Blizzard's Response to Classic Hardcore DDoS Attacks

[Low Hanging Fruit]

I do think it's the right call. You can't really surrender victory to ddos attackers, I am just curious if the who matters more than the why/how. It only empowers it moving forward if you do obviously. It also seems fairly obvious these attacks were aimed at NA RWF raiders and/or Onlyfangs in hardcore. You know, the attacks just line up a little to perfectly time wise. If it was pure Blizzard haters why not strike at NA, Asia, and Europe in a coordinated attack all at once.

Probably doesn't help that you put all these events in a tight time window making a direct attack on many targets at once much easier.

[Dezolacer]

You're so right, it's definitely a reasonable assumption to suggest that this group including multiple US citizens physically present in the USA committed a felony in order to attract more viewers to their World of Warcraft stream. Sure it might end up with a 10 year prison sentence or a half million dollar fine, but think of the Twitch chat!

This website should be renamed MMO-Cookers.

Aren't people that were ddosing WoW during the very first days of Warlords of Draenor launch actually got in jail? Imagine the whole streamer raid gets locked up behind the bars dropping soap like a boss dropping pre-raid bis. Certified Poggers moment!

[Illuminance]

Blizzard:

To be clear, we do not intend to revive characters which have died due to server disconnects, lag spikes, gameplay bugs, or any other reasons.

Malicious actor DDoS forces a disconnect: you get a rez!
Blizzard's servers disconnect you/lag you out: tough luck!

If the idea is to protect "the integrity of the game" as Blizzard put it, then why draw this distinction? Either protect players against server-side issues, or not at all.

[DarkAmbient]

It's special treatment, not Blizzard acting to maintain the integrity. If Blizzard wanted to protect OF they should have given them dedicated servers. I am willing to bet that if this was any other non-streamer guild, Blizzard wouldn't have given a flying fuck. It's definitely streamer privilege.

You might have had a point if they were only resurrecting streamer characters.

They have to do this. They can't let a DDOSer win.

[Greengrim]

None of this is how TCP/IP communication works. You are describing a fantasy technology that doesn't exist.

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I wish you guys would just be honest and say "I thought it was funny and now I'm big mad Blizzard is being decent to people!" Cloaking it in all this concern for consistency and integrity is laughable and transparent. You aren't fooling anyone.

The idea that Blizzard should take no action, thereby rewarding and encouraging more DDoS attacks against their servers, is absolutely fucking deranged.

And I wish you could stop lying to yourself that I find this funny whatsoever. I don't play hardcore - I dislike the concept. I don't watch any only fangs streamer, or any streamer at all - I prefer to use that time to play games myself. So I really don't care what happens to either of those.

If Blizzard wanted to protect their precious streamers from DDOS they should have given them dedicated servers. I'm sorry to break this to you, but taking measures post-factum only suggests that this is a decision made entirely based on greed, and has nothing to do with fighting DDOS or helping victims of DDOS.

[Hardstyle89]

Best case scenario. No one will bother with classic hardcore if some nerds with a grudge can delete people's characters like that. Yes it is a special case with special treatment and that's a fine response to a very deliberate DDoS attack. Only fangs waited over half an hour before pulling to make sure there are no dcs, as soon as they started, people began to have connection issues.

People being upset over this are a special case too lol

First off this was not a special case. DDoS attacks have happened constantly. So if blizzard is going to restore/revive the players who agreed to the terms of that says deaths for a few listed reasons that includes lag dc bugs and then they even said ANY OTHER REASONS. Pretty sure that DDoS attacks fall under the umberla of DC and Any other Reason.

Now your 2nd point "Only fangs waited over half an hour before pulling to make sure there are no dcs, as soon as they started, people began to have connection issues. "

So this goes to prove that they where the focus of the attacks. These people wanted attention but only want the good kind then cry when they get negetive attention? If blizzard does decide to restore peoples characters it should only be the normal peoples. Since the streamers brought this on themselves with there behavior and there own actions. Why should the others suffer the consequences of actions of others?

But every player knows the risk and accepts them before they start playing. So none of the characters should really be restrored or revived. That is not the game.

[NineSpine]

And I wish you could stop lying to yourself that I find this funny whatsoever. I don't play hardcore - I dislike the concept. I don't watch any only fangs streamer, or any streamer at all - I prefer to use that time to play games myself. So I really don't care what happens to either of those.

If Blizzard wanted to protect their precious streamers from DDOS they should have given them dedicated servers. I'm sorry to break this to you, but taking measures post-factum only suggests that this is a decision made entirely based on greed, and has nothing to do with fighting DDOS or helping victims of DDOS.

This isn't just for streamers. Anyone impacted is receiving recovery. But don't let that get in the way of being happy that people got DDoSed.

