Curse

Infanta · Mar 29, 2011, 02:14 PM // 14:14

why would you care about some pixels in a game thats on its way out the door. You already got your HOM - you're all set for GW2. Play something better until then - or better yet - take a damn break from the computer.

I have a bunch of crap and I'm having trouble figuring out how to get rid of it, cause honestly giving away stuff is more fun than actually playing the game anymore.

Firebaall · Mar 29, 2011, 02:47 PM // 14:47

NCsoft support staff can be horrible to deal with.

They have the level of apathy you get from a minimum wage.

nagennif · Mar 29, 2011, 03:05 PM // 15:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urcscumug

@naggenif: For what it's worth, and in the hope it helps you: ask yourself what it is about GW that you really value.

Sounds like you did pretty much everything and went everywhere in the game. Your legacy for GW2 is safe with the HoM. Your memories and the fun you had cannot be taken away. You still got your guildies, your titles, faction points, your unlocked skills/outposts/storyline advancement.

How important are the money, items etc., really?

Tricky question, but you see, I'm one of those collector type people. I played to have a collection of certain things, such as minipets. I'd take them out when I was traveling just because I enjoyed them. I never bought everlasting tonics because of the value. I did it because I liked being a Rift Warden. I liked being a hell hound. So I liked those things. And of course, the celestial compass my wife gave me as a gift, well, it's a gift. The compass itself isn't so much...it's more that my wife gave it to me.

But the big issue for me is all the stuff I stockpiled for Nick. I pretty much started saving stuff as soon as Nick started, knowing I'm not a farmer. If something dropped like a beetle egg or whatever, I'd just save it. I bought four character slots just for storage characters storing all that stuff.

The stuff itself? Worthless. The amount of times I get to get gifts without farming? Priceless. At the end of the day it's all just to get a pet yakington which could happen. It probably won't, but now it defintely won't.

Everyone plays games for different reasons. Some collect things like minis. People like me. Seeing that collection go south really does hinder my return to the game, because that really was important to be.

The survivor title, I never got. It's not important to me, but to some people it was very important.

So yeah, I get what you're saying, but I really was attached to Mad King Thorn and Kunnevang. They didn't end up selling my mini mallyx though. Go figure.

nagennif · Mar 29, 2011, 03:08 PM // 15:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by mazirix

Oh yeah, if it makes you feel better, my alternate account got hacked. At the time it had absolutely nothing of value on it. There were four birthday presents on characters, the hacker opened them all. Guess who didn't want the white minis that popped out?

That payback, however small it was, felt so good. ^_^

If that would have stopped them from going after the next guys account it would sure have felt good, but to them, they probably didn't care. I would imagine it's like prospecting. They probably, I assume anyway, get enough accounts that it's just like a white drop left on the ground to them.

Frankly, it's lousy that people think it's okay to do that to other people.

Mister_Smiley · Mar 29, 2011, 03:13 PM // 15:13

Ncsoft can be pains sometimes, i know that because i've had to deal with them before, not for a hacked account though. Any who, i'm sorry that you got hacked, it total sucks, but image if you hadn't put anything in the HOM and then got hacked, so you do have something positive to work with. Also two good friends and another friend got hacked as well, two of them cleaned out like you, but because they have friends like me and others they are sticking around and going to keep playing. The third, he was not happy, but he had done everything he wanted, which was finished drunkard before it happened the old way. But that account didn't get cleaned.

Also NCsoft is known for having shitty security(they did get suit for it already once), it may have not been on your end, but instead on Ncsoft end.

Hopefully in Gw2, Anet will be able to restore accounts.

<Blaze> · Mar 29, 2011, 03:16 PM // 15:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by nagennif

Tricky question, but you see, I'm one of those collector type people. I played to have a collection of certain things, such as minipets. I'd take them out when I was traveling just because I enjoyed them. I never bought everlasting tonics because of the value. I did it because I liked being a Rift Warden. I liked being a hell hound. So I liked those things. And of course, the celestial compass my wife gave me as a gift, well, it's a gift. The compass itself isn't so much...it's more that my wife gave it to me.

But the big issue for me is all the stuff I stockpiled for Nick. I pretty much started saving stuff as soon as Nick started, knowing I'm not a farmer. If something dropped like a beetle egg or whatever, I'd just save it. I bought four character slots just for storage characters storing all that stuff.

The stuff itself? Worthless. The amount of times I get to get gifts without farming? Priceless. At the end of the day it's all just to get a pet yakington which could happen. It probably won't, but now it defintely won't.

Everyone plays games for different reasons. Some collect things like minis. People like me. Seeing that collection go south really does hinder my return to the game, because that really was important to be.

The survivor title, I never got. It's not important to me, but to some people it was very important.

