For the past two weeks ArenaNet's recent launch of their long awaited MMO, Guild Wars 2, has been having a bit of trouble. With the usual array of bugs, connection issues and even the case of forgotten passwords, the launch has been mostly a smooth one.

However, according to recent daily game updates via their official wiki, the game has been affected by some malicious hacking attempts, with a current mark of 8,500 accounts having been caught up in the chaos. The tickets include users who have fallen victim to hacked accounts or any blocking login issues.

Hackers have lists of email addresses and passwords stolen from other games and web sites, and collected through spyware, and are systematically testing Guild Wars 2 looking for matching accounts. To protect yourself, use a strong, unique password for Guild Wars 2 that you've never used anywhere else!
When accounts are hacked and then used for botting or spamming ads for gold sales, we ban the accounts until we can return them to their rightful owner. If you login and see the message, "this account has been permanently banned for a violation of the User Agreement," and you're not a gold seller, it's likely that your account was hacked. Please contact customer support using the instructions below.

Luckily though it seems the Guild Wars 2 database has not been compromised, but instead hackers are systematically testing stolen passwords from various sources including spyware, other games and sites. The ArenaNet support team are prioritising those who have been affected the earliest and working from there to ensure everyone is able to jump into the game as quickly as possible.

For those worried about their accounts security, ArenaNet has now begun using a email security system whereby anyone that tries to login to your account from outside a sanctioned IP will not be able to do so until you have allowed, preventing anyone from gaining illegitimate access. The support team is also encouraging users to use unique and hard to guess passwords in order to keep safe.

For more info on Guild Wars 2, you can check out our recent AusGamers review, and also swing by our game page for the latest news and screenshots.