Just ignore them eccoton, you are wasting your writing skills.
If you want to know what happened to your account, log in mogstation.
For example, I dont see FF14 ARR registered any more which means my account is banned permanently. I also see one more character with a name typed in gibberish which confirms the fact that I was hacked.
Just ignore them eccoton, you are wasting your writing skills.
If you want to know what happened to your account, log in mogstation.
For example, I dont see FF14 ARR registered any more which means my account is banned permanently. I also see one more character with a name typed in gibberish which confirms the fact that I was hacked.
Keep us updated if something changes.
I will be following up on this regardless of my decision continue to play or not, if I get any news I will post it. I can get into my account but when I check on FFXIV it says I am suspended. I was even able to change my password. I find this strange if I am suspended as a gold seller/buyer why not just close my entire account. SE can make some good games but they sure need help with customer service and account management stuff.
I have to say, you people are being extremely rude to the OP and other people who were hacked. Seriously, blaming it on them? You do realize it is possible to have your account hacked and you could have the best virus protection in the world. Do you honestly think that'll stop hackers? It hasn't in the past and isn't about to now. I find the behavior of this community extremely appalling. You're all like a bunch of little bullies screaming "It's your fault for being hacked!!! You did something wrong now you are suffering like you deserve to!"
I don't usually hope for other people's accounts to be hacked but a little karma would do some of you good it seems.
I thought this was obvious, but someone gained unauthorized access to your account and broke SE ToS.
What do you want SE to do? As things stand, they've been sending an initial warning email with a temp ban that you can get lifted. If it happens again, you get perma banned. SE can't control the things you do with your computer.
As such, security is ultimately your responsibility. You freely admit that you chose not to use a one-time password. In doing so, you also repeated a username/password that you've elsewhere or used a weak combination of characters. You can't ignore safeguards and expect to never get burned.
You got burned. You chose an irresponsible route. I don't know how you can possibly complain now.
Hello, figured I'd chime in to say I'm in the exact same situation. Account was taken over by a Gil seller and subsequently terminated. By the way, this happened at around the time the 3102 error was rampant. Seems a bit fishy, as if it created a vulnerability.
The initial "warning email" seems to be meaningless. Why suspend an account for 216 hours (meaning the gold seller would not be able to log in again anyway), then terminate it on the following day? I did not even get a chance to change my password or take extra security precautions.
With your logic Alamareth (and some others) no company should have security measures whatsoever since only the customer is responsible for his/her security. Your bank got robbed? Oh well your loss, you could have paid for a more secure safe (aka security token). So stop chewing that gum you are only making fool of yourselves. Security is a responsiblity for both customer AND company. Many online games and services have simple ip/geotagging security measures which can prevent situations like these.
Again we are not talking about suspending our accounts which was a sensible thing to do. Then they send us an email to change our password. I changed my password and still could not log in. No one could log in. The next day the account was banned permanently. Just like that. And if you call their customer service they cannot answer you how or why it happened and when you will get an answer. Nice eh?
You can check their technical support forum. Yesterday there were topics about the same thing in 1 page. Today there are 3 pages. And the situation will get worse. Mind you that these are only the customers that have registered their forum characters BEFORE the suspension. If you got suspended and haven't registered by then you cannot post on the forum (like me). How many do you think they are posting/reading the forums?
With your logic Alamareth (and some others) no company should have security measures whatsoever since only the customer is responsible for his/her security. Your bank got robbed? Oh well your loss, you could have paid for a more secure safe (aka security token). So stop chewing that gum you are only making fool of yourselves. Security is a responsiblity for both customer AND company. Many online games and services have simple ip/geotagging security measures which can prevent situations like these.
Again we are not talking about suspending our accounts which was a sensible thing to do. Then they send us an email to change our password. I changed my password and still could not log in. No one could log in. The next day the account was banned permanently. Just like that. And if you call their customer service they cannot answer you how or why it happened and when you will get an answer. Nice eh?
You can check their technical support forum. Yesterday there were topics about the same thing in 1 page. Today there are 3 pages. And the situation will get worse. Mind you that these are only the customers that have registered their forum characters BEFORE the suspension. If you got suspended and haven't registered by then you cannot post on the forum (like me). How many do you think they are posting/reading the forums?
Uhh, no. You are insinuating that SE databases were breached. I really doubt that's the case. If you had unauthorized access, then you had a weak password, used the same username/pw from another less secure source, you unwittingly gave out your information, you got a virus, or you trusted a friend who screwed you. The only thing SE has even a remote amount of control over is the strength of your password, but even that is a relatively poor measure.
