User talk:Auntmay1

WORLD OF WARCAFT ARMOURY
Security concerns

When players create World of Warcraft accounts, they are asked to choose a username and password. Afterward, whenever they play World of Warcraft, they are asked to supply the same username and password in full. This is also the case when using account management facilities online. This type of authentication is vulnerable to keystroke logging. While this is not unique to World of Warcraft and is common to many MMORPGs, the game has been directly targeted with trojans being specifically crafted to capture account login details.[91] Attacks have been reported as early as May 2006, and may extend as far back as July 30, 2005.[92] The game does, however, allow players to save their account name to the program to allow the player to only have to type their password.[93] In September 2006, reports emerged of spoof World of Warcraft game advice websites that contained malware. Vulnerable computers would be infected through their web browsers, downloading a program that would then relay back account information. Blizzard's account support teams experienced high demand during this episode, stating that many users had been affected. Claims were also made that telephone support was closed for isolated periods due to the volume of calls and resulting queues.[94] In April 2007, attacks evolved to take advantage of further exploits involving animated cursors, with multiple websites being used.[95][96] Security researcher group Symantec released a report stating that a compromised World of Warcraft account was worth US$10 on the black market, compared to US$6 to US$12 for a compromised computer (correct as of March 2007).[97] In February 2008, phishing emails were distributed requesting that users validate their account information using a fake version of the World of Warcraft account management pages.[98] In June 2008, Blizzard announced the Blizzard Authenticator, available as a hardware security token or mobile application[99] that provides two factor security. The token generates a one-time password based code that the player supplies when logging on. The password, used in addition to the user's own password, is only valid for a couple of minutes, thus providing extra security against keylogging malware.[100] Blizzard makes use of a system known as Warden on the Windows version of the game to detect third-party programs, such as botting software, allowing World of Warcraft to be played unattended. There has been some controversy as to the legality of Warden. Warden uses techniques similar to anti-virus software to analyze other running software on the players' PCs, as well as the file system. However, unlike most anti-virus software, it sends a portion of this information back to Blizzard, which caused privacy advocates to accuse it of being spyware.[101] One example of the information Warden collects is the title of every window open on the system while WoW is running.[102] Blizzard has not stated what information is passed by Warden over the Internet, or if that information is encrypted, so it is entirely possible that this information is passed over the Internet back to Blizzard. On the other hand, many gamers responded positively to the development, stating that they supported the technology if it resulted in fewer cases of cheating. Blizzard's use of Warden was stated in the Terms of Agreement (TOA).[103] The Warden's existence was acknowledged in March 2008, during the opening legal proceedings against MDY Industries.[104] The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Arizona, and also listed Michael Donnelly as a defendant. Donnelly was included in the suit as the creator of MMO Glider, software that can automatically play many tasks in the game. Blizzard claimed the software is an infringement of its copyright and software license agreement, stating that "Glider use severely harms the WoW gaming experience for other players by altering the balance of play, disrupting the social and immersive aspects of the game, and undermining the in-game economy." Donnelly claims to have sold 100,000 copies of the $25 software.[105] Real ID Main article: Battle.net#Privacy and Real ID On July 6, 2010, Blizzard Entertainment announced that on its forums for all games, users' accounts will display their real names tied to their accounts.[106] Blizzard announced the change following an agreement with Facebook to allow Facebook to connect persons who choose to become friends to share their real identity (Real ID, as Blizzard calls the feature). The integration of the feature to the forums on the Blizzard Entertainment sites has raised concerns amongst fans of the many game series Blizzard has created over the years.[107][108] In response to the concerns, Blizzard released an updated statement on July 9, 2010, announcing that the Real ID integration with the official forums was being canceled.[109][110] Sale of virtual goods in the real world

