# World of Warcraft General Discussion **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 4, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294 "2009-03-04T17:44:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 23
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/441 "2009-04-08T19:36:30Z")
> [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](#): > > - Once a gold-farming operation gains access to an account, they will hijack that account… Okay, you’re going to have to explain this to me. I haven’t bought gold myself, but the process was explained to me as: 1. Give gold farmers money (let’s assume PayPal for the moment). 2. Meet specified character in specified location at specified time and open trade window. 3. Receive gold. How does that provide them with access to your account? Or a way to get a virus onto your computer? Are you confusing gold farmers with power-levelers, or am I missing something? ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/442 "2009-04-08T19:53:06Z")
Yes, I’d like to know how this hijacking _by gold sellers_ works too. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/443 "2009-04-08T20:15:36Z")
> [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](#): > > No, it’s usually the custom UIs and add-ons that everybody and their cousin gets. How can an add-on do anything? They can’t steal account info; they’re only loaded after you’ve logged in. ---
**Author:** ![Dahnlor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahnlor/32/533_2.png) [@Dahnlor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahnlor)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/444 "2009-04-08T20:16:11Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Okay, you’re going to have to explain this to me. I haven’t bought gold myself, but the process was explained to me as: > > 1. Give gold farmers money (let’s assume PayPal for the moment). > > 2. Meet specified character in specified location at specified time and open trade window. > > 3. Receive gold. > > How does that provide them with access to your account? Or a way to get a virus onto your computer? Are you confusing gold farmers with power-levelers, or am I missing something? The main risk is if you contact the gold seller through their Web site. While you will not be providing any sensitive information to them directly, it is possible for the Web site to infect your computer with a keylogger. Then, when logging in to your account, you’ll be sending your username and password to them without knowing. If all of the direct contact is in-game, you should be OK. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/445 "2009-04-08T20:42:18Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > How can an add-on do anything? They can’t steal account info; they’re only loaded after you’ve logged in. Not if you use the convenient .exe installer that it’s bundled with. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/446 "2009-04-08T20:55:28Z")
> [@Dahnlor](#): > > The main risk is if you contact the gold seller through their Web site. While you will not be providing any sensitive information to them directly, it is possible for the Web site to infect your computer with a keylogger. Then, when logging in to your account, you’ll be sending your username and password to them without knowing. Evil websites aren’t a problem if you’re running Firefox’s NoScript plug-in. And WoW’s Launcher does a check for key-loggers. > [@Palooka](#): > > Not if you use the convenient .exe installer that it’s bundled with. Well that’s not the add-on, is it. And an .exe isn’t really a problem unless it’s run in admin mode. ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/447 "2009-04-08T21:11:59Z")
> [@Dahnlor](#): > > The main risk is if you contact the gold seller through their Web site. While you will not be providing any sensitive information to them directly, it is possible for the Web site to infect your computer with a keylogger. Then, when logging in to your account, you’ll be sending your username and password to them without knowing. > > If all of the direct contact is in-game, you should be OK. This is a non-answer. Look, \*any \*website you visit has the potential of infecting your computer with malware. What some people are saying here is that buying gold somehow puts your account at risk (from sources other than Blizzard). I want to know how, specifically, it is at risk. The answers keep getting vaguer and vaguer. What I believe is happening here is that some people’s moral opposition to buying gold is getting in the way of their logic. Keyloggers and account stealing are obviously common. Addons are definitely a risk. Going to WoW-related sites is a risk. I’m not saying that gold selling sites do not get game gold from those sources. What I am saying is that it is unlikely that you’d contract a keylogger in the process of buying gold, including going to the gold seller’s business front. During the period in which I bought gold I shopped around on at least ten to fifteen sites and had no issues, and I’ve had the same account name and password for WoW since release. I’m not advocating buying gold but the people who are saying buying gold puts you at greater risk of having your account compromised are just wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/448 "2009-04-08T21:58:39Z")
Did you guys see PETA is targeting an online protest at WoW? PETA never ceases to amaze me with its absurd stunts. > **[Tom's Hardware: For The Hardcore PC Enthusiast](https://www.tomshardware.com/)** > > Tom's Hardware helps you buy the best hardware and build the best PC to play, create and work.. ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/449 "2009-04-08T22:07:24Z")
