Massively http://massively.joystiq.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[League of Legends mastery point exploit fixed, banhammer incoming]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/05/07/league-of-legends-mastery-point-exploit-fixed-banhammer-incomin/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/05/07/league-of-legends-mastery-point-exploit-fixed-banhammer-incomin/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/05/07/league-of-legends-mastery-point-exploit-fixed-banhammer-incomin/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Screenshot -- League of Legends
We all know that League of Legends breeds a fairly competitive community, but unfortunately there are players out there who don't let little things like rules and common decency get in the way of their desire to win. A number of such players were recently found to be taking advantage of an exploit that allowed them to place more mastery points in a given talent than they would legally be able to, thereby giving them an incredibly unfair advantage.

Riot Games' Lead Community Manager, Tamat, stopped by the forums today to let everyone know that "that's bull****" and that it's not going to be tolerated. The post goes on to state that a fix for the exploit has been implemented, and the studio is about to lay the smack down on the guilty parties. Tamat says that the studio has "comprehensive logs and data" that have been used to identify the players who used the exploit. Riot is "going to be taking firm action against their accounts." May all the exploiters meet a swift and terrible demise at the hands of Riot's banhammer. For the full details on the matter, head on over to the official post on the League of Legends forums.

MassivelyLeague of Legends mastery point exploit fixed, banhammer incoming originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 07 May 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>banbanhammerbansdotae-sportesportexploitexploitsf2pfantasyfree-to-playleagueleague-of-legendslolmobariotriot-gamestamatMon, 07 May 2012 13:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Mortal Online busting out tremendous banhammer on hackers]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/27/mortal-online-busting-out-tremendous-banhammer-on-hackers/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/27/mortal-online-busting-out-tremendous-banhammer-on-hackers/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/27/mortal-online-busting-out-tremendous-banhammer-on-hackers/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Hackers beware. The team at Star Vault have their eyes on you, and it's time to stop any and all shenanigans you've got going on in Mortal Online. Or else, you say? Or else the banhammer awaits you -- and according to their most recent update, it means an instant, permanent ban that could leave you staring at the login screen in frustration.

According to a post by Maerlyn on the Mortal Online forums, there is currently no set date on when software monitoring will come into play, or even what method they'll use to monitor for third-party applications or changes in the game files that are being reported. A follow-up posting by Tazaterra in the same thread indicates that anyone who has modified game files needs to stop at this time.

With the game still being tweaked pending release, we're glad to see the team at Star Vault is taking a proactive stance on this before the floodgates officially open. In a game where PvP is everything, players need to know that anyone using exploits, hacks, bots or the like to tip the game balance will be dealt with swiftly and before it causes game imbalances.

[via TTH]

MassivelyMortal Online busting out tremendous banhammer on hackers originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 27 Apr 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>banbanhammerforum-postgame-fileshackerhackersmomortal-onlinepvpstar-vaultTue, 27 Apr 2010 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Lost Pages of Taborea: Banhammer time]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/26/lost-pages-of-taborea-banhammer-time/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/26/lost-pages-of-taborea-banhammer-time/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/26/lost-pages-of-taborea-banhammer-time/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


For a while now, Frogster has been fiddling with how a player can buy diamonds to later trade and sell in the auction house. Ever so slowly, they had to implement more and more restrictions because of credit fraud and gold sellers. Those restrictions came in the form of what you could no longer use to buy tradable diamonds, until there was almost no other way except to purchase game cards from select retailers. Now it seems the ongoing problem has come to a head with the announcement that Runes of Magic has temporarily turned off the trading of diamonds for gold completely.

While it certainly doesn't paint RoM in a good light and may look like it has marred their great track record, gold selling issues are nothing exclusive to the game. Bots and gold spam are something that many MMOs eventually deal with and it's a positive sign that the developers are working on it. Maybe they're taking a queue from Aion's RMT videos or maybe they had it planned for a long time, but RoM has recently gone after the player-side of the problem by laying down the banhammer.

