Those "uber 1337 haxxors" finally get the chop

[Wapptor]

Blizzard calls it "Judgement Day", rather fitting if you ask me, but 131000 or so accounts were deleted, and that is not a small number in the least. My first response was one of glee, and I got that great feeling of revenge upon those hackers who had ruined "my sacred" b.net for so long. If you visit a channel for a moment you will see the chaos that is now spreading through the d2 community. Of course everyone "never used ahacks man! iam totalee legits!" and everyone hates blizzard, but I think in the end these people are getting what they deserved. The fact that blizzard threatens to delete all their accounts and ban their cd-keys if they make a new account and hack on that is even more sweet. I'm sure that many here agree.

But think again, maybe this isn't the best thing, I am unsure. I have a friend, who I have known for a very long time on battle.net. Although at one time he was content to be less than "uber" and vowed against hacked items, he eventually gave in, ran item bots, used hacked items, and hung around with the dupers, lets not even mention maphack. However he remained my friend, even though his group of people changed, and I had other friends like him, just not as bad. Talking with him recently on AIM, I realized that his accounts, his years of effort were gone, all his friends were quitting d2, many of my friends were quitting d2, and his will to play anymore was gone, and he like many others despised blizzard, they felt that they had ruined their game. And quickly, while some were forcibly (banned) kicked off battle.net some of my other friends just quit because their friends were no longer there. And within a few days I watched as my small, tightly knit d2 community dissolved around me. The same has happened for many other people, I know.

So is this the right thing? It's obviously harsh, and I've always prayed for something like this. I've always held great enmity towards hack users and their kin, however the effects may not necessarily justify the means... Blizzard warns that they will continue to keep deleting the accounts of hackers, but in the end of this act of retribution, what may be left of the diablo 2 community? My hope is that the legit players like us here at the Lounge, and the Amazon Basin people will become a majority, and that other undiscovered "legits" will rule a sort of eutopian battle.net, unlikely as it is, we can hope! :D . However the way things look now, battle.net seems to be a miserable place, in the end, will this destroy the d2 community, or revitalize it?

I'm not trying to support the hackers, in many ways I am overjoyed, but when I see the reactions of many friends, I wonder, will b.net be saved? or destroyed?

-Wapptor

[Dani]

Grr grr, I posted about this already earlier today. :P

Anyways.

Maybe I'm choosy, but I wouldn't be friends with someone who needs to cheat in D2 to compete. The whole point of closed was to have it clean. Those that wanted to mod/hack/cheat/etc. could do so freely on Open. I mean this points out the whole motive of the cheaters. They just want to be strong without the effort in an environment that ideally requires quite a bit to climb towards the top of the pyramid. They want a freebie. What they do takes away from the honest players.
To me, such characteristics are revolting. In lesser extent I feel very much the same about people who leech exp of others or cry that you should rush them. If the way the game works as given is too hard or too boring, they should just move on to other games.
Again, this only for closed which was supposed to be clean, and which is a multiplayer environment, where every pindled elite unique takes away from legit players. It's like counterfeniting.
I dunno, but if I were you I would rethink what kind of people I want to be friends with.
Maybe they just don't get it that cheating directly hurts the legit players (thoughtlessness seems to be all the rage with the modern generations). If they have any honor, they will stop, if not, well to the recycling bin with them. :P

[Wapptor]

I get it, I also agree with everything you said, I also have numerous legit friends. Friendships are not only based on diablo 2, such was the case with this friend.

-Wapptor

[Archon_Wing]

Meh, I wouldn't end a friendship over a game. In the end, it's just a game. I don't like playing with non-legit people either, as that makes the game pointless.

It's actualy rather disturbing, of all my friends who play D2 more than half of them cheat. They're still my friends, but I'll just kinda laugh if they do get deleted. [repressed thought] Whee!! Being legit rulez!! Hahhahahaha!!! [/repressed thought]

It's intresting though, many cheaters used the "It's just a game" excuse. Now I see these same cheaters crying and whining as if someone died. Oh, it's so funny. :)

[Striker]

Grr grr, I posted about this already earlier today. :P

So did Roland (check the Lounge) :P

Anyway, I'm just glad Blizz finally did something. It's funny to check the forums over at Dii.net and see all the whining going on. Methinks they doth protest too much :lol:

[Dani]

Meh, I wouldn't end a friendship over a game. In the end, it's just a game. I don't like playing with non-legit people either, as that makes the game pointless.

Well yes not just over a game. But I think it goes deeper than just a game. It points out certain characteristics that I consider immoral. As I said, if you can explain it to them well, they should see that it is indeed wrong, and it actually does harm other people.

But heck, it's not like I'm trying to pressure Wapptor or you, or anyone into anything.
Just as well, that I never wanted to make friends in Bnet with anyone. Occasionalyl I meet someone who might be nice...but frankly I couldn't take the disappointment when they're one by one swallowed by the dark side.