They gave you one of the strongest tools available, a one-time password. if you choose to ignore that, then that really isn't their problem.
Do your due diligence up front and you save yourself problems later. The thing I find so amazing is that it was so amazingly easy to lock down your account. SE practically handed you the keys and begged you to be responsible. To blame them after the fact is absurd.
I'm sorry that you lost control of your account. Perhaps you've learned your lesson and will follow basic security protocols next time.
With your logic Alamareth (and some others) no company should have security measures whatsoever since only the customer is responsible for his/her security. Your bank got robbed? Oh well your loss, you could have paid for a more secure safe (aka security token). So stop chewing that gum you are only making fool of yourselves. Security is a responsiblity for both customer AND company. Many online games and services have simple ip/geotagging security measures which can prevent situations like these.
Again we are not talking about suspending our accounts which was a sensible thing to do. Then they send us an email to change our password. I changed my password and still could not log in. No one could log in. The next day the account was banned permanently. Just like that. And if you call their customer service they cannot answer you how or why it happened and when you will get an answer. Nice eh?
You can check their technical support forum. Yesterday there were topics about the same thing in 1 page. Today there are 3 pages. And the situation will get worse. Mind you that these are only the customers that have registered their forum characters BEFORE the suspension. If you got suspended and haven't registered by then you cannot post on the forum (like me). How many do you think they are posting/reading the forums?
Your analogy is incorrect. According to your analogy, the hacked accounts would have been due to a security failure at SE meaning someone got into their databases, this has not happened. You analolgy would be more correct if the victim walked outside the bank and was held up there.
The company can only do so much to enforce customers to protect their own security and in fact has done more than enough to counter the hacking. The OTP option will pretty much stop the hacking in it's tracks. The idea that players don't want to pay a one time cheap cost.....less than a month's fee, for added security is questionable. And any headaches associated with setting it up are nothing compared to losing an account.
Now, assuming we are talking after the fact. Would you have SE just hand over the reigns back to the compromised account to the 1st person claiming to be the owner? Who's to say it's not the same hackers trying to get back in? There has to be a process after the fact. So no, it shouldn't be easy to get your account back.
So the way that Square Enix is handling their recent spate of hacking is to blame the players apparently..
Dear Customer: This notice is to inform you that we have suspended the FINAL FANTASY XIV service account registered to this e-mail for one or more violations of the FINAL FANTASY XIV User Agreement that occurred on 9/11/2013. Specifically, you have violated following Section(s) of the FINAL FANTASY XIV User Agreement.
------------------ SQUARE ENIX ACCOUNT TERMS OF USE 1. Registered Users Use of the Website or Services is limited to those satisfying the following conditions: (b)You represent and warrant that you will not use the Website or Services in any manner that is in violation of this Agreement or of any applicable law or regulation;
FINAL FANTASY XIV User Agreement 2.2 Real Money Trading, Farming and Power-Leveling. You may not sell,purchase or exchange for real-world money or value any in-game currency,accounts, characters, in-game services, or in-game virtual items. Youmay not play the Game for the purpose of acquiring virtual items or advancement in game play on behalf of a third-party or for the purpose of selling any virtual assets to a third party for real-world money, specifically including $B!H(Bgold-farming$B!I(Band power-leveling services. ------------------ Every action we issue is based on conclusive evidence of a violation and is reviewed for accuracy. Here is an excerpt from the activity log regarding this termination:
Based on the actions in this most recent incident and any prior record on the service account, we have terminated the FINAL FANTASY XIV service account registered to this e-mail in accordance with the FINAL FANTASY XIV User Agreement. To best understand the penalties taken against the service account, please review the Account Penalty Policy section on the Support Center at the following link:
For information on prohibited activities in FINAL FANTASY XIV, please refer to the Square Enix Account Terms of Use, the FINAL FANTASY XIV User Agreement, and the following URL:
As your account has been terminated due to a violation, you will be unable to create another FINAL FANTASY XIV service account. Unfortunately, you have shown yourself to be unwilling to follow the rules of the FINAL FANTASY XIV community. If we find that you have created another FINAL FANTASY XIV service account, we reserve the right to terminate that account as well in our sole discretion.
(links removed)
So..yeah..that part about "reviewed for accuracy" is particularly annoying..because distinct IP addresses would clearly vindicate me if they actually put any effort into their "investigation".
Exact same thing happened to me. I posted my experiences here at mmorpg.com and was attacked for it. I tried for 3 days and almost 4 hours on hold at different times to get through to SC with no success. I totally believe you. What I think could have happened was account was hacked and it was used to spam gold sellers messages. However more likely is that SE simply screwed up and banned accounts through an automated system. I totally agree, the IP would clear this up even before account was suspended. The day SE claims the violation happened I was at work and at a gallery opening and did not even turn my computer on that day let alone log into FFXIV.