Continue reading Lost Pages of Taborea: Banhammer time

MassivelyLost Pages of Taborea: Banhammer time originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ban-hammerbanhammerf2pfeaturedfree-to-playfrogsterfrogster-interactivegold-buyinggold-sellingromrunes-of-magicrunewakerrunewaker-entertainmentspamspammersMon, 26 Apr 2010 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[NCsoft bans 16,000 Aion accounts]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/11/23/ncsoft-bans-16-000-aion-accounts/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/11/23/ncsoft-bans-16-000-aion-accounts/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/11/23/ncsoft-bans-16-000-aion-accounts/#commentsFiled under: , ,

One of the continued complaints we hear from Aion players is that bots litter the game's digital landscape, severely reducing the enjoyment of actual flesh-n-bones players. So we feel inclined to shout, "Good news, everybody!" at today's announcement by NCsoft that nearly 16,000 accounts have been banned during a recent unscheduled server reboot.

That's a huge number and certainly nothing to scoff about. This should hopefully alleviate much of the problem, at least temporarily -- and then future banhammers will likely come crashing down.

We hope nobody was caught in the crossfire with today's bans, but if you do find yourself without an Aion account to play and are 100% sure of your innocence, you can create a support ticket. Obviously, this isn't ideal if you're suddenly without your account, so with any luck there aren't any cases of mistakenly banned players.

MassivelyNCsoft bans 16,000 Aion accounts originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>aionbanbanhammerbansbotsbottingeulancsoftncwestMon, 23 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The fight against RMT in EVE Online]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/08/11/the-fight-against-rmt-in-eve-online/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/08/11/the-fight-against-rmt-in-eve-online/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/08/11/the-fight-against-rmt-in-eve-online/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


It's an unfortunate reality that most any massively multiplayer online game running has to cope with outside influences on an in-game economy because of real money trading (RMT). Game developers tackle the problem in different ways. For instance, Final Fantasy XI has an anti-RMT task force and Warhammer Online has a zero-tolerance name-and-shame approach to RMT. Other companies grab the bull by its horns and base their game around a virtual item trade they can regulate.

The problem of RMT has affected EVE Online just as it has other MMO titles, if not moreso given how its player-driven economy and the Interstellar Kredit (ISK) currency is central to the game. Beyond the potential revenue lost to the black market when players pay real cash for their ships and modules or buy huge sums of ISK outright, there are also issues with players getting their accounts cleaned out by the shady companies (ostensibly) selling the ISK. When that cleverly-named player "ajakdsk" links you to his ISK selling site in a chat channel, following that link could infect your computer with a keylogger, resulting in a fire sale on whatever they find in your account.

EVE Online's creators CCP Games have taken a two-prong approach to handling these issues.

Continue reading The fight against RMT in EVE Online

MassivelyThe fight against RMT in EVE Online originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>account-hacksaccount-securitybanbanhammerbansccp-gamesdev-blogdev-blogseconomyeveeve-onlinegm-grimmigoldgold-farminggold-sellersgold-spammeriskmmo-industryplexreal-money-tradingreal-money-transactionsrmtsci-fiTue, 11 Aug 2009 19:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Matt "Positron" Miller prepares his radioactive banhammer against mission architect abusers]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/05/05/matt-positron-miller-prepares-his-radioactive-banhammer-agains/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/05/05/matt-positron-miller-prepares-his-radioactive-banhammer-agains/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/05/05/matt-positron-miller-prepares-his-radioactive-banhammer-agains/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , ,


Mission architect -- an amazing system that allows a very creative player-base to finally take the reigns of creation and make amazing in-game arcs that feature personalized stories, personalized characters, farming, well made.... wait, what?

Yes, you heard that right, people have already began to leverage City of Heroes's architect system into nothing more than powerleveling tool, and the community doesn't find that to be too enjoyable. Luckily, Matt "Positron" Miller, the lead designer, has already stepped up with a post to the community on the City of Heroes message board about how they plan on dealing with these problems.

The team wishes to remove the rewards some characters may have gained through powerleveling, all the way up to removing access to characters that were solely leveled up via mission architect exploits. Past working on a player by player bases, some badges will be changed while others may be removed entirely due to the exploiting groups surrounding them. Lastly, but certainly not least, the team will be proactively banning missions that are created to exploit the system.

For Matt's full plan, check out his post over on the City of Heroes message board.

