I have a not-so-secret double life.
By day, I'm a mild manned wage slave; but some nights I like to dress up in my robe and wizards hat and join a few million other players in Azeroth.
Yes ladies and gentlemen, I play World of Warcraft.
But Neil, I hear you cry, 'what could someone like you possibly enjoy about such a geeky game?' Well apart from the obvious, I actually enjoy playing it. I get bored with the grinding, same as everyone else, but otherwise I really like the majority of the quest. The game displays a healthy sense of humor, doesn't take itself too seriously (unlike some MMO's I could mention) and best of all - theres a Mac native client so I don't need a Windows box to play. I'm also lucky in that a number of my 'real life' friends play as well, and between us we've got a pretty well balanced party.
Jeff is a Mage, Ed is a Warlock. Jim is a Rouge (what a shocker), and Glenn is a Warrior - our tank.
This is me, Altamiranna.
I play a Blood-Elf Priest, and its pretty much my job to keep the other guys alive. Well when I'm not out of mana that is! Of course, I can always do a bit of soloing as well.
So, I've been happly playing on and off for a few years now. Until tonight that is.
Oh bugger!
Double bugger!
It would appear that my account has been hijacked. I'm guessing that it happened this afternoon, as Jeff told me that he'd seen my online but not responding to any messages. Hmm, I wonder why that was.
Unfortunately, Blizzards customer support line only seems to operate between 08:00-17:00 - Monday to Friday ie, when everyone is work and not able to get to their gaming machines. I've had to report the problem via their web-form, which rather ominously states that it may take some time to resolve the issue.
Since I'm unable to even access my account management, I'm rather concerned that the little runt that has changed both my password and my e-mail address (so that I cannot re-set the password) now has access to my payment options and may be able to get my bank details. Whilst I'm not going to give Blizzard too much stick for only manning the phones during office hours. I do think the lack of weekend coverage when peoples bank details are exposed is an unacceptable risk.
So for the next few days, I'm going to blog the responses from Blizzard and document the damage that has been wrought on my account. I fully expect to log back in to find a naked blood-elf, penniless, weaponless and mountless.
If I'm lucky, Blizzard may be able to restore poor Altamiranna to her former glory.
Stay tuned for the next installment of 'looks like I've been hacked'.
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