> Forest of True Sight > Questions & Answers Reload this Page Restoring lost items and characters
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Old Feb 11, 2010, 09:32 PM // 21:32   #1
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Default Restoring lost items and characters

Hey.

I recently came back to GW from a long break only to find out that my account was hacked. After the help of NCSoft I successfully restored my password and now I'm able to log in.

The only problem is that I lost some 100k+90 ectos and 3 elite armor sets, one of which is FoW armor.

I asked if it was possible to restore lost items but I just got a big no. I'm not sure why, but GW doesn't have the ability to restore items.

My question is, why? For example in WoW you always get your lost items back, no matter how many times you've been hacked, but here you just don't. People work on their characters for years and because they accidentally visited a bad website or downloaded software that resulted in a keylogger they lose everything that they put into their characters and there's no way to get it back.

I know that people should be careful and take good care of their accounts, but people make mistakes, and I think it's normal that in 4 years of browsing the internet and downloading stuff you accidentally download one keylogger.

I appreciate it that NCSoft help with recovering lost accounts but they could also at least recover some of the lost items, or even deleted characters.
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Old Feb 11, 2010, 11:08 PM // 23:08   #2
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There is no function on the live servers to create items.

Even if the ability existed, how would ANet know that you were being honest about what was lost? I can just imagine the support tickets with huge lists of missing ectos and one-of-a-kind items.
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Old Feb 12, 2010, 12:36 AM // 00:36   #3
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Items can't be created, period. The only items that exist are the ones that have been found. It's not like a GM can create you an ecto with a few simple keypresses. They simply do not have that ability.

I wholeheartedly agree that they should be able to restore items, and hopefully (Hopefully!) this will be fixed in Guild Wars 2, but, I wouldn't hold my breath.

Individual roll-backs are a must in these hacking days, but, unfortunately GW1 simply isn't equipped to do that.

Best of luck regaining your items. It'll be a lot easier if you have generous friends.
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Old Feb 12, 2010, 05:10 AM // 05:10   #4
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on the test servers, items CAN be created 2 ways:

-a command (sort of like a cheat code)
-a trader (both ones that have craftable items, except they want 1 gold for say an obsidian armor piece, or for a rare mini, or whatever)

They COULD replace items, but it would be too much of a headache for them, plus people would try to take advantage of it

Anyways, I really hope that for GW2 they keep in mind that this is an issue, and they'll have a better way of restoring things lost that warrant a grievance
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Old Feb 12, 2010, 07:38 AM // 07:38   #5
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1. The number and quality of support staff to investigate and determine who was really hacked and who is trying to trick support into duping their stuff for them would be prohibitively expensive.

2. Since people have trouble understanding #1, it's easier to tell them that it's a technical limitation.

3. From an in-game economic policy perspective, restoring lost items can have a serious effect on the supply of both gold and super-rare items. (Ex: If someone with a super-rare mini of which only, say, 10 exist gets hacked, restoring that item would create an 11th one in the overall marketplace.) One might disagree with it, but it's a reasonable policy decision to say you will never ever do that.
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Old Feb 12, 2010, 08:38 AM // 08:38   #6
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Sorry, I have to disagree with you Chthon.

A company that runs servers and has support staff should be able to check logs and inventorys to each individual character that was hacked or not. Yes we all know it would be too much time consuming but as they say they have a 'game surveillance unit'. There is no technical limitation but the staffing resources to compete with the demand that would come through for restoring items/gold would be abominable. As for the in-game economics thats a crap response. IF, there are, say 10 rare items that exist they would not need to create a 11th for the hacked person but just follow the coding to where that item is and delete it. Simplicity in itself with no change with in-game economics
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Old Feb 12, 2010, 09:46 AM // 09:46   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Reborn007 View Post
IF, there are, say 10 rare items that exist they would not need to create a 11th for the hacked person but just follow the coding to where that item is and delete it. Simplicity in itself with no change with in-game economics
But the hacker already sold the mini (say for 1000 arms - just for the sake of simplicity) and the customer dedicated the pet. More, the dervs can't even give back the money, as the hacker used 1000 arms he got from mini +750 arms he got from hacking somebody else to buy a rare weapon and the guy who sold it used all of the arms to buy himself a lot of gwamms. So what should the dervs do?
From what gaile and others have stated, if they find the missing items on the hacker's account those are given back, it's when the items have been traded (and it happens almost always) that things get complicated.

Last edited by Yasmine; Feb 12, 2010 at 09:49 AM // 09:49..
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Old Feb 12, 2010, 09:57 AM // 09:57   #8
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Quote:
There is no function on the live servers to create items.
somehow some special stuff was added over time. if recreating lost items wasn't faulty by just it's idea, they could always reply with 'ok, we know what you've lost, we'll restore it as soon as any occassion for a new build comes - any event, balance, tweak, maintenance etc.