Further information: Virtual economy As with other MMORPGs, companies have emerged offering to sell virtual gold and associated services. The practice of amassing gold and in-game items for financial profit is frequently referred to as gold farming. After Blizzard started offering free trial gameplay accounts, players noticed an increase in spam from bots advertising these services.[111] One study shows that this problem is particularly prevalent on the European realms, with gold being over 14 times more expensive to buy on US realms than their European counterparts.[112] In patch 2.1, Blizzard responded to this by adding additional anti-spam mechanics including whisper throttling and the report spam function. Additionally, trial accounts are prevented from speaking in the public chat channels (although they may speak to players within range or whisper to other players that have first whispered to them), participating in in-game trades, and using the Auction House and the mail feature, among other limitations. In May 2007, Blizzard filed a complaint against In Game Dollar LLC (trading as peons4hire) in U.S. federal court. In February 2008, the parties filed a consent decree in which In Game Dollar agreed to refrain from using any World of Warcraft chat or communication to advertise any business or sell any services relating to World of Warcraft.[113] As characters progress in World of Warcraft and take on some of the toughest challenges, many of the rewards received are bound to that character and cannot be traded, generating a market for the trading of accounts with well-equipped characters. The highest noted World of Warcraft account trade was for £5000 (€7000, US$9,900) in early September 2007.[114] The practice of buying or selling gold in World of Warcraft has generated significant controversy.[115] On February 21, 2008, Blizzard released a statement concerning the consequences of buying gold. Blizzard reported that an "alarmingly high" proportion of all gold bought originates from "hacked" accounts. The article also stated that customers who had paid for character leveling services had found their accounts compromised months later, with all items stripped and sold for virtual gold. The article noted that leveling service companies often used "disruptive hacks ... which can cause realm performance and stability issues".[116] Community

See also: Social interaction via MMORPGs and emergent gameplay In addition to playing the game itself and conversing on discussion forums provided by Blizzard, World of Warcraft players often participate in the virtual community in creative ways, including fan artwork[117] and comic strip style storytelling.[118] Blizzard garnered criticism for its decision in January 2006 to ban guilds from advertising sexual orientation preferences. The incident occurred after several players were cited for "harassment" after advocating a group that was a gay-straight alliance.[119][120] Blizzard later reversed the decision to issue warnings to players promoting LGBT-friendly guilds. On October 7, 2010 World of Warcraft reached a subscriber base of over 723 million players.[121] Since May 2011, the number of players playing had decreased by 10% from 876.4 million to 900.3 million. Blizzard's CEO Mike Morhaime said that the reason was probably due to a drop-off in the Eastern markets.[122] In 2012, senior producer John Lagrave told Eurogamer that the drop in subscriptions may've also been attributed to the recent release of BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic.[123] In other media

World of Warcraft has inspired artists to satirize it and acknowledge its mark in popular culture. One example is the Emmy Award winning South Park episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft".[124][125] The game has been used to advertise unrelated products, such as Toyota trucks.[126] In late 2007, a series of television commercials for the game began airing featuring pop culture celebrities such as Mr. T, William Shatner, and Verne Troyer discussing the virtues of the character classes they play in the game.[127] A Spanish commercial featuring Guillermo Toledo, and a French commercial featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme, were also televised.[128] Two more were shown in November 2008, featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Steve Van Zandt.[129] Another commercial in the series, which began airing in November 2011, featured Chuck Norris and played on the Internet phenomenon of "Chuck Norris facts".[130] World of Warcraft has inspired two board games: World of Warcraft: The Board Game (including Shadow of War and The Burning Crusade expansions)[131] and World of Warcraft: The Adventure Game,[132][133] produced by Fantasy Flight Games. There are also a trading card game,[134] and a collectible miniatures game[135] on the market, both formerly produced by Upper Deck Entertainment, now produced by Cryptozoic Entertainment. Cryptozoic has indicated that they have no plans to continue producing sets produced earlier by Upper Deck, but has released an "Archives" set which contains foil reproductions of older cards. In November 2007, DC Comics published the first issue of the World of Warcraft comic under their Wildstorm imprint.[136]