Curse

Guinevere Ac · Sep 25, 2006, 07:39 AM // 07:39

About a week ago i've been hacked, meaning that someone entered my account, took most of my stuff and not being content enough decided to /delete my main character, basicly the only one i play during my guild wars time, Black Guinevere.
As you can see I had spent a lot of time, effort and GW money into this character. If u don't like ppl showing off stuff dont look at that screen. It's mainly for A.net, they have to see there probably wasn't another character this far with these titles.
http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?i...ginezx8xs2.jpg
All i did in my Gw life is to play this mesmer, seriously i tried many times to create other characters to fill other roles in groups, sometimes i reached even lvl 20, but it's just not fun to play anything else.
When i have to heal, i reskill and I heal as mesmer, reskill to nuke, sb monk, tank, forgerunner... perfectly aware i could have done better as other classes, but i just loved being a mesmer so i never changed that.
All this stuff has gone, seriously i can't just start a new mesmer, i tried, i just cant enjoy the game like this.

Now... support has been kind enough to me, saying that can do nothing about it... seriously i just can't believe it. it's not a matter
of what a.net CAN is more what they WANT to do.
I havent asked a full account backup point, i know it's kinda impossibile to rollback one single account. all i asked was a single a.net employee to enter my account management options and create by their side a mesmer called Black Guinevere, clean the map i had before I've been hacked (developers/testes -comand line to clean all map anyone?). I can cap skills again if there's no way to restore exactly what i had.

Character data is kept in a database, a program that is meant to make it easy to retrieve and amend information. Just a few simple lines of program is all it would take. An hour of someones time, one hour to save many thousands of a loyal customers.
They CAN do that, seriously they program a whole game like factions or nightfall in a year, they have a game structure that allows
them to maintain servers up and running better then -almost- any other mmorpg around, without montly fees...
They are genius, are u telling me that u can't edit one account options? if they want they can give me my character back in 1 hour, the problem is that they dont want many people to know it, because the would be flooded with requests.

That's why i tried to keep it quiet for a week. noone but officers/friends knew this, confident enough that amongs a.net ranks there were some players that would have understood the situation.
The "keep it quiet" option didn't lead me to any results so i'm here.
I dont want any gold, items or ectos back, just my character. Not even my Fissure armor, i can buy a collector staff + 1.5k gear and be
as strong as i was before, just give my character back. I undestand it's not your fault for this happening, but it would take so little effort to fix it.

So please A.net restore my character...
This evening u will reset thousands of character, take them back to level 1 ad cleaning their titles tab. Just let my mesmer jump on the train going in the opposite way.

Ty for reading whoever u are, friends, haters, a.net employees... thanks.
if u need to talk to me just mp on guru, i'm not ingame anymore

Black Guinevere

Quote:

The Giveaway part.

As probably the reason for which i've been hacked was for my weapons/ectos/cash i'm giving away all the stuff left stored in a 2nd account i have. If I have mesmer back i wont be bothered with gold weapons anymore, i'll just buy collectors stuff and be a lot less appealing for greedy hackers.
Therefore all the stuff goes for free. If i have the account back i'll give them to people posting here, if not all the stuff goes to my guild. Still have to organize this, but a /roll 100 ingame seems pretty doable.
Just to prove that i dont care at all about items, ectos or armor. Value the character itself a LOT more.

Main stuff going.
Echovald Shield Req8 Tactics 30 -5 20%
Defender Req8 Strenght 30 -2stance
Jade Sword r8 15^50
Jade Sword r9 15%-5
around 400 ectos
black dyes. around 35-40

N E D M · Sep 25, 2006, 07:43 AM // 07:43

and you were "hacked" how?

missing part of story here . . . .. . . . .

Guinevere Ac · Sep 25, 2006, 07:45 AM // 07:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by N E D M

and you were "hacked" how?

missing part of story here . . . .. . . . .

A.net knows the details pretty well.
System clean, someone somehow knew my password

Juicey Shake · Sep 25, 2006, 07:46 AM // 07:46

if ANYONE deserves to have a hacked character restored, it's guinevere.
one of the kindest, all around most friendly and helpful person I've met in guild wars thus far, honestly.

please, anet ..

Hockster · Sep 25, 2006, 07:50 AM // 07:50

If Anet did it for one person, they'd have to do it for everyone who didn't practice decent account security. Tough way to learn a lesson, but too bad.

dargon · Sep 25, 2006, 07:51 AM // 07:51

Much as I have to say I'm sorry for the situation you are in, ANet has to make a stand at some point. If they give in for one person, then they have to give into them all. Given that it would be pretty damn easy to conspire with a friend to make an account look hacked, I agree with their policy of saying no.