[Wapptor]

And I dont think we will know until this whole thing ends,

Will this destroy much of the d2 community? Or is it just more likely to completely rejuvinate it, and make it what it was intended to be. I have a feeling these are not the last accounts to be banned by Blizzard. The hackers days are truly numbered. I think the best outcome would be a change by the masses out of fear, fear of losing their accounts. Then a massive item deletion and new cheat protection along with blizzard staying so agressive would definitely help. Throw in 1.10 and it could be exactly what battle.net needs. Is it worth it? Sounds nice, but will there be anyone left?

Legit people are great, but theres not that many of 'em. Part of the fun of multiplay is the massive world, and the varied people you meet. If everyone was the same nice legit player, I wonder, would things get boring? In the end I think that only time will tell, no matter how cliche that may seem :P .

-Wapptor

[Archon_Wing]

Meh, I wouldn't end a friendship over a game. In the end, it's just a game. I don't like playing with non-legit people either, as that makes the game pointless.

Well yes not just over a game. But I think it goes deeper than just a game. It points out certain characteristics that I consider immoral. As I said, if you can explain it to them well, they should see that it is indeed wrong, and it actually does harm other people.

But heck, it's not like I'm trying to pressure Wapptor or you, or anyone into anything.
Just as well, that I never wanted to make friends in Bnet with anyone. Occasionalyl I meet someone who might be nice...but frankly I couldn't take the disappointment when they're one by one swallowed by the dark side.

Hmm... I tend to refer to friends IRL. Yes, I think a little less highly of them. Like, "sheesh, what kind of trauma did you have in your earlier childhood that makes you cheat. *insert psychoanalysis* :P

But it doesn't necessarily mean they are bad people, just slightly twisted morally.

Yea, people who cheat in video games also tend to be dishonest in real life too. But I prefer to judge that on a person-to-person basis.

I guess the main grip with battle.net cheating is that it affects other people, whether one notices or not.

As for friends on B.net? Well, some of them have been traitors, but I never let that get me down. You meet people like that in real life, and perhaps your view of humanity goes down a little, but again, keep the faith. ;)

I'd also like to comment that some legit players are mean/dishonest in real life and/or in-game too. So in general, the quality of a person tends to be a bit complex.

*end babble*

[Archon_Wing]

And I dont think we will know until this whole thing ends,

Will this destroy much of the d2 community? Or is it just more likely to completely rejuvinate it, and make it what it was intended to be.  I have a feeling these are not the last accounts to be banned by Blizzard.  The hackers days are truly numbered.  I think the best outcome would be a change by the masses out of fear, fear of losing their accounts.  Then a massive item deletion and new cheat protection along with blizzard staying so agressive would definitely help.  Throw in 1.10 and it could be exactly what battle.net needs.  Is it worth it? Sounds nice, but will there be anyone left?

Legit people are great, but theres not that many of 'em.  Part of the fun of multiplay is the massive world, and the varied people you meet.  If everyone was the same nice legit player, I wonder, would things get boring?  In the end I think that only time will  tell, no matter how cliche that may seem :P .

-Wapptor

Ahem, I don't know about you, but we really didn't need these l33t script kiddies anyways. All they did was ruin games. The economy was crap anyways, and if you want exciting jerks, you can find them in the legit crowd too. If you can't, I'll just come along and pk joo with throwing potions!!!!!111111

I, for one, won't miss them.

[Wapptor]

Oh, I wont miss plenty of em, but I'm imagining a kind of empty b.net, maybe its just me :P .

-Wapptor

P.S. isnt this chatroom type stuff "illegal" hehe i'm Wapptor on AIM if you have it ;)

[Archon_Wing]

P.S. isnt this chatroom type stuff "illegal" hehe i'm Wapptor on AIM if you have it ;)

?????
Ahh, correct smiley. :huh:
And of course, my Aim is beneath each of my posts. :)

[FoxBat]

Despite what has been said, some fully legit people really HAVE gotten their passwords changed by Blizzard, as one can see at the Basin.

They have some sort of request for restore process, but I have no idea what criteria they use for determining if the account used "cheats" or not. Maybe they have none.

So the question is, is it worth banning 5 legits for 95 cheaters? Another relevant point is that these "95" cheaters are likely less than 2% of the total cheaters out there.

[Walkiry]

Call it "collateral damage" if you want. For one, if my account got the axe so that 131,000 cheaters could get deleted, I'll shrug, create a new one and start whacking at things in the Blood Moor again. With a smile.

[FoxBat]

The "shrug off-ability" factor begs the question though. Surely some cheaters can "shrug it off" as easily as you. Which makes one wonder what the point of this is. Unless it can somehow be established that legits are that much more likely to shrug off the loss of characters than cheaters, or that they somehow should shrug it off while a cheater shouldn't.

