Guild Wars 2 permanent bans issued to snowflake exploiters, upcoming updates discussed

ArenaNet is issuing permanent bans to Guild Wars 2 players who took advantage of an exploit that popped up during Wintersday, an in-game holiday event that ran from Dec. 14, 2012 to Jan. 3, 2013.

During Wintersday, an exploit appeared where players were able to use a single high-level snowflake, a Black Lion salvage kit and some metal to generate limitless globes of ectoplasm, which is an important item in the game's economy used in the creation of high-end items.

The exploit was promptly closed but not before many players took advantage of it. Players who were caught received bans.

Guild Wars 2 game director, Colin Johanson, also took to the game's official forums to update players on what they can expect in the way of new features and expansions in the coming months. Johanson says that the January release will be "a relatively small release that sets the table for the stories and features we plan to roll out with the Feb/March releases and beyond." The releases over the next few months will not contain new races, professions or regions. Instead, the updates from now until March aim to strengthen the core game.

More details are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.