WOW guild banned

'Overrated' reportedly booted by Blizzard after it was caught hacking; "we know we deserve it," said one guild member.

The World of Warcraft guild Overrated has been permanently banned by Blizzard Entertainment after it was caught cheating in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Guild members used an exploit that essentially knocked down walls, according to postings on World of Warcraft-related forums.

The guild had been playing the level of the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj, also known as AQ40. In it, the dungeon level map progresses in a circular manner from the first to last bosses. The mod effectively allowed the guild to bypass what it refers to as "C'thun trash," bosses who dropped less lucrative items. Guild members could then move on to the final boss, C'thun, who drops more valuable goodies.

Pantaloons, a member of the Overrated guild, commented on the WOW forums, "Let me explain. We are the only US Horde guild that clears Naxx [the most challenging area of the game], been like that for a few weeks. People found that the pre-C'thun trash was so painful, that they decided to install some stupid thing that deletes walls or something, and you can just run there after Skeram [the first boss]. I know, we had it coming, blah blah whatever, we know we deserve it...I'm sure they'll try and get it rescinded because it's kind of a steep punishment with no recourse or whatever."

Blizzard Entertainment did not respond to requests from GameSpot for a comment.

260 Comments

  • Zennious

    Posted Nov 10, 2008 9:33 am PT

    No you cheated warkill, how do we know you haven't cheated on every boss.

  • xxWARKILLxx

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 3:57 am PT

    Me and a few friends from Overrated started playing with Serious Business on Drak'Thul (US) , we may have been banned but our raiding was legit and we got to the top by playing professionally.

  • deathgrape

    Posted Feb 23, 2007 3:29 pm PT

    Everybody needs to cool down on WoW. Everybody who plays it gets so wound up, I wouldn't be suprised if they get sent to jail or something for hacking. If you're one of those people, get a life.

  • kommissarkuddle

    Posted Dec 30, 2006 1:19 pm PT

    Agreed, Olzhas. Cheating is lame, yes, but to see so many people get so wound up about the game, especially those who don't even play WoW(but just want an opportunity to rip on those who do ) is sad. Breathe people, before you burst a blood vessel.

  • Olzhas

    Posted Dec 7, 2006 1:24 pm PT

    lol its only a GAME

  • Zeraquor

    Posted Dec 6, 2006 12:42 am PT

    No mattacks, for all I care they can just burn in hell, and the same is for you, I hate cheaters so damn much, really nice to ban them when they join our cs servers Keep it up Blizzard(and everyone else that fights against cheaters)

  • mattacks

    Posted Dec 3, 2006 10:56 am PT

    mm.. for all of u guys who are saying good for blizzard and saying good job those cheating sob's deserve it.. think about this.. what if u were permanently banned from ur favorite pc or console game. would u just forget about it and move on.. NO! if u truly cared for it and the game was as addicting as WoW then you'd be morbid. i personally have experience i used to think hackers were dumbasses too. i was banned from vac servers on steam even though alls i had to do was buy a new copy of the game and make a new account. for the period of time i could only play on non vac secred servers.. i was itching to get to my nearest best buy to get the new copy of the game.. so lighten up,jesus.. atleast they said they were sorry and admitted they were wrong. if other hackers were banned theyd probebly find a way to send some virus to ur computer and laugh in your face. this pantaloones guy was very ... how do u say it... i guess he was very nice? on admitting he was wrong and apologizing.. i think permanently banning someone from something as addicting as WoW is way too harsh.i hope blizzard lessens their punishment..

  • AlphaLeviathan

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 5:56 am PT

    Nerds... go get a game genie for a super nintendo or something. Same thing.

  • LiK

    Posted Nov 13, 2006 8:28 am PT

    pwned

  • jingwa

    Posted Nov 12, 2006 9:11 pm PT

    Well its good to get rid of hackers and cheaters, but since they were able to clear the boss mobs and were simply avoiding the trash mobs, it means they could clear the place np, they just found away to do it faster, because in all reality people can be in denial and say they raid for fun buts its for the gear, faster u can clear the instances to get your phat loot is all that matters and when most people got everything they want their raiding times drops to a dribble.