So yeah, I get what you're saying, but I really was attached to Mad King Thorn and Kunnevang. They didn't end up selling my mini mallyx though. Go figure.

That is odd, I got hacked about a year ish ago and i lost most/all of my stuff as well, but i still had i unded mallyx in the end of it all as well.

nagennif · Mar 29, 2011, 03:19 PM // 15:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Infanta

why would you care about some pixels in a game thats on its way out the door. You already got your HOM - you're all set for GW2. Play something better until then - or better yet - take a damn break from the computer.

I have a bunch of crap and I'm having trouble figuring out how to get rid of it, cause honestly giving away stuff is more fun than actually playing the game anymore.

I can try to explain this, if you're really interested. Some people get very vested in pixels in a game. I've worked harder in Guild Wars for stuff than I have in real life for stuff, in a lot of cases. I never see myself as farming for a stereo system or farming for a television. I just go and buy it. The work is done independent of that. But if I had to save for that television, week by week, day by day and could finally buy it, and then someone stole it, I'd be very pissed off. Still I have insurance on the possessions in my house. If I'm broken into, I'll get some kind of compensation.

In this, I worked for certain things, whatever they were, finally bought them and now they're gone. It doesn't matter if it's a pixel or a television...it's an item that bought me pleasure. In fact, with as much TV as I watch, given the choice of a TV or a kunnevang, I'd rather have the kunna. Just what the kind of thing I enjoy.

People spend a tremendous amount of money on virtual property. There's a virtual property developer named Anshe Chung on Second Life who is literally a real life millionaire, who made her name selling virtual property in a virtual world. She'd buy land from linden labs, divide it up, develop it and rent it to other people playing Second Life for real money.

For that matter, my wife makes money as a fashion designer on second life, selling virtual clothes. People pay lindens for it, but they buy those linden dollars with real money. Unlike Guild Wars, buying and selling of linden dollars is part of the game. You buy them from the company, in what's sort of like a commodities exchange. People spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on these pixels. Millions of people. There must be some reason for it.

It's because a certain type of person identifies with their online persona. They become their characters. They really do feel a bond with that character. Is this some psychological thing that only affects people onlne? I don't think so. I get into books that way too.

So probably a certain personality type deals with lose of digital data differently than people who see things as just a game.

Another way to look at it. I spend more time playing Guild Wars than I do doing almost anything else. It was my main source of entertainment, since I don't watch TV. I do read, but it's not quite as involving as playing a character in a game.

I guess some people go out with friends and have a few beers, but if you're geographically isolated, it's a lot harder to do that. Or if you're a loner (which Im not). Or if you have a physical handicap. Or if you have a social phobia. Or if you have to take care of a small child and have to stay home at nights.

There are a lot of reasons people escape to online worlds to get away. I"m caring for a disabled spouse, and this is my escape.

I hope this answers your question somewhat.

nagennif · Mar 29, 2011, 03:23 PM // 15:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by <Blaze>

That is odd, I got hacked about a year ish ago and i lost most/all of my stuff as well, but i still had i unded mallyx in the end of it all as well.

My Mallyx was dedicated, but so was my kunna and my destroyer and my asura and a lot of other minis. I collected them, bought then and dedicated them. Some are gone, some aren't. Aside from the Kunna, I haven't had the heart to do a full inventory yet.

But I noticed the Mallyx in passing and a few whites and purples. I probably have all the minis they couldn't somehow sell.

nagennif · Mar 29, 2011, 03:24 PM // 15:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mister_Smiley

Hopefully in Gw2, Anet will be able to restore accounts.

From your lips to God's ears lol.

Voodoo Rage · Mar 29, 2011, 03:33 PM // 15:33

I was getting a little bored of the game and just decided to roll a whole new account when I saw it on sale at Target. It has actually been rather enjoyable "starting from scratch" and brought back a lot of memories of having to scrape up money to buy my first set of armor and not having any skills. Now obviously your account still has things like skills unlocked but my advice would be to just embrace the experience and just enjoy playing the game.

Brian the Gladiator · Mar 29, 2011, 03:50 PM // 15:50

How does somebody get their account hacked? I don't understand how hackers get the information required to hack you. Does anyone know ways of doing this?

Deviant Angel · Mar 29, 2011, 04:23 PM // 16:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mireles

well, secure your account next time and you wont have this problem again...

I feel that a lot of people do things that make them vulnerable, but you live in a fantasy world if you think NCSoft has done everything they could to keep our accounts secure.

Why isn't the old password required when changing your password? Why is the verification code instantly sent to the new e-mail when you want to change the e-mail address? All you get on the old account is a notification saying it has been changed and to contact support if you didn't authorize it! Two very simple things that could have been changed! Instead, they recently added something that you have to opt-in for. How many inactive players do you think will log into their NCMA and activate that?

