Entire Cities In World of Warcraft Dead, Hack Suspected 305
hypnosec writes "Entire cities in the World of Warcraft have been destroyed with no one spared, not even the NPCs. About 13:00 GMT, forums on WOW started getting the first comments from users regarding players and NPCs dying on the Ragnaros-EU realm in Orgrimmar. Users of the online game started reporting that Draenor had a similar sight to offer. Some of the other realms where this was reported include Tarren Mill, and Twisting Nether."
Also at Joystiq, and (with more screenshots) at WCCF Tech, which reports that "it appears the damage is most severe in World of Warcraft European servers."
#firstworldproblems (Score:5, Funny)
sounds like a first world problem
Re:#firstworldproblems (Score:5, Funny)
More like a second life problem.
Re:#firstworldproblems (Score:5, Funny)
More like a no-life problem...
Who would destroy entire worlds? (Score:5, Funny)
G A L A C T U S ! ! !
Re:Who would destroy entire worlds? (Score:5, Funny)
I don't think it was Galactus at all. More likely, it was this guy. [nocookie.net]
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Re:Who would destroy entire worlds? (Score:5, Funny)
Dude I'm in your cities deleting all your dudes.
nooooo! (Score:5, Funny)
Oh no! (Score:5, Funny)
This is horrible! Please tell us this won't affect Colleen Lachowicz's campaign for the Senate [reuters.com]!
It's the end of the World (Score:5, Funny)
Re:It's the end of the World (Score:5, Funny)
And I feel fine.
Re:It's the end of the World (Score:5, Funny)
Too bad they couldn't wait to do this until December 21.
CAPTCHA: Sedition
Re:It's the end of the World (Score:4, Funny)
Re:It's the end of the World (Score:4, Funny)
Yes, your momma's clothes were laying around.
I guess that's where the tents for the Darkmoon Faire came from.
What's happening to the World?! of Warcraft!? (Score:5, Funny)
We must find the chosen one and deliver to him the Sword of a Thousand Truths.
wrong pill...? (Score:2, Funny)
did someone take the wrong pill...?
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Don't worry, we've dealt with him before! (Score:3, Insightful)
Let's just hope the Chosen Four will again rise, wielding the Sword of a Thousand Truths, to save the World of Warcraft!
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Here's a video of the lifeless one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=B_vCFKuXrQo# [youtube.com]!
I canceled my sub to wow a year and a half ago, good riddance too. Though I always did enjoy trolling people in that game by ganking them before blizzard made doing so nearly impossible in cities in early cata, so its fun to see somebody continuing that spirit.
Here's hoping... (Score:2)
...that they have a good backup system in place. I'd hate to face the wrath of *one* user who lost his character.
Re:Here's hoping... (Score:5, Informative)
They're killing characters and npcs, not deleting them. Death is only a short-lived inconvenience in wow.
Killing npcs is more annoying actually since some can take a while to respawn.
The issue appears to be a combination of a teleport/wall-hack and the ability to kill any creature, npc or character with a single hit which obviously trivializes the whole game and enables griefing on this kind of epic scale. The hack was apparently found a couple weeks ago but only fixed today with a server restart.
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No, teleport and wall hack has nothing to do with with it. While teleport and wall hacks are included with these 'gm tools' they have access to, the real culprits are developer items in the game that actually have the ability to kill everyone in a zone with one click.
oblig (Score:5, Funny)
Re:oblig (Score:5, Funny)
If by productive you mean that Internet porn usage went up thousands upon thousands of percentage points in use... yes.
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Oh, dear! (Score:2)
neeet! Not a fan of hackers, but if WoW had a way of doing this then sooner of later it would happen.
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neeet! Not a fan of hackers, but if WoW had a way of doing this then sooner of later it would happen.
I'm not a fan of much of anything, but I can't help feeling a certain amusement at such events. I imagine it really pisses in the cornflakes of the Type-A control freaks who tend to run large organizations. I think they need to be reminded once in a while that not everything can be commanded and made to comply.
What would be truly useful is a way to remind them of this without the need for unauthorized access or any other kind of criminal activity. Sadly, corporations are internally arranged as dictato
rohtaga (Score:2)
virtual genocide (Score:5, Informative)
worse than virtual pandemic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrupted_Blood_incident [wikipedia.org]
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Perhaps not, due to the existence of "respawning" in such games (basically, automatically resurrecting a short time after death, typically at a penalty that's significant but not crippling). The virtual pandemic can sustain itself effectively infinitely, as people respawning can catch the corruption again. On the other hand, if everyone is killed instantly as a one-off event, they'll all respawn again some time later; inconvenient but hardly game-ruining. (The problem is more if people do it over and over a
Hotfixed (Score:5, Informative)
Blizzard reports [battle.net] the exploit being used has been hotfixed.