    Simple facts is Bliz lets gold famers and other exploiters exist which directly influence how people play the game and enjoy it. They continue to exist without fear of being noticed. Simple facts again is Bliz has no solid methods of catching people cheating it comes down to players reporting them and saying that many people who dont cheat or break the rules get their accounts banned, without any proof either. The no coment attitude of Bliz is pritty comon, when they decide something its never open to debate because there system is so flawed it would make them look like morons, ods are a bunch of people in the guild who didnt use this hack got banned also, just because they were in the guild and bliz hasnt got any viable methods of isolating the players at fault.

    The main reason I believe bliz handles scenarios this way and rarely has any proof is just because they make a buck load of money anyways, it doesnt really matter if a hundred or even a thousand people get the flick, if they like the game they will pay for a new account. So they really loose zip all profits and the general public are dilusioned into thinking there cracking down on players who cheat etc when there basically not.

    If you look at the customer agreement it basically concludes if a bliz employee spots u walking down the street with i hate bliz t-shirt they have the right to say u cheated and have no obligation to supply proof and ban your account. Game Gm's employed to watch over the players and help them with game problems, tend to favor certain players and if they are pissed of at certain players it can result in a pritty easy warning email being sent to you for doing simply zip all, because its a automated system which bliz doesnt monitor and expects gm's to folow the rule books if they wnat to keep their postition.

    All in all im amazed i even play this game because its pritty **** deal if u get shafted by them. Im glad i only ever got a warning email, but try get any proof out of them for why you got a warning email is next to impossible and thats the way they like it.

  • nemes1s3000

    Posted Nov 11, 2006 10:43 pm PT

    Rest in peace.

  • MrDamm

    Posted Nov 11, 2006 7:43 am PT

    Well done. Cheers for Blizzard Entertainment.

    If they cannot stands for the game difficulties, get away from it.

  • iamreallyelvis

    Posted Nov 10, 2006 11:31 pm PT

    It just goes to show you, where there is a will, there is a way. I say that it's all fair game. They tried, they got got, that's their problem. I can't blame them for trying as long as they are willing to suffer the consequences.

    -Elvis
    The CIA Ate My Brain

    www.HardhatTees.com
    STUPID SHIRTS FOR SMART PEOPLE (cool retro gaming tees)

  • cjcr_alexandru

    Posted Nov 10, 2006 4:08 am PT

    They deserved it and they admit it. End of story.

  • UbAdm

    Posted Nov 9, 2006 5:32 am PT

    Hacking is bad, especially when you're hacking at a game as bad as "World Of Warcraft"

  • FallenOneX

    Posted Nov 7, 2006 8:21 am PT

    To all of you that can't stand being bashed for playing WOW; GET OVER IT! Fanatics are the ones that gave you a bad name. People that have either actually caused a person in the real world harm over something that happened in the game, or the ones that have lost their families to play a friggin' game. Madden fans go through this every year when they pay $50 for $3 in upgrades. Personally, I can't see paying up to $50 for a game, just to pay $15 a month to play with other people. You can't compare it to Xbox live either, the money they pay goes towards more than just one game.

    To the not so bright people that say that consoles are for people that can't afford good PC's: I can afford a good PC, I prefer consoles. I just proved that you pulled your "true fact" out of your arse. Why is that the first thing that comes out of PC gamers mouths? I've been playing PC games since before Trinity. For those too young to know what I'm talking about, it was one of the best text based games ever. I just prefer pick up and play gaming.

    And for the others that didn't read the article. Unless I'm missing something, they cleared that part of the game before they started using the cheat to do it again. And why should he apologize? He admits they did wrong, that's good enough for me. He got over it, you should too.

  • minty_cbo

    Posted Nov 7, 2006 6:57 am PT

    ok...this why i still play diablo 2...wait...didnt i lose an account to mh?..lol ahh well...