When I posted the same experience basically I was call a liar by the mmorg.com community as being a gold buyer or ignorant for allowing someone to hack my account. What bothered me more then SE's screw up was the lack of support from other members here at mmorpg.com
Don't be bothered. This board is probably infested with shills and employees paid by Public Relations Firms.
Ayzenberg Group is one of the bigger firms that has a lot of game publishers on their client list. Here is an example of what they do.
"Ayzenberg media handles social integration and branding for most EA titles as well as titles from other publishers. Employing 50+ people specifically to spread the good vibe about EA products they "initiate an average of 15,000+ conversations daily across several titles". (i.e. posts/conversations across the most traveled sites on the interwebs)"
It's no mystery that big companies paid advocates penetrate every popular website today. Youtube and AppStore are full of fake view/download counts and paid comments, either negative or positive. It's only the matter of whether you want to delude yourself or not.
Damn, going to see if they're hiring. I'd love to get paid to point out the obvious, such as people being responsible for their own account security.
I could point out that there were 'thousands' of people who claimed Blizzard's security was breached at the launch of D3 & it turned out that in every single case it was the fault of the USER. That, or many hadn't even been hacked at all, and were just jumping on the hate bandwagon. At this point it would be a bit redundant though, considering that it's been pointed out about 4 or 5 times (and conveniently ignored).
To the *person* who went on a tangent about Riot's database being hacked: Guess what sunshine? If somebody used the same username / password which they used for Riot / LoL for another game, it's the user's fault, because everybody with an IQ greater than the average (I'll be generous and say Japanese) shoe size knows what a horrible security practice that is. Sucks, but like good old Frankie once sang, that's life. If you want to continue frothing and ranting though, just give me a holler, okay pumpkin?
I swear the people blaming SE are the exact reason why companies have to put those incredibly stupid and painfully obvious warning labels all over everything.
Another example of what I have been posting about. As you can see, again, I am not the only one. I am sure many will simply say it is her fault. SE has a serious problem on their hands. Many of these issues are not the players fault. There are to many issues regarding different security protocols to blame this all on the players. SE's security has been breeched it is obvious when you read the forums at SE and at other sights.
Instead of attack the players, people need to accept the fact SE has a serious problem with security. Basically this is my exact experience, accepting the fact my account was shut down, trying to contact SE, but after days of trying no response, it will be a week tomorrow. If people would support each other SE might take serious notice and admit there are issues on their end. So all you fanbois who have put down those of who had their account closed how long do you keep trying to correct the problem? It is interesting she used the same thread title I did, "I'm Done". It is sad customers of SE who spent a lot of money simply give up. SE has found a wonderful new way to make money.
Earlier I said I would post any info I had as to what happened with my account. After having to go to my credit card company I got an e-mail this morning from SE saying they are issuing a refund on the game, so it is indeed done for me. I may follow this issue on the forums since it effects so many other players but as for me "I am done". Time to go play some Siege of Orgrimmar.
Has anyone been able to get in contact with NA support ? I've heard of people being able to talk to EU support and being told there's a "long list of accounts that need to be investigated to see if the bans are legitimate or the person was hacked"
To me that sounds like they have a major problem with gold spammers (they do) and hacking (they do..look at these boards alone) and their response is BAN EVERYONE! investigate later..
The game is fun..but it's just crap,after crap, after crap.
Also, using the "chat support"..does anyone else go through the 1hr-2hr que, then get dropped with a message that "there is no agent avaliable?"
Every time a game comes out, someone claims they were "hacked". They blame the company. I'm *sure* there was some real mission impossible hanging from ceilings events leading to this. Or, maybe...the person just uses the same user/pass for everything. I'm not saying these companies are immune to having accounts being hacked, but usually its just some fansite forum (much like this) that gets hacked. They then try the user/passwords in the appropriate game, and voila. Access. I've a chinese malaysian friend who i've known for 15 years and he was very much involved in this. They just buy user/pass lists from fansites and try them out. I asked him if he's ever bought logins that were hacked directly from the company and his comment was that it was too difficult, and if they could do that, they'd just sell your credit card numbers to someone else in order to raid you that way.
As a third party looking in, there is two options. 1) You use the same user/pass for everything and/or visit the wrong websites or 2) Some chinese goldsellers hacked into SE to take your account, in order to spam gil selling....