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they accidentally visited a bad website
so don't Oo

Quote:
or downloaded software that resulted in a keylogger
i doubt that if you get a random keylogger or some kind of trojan from someone not related, even remotely, to gw, they would bother with hacking your gw account. this means that you would have to download a malicious gw-related software. what gw-related software would you need to download to play besides the game itself from official ncsoft site?

Quote:
and I think it's normal that in 4 years of browsing the internet and downloading stuff you accidentally download one keylogger.
not really. or at least you should be able to quickly say that something's wrong and then change all your passwords.


even though it may sound paranoid for you, there are ways to protect yourself. change your password from time to time, use a decent av, use antimalware, clean up your registry, use hijackthis. protect your password. use common sense.
even though i got hacked twice (not in gw, but still), i believe it's person's own fault that they got hacked. password not strong enough, password given out, downloaded any 'pro uber' software as a bot (with logger in it), not using (or using a shitty) av/firewall, etc.

please just do not compare a hacker to a killer, stating that if someone kills you it's your fault cause you haven't trained judo much enough, if we follow the above logic. some may disagree, but internet is not real life. i'd still like to see all actual hackers (that is: sending keyloggers, using bruteforce; is NOT: those that take advantage of you when you give them your password) punished, but redistributing the items is a bit too much.

and i agree totally with Chthon at point 3.
Reborn, are you totally sure ANet can track every single item (including every bit of gold, as it's an item to redistribute as well) by it's own special number? imagine that someone hacked to you and stole 500k of gold. before you even found that out, the hacker bought some stuff from various players, eventually redistributing all 500k.
first of all, how would they be able to keep the track of this gold? every bit would have to have it's own unique number or they would have to check all the trades of the suspected hacker. but now, how would they find out that hacker? and without finding out who it was, how could they check that 500k? they could check your trades, but now - how can they be sure you haven't traded it yourself or asked someone to do so, as protecting your own account is your duty, not theirs?
second, even if they could find exactly 'that' 500k, redistributed as hell now, why would they delete the money from random people that had nothing to do with hacking your account and had no idea that the money was stolen? there's no logical reason to do so.
so should they just give you back 500k and add it randomly to the market? even if they could check your character that you actually had that much money earlier and your char traded it to someone for nothing, it's still faulty.
just imagine all frauds made this way - ask a guildie (of course not through gw chat) to 'hack' into your account through proxy (or whatever - the options are endless) and 'steal' stuff from you. then you send a ticket to ANet...


Quote:
I appreciate it that NCSoft help with recovering lost accounts but they could also at least recover some of the lost items, or even deleted characters.
have you read eula and all terms of agreement they feed you with when installing the game?
if not, sorry for you.
if yes, you should be aware that no items will be restored and you have to protect yourself on your own.

Last edited by drkn; Feb 12, 2010 at 10:19 AM // 10:19..
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Old Feb 12, 2010, 09:59 AM // 09:59   #9
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IMO, they should have the login like this:
Username / Email
PW
Character name
and then if all of those are correct, then you get a window popping up that u click on numbers or letter on it, something like a pin number. CLICK because if you get a keylogger they can't know where and what u clicked
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Old Feb 12, 2010, 10:01 AM // 10:01   #10
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CLICK because if you get a keylogger they can't know where and what u clicked
there are keyloggers that perfectly log mouse clicks as well. welcome to the internet, enjoy your stay.
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Old Feb 12, 2010, 10:34 AM // 10:34   #11
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Mouse clicks, yes, but I am pretty sure that keylogger can't "see" the numbers created within the game (a virtual keyboard).
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Old Feb 12, 2010, 10:39 AM // 10:39   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Neky View Post
Mouse clicks, yes, but I am pretty sure that keylogger can't "see" the numbers created within the game (a virtual keyboard).
They can log the cursor coordinates on screen, so, unless the virtual keyboard changes position any time you login, it's fairly easy to guess what code you've input.
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Old Feb 12, 2010, 10:40 AM // 10:40   #13
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Wow..you guyz make things complicated...the real fact is that they CAN but they dont want...too much job,too much stress...
6 months ago i was playng Zhyper MU, i dont know if anyone know it..btw is a RPG like GW,online, sure..i got scammed : i sold 1 pair of wing (an armor piece to make it simple) and i get nothing because other player drop item fast on trade..I open a thread on official forum and in 13 hours i get my armor piece back..they only ask to keep my upper inventory space clear to put item on it....My girlfriend got scammed too in that game (90% of players are scammers) and she lost 200 Souls (equivalent of ectos in Guild War)..they ask always same thing: upper inventory space clear, and after 5 hour (5 HOUR GUYZ,not days or weeks, HOURS) she get all 200 Souls back...
Now who care if scammer resell item, keep it or just destroy it? I lost an item cause scammer or hack and i want my item back...end of story, all other problems about items are not my problems and Admin/Mods/Programmers/Society need resolve them without involve players....Its just a game and i have paid for it, so i want all support possible IF IS NOT MY FAUL..if its my faul then they cant do nothin and i just shut up...
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Old Feb 12, 2010, 10:41 AM // 10:41   #14
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Originally Posted by Neky View Post
Mouse clicks, yes, but I am pretty sure that keylogger can't "see" the numbers created within the game (a virtual keyboard).
Even if it "knows" they are there? I would have supposed a keylogger could still deduce those from the clicks, until the numbers are placed in a random position at each log in, and even then be able to read the numbers themselves (until pehalphs they are modified to be not easily readable and have an expiration time...)
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Old Feb 12, 2010, 10:44 AM // 10:44   #15
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Now who care if scammer resell item, keep it or just destroy it? I lost an item cause scammer or hack and i want my item back..
because people who bought the said item from scammer want to have the item they paid for. because people who sold items to that scammer for said stolen gold want to have that gold as they are unaware of it's condition.
use your common sense, don't get scammed. use common sense and BASIC internet safety, don't get hacked. it's as easy as that, really.

