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| OmegaDog 707th Post
 
Red Carpet Regular Member
  
    
    
|  "And iRO gets hacked YET AGAIN...!"
, posted Tue 5 Aug 01:17
Back in July 22, out of popular demand, the GMs of International Ragnarok Online began to supply all new accounts with a free 3-day trial. This way, people who missed out on the Open Beta could sample the world of Rune-Midgard.
... maybe that wasn't the best of ideas.
It started out Sunday morning, when one individual found out how to speak in GM fashion (yellow text at the top of the screen for everyone to see), and decided to pose as a member of the GM Team, even noting Christy (uber GM). There were different announcements with the same general message on both Chaos and Loki. The text on Loki is a bit more elaborate:
iroGM01: Hello this is iRO GM
Today is a great day for iRO
We will permanently remove Hode map from iRO
Because of many bots there
Same, elder willow map will be remove
right geist ill think of that
In next maintenance, hode and elder map will be removed AND
Comodo will be implemented
Without monsters because we are too lazy for that
Sure we are here at gravity.
Christy's haveing a cup of tea next to me
She's saying "STFU let me drink my tea"
Note this are NOT jokes. Comodo will really be implemented tomorro
I was just kidding for Christy :)
We would like to inform you that there will be no rollback
Just stat and skill reset
However, characters above lv70 will be automatically
Level down to lv70 in order to
Make the game more equilibrated
All MVP hats will be cleared from inventory.
Because comodo makes MVP lot harders
That started a bunch of rumors. After word got finally got around that it was a hoax (citing, for example, a lack of mention of the Sakray test server), then people calmed down again.
On Monday morning however, we get a different message from a different individual who finds out how to do the same thing (and gets a lot of private messages, hence the unfamiliar names)...
p w n a g e: Akroma Sucks Balls
p w n a g e: WOw thats alot of pms
EVERYONE LOVES YOU!
p w n a g e: Er, me
p w n a g e: Oh well
p w n a g e: this is fun anyways
p w n a g e: oh god
p w n a g e: TOO MANY PMS
p w n a g e: Sir_lewis pwnz j00
p w n a g e: k anyways
p w n a g e: Id just like to point out
p w n a g e: that the comodo announcement
p w n a g e: was a hacker, like me ^ ^
p w n a g e: I love you heidi! :o
p w n a g e: I think im gonna count how many times someone tells me "STOP HACING
p w n a g e: OMG HAX!
p w n a g e: come to north pront for free poopoo
p w n a g e: j/k
p w n a g e: WOW LOOK AT ALL THOSE PPL GO!
p w n a g e: damn
p w n a g e: fucking lag like hell up here
p w n a g e: Ive got my own groupes!
p w n a g e: "how do you do that omg tell me"
p w n a g e: "gimme stuff!"
p w n a g e: "I WAT ZENNIES!"
p w n a g e: Im a novice
p w n a g e: im hiding somewhere in pront
p w n a g e: first person to find me
p w n a g e: gets all kinds of poopoo
p w n a g e: no, im not inside
p w n a g e: I WONT SAY UR NAME
p w n a g e: I CANT READ
p w n a g e: ALL THE FUCKING PMS
p w n a g e: Fine, now none of you can talk to me
p w n a g e: I hope your happy
p w n a g e: Shut up, Aku Soku
p w n a g e: so?
p w n a g e: I dont even pay for this game?
p w n a g e: I hacked it with the free trial account
That wouldn't cause worry by itself. However, shortly after, the hackers started dropping uber-rare items and cards (Whisper Cards, Mistress Cards, Sohee Cards, etc) in groups of heavy amounts and began to distribute them.
... and THAT will screw with the game, as a rollback now seems inevitable.
The thing is, the GMs are AGAIN tightlipped as to what the hell has been going on, and what the hell is going to be done about it. Whichever way, I'm not touching the game until after this week's server maintenance, or until the GMs actually make a comment. I'm pretty certain that, aside from the inevitable rollback, a reconsideration of the free 3-day trial will take place.
Later, a person claiming to the be hacker posts on a few RO fansite message boards, stating that what he did was not so much a hack, but rather the following:
By default, an account with the name irogm gets GM privileges. The account actually didn't exist on iRO, so he made it and was granted instant GM powers.
Shortly after, he was able to provide a couple more screenshots of his handiwork. Here are a couple more novices he created -- shown in the Novice Training Grounds with rare weaponry (even some reserved for GMs) and headgear.
One shot, note inventory
Another shot, more items
... DAMMIT GRAVITY!
