World of Warcraft Hackers Kill Thousands in Minutes
An instant-kill exploit turns several cities into makeshift graveyards.
When you enter a city in World of Warcraft and see nothing but skeletons everywhere, it must be a little unnerving. Unfortunately, it's not some elaborate role playing scenario; it's an exploit that just so happens to kill everything and everyone around the player using it, NPCs and all. Hackers armed with the exploit recently decided to join a number of realms and kill everyone in close proximity, covering cities with piles of bones within minutes.
One of the hackers confessed to the deed on a WoW exploits forum, explaining that the "kill hack" did no permanent damage and, despite being highly inconvenient to its victims, was hardly game-breaking. "Some people liked it for a new topic of conversation and a funny stream to watch, and some people didn't. The people who didn't should be blaming Blizzard for not fixing it faster (four hours of obvious use is sad).
"It's not like I added 20,000,000 gold to everyone's inventory and broke the economy, but look at the big Chinese gold seller companies who are doing this every day," the hacker said in their defense. "Now ask yourself who is really ruining the game. It's not us. That's my justification."
Some hackers put their abilities to work, with one user able to kill everything in the End Time dungeon in three minutes [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoM_sOC7jMA] by simply running through the level. The hacker said their group would've attempted more difficult raids had Blizzard not picked up on the exploit sooner.
If you're already getting ideas, you're too late to the party: Blizzard community manager Nethaera has announced that the exploit has since been hotfixed. "It's safe to continue playing and adventuring in major cities and elsewhere in Azeroth. As with any exploit, we are taking this disruptive action very seriously and conducting a thorough investigation."
Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-10-08-hackers-massacre-thousands-instantly-in-world-of-warcraft]
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An instant-kill exploit turns several cities into makeshift graveyards.
When you enter a city in World of Warcraft and see nothing but skeletons everywhere, it must be a little unnerving. Unfortunately, it's not some elaborate role playing scenario; it's an exploit that just so happens to kill everything and everyone around the player using it, NPCs and all. Hackers armed with the exploit recently decided to join a number of realms and kill everyone in close proximity, covering cities with piles of bones within minutes.
One of the hackers confessed to the deed on a WoW exploits forum, explaining that the "kill hack" did no permanent damage and, despite being highly inconvenient to its victims, was hardly game-breaking. "Some people liked it for a new topic of conversation and a funny stream to watch, and some people didn't. The people who didn't should be blaming Blizzard for not fixing it faster (four hours of obvious use is sad).
"It's not like I added 20,000,000 gold to everyone's inventory and broke the economy, but look at the big Chinese gold seller companies who are doing this every day," the hacker said in their defense. "Now ask yourself who is really ruining the game. It's not us. That's my justification."
Some hackers put their abilities to work, with one user able to kill everything in the End Time dungeon in three minutes [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoM_sOC7jMA] by simply running through the level. The hacker said their group would've attempted more difficult raids had Blizzard not picked up on the exploit sooner.
If you're already getting ideas, you're too late to the party: Blizzard community manager Nethaera has announced that the exploit has since been hotfixed. "It's safe to continue playing and adventuring in major cities and elsewhere in Azeroth. As with any exploit, we are taking this disruptive action very seriously and conducting a thorough investigation."
Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-10-08-hackers-massacre-thousands-instantly-in-world-of-warcraft]
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