Quote:
Its just a game and i have paid for it, so i want all support possible IF IS NOT MY FAUL..if its my faul then they cant do nothin and i just shut up...
they restore stolen accounts, giving you back the access to their server to be able to play. that's what eula (or other agreement, doesn't matter) says. however getting scammed/hacked is more or less your fault. it was my fault twice when i got 'hacked'. we have a proverb over here, not sure how it works in english - an opportunity makes a thief. don't give away any opportunities to steal from you.

Last edited by drkn; Feb 12, 2010 at 10:47 AM // 10:47..
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Old Feb 12, 2010, 11:03 AM // 11:03   #16
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Originally Posted by drkn View Post
they restore stolen accounts, giving you back the access to their server to be able to play. that's what eula (or other agreement, doesn't matter) says. however getting scammed/hacked is more or less your fault. it was my fault twice when i got 'hacked'. we have a proverb over here, not sure how it works in english - an opportunity makes a thief. don't give away any opportunities to steal from you.
Ok ok..(i understand the proverb too :P)
Btw, why in all other games they can restore everthing and here no?who care if scammer sell my items,keep it or destroy it?Just wrote a line command and give me back items, nothing of more simple...or maybe...programmer cant do it?O.o
But im sure they can, they can check chat log,they can check all in this game.
Sure you must have proofs, you cant ask to restore 10 stack of ectos without have a ss....but if i have it?if i have the screen of scam with the item/items in trade chat?all they just need do is ban the guy and create my item back.. But what they do?they ban the guy (FOR 1 MONTHS O.o) and dont restore my items...nice support,i've spent 120??? (162,78$) to have no support...fail.
PS: in Zhyper MU i spent 0??? (0$) to get full support + item restor, AND FAST TOO.
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Old Feb 12, 2010, 11:15 AM // 11:15   #17
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Restoring items in a hack can lead to a lot of abuse (and it can have a large impact on economy).
The stupidest example (sorry, I'm not in a very creative mood, lol):
1. I buy 10 rare minis.
2. I "hack" into my account (using something to hide my real IP ofc).
3. Trade those to a gimmick account I bought for very cheap on amazon and I intend to sacrifice for ingame money.
4. "Sell" those minis for much less then their real price to my second account/boyfrined/girlfriend.
5. Sell those minis for their real value.
6. Cry hack and free my 10 upper slots.
7. Get minis backs.

Gain: minis price minus the money my second account/boy/girlfriend used to excuse the trade between "hacker" and my/him/herself.

In a scamming situation (how we ended speaking about scamming btw lol), you always have a part of guilt in the scam, be it negligence, ignorance or trust, so a perma ban for the scammer could be probably very questionable (yes, he said he will give 100k and instead gave 100g, but it stated 100g in the trade window when you pressed accept). The trade could be nullified probably though, dunno why they don't do it.
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Old Feb 12, 2010, 11:32 AM // 11:32   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Yasmine View Post
Restoring items in a hack can lead to a lot of abuse (and it can have a large impact on economy).
The stupidest example (sorry, I'm not in a very creative mood, lol):
1. I buy 10 rare minis.
2. I "hack" into my account (using something to hide my real IP ofc).
3. Trade those to a gimmick account I bought for very cheap on amazon and I intend to sacrifice for ingame money.
4. "Sell" those minis for much less then their real price to my second account/boyfrined/girlfriend.
5. Sell those minis for their real value.
6. Cry hack and free my 10 upper slots.
7. Get minis backs.

Gain: minis price minus the money my second account/boy/girlfriend used to excuse the trade between "hacker" and my/him/herself.

