Archives for cheats category
Posted on Mar 01, 2010 under cheats |
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Cheats
It’s hard to judge exactly how many players know about GM Island. Some of the older players will remember the flood of trade chat and guild chats whenever a GM was online and visible in GM Island, and those folks who like to mess around with private servers and unexplored places will have at least heard of its existence. However today, with the island being so cordoned off, many players probably are not familiar with the mythical island of the game masters.
GM Island is a piece of land that used to exist in the very upper left hand coordinates of Azeroth, far beyond the reach of players. It exists as an in-game entrance point for Blizzard GMs, and is a relatively mundane place. It has a small keep and a dock, a few trees and bushes, and that’s it.
There was a time when players were able to swim out to the island, and that swim took around an hour of hard work. It involved using a level one character constantly casting renew and other healing spells; and the player had to know exactly where to point themselves or risk being hopelessly lost in the vast oceans of Azeroth. The trick used to get there was similar to the one that allowed players to get to the Isle of Quel’Danas on the patch 2.4 PTR back in 2008. It was also possible to water-walk out there, but not much is known anymore about that method, at least publicly.
After the break we’ll take a look at a few of the features and lore surrounding GM Island, as well as look at some videos. However, please be forewarned that some of the images and videos in this post are from private servers. Enough legitimate in-game footage simply doesn’t exist.
Continue reading A look at GM Island and the Player Jail
A look at GM Island and the Player Jail originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Feb 09, 2010 under cheats |
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Cheats, Bugs, Guilds, Raiding, Wrath of the Lich King, Achievements
Are you wondering what has caused all the ruckus in the raiding community the past few days? Have you been typing your fingers to the bone since Wednesday night, arguing for one side or the other in forums and chat channels? Whoever you are, or whatever side you’re on, in the still-burning aftermath of Ensidia’s ban, I feel some reflection is needed. Thus, I am going explain, to the best of my ability, what happened to cause such uproar in the raiding community this week. I am also going to, as the title implies, offer my speculations.
Continue reading Editorial: Thoughts on the Ensidia ban
Editorial: Thoughts on the Ensidia ban originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Sep 21, 2009 under cheats |
Filed under: Cheats, PvP, Wrath of the Lich King, Battlegrounds, Rumors
We’ve gotten a bunch of tips recently that claim some very e-famous PvPers are botting in BGs. If you aren’t familiar with the term “botting,” Dictionary.com provides us with the following definitions of bot:
- Bot:
-noun
the larva of a botfly.
- Bot:
-noun (Australian Slang)
a person who cadges; scrounger.
- Bot:
-noun
a device or piece of software that can execute commands, reply to messages, or perform routine tasks, as online searches, either automatically or with minimal human intervention (often used in combination): intelligent infobots; shopping bots that help consumers find the best prices.
Continue reading High-Rated PvPers do the robot
High-Rated PvPers do the robot originally appeared on WoW.com on Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Jul 08, 2009 under cheats |
Filed under: Hunter, Cheats, News items, Humor
As the holiday weekend rolled around, we started to get a number of tips that Hunters were successfully training themselves a…Worgen pet? Worgen?!? How was this level of cool allowed into the game without anyone knowing about it until now?
Well, it turns out that the Worgen pet is in fact a very clever use of game mechanics somewhat akin to those used by Hunters in order to tame the (now sadly vanished) Grimtotem Spirit Guide. Garwal, a warg NPC in northern Howling Fjord who can turn into a Worgen as part of a questline (the link is the Horde version, but it’s the same for both Horde and Alliance) can actually be tamed and kept in Worgen form if the timing is right. Mania’s Arcania has a look at the process used here, which involves a little math, a little guesswork, and the strategic use of Wyvern Sting.
Continue reading Hunters discover “new” Worgen pet
Hunters discover “new” Worgen pet originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Jul 03, 2009 under cheats |
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Cheats, Guilds, Blizzard
As previously reported, there were accusations that US guild Exodus used an exploit to obtain the World First of the last unclaimed Hard Mode in Ulduar — Alone in the Darkness. As it turns out, these accusations were true and blue poster Daelo posted on the official forums that the Yogg-Saron encounter was hotfixed on all servers to prevent this from happening in the future. Owing to this, Exodus’ kill is no longer recognized by some achievement trackers.
Contrary to some reports, however, Exodus released a statement on their website that members of their guild were not banned, clarifying that Blizzard meted out a 72-hour suspension for their abuse of game mechanics. They argue that the encounter wasn’t beatable to begin with, similar to the C’thun fight in Ahn’Qiraj before it was fixed, prompting the exploit. In the same statement, Exodus also points at Ensidia’s arguably hypocritical stance of complaining about the abuse considering Ensidia used similar questionable methods to achieve other World Firsts. Serennia mentions this behavior in his column at wowriot, as well, bringing into question Blizzard’s apparent double standard when meting out punishment.