Whispering Siren · Sep 25, 2006, 07:53 AM // 07:53

While I feel for you, you were right - Anet is not going to do it for you, because then they'd have to for everyone. It may only be an hour of one person's time (but may be more) for just your character - but imagine how many hours that'd be if everyone asked for this? (If it's even really possible, once a character is deleted, maybe their data file is too... would be quite a waste of space to keep).

Other reason they won't do it - their stance is that you can only get hacked by your own fault (no offense). If you were able to be hacked, it's probably because of something you did/didn't do. They have enough warnings up about the dangers of third party software, etc.

Anet has great support, but keeping your account secure was your responsibility and they're not going to fix it for you.

manitoba1073 · Sep 25, 2006, 07:59 AM // 07:59

/signed

guinevere i feel for u. meet u a few times in game. even though i know anet couldnt(or wont) do anything for u. as stated for obvisious reasons. u ever need anything whisper me up ill help with what i can if u ever get back in game

YunSooJin · Sep 25, 2006, 08:03 AM // 08:03

How did they get your email, guinevere?

are you saying that plaync got hacked, and therefore your acct as well?

If you know details I think we'd all be interested in knowing exactly what went wrong.

TiNkLeR · Sep 25, 2006, 08:04 AM // 08:04

He has proofs that he had the character and had many titles.

Do it Anet.

Juicey Shake · Sep 25, 2006, 08:04 AM // 08:04

restore the character on grounds of it being the only one with every title possibly maxable at this time.. maxed? =\. that's dedication, there, anet! don't throw it away!

Shanaeri Rynale · Sep 25, 2006, 08:07 AM // 08:07

As BG's GL i know a little more about this and it was not due to a third party program. Instead of proving the negative, nasty side of the community. E.g Serves you right, AN won't do anything etc etc.

There is NO question of these titles being forged, BG does'nt want items, money, armor back. As A guild we have and will supply everything she needs but one thing we cannot regain are the titles. BG is asking for nothing that would imbalance the game or economy.

How about putting yourself in her place.

Imagine the hours and hours you put into your char being deleted out of pure spite, imagine every item you had worked to get being callously removed, imagine all your characters gone, replaced with insulting named ones.

Put yourself in her place and lets together do something constructive.

Guinevere Ac · Sep 25, 2006, 08:08 AM // 08:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whispering Siren

While I feel for you, you were right - Anet is not going to do it for you, because then they'd have to for everyone. It may only be an hour of one person's time (but may be more) for just your character - but imagine how many hours that'd be if everyone asked for this? (If it's even really possible, once a character is deleted, maybe their data file is too... would be quite a waste of space to keep).

Other reason they won't do it - their stance is that you can only get hacked by your own fault (no offense). If you were able to be hacked, it's probably because of something you did/didn't do. They have enough warnings up about the dangers of third party software, etc.

Anet has great support, but keeping your account secure was your responsibility and they're not going to fix it for you.

As i told...yes i knew that keeping this quiet was the best solutions. nobody knowing a.net recreates my mesmer = no ppl spamming them to have the same thing = better chances to me to obtain it; but after a week of time wasted time and be4 quitting the game i had to try this.
Once again I'm not asking for anything worthy back. Just a naked mesmer.
Considering it was one of a king in game... i'd at least ask a one of a king action from a.net.
As for the fault being hacked. The Account Securioty topped Discussion opened by gaile gray is mainly about me. Opened after knowing what happened to me.
I'm not that sure it's completely my fault. I'm very paranoid about security.

Quote:

As a matter of fact, these thefts were made possible through a combination of errors. I know that GWG has made a change that will prevent the acquisition of information. And you will be pleased to know that there is a major change in the PlayNC system coming within a matter of days. Protocols are being put in place that will greatly reduce--perhaps even make impossible--this particular kind of account theft. That is not to say that all account thefts will be rendered impossible--we could only wish! But the three or four that we know of which were a result of this recent situation will be far less likely to happen in the future.

this for example wasn't a thing i could handle on my side for sure.

Oh and for all the people whispering me that they're sorry but a.net wont restore titles just for some tabscreens that can be photoshopped easily... i'm pretty sure i have opened my tab during some video i capped once. just doing a little research.

Song Rui · Sep 25, 2006, 08:09 AM // 08:09

I had a friend who was hacked, his main character had fissure and max gold stuffz etc.. was rich.
he attempted to get his account rolled back, same thing happened.

He lost everything, got over it and now runs blood spike all day. lolex go pvp.

Omega X · Sep 25, 2006, 08:10 AM // 08:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hockster

If Anet did it for one person, they'd have to do it for everyone who didn't practice decent account security. Tough way to learn a lesson, but too bad.

That is just cold. The fact that ANET can't even do regular backups to their databases raises a flag.

They should be able to do atleast a partial restoration to individual accounts.

