Got Hacked, Recovered Account - What Now? - Guild Wars Forums

jack99 · Sep 08, 2011, 04:50 PM // 16:50

Hey all,

My account recently got hacked. After going through the steps with NCSoft to recover it, I logged in only to find all my gold, ectos, armor sets, weapons, and miscellaneous items gone and missing. I'm e-mailing NCSoft to see whether they can do anything to help me in light of the fact that their infamously weak security is what led to the hacking.

Has anyone had this happen to them? Did NCSoft do anything about their losses?

Signed,

A disgruntled player

Calista Blackblood · Sep 08, 2011, 05:00 PM // 17:00

Anet's line from day one has been "we cannot return stolen items"

Sagittario · Sep 08, 2011, 05:23 PM // 17:23

Be glad you have all your toons, titles and archievments.
Possiblities:
1) Take a break, quit GW for a few months and start over
2) Start over now, farm, farm, SC, farm,....
3) Quit GW (perma)

There's no way of restoring items theft.

Way2dead · Sep 08, 2011, 05:24 PM // 17:24

^ that

same happened to me, nothing to do about it, it would be very easy to abuse if they would do something like giving back items.

If you really think the security is that weak comparing to other games, i would say make a suggestion. You can always try.

Bristlebane · Sep 08, 2011, 05:53 PM // 17:53

Sorry to hear, all you can do is just rebuild your characters again. If you got a SoS rit you could go feather farm in Jaya Bluffs (you can even do that completely naked), sell the feathers and runes and build up a character for farming, say UW farming. Then UW farm some ectos until you can get your characters all the armor/weapons again they need.

wilebill · Sep 08, 2011, 05:58 PM // 17:58

Actually jack99, this is unacceptable. ANet and NCSoft have had years to work on this issue. And now all they can do is say, "tough luck, all your stuff is gone, be grateful you have your account back."

This is absurd. Now if you had been playing WoW and had your account hacked, they would have returned all your stuff, all your gold, all your weapons and armor. And I know in some cases they have sent out one of their hardware security keys for free to make sure it does not happen in the future.

Unless NCSoft and ANet work to improve account security, it will be a game breaker for me on Guild Wars 2. No use buying into a game where the risk of getting hacked back to the stone age is always there.

NCSoft and ANet take note. You can do better than you are doing with hacked accounts. Making the players take the brunt of the hack attack is no longer acceptable. You are lagging behind industry standards, not setting them.

Jk Arrow · Sep 08, 2011, 06:17 PM // 18:17

^ Agreed.

While it might seem like more work on the front end to program account rollback or item tracking, it would solve a lot of the back end issues that everyone complains about.

Account rollback needs to be in GW2.

Xsiriss · Sep 08, 2011, 06:35 PM // 18:35

This is indeed something they need to heavily,heavily improve for GW2. With them fully utilising a cash shop model for things like transmutations stones and such, you'd basically be wasting your money. It's partly Anets fault to begin with and entirely their fault if you get hacked without revealing your details.

powerslave · Sep 08, 2011, 06:40 PM // 18:40

I was in a similar situation as the OP. My account got hacked and I contacted Anet and they recovered it. All my gold and my valuables were gone. It was very frustrating, and it pretty much killed the game for me. Right now I only log on rarely to play some PvP while waiting for Diablo 3 or Guild Wars 2 to come out.

Lithril Ashwalker · Sep 08, 2011, 07:00 PM // 19:00

thats RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOed up TBH- friend got hacked in gw and sent loads of tickets , lost q8s and everything, they ROLLED back his account and he got everything back, so why not other players...this is BULL

SpecialOpsNox · Sep 08, 2011, 07:17 PM // 19:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by wilebill

Actually jack99, this is unacceptable. ANet and NCSoft have had years to work on this issue. And now all they can do is say, "tough luck, all your stuff is gone, be grateful you have your account back."

This is absurd. Now if you had been playing WoW and had your account hacked, they would have returned all your stuff, all your gold, all your weapons and armor. And I know in some cases they have sent out one of their hardware security keys for free to make sure it does not happen in the future.

Unless NCSoft and ANet work to improve account security, it will be a game breaker for me on Guild Wars 2. No use buying into a game where the risk of getting hacked back to the stone age is always there.