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First off this was not a special case. DDoS attacks have happened constantly. So if blizzard is going to restore/revive the players who agreed to the terms of that says deaths for a few listed reasons that includes lag dc bugs and then they even said ANY OTHER REASONS. Pretty sure that DDoS attacks fall under the umberla of DC and Any other Reason.

Now your 2nd point "Only fangs waited over half an hour before pulling to make sure there are no dcs, as soon as they started, people began to have connection issues. "

So this goes to prove that they where the focus of the attacks. These people wanted attention but only want the good kind then cry when they get negetive attention? If blizzard does decide to restore peoples characters it should only be the normal peoples. Since the streamers brought this on themselves with there behavior and there own actions. Why should the others suffer the consequences of actions of others?

But every player knows the risk and accepts them before they start playing. So none of the characters should really be restrored or revived. That is not the game.

You are arguing that Blizzard should reward and encourage more attacks, to justify your frankly creepy and sick glee at the impacts of the attack.

[Greengrim]

You might have had a point if they were only resurrecting streamer characters.

They have to do this. They can't let a DDOSer win.

I think I do have a point. It's pretty obvious the streamers are the reason Blizzard are doing this. Hardcore gameplay is ancient. Like I mentioned in one of my posts above: millions, if not billions, of characters have died to all kinds of reasons including DDOS attacks. Blizzard sleeped all of those off. So what's different this time ey?

[NineSpine]

I think I do have a point. It's pretty obvious the streamers are the reason Blizzard are doing this. Hardcore gameplay is ancient. Like I mentioned in one of my posts above: millions, if not billions, of characters have died to all kinds of reasons including DDOS attacks. Blizzard sleeped all of those off. So what's different this time ey?

This time it's a targeted malicious attack. The distinction is not hard to understand if the DDoS didn't give you an erection.

[Greengrim]

This isn't just for streamers. Anyone impacted is receiving recovery. But don't let that get in the way of being happy that people got DDoSed.

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You are arguing that Blizzard should reward and encourage more attacks, to justify your frankly creepy and sick glee at the impacts of the attack.

You seem to miss the point of any post you quote..

[NineSpine]

You seem to miss the point of any post you quote..

Because it's transparent that there is no point. You are just happy these folks got DDoSed, so you want Blizzard to reward and encourage more of them by doing nothing.

[Greengrim]

Because it's transparent that there is no point. You are just happy these folks got DDoSed, so you want Blizzard to reward and encourage more of them by doing nothing.

Ok, whatever you say buddy.

[Hardstyle89]

And I wish you could stop lying to yourself that I find this funny whatsoever. I don't play hardcore - I dislike the concept. I don't watch any only fangs streamer, or any streamer at all - I prefer to use that time to play games myself. So I really don't care what happens to either of those.

If Blizzard wanted to protect their precious streamers from DDOS they should have given them dedicated servers. I'm sorry to break this to you, but taking measures post-factum only suggests that this is a decision made entirely based on greed, and has nothing to do with fighting DDOS or helping victims of DDOS.

The people behind the DDoS are winning they caused blizzard to break the user agreement in favor of streamers.

[NineSpine]

The people behind the DDoS are winning they caused blizzard to break the user agreement in favor of streamers.

Blizzard restoring the characters of impacted players, not just streamers, is not a win for someone that probably payed a good amount of money to make this happen.

There is also zero break of the user agreement.

[Hardstyle89]

I think I do have a point. It's pretty obvious the streamers are the reason Blizzard are doing this. Hardcore gameplay is ancient. Like I mentioned in one of my posts above: millions, if not billions, of characters have died to all kinds of reasons including DDOS attacks. Blizzard sleeped all of those off. So what's different this time ey?

Lol, I'm not saying that. I'm saying that Blizzard should hold up the user agreement! Not backstep because some streamers cried. EVERY PLAYER that plays(ed) Hardcore accepted that the deaths are permanent for any reason. A DDoS attack falls under that blanket; it also falls under D/C reasoning that was also given.

This is not the first time that people have died to DDoS attacks in the history of ALL of Blizzard's Hardcore games. Hardcore was released in Diablo 2—are they going to go back and restore all the characters from the last almost 25 years? Diablo 2 Hardcore was released in 2000.

They won't. They probably won’t even go back to the last attacks that happened during the last World First race that occurred in the last few weeks. Let alone go back to 2023 when another major one impacted casual players. The only reason Blizzard is doing something now is because the streamers cried so much, and Blizzard caters to them because they give “free” advertisement. Streamers are not healthy for the game. WoW had more players back in Vanilla - WoTLK when people didn’t stream. Yes, people watched YouTube videos, but that isn't the same thing. Streamers today have too much influence on the game, and that has a negative impact, as most of the people who follow them can’t think for themselves. Blizzard has already mentioned this as well.

