Follow Slashdot blog updates by subscribing to our blog RSS feed

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Role Playing (Games)

Ex-Lover Deletes MMOG Character 132

Posted by Zonk from the and-stay-out! dept.
Ant writes "Voodoo Extreme reports on the story of a jilted Japanese girlfriend who logged onto her ex-lover's Lineage account with his username and password. Once there, she deleted his game data including all the items, weapons and clothes he had collected. Although the boyfriend did not suffer financially he reported the misuse of his account to the police. Police then reported the woman of Toyama Prefecture, to the Fukushima District Public Prosecutors Office accusing her of violating a law banning illegal access to someone else's online accounts." Considering the big business that Lineage represents, it doesn't surprise me that the police took it seriously.
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Ex-Lover Deletes MMOG Character More

Ex-Lover Deletes MMOG Character

Comments Filter:

  • Understandable... (Score:4, Funny)

    by It doesn't come easy ( 695416 ) * on Friday January 21, 2005 @10:33AM (#11432074) Journal
    His actions make perfect sense. After all, what's more important, your MMOG character or your ex-girlfriend? (obviously Slashdot readers will have to treat this as a hypothetical situation, since in order to have an ex-girlfriend you must first have a girlfriend)

  • errr.. hello? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Atrax ( 249401 ) on Friday January 21, 2005 @10:38AM (#11432133) Homepage Journal
    if you don't want your shit deleted, don't give away your login details.

    non-story. at least non-tech. talk to Oprah.

    • Re:errr.. hello? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by sgant ( 178166 )
      I have to agree...how is this news for Slashdot really?

      How is this different from an ex-girlfriend abusing your stuff after a bad breakup:

      * Throwing your laptop out a window
      * Spraypainting your monitor
      * Keying/spraypainting/breaking windows on your car
      * Dumping bleach into your salt water aquarium
      * Boiling your daughters pet rabbit on the stove
      * Coming at you with a butcher knife

      I mean, we've all been there, this is normal stuff really. Nothing to see here...

      • Re:errr.. hello? (Score:3, Insightful)

        by jlapier ( 739283 )
        I think what makes it news for slashdot is just what you pointed out - deleting his MMOG data is considered as bad as all of those things that you mentioned. The fact that the police arrested the girl for destroying virtual property makes this a tech story.

        • She wasn't arrested for destroying property; she was arrested for using an online account without the owner's permission. I don't know what the penalty for that is, but I doubt it's the same as the penalty for vandalism or destruction of property.

          BTW, unless Lineage is different from most MMORPGs, the character was owned by NCSoft, not the player.

          Rob
      • I mean, we've all been there

        All of those things at once? .... can't say I have!
    • Doesn't always work like that. I never told any of my girlfriends my passwords, but when I was checking my email at one of them one day, she looked over my shoulder without me knowing and saw what I typed. She then logged in and changed my password. Good thing it was only Hotmail...
      • Why would she change your password? Did she think it would be fucking funny? Did you break up with her over this incident?

        'Cause if you did, that would be understandable. Absolutely no one should fuck with a geek's passwords.
        • ...it was near the end of the relationship, and after I dumped her sorry ass she changed it.

          I also learned a hard lesson in another kind of password security...she tried logging onto my AIM SN with that password, which happened to be the same...there went my 200 buddies :(.

          Needless to say, I keep much more complicated and different passwords now.

  • Can you .... (Score:3)

    by AtariAmarok ( 451306 ) on Friday January 21, 2005 @10:39AM (#11432139)
    Can you Bobbitize your own character in such a game?

  • High score... (Score:5, Funny)

    by hoggoth ( 414195 ) on Friday January 21, 2005 @10:42AM (#11432169) Journal
    Help! I am in a similar situation right now. Standing not 10 feet from me, my soon-to-be-ex girlfriend has both hands gripped around the electrical cord of my classic vertical Qubix arcade cabinet. If she pulls the cord I lose my cherised spot as the high score holding.

    To put this in perspective, it took me 4 years to get that score. I've been dating her for 2 years. Nuff said?

    Now here's the dilemma: She demands I turn off this computer right now and spend the day with her. I haven't watched the new 'The Corpse Bride' trailer yet, nor have I caught up on Slashdot, Anandtech, or Ars Technica.

    What do I do?

    • no problem. refer here [seinfeldscripts.com] for instructions on how to move a game cabinet while retaining high score.
      • Of course, once you have that information, do not let on to the girlfriend that you've solved that problem...