Originally posted by evianwater I love these forums, because the big-company apologists come out in droves and attack the customer. Best PR department I've ever seen for companies like SE, SOE, and Blizz
Well when someone comes on and says hey I got banned and did nothing wrong and also deletes the proof that the company sends them to show them why their account was banned. Kind of smells like you know what and that this person was doing something wrong and got caught and now trying to give the company bad press and pretend the company is evil here. Basically take it up with their support, and if you are gonna go on a crusade against the company show the proof that you are not in the wrong and show the proof that they used to say you were in the wrong. Full disclosure of all the evidence is the best policy to clear your name but the OP did not do that so it makes him look guilty.
Yeah, I've only had 1 account ever hacked and it was my fault. I used the same log-in and PW to register at a site to D/l a wow addon. Three days later my account was hacked. That's on me. Got an authenticator mailed to me that day.
When some says.. " I know for a fact it wasn't my fault." I instantly assume it was their fault. Unless SE got their entire account database hacked. It's the individuals fault every time.
I'm not defending the Big companies. Frankly they are a plauge on society and care about people only so far as it can make them a buck. They would kill us all and steal our wallets if they thought they could get away with it.
As for terrible customer support, those people I do sympathize with. They spend 8 hours every day getting whined to, yelled at, and cussed out for minumum wage. If i was doing that job there's no way i could be chipper and helpful. After a coup[le hours of that I'd tell everyone who called to stop worrying about a damn game and go find a girl friend.
Another example of what I have been posting about. As you can see, again, I am not the only one. I am sure many will simply say it is her fault. SE has a serious problem on their hands. Many of these issues are not the players fault. There are to many issues regarding different security protocols to blame this all on the players. SE's security has been breeched it is obvious when you read the forums at SE and at other sights.
Instead of attack the players, people need to accept the fact SE has a serious problem with security. Basically this is my exact experience, accepting the fact my account was shut down, trying to contact SE, but after days of trying no response, it will be a week tomorrow. If people would support each other SE might take serious notice and admit there are issues on their end. So all you fanbois who have put down those of who had their account closed how long do you keep trying to correct the problem? It is interesting she used the same thread title I did, "I'm Done". It is sad customers of SE who spent a lot of money simply give up. SE has found a wonderful new way to make money.
Earlier I said I would post any info I had as to what happened with my account. After having to go to my credit card company I got an e-mail this morning from SE saying they are issuing a refund on the game, so it is indeed done for me. I may follow this issue on the forums since it effects so many other players but as for me "I am done". Time to go play some Siege of Orgrimmar.
In what way has it been breached? There is a difference between Square Enix being breached and fansites, email accounts and cell phones being breached.
If SquareEnix was truly breached, we would see accounts who use Physical security token getting hacked.
[mod edit] i had this happen once as well, it is not his fault.
in my case people phoned the company and got them to remove my key generator and they logged on stole all my stuff and SOMEHOW didnt need to tell them personal information before getting it done.
it was recorded i was told, but that wouldnt get them anywhere. but apparently he was polite. that gets you far with things.
Is anyone else having problems waiting in the multi-hour chat support que..getting to the "you are number 1 in the que" and then receiving the message "There are no agents avaliable to assist you, please try again later" ?
It's happened to me three times (This is using the NA support)
I don't care about SE and don't think they're that great of a company.
That said, if their account services weren't hacked directly, then it is the fault of the person who got hacked. Either they used the same username and password at other sites (such as FE fan sites) and one of those was compromised. Or, as happens in a lot of games, they used a third party program as an add on to the game that compromised their information.
It is only the company's fault when their services are directly hacked and users information is compromised. If that isn't the case, then it is the user's fault.
I've never had a single compromised game account. Yet in many games I've heard of how it wasn't a person's fault that they were hacked and it turns out they're running like 10 add ons from random websites, any of which could be sending all of their info away. Hell I've even heard people who used leveling services complain they got hacked when they had to give up their account info to get their characters leveled.
I know what you are going through. I've been unjustly banned before, albeit not for being hacked (i.e. indirectly through actions performed by another person compromising my account) and I really regret not giving the company hell for it.
I wasn't the only one. 1000's in this particular game were banned and it wasn't until people made a shit storm on the forums (through their friends' active accounts) that any action was taken.
Unfortunately, I had no friends playing that particular game at the time and I remained banned.
My greatest regret is not having requested a charge back and/or complaining to the BBB. Now that the BBBs credibility is somewhat shaken, I think it behooves customers like you who have been wronged through incompetent CS to request a chargeback ASAP.
