Support Questions

If you are unable to move your character, try to sit down and write /stuck. This will resolve most issues.

Another option is to use the /terminate command. This will bring you back to where you last saved your character, as if you had died (but this means that you will lose the XP you have earned since last save and this experience is not reimbursed).

If you are unable to log in with your character, he/she might be stuck in a playfield. Please give it a little time, and try again. When the servers synchronise, your problem should be solved. Also, it might be that the playfield containing your character is currently down.

You might also want to try going to your AO directory, and delete the files in your preferences folder. This will remove your current hotkeys, but it could solve the problem and let you log back in.

If this doesn't work, please send your username, character name, and what playfield you are in to Support. If you are stuck at a location in-game, please send an in-game petition (/petition your username, character name and current playfield), and our Advisors Of Rubi-Ka will try to get you out. Please be patient, we will get there.

Everybody that sends an e-mail to Support receives an automatic response immediately.

Our support personnel will review the email, and in most cases each email will be answered individually.

Rarely will we use bulk mail to answer questions unless it is a sweeping issue. The difference between a bulk mail and auto-reply is that your mail has been assigned to a specific person in the Support department.

When you receive an auto-reply, please make sure you make every effort to try the given suggestions if they apply. If the auto-reply resolves your issue, you can reply letting us know or just wait for the support team to contact you to let us know.

Please only use this for emergencies and abuse that we need to handle at once.

Write in the chat window /petition and a short explanation of the problem. This message will be sent to a petition queue that GMs and ARKs read through. They will help you as soon as possible.

Bugs should be reported by using the /bug command in the same manner as the /petition command. Depending on the issue, you may not receive a reply to the /bug. If it is something affecting your ability to play, you may use the /petition command with the bug classification. Please type "/petition help" for more information.

It is sent to a petition tool where your request is listed with the requests of other people. Funcom-employed GMs and some players (ARKs) have access to this queue. They will contact you in the game when they get to your request. In order to get the best possible view of your issue, we ask that you write all needed information in the original petition . Please note that it could take time for GMs to get back to you.

All problems that must be solved immediately in the game will have first priority. Please try to give general feedback through other channels, like e-mail.

Do not get angry at ARK-members trying to help you with a petition. They are volunteer players and do their best to help you and there is no guarantee that they will be able to help you with your request. Please read the list below to get an idea about what kind of assistance you could expect.

Avoid spamming, repeating, petitions. This will only make it more difficult for us to help you and other players.

Use petitions for these problems:

* Disruptive players, abuse and harassment
* Stuck characters in world geometry (walls, mountains, etc). There is an entry in the faq about stuck characters
* Losing apartment key or other items
* Normal zoning isn't working, but zoning into a mission is working

Problems that are difficult to help with through petition (use mails for this):

* Billing/accounts
* General complaints that do not relate to in-game issues.
* Bugs

Your first course of action would be to target the character and type /ignore. Then no chat from this user will be displayed.

If, after doing this, the player finds new ways to harrass you, you may use the /petition command to report the player. You may not always get a reply regarding this issue as it may be handled between the support personnel and the offending player.

Please use the AO forums to report bugs. You have to log in to do so.

Report a Bug

Report an Exploit

Thanks in advance. :)

This depends on the issue and if you have already been contacted by at least one support member.

If you have not been contacted by an ARK or GM prior to you logging from the server and that ARK or GM did not tell you they were escalting the issue, your petition may be deleted within 20 minutes of logging.

Our main support office is located in North Carolina, U.S.A.

We do ask support questions be sent in English, although if you read but do not type English very well you can send them in your native language and we will do what we can to work it out. You may get a really bad translation though. :) We would love to provide support in every language, but that isn’t always possible.

We have people replying to e-mail on all weekdays. Usually you will get a reply within 24 hours, but it could take a couple of days if it was sent during the weekend or holidays.

Billing questions and technical problems that make it impossible for you to get into the game are given first priority by our Support staff.

Please note: Emails sent to bugs, exploits, and feedback may not receive a response by email but they are logged and recorded.