In a scamming situation (how we ended speaking about scamming btw lol), you always have a part of guilt in the scam, be it negligence, ignorance or trust, so a perma ban for the scammer could be probably very questionable (yes, he said he will give 100k and instead gave 100g, but it stated 100g in the trade window when you pressed accept). The trade could be nullified probably though, dunno why they don't do it.
Fist of all, Anet programmers need restore items, not restore items by yourself...
Second you cant know the real situation, so can be a real hack/scam or can be only a false scam as you said..who care?ban/perma ban the scam back and restore items to scammed guy...the real problem is that A LOT of PLAYERS/PROGRAMMERS/SOCIETY live in a illusion and they think that GW is a real world not a video games..so every things they do its based on it...they need start to think that GW is a nothing more a video game and start help seriously people that pay for play it..OMG who care about economy game?or items or everything?The problem is very simple : I've paid to play,a guy broke the rule and steal my items/account illegally, ban the bad guy and give my items back..stop, problems solved..ALL, read >>ALL<< ,other games dont have problems for that, GW have problems...Mu Fight,Zyper Mu,Sacred,Diablo, (some ppl said WoW) and more others restore accounts/Items,they only ask you a proof in change.If you prove it(In Zhyper Mu they can even check logs to see if its true or not) then they can help you.
And btw,you can hide IP, you can do everthing you want to hide the scam if they want solve the problems they have the power to change everything they want..so: delete that mini (or those 10 minis) and restore all trades..if real money are in middle of trade YOUR FAULT, you cant ask support.End of story,they just dont want..too much work..

Example: X,Y,Z.
X have 10 Rare minis..
Y scam/hack X account and stole all minis.
Y sell minis to Z. Z pay 100$ (REAL MONEY).
Z ded them.
Programmers can : Delete Z Minis,and remove from GH..If he paid something in game money or value,they can restore.
Ban Y..perma or temporaly..but ban him.
Restore X minis in his inventory...
Who care if Z lost 100$..His fault,he bought them for real money so NO SUPPORT...bye bye..

Last edited by Mcsnake85; Feb 12, 2010 at 11:36 AM // 11:36..
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Old Feb 12, 2010, 12:13 PM // 12:13   #19
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In my example I meant that at point 6, i send an email to anet telling I was hacked. What they see is: a hacker (Y, gimmick account I don't care about) got into X's account then sold the items he hacked to Z. Even if Z and X are in the same guild/alliance (and even if they have the same IP, doesn't mean they are the same person) there is no proof that Z is somehow involved (innocent until proven guilty :P). Now, let's say Z bought those minis from Y for 1750 armbraces. Then he passed some time in spamadan and sold those for a total of 10000 armbraces. Obviously Z doesn't wish to get back the 1750 arms for 10000 arms so, until proven guilty, it won't be fair if anet just took 8250 arms from Z (as he lost his time and effort to buy and sell the minis, not worth the 8250 arms, but that's not for anet to judge upon). The 1-10 pple who bought minis don't wish those trades to be restored either (and they have no fault at all) and they might have sold those minis to other pple as well. So, considering that a good investigation would take some time, there might be a large number of trades to null which would provoke a lot of problems to many pple, none of which deserve it. (And this is supposing there were only trades between items - suppose A bought one of those minis (zhed) and resold it for a dhumm's soul breaker + whiptail devourer (for simplicity sake :P), A has a guildie named B, who is totally broke. A giftes B with the devourer. B is lucky and is able to sell the devourer from 3k. B uses those 3k to pay a runner LA-Sanctum and Sanctum Cay mission. B, keeps doing missions and quests and completes Prophecies. Now the trades need to be restored. A needs to give back zhed, but for that he needs to give back the soul breaker+whiptail -> B needs to give back the whiptail -> B needs to give back 3k to the guy he sold whiptail to -> runner needs to give back 3k -> B needs to give runner back the time and effort the runner lost in the run -> B should not experince any gain from a run he got the money back for, so his char needs to be moved back to LA... now, ofc 3k could be restored without really affecting economy, but this shows that the idea has serious flaws.)
So the only thing to do is to create 10 new minis from scratch and give them to X.
Now X, from this "hack", gained a lot. Now T,C,V,K,L,O,H, etc have the same idea.
Depending on how many pple use this (or, more likely, a better system then this) the result will vary, but it still doesn't look appealing.

Last edited by Yasmine; Feb 12, 2010 at 12:32 PM // 12:32..
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Old Feb 12, 2010, 12:29 PM // 12:29   #20
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It looks like a darn big mess for Anet to entangle, Yasmine.

Maybe Blizzard is able to restore items because they've got a huge support devision behind them, and maybe the f2p MMO's don't care much about possible abusing of spawning items in someones inventory.
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