Exodus punished for exploiting Yogg-Saron encounter originally appeared on WoW.com on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Jun 28, 2009 under cheats |
Filed under: Priest, Items, Analysis / Opinion, Cheats, Odds and ends, Phat Loot Phriday
Here’s an offhand, one that works pretty well for Priests.
Name: Ironmender (Wowhead, Thottbot, Armory)
Type: Epic Off-hand
Damage/Speed: N/A
Abilities:
- +54 Stamina, +47 Intellect, +45 Spirit
- Improves haste rating by 36 and spell power by 74.
Continue reading Phat Loot Phriday: Ironmender
Phat Loot Phriday: Ironmender originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Jun 28, 2009 under cheats |
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Cheats, Features, Raiding, Interviews, [1.Local]
Reader comments - ahh, yes, the juicy goodness following a meaty post. [1.Local] ducks past the swinging doors to see what readers have been chatting about in the back room over the past week.
The [1.Local] PuG was in rare form this week, postulating theories and pontificating on issues ranging from the Martin Fury scandal to whether or not Ulduar difficulty and loot is on target. We highlight not one but two in-depth posts on the lore behind the Horde/Alliance relationship, each with extensive reader reaction.
This edition of [1.Local] also spotlights fresh reaction from Karatechop, the player at the epicenter of the Martin Fury brouhaha. What does he think about all the hullabaloo over his banning in the wake of his use of a GM-only item that came into the hands of a guildmate? Karatechop responds to the pages of comments on our exclusive interview with him about the incident. All this and more, after the break.
Continue reading [1.Local]: The theory, debate, controversy and scandal edition
[1.Local]: The theory, debate, controversy and scandal edition originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 03 May 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Jun 28, 2009 under cheats |
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Cheats, Features, Bosses, Achievements
In reading the commentary on the site concerning the brouhaha surrounding Martin Fury and The Marvel Family’s steamrolling of raid content, there were a lot of assertions made that left an impression on me, but the overwhelming feeling I had coming away from it was the players were treating it as a TOS issue when ultimately it’s not. For obvious reasons, Blizzard doesn’t spend a lot of time creating specific rules for what happens when players get ahold of items that are not officially supposed to exist. I do, however, believe it to be a moral issue.
Was Karatechop wrong to use the shirt, or just wrong past a certain point?
Someone made of stricter stuff than myself would probably say that it was wrong to use the shirt at all, but I have to admit — I don’t have it in me to condemn Karatechop’s initial impulse to try it out. GM items don’t officially exist for players; we know about them only because they’ve been data-mined, and you’d have to be a fairly frequent habitué of Warcraft fan sites to have any inkling that they’re in the game at all. If I’d been in Karatechop’s position, like many players I would’ve believed that Martin Fury was a joke when I first saw it. Who honestly expects to run across an item like that, let alone one that was mailed to a guildie’s level 13 Warlock? I don’t believe Karatechop was wrong to try the shirt when he had no reason to believe it was anything other than a joke or some bizarre glitch.
Continue reading The Azeroth Ethicist: Special I.W.I.N. edition
The Azeroth Ethicist: Special I.W.I.N. edition originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 05 May 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Jun 28, 2009 under cheats |
Filed under: Cheats, Features, Interviews, 15 Minutes of Fame
15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes - from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you’d like to hear more about.
Daedren (not his former WoW character’s name) ruffled more than a few feathers with an internet “confessional” (was it, really?) last week about his experiences botting in World of Warcraft. (To “bot,” a term that comes from the word “robot,” is to use a third-party program to play the game for you.) He initially declined an interview with 15 Minutes of Fame but was back in touch a few days later, after the comments and reaction began piling on.
With a measured, reasonable approach (somewhat at odds with the abrasive tone he takes with commenters on his blog), Daedren visits with us about botting. Is botting a blot on the soul of gaming humanity or a benign, time-saving technique for busy gamers? Read Daedren’s post to learn what his botted characters were up to in WoW, then join us after the break to learn why his botting post was actually a farewell “ode to WoW.”
Continue reading 15 Minutes of Fame: WoW botter tells all
15 Minutes of Fame: WoW botter tells all originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Jun 28, 2009 under cheats |
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Cheats, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Account Security
We’ve covered the topic of Warden in the past, and you’ve probably already got an opinion on what it does to your computer system. Blizzard runs the Warden program alongside your WoW client, and while it runs it examines what else is running on your system — if there are any third party programs (either hacks or cheat programs) interfering with the client, it lets Blizzard know, and shuts down the client. The obvious privacy concern here, of course, is that Warden is basically watching what you do outside of the game. And while Blizzard has maintained that the program is simply meant to check for hacks and cheats (they also say that no personally identifiable information is sent back to them, though IPs and other network information definitely are), there’s always a chance that Warden could see you doing something you don’t want it to.