Were some of you not around when NCSoft admitted that they had had a problem a while back? Anet actually made it a point to hunt down and return the stolen items to their rightful owners. Salvaged/destroyed items were obviously not returned, but they did what they could. I haven't seen it happen since then. The fact NCSoft hasn't admitted that they have had issues since then could be why. Sweeping problems under the rug and placing blame on the customer is less time consuming!

I'm not sure if nagennif and fino's cases are related, but I have a few reasons to believe NCSoft has had some security issues lately.

Reason #1
Reason #2
Reason #3
Reason #4
Reason #5
Reason #6
Reason #7
Reason #8 & 9
Reason #10

There were probably more in that thread, but I linked to the ones that jumped out at me.

As you can probably tell from the 8 & 9 link, it happened to two people I knew. Support didn't bother to offer them an explanation about the missing e-mails or even reveal the IP of the intruder. They restored the accounts and sent them on their way. They won't be getting their stolen items back.

This has been going on since December! I know for a fact that one of the people I knew has been on their account since then because I make him log on occasionally to check for birthday presents. He was probably hacked about a week before Anet rolled out the ToPK nerf.

Seiously? This has been going on for nearly four months and not a word from NCSoft or Anet? There are probably more victims out there that don't have a clue because they are inactive and didn't get an e-mail when the hacker changed their password.

Like I said, these particular incidents may or may not be related to what happened to the OP, but it's a bit stupid to bury your head in the sand and assume it's always the user's fault.

As for those of you saying that it's just pixels and people shouldn't be so attached to them, please let me know how you would feel if a burglar entered your home and stole everything you worked so hard for over the years. It's just some material stuff that you can replace right? I spent quite a bit of time and money on this game and to say that I would be devastated if a hacker got into my account would be an understatement. Judge me all you want.

It's great that the OP already had 50/50 and a GWAMM! It doesn't mean that he should be okay with losing his stuff just because some of you think they are just a bunch of pixels and GW2 is right around the corner. It's violation and nobody should be okay with that. We should be able to log into our accounts at any time and enjoy the things we earned.

nagennif · Mar 29, 2011, 05:44 PM // 17:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deviant Angel

I feel that a lot of people do things that make them vulnerable, but you live in a fantasy world if you think NCSoft has done everything they could to keep our accounts secure.

Why isn't the old password required when changing your password? Why is the verification code instantly sent to the new e-mail when you want to change the e-mail address? All you get on the old account is a notification saying it has been changed and to contact support if you didn't authorize it! Two very simple things that could have been changed! Instead, they recently added something that you have to opt-in for. How many inactive players do you think will log into their NCMA and activate that?

Were some of you not around when NCSoft admitted that they had had a problem a while back? Anet actually made it a point to hunt down and return the stolen items to their rightful owners. Salvaged/destroyed items were obviously not returned, but they did what they could. I haven't seen it happen since then. The fact NCSoft hasn't admitted that they have had issues since then could be why. Sweeping problems under the rug and placing blame on the customer is less time consuming!

I'm not sure if nagennif and fino's cases are related, but I have a few reasons to believe NCSoft has had some security issues lately.

Reason #1
Reason #2
Reason #3
Reason #4
Reason #5
Reason #6
Reason #7
Reason #8 & 9
Reason #10

There were probably more in that thread, but I linked to the ones that jumped out at me.

As you can probably tell from the 8 & 9 link, it happened to two people I knew. Support didn't bother to offer them an explanation about the missing e-mails or even reveal the IP of the intruder. They restored the accounts and sent them on their way. They won't be getting their stolen items back.

This has been going on since December! I know for a fact that one of the people I knew has been on their account since then because I make him log on occasionally to check for birthday presents. He was probably hacked about a week before Anet rolled out the ToPK nerf.

Seiously? This has been going on for nearly four months and not a word from NCSoft or Anet? There are probably more victims out there that don't have a clue because they are inactive and didn't get an e-mail when the hacker changed their password.

Like I said, these particular incidents may or may not be related to what happened to the OP, but it's a bit stupid to bury your head in the sand and assume it's always the user's fault.

As for those of you saying that it's just pixels and people shouldn't be so attached to them, please let me know how you would feel if a burglar entered your home and stole everything you worked so hard for over the years. It's just some material stuff that you can replace right? I spent quite a bit of time and money on this game and to say that I would be devistated if a hacker got into my account would be an understatement. Judge me all you want.

It's great that the OP already had 50/50 and a GWAMM! It doesn't mean that he should be okay with losing his stuff just because some of you think they are just a bunch of pixels and GW2 is right around the corner. It's violation and nobody should be okay with that. We should be able to log into our accounts at any time and enjoy the things we earned.

