Joystiq

The War Z forums and databases hacked, taken offline for investigation

Jordan Mallory — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 03:00:00 EST

The War Z has been taken offline due to the compromise of its databases and official forums, publisher OP Productions has announced. "We have discovered that hackers gained access to our forum and game databases and the player data in those databases," the statement reads. "We have launched a thorough investigation covering our entire system to determine the scope of the intrusion. This investigation is ongoing and is our top priority."

The user information obtained during the break in includes log-in e-mail addresses for the official forums and the game itself, along with the encrypted passwords associated with those addresses. No user payment information was compromised, however, as payments are handled by a third party company that operates outside of OP Production's ecosystem.

Despite the fact that "there was absolutely no exposure of your payment or billing information of any kind," according to the statement, the possibility still exists for the stolen encrypted passwords to be decrypted, which could obviously be an issue for anyone that used the same email address and password for The War Z as they did for other, more vital internet accounts. As such, OP Productions recommends that its users change up their passwords.

Beyond the promise of future updates, no further timeline was given with respect to when the game may come back online.

The War Z forums and databases hacked, taken offline for investigation originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 03 Apr 2013 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Diablo 3 beta servers go down for good on May 1

Mike Schramm — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 18:00:00 EST

The Diablo 3 beta servers, running on and off for testing since last September, are coming down for good on May 1. At that point, all of the characters currently in the game will disappear forever. You'll be able to being the full quest anew when when Diablo 3 launches on May 15.

The forums for the game are also being locked down. To post there after May 1, you'll need to either have pre-purchased Diablo 3, or have an active StarCraft 2 or World of Warcraft account. So, if you have complaints about Diablo 3 but don't meet that criteria, you'll have to go, oh, you know, anywhere else on the internet.

Diablo 3 beta servers go down for good on May 1 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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'This is Aperture' music video channels The Nightmare Before Christmas

Ben Gilbert — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:30:00 EST

This past holiday, while we were busy sipping eggnog and chorusing the neighbors with classic holiday tunes, a group of dedicated Steam forum members were creating an incredible Christmas music album featuring Valve characters. "Goodbye Christmas Caroline" spawned more than an album, though, as one especially holiday spirit-filled member then crafted an entire music video around one particular track.

"This is Aperture" takes the characters we've come to know and ~~love~~ fear from the world of Aperture Science and recasts them as singers in a magnificently dorky rendition of The Nightmare Before Christmas' "This is Halloween." Take a look at the rather impressive re-creation above and then compare it against the original just after the break! Consider it a late holiday gift from us to you, but, ya know, one that we totally didn't make.

Continue reading 'This is Aperture' music video channels The Nightmare Before Christmas

'This is Aperture' music video channels The Nightmare Before Christmas originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Valve: Any Half-Life 3 clues are 'community trolling the community'

Mike Schramm — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 03:30:00 EST

So your friend heard from his friend who used to go out with a girl who was a cousin of a Valve developer that Half-Life 3 would be released as a Steam exclusive this March? Or maybe you just crawled across a convincing website which seemed to point to another, long-awaited iteration in the Half-Life series? Well bad news, friends: "You are being trolled."

That's the word from Valve writer Chet Faliszek, who says on the Steam forums that "there is no ARG," and there are no official hints out there at all that a third Half-Life game is coming any time soon. We don't care how convincing that secret FTP that the guy on IRC told you about was: any Half-Life 3 rumors so far are completely unofficial, as great as that fan-made Portal short was.

Then again, it would be just like Valve to say that an official ARG wasn't official, wouldn't it? Maybe they're just trying to hide the real story by saying it too is a fake! Conspiracy!

Valve: Any Half-Life 3 clues are 'community trolling the community' originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 30 Dec 2011 03:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EA finally responds to forum bans also banning Origin game access

Griffin McElroy — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:30:00 EST

EA has proven that it's not afraid to bring the banhammer down on Origin users who defy their Terms of Service; though its stringent adherence to that policy has, on occasion, provided cause for concern. In March, a user on the Dragon Age 2 forums was banned for breaking the forum's rules, only to find out he'd been prohibited from using his purchased copy of the game as well. Though EA reinstated his Origin access and chalked it up to a system error, Rock, Paper, Shotgun reported that it was not an isolated incident.