MassivelyMatt "Positron" Miller prepares his radioactive banhammer against mission architect abusers originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 05 May 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>architectbadgesbanhammerbanningcity-of-heroescity-of-villainsexploitglitchingmatt-millermatt-positron-millermission-architectpositronpower-levelingstory-arcTue, 05 May 2009 19:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Daily Grind: To banhammer or not to banhammer]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/05/01/the-daily-grind-to-banhammer-or-not-to-banhammer/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/05/01/the-daily-grind-to-banhammer-or-not-to-banhammer/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/05/01/the-daily-grind-to-banhammer-or-not-to-banhammer/#commentsFiled under: , ,


One of the things that many people absolutely can't stand about many different MMOs is how slow to respond - and generally how light the punishment - for people getting caught exploiting/botting/or generally being a flaming @#(hat. Botting might nab you only a couple of weeks off for bad behavior - if they even bother to ban you at all. Scamming other players? Smack on the wrist. Of course, on the other side of the road, you have Aventurine who, with Darkfall, have been aggressively ban-hammering anyone who appears to be doing anything fishy. No excuses, no second, third, or fourth chances. If you cheat there and they can verify it, your account gets nuked from orbit.

Some players hate this, and claim that due to potential for error, it's way too dangerous. Other players think this is quite possibly one of the best things Aventurine is doing in regards to Darkfall - trying to keep it completely level and dealing with anyone who exploits, macros, etc. harshly. This morning we thought we'd ask what you feel is better - the more hands-off approach, giving people multiple chances to screw up before they're banned more common to many MMOs, or the hard-line Darkfall approach of ban first time, ban often?

MassivelyThe Daily Grind: To banhammer or not to banhammer originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 01 May 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>banbanhammerdarkfallexploitmacroopiniontdgthe-daily-grindFri, 01 May 2009 08:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Did Square-Enix do the right thing?]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/02/02/did-square-enix-do-the-right-thing/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/02/02/did-square-enix-do-the-right-thing/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/02/02/did-square-enix-do-the-right-thing/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,


The Square-Enix bahnammer recently came down onto the Final Fantasy XI community, permanently banning 550 non-RMT accounts that were involved in performing an exploit that has occurred over a two year time period -- an exploit that some say SE was aware of, but never took steps to correct.

The exploit in question was only available to linkshells involved several endgame activities. The basic premise was finish the activity and then before the item drops from a treasure chest or monster the alliance of parties would break into their separate groups. For you Warcraft players, a raid would cease to be a raid and break down to the parties involved. Then each of the 3 parties in the alliance would get a copy of whatever items would drop. So, instead of 1 set of loot, you would grab 3 sets of loot -- including some items that could be sold for millions on the auction house.

Continue reading Did Square-Enix do the right thing?

MassivelyDid Square-Enix do the right thing? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 02 Feb 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>banhammerbanscheatingexploitffxifinal-fantasy-xiglitchlinkshellsrmtsquare-enixsuspensionMon, 02 Feb 2009 20:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Square/Enix cracks down on Final Fantasy XI RMT]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/26/square-enix-cracks-down-on-final-fantasy-xi-rmt/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/26/square-enix-cracks-down-on-final-fantasy-xi-rmt/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/26/square-enix-cracks-down-on-final-fantasy-xi-rmt/#commentsFiled under: , ,

The folks at Square/Enix have had a rough time with in-game money sellers, commonly known as gold or gil-farmers. Over the last few years they've taken some drastic steps to curtail the activities of RMT vendors inside the world of Final Fantasy XI. At the Austin Game Developer's Conference last year, they spent the majority of a keynote session talking about their efforts to stamp out the farming menace. Through the tireless work of the anti-RMT squad onstaff, they've greatly reduced the instances of gold selling in Vana'diel.

Still, the sellers never rest. The official FFXI site has up details on a fresh new round of bans the company has handed down. Interestingly, they break down the numbers so we can see who was banned for what. We can seen, then, that about 1500 people have been removed from the game since February 17th for gil-selling in-game. Since January 27th about 1000 people have been kicked for using movement hacks, while about half that have been removed for 'monopolizing monsters or areas'. Interesting stuff, and fascinating to see it broken out like that. Keep fighting the good fight, Vana'diel soliders!

MassivelySquare/Enix cracks down on Final Fantasy XI RMT originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>banhammerffxifinal-fantasy-xigold-sellinghacksrmtsquare-enixWed, 26 Mar 2008 15:00:00 EST