"I'll punish you with my burning fist of justice!!" | CCT: NEXT STAGE IS 13 |
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Replies:
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| He||SinG
184th Post
Regular Customer
|  "Re(1):And iRO gets hacked YET AGAIN...!"
, posted Tue 5 Aug 02:14
quote:
Back in July 22, out of popular demand, the GMs of International Ragnarok Online began to supply all new accounts with a free 3-day trial. This way, people who missed out on the Open Beta could sample the world of Rune-Midgard.
... maybe that wasn't the best of ideas.
It started out Sunday morning, when one individual found out how to speak in GM fashion (yellow text at the top of the screen for everyone to see), and decided to pose as a member of the GM Team, even noting Christy (uber GM). There were different announcements with the same general message on both Chaos and Loki. The text on Loki is a bit more elaborate:
iroGM01: Hello this is iRO GM
Today is a great day for iRO
We will permanently remove Hode map from iRO
Because of many bots there
Same, elder willow map will be remove
right geist ill think of that
In next maintenance, hode and elder map will be removed AND
Comodo will be implemented
Without monsters because we are too lazy for that
Sure we are here at gravity.
Christy's haveing a cup of tea next to me
She's saying "STFU let me drink my tea"
Note this are NOT jokes. Comodo will really be implemented tomorro
I was just kidding for Christy :)
We would like to inform you that there will be no rollback
Just stat and skill reset
However, characters above lv70 will be automatically
Level down to lv70 in order to
Make the game more equilibrated
All MVP hats will be cleared from inventory.
Because comodo makes MVP lot harders
That started a bunch of rumors. After word got finally got around that it was a hoax (citing, for example, a lack of mention of the Sakray test server), then people calmed down again.
On Monday morning however, we get a different message from a different individual who finds out how to do the same thing (and gets a lot of private messages, hence the unfamiliar names)...
p w n a g e: Akroma Sucks Balls
p w n a g e: WOw thats alot of pms
EVERYONE LOVES YOU!
p w n a g e: Er, me
p w n a g e: Oh well
p w n a g e: this is fun anyways
p w n a g e: oh god
p w n a g e: TOO MANY PMS
p w n a g e: Sir_lewis pwnz j00
p w n a g e: k anyways
p w n a g e: Id just like to point out
p w n a g e: that the comodo announcement
p w n a g e: was a hacker, like me ^ ^
p w n a g e: I love you heidi! :o
p w n a g e: I think im gonna count how many times someone tells me "STOP HACING
p w n a g e: OMG HAX!
p w n a g e: come to north pront for free poopoo
p w n a g e: j/k
p w n a g e: WOW LOOK AT ALL THOSE PPL GO!
p w n a g e: damn
p w n a g e: fucking lag like hell up here
p w n a g e: Ive got my own groupes!
p w n a g e: "how do you do that omg tell me"
p w n a g e: "gimme stuff!"
p w n a g e: "I WAT ZENNIES!"
p w n a g e: Im a novice
p w n a g e: im hiding somewhere in pront
p w n a g e: first person to find me
p w n a g e: gets all kinds of poopoo
p w n a g e: no, im not inside
p w n a g e: I WONT SAY UR NAME
p w n a g e: I CANT READ
p w n a g e: ALL THE FUCKING PMS
p w n a g e: Fine, now none of you can talk to me
p w n a g e: I hope your happy
p w n a g e: Shut up, Aku Soku
p w n a g e: so?
p w n a g e: I dont even pay for this game?
p w n a g e: I hacked it with the free trial account
That wouldn't cause worry by itself. However, shortly after, the hackers started dropping uber-rare items and cards (Whisper Cards, Mistress Cards, Sohee Cards, etc) in groups of heavy amounts and began to distribute them.
... and THAT will screw with the game, as a rollback now seems inevitable.
The thing is, the GMs are AGAIN tightlipped as to what the hell has been going on, and what the hell is going to be done about it. Whichever way, I'm not touching the game until after this week's server maintenance, or until the GMs actually make a comment. I'm pretty certain that, aside from the inevitable rollback, a reconsideration of the free 3-day trial will take place.
Later, a person claiming to the be hacker posts on a few RO fansite message boards, stating that what he did was not so much a hack, but rather the following:
By default, an account with the name irogm gets GM privileges. The account actually didn't exist on iRO, so he made it and was granted instant GM powers.
Shortly after, he was able to provide a couple more screenshots of his handiwork. Here are a couple more novices he created -- shown in the Novice Training Grounds with rare weaponry (even some reserved for GMs) and headgear.
One shot, note inventory
Another shot, more items
... DAMMIT GRAVITY!
