WoW ban masters laugh at FFXI
by Joystiq Staff 
{ Jul 26th 2006 at 8:25PM }
It must be a rough time in the land of MMORPG cheating because Blizzard has proclaimed that they've banned an incredible 59,000 World of Warcraft accounts in June and "removed well over 22 million gold from the total economy across all realms." Oh, hell yeah. Now that's a company that knows how to handle those low life idiots who try to ruin our game experience.Apparently, WoW is full of rats because Blizz gives a little shout out to those that helped: "We'd also like to take this opportunity to thank the community for their assistance in reporting suspicious behavior. Numerous account closures come as the direct result of tips reported to our GMs in-game or emailed to hacks@blizzard.com."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
GSI @ Jul 26th 2006 8:33PM
People who bitch about so called "snitching" have issues.
cringer8 @ Jul 26th 2006 8:42PM
Maybe they should develop a game where cheating isn't possible...but that would take time and attention to detail, which translates into money.
Easier to just have the whiners tattle.
*Disclaimer: I'm not a cheater and I don't approve of cheating. I just think that if there's a problem you should attack it at the root. If ants invade my home, I don't waste my time trying to kill each and every one of them. I first cut off their point of entry, then deal with the ones that are flaunting their presence. The rest will die in due time.
Einhanderkiller @ Jul 26th 2006 8:55PM
"Maybe they should develop a game where cheating isn't possible"
Guild Wars? I have never seen a hack/cheat for that game.
Night Elve @ Jul 26th 2006 8:57PM
I dont think it is possible to make a 100% secure anti cheater system, people will always find a way to exploit things.
And i did not get it ... what is wrong with reporting suspicious behavior to the GMs?
I think is pretty neat that people is collaborating with they to stop this shit.
vaylen @ Jul 26th 2006 9:05PM
Actually, maybe they should open a server exclusively FOR cheaters... you know, like when you catch your kid smoking so you make him smoke the pack... Yeah, it's similar to the idea of a all-performance-enhancing-drugs Olympics... I'd be interested to see long-term what would happen to a server where the only way to survive was to exploit more cheats than everyone else. It would be a wild thing to study if it ran unopposed for a few years.
GSI @ Jul 26th 2006 9:10PM
"And i did not get it ... what is wrong with reporting suspicious behavior to the GMs?"
There isn't anything wrong with doing that...whether it be in-game or in real life.
Jay @ Jul 26th 2006 9:21PM
No, don't stop snitching. Report users who ruin the game for everyone else, like those people on HL2 who somehow slip through the net.
Now if only these developers can fix the exploits in these games that aren't classed as hacks/cheats we'd be in a much more equal gaming world.
Devilmachine @ Jul 26th 2006 9:29PM
Farming gold and then selling it on ebay isn't exactly cheating.
btw, what does this story have to do with FFXI
Vistigil @ Jul 26th 2006 9:29PM
Damn, whats with the constant ffXI hate? Blizzard gets praised because they remove a bigger amount of cheaters? maybe thats because the game has over 5 million people playing it, where ffXI has around 500,000.
Pirate @ Jul 26th 2006 10:10PM
Ya but WoW still sucks.
Ben18 @ Jul 26th 2006 10:18PM
yes buying gold is considered cheating, read that stupid long terms they make you check before you sign up. Now that I'm in my tier 2 gear, the auction house doesn't help me at all, but I am considereing buying gold to help with the repair bills. Instancing every night kind of takes it toll after a while on the virtual wallet.
Andrew @ Jul 26th 2006 10:19PM
It would be cool if the 29,000 banned are all the people who would post "STOP SPAMMING LFG" like 20 times in the global LFG channel.
n8dogg @ Jul 26th 2006 10:22PM
Guild Wars doesn't have "cheating" per se, but it does have it's fair share of bots.
Bots are the most annoying little shits ever in that game. They're usually monks (so it's more likely that they'll be picked up for missions) but the AI is usually pretty crappy, so they'll do nothing but be a burden to the group.
I'm ok with people who'd rather do something else with their time rather than grind the night away, but when it fucks other players up, it pisses me off.
Ano @ Jul 27th 2006 12:11AM
Lame title with lame post. What has this got to do with FFXI?
Oh right, I forgot. More @ssholes and fanboys play WoW than FFXI.
Sid @ Jul 27th 2006 2:30AM
Oh lordy, not another WoW vs. FFXI debate.
