I've been following the launch of Guild Wars 2 with some interest. I've played the original Guild Wars quite a bit, and have been seriously considering picking up Guild Wars 2. But not anymore. At least until they work the bugs out.

When I read the reddit thread where people could ask ArenaNet Customer Service the reason they got an account suspension, that was pretty funny - even though the language is pretty colourful.

But today ArenaNet went too far. An in-game vendor was offering one particularly good item for significantly below market value. Apparently a mistake on ArenaNet's part, (given that everything that vendor was selling cost exactly 21 Karma.) Some players bought this item from the in-game merchant. The result, from reddit.com:

We permanently banned 3,000 accounts of players who substantially exploited it, and applied 72-hours bans to another 1,000 accounts of players who mildly exploited it.

People bought items from an in-game vendor and got a permanent ban from their brand new $60 game for it? I'm sorry ArenaNet, that's just wrong. I don't care how many times they did it.

If it was going to mess up the economy, then roll it back, but you can't call buying something from a vendor an Exploit and punish people for it. Take some responsibility for your mistake.

I suspect someone at ArenaNet realized that they'd made a public relations gaffe banning all those players, because they have relented. They're still not taking any responsibility, but if banned players go through customer service and beg for their account back and then delete anything they got from the vendor, then ArenaNet will let them keep their account. You can read the announcement here.