NCSoft and ANet take note. You can do better than you are doing with hacked accounts. Making the players take the brunt of the hack attack is no longer acceptable. You are lagging behind industry standards, not setting them.

I don't think giving away gold, items and free accounts is the right choice, would be sooo easy to make it on purpose. Next time avoid using the same email address and passwords on forums or other registrable places.
Although I am sorry for what it happen to you, donno if you have friends in game, maybe they could help you starting over? good luck

*Darcy* · Sep 08, 2011, 07:41 PM // 19:41

@Lithril Ashwalker - your 'friend' is pulling your leg. ArenaNet set up their game so that you CANNOT create things on the live servers. This was to prevent GM favoritism which was prevalent in MMOs of the time. They also do not have any way to rollback an account only the whole server. What they have done in the past is, if the thief had not sold off the items, to RETURN the items. This, of course, was usually when an account was stolen for use and not for stripping by the gold sellers.

@OP - I am sincerely sorry for your loss. This happened to my son and, unhappily, he didn't even bother to reclaim the account. He was too angry about the hoops he would have to jump through to get the account back, when the thief simply had to ask for a password change. He is now playing Rift.

jack99 · Sep 08, 2011, 10:19 PM // 22:19

Well, there goes one less reason to go with GW2.

No account rollback, and no stated commitment to instituting it. I completely understand the potential for abuse as the rationale behind not introducing it, but heck, if Blizzard has it available on WoW, why can't Arenanet? Arenanet locked my account down when they through their own means detected that my account was being accessed by an unauthorized user. If they knew that an unauthorized access was taking place without my permission, then they must know beyond a reasonable doubt that an actual theft, and not a planned transfer of virtual items, was taking place. Keeping in mind their current means for tracking unauthorized access, they shouldn't have too much trouble doing account rollbacks. But they choose not to, and they're daring enough to introduce a cash for items scheme in GW2. Not a smart move at all.

The EULA no doubt binds us in terms of what we can and cannot do with our accounts. But it doesn't change the fact that we're all still customers. This "Sorry, but tough titties" approach is a huge turnoff from the point of view of a customer who had earlier planned on jumping aboard the GW2 franchise, which brings me to my last point.

I have to say I'm surprised at the general attitude here. Most don't seem to mind that Arenanet doesn't care about the amount of time we put into playing this game, only to have many hours of our lives virtually erased by some thief who took advantage of Arenanet's weak account security (Google articles on waves of Guild Wars account hackings that have happened within the past 3 years alone). And yes, before someone interjects with a red herring that Arenanet is a corporation and not a charity group, please do keep in mind that in a crowded world of MMOs, it's customer satisfaction combined with the power of the internet hivemind that can determine how large a game's fanbase can become.

If it is the case that they're not doing account rollbacks but still encouraging real money to be spent on items, I'm afraid I can't recommend this game to my friends who may use money once in a while to purchase items in game. It's just not worth the risk.

Well, that's that. I think I may give Diablo 3 a more serious look. And Anet, please remember that in a tight race between D3 and GW2, it's the finer points such as this one which can push someone over the fence. I've gotten over my anger over this incident, but I'm skiddish of investing my time and money in a game that could any day turn into a vortex for it all.

gremlin · Sep 08, 2011, 11:57 PM // 23:57

would like them to set the game up to make it much harder for hacking to happen.

I access the game from my computer at one location in one country I have used the same isp for years.

It would be good if such playing trends were treated like online purchases where a person always uses their credit card at a fairly standard rate then suddenly someone in another country starts accessing the card for very unusual purchases,Red flags go up and the card is blocked.

Credit card company usually takes the hit and money is returned, so please anet if you get a password change request from somewhere very suspicious talk to me first before assuming all is well.

Sierraa · Sep 09, 2011, 12:03 AM // 00:03

Start over or quit. Those are really your only options and you should decide if it's worth it to you to go on. My advice is ask to borrow money from a guildie/friend and start doing zquests and sell the coins. It's still ultimately up to you and if you've already gotten your HoM achievements they'll still be there even if your armor was deleted.