        You'd have to be good at keeping a straight face...

    • Re:High score... (Score:4, Funny)

      by b0r0din ( 304712 ) on Friday January 21, 2005 @10:50AM (#11432269)
      Soon to be ex-girlfriend? I think you've already made the decision, buddy.

      I recommend this: Say 'ok I'll turn off the computer and go out with you.' Then turn off the monitor, and get your coat or whatnot on and head out the door with her. When you get to the door, make sure she's outside, then step back inside quickly, and lock the door. Tell her she can get her shit later. :)
      • That is if she already hasn't asked your mom to let her in so she can get her things out of his room, located in the basement of course. I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist posting a stereotypical comment. Mea culpa

    • The answer can be found here [smith-wesson.com].

      Remember, be generous when applying the solution.

  • It goes to show... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by stienman ( 51024 ) <adavis@noSPAm.ubasics.com> on Friday January 21, 2005 @10:44AM (#11432197) Homepage Journal

    Remember kids - share body fluids all you want, but never share your password.

    -Adam
    • I agree, but what happens when I die and my wife needs access to my Datek account, and has to turn off Yahoo's automatic bill pay?

      • In this case, since the bill 'belongs' to both of you and the resources used to pay the bill 'belongs' to both of you then the passwords and other critical information should also 'belong' to both of you.

        However, legally all she has to do is take control of the account the bill pay is coming from and deny payment. If the account is in her name, an easy way to do that is simply to close it. If the account is only in your name then she'll have to go through the legal process of claiming it, which can ta
      • Have a secret letter to go to your wife on your death. "Dear wife/girlfriend/other, If you are reading this, then I am dead. The login name to my WoW account is sexybob119 and the password is moofy."
    • Or at least change it every so often so when you piss someone off they can't nuke it.
  • This really is a case that displays in a not so serious way the malicious ways of our inherited basic reptilian mind. Its the same part of our basic mind that makes people find malice amusing. Maybe it should be replaced by something else as we now live in a modern society where murdering ones fellow citizens , or just causing malice to them, does not increase once personal chance of survival as it would back in the ice cold days when the reptilian mind evolved , but in these modern times we should literaly

  • Oh, please. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by delus10n0 ( 524126 )
    I'm sure the police have better things to do than worry about your VIRTUAL GOODS, VIRTUAL MONEY and VIRTUAL CLOTHING in a VIRTUAL WORLD.

    Gah. Someone please put this person out his misery.
    • And what is a credit card account but VIRTUAL MONEY?
      • See, the difference is, you can actually buy real-world goods with a credit card. If you walked into ___(your favorite store name here)___ and asked if you could pay with Lineage gold credits, they'd look at you like you're crazy.
        • Well, if you know the right people you can trade virtual currency for real currency which gives your virtual goods a trade value. You couldn't go into a store and try to pay with company shares or gold or something, you'd have to liquidate those first as well.
          • Well, if you know the right people you can trade virtual currency for real currency

            Only because people are stupid enough to buy it. It's like saying that, simply because some people are gullible enough to buy them, Alex Chiu's Immortality Rings [alexchiu.com] have real-world value.

            Rob
            • Yes, it's exactly like that. Unfortunately, that doesn't help your argument, because those immortality rings do have real-world value if someone is willing to buy them. Something has "real-world" monetary value if someone is willing to pay money for it. It really is that simple.
              • Where "real world" means "what exists inside the buyer's head"? I'm talking about the real world that objectively exists, and in that world, those rings have no value.

                Rob
    • shouldn't that mean that the VIRTUAL police should be investigating this VIRTUAL crime?
    • Because outside of USA there is countries where you can go to court of OTHER reasons than MONEY. In many countries, including Soviet Russia, you don't NEED to have a monetary loss to claim for some damages or get justice. Well..actually, in Soviet Russia, the police calls you. Nevermind.

  • Wives and passwords (Score:3, Funny)

    by Johnny Mnemonic ( 176043 ) <mdinsmoreNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Friday January 21, 2005 @10:50AM (#11432257) Homepage Journal

    Seriously, what's the purpose of sharing your password with your SO? In case someone throws a brick at your head, and you forget everything, you can still log on? I can just imagine the damage my wife could do to my karma on /.--fortunately my pass is my girlfriend's name, she'll never figure it out ;)
    • So, uh, what's your girlfriend's name anyway? Just making conversation, no reason to be suspicious ;)
    • If I just read that correctly, you have bigger problems than passwords man.
    • Actually...my wife knows all my passwords...ya never know when your time is up and some of them are very important accounts that she will need to take care of once I'm gone...

