ARTICLE 1: NC INTERACTIVE SUPPORT

By Laurenza 24/12/05

Once upon a time, your dear webmistress Laurenza was introduced to a fabulous MMORPG called Guild Wars by her older brother. Being a totally online game and very concerned with security, NCsoft Games make it pretty much impossible to use one copy of the game on two computers. When you purchase the game, you are provided with a 25-digit access key that you have to input before you can play the game. This key is then registered online and it cannot be used again by another person. Fair dues.

But wait. Guild Wars access keys do not use the letters 'I' or 'O,' nor the number '0.' Each key is 25 digits long. Is it possible that the same access key might come up twice? It may be a million-in-one chance, but I think so. Read on.

So I went to buy my own copy. I live in a tiny city in pretty much the middle of nowhere, so I didn't think I'd find it in the shops. NCsoft Games' website was offering it for £29.99 (around $50,) but I never pay retail price where I can get it cheaper. Ebay is my friend, heheh. I'm no Ebay newbie, not at all. I always check out the seller before bidding, look at their feedback etc. to make sure they're honest and reliable. I especially made sure the product was brand new/factory sealed, as a second-hand copy would be useless due to the access key being already registered.

And so I did. I bought a brand new and factory sealed copy for about £23, and that's just how it arrived. Brand new and factory sealed. Happily ever after? No way. Let me talk you through what happened. The following photographs are not from the same copy this story is about, (they're from my second copy, but that doesn't come till later on in the story.) They do, however, represent exactly what happened with the first copy. The pictures suck a bit, because my camera is just about dead and I'm a pretty lousy photographer. ^^; Obviously, I've blanked out the access key and everything.

Photographic Evidence

The product arrived, exactly as described, sealed in cellophane. Ok, so it's hard to see on this photo, but it's there.

Ok, now you can see it. That's the box after I unwrapped the cellophane from it. It's above the box to prove it.

The box is now open. That white thing is the insert the access key comes in. It's sealed with perforated edges you have to tear open before you can actually read the key. I still haven't cleared away the cellophane.

And here's my sexy hand holding the previously mentioned insert. It's still sealed with perforated edges.

...As you can see, I've had to tear it open.

Now it's fully open. (Normally you could read the access key printed there, but for security's sake I've erased it.)

And here it is, back in the box but open this time.

So there you have it, I received a brand new and sealed copy of Guild Wars and opened it with my own two hands. There's the photographs to prove it. So, I install the program, happily imagining playing as a Ranger/Monk. I input all my details, including my access key, and...

'Error: the access key you have provided is already in use.'

What on Dalimoor? I've just bought a brand new game and it's refusing me access! Confused, I contacted technical support. Hoo boy, this is where the real story starts.

Dear Tech Support,
I just bought a brand new and sealed copy of Guild Wars and tried to input the access key but it says it is already in use. What gives?
~Lauren Hardin

It's pretty damn typical I received my copy on a Saturday. I'll bet my boots NC Interactive Support don't work weekends, because I didn't get a reply until Monday. Funny, gamers are mostly kids. Kids mostly play games on weekends... Ok, so here's their reply:

Hello Lauren,
Thanks for writing in about your problem. However, before we can assist you, we will need you to verify some information. While we apologize for what may seem like an inconvenient extra step, this is a necessary security measure which ensures that we are only dealing with the actual account owner and not an unauthorized user:

What is your 25 digit access key?
What email address have you used when you created your account?
Which version of the game have you bought (Standard/Collector's/Special)?
When and where have you bought the game (shop name and address)?

In addition to providing us with this information, if you have access to a scanner or digital camera, could you please scan or photograph the actual insert showing the key and the receipt of purchase and send this to us as an attachment?

Thanks for your cooperation.
Kind regards,
The Guild Wars Support Team

Fair enough, fair enough. I was very happy to oblige. However, at this point, I'd like to point out there were a lot of typos and spelling errors in their email and subsequent ones as well. As you all might know by now, I'm a stickler for correct spelling. Tsk tsk, bad impressions, NCsoft... Anyway, I replied about 10 minutes later. Again, details have been blanked out for security reasons.

What is your 25 digit access key?
XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

What email address have you used when you created your account?
xxxxx @xxxx

Which version of the game have you bought (Standard/Collector's/Special)?
Standard

When and where have you bought the game (shop name and address)?
It was bought from Ebay, new and cellophane sealed. The insert with the access key in was also sealed. I do not have an Ebay account myself, but my dad does (username: XXXXX). He bought it for me from The seller XXXXX. Here is a link to the buy it now auction: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/xxxxxxxxxx

I have also attached scans of the access key insert.

Thank you,
~Lauren Hardin

==================== image File Attachment ====================
gwcard.gif, 56387 bytes, added to incident

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gwcard2.jpg, 25993 bytes, added to incident

A Happy Ending?
Yes, fortunately, the story does have one. I received the new copy a few weeks later. As I opened it, I took the photos you see at the top of this page, as I was not going through that pain in the backside again. I was confident, however, that I wouldn't need them. I was 100% sure that the seller wasn't at fault, but NCsoft was. Unless the Ebay seller had X-ray vision, there's no way an access key could be used twice from a sealed package. NCsoft must have accidentally printed the same key twice. I inputted the new key and it was accepted with no problems. So, the new copy from the 'unofficial, second hand dealer' worked fine.

CONGRATULATIONS, NC INTERACTIVE SUPPORT, YOU ARE THE PROUD WINNER OF THE DARKSOUL KINGDOM THUMBS DOWN AWARD!

-5/10 points for customer service!