Re:Hotfixed (Score:4, Informative)
The "exploit" in question being an unauthorized GM client.
Leeeroy Jeennkins!! (Score:5, Funny)
More dakka! (Score:5, Interesting)
Apparently someone discovered a way to do an instant "kill everything" attack and published it. Enough players then used it to kill everything in entire cities. Management has announced that they are doing "rolling restarts" on each realm today. It's not clear if characters will be re-animated, or what.
Properly, once they fix the bug that allowed a "kill everything" attack, they should resolve the matter in-game. Send in disaster recovery crews with healers, security, carts to haul away the dead...
Re:More dakka! (Score:5, Funny)
And hilarity ensues.... (Score:3)
Send in disaster recovery crews with healers, security, carts to haul away the dead..
Somewhere in a Realm of WoW:
The Dead Collector: Bring out yer dead.
[a man puts a body on the cart]
Large Man with Dead Body: Here's one.
The Dead Collector: That'll be ninepence.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm not dead.
The Dead Collector: What?
Large Man with Dead Body: Nothing. There's your ninepence.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm not dead.
The Dead Collector: 'Ere, he says he's not dead.
Large Man with Dead Body: Yes he is.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm not.
The Dead Coll
Halting State (Score:3)
Must Be A Real Badass (Score:5, Funny)
After speculating that the person responsible must be a real badass, police have released this composite sketch of what they think the culprit looks like...
A Real Badass [photobucket.com]
Nude Bomb? (Score:5, Funny)
Am I the only one thinking that a nude bomb [wikipedia.org] would have been a better hack?
Dear Diary, (Score:5, Funny)
I went outside today. Yes, the real, actual outside.
The graphics were amazing.
Storyline sucked, though.
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Bankers are overpowered.
Blame the Kirin Tor? (Score:2)
I am not sure why this was /. newsworthy, but I'll play along.
After the events of Theramore and Jaina becoming their leader, I would have fully expected something like this to happen, with Jaina at the forefront of the battle.
She and about a hundred of the Kirin Tor teleport to a city.
They lay waste to everything in sight.
They teleport home and claim ignorance of the events.
People were saying they wanted a pre-expansion event like the undead plague. This makes up for it; just as annoying.
Probably nuked from orbit. (Score:2)
Nuked From Orbit (Score:2)
It was the only way to be sure,
And (Score:3)
And nothing of value was lost
What happened to Tradewars?
Re:WoW news? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:WoW news? (Score:5, Interesting)
News for Nerds. Nothing that matters.
Re:WoW news? (Score:5, Funny)
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like those in Undercity?
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People are dying. Have you no shame?
Re:WoW news? (Score:5, Funny)
Virtual people are dying. Have you virtually no shame?
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Don't make a joke on facebook in the UK about it, you might get arrested.
Re:WoW news? (Score:5, Funny)
A four digit Slashdot poster is probably quite the catch.
Re:WoW news? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:WoW news? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:WoW news? (Score:5, Funny)
Yep. We were around pre-dot-bomb, building our bank roll when things were easy and now we get to sit back and smugly watch all you kids slit each other's throats for gigs we used to take for granted. :)
Hey grandpa, at least us n00bs can remember our login information.
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Yeah, you have fun with that. I don't do fat chicks.
But GMILF is still OK, right?
Re:What does it all mean? (Score:5, Insightful)
If you're on /. and don't know what NPC is, or how to find out, you're probably not the target audience here.
Re:What does it all mean? (Score:4, Insightful)
If you're on /. and don't know what NPC is, or how to find out, you're probably not the target audience here.
If you're on /. and don't like answering peoples' questions, even when it would have taken you less time to type than the snide remark you chose, you're probably the target audience here.
Re:What does it all mean? (Score:5, Insightful)
It was a troll reply to a troll question... thus very much deserved.
Besides, I agree 100% that if you neither know what an NPC is nor how to look it up on Google or Wikipedia, the story is largely irrelevant to you. Then again I would even wonder why "news for nerds" is even interesting for somebody like that?