  • KoruKinshi

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 8:35 pm PT

    Ownage at it's finest.

  • Seymour47

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 5:22 pm PT

    They all deserved what they got. Plain and simple.

  • twtech

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 3:11 pm PT

    When a raid guild talks about "trash" mobs, they aren't referring to bosses. Trash mobs are everything else in the instance besides the bosses.

  • messin18

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 10:51 am PT

    He did get busted. The entire guild got banned. He updated his post but gamespot didn't pick up the update.

  • Koopa99si

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 10:16 am PT

    Why does his attitude piss you off?

    He didnt get busted, thats the thing, why should he aplogize for something he didnt do or didnt have a part in. He is just explaining what happened to the guild he was apart of.

    He posted on the wow forums after the fact. I beleave that if your account gets banned by Blizzard, you loose all posting privilages on the fourms with that account.

  • Ivoryblaze

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 10:00 am PT

    His attitude pisses me off. No respect whatsoever, and not even an apology. I don't care how hard that part of the game is you cheated and got busted now deal with it. No one forced you to use the hack so shut your hole life goes on!

  • milsvaard

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 9:30 am PT

    Slow news day.

  • Azzunix

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 9:10 am PT

    cheaters = loosers... BAN!!!

  • Koopa99si

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 8:19 am PT

    Meh, being a 30 hour a week raidier like myself can sympithize with there quandry.

    Blizzard has done some really stupid things interms of itemization and location.

    Take Ragnaros for example, He is the only one to lay claims to T2 Pants. Yet he is the last boss in an instance no body wants to waste 3+ hours getting to him when you see all of the loot prior to him get sharded with the exception of a few rarer items that drop.

    For most guilds the prospect of wasting a raid night trying to get people there T2 pants isnt keen, Alot of guilds who run Blackwing Lair, AQ40 and even the first part of Naxx have had a decent amount of turnover in numbers due to burnout, crappy players and a few otherthings, especially when you play horde, the pool of which you can draw talented endgame players who understand encounters and can adjust strats on the fly is very limited to the horde. Unlike alliance who outnumber 95% of the servers in NA by 3:1,

    Time is the most valuable thing people have, it equates to all forms of suppliment. Its the same thing as in Ragnaros, If you can kill C'thun then the rest of the instances is pretty much cake, but it still takes 4 hours to eat it. =(

    I dont condone what was done, but I can understand why they do it, especially with the expansion comming out pretty much causing a world reset interms of gear and progression.

    People who will by into the expansion will feel less disenfranchised when the reach level 70 then they were at lvl 60 when matched up aginst other lvl 60's who farm Naxx.

    But even that wont last and soon the gear gap will become even larger and 1-2 years down the line blizzard will be doing it agian to try and even out the decrepencies between people who end game and the whiny casual players who get there face melted by someone with like 800+shadow damage

  • dbeddow

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 7:47 am PT

    You guys are idiots to think this isnt news. A lot of game industry news never gets read by me, because they are mostly BORING! I for one enjoyed the article and I am glad i read it. I have never once heard of an entire guild being banned and i think that is GOOD news. They cheated and it is good to know that Blizzard has taken out these ex-players so that the rest of us honest players can economically prosper.

    Yes, the gold farmers are being banned all the time(i have no reference for this - as that kind of news will get boring), you just dont hear about it and they are tricky to catch, because they are not cheating through the programming.

  • Ben_Perkins

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 7:45 am PT

    That sucks bad for those players.... I bet they were addicted as hell to that game. Thats like takin crack away from a crack head!

  • keinuveye

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 6:55 am PT

    who cares if you are the ONLEE ones that can clear Naxx. UBER for u! have fun not playing wow anymore, haxers

  • drangel_jam

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 6:48 am PT

    Why did this make the news?

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 6:12 am PT

    cheaters SHOULD be banned. fine with me.

