Talk about strange bedfellows! Who would ever have thought that it would come to this? Microsoft is sending out a warning to everyone in the world of MMOGs: “organized crime” is selling stolen massively multiplayer online game accounts on the black market.�
So what is happening here? Many of us are no strangers to the fact that online characters are worth a whole lot in terms of time and money spent. Heck, minors have gotten in trouble with their parents too often to forget all the effort they have put into their online characters. Most MMOGs rely on the concept of leveling up. The higher the level, the stronger you are. As for unscrupulous people out there, the more attractive your character is. What they do is take advantage of the weakness in the security of the game’s software. They hack into the system and steal your accounts. They then convert this into cash by selling your account information or actually selling game items and cash via the black market. Talk about criminal!
So who is to be held responsible? I think game developers and companies should be held accountable. They earn tons of cash from MMOG addicts everywhere in the world. The least they can do is to tighten security. Then again, there will always be smarter hackers somewhere. It’s just a cycle…maybe a never ending one.
I guess all hardcore MMOG players can do for now is sit tight and hope that their accounts don’t get hacked. Then again, if that does happen, remember it’s not the end of the world.