Blizzard SNAFU trojan affair rumbles on

BACK IN EARLY September, the WoW community was hit by malicious key-logging software that took out the user name and password of inconspicuous players, logged on with their virtual avatars, sold all their equipment and transfered the money to a third party.

At first, players were shocked with the problem, but company representatives were quick to react and tell the affected players that their problem was being solved. At the time, no one took one or two lost days of game-play seriously.

But, even a month after the Trojan occurred, many players are still unable to play and their avatars are still naked, with money and equipment long gone. Guilds and raid groups are tossing many of the players from their virtual communities due to the fact that the duped players are unable to play the game. Chatting with Game Masters often ended with the question, "Why don't you enroll a new character?"

No-one is able to explain what will happen with the time all those players lost. Company policy does not allow for players to take a break and their money just keeps on expiring, with no clear signal that these players will get their lost time reimbursed in any way.

Sadly, one of the biggest problem is with the gaming press, which just keeps it collective mouth shut about the problems their readers experience.

Blizzard representatives did not return on our e-mails at press time. µ