Whispering Siren · Sep 25, 2006, 08:14 AM // 08:14

I was going to add to the end of my post: Unless yours was one of the PlayNC accounts hacked. (I figured the odds of this was low, considering how many people post on here about being hacked).

Being that yours was... and it was THEIR fault that you were able to be hacked - yes they should restore the accounts for those few who were hacked through PlayNC.

Sorry for any offense implied in my post. And super sorry this has happened to you. If one of my two mains got deleted (with much less work put in than yours) I'd be quite upset too.

Anet: restore the character if it was hacked through PlayNC. Make an exception for those affected "through a combination of errors."

Thallandor · Sep 25, 2006, 08:17 AM // 08:17

Guinevere Ac you have my sympathies in regards to your character and like the many examples of such hacking Deletion from other games like WoW,DDO and L2 all have but the same results of GMs not being able to provide a account restore but i do hope that you might be the exception.

However one point to note though, if i remember correctly you are the one who posted the "Kind of a Big Deal: Better drops as a reward for getting this title? " thread during the increased gold drop event in factions and for a while had the "KOABD" title pasted on your mesmer's head as your avartar? (somehow i remember such stuff)

link: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...ferrerid=92302

Sorry to say this now, but it seems that the past way of "showing off" perhaps was the reason why perhaps you caught the attention of Hackers, either to "rob" you of your possessions (unlikely since item logs are kept and they can be traced) or just to delete your character which you are proud of to simply rob you of your pride.

Either way let this serve as a warning to those who would so careless wave their fortunes around to others online.

Edit: used the serach function.

Song Rui · Sep 25, 2006, 08:19 AM // 08:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thallandor

Guinevere Ac you have my sympathies in regards to your character and like the many examples of such hacking Deletion from other games like WoW,DDO and L2 all have but the same results of GMs not being able to provide a account restore but i do hope that you might be the exception.

However one point to note though, if i remember correctly (please correct me if i am wrong) were you the one who posted the "Better gold drops with KOABD title" thread during the increased gold drop event in factions and for a while had the "KOABD" title pasted on your mesmer's head as your avartar?

Sorry to say this now, but it seems that the past way of "showing off" perhaps was the reason why perhaps you caught the attention of Hackers, either to "rob" you of your possessions (unlikely since item logs are kept and they can be traced) or just to delete your character which you are proud of to simply rob you of your pride.

Either way let this serve as a warning to those who would so careless wave their fortunes around to others online.

IIRC WoW GMs can rollback items/characters.

Cherno · Sep 25, 2006, 08:23 AM // 08:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omega X

The fact that ANET can't even do regular backups to their databases raises a flag.

That's a fact? Really? Where did you see this? Any, and I mean ANY company that deals with ANYTHING on computers and wouldn't do backups and restorations would be dead in days. You have no clue what you are talking about.

How they choose or are able to do restorations on any level, system wide, or account wide is entirely up to them. I am pretty sure that they are technically able to do an individual backup, but have a policy against it for reasons that are their own. We have to trust they are valid.

That being said, I am so very sorry to see that this has happened to you Guenivere. I know very well the time and effort to put into getting those titles and the attachment to a character you have been playing for so long.

Guinevere Ac · Sep 25, 2006, 08:24 AM // 08:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thallandor

Guinevere Ac you have my sympathies in regards to your character and like the many examples of such hacking Deletion from other games like WoW,DDO and L2 all have but the same results of GMs not being able to provide a account restore but i do hope that you might be the exception.

However one point to note though, if i remember correctly you are the one who posted the "Kind of a Big Deal: Better drops as a reward for getting this title? " thread during the increased gold drop event in factions and for a while had the "KOABD" title pasted on your mesmer's head as your avartar? (somehow i remember such stuff)

link: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...ferrerid=92302

Sorry to say this now, but it seems that the past way of "showing off" perhaps was the reason why perhaps you caught the attention of Hackers, either to "rob" you of your possessions (unlikely since item logs are kept and they can be traced) or just to delete your character which you are proud of to simply rob you of your pride.

Either way let this serve as a warning to those who would so careless wave their fortunes around to others online.

I loved showing off stuff. Never told i didn't. But it's the main point?
Are we saying that noone should go for titles because that just exposes him to higher chances of being hacked? U wander around cities with a koabd showing and u have to fear who may see u, presume u're rich and decides to go for your account?
Then dont work for titles at all. is a nice feature a.net included to make pve have a way longer life and interests, but dont go for them is it's this useless and dangerous

Found the video i was referring to.
http://rapidshare.de/files/34364269/...eting.avi.html

look how many brave mesmers are there. Argh. many of them have at least 2 pieces of fissure armor. they might be exposed to hacking nooooo.
after 55 seconds there's my titles tab.
sorry for my tremendous video editing skills, i know the video mainly suck. it wasnt meant to be posted anywhere like this. just to prove the titles were there.