      Remember this very problem [cnn.com] reported just recently...

      • Actually...my wife knows all my passwords...ya never know when your time is up and some of them are very important accounts that she will need to take care of once I'm gone...

        The main reason why I will probably never give my wife any of my important passwords (probably any at all) is that I can remember tens of unintuitive passwords that are at least 8 characters long with letters and numbers and special characters, with both upper and lower case. I know she can't. If I give her my passwords, she'll writ

    • So, if your wife finds out about your girlfriend you're not worried about her guessing your password?

      Or vice-versa :-)

      Seriously man- change the password to kjhs45ks, it's just not worth the risk to your Karma.

      • I made this mistake in High School. Set my account PW to this girl's name that I liked... boy, did that flip out my girlfriend at the time...... she actually guessed the password....

        (pre-e-mail days - used to log into each other's accounts and write notes...)
      • Seriously man- change the password to kjhs45ks,

        Don't use kjhs45ks, I use that. I recommend er42jKWi as a good replacement.
    • Seriously, what's the purpose of sharing your password with your SO?

      You're assuming he shared it with her.

      1. Did he have auto-logon turned on?

      2. Did he use the same stupid password for every thing he did?
    • > ... on /.--fortunately my pass is my girlfriend's name ...

      Hmmm really weird, I just tried to login with "Johnny Mnemonic" and an empty string ("") for password, but it won't let me in.
  • 0. get girlfriend
    1. make sure your girlfriend thinks this collection you have means more to you than anything else in the world
    2. you do something that makes your girlfriend want to break up with you (like making her feel like this collection you have means more to you than she does)
    3. girlfriend breakes up with you, destroys your collection to hurt you
    4. act angry/depressed/sad, see her walking out
    5. have a laugh
    6. get back to your precious MMOG game

  • slashdot -> Voodoo Extreme -> rpg.boomtown.net -> Mainichi Shimbun

    And they said the Internet was dead. Ha!
  • "See? See? I told you there's a reason it is bad to have a girlfriend."
  • Geez, why are women so vindictive ?
    I bet that whatever he pulled wasn't even close to deserve something mean like this.

    I'mean, come on, sleeping with her best friend... she should be angry at that girl, not him.

    (Ignore this post.)
  • First, why would he give his uid/pw to anyone? Second, why have such a volatile GF? Better rid now than later. Waves or not, she's certainly high mtce.

    Reporting to the police is perferctly appropriate. It is unauthorized access, and he has probably invested hundreds of hours worth a fraction million Yen. That he did it for pleasure is not relevant, the damage costs to repair. Like defacing a masterpiece.

  • It sounds like his ex-gf did the virtual equivalent of smashing his windshield in with a baseball bat. This is just another reminder to the kiddies that passwords should not be shared before marriage, and I'm none too sure about afterwards either! But you all know what this is leading up to...some serious makeup sex! Oh wait, this is /.. Nevermind...

  • good! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by OmniVector ( 569062 ) <see my homepage> on Friday January 21, 2005 @11:35AM (#11432788) Homepage
    good for her i say. those fucking MMORPGs are like social black holes. i've been sucked into them a few times and every time I quit one i end up getting depressed about wasting my life on a stupid game. it's almost as bad as a drug addiction (maybe not physically but mentally, no doubt).
    • I know... I was getting emotional about deleting my City of Heroes account despite the fact I hadn't played in months. I was like, "but what if I want to play it and my precious superhero is dead?". But then I deleted it and it was off my mind. Now, to go buy World of Warcraft...
    • You're painting this as if she was battling his addictions for the good of their relationship.

      We don't have all the details, but it appears she was just being a vindictive bitch.
  • It'd be about the same as if she were writing a book, and after years of writing he deleted the file.

    She's not out money, but all that time she spent is gone.

  • Rule of Acquisition (Score:4, Funny)

    by FsG ( 648587 ) on Friday January 21, 2005 @12:00PM (#11433063)
    Ferengi Rule of Acquisition [dmwright.com] #40: She can touch your lobes, but never your Latinum.
    • She can touch your lobes, but never your Latinum.

      What the hell is my Latinum?

      • What the hell is my Latinum?

        What is latinum?
        Latinum is the currency used in the later Star Trek Series.