These forums will not help you; they are replete with every flavor of moron on the internet. Most people here are just here to try and bait you into insulting them so they can report you, or are staunch defenders of their beloved title, because that particular title is so good that they spend more time on the forum than playing it.
For your own sake, take my advice, contact CS until you're blue in the face. When that fails, go to your CC company. The risk is obviously that you somehow won't be able to purchase SE titles again, unless you get a new credit card, or do it indirectly through paypal etc., but for me, personally, it's worth winning the good fight rather than being another victim.
Another thing that might help is scanning your system with every AV known to man and hopefully finding the culprit, then taking a SS, etc. and including it in your plea to CS. In any case, you will have the peace of mind knowing that your machine is clean.
Somebody getting you banned in a game is a small thing compared to the shit you'd have to go through when somebody illegally uses your credit card and affects your credit rating negatively...
Best wishes,
Somebody who has been banned before, complained on these forums and been blamed as a hacker.
This is a major reason I never buy any of their product as their customer support is bollocks and they don't give a shit once they have your box payment. If they investigated they would see many of the bans are due to a lack of their system failure or to provide the gamer with extra security in this modern day and age of gaming.
Of course my comments wont help you resolve your issues with these people but at least you can see we not all against the customer and I feel gamers accept this sort of BS far to often and don't fight it as they never win and this needs to stop.
I could understand if it was a F2P game but I'm sure while there are many who do get hacked and abused there can only be a small % of people who do take the piss and deserve bans. If I were you and you manage to get your account un blocked I would be seeking compensation or even a refund. But don't hold your breathe!
This totally cracks me up!
Square Enix DOES give you extra Security options via a FREE mobile authenticator or a physical authenticator you can buy from their store!
Square Enix was actually one of the first Gaming Companies that offered a physical authenticator years back with FFXI already.
Every time you fire up Your launcher you are Facepalmed With the One Time Password option With a help link directly under it that Directs you to page informing you about the authenticator options and how to apply one to Your account.
Only takes you a couple minutes to set up the FREE mobile authenticator and Your account is SAFE!
This is only the case for those who have the phone that supports such apps.
As for the one-time password deal. Anyone coming from something like TOR could easily confuse that for the "one time password" system they use and pay it no mind. In their case it's a unique password that's emailed to you when you haven't logged in for a while, you're locked out until you enter it.
If you don't have the phone you can buy the physical one.
Account Security is YOUR responsibility.
Square Enix has the responsibility to keep Your stored account info safe and password and credit card info encrypted. Which they do! As is required by both Law and banks/credit card Companies!
It is YOUR responsibility to use strong not easy to guess passwords and not use the same password all over the internet for years on end. Which I guarrantee you 95% of the population does!
Loads of People asked to be hacked, as they use ridiculously simple passwords and use these same passwords on unsecure Public sites as they use on their Game Accounts!
You cannot make it any easier for hackers this way. But loads of People just don't want to see this very fact!
It's way easier, after being hacked, to Place yourself in the victim role and start venting Your anger and frustration here and blame the gaming Company for Your own ignorance.
WTF does this have to do with what I said? I was speaking about your attitude toward people about the one time password deal. All I was saying was it could be an honest mistake that it was overlooked or ignored.
I need no lecture on account security, I've never been hacked before in any game, because I don't do the common mistakes that lead to it. If I was hacked I certainly wouldn't be on MMORPG.com complaining about.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Thought I'd give an update to anyone suffering from this problem :
Finally got in touch with NA phone support (the poor guy on the phone sounded like he'd already been yelled at a few times today...please remember it's not their fault! )
- They do not have the abillity to give or remove bans at the support center
- They escalate you once you have contacted support to an "investigative team" which will look into the ban/hack..etc
- Turn around they said is generally about a week
- Once the investigation is complete they will contact you through the e-mail on your account.
Ah and just a note, to verify who you are they just ask a few questions like..name, address, e-mail. Nothing major.
- PLEASE REMEMBER when you get in contact with support staff..the problem you're facing has nothing to do with them, they're just answering the phones. Be kind, they'll appreciate it.
Comments
Just ignore them eccoton, you are wasting your writing skills.
If you want to know what happened to your account, log in mogstation.
For example, I dont see FF14 ARR registered any more which means my account is banned permanently. I also see one more character with a name typed in gibberish which confirms the fact that I was hacked.
Keep us updated if something changes.
I will be following up on this regardless of my decision continue to play or not, if I get any news I will post it. I can get into my account but when I check on FFXIV it says I am suspended. I was even able to change my password. I find this strange if I am suspended as a gold seller/buyer why not just close my entire account. SE can make some good games but they sure need help with customer service and account management stuff.