EA has never explicitly said that handing out Origin bans alongside forum bans was its modus operandi; however, RPS finally received an official statement on the bans from EA Corporate Communications' John Reseburg. According to him, "when someone violates our Terms of Service, we are forced to take actions that can include suspensions and other measures." That's not a clear confirmation of the policy, though Reseburg later added, "We have listened to our customers and are planning a policy update which will include more equitable rules on suspensions - we want to make sure the time fits the crime."

It seems utterly bizarre that EA wouldn't be explicitly clear about a policy that carries as heavy a punishment as this. We can understand wanting to keep a forum free from the blight of obscenity, but if that comes at the cost of preventing legitimate purchasers of EA's products from accessing said games, those purchasers deserve to know about it ahead of time. As it stands now, Reseburg simply suggests, "any user with a question about suspensions or our policies to please contact us at (866) 543-5435 so we can address their specific situation."

EA finally responds to forum bans also banning Origin game access originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Valve: Steam user database hacked, no evidence of personal info taken

Griffin McElroy — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 18:14:00 EST

In a message sent to all Steam users by Valve's Gabe Newell, it was revealed that the vandalizing of the Steam forums, which occurred on November 6, was followed by an intrusion on "a Steam database." The hacked database included usernames, "hashed and salted" passwords, transcripts of game purchases, email and billing addresses, and encrypted credit card info. The message specified that Valve doesn't have any evidence of the intruders taking the credit card numbers or any other "personally identifying information," or that the encryption on said numbers or passwords had been cracked.

The company is investigating the incident, but because a few forum users have been compromised all users must change their passwords during their next forum visit. Steam users aren't forced to change their passwords, but are encouraged to do so, especially if they match their forum passwords. Also, if your bank account, Paypal account, PSN, Xbox Live, email, AIM or, you know, anything, shares your forum password, you should probably change that too -- and then you should probably just move into a log cabin in the woods for a while.

You can read Newell's full message after the break.

Continue reading Valve: Steam user database hacked, no evidence of personal info taken

Valve: Steam user database hacked, no evidence of personal info taken originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 10 Nov 2011 18:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Steam user forums hacked, taken offline

JC Fletcher — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:43:00 EST

Unsatisfied with merely enabling cheating in Steam games with unauthorized code, it would appear that a group called FknOwned took its hackery a step further, hacking the Steam user forum to insert an ad for its own site, which promises hacks, along with "general discussion sections, hacking tutorials and tools, porn, free giveaways and much more." NeoGAF user imek reported that the same message came in as an email from Steam.

We say "it would appear" because we didn't witness the hack for ourselves; rather than allow a hacking site to advertise itself prominently, Valve has taken the forums down "for maintenance."

Report: Steam user forums hacked, taken offline originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Player banned from Dragon Age 2 forum 'accidentally' loses access to entire game

Randy Nelson — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:30:00 EST

There are bans, and then there are bans. One user of BioWare's forums found himself facing one of the latter after having his account suspended for allegedly using inappropriate language in a post -- but instead of just keeping him from socializing temporarily, it prevented his PC copy of Dragon Age 2, purchased online, from running entirely.

EA has acknowledged that this actually happened to the affected user, but calls it an error. While it says it intended to temporarily ban the individual for violating the forum code of conduct, "there was an error in the system that accidentally suspended a user's entire account."

"Immediately upon learning of the glitch, EA took steps to restore the user's macro account and apologized for the inconvenience," the publisher told Joystiq. What it didn't say is what -- if any -- steps are being taken to prevent similar mega-bans from happening in the future.