        See:
        http://www.thesitefights.com/team13/faq/f a q2.htm

        Also

        What is Latinum? The only thing that has any value, since it can't be replicated.
        See:
        http://zooplah.dyndns.org/misc/ stqahttp://zooplah. dyndns.org/misc/stqa

        also

        Latinum
        Star Trek
        A liquid which cannot be replicated or synthesized. Used as a dominant form of currency by the Ferengi. As it is difficult to properly measure liquid for currency

  • Thank you, Slashdot.... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by bubblewrapgrl ( 189933 ) on Friday January 21, 2005 @12:37PM (#11433443)
    for another way to threaten my husband.

    Seriously, if I ever did that to him, he would go in and delete all of my WoW characters. And I would totally deserve it. Smashing a window on a car is one thing, deleting a character is another. At least you can replace the windshield fairly easily.

  • To quote: (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 21, 2005 @12:38PM (#11433453)
    Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned for Sega. - Mallrats
  • "she deleted his game data including all the items, weapons and clothes he had collected."

    He should be so lucky. My ex deleted all of the above AND my SOUL. IN REAL LIFE.
  • I have to wonder how this could be a crime, Blizzard has defined all content on the WoW servers as their property therefore they can go afvter the scumbags resselling it on Ebay. Sony has always had the same stance and no company has said that you own your characters or their gear. So the only person with a valid legal complaint in light of this is the company producing Lineage. Not to mention that this being Lineage, he will just start the macro going and return in a month to have anything he wants availa
  • Why can't they just take all the deleted characters and put them in some kind of recycle bin for two months before permanently deleting them. I can't really see the need to ever permanently delete a character. Sure some people may give up a particular game, but I assume they'd leave their characters intact so that if in the future they wanted to play again they wouldn't have to start from scratch. Character deletions are an impulse move that seem good for about 5 minutes, but I'd wager that most people w
    • If they allowed that, then all the people like myself who don't play all the time, but have reasonably high level characters, would delete their accounts, wait 55 days, open account again and delete it again.

      How much money do you think an established MMORPG make from people reluctant to delete their characters? One of my friends kept his original UO account open for a year and a half before finally deleting it. That's a big chunk of change for however many kb's of server space and the zero bandwidth requir
      • This would still be a good idea for people in this guy's situation, though. The game company could keep the characters for a month or so after deletion, but only restore them if the players can prove that the characters were wrongfully deleted.

        Of course, this story doesn't say that his character was deleted, but that his items were. That would probably be a lot harder to restore through those means (and a lot easier to restore by simply playing the game).

        Rob
      • DAOC lets people restore deleted characters provided the backups still exist (and they will so long as they haven't created new characters since then).

        And the solution for the problem you mentioned is to simply not delete accounts. DAOC says that they reserve the right to delete accounts later, but if they do so they'll announce it on their news site and they'll delete the oldest accounts first.
    • I'm sure it's because there's no way you'd ever be able to get kids off eq again.
  • No one suggested changing your passwords. You're safer if you change your passwords.

    The real issue is: did she hack the password or not? Hacking is the crime described. Being given the password is not the crime described. Okay, so he had an emotional interest in the character, having spent so many hours playing. Guess what? It's a game. Anyone who plays a game knows that sometimes you lose.

    The article is so short, you get no new information than the headline. I understand being upset, but I think
    • Actually I believe that the crime involved was not having authorization to use the account. It is possible to know the password to someone's account and still not be authorized to use it. If you follow the links back on the article (back two or three links) you will see that they actually met while playing lineage. So my guess is that he probably met some other woman that was playing lineage and that was probably the cause for the breakup.
  • The most shocking part of this story is that the Japanese police can actually do something. I worked in Tokyo for almost two years, and the only they they did was take my bike (true story).

    The sad thing, ex-girlfriend or not, he most likely had more time and money wrapped up in his game than her. This oppinion comes from my experience with my friends over there and how odd/disfunctional their relationships seemed to my foreign eyes.

  • Then again, neither do I have a girlfriend, for that matter...

    • Then again, neither do I have a girlfriend, for that matter...

      I'm with you there. I can't stand people who put on a confident face and become someone they're not just to have a girl. Indeed, just to not look gay, in front of God/Yahweh/Allah/[insert deity] or their friends. I'd rather live a satisfying life alone than forget who I am to have a girl who'd dump me for a richer guy anyway.

      --and if anyone here connotates live a satisfying life alone with masturbation I'll personally hurt them.

Slashdot Top Deals

"I will make no bargains with terrorist hardware." -- Peter da Silva

Close