Gravity never learns...
Irresistable..!!
|
| DarkZero
180th Post
Regular Customer
| "Re(3):And iRO gets hacked YET AGAIN...!" , posted Tue 5 Aug 10:35
quote:
What do you expect from a 2-year old game development company who doesn't know about anything outside their turf?
Oh, come on. Even a couple of sixteen year olds running a MUD know not to make GM accounts available to the public, let alone without a password and under an obvious login name. In fact, most of them proactively ban names like "<MUDname>GM", "Administrator", "Gamemaster", etc. to stop far more mundane abuses of the system by players. I've also never heard of any MUD administrators, regardless of age or experience, leaving a login and password list accessible on their website, let alone leaving it anywhere without encryption. This isn't even Game Security 101. It's Game Security: Short Bus Edition. It's the stuff that the average player can figure out on their own, which is why non-hackers like these kids were able to just randomly guess that the name "irogm" would give them GM powers.
I think I've mentioned before (probably here, but possibly not) that I think that Ragnarok Online is nothing but a MUD with pretty visuals. It's just the standard hack-and-slash, treadmill-style battle and level-up system that has been used since the dawn of RPGs. But really, it's worse than that. It's pay-to-play, it requires your credit card number, and it has less security than the average amateur MUD does. That's not a good combination.
Worse, Gravity does not live up to these things on their website, giving the casual viewer the impression that their game is not a buggy, insecure mess that they somehow still have the gaul to expect you to pay for with your credit card. This is AT LEAST the third time that they've been hacked, including the server software leak, the posting of the logins and passwords of all of their customers on their website (and subsequently Kazaa), and now this. Why does anyone continue to do business with this company?
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| OmegaDog 713th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member
| "Re(2):And iRO gets hacked YET AGAIN...!" , posted Tue 5 Aug 14:32:
Professor: There is this message from a couple days back from on the iRO Patch Client Notice section. Whether or not it's related to the hacking incidents, I'm not certain.
************Deleted Account Error*****************
Hello, this is the iRO GM Team.
We found out that some of users are reporting
themselves as their accounts have gone for
some reason, so that they can't access the game
anymore.
We are investigating this incident,
we will try to restore all deleted accounts as
soon as we can.
Thank you for your understanding.
iRO GM Team,
Gravity Interactive LLC.
DarkZero: I was actually in Mexico during the time of the June security issues and rollbacks, so I actually didn't feel any impact from it. I thought the International division had learned its lesson from June, and as such I decided to continue the game, actually paying for 6 months more. I was still enjoying it quite a bit -- and, since I still have more to explore in the game, there is still a bit of a thrill of narrowly escaping death in places for which I'm underpowered. Plus, being a higher-level bow thief with good weaponry, it's a bit more than just the standard hack-and-slash, while at the same time not being just a power trip with god-like attacks.
Still, though -- the game is getting pretty monotonous. The main things that this game is currently about -- leveling up and spending lots of time killing lots of enemies, hoping they drop that special rare item -- is stuff that I actually hope to keep to a minimum in other games. Furthermore, having come from console RPGs and other story-based console games, the lack of an implemented storyline, or at least storyline-related quests (instead of just item collecting quests) in this MMPORG is really killing my motivation to play. Maybe it's that I haven't tried partying enough, now that I can actually contribute and kill higher-level enemies. I'm still discovering new areas in the game -- but if Gravity can't provide, or I can't find, more ways to keep the charm alive, and if they keep leaving the door open to major screw-ups like this, then you're right -- there is no reason to continue supporting them.
And this all happens during another recompensation period, in which the game was down for an entire Saturday. (In return, Kafras were providing free HP/SP healing and free warping, and there's a quest to gain slotted sunglasses for 515k zenny, both lasting until August 8.) I wonder how they'll recompense us this time...
"I'll punish you with my burning fist of justice!!" | CCT: NEXT STAGE IS 13 |
[this message was edited by OmegaDog on Tue 5 Aug 14:39] |
| Orochi Herman
12th Post
New Customer
| "Re(3):And iRO gets hacked YET AGAIN...!" , posted Tue 5 Aug 14:39
quote:
Professor: There is this message from a couple days back from on the iRO Patch Client Notice section. Whether or not it's related to the hacking incidents, I'm not certain.
************Deleted Account Error*****************
Hello, this is the iRO GM Team.
We found out that some of users are reporting
themselves as their accounts have gone for
some reason, so that they can't access the game
anymore.
We are investigating this incident,
we will try to restore all deleted accounts as
soon as we can.