I have to say, you people are being extremely rude to the OP and other people who were hacked. Seriously, blaming it on them? You do realize it is possible to have your account hacked and you could have the best virus protection in the world. Do you honestly think that'll stop hackers? It hasn't in the past and isn't about to now. I find the behavior of this community extremely appalling. You're all like a bunch of little bullies screaming "It's your fault for being hacked!!! You did something wrong now you are suffering like you deserve to!"
I don't usually hope for other people's accounts to be hacked but a little karma would do some of you good it seems.
Smile
I thought this was obvious, but someone gained unauthorized access to your account and broke SE ToS.
What do you want SE to do? As things stand, they've been sending an initial warning email with a temp ban that you can get lifted. If it happens again, you get perma banned. SE can't control the things you do with your computer.
As such, security is ultimately your responsibility. You freely admit that you chose not to use a one-time password. In doing so, you also repeated a username/password that you've elsewhere or used a weak combination of characters. You can't ignore safeguards and expect to never get burned.
You got burned. You chose an irresponsible route. I don't know how you can possibly complain now.
Hello, figured I'd chime in to say I'm in the exact same situation. Account was taken over by a Gil seller and subsequently terminated. By the way, this happened at around the time the 3102 error was rampant. Seems a bit fishy, as if it created a vulnerability.
The initial "warning email" seems to be meaningless. Why suspend an account for 216 hours (meaning the gold seller would not be able to log in again anyway), then terminate it on the following day? I did not even get a chance to change my password or take extra security precautions.
With your logic Alamareth (and some others) no company should have security measures whatsoever since only the customer is responsible for his/her security. Your bank got robbed? Oh well your loss, you could have paid for a more secure safe (aka security token). So stop chewing that gum you are only making fool of yourselves. Security is a responsiblity for both customer AND company. Many online games and services have simple ip/geotagging security measures which can prevent situations like these.
Again we are not talking about suspending our accounts which was a sensible thing to do. Then they send us an email to change our password. I changed my password and still could not log in. No one could log in. The next day the account was banned permanently. Just like that. And if you call their customer service they cannot answer you how or why it happened and when you will get an answer. Nice eh?
You can check their technical support forum. Yesterday there were topics about the same thing in 1 page. Today there are 3 pages. And the situation will get worse. Mind you that these are only the customers that have registered their forum characters BEFORE the suspension. If you got suspended and haven't registered by then you cannot post on the forum (like me). How many do you think they are posting/reading the forums?
Uhh, no. You are insinuating that SE databases were breached. I really doubt that's the case. If you had unauthorized access, then you had a weak password, used the same username/pw from another less secure source, you unwittingly gave out your information, you got a virus, or you trusted a friend who screwed you. The only thing SE has even a remote amount of control over is the strength of your password, but even that is a relatively poor measure.
They gave you one of the strongest tools available, a one-time password. if you choose to ignore that, then that really isn't their problem.
Do your due diligence up front and you save yourself problems later. The thing I find so amazing is that it was so amazingly easy to lock down your account. SE practically handed you the keys and begged you to be responsible. To blame them after the fact is absurd.
I'm sorry that you lost control of your account. Perhaps you've learned your lesson and will follow basic security protocols next time.
Your analogy is incorrect. According to your analogy, the hacked accounts would have been due to a security failure at SE meaning someone got into their databases, this has not happened. You analolgy would be more correct if the victim walked outside the bank and was held up there.
The company can only do so much to enforce customers to protect their own security and in fact has done more than enough to counter the hacking. The OTP option will pretty much stop the hacking in it's tracks. The idea that players don't want to pay a one time cheap cost.....less than a month's fee, for added security is questionable. And any headaches associated with setting it up are nothing compared to losing an account.
Now, assuming we are talking after the fact. Would you have SE just hand over the reigns back to the compromised account to the 1st person claiming to be the owner? Who's to say it's not the same hackers trying to get back in? There has to be a process after the fact. So no, it shouldn't be easy to get your account back.
Don't be bothered. This board is probably infested with shills and employees paid by Public Relations Firms.
Ayzenberg Group is one of the bigger firms that has a lot of game publishers on their client list. Here is an example of what they do.
"Ayzenberg media handles social integration and branding for most EA titles as well as titles from other publishers. Employing 50+ people specifically to spread the good vibe about EA products they "initiate an average of 15,000+ conversations daily across several titles". (i.e. posts/conversations across the most traveled sites on the interwebs)"
Link to client list. http://www.ayzenberg.com/#/clients/
It's no mystery that big companies paid advocates penetrate every popular website today. Youtube and AppStore are full of fake view/download counts and paid comments, either negative or positive. It's only the matter of whether you want to delude yourself or not.
http://www.entropiapartners.com/?r=22415
Damn, going to see if they're hiring. I'd love to get paid to point out the obvious, such as people being responsible for their own account security.
