Overrated responds to their permaban [Update]
by David Nelson 
Nov 6th 2006 at 9:30PM
As anyone who even mildly follows the WoW community has no doubt heard, the uber guild Overrated was permabanned for using a hack that allowed them to bypass content in Ahn'Qiraj. If you are late to the party, check out the initial story here.Our story on the banning was posted the night it went down, and almost a week later, someone from Overrated has responded to the story with their point of view, which seems to be consistent with what I have been seeing from other Overrated members. The text of the comment made by Kletus from Overrated is as follows:
The patch we used was called 'Patch 5.mpq' not Patch 3, but nevertheless the outcome was basically the same.
We used this cheat two or three times to make the headache of C'thun trash go away. And we only began using it after we had already "beaten the game." While most of us were aware of the possible consequences, we basically had to do it. Let me explain.
Since the majority of our guild's equipment is beyond that offered in the temple of AQ, there is little incentive for our raiders to go there at all. Basically all we get from there is a nasty repair bill. The only loot worth anything drops off of the last boss, so naturally it came to the point where only a handful wanted to go to AQ because of the incredible cost of time and gold, with little reward.
With this cheat, we could basically eliminate the repair bills, the gueling 4++ hour clear, and actually have the required raid online to kill C'Thun before people started getting sandy and logging out.
So we hacked. We lost. Game over. It was a good run.
Did we hack Naxx? Nope. Although we have been guilty of 'clever use of game mechanics'. We by chance discovered the 8/8 wrath bug on Patchwerk on our third or fourth kill and used that exploit the following week before it was hotfixed. Resetting the four horsemen isn't hard. Besides, it gives no advantage because you still have to wait for the dead to run back.
Estimated total eBay value of banned accounts: $60,000+
Was it worth it in the end? Hell yes.
Kletus
{Overrated}
Hmmm...well, they certainly aren't sorry, and as this is just a videogame, I suppose they don't really need to feel bad. But as they cheated in Ahn'Qiraj, I wouldn't put it past them to cheat in Naxx, so their claim of innocence on that front falls on deaf ears. And apparently they think it was all worth it. So...um...good for them I guess!
What do you guys think? Is this any great loss whatsoever? Or just some harcore WoW folks whose time in the game had come to an end? I mean, they don't even care they got banned, so were they actually enjoying themselves playing the game to begin with?
A video demonstrating the hack is embedded after the jump. [Thanks to Luka and xfr 3386 for pointing us to the video!]
[Added additional credit for video.[
Filed under: News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Rranzok Nov 6th 2006 10:10PM
AQ Hax are SRS Business.
freehugz Nov 6th 2006 10:20PM
meh
Ceej Nov 6th 2006 10:20PM
No, no great loss. Kinda lame though. Half hearted defenses and explanations - which made no sense by the way. Boasts which don't mean anything, claims that they never hacked before (or hacked naxx anyhow) which nobody buys since they lost credibility.
Then at the end - forced casualness, offhand comment that it was $60,000 worth of accounts. Lame. I just think that their "press conference" could have been better.
Shaz Nov 6th 2006 10:22PM
who?
Psyclerk Nov 6th 2006 10:24PM
Yet another group of people that had yet to realize they were bored with the game and could do something besides play WoW. Why bother to log on if you aren't going to enjoy the experience? Using hacks to take out the parts you don't like will never fly.
vectorelement Nov 6th 2006 11:16PM
Once a cheater, always a cheater, in WoW or in any relationship.
gill Nov 6th 2006 11:43PM
That's the lamest excuse/defense for cheating I've ever read. "We cheated cuz it's not worth going there!" If you think it's not worth going there, then don't go there at all! If it these guys are so bored that they had to cheat, I suggest they should have just quit the game until BC came out.
Kyle Nov 6th 2006 11:47PM
No great loss. They cheated and paid for it. Don't really care what excuse they have for it, either.
Wootzors Nov 7th 2006 12:05AM
How did Blizzard catch onto them to begin with?
yea Nov 7th 2006 12:12AM
lol it reminds me of things like the instance door is right there and instead of killing everything u run threw or take a way so the monsters wont see you..another thing came to mind...it must be a real pain if someone made that.
Aladek Nov 7th 2006 12:44AM
I, unlike the obvious majority, say way to go! You enjoyed the game in your own way, you did it in your own style, and you accepted the consequenses for your actions when caught. I say Woot!
although it would be better if you could pull it off without getting caught, and the hack didn't ruin the game for everyone else, like duping items and ruining the economy.