To become an ARK member, please use the following link. Make sure you read about the ARK program before applying.

http://ark.anarchy-online.com/

ARK (Advisors of Rubi-Ka) consists of a great group of volunteer players dedicating a portion of their own time to help other players with issues and questions in Anarchy Online / Shadowlands. In most cases the first person you will ever talk to in a petition situation will be an ARK member. GMs are Funcom employees dedicated to providing support in the game on issues that may involve further investigation or escalation.

An exploit in the game is a bug, or design error, that makes it possible for characters to fight monsters, solve quests and earn money that normally should be out of reach for that character. Funcom is actively working to remove exploits from the game.

We expect players to inform us about exploits, not tell other players about their discovery, and to not use the exploit after they have found it. Exploits could lead to suspension of your account, or banning.

The investigating of exploits in Anarchy Online is based on two sources of information: Reports from players and reading through logs. All reports received through mail and petitions are used to get exploits out of the game. In addition, we are able to find detailed information about characters. This is used to find characters that have accumulated inexplicable amounts of credits, or are gaining levels faster than we would expect.

It is important not to circulate information about exploits after they have been discovered. The team needs time to solve the problem. It is dangerous to tell you that we are working on a fix, because this information could lead to more people learning about the exploit, and using it. While the team is working on it, please don't tell anybody about the exploit.

There are instances we can and will reimburse items and experience. Only online GMs are able to make decisions about reimbursement. The people answering mails in Funcom Customer Service are not able to answer questions about this.

There are a couple of things you should remember if you experience a lost item:

* Try to zone and log out once. This synchronises the logs and you might get the item back automatically. This is not an actual lost item case but a known visual glitch in the client.
* If this doesn't help you should send a petition using /petition.
* The following is an example on what to write to be sure your petition is auto-classified correctly in our system: /petition Lost item. I lost my QL 42 Yalmaha.
* Make sure you include both the name of the item and the quality level (QL). You must know what item you lost.
* You must claim your lost item within 24 hours of losing the item. If you are not sure when you lost the item there is a good chance we will not be able to help.
* Lost Increase Points (IP) might also be given back if verified lost.
* Experience points (XP) may also be given back if we can confirm that you have lost experience due to a server crash. Lost connections are not verifiable and do not qualify for reimbursement.
* Credits can unfortunately not be reimbursed under any circumstances.

Please remember we have to verify the loss in our tools to be able to reimburse. This means that there might be circumstances where we will not be able to reimburse. We hope those cases will be rare though.

Unfortunately no. No matter how bad we would love to have a GM for everyone, it just isn’t possible. Depending on the situation a GM may become involved, but just asking for a GM will not always get you a GM. The ARK members are very capable of handling a lot of the in game issues and are given tools to that effect.

Please read our ninja looting policies and definition:

Ninja-Looting Definition and Policy

Ninja-Looting Definition

1. Items looted while in a team situation will never be considered "Ninja-Looted". As a killing team member (the team doing the most damage therefore having loot rights) you have as much a right to an item as anyone in your team. Team leaders are able to change loot order and are responsible for that loot order.

2. Only no-drop items will be considered when discussing ninja-looting. Items that are tradable can easily be looted by the leader of a team and traded to the proper individual. The killing team does have rights to the looted item. Again, team leaders are responsible for this action.

3. Looting of a no-drop item outside the killing team while the killing team is discussing the distribution of the item will be considered ninja-looting.

Ninja Looting Policy

A ninja looting claim must be petitioned within 12 hours of the incident. This gives you a chance to determine if the person actually intended to ninja-loot.

If upon an investigation of ninja-looting a character is found to have actually ninja-looted an item, the item will be deleted from the character and there will be possible disciplinary action including possible suspension or banning of the user account.

Ninja-looted items are not returned to the team or person claiming loot rights for any reason.

Abuse of this policy or false petitioning regarding this policy will be treated as attempting to defraud a Customer Service Representative and treated accordingly.

Someone stole my account!

We have not had anyone hack or steal account information from our servers thus far. Unfortunately we can only see if an account has transferred hands and not if an account has actually been stolen. Please make sure your computer is secure and all account information is yours only. We only give information on an account to the email currently registered on the account.

We cannot stress this enough. Do NOT share your hard-drive or any drive on your computer that may keep sensitive information. We are not responsible for your system security.