/closed

Sep 08, 2011, 04:50 PM // 16:50	#1
jack99 Ascalonian Squire Join Date: May 2011 Profession: P/W	Got Hacked, Recovered Account - What Now? Hey all, My account recently got hacked. After going through the steps with NCSoft to recover it, I logged in only to find all my gold, ectos, armor sets, weapons, and miscellaneous items gone and missing. I'm e-mailing NCSoft to see whether they can do anything to help me in light of the fact that their infamously weak security is what led to the hacking. Has anyone had this happen to them? Did NCSoft do anything about their losses? Signed, A disgruntled player

Sep 08, 2011, 05:00 PM // 17:00	#2
Calista Blackblood Permanently Banned Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Northern Ireland Guild: Nowhere To Run Nowhere To [Hide] Profession: N/	Anet's line from day one has been "we cannot return stolen items" __________________ *The best goodbyes are like a knife in the dark: short, simple and to the point*

Sep 08, 2011, 07:41 PM // 19:41	#12
Darcy Never Too Old Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Rhode Island where there are no GW contests Guild: Order of First Profession: W/R	@Lithril Ashwalker - your 'friend' is pulling your leg. ArenaNet set up their game so that you CANNOT create things on the live servers. This was to prevent GM favoritism which was prevalent in MMOs of the time. They also do not have any way to rollback an account only the whole server. What they have done in the past is, if the thief had not sold off the items, to RETURN the items. This, of course, was usually when an account was stolen for use and not for stripping by the gold sellers. @OP - I am sincerely sorry for your loss. This happened to my son and, unhappily, he didn't even bother to reclaim the account. He was too angry about the hoops he would have to jump through to get the account back, when the thief simply had to ask for a password change. He is now playing Rift. __________________ That's me, the old stick-in-the-mud non-fun moderator. (and non-understanding, also) Last edited by Darcy; Sep 08, 2011 at 07:44 PM // 19:44..

Sep 08, 2011, 10:19 PM // 22:19	#13
jack99 Ascalonian Squire Join Date: May 2011 Profession: P/W	Well, there goes one less reason to go with GW2. No account rollback, and no stated commitment to instituting it. I completely understand the potential for abuse as the rationale behind not introducing it, but heck, if Blizzard has it available on WoW, why can't Arenanet? Arenanet locked my account down when they through their own means detected that my account was being accessed by an unauthorized user. If they knew that an unauthorized access was taking place without my permission, then they must know beyond a reasonable doubt that an actual theft, and not a planned transfer of virtual items, was taking place. Keeping in mind their current means for tracking unauthorized access, they shouldn't have too much trouble doing account rollbacks. But they choose not to, and they're daring enough to introduce a cash for items scheme in GW2. Not a smart move at all. The EULA no doubt binds us in terms of what we can and cannot do with our accounts. But it doesn't change the fact that we're all still customers. This "Sorry, but tough titties" approach is a huge turnoff from the point of view of a customer who had earlier planned on jumping aboard the GW2 franchise, which brings me to my last point. I have to say I'm surprised at the general attitude here. Most don't seem to mind that Arenanet doesn't care about the amount of time we put into playing this game, only to have many hours of our lives virtually erased by some thief who took advantage of Arenanet's weak account security (Google articles on waves of Guild Wars account hackings that have happened within the past 3 years alone). And yes, before someone interjects with a red herring that Arenanet is a corporation and not a charity group, please do keep in mind that in a crowded world of MMOs, it's customer satisfaction combined with the power of the internet hivemind that can determine how large a game's fanbase can become. If it is the case that they're not doing account rollbacks but still encouraging real money to be spent on items, I'm afraid I can't recommend this game to my friends who may use money once in a while to purchase items in game. It's just not worth the risk. Well, that's that. I think I may give Diablo 3 a more serious look. And Anet, please remember that in a tight race between D3 and GW2, it's the finer points such as this one which can push someone over the fence. I've gotten over my anger over this incident, but I'm skiddish of investing my time and money in a game that could any day turn into a vortex for it all. Last edited by jack99; Sep 08, 2011 at 10:28 PM // 22:28..

Sep 08, 2011, 05:23 PM // 17:23	#3
Sagittario Krytan Explorer Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Czech Republic Guild: The Dragonfly Effect [Phi] Profession: Rt/	Be glad you have all your toons, titles and archievments. Possiblities: 1) Take a break, quit GW for a few months and start over 2) Start over now, farm, farm, SC, farm,.... 3) Quit GW (perma) There's no way of restoring items theft.