My My (Score:2, Informative)
Sounds like somebody is butt hurt
Re: (Score:2)
WTF does knowing what the term NPC means or how to look it up have to do with losing a little man in a video game?
Re:What does it all mean? (Score:5, Funny)
what the fuck does WTF mean?
Re:What does it all mean? (Score:4, Funny)
Who knows? I just repeat what I see in order to try and fit in.
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You could extrapolate that from context. But not knowing what an "NPC" is on a site subtitled "News for nerds" (exactly the type of person who would play an RPG) is kind of inexcusable.
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Non-Player Character. How anyone can play RPGs and not know that I'm not sure.
Re:What does it all mean? (Score:5, Funny)
It's a percussion instrument. You hit it with a hammer and it makes a booming sound.
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WoW before it was an intenet only game
should be a dead giveaway....
Re:What does it all mean? (Score:5, Insightful)
If you're on /. and don't know what NPC is, or how to find out, you're probably not the target audience here.
If you're on /. and don't like answering peoples' questions, even when it would have taken you less time to type than the snide remark you chose, you're probably the target audience here.
A little definition is in order. A stupid question is one you could easily answer yourself in less time than it would take to request hand-holding you don't really need. A stupid question is rude because it is effectively a claim that someone else's time is worth far less than your own, and therefore they should serve you (as if you are some kind of king) and do your own minor legwork for you. That is absurd. I notice you did not submit to it yourself -- you did not answer the question either -- so whether you like it or not, your actions are in agreement with me.
... they deserve the snide remarks they receive. When you consider he could have Googled "NPC" in less time than it took to ask a stupid question, the remark was actually rather polite.
Stupid questions from literate adults who obviously have Internet (thus Google) access
Sorry if you are too soft to recognize the good that comes from not lowering the standards to suit the intellectually lazy. Intellectual laziness and the choice to knowingly embrace helplessness are character flaws. They are not supposed to be validated. They don't deserve it.
Now then, go ahead and launch your personal attacks and invective. That's what those of your emotionally-goverened, offense-driven mentality usually do when the following two conditions have been met: a) they cannot formulate an effective counter-point, and b) they are too haughty to admit when a good point has been made.
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Counterpoint: I find it incredible that you are able to live in a society. People ask questions about everything and anything all of the time and most people don't have a problem with it. Maybe it's because they don't have Google readily available, maybe they are making conversation or maybe they just don't expect you to be a complete dick about something that would take a few seconds to answer and, on a forum, could potentially be beneficial to multiple people.
BTW, nice try with the preemptive, catch-all d
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Because it is a waste of time for him to answer it. It is also detrimental to the website and the forum as a whole to encourage such questions because it dilutes any interesting post people may make.
Compare to any other website where people hold your hand asking stupid questions, you have to wade through copious amounts of stupid questions that far outnumber any post with value. That's what sets /. apart, but it seems that has been going down hill in recent times.
Yes the online world is full of stupidity, d
Re:What does it all mean? (Score:4, Insightful)
Compare to any other website where people hold your hand asking stupid questions, you have to wade through copious amounts of stupid questions that far outnumber any post with value.
I've been on boards where the community happily answers stupid questions, and on other boards where they yell about "USE THE SEARCH NOOB!"
I have seen no difference in the number of stupid questions at all. The only difference I have seen is that on the former there tends to be more useful information. Those boards are also much nicer places to "hang out".
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It's now what he asked, it's how he asked it. It relates to an article here a few weeks ago about how rude people are online. We see it here all the time; one of my favourites is when someone disagrees with a statement and they say "Wrong. blah blah blah". Maybe it's because I'm Canadian, but to me that's a very rude way to respond, even when someone has their facts wrong. Again, it's not what you're saying, but how you're saying it that gets people's back up.
Re:What does it all mean? (Score:4, Insightful)
I've read arguments like yours for decades. I'll summarize what you are doing :
- Some person is an asshole.
- Being an asshole, they need to have their ego stroked as they believe they are God's gift to mankind and everyone should know about this.
- This asshole has no family or friends or coworkers that can stand him, so he needs to find a way to stroke his own ego.
- Said asshole lurks in a online forum until somebody asks a "stupid question". All humans ask stupid questions, some stupider than others. This provides him an opportunity to join the discussion and argue.
- The asshole launches a lengthy rant about the impropriety of stupid questions, maybe even having the audacity to reinterpret the stupid question as a personal insult against himself.