I'm not a security expert by any stint of the imagination, but I know something about it. I know I was lax. Do I know that my laxness caused me to be hacked. Nope, I don't. But it seems coincidental to me that shortly after I started posting to boards defending Guild Wars 2, I got hacked. I know that on at least one of those boards I used the same password that I used for Guild Wars. I was lazy. The email addy I registered with is my main addy which, you guessed it, I used for Guild Wars.

So all a person who had those two things needed, was a character name. And low and behold my Guild Wars Guru account was my character name. Truly I should be ashamed.

This doesn't mean I was hacked because of this, but I sure wouldn't dismiss the possibility.

As for security issues, I know in the past Guild Wars and PlayNc had them. Aion is rift with them. I didn't realize this was happening right now, but I don't think I was vigilant enough in my own interest to shift the blame to anyone else. It doesn't make what the hacker did as right, but it sure doesn't automatically make PlayNC wrong.

I simply want to be fair about it. I'm the kind of person who always gives everyone the benefit of the doubt. Probably why I'm so often screwed over, but there you go.

However, if there were a way to recover my stuff, particularly a couple of prized things that would make the game more enjoyable to me, I'd jump at it.

Here's hoping my email to the community manager gets some kind of result.

Lord Dragonryder · Mar 29, 2011, 06:01 PM // 18:01

I was also hacked. I quit for two years and just reinstalled last week and when i tried to log in my password wasn't working. I assumed it was my memory failing me and changed the password and when i logged on everything seemed totally fine. I was scoping all my characters and it was all kosher until i got to my warrior [main] and saw he was wearing elite dragon armor, which was weird because ever since i farmed my obby i hardly wore anything else and sure enough when i looked in his bag my obsidian armor was gone, along with a bag of my 5 best/favorite weapons, one of which was a crystalline sword. Its really demoralizing to try and play through it, but i just figure i'm gonna have fun until guild wars 2 comes out, and what happens happens.

Firebaall · Mar 29, 2011, 06:02 PM // 18:02

Authenticator Dongle Please!

I would pay extra to have this security for GW, and GW2

Jerec The Raven · Mar 29, 2011, 06:04 PM // 18:04

This is a mistake:

Quote:

I know that on at least one of those boards I used the same password that I used for Guild Wars. I was lazy. The email addy I registered with is my main addy which, you guessed it, I used for Guild Wars.

/endhowtogethacked

Reading those reasons also makes it look like ANET and NCSoft websites have had a security breach. Now that could be a problem.

Everything should be different from your GW account when you sign up for forums, E-mail, password, etc. Character name probably isn't as important but still. But yes, it stinks that you were hacked. Especially by Gold sellers. May they burn in the fires of EUHELLA.

Zebideedee · Mar 29, 2011, 06:07 PM // 18:07

Sorry to hear that OP, ouch. But can someone clarify this for me. I'm sure I read on another post that if a hacker deletes your characters they can't be restored, if this is true if your main with 50/50 is deleted is your HoM wiped out?

gremlin · Mar 29, 2011, 06:15 PM // 18:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Infanta

why would you care about some pixels in a game thats on its way out the door. You already got your HOM - you're all set for GW2. Play something better until then - or better yet - take a damn break from the computer.

I have a bunch of crap and I'm having trouble figuring out how to get rid of it, cause honestly giving away stuff is more fun than actually playing the game anymore.

I wouldn't be caring about the pixels but I would be very concerned over the hacking itself.

Firstly its a game I enjoy and if I was hacked every time I came to play the game and missed something I would be reminded that someone was effectively in my computer.

Then I would wonder if they were still around stall able to hack into my system so I would reformat reinstall everything change passwords etc.
Not have my banking details online any more stop buying online using a credit card.

Its just the same as if your house was burgled and all they did was come in and move a few things made a coffee and left a note saying nice house.
You hadn't lost much but you would be devastated.

Each time you made a coffee of looked at something they moved you would be reminded of the invasion.
Less traumatic for a game true but you would probably never enjoy the game ever again.

Pixels I could care less about but violation of personal space there is no price I could put on that.

The forth fly · Mar 29, 2011, 07:11 PM // 19:11

i was hacked last month lost my Monks obbi armor and chaos gloves,few ded pets and all my cash.
Support were rlly good i got my account back in 22 hours.
Im sure it was my NCsoft account that was hacked as my other account that's not linked to a NCsoft account was not touched and my WoW account wasn't hacked either

**cosyfiep** · Mar 29, 2011, 08:22 PM // 20:22

the sword in the side is that MANY guru users used their ingame names as their user name here---making it the last piece to get thru was just a sloppy fix for a much bigger problem.
I know that if you have your user name here and ign the same you can pm one of the admins to have it changed (and we can also edit closed threads to remove them for you as well).
I certainly hope they will have a much better set up for gw2 ......