[Thanks, Jeff]

Player banned from Dragon Age 2 forum 'accidentally' loses access to entire game originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft closing Halo Wars website, folding into Waypoint community

Griffin McElroy — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 22:00:00 EST

Avid Halo Wars players, whose attention hasn't been swayed by 2010's exhaustive list of strategy blockbusters, were greeted with some unwelcome news this past weekend: The game's stat tracking home, as well as its official forums, will be shut down on December 15. The loyal community is being persuaded to move its conversation over to the Halo Waypoint forums. On the same day as the closure, an update will launch for Halo Wars, forever severing it from the soon-to-be-discontinued website.

The update will also remedy a few Theater mode issues that were keeping players from viewing cutscenes, but, according to 343's content producer, "it won't include many of the fixes that we all wanted it to include." As you can imagine, the responses on said post are well-measured, even-headed and entirely polite. There's just this air of understanding permeating the entire discussion that's ... well, it's really inspiring.

Microsoft closing Halo Wars website, folding into Waypoint community originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blizzard chalks up Real ID kerfuffle as a learning experience

Griffin McElroy — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:20:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

Though some might consider Blizzard's quickly retracted decision to adopt the "Real ID" system (which would require forum users to identify themselves using their real names) to be a failure, Blizzard exec Michael Ryder disagrees. "We were able to take that feedback, reconsider, consider all the factors, of which feedback was one," Ryder explained to Eurogamer. "Ultimately we decided we would not go in that direction for the time being, and see if there were other ways we could address the objective we had, which was to improve the forums generally."

Ryder later added, "So, all in all, the process worked. We put the word out. We got the feedback. We reconsidered. We made a change." We know exactly what he's talking about. Just the other day, we were planning on pressing our hand onto our sizzling-hot griddle, and then we told our friends about it, and then we put our hand really close to it, and then our friends were like "no, don't do it, you'll burn yourself terribly," so we didn't do it, and our hand didn't get burned. That's a victory in our books, as well.

Blizzard chalks up Real ID kerfuffle as a learning experience originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Your real name to appear on Blizzard's official forums

Mike Schramm — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

Long a source of rampant trolling and epic flamewars, Blizzard's official World of Warcraft forums will soon be a lot less anonymous. The company announced today that it will be using the Real ID system, which was recently implemented into Battle.net, on its forums. Once Real ID is in place, each catty remark and witty comeback on Blizzard's forums will have the poster's real first and last name attached to it. (Previously, posters could hide behind their in-game character names.)

Real ID will be rolled into WoW's forums by the release of the Cataclysm expansion later this year. Additionally, the system will be added to the StarCraft 2 forums before the game's July 27 launch.

Blizzard's eating its own dog food, too -- its community representatives, previously known only by aliases, will also be posting under their real names. Additionally, forum posts will be subject to a new ranking system, replies to forum threads will be grouped, and Blizzard posters will be able to "broadcast" messages out to everyone on the game's forums. Blizzard says its goal with these changes is to form "a new and different kind of online gaming environment -- one that's highly social, and which provides an ideal place for gamers to form long-lasting, meaningful relationships."

Your real name to appear on Blizzard's official forums originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Virtual world toolbox Metaplace closing its doors

Mike Schramm — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 03:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO

Another virtual world reaches the end of its existence, as Raph Koster announced early last week that Metaplace, the online world that was supposed to be the end-all, do-all of such things, is going to close for good on January 1, 2010. It's a common story with MMO startups these days: developer has "revolutionary" idea for user-generated content, gets a bunch of money and support to put it into place, users don't actually vibe with the idea they way they were expected to, and the dev is left having to explain why it didn't work out.

Oh, and the people who were actually enjoying the world get stuck without a place to go. Koster says the company has created this Metaplace veterans forum for anyone who enjoyed the service and wants to stay in touch with their contacts there. We'd recommend you head over there to say hi (and talk about what's next), but given that the world is shutting down, odds are you probably weren't playing with it anyway.