  • Autolycus

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 5:51 am PT

    there are others cheating and this just advertises how to. im glad i stopped playing

  • Sheiko

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 5:07 am PT

    Go blizzard maybe strict but that'll definatly cut down on cheating.

  • shizwill03

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 4:51 am PT

    Cheaters never prosper. Good riddance to them all.

  • KingofTrolls

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 4:36 am PT

    Instead of worrying about this less important stuff start working on BANNING ALL THE GOLD SELLERS. You know how bad this game is getting for having random messages pop up in your face of people advertising their website selling WoW gold.

  • Thorpe89 Site moderator

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 4:22 am PT

    They are very strict I see.

  • capthunt

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 1:46 am PT

    Now they i can respect. At least they're not up in arms crying and getting mad all about it from wat i can tell from their reply. At least they are liberated now and can start a life

  • DoomKid

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 1:18 am PT

    LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • J76

    Posted Nov 5, 2006 10:47 pm PT

    I think the main reason this made it as news was as a deterrent for anyone one else who is thinking about cheating in WoW. We all know what the rules are, but when you hear someone, or in this case a whole guild, banned from the game, it kinda opens your eyes.

  • joejoeirish

    Posted Nov 5, 2006 10:26 pm PT

    stop expoiting idiots, and no you didn't clear Naxx. You cheated and that is not cool , just lame.

  • joejoeirish

    Posted Nov 5, 2006 10:11 pm PT

    They didn't beat Naxx and they didn't acomplish anything. What's the point anyway, its just a game and imaginary. You can cheat at any game, but it's not fun.

    Sounds like the real game these guys play is hacking. That is where they get thier kicks, not playing the game. Ban these guys, farmers and all the other idots out there. Or put them all on the same server- and let them do whatever they want. Maybe that is the solution.

  • Kcube

    Posted Nov 5, 2006 10:08 pm PT

    They deserve it,Hacks ruin the game and people like them are the same people that get the Loot and Over price it on the AH thus ruining the world economy.

    I dont feel for them at all.

  • grandgundam3

    Posted Nov 5, 2006 9:02 pm PT

    First: That's what they get. I love it when hacks and cheats get caught.

    Second: If you don't think this is news, why read the article?

    Third: Is there really any reason for EVERY single WoW basher to amass themselves on every piece of WoW news? Especally since half of them either haven't ever played the game or they just don't want the other bashers to know that they play too.

  • TheKingOfFuzz

    Posted Nov 5, 2006 7:01 pm PT

    Yeah...okay, I understand that World of Warcraft has 6 billion subscribers, but really, this isn't news.

    Blizzard didn't have a comment for you because the World of Warcraft EULA basically states "if you cheat, your ass will be banned. Sry."

    Did you really need a spokesperson to elaborate on that?

    Not that it's a big deal or anything, but how did this story make it by an editor without getting killed?

    People who care about this sort of thing can read all about it on the WoW forums. I realize I may be in the minority here, but I often come to Gamespot in search of hard news about the gaming industry -- something the site usually delivers in both a timely fashion and surprising quantity. WoW gossip making the Gamespot news list is sort of like seeing a "Tom Cheating on Katy?!?" headline in the Wall Street Journal.

    Oh, and in the interest of full disclosure...yes...I play World of Warcraft.

  • XenonHID_VQ

    Posted Nov 5, 2006 3:39 pm PT

    /logout

  • Battitz

    Posted Nov 5, 2006 2:20 pm PT

    Ownt.

  • RazMasters

    Posted Nov 5, 2006 1:56 pm PT

    They don't deserve to be congratulated if they didn't bring it to Blizzard's attention immediately. Good hackers are the sort who discover exploits, and then leave information (or notify the related companies) on where the problem lies. The bad ones are the sorts who take advantage of said exploits, letting the creators/administrators find out about them the hard way.

  • Cerza

    Posted Nov 5, 2006 1:54 pm PT

    Serves em right.

  • silvya1980

    Posted Nov 5, 2006 11:01 am PT

    PWN3D!

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