New computer ships with WoW account-stealing software

A brand new computer shipped out the door with factory-installed software designed to steal World of WarCraft (and presumably any other online game) account information.

[Vault Boy]

It's amazing how much focus there is on trying to steal WoW accounts. I never thought they'd be worth that much money.

[L80BelfDK]

It's quite the lucrative scam from what I hear. I for one would be devastated if I lost my account or had all my gear stolen.

[Milk is for Babies]

It's all a scam. Blizzard encourages it so they can sell those authenticators and make even more money.

[Twizlex]

Oh geez, here we go with the conspiracy theories...

[IdleLeeSiuLung]

Even more amazing is the fact that this slipped through in the first place. You would think that a computer manufacturer would be a little more careful about how they prepare their software for release....

This certainly isn't the first time something like this has happened to a manufacturer. One of the ones I vaguely remember is Apple with their Ipod.

[TheAntiFanboy]

You DO realize Blizz would give those authenticators out pretty much for free if there weren't shipping or assembly costs involved? If you have an iPod Touch or iPhone, you can download a free authenticator.

[Awesome Possum]

edit: I just read that it was a NEW computer.

[ChampIDC]

Yeah, it's sad what people will do for getting further in an RPG. I had my account hacked twice, but at least Blizzard is good about recovering your lost items usually.

[f789790]

My friend sold his for $600. You can earn back all the money you spent on the subscription.

[Zeevious]

Blizzard has even waived regional shipping & handling costs.

The device lasts for years...so explain to us all again how the conspirators at Blizzard are racking up that 10-CENTS a month they're getting in profit - AFTER manufacturing & even shipping it to you for FREE?

If this is a conspiracy, may they all be as cheap and helpful...securing gamers from password miners, thieves and crazy conspiracy theorists.

[Lionsguard]

Not only is Blizz scamming us into buying those authenticators but I hear if you go high up enough in the chain of blizz authority it traces all the way back to Obama and even the Vatican. This is all being pulled by the Pope. The authenticators are funding a massive project that the Vatican and Crab people have teamed up to take on. I also hear it's a giant Deathstar being built behind the Moon to blow up Rival MMO company buildings. Obama also has a hand in this for he's going to use the Deathstar to keep the Republicans in check. Death awaits us all.

[h0tz0rz]

People still play WoW?

[L80BelfDK]

Yeah, of course! You're crazy if you doubt the power of WoW! The expansion is only a few months old, so it's still new an plenty of people are still picking it up! Plus, people playing a game for this long makes their accounts potentially that much more valuable.

[h0tz0rz]

Calm it, I was just kidding :)

[Cookigaki]

Warcraft is not game, it is disease. People lose their life to it every day.

[Twizlex]

Kinda true. I've lost friends to that game. It's sick what it can do to people. Sometimes I think people getting their accounts stolen could be the best thing that could happen to them.

[UltimateIdiot911]

It's sad when you see a friend give up their life to WoW. I've stopped friends from trying WoW to spare them from that fate. It took me 2 years to convince my cousins to get off. One of them even lost some of his friends when he stopped.

[Twizlex]

Indeed. I don't blame the game or Blizzard for making it, but it makes me look at people in a whole different way when they can actually lose themselves THAT MUCH to a f**king game. I've had incredibly long gaming sessions myself, but I've never chosen a game over the lovin' of a good woman. I can't say the same about some of my friends.

[AntoineDcoolette]

The real question is "People still play Ever Quest?"

[TheAntiFanboy]

WoW is a disease to some, an innocent pastime to others. Blame not the game for the addiction, but the gamer.

[qface64]

i have been considering getting WOW when i get a new comp but just hearing you guys talk about it geez
feels like ill be better off going 1 on 1 with the reaper himself

[Mindboggle]

Unless you wanna lose your life...Dont do it

[UltimateIdiot911]

It depends on how well you resist MMORPG. I have high resistance to MMORPG.

But I've seen and heard of many good people go down a very sad and lonely road.

[L80BelfDK]

Depends on what kind of person you are. I love WoW. I can play it all day every day for a week and then stop for the rest of the month. Part of what makes it addictive to people now is that there are daily quests that if you want to maximize everything, you need to log in every day to do them.

[somekindofmike]

I've considered trying WoW recently too, seems like it should be a pretty amazing game, but considering my addictive nature (games like football manager overtake my life and i have the work hard to stop myself playing it) I think I should just pass up Wow for my own health and well being.

[Tony P]

A friend started playing WoW and stopped playing all other games. Kind of a buzzkill with game conversations now. She won't be starving herself to death but she never really goes out anymore. A bit addicted imo. I rib her about it from time to time, but it's pretty sad. Hell, she's playing right now. I wonder if we should have MMO interventions. :S

If you want to play an MMO, I suggest you make a proper attempt to get out every week.

[Myst]

To be honest some of the stories aren't all that bad, I for one have tried WoW. Twice on both occasions and the total time spent on that game (counting both of my times) was less than two weeks total. I don't know, just couldn't get into it really.

I think their is a free trial for it to, you could always try that first and see what happens. Or just flip a coin to have it decide.

[Cheeseknight28]

This probably isn't the best place to gather an opinion from. I would recommend trying the free 10-day trial to see if the game is your style before sinking money into it.