Quick, someone call [D.E.H.T.A.!](http://www.wowwiki.com/D.E.H.T.A.) 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/450 "2009-04-08T22:14:29Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Evil websites aren’t a problem if you’re running Firefox’s NoScript plug-in. > [@Pleonast](#): > > And an .exe isn’t really a problem unless it’s run in admin mode. This is all wrong. There are lots of vulnerabilities that are not defeated by NoScript, and of no help for people using IE, Safari, Chrome or Opera. And there is plenty of damage that can be done by an executable, even if not run in administration mode (particularly on Windows XP). ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/451 "2009-04-08T22:18:04Z")
I don’t understand what happened with **Quasi**. It’s not like he met with the gold dealer at the Real Life bank to give him dollars. **Quasi** , what were you going to trade to him? How much gold did you find yourself with? ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/452 "2009-04-08T22:38:53Z")
> [@Cerowyn](#): > > There are lots of vulnerabilities that are not defeated by NoScript, and of no help for people using IE, Safari, Chrome or Opera. Really? Both Firefox and NoScript update themselves frequently. While I’ve read about security holes in them (which are quickly fixed), I haven’t heard of Firefox with NoScript actually being exploited in the wild. Do you know of any examples? As for other browsers, I don’t know what their security options are, but Firefox with NoScript is freely available if they are not sufficiently secure. > [@](#): > > And there is plenty of damage that can be done by an executable, even if not run in administration mode (particularly on Windows XP). Yes, any executable can cause damage, but it’ll need admin permissions to install a keylogger, which is the main concern here. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/453 "2009-04-08T22:46:58Z")
I wasn’t going to trade him _anything_. I just thought I needed some more funds because someone on the WoW forum said my character looked like crap, didn’t have the right weaponry or had enough “greens” (whatever the hell THAT is). I knew right away I did something wrong when the GM appeared and cancelled the “trade”. (I bought the gold on my credit card), so I begged for mercy. Y’all does **Kimi** , post here? Because someone by that name gave my toon “Wolkenlaufre” a gift of new armor and weapons and stuff, and it has made me stronger. I thanked her already on the WoW customer service board, but I could not remember if she might post here as well. Question: I got severely damaged in Moonbrook, so got rezzed, and then tried to make my way back to Sentinel Hill, but got killed again. I can’t Hearth out yet, so I’m lying behind a gravestone in the Dagger Hill cemetery waiting fpr my stone to recover. If I log out of the game, does that “freeze” the stone, or does the time keep running? I ask because I’m barehanded. no shield and no armor to speak of and I know I cannot sneak away. ETA: 3K gold. SORRY! Thanks Q ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/454 "2009-04-08T22:51:56Z")
Quasimodem, if the GM canceled the trade, how did you end up with the gold? ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/455 "2009-04-08T22:54:50Z")
I also wanted add that the people who sold me the gold apologized to me, refunded me my money on the credit card, but also said “But it went _through_!” So I don’t know what to tell y’all, except I’m a idjit. Q ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/456 "2009-04-08T22:58:59Z")
> [@Demo](#): > > Quasimodem, if the GM canceled the trade, how did you end up with the gold? I don’t **know** , **Demo**! I just know what I saw on my screen, cancelled the credit card payment (PayPal? I don’t 'member) and wrote a nasty e-mail to the people I bought the gold from. Told them I didn’t KNOW we were doing something illegal and to take the transaction OFF, and THAT is when I wrote my GM what happened. They canceled the credit card payment and the money’s still there. God! Why do I suddenly feel like a counterfeiter???\>? ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/457 "2009-04-08T23:05:30Z")
Quasi, no one here is mad at you, we’re just trying to determine how they used you for their own gain. You’re vulnerable due to your health, and that puts you at risk for being taken advantage of. Rule of thumb: anytime you pay real life money for something that occurs in the game of WOW (besides the monthly subscription or the purchase of a hints book at a game store), it’s not allowed. There is no reason at all that you should feel like apologizing to us. > [@](#): > > Haris Pilton: Does anybody actually buy anything other than the “Gigantique” sack from her? Who would pay 3000g for a ring that is mere decoration (and actually not even visible on your toon)? The very excellent Ruby Shades, which cost only a few cents and often sell for hundreds on the AH. ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/458 "2009-04-08T23:16:27Z")
Hey Quasi, sounds like you scored big time! You got a bunch of WoW gold for free and didn’t get busted! 🙂 /runs away ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/459 "2009-04-09T00:26:25Z")
> [@Mister Rik](#): > > Quote: > Haris Pilton: Does anybody actually buy anything other than the “Gigantique” sack from her? Who would pay 3000g for a ring that is mere decoration (and actually not even visible on your toon)? > [@wonderlust](#): > > The very excellent Ruby Shades, which cost only a few cents and often sell for hundreds on the AH. Huh. She wasn’t selling those when I talked to her - just the sack and some rings. I’ll check back - I’ve been wanting those shades! I thought those were something Engineers made. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/460 "2009-04-09T02:25:50Z")
Thanks, **wonderlust**! I still am sorry, because it looks like I tried to do an illegal “end run”, but this game just helps with my cognitive “stuff” and I was just trying to fit in. I think I’ll go ride my Gryphon.😉 Love Y’all and PS: Would y’all read the above post and someone please answer me? It was about Kimi and the hearthstone. I sure would appreciate it! Q [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294.md?page=24)