Computerworld’s Security section has a nice long article on all of the implications of Warden, especially in one of the more sensitive areas of security: the workplace. While most of us probably won’t ever play World of Warcraft at work, there are certainly companies where installing and playing the game at certain times is appropriate. And it’s probably in those situations where Warden could be its most dangerous. If you trust Blizzard with your information, then you’ll have nothing to worry about. But if you don’t know what Warden is sending back, there’s always a chance that it could be something more sensitive than you’d like.
Of course, there is a hard and fast solution to this: don’t play World of Warcraft on computers that have anything you wouldn’t want shared with Blizzard or anyone else. As Computerworld concludes, it’s a choice-and-consequences kind of thing. Warden is up and running every time you play WoW, for better or worse — if you don’t want it watching what you’re doing, the only guaranteed way out is to not play World of Warcraft.
Computerworld on Blizzard’s Warden at work originally appeared on WoW.com on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Jun 28, 2009 under cheats |
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Cheats, Fan stuff, Virtual selves, Guilds, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Instances, Guildwatch, Bosses
This isn’t guild drama, but what a move — Kokor of Draka convinced a PuG to help him through a second run of Gun’drak just so he could ding level 80. And take a guess what he did as soon as he dinged — yup, split off to Naxx, leaving the PuG, who’d just helped him level the last few points, in the lurch. The jerk store called, and they just ran out of Kokor.
More stories of drama in this week’s Guildwatch below, including a prodigal son that isn’t so welcome. Plus, we’ve got downed and recruiting news from around the realms — if you want to know what the guilds are up to on your server, it’s in here. And don’t forget, send your tips on drama, downed and recruiting news to wowguildwatch@gmail.com, and you’ll see them right here in the future.
Continue reading Guildwatch: Ninja tested, GM approved
Guildwatch: Ninja tested, GM approved originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Jun 28, 2009 under cheats |
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Cheats, News items, PvP, Arena
Bornakk just posted an important announcement for all arena participants:
There is now a time limit of 45 minutes for all arenas. If neither team has achieved a victory, both teams will lose 16 arena rating points.
This is posted in the general discussion forums, and we can safely assume that this change is active on live realms.
Bornakk goes on further to say that matches that go on for 45 minutes are currently showing up as a draw and not displaying a loss of arena points. However, the point loss still happens. This means that you can apparently see it when you look at your honor page and you’ll notice that your rating has gone down by 16 points
We’ve covered some very long arena matches in the past. A 13 hour match between a Druid/Warrior and Warlock/Paladin, won by the Warlock/Paladin, and a 10 hour arena match (the classes were not reported on).
Continue reading 45 minute time limit for all arena matches
45 minute time limit for all arena matches originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Jun 28, 2009 under cheats |
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Cheats, Odds and ends, Blizzard
Blizzard (via Nethaera) has released a nice long statement on the Glider outcome over on the forums. She basically runs through the history of the case and why Blizzard is against what Glider is doing, and why going through the courts was the only route left to them. She says that Warden (though called only “security measures”) was enabled in response to player concerns about bots, and that when the MDY/Glider people circumvented Warden, their only recourse was to seek an injunction through the courts, which, as we’ve reported recently, they plan to have soon.
She does say that Blizzard won based on the judge’s decision that MDY did violate the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, but Neth doesn’t go any further into the issue, and doesn’t elaborate at all on what might happen if this case is used as a precedent against other types of Terms of Use violations. As you might expect from an official Blizzard telling of the tale, the case is seen as a victory for Blizzard and their players — for them, it’s all about keeping bots out of Azeroth, and this decision will definitely help them do that.
And that’s obviously not a bad thing — most players will agree that MDY was allowing players to cheat (by letting the game play automatically without them in control), and thus preventing the client from being used in-game is a good thing. It’s just that DMCA issue that might be a nagging problem — we’ll have to see what happens with that in the future.
Blizzard responds to the Glider decision originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Jun 28, 2009 under cheats |
Filed under: Hunter, Analysis / Opinion, Cheats, Raiding
An interesting question was posed over on Less QQ, More PewPew: When would you become a ninja? It made for a pretty good read, the author lays out a few situations that might warrant an act of ninjery* that really made me think about the whole thing. Would I ninja in those situations? The situations that the author describes are situations that would certainly make me consider it, but they’re also situations I don’t ever put myself in.