Sep 08, 2011, 05:24 PM // 17:24	#4
Way2dead Jungle Guide Join Date: Jul 2010 Profession: Me/	^ that same happened to me, nothing to do about it, it would be very easy to abuse if they would do something like giving back items. If you really think the security is that weak comparing to other games, i would say make a suggestion. You can always try.

Sep 08, 2011, 05:53 PM // 17:53	#5
Bristlebane Desert Nomad Join Date: Jan 2008 Profession: Mo/	Sorry to hear, all you can do is just rebuild your characters again. If you got a SoS rit you could go feather farm in Jaya Bluffs (you can even do that completely naked), sell the feathers and runes and build up a character for farming, say UW farming. Then UW farm some ectos until you can get your characters all the armor/weapons again they need.

Sep 08, 2011, 05:58 PM // 17:58	#6
wilebill Desert Nomad Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Mt Vernon, Ohio Guild: Band of the Hawk Profession: W/Mo	Actually jack99, this is unacceptable. ANet and NCSoft have had years to work on this issue. And now all they can do is say, "tough luck, all your stuff is gone, be grateful you have your account back." This is absurd. Now if you had been playing WoW and had your account hacked, they would have returned all your stuff, all your gold, all your weapons and armor. And I know in some cases they have sent out one of their hardware security keys for free to make sure it does not happen in the future. Unless NCSoft and ANet work to improve account security, it will be a game breaker for me on Guild Wars 2. No use buying into a game where the risk of getting hacked back to the stone age is always there. NCSoft and ANet take note. You can do better than you are doing with hacked accounts. Making the players take the brunt of the hack attack is no longer acceptable. You are lagging behind industry standards, not setting them.

Sep 08, 2011, 06:17 PM // 18:17	#7
Jk Arrow Lion's Arch Merchant Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: WI Guild: Dark Phoenix Risin [DPR] Profession: R/	^ Agreed. While it might seem like more work on the front end to program account rollback or item tracking, it would solve a lot of the back end issues that everyone complains about. Account rollback needs to be in GW2.

Sep 08, 2011, 06:35 PM // 18:35	#8
Xsiriss Jungle Guide Join Date: May 2008	This is indeed something they need to heavily,heavily improve for GW2. With them fully utilising a cash shop model for things like transmutations stones and such, you'd basically be wasting your money. It's partly Anets fault to begin with and entirely their fault if you get hacked without revealing your details.

Sep 08, 2011, 06:40 PM // 18:40	#9
powerslave Academy Page Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Calgary Canada	I was in a similar situation as the OP. My account got hacked and I contacted Anet and they recovered it. All my gold and my valuables were gone. It was very frustrating, and it pretty much killed the game for me. Right now I only log on rarely to play some PvP while waiting for Diablo 3 or Guild Wars 2 to come out.

Sep 08, 2011, 07:00 PM // 19:00	#10
Lithril Ashwalker Jungle Guide Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Alabama Profession: A/	thats RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOed up TBH- friend got hacked in gw and sent loads of tickets , lost q8s and everything, they ROLLED back his account and he got everything back, so why not other players...this is BULL

Sep 08, 2011, 11:57 PM // 23:57	#14
gremlin Furnace Stoker Join Date: Oct 2006 Guild: GWAR Profession: Me/Mo	would like them to set the game up to make it much harder for hacking to happen. I access the game from my computer at one location in one country I have used the same isp for years. It would be good if such playing trends were treated like online purchases where a person always uses their credit card at a fairly standard rate then suddenly someone in another country starts accessing the card for very unusual purchases,Red flags go up and the card is blocked. Credit card company usually takes the hit and money is returned, so please anet if you get a password change request from somewhere very suspicious talk to me first before assuming all is well.

Sep 09, 2011, 12:03 AM // 00:03	#15
Sierraa Supastar~ ??? Join Date: May 2006 Location: USA [GMT -7] Guild: Sierraas Asian Harem [love] Profession: Me/	Start over or quit. Those are really your only options and you should decide if it's worth it to you to go on. My advice is ask to borrow money from a guildie/friend and start doing zquests and sell the coins. It's still ultimately up to you and if you've already gotten your HoM achievements they'll still be there even if your armor was deleted. /closed