I could point out that there were 'thousands' of people who claimed Blizzard's security was breached at the launch of D3 & it turned out that in every single case it was the fault of the USER. That, or many hadn't even been hacked at all, and were just jumping on the hate bandwagon. At this point it would be a bit redundant though, considering that it's been pointed out about 4 or 5 times (and conveniently ignored).
To the *person* who went on a tangent about Riot's database being hacked: Guess what sunshine? If somebody used the same username / password which they used for Riot / LoL for another game, it's the user's fault, because everybody with an IQ greater than the average (I'll be generous and say Japanese) shoe size knows what a horrible security practice that is. Sucks, but like good old Frankie once sang, that's life. If you want to continue frothing and ranting though, just give me a holler, okay pumpkin?
I swear the people blaming SE are the exact reason why companies have to put those incredibly stupid and painfully obvious warning labels all over everything.
Even customers with security tokens are being hacked now.
Example: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/90930-I-m-done.
Another example of what I have been posting about. As you can see, again, I am not the only one. I am sure many will simply say it is her fault. SE has a serious problem on their hands. Many of these issues are not the players fault. There are to many issues regarding different security protocols to blame this all on the players. SE's security has been breeched it is obvious when you read the forums at SE and at other sights.
Instead of attack the players, people need to accept the fact SE has a serious problem with security. Basically this is my exact experience, accepting the fact my account was shut down, trying to contact SE, but after days of trying no response, it will be a week tomorrow. If people would support each other SE might take serious notice and admit there are issues on their end. So all you fanbois who have put down those of who had their account closed how long do you keep trying to correct the problem? It is interesting she used the same thread title I did, "I'm Done". It is sad customers of SE who spent a lot of money simply give up. SE has found a wonderful new way to make money.
Earlier I said I would post any info I had as to what happened with my account. After having to go to my credit card company I got an e-mail this morning from SE saying they are issuing a refund on the game, so it is indeed done for me. I may follow this issue on the forums since it effects so many other players but as for me "I am done". Time to go play some Siege of Orgrimmar.
Has anyone been able to get in contact with NA support ? I've heard of people being able to talk to EU support and being told there's a "long list of accounts that need to be investigated to see if the bans are legitimate or the person was hacked"
To me that sounds like they have a major problem with gold spammers (they do) and hacking (they do..look at these boards alone) and their response is BAN EVERYONE! investigate later..
The game is fun..but it's just crap,after crap, after crap.
Also, using the "chat support"..does anyone else go through the 1hr-2hr que, then get dropped with a message that "there is no agent avaliable?"
Every time a game comes out, someone claims they were "hacked". They blame the company. I'm *sure* there was some real mission impossible hanging from ceilings events leading to this. Or, maybe...the person just uses the same user/pass for everything. I'm not saying these companies are immune to having accounts being hacked, but usually its just some fansite forum (much like this) that gets hacked. They then try the user/passwords in the appropriate game, and voila. Access. I've a chinese malaysian friend who i've known for 15 years and he was very much involved in this. They just buy user/pass lists from fansites and try them out. I asked him if he's ever bought logins that were hacked directly from the company and his comment was that it was too difficult, and if they could do that, they'd just sell your credit card numbers to someone else in order to raid you that way.
As a third party looking in, there is two options. 1) You use the same user/pass for everything and/or visit the wrong websites or 2) Some chinese goldsellers hacked into SE to take your account, in order to spam gil selling....
By now I imagine you know my belief...
gold sellers have all but disappeared from the server i'm on and i was really hoping that the gold buyers were also vanquished
apparently so
yeah!
Well when someone comes on and says hey I got banned and did nothing wrong and also deletes the proof that the company sends them to show them why their account was banned. Kind of smells like you know what and that this person was doing something wrong and got caught and now trying to give the company bad press and pretend the company is evil here. Basically take it up with their support, and if you are gonna go on a crusade against the company show the proof that you are not in the wrong and show the proof that they used to say you were in the wrong. Full disclosure of all the evidence is the best policy to clear your name but the OP did not do that so it makes him look guilty.
Yeah, I've only had 1 account ever hacked and it was my fault. I used the same log-in and PW to register at a site to D/l a wow addon. Three days later my account was hacked. That's on me. Got an authenticator mailed to me that day.
When some says.. " I know for a fact it wasn't my fault." I instantly assume it was their fault. Unless SE got their entire account database hacked. It's the individuals fault every time.