[Via Massively]

Virtual world toolbox Metaplace closing its doors originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mass Effect 2 ditching elevators for ... load screens

Ben Gilbert — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:00:00 EST

Expanding upon statements from BioWare's Casey Hudson earlier this year, associate programmer Thomas Roy took to the developer's forums (requires login) recently to explain how Mass Effect 2 would be handling the promised lack of elevators (used in place of loading screens). As it turns out, rather than executing on BioWares's promise of "a completely new system" that's "part of the game experience," the studio will be implementing "loading screens and movies."

Though the game will still ask players to walk into an elevator, it will apparently cue up a loading screen that offers "interesting visuals and information." We'd like to point out that before Mr. Roy explains any of this, he says that the first game used elevators "so we [BioWare] didn't have to show boring loading screens" and they only made it into the second due to "a lot of complaints."

We're so broken up here -- on one hand, the developer is caving to the demands of the fans and critics. Score! On the other hand, Mr. Roy is telling us that loading screens are totally boring. If we demanded it, does that mean we're boring? Great, now we've got a total complex.

[Via Kotaku]

Gallery: Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 2 ditching elevators for ... load screens originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The best of WoW.com: September 22-29, 2009

Mike Schramm — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:30:00 EST

Filed under: RPGs, Meta (about Joystiq), MMO

The World of Warcraft is a strange and savage place: not only is there continually some Orc or Murloc or crazed cult attacking whatever various settlement you choose to spend your time in, but you've also got to deal with patch releases, forum trolls and the occasional crazed developer too! That's why you should be reading WoW.com -- we're your own personal sherpa for the biggest MMO around.

Peep our roundup of ten popular posts from the past week after the break.

Continue reading The best of WoW.com: September 22-29, 2009

The best of WoW.com: September 22-29, 2009 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The best of WoW Insider: January 20-27, 2009

Mike Schramm — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 04:30:00 EST

Filed under: Online, Meta (about Joystiq), MMO

What a week in the World of Warcraft. We've had game-breaking bugs, gold ads on the official forums, and there's a rumor going around that the official WoW mouse might be broken, too. But don't worry -- when things break in Azeroth, as they definitely have this past week, WoW Insider is there to pick up the pieces. Check out our top stories of the past week below.

News

The disaster of patch 3.0.8
Blizzard's latest patch is riddled with bugs, from bad to worse.
World of Warcraft 3.0.8 patch notes
Here's what's supposed to have happened. But most of this didn't actually work until late last week.
Steelseries WoW mouse is dangerous in no uncertain Terms (of Use)
Could an officially sponsored mouse get you officially banned?
Breaking news: Arenas disabled
Yes, things got so bad last week, Blizzard temporarily took both Wintergrasp and the Arenas out of the game.
Gold ads appear on Blizzard's forums
Blizzard suffers an amusing slip in its forum advertising.

Features

The Overachiever: Completing the Lunar Festival achievements
A guide to finishing up all of the goals for the Lunar Festival, now happening in Azeroth.
The Queue: Who cares about 3.0.8, where's 3.1?
Our readers wonder where the new content is.
Breakfast Topic: Is 68 too low for Northrend?
A daily discussion about when the right time to head north should be.
The Art of War(craft): How 3.0.8 changes PvP
Player vs. Player and what's different with the new patch.
Two Bosses Enter: Keristrasza vs. Cyanigosa
Our showdown of in-game bosses is back for Wrath, with some dragon on dragon action.

The best of WoW Insider: January 20-27, 2009 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 28 Jan 2009 04:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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European PSN forums still up; PSN linking delayed a month

Jem Alexander — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: PlayStation Network, News

The official European PlayStation forums are supposed to be down right now, in order for them to be linked together with the PlayStation Network. Unfortunately it seems this has been delayed until late April. This is in order to "get everything ship-shape" and improve the look and feel of the service. Strange, then, that this is announced the day the forums are meant to go down. They didn't know there was another month of work to do until now?