I think the real war should be between Galaga and Gauntlet, you know, based on the fact that they both cost a quarter to play and you thusly can't play or enjoy both, so you have to permanently choose one to pledge your alleg--owate
The Pain Train @ Jul 27th 2006 2:54AM
To the ones crying about the title, it's called sarcasm for god's sake. It was in no way an insult to FFXI so just give up. Second, about making a game in which it "isn't possible to hack," that's virtually impossible. For every genius geek at Blizz theres 100 genius geeks to find ways to hack the game. Third, you don't see people hacking in Guild Wars because nobody plays Guild Wars, or FFXI for that matter. It's like how theres never viruses for Macs because they account for such a small portion of the market that it's not worthwhile.
Now Flame away because frankly I don't care.
Zero_ @ Jul 27th 2006 3:01AM
Okay, that's just ridiculous. I don't play any MMORPGs, but the completely irrelevant referrence to Final Fantasy XI is just ridiculous, especially when it has nothing to do with it, all out to make a mockery of a game.
Why doesn't Joystiq just post a news article about Sony's software sales for the past 10 years, and call it, "Ken Kutaragi laughs at Nintendo"?
Seriously, what the fuck?
Ubersnuber @ Jul 27th 2006 3:03AM
i saw a bot on one of the popular farm spots in WoW.
They think they r doing nothing wrong, but when i have farmed for hours..nd then see a bot, i get PISSED!
ban those spammers too:P
boneyard @ Jul 27th 2006 3:11AM
yeah what's that weird ffxi reference and why are you calling people who want a fair game rats, nice way to treat a large part of your readers.
washingtonydc @ Jul 27th 2006 6:10AM
I love the stop snitchin' reference -- that's hilarious! I'm guessing all the people who don't get it and think joystiq is just anti-tattle-tale aren't from the baltimore or boston areas.
hjungle @ Jul 27th 2006 7:14AM
The FFXI reference most likely comes from this article: http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/24/ffxi-cheaters-hit-with-ban-stick/
The title is not an irrelevant reference just one that requires previous reading to understand.
Martin @ Jul 27th 2006 7:26AM
"17. Okay, that's just ridiculous. I don't play any MMORPGs, but the completely irrelevant referrence to Final Fantasy XI is just ridiculous, especially when it has nothing to do with it, all out to make a mockery of a game.
Why doesn't Joystiq just post a news article about Sony's software sales for the past 10 years, and call it, "Ken Kutaragi laughs at Nintendo"?
Seriously, what the fuck?
"
Zero, your whining is just so pathetic. It wasn't an irrevalent reference. Why??? Because just 2 days before Joystiq posted an article about FF bans that took place. They weren't saying anything bad about FFXI.
Second of all, Sony's software sales over the past 10 years come nowhere close to Nintendo's software sales. Sure PS2 software sales do, but even though Sony makes great games, they havn't been able to outsell Nintendo's games. This tends to be why Nintendo makes such huge profits year after year on the videogame market.
Though I am sure Ken Kutaragi could make up some stupid quote with lies in it and laugh for no reason!
(and I am not saying Nintendo is better than Sony or vice versa, I am just pointing out the problems with your logic! You try so hard to defend your precious Sony that you have become a raving fanboy who spits out whatever psuedo-logic makes you sleep better at night!)
Jay @ Jul 27th 2006 7:37AM
laugh at all the people who didn't get the FFXI reference.
Martin @ Jul 27th 2006 9:19AM
hahahaha
Chris Taran @ Jul 27th 2006 9:22AM
"I'm guessing all the people who don't get it and think joystiq is just anti-tattle-tale aren't from the baltimore or boston areas."
Yes, I'm sure that the baltimore/boston area makes up a HUGE segment of Joystiq's demographic.
wierzbicki @ Jul 27th 2006 10:22AM
zero--the title is named so b/c WoW saw FFXI's 2,000 bans and raised them 57,000
Azar @ Jul 27th 2006 10:53AM
Lets think of how much gold was removed though... In FFXI over 30 billion gil was removed from play while WoW only got ride of 22 million
ljbad4life @ Jul 27th 2006 12:25PM
The amount of gold removed indicates that in ffxI that there are(maybe) fewer cheaters in comparison to WoW (in a ratio/percentage).
OtakuCODE @ Jul 27th 2006 1:12PM
A REALLY interesting project (for a developer) would be developing a game which embraces cheating and uses it to extend the game... but that'd be quite a feat.
As an alternative, game companies could do what they should have done AGES ago if they actually care about recognizing and eliminating cheaters... statistical analysis. Statistical analysis of various game factors could make cheaters soooooo easy to identify and eliminate. You don't need users looking for suspicious behavior - you can easily see suspicious behavior (more easily and reliably than other users can) with statistical analysis.
Weff Jebster @ Jul 28th 2006 9:16AM
OtakuCODE...
That would be pretty rad, though I think... I think, in that Matrix MMO, it was encouraged to hack the matrix to do stuff...
Er, unless I'm sorely mixing up the console game and the MMO.