Maybe you would think that, but I haven't yet found someone actually hit by this that was happy about it. Most people would not assent to being convicted while innocent, even though it serves the larger good of catching crooks (which to some degree, any system of justice actually does.) There are people who would accept it, but very few that would be happy about it.

[Walkiry]

I do think that the "shrug-off" factor is much lower for cheaters. The way I see it, a heavy botter that has collected a large amount of "uberitemz" will indeed be hit hard by a deletion, simply because those items are not just accesories to play the game, they are some kind of wealth they seem to think they possess. This of course is my opinion. And looking at the uproar in the Dii forum I don't think I'm too far off.

Don't get me wrong, I won't be HAPPY if my account got deleted. My Death Maiden is the most stylish tank I've ever created, I'm attached to my slowly growing melee sorcie, and I have a blast every time I take my Vidala Acolyte out for a spin in public games. But I do think Blizzard has done a great thing, and if I have to go down when all those accounts do, I'm ready to accept it. I already have the smile on my face, and the loss of my account won't delete it :)

[sojourn]

Talking with him recently on AIM, I realized that his accounts, his years of effort were gone, all his friends were quitting d2, many of my friends were quitting d2, and his will to play anymore was gone, and he like many others despised blizzard, they felt that they had ruined their game.  And quickly, while some were forcibly (banned) kicked off battle.net some of my other friends just quit because their friends were no longer there.  And within a few days I watched as my small, tightly knit d2 community dissolved around me.  The same has happened for many other people, I know.

Looks like your friend and friends and so learned how to quit the 'hard' way. A lot of the full time veterans or experienced players quit a very, very long time ago.

As for me, I had already quit the scene 3 months after LOD had came out. Simply why? It was the mere beginning of some of the duped items, and hacked items started popping out that I read on the forums.

Well, I did switch to hardcore, but eventually my appetite for DII already died down, I think mainly/generally it was because of the CO-OP that scheduled/prepared runs (such as private HC Hell cow lvl, man those were the bomb games back then!), as you played with only people you knew and it was easily trust-able.

Eventually, I'm sure the hacked items made games not fun anymore - What's there to fear if you know you can destroy everything easily.. There wouldn't be any emotional or having a fun experience playing the game online. Like for one, what's the fun/adrenaline of having a clvl 90+ hardcore character, whom has all the hacked items and most doubtly cannot die the whole game?

I remembered the first time I got tricked in D2C as well, sometime a few months after it came out. Anyone ever remember the 'put a soj in trade window, take it out and put a magic look alike ring?' Well, I despised it when it happened, but that's the only time I've been tricked on b.net. I do hope that guy's account gets deleted, though. (I like avengeful revenges)

[BlackLightning]

Hello, it's me, the "reformed" Springheeled Jack guy...

I know people lurk for a while before posting but I felt this topic was especially relevant to my situation.

My friend used hacks- ALOT. Sadly though, his account was banned. He called me asking for my CD-Key, and I said no. He told me that he's sending an e-mail to Blizzard saying that they're mean, in hopes of getting his account back (Tee-hee!)

So, in relevance to the topic, I think Blizzard's using the banning as a post mortem, to clear things up before launching 1.10. It seems like a pretty good idea too...

[FoxBat]

I tend to think the whole enterprise is pointless. 1% is more like 2% of all the cheaters out there, it's a drop in the bucket. You just lose a bunch of cheating customers, a bunch of legit customers, and the remaining continue to dupe, hack, etc. I think their time would be better spent integrating a form of Punkbuster into D2, or more realistically the Frozen Throne, but Blizzard probably considers themself "above" using 3rd party stuff that actually works.

[Dani]

Despite what has been said, some fully legit people really HAVE gotten their passwords changed by Blizzard, as one can see at the Basin.

And despite what those "fully legit" people say, more often than not, they do use maphack.
Sorry, but in the past two days I've seen hundreds of supposedly legit players complain, only to discover that yes, they did use maphack, or yes, they did have one hacked item on one char, etc.

I have 12 accounts, never cheated, and they're all intact.

Deleting 131k accounts is a good start. It's an anti-cheating move, that first of all probably got rid of some of the most nototrious cheaters, and secondly, many people might be driven to the legit path through fear of repercussions.
This will be very good, if we see another 100k acounts deleted in a month or two. If it's just onetime action, then the effects won't be so profound as I hope they would be.

[Whiggles]

Perhaps I'm just a conspiracy theorist, but I wonder if perhaps Blizzard had ulterior motives in deleting all those accounts. What always comes back to me is the fact that Battle.net is a service that is provided free to users, with Blizzard footing the bill. I wonder if deleting all those accounts was in fact an attempt to kill two birds with one stone: attempt to appear tough on the "haX0rs", and lessen the load on the servers. It would be really interesting to see exactly how they decided which accounts to delete. Did they have some kind of automatic detection system, or did they rely on other players reporting the villains?