The author lays out a scene: Your raid is in Sunwell (when it was still sexy), you have your regular Hunter, and you have a terrible PUG Hunter. You kill Kil’jaeden. Regular Hunter did great, but PUG Hunter was terrible and died almost instantly. You loot the boss and… Thori’dal drops! The two Hunters roll off, and the pickup Hunter wins the roll. Do you Master Loot the bow to your regular Hunter anyway? Or do you play nice and give it to the pickup?
Continue reading When would you become a ninja?
When would you become a ninja? originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Apr 13, 2009 under cheats |
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Cheats, Fan stuff, Virtual selves, Guilds, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Instances, Guildwatch, Bosses
This isn’t guild drama, but what a move — Kokor of Draka convinced a PuG to help him through a second run of Gun’drak just so he could ding level 80. And take a guess what he did as soon as he dinged — yup, split off to Naxx, leaving the PuG, who’d just helped him level the last few points, in the lurch. The jerk store called, and they just ran out of Kokor.
More stories of drama in this week’s Guildwatch below, including a prodigal son that isn’t so welcome. Plus, we’ve got downed and recruiting news from around the realms — if you want to know what the guilds are up to on your server, it’s in here. And don’t forget, send your tips on drama, downed and recruiting news to wowguildwatch@gmail.com, and you’ll see them right here in the future.
Continue reading Guildwatch: Ninja tested, GM approved
Guildwatch: Ninja tested, GM approved originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Apr 13, 2009 under cheats |
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Cheats, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Account Security
We’ve covered the topic of Warden in the past, and you’ve probably already got an opinion on what it does to your computer system. Blizzard runs the Warden program alongside your WoW client, and while it runs it examines what else is running on your system — if there are any third party programs (either hacks or cheat programs) interfering with the client, it lets Blizzard know, and shuts down the client. The obvious privacy concern here, of course, is that Warden is basically watching what you do outside of the game. And while Blizzard has maintained that the program is simply meant to check for hacks and cheats (they also say that no personally identifiable information is sent back to them, though IPs and other network information definitely are), there’s always a chance that Warden could see you doing something you don’t want it to.
Computerworld’s Security section has a nice long article on all of the implications of Warden, especially in one of the more sensitive areas of security: the workplace. While most of us probably won’t ever play World of Warcraft at work, there are certainly companies where installing and playing the game at certain times is appropriate. And it’s probably in those situations where Warden could be its most dangerous. If you trust Blizzard with your information, then you’ll have nothing to worry about. But if you don’t know what Warden is sending back, there’s always a chance that it could be something more sensitive than you’d like.
Of course, there is a hard and fast solution to this: don’t play World of Warcraft on computers that have anything you wouldn’t want shared with Blizzard or anyone else. As Computerworld concludes, it’s a choice-and-consequences kind of thing. Warden is up and running every time you play WoW, for better or worse — if you don’t want it watching what you’re doing, the only guaranteed way out is to not play World of Warcraft.
Computerworld on Blizzard’s Warden at work originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Mar 03, 2009 under cheats |
Filed under: Hunter, Analysis / Opinion, Cheats, Raiding
An interesting question was posed over on Less QQ, More PewPew: When would you become a ninja? It made for a pretty good read, the author lays out a few situations that might warrant an act of ninjery* that really made me think about the whole thing. Would I ninja in those situations? The situations that the author describes are situations that would certainly make me consider it, but they’re also situations I don’t ever put myself in.
The author lays out a scene: Your raid is in Sunwell (when it was still sexy), you have your regular Hunter, and you have a terrible PUG Hunter. You kill Kil’jaeden. Regular Hunter did great, but PUG Hunter was terrible and died almost instantly. You loot the boss and… Thori’dal drops! The two Hunters roll off, and the pickup Hunter wins the roll. Do you Master Loot the bow to your regular Hunter anyway? Or do you play nice and give it to the pickup?
Continue reading When would you become a ninja?
When would you become a ninja? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Mar 03, 2009 under cheats |
Filed under: Cheats, Features, Interviews, 15 Minutes of Fame
15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes - from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you’d like to hear more about.
Daedren (not his former WoW character’s name) ruffled more than a few feathers with an internet “confessional” (was it, really?) last week about his experiences botting in World of Warcraft. (To “bot,” a term that comes from the word “robot,” is to use a third-party program to play the game for you.) He initially declined an interview with 15 Minutes of Fame but was back in touch a few days later, after the comments and reaction began piling on.
With a measured, reasonable approach (somewhat at odds with the abrasive tone he takes with commenters on his blog), Daedren visits with us about botting. Is botting a blot on the soul of gaming humanity or a benign, time-saving technique for busy gamers? Read Daedren’s post to learn what his botted characters were up to in WoW, then join us after the break to learn why his botting post was actually a farewell “ode to WoW.”
Continue reading 15 Minutes of Fame: WoW botter tells all
15 Minutes of Fame: WoW botter tells all originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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