[TheAntiFanboy]

That's like saying chores are addictive. Doesn't help your case much. Speaking as a Devil's Advocate, the idea of being forced to commit to the same repetitive set of actions in order to garner some sort of meager reward isn't a very enticing incentive.

The psychology of Warcraft's addictive nature is intricate and complex. I personally play Warcraft because it's more like an extension of my social life to me, one where you actually have a coherent image that you can portray yourself through. I use it to connect to friends and family from beyond my walls and across the oceans, where physical, face-to-face interaction is not an option or extremely difficult. It's a chatroom. Where you kill stuff.

Suffice to say that if real people didn't exist in that game, I wouldn't be playing it.

[JHUX]

I personally never got addicted playing the game, I never understood what the hype was for it, but I have seen some go down a sad road to it.

[Darkfocus]

I played it for about 2 months a couple years ago and maxed out a warrior(thats what the class with rage instead of mp is called right? I haven't played for a long time) then started a file with a warlock and leveled up a bit before thinking wait why am I wasting money on this? theres much better games out there. haven't played it since.

[Miraak82]

I had my 3 year off and on relationship with FFxi about 5 years back. then I just quit. My roommate then convinced me to get WoW about a year ago. So I tried it and quit after 2 weeks. Omg I wasn't gonna get sucked into that Sh!t again. Thats about the time I grew a disgust for most MMOs . It ruins ppls lives unless u did't have a life to begin LOL

[Twizlex]

Thing is you could just replace all of your other games with one good MMO and actually save money. The problem is that since there's no definitive end, some people don't know when to stop playing.

[dogmeat eater]

Most overtated game ever made. Im glad I dont play that donkey doodie.

[Mr Face Creamer]

The most overrated game in this generation.

The fact that you have to keep playing mindlessly till you reach level 60 just to get the fun started is absurd.

[dktxx2]

thats not entirely true. i personally had the most fun leveling from 1-70. i never enjoyed end game content, it required to much time and effort for me to put into a game.

[Arcturus]

Ever herd of casual playing? i do.

it really all depends on the individual. I have friends that have played since launch and actually have a life, then some that started a year ago and are compulsive players that must raid all the time. the good thing about wrath is it gives the casual players a chance to get some good stuff, so i don't have to be playing for hours on end.

[iWillNotBeIgnored]

"Warcraft is not game, it is disease. People lose their life to it every day."
You forgot to refer to yourself in the third person, Cookigaki. Lol.

[Monk3y]

It's not the games fault.. it could be tetris they'd be addicted for..

It's the person, i play WoW too for 2hours a day and i think it's the greatest game on earth but can moderate my playings..

[The Lazy One]

It's designed to be addicting. There are lots of people with non-addictive personalities that get addicted to WoW because the social structure is set up in such a way that you are either grinding for levels till you get higher, or you're grinding instances. Grinding end game instances really can't be done casually till months after their release, because no decent guild will let you participate just once or when it's convenient for you.

I had a friend who's guild made him skip school a few times to raid before he quit.

[hatchimatchi]

"Skynet is an artificially intelligent system which became self aware and revolted against its creators. Skynet has yet to appear on screen and its actions are often performed via other robots and computer systems."

Judgement Day has begun!!!

lol

[llMurcielagoll]

I heard about links in the internet hacks your account information but this... This is justlame! Who is that desperate for people's cash in-game. (speaking about WoW in particular) No 1 cares if you got all the cash in WoW..Nobody cares if you got the most expensive gear or mounts in the world of Warcraft..

All we WoW players care about is you, you do good damage per second, you do good healing no 1 dies, you keep the aggravation from the other players, you follow tactics and avoid wiping.

[budbundystyles]

I'll take 2 of those, thank you.

[Obama]

Good that I quit 2 years ago..it's one of the most addictive game I have ever played. Don't try it really.

[PS360PCROCKS]

Everyone is addicted to at least one thing in their life. My addiction is lifting weights and working out. I have like 3 different types of protein, vitamins, special drinks. But I only workout 5 days a week for an hour a day and work the rest of the time. I could never get addicted to something like WOW, I'm Wayyyyy to active.

[Miraak82]

I can't wait for the agency though, a mmo w/o grinding yaayyy!!!

[danielle007]

I had my account hacked once, I pretty much cried. Blizzard was way helpful though and decent!

[llMurcielagoll]

Yes I agree, once you have reported hacking. Blizz will ask for account info. Then they do some investigation and it takes about a week or less, give you a new password and reimburse you with the lost items gold, gear and so on.

Personally I got hacked once, but the good news nothing was lost. Hacker changed the password of my account and I think he did the same to my e-mail address so I dont get a new password in WoW account. Contacted blizz and they gave me the a new password.

[danielle007]

I was completely locked out of my account and my sister set it up for me and she had forgotten the email for it soo I was screwed, but blizzard fixed everything and was soo overly understanding, it was crazy. and barely any of my stuff was missing because they noticed suspicious activity and froze it. Soo I still had all my valorous junkorz and just hadta get my gold and some other junk in my bags restored.

[Obama]

how did they manage to hack your account anyways? The program can automatically search for password?

[danielle007]

It sucked. haha.

[XxMYST1CxX]

World of warcraft is the most addictive game I've ever played every month i go hmmm i should resubscribe to that game