- The asshole can now feel smug and intellectually superior as people respond to his iron-clad argument and fail to make a compelling case against it. This is where the masturbatory ego-stroking takes place.
Looking at your previous posts I can see you regularly do this, and chime in on discussions just to be a dick and add nothing of value to the conversation. It's entirely possible you have no interest in science or technology or "News for Nerds" at all; the actual topics at this site are largely irrelevant to you.
Of course you wouldn't post as AC to do this kind of trolling, because your history of posts are akin to viewing an extensive porn collection, and it allows you to stroke your ego over and over. It's important that you have rich history of shitting on other people, because these little "victories" as a whole give your life meaning.
Re:What does it all mean? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:What does it all mean? (Score:5, Insightful)
Interaction with other humans is greatly underrated by intolerant nerds who think we should replace it with Google searches. There's absolutely no reason why you should first look for things in Google instead of asking them in a forum, other than your personal opinion that it's the right thing to do.
Ignoring the question, or replying to it would've been far more tolerant ways to react to the post.
You sound like a robot, man. Chill out.
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Google Dic via context menu tells me it means " Nonproliferation Center. [princeton.edu]" Curiously enough writing about this may make some posters MAD.
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Yes, and the first link result from a google search for "What is an NPC?" goes to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-player_character [wikipedia.org]
When I get asked inane questions like that at work, it is very hard not to provide a lmgtfy.com link where the exact same question is entered and answered. I do actually find it abhorrent and pathetic when people take the time to post questions like that when they are so easily answered by a quick search. More complex or open-ended questions are one thing, but asking for simpl
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The Google Dictionary Chrome extension and a right click is usually the level of commitment I put into these matters, unless it's something I'm really engaged in. I just thought it odd that it would return something in connection with nuclear weapons for me while I'm parsing some nerdy flamewar.
I remember NPCs from DandD; nice to see the term still kicking around. Yes, I'm that uninformed about online gaming.
Re:What does it all mean? (Score:4, Insightful)
I just thought it odd that it would return something in connection with nuclear weapons for me while I'm parsing some nerdy flamewar.
It's probably the only other subject where phrases like "entire cities dead" feature prominently.
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Well, next time there is an article about "computers" we'll be sure to explain what those are in the summary for you then.
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Slashdot is not a community of the general public. We assume a certain level of shared understanding regarding computers, technology, gaming, etc. You fall outside that community in at least one area. You don't go to photography sites and ask "What does ISO stand for in this article? Why don't you define it when using it in article summaries?" do you?
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Non-player character. Basically the program-driven characters in the game. Usually vendors and quest givers. Back in the old days before all of the battlefields, we'd state impromptu raids on enemy cities and kill NPCs just for the fun of it. Of course, I was so low level I was just a spectator.
Re:What does it all mean? (Score:4, Informative)
Whether or not there's any actual role-playing going on in these online games is a different matter.
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What the fuck is an AC? Air conditioning? Fucking acronyms! Don't tell me to google it you assholes! wah wah
Dear roman_mir (Score:5, Funny)
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That is awesome - a Non-Plussed Character. This would be like someone who wanders through the world, not giving a fig for anything that is going on, mooching about, generally being relaxed and at ease with all they see. What a great idea.
Re:What does it all mean? (Score:4, Informative)
Unfortunately that’s not what “nonplussed” means, even though it really seems like it should. It means “perplexed, confused, befuddled.”
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An NPC is definitely not a bot. Bots are PCs being controlled by macros and/or programs.
The most common bot you see is one that queues for PVP battleground, but then just targets another friendly player and follows them around to soak up participation/victory points.
More sophisticated ones fly around the world gathering resources by actually being programmed with the location of resource node spawns and enough logic to be able to determine if they're present, click on them if so, then move to the next.
thought of something after the immediate thought.. (Score:2)
Seriously, how does Blizzard, with Warden watching the client PC, forget that the client and ANYTHING coming in from the outside internet is coming from a possible enemy. - HEX
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Need I draw your attention to the Diablo III hacks, widely understood to be the result of information leakage from the clients in an open game and the server's failure to verify that the session ID provided by a client was actually issued to that client in the first place?
Re:Stop playing that shit (Score:5, Insightful)
That's not a game, that's a job, a very shitty one.
Thats the point; its a job. But unlike ones job in the real world, in your fantasy job you can actually feel important!
Re:To quote Triumph... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:To quote Triumph... (Score:5, Interesting)