance teams an unfair advantage.  Hopefully Blizzard will fix the problem soon.
http://cynwise.wordpress.com/2010/08/17/the-arathi-basin-fast-start-exploit-needs-fixing/

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

The Lich King First Kill Controversy

MMO Champion describes the first 25-man kill by Ensidia and their 72 hour ban for using "exploits."  The Hunter's Mark in the second link below posts Blizzard's ban message and Ensidia's response.
http://www.mmo-champion.com/news-2/ensidia-suspended-for-72-hours/

http://www.thehuntersmark.net/2010/02/04/ensidia-banned-for-lich-king-exploit-kill/

Blessing of Kings summarizes what happened in the fight, step by step, and shows how this is exploiting a bug, which Blizzard absolutely hates.
http://blessingofkings.blogspot.com/2010/02/ensidiagate.html

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Guildwatch Wednesday--A Photo's Worth 1,000 Words

I grabbed this photo from Mike's column as it pretty much speaks for itself.

http://www.wow.com/2009/07/08/guildwatch-dodge-this/

This week's Guildwatch is full of guilds using exploits to cheat their way through instances and getting caught. Fortunately Joelol has enlivened the drama this week by stealing his guild's bank contents. His brother turns up on the guild's forum later on, apologizes and states that Joelol will have to find someone else to pay his monthly fee. Piss off your guildmates, steal everything that's not nailed down, but don't aggravate the big brother who pays for your WOW time!

I can't summarize this story any better than Mike Schramm, the regular Guild Watch columnist does here, "This recruiting thread for Grief on Whisperwind devolves super fast, especially when accusations of previous ninja'ing on OS25 shows up. But Janefonda takes it to a Jerry Springer level when she starts talking about her "boob card." Also, points to Aybebe for trying to play off his nonsense as "roleplay[ing] a bad guy on the server." Especially since a) it's not a roleplaying server, and b) ninja'ing gear is grounds for a suspension, not roleplay material, buddy."

There's lots more recruiting and instance-downing (minus using exploits to do so) but naturally none on the Solo MMO Player's server.

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com