[NineSpine]

"Lol, I'm not saying that. I'm saying that Blizzard should hold up the user agreement! Not backstep because some streamers cried. EVERY PLAYER that plays(ed) Hardcore accepted that the deaths are permanent for any reason. A DDoS attack falls under that blanket; it also falls under D/C reasoning that was also given.

This is not the first time that people have died to DDoS attacks in the history of ALL of Blizzard's Hardcore games. Hardcore was released in Diablo 2—are they going to go back and restore all the characters from the last almost 25 years? Diablo 2 Hardcore was released in 2000.

They won't. They probably won’t even go back to the last attacks that happened during the last World First race that occurred in the last few weeks. Let alone go back to 2023 when another major one impacted casual players. The only reason Blizzard is doing something now is because the streamers cried so much, and Blizzard caters to them because they give “free” advertisement. Streamers are not healthy for the game. WoW had more players back in Vanilla - WoTLK when people didn’t stream. Yes, people watched YouTube videos, but that isn't the same thing. Streamers today have too much influence on the game, and that has a negative impact, as most of the people who follow them can’t think for themselves. Blizzard has already mentioned this as well.

We get it: It's about you hating streamers, not any principal.

[Ielenia]

Blizzard couldn't let go of their free advertising and caved in to break their most strict rule.

Don't ever let them tell you streamer privileges don't exist.

They didn't. It's one thing to die because your ISP disconnected you, or your power went out.

It's a completely different situation when a third party group shows up to grief those playing Hardcore with the intention of causing their characters to die.

[Hardstyle89]

Blizzard restoring the characters of impacted players, not just streamers, is not a win for someone that probably payed a good amount of money to make this happen.

There is also zero break of the user agreement.

While Blizzard's decision to restore characters impacted by DDoS attacks might seem like a fair resolution, it undeniably contradicts their own user agreement for Hardcore realms. Here's the quoted agreement, specifically the second paragraph, in Blizzard's own words:

"By agreeing to play on these realms, you accept that your character's death is permanent for whatever the reason. This includes disconnections, lag, server outages, gameplay bugs, or any other reason. Dying due to consensual PvP activity—such as a Duel to the Death or deliberately PvP flagging—is part of the game."

This clearly states that all deaths, regardless of cause—including disconnections or external factors like DDoS attacks—are permanent. By backtracking on this principle, Blizzard undermines the very foundation of Hardcore gameplay that players willingly agreed to.

Furthermore, restoring characters sets a precedent that diminishes the Hardcore experience, where risk and accountability are integral parts of the mode. While addressing malicious actions like DDoS attacks is important, Blizzard's actions should stay consistent with the rules that all players accepted, preserving the integrity of the Hardcore mode and ensuring fairness across the board.

The argument that "there is zero break of the user agreement" ignores the explicit terms of the agreement, as quoted above. This decision represents a deviation from those terms, ultimately benefiting the malicious actors behind the attacks by forcing Blizzard to break their own policies.

[Ielenia]

Before official hardcore, video evidence was enough. So many people recorded their playing.

You do realize there's no difference whatsoever between recorded "evidence" of everyone on your screen running in place when the servers lag out due to DDoS attacks, and you disconnecting your computer's WiFi, right?

[Agartha]

While Blizzard's decision to restore characters impacted by DDoS attacks might seem like a fair resolution, it undeniably contradicts their own user agreement for Hardcore realms. Here's the quoted agreement, specifically the second paragraph, in Blizzard's own words:

"By agreeing to play on these realms, you accept that your character's death is permanent for whatever the reason. This includes disconnections, lag, server outages, gameplay bugs, or any other reason. Dying due to consensual PvP activity—such as a Duel to the Death or deliberately PvP flagging—is part of the game."

This clearly states that all deaths, regardless of cause—including disconnections or external factors like DDoS attacks—are permanent. By backtracking on this principle, Blizzard undermines the very foundation of Hardcore gameplay that players willingly agreed to.

Furthermore, restoring characters sets a precedent that diminishes the Hardcore experience, where risk and accountability are integral parts of the mode. While addressing malicious actions like DDoS attacks is important, Blizzard's actions should stay consistent with the rules that all players accepted, preserving the integrity of the Hardcore mode and ensuring fairness across the board.

The argument that "there is zero break of the user agreement" ignores the explicit terms of the agreement, as quoted above. This decision represents a deviation from those terms, ultimately benefiting the malicious actors behind the attacks by forcing Blizzard to break their own policies.

Go touch grass brother, it's a game.