I'm not defending the Big companies. Frankly they are a plauge on society and care about people only so far as it can make them a buck. They would kill us all and steal our wallets if they thought they could get away with it.
As for terrible customer support, those people I do sympathize with. They spend 8 hours every day getting whined to, yelled at, and cussed out for minumum wage. If i was doing that job there's no way i could be chipper and helpful. After a coup[le hours of that I'd tell everyone who called to stop worrying about a damn game and go find a girl friend.
Physical security token?
Because sure, if your cell phone is hacked and you use cell phone software security token, then yeah your token can be hacked.
In what way has it been breached? There is a difference between Square Enix being breached and fansites, email accounts and cell phones being breached.
If SquareEnix was truly breached, we would see accounts who use Physical security token getting hacked.
[mod edit] i had this happen once as well, it is not his fault.
in my case people phoned the company and got them to remove my key generator and they logged on stole all my stuff and SOMEHOW didnt need to tell them personal information before getting it done.
it was recorded i was told, but that wouldnt get them anywhere. but apparently he was polite. that gets you far with things.
Is anyone else having problems waiting in the multi-hour chat support que..getting to the "you are number 1 in the que" and then receiving the message "There are no agents avaliable to assist you, please try again later" ?
It's happened to me three times (This is using the NA support)
I don't care about SE and don't think they're that great of a company.
That said, if their account services weren't hacked directly, then it is the fault of the person who got hacked. Either they used the same username and password at other sites (such as FE fan sites) and one of those was compromised. Or, as happens in a lot of games, they used a third party program as an add on to the game that compromised their information.
It is only the company's fault when their services are directly hacked and users information is compromised. If that isn't the case, then it is the user's fault.
I've never had a single compromised game account. Yet in many games I've heard of how it wasn't a person's fault that they were hacked and it turns out they're running like 10 add ons from random websites, any of which could be sending all of their info away. Hell I've even heard people who used leveling services complain they got hacked when they had to give up their account info to get their characters leveled.
Dear OP,
I know what you are going through. I've been unjustly banned before, albeit not for being hacked (i.e. indirectly through actions performed by another person compromising my account) and I really regret not giving the company hell for it.
I wasn't the only one. 1000's in this particular game were banned and it wasn't until people made a shit storm on the forums (through their friends' active accounts) that any action was taken.
Unfortunately, I had no friends playing that particular game at the time and I remained banned.
My greatest regret is not having requested a charge back and/or complaining to the BBB. Now that the BBBs credibility is somewhat shaken, I think it behooves customers like you who have been wronged through incompetent CS to request a chargeback ASAP.
These forums will not help you; they are replete with every flavor of moron on the internet. Most people here are just here to try and bait you into insulting them so they can report you, or are staunch defenders of their beloved title, because that particular title is so good that they spend more time on the forum than playing it.
For your own sake, take my advice, contact CS until you're blue in the face. When that fails, go to your CC company. The risk is obviously that you somehow won't be able to purchase SE titles again, unless you get a new credit card, or do it indirectly through paypal etc., but for me, personally, it's worth winning the good fight rather than being another victim.
Another thing that might help is scanning your system with every AV known to man and hopefully finding the culprit, then taking a SS, etc. and including it in your plea to CS. In any case, you will have the peace of mind knowing that your machine is clean.
Somebody getting you banned in a game is a small thing compared to the shit you'd have to go through when somebody illegally uses your credit card and affects your credit rating negatively...
Best wishes,
Somebody who has been banned before, complained on these forums and been blamed as a hacker.
WTF does this have to do with what I said? I was speaking about your attitude toward people about the one time password deal. All I was saying was it could be an honest mistake that it was overlooked or ignored.
I need no lecture on account security, I've never been hacked before in any game, because I don't do the common mistakes that lead to it. If I was hacked I certainly wouldn't be on MMORPG.com complaining about.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Thought I'd give an update to anyone suffering from this problem :
Finally got in touch with NA phone support (the poor guy on the phone sounded like he'd already been yelled at a few times today...please remember it's not their fault! )
- They do not have the abillity to give or remove bans at the support center
- They escalate you once you have contacted support to an "investigative team" which will look into the ban/hack..etc
- Turn around they said is generally about a week
- Once the investigation is complete they will contact you through the e-mail on your account.
Ah and just a note, to verify who you are they just ask a few questions like..name, address, e-mail. Nothing major.
- PLEASE REMEMBER when you get in contact with support staff..the problem you're facing has nothing to do with them, they're just answering the phones. Be kind, they'll appreciate it.