Thank you for your understanding.
iRO GM Team,
Gravity Interactive LLC.
DarkZero: I was actually in Mexico during the time of the June security issues and rollbacks, so I actually didn't feel any impact from it. I thought the International division had learned its lesson from June, and as such I decided to continue the game, actually paying for 6 months more. I was still enjoying it quite a bit -- and, since I still have more to explore in the game, there is still a bit of a thrill of narrowly escaping death in places for which I'm underpowered. Plus, being a higher-level bow thief with good weaponry, it's a bit more than just the standard hack-and-slash, while at the same time not being just a power trip with god-like attacks.
Still, though -- the game is getting pretty monotonous. Furthermore, having come from console RPGs and other story-based console games, the lack of an implemented storyline, or at least storyline-related quests (instead of just item collecting quests) in this MMPORG is really killing my motivation to play. Maybe it's that I haven't tried partying enough, now that I can actually contribute and kill higher-level enemies. I'm still discovering new areas in the game -- but if Gravity can't provide, or I can't find, more ways to keep the charm alive, and if they keep leaving the door open to major screw-ups like this, then you're right -- there is no reason to continue supporting them.
And this all happens during another recompensation period, in which the game was down for an entire Saturday. (In return, Kafras were providing free HP/SP healing and free warping, and there's a quest to gain slotted sunglasses for 515k zenny, both lasting until August 8.) I wonder how they'll recompense us this time...
Very much. I don't know why they can't secure the game and their website. I sometimes wonder of their IQ, EQ, etc.
They can't give in-game compensations for every foul-up forever. they have to think of a long-term solution. and fast.
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| OmegaDog 716th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member
| "Gravity's official statement" , posted Tue 5 Aug 20:32
I imagine the statement won't be up indefinitely, so I've reproduced the message found on the iRO Web Server. It turns out there won't be a rollback -- however, the Loki server has had the rare cards and crown removed, I imagine from everyone on Loki, until (I imagine they mean) August 12, 2003. I was also hearing rumors of illegal reproduction of rare items on Chaos servers, though -- were they true...?
*Attention all Ragnarok players, *
This is an official announcement to clear up any misunderstandings
with recent issues concerning game play and game servers.
It has come to our attention that
many users have been curious about our status of the Comodo content.
Since no official release date has been set for Comodo,
please keep in mind that information outside of iRO official announcements
do not represent the current state of iRO.
Comodo is currently in development and is being worked on to eventually
be added to iRO, we would like to make sure the majority of possible bugs
and in-game problems with Comodo are fined tuned so that players will have a positive
and enjoyable experience when its released.
Please remember we are working hard to update iRO with new content as fast as possible,
and with as little problems as possible. Thank you.
The current server down time is due to maintenance needed
in the following areas: Web server (website).
Players experiencing problems paying or renewing there accounts are urged to be patient,
updating on the web server will be completed soon.
Server down time is also a result of updating certain issues on our servers,
as a result some players may be experiencing problems logging in for a certain period of time,
we are aware of the problem and we are currently working on fixing them.
At this time, no account character roll back has been issued for Ragnarok.
Please understand that account character roll backs are official announcements,
and will not be announced in game before the ladder.
Character roll backs are considered a worst case solution,
and will only annouce them on our official website.
As many have read and already know there was an large increase of Cards,
both rare and semi-rare, obtained illegally, into the Loki economy.
We have worked on many solutions to minimize the effect this will have on the Loki economy,
and as well not to upset the balance in-game.
Due to this incident the following items will be removed from characters on the Loki server
during tonight's maintenance period.
Vitata Cards Mistress Cards Baphomet Cards Whisper Cards Crown
To compensate for the removing of these items
we will implement the Stat Reset NPC on all three servers.
This NPC will charge 200,000z for a Stat Reset.
The NPC will remain on all three servers till July 12th, 2003,
this will end during next weeks maintenance period.
We apologize for the delaying of this message to our users,
but we needed the time to consider all of the options as well as give
the users the best solution.
We ask that you please understand that this was determined
as the best possible solutions for you.
iRO GM Team
Gravity Interactive LLC.
A stat reset was just what a lot of people were asking for, as they couldn't afford it after the zenny reset/cap that accompanied the last stat reset event. But -- wow, now I imagine a lot of people are going to be mad because they spent their entire savings on Dead Branches, not expecting a different resolution than a rollback!
"I'll punish you with my burning fist of justice!!" | CCT: NEXT STAGE IS 13 |
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"Re(2):And iRO gets hacked YET AGAIN...!" 
"Re(1):Gravity's official statement"