There's still no word on what exactly the reason is for the whole PSN forum linkage. Not even our Sony contact knows what's going on, so we may as well forget about it for another month or so. If you're a member of the official European forums, however, this means you've got a much longer time to link your profile to your PSN. Check the forum post for instructions.

European PSN forums still up; PSN linking delayed a month originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Official EU PS3 forums linking up with the PSN later this month

Jem Alexander — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: PlayStation Network, News

The official European PlayStation forums will be undergoing a big change this month. After three days of downtime, starting from March 17th, logging in to the forum will only be possible with a PlayStation Network ID. People who already have a username on the forums will need to link their PSN ID before March 17th or risk starting over with a new account.

The forum will also be updated with various unannounced new features. We hope that these new features are worth the hassle - it seems people aren't very impressed with losing their usernames (which will change to your PSN ID after the switchover). One of the questions on the FAQ hints at future PSN functionality within the forums, but it won't be this month.

[Thanks Mattias]

Official EU PS3 forums linking up with the PSN later this month originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 11 Mar 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NoE forums are shut down also

David Hinkle — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: News

Like Nintendo's NSider forums, those at the official European site are getting shut down, as well. In the interest of, we assume, sites like ours, NoE has decided to close shop on the forums for good and, like Nintendo.com, will be re-launching with a new layout and features aimed at pleasing fans.

Until then, might as well tell your friends to head on over here.

NoE forums are shut down also originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 24 Sep 2007 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo shuts down official forums "indefinitely"

Kyle Orland — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 22:48:00 EST

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii

Pop quiz time: You're a video game manufacturer with an insanely loyal fan base that has joined together to turn your official online forums into a vibrant, thriving Internet community. What do you do? Answer: If you're Nintendo, you shut down those forums and leave their future up in the air during a site redesign.

A cryptic message on the NSider Forums main page today announced that the message boards have been disabled "indefinitely" pending a complete overhaul of the entire Nintendo.com site. Nintendo says that the future of the forums past that redesign is "uncertain" and that the existing posts will be taken down after a week of availability in read-only format.

In the meantime, Nintendo suggests users who want to continue talking about the company should consider "starting their own Nintendo discussion sites." Sounds good to us. After all, why should a big company like Nintendo have to incur the cost of hosting, promoting and moderating a community of fans devoted to talking about their products when the fans can do it themselves?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Nintendo shuts down official forums "indefinitely" originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 17 Sep 2007 22:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cheaper PS3 loses HDMI, slots, Wi-Fi, 40GB

Dan Choi — Tue, 09 May 2006 03:32:00 EST

Filed under: News

As you can see above, there are a few things different between the two PS3 SKUs planned. (Hint: the obvious alterations concern high-def output and wireless connectivity -- though Bluetooth controllers should work just fine with both, with or without any chrome case highlighting.)

So what's HDMI, built-in multimedia card-reader slots, wireless internet connectivity, and an extra 40 gigabytes' hard disk space worth to you? $100? Now that Sony's gone with the 2-SKU approach with its next-gen hardware (a la the Xbox 360's premium and "Core" systems), we can expect some tough consumer choices after six months -- with console shortages possibly for another six months after that -- as $100 separates the base $499 and premium $599 versions of Sony's "Clear Black" hope.

HDMI is important to those who want to take full advantage of Blu-ray high def and have the new screens to use it; MemoryStick, SD, and CompactFlash slots would be nice for the PS3 memory-card users and those will run multimedia on the system; Wi-Fi's the only way to avoid stringing ethernet cables for online access; and 360 owners might appreciate the full 60GB available to potential buyers of the premium PS3 model. Neither model comes with a second HDMI port; thankfully, one should hopefully be all most users need. The details are laid out in a feature-comparison table at the end of Sony's official PS3 hardware press release, available in both Adobe Reader and Microsoft Word formats. Determine what's most important to your PS3 ambitions there.

[Image pieced together from the PlayStation.com forums; thanks, Guru]

Cheaper PS3 loses HDMI, slots, Wi-Fi, 40GB originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 May 2006 03:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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