RivanLord Nov 7th 2006 12:39AM
Ultimately, the situation they describe (4++ hours of trash kills) is an inherent design flaw in raid instances. There should be various points at which, once reached, a guild could return to only do that part of the raid instance they desire. As for the "haxxzors" and how "horrible" they are, I will say this. I used to get onto people about buying gold and stuff like that, but I remember that back in the WC1, 2, and 3 days, Blizzard always put cheat codes into their games for people who just wanted to experience the content (for fun) without investing the time to bash their heads against each level until they beat it the old fashioned way. I was never one of those people, but I can understand how some people who are merely playing the game to get specific gear and then go use that gear to PvP or do whatever is *actually* "fun" for them may not want to continue to put in hours upon hours grinding away at trash mobs every night. I think people lose sight of 2 things:
1.) This game is supposed to be for FUN.
2.) Blizzard gets paid by making you play for longer. Therefore, annoying grinds and time sinks makes them $$$.
Number 2 is why we don't see any cheat codes or sanctioned gold selling built into the game. Blizzard doesn't want to lose revenue. At the same time, grinds aren't fun, so when your raid feels like a grind, I can see why people would try to make it less of a grind (less not fun).
That said, I believe that what we are seeing is the product of another flaw in game design, namely the 40-man raid. In order to fill a raid of 40 people on a regular basis, you need to have somewhere between 60 and 120 level 60's, depending on the dedication to raiding of your players. What's the result of needing such a massive number of 60's? You never really develop that sense of family fun and cohesive friendship that you can with a smaller guild that does smaller raids. People resort to joining big "raiding guilds," playing with people they don't know, and the result is clear: when you're not playing with people you consider to be your friends, the game ceases to be as fun. Yes, grinding sucks, but grinding with your best buddies can still be tons of fun because of the company. Fortunately, Blizzard seems to be on the right track with their change to 25-man raids in the expansion.
In sum, what this letter from Overrated makes clear is that while they take responsibility for their choice to use the cheats, they made that choice as a result of forces and pressures that were largely created by Blizzard's game design policies. Yes, we admit, we "cheated," but if the game was done right, we wouldn't have needed to do so. Just my 2¢.
Joshua Ochs Nov 7th 2006 2:24AM
This was the best thing I've read about WoW in a long time. Finally, people who treated WoW as what it is - a GAME. After doing a pointless task over and over, they decided it wasn't fun.
What they did din't hurt anything, and it made it fun to play again. I seriously don't know why anyone would be mad at them.
Dave Nov 7th 2006 12:53AM
"we basically had to do it."
Yeah right. Dude it's just a game.
But getting caught but might be a good thing, as others said, to forcefully get out of the game. At least you'll be remembered in WOW history. Maybe they'll make a WOW TCG card for you guys like Leeroy Jenkins.
Jonathan Mead Nov 7th 2006 1:01AM
Lamers. Good riddance.
That's twice I've seen that justification today, "we had to do it". The other is in regards to buying gold, "because I can't play 20+ hours a week."
Well, ya know what, there are plenty of other games out there. Anyone who plays WOW for more than an hour or two knows damn well what's involved in the game. Don't like it? Go play something else instead of being whiny little girls.
Good riddance to this idiot guild, and burn in hell all those who buy gold, and destroy the economy for those of us who wish to play properly without destroying the game.
Mike Schramm Nov 7th 2006 1:01AM
Boo hoo hoo they got permabanned. Good riddance. They admit it was a cheat, and it was. Takes you too long to get to C'thun? Your guildies don't want to go to AQ with you? Get another guild.
It takes me a long time to get to 60, too. Doesn't mean I "basically had to" cheat to get there. These guys sound... wait for it... overrated.
Kel Hoof Nov 7th 2006 2:00AM
Well some people can't just say, "I'm gonna play another game even though I invested hundreds of days playing WoW." Since they can basically go through the trash without many problems, why would they want to waste their time clearing that just for the last boss? It's almost like they have to pay to gain access to the last boss.
This is almost the same as a rogue stealthing through SM to the last boss to farm shards except they had to use a hack to do it.
WoW has made raiding so that after a certain while, an instance doesn't provide an enjoyable experience because of the repetitiveness and predictability. The trash mobs in AQ had become too boring and worthless to kill that C'Thun was the only interesting mob left. And why would that certain boring experience out of few be a reason to quit?
It's like wishing you could skip all the trash mobs in UBRS after your 50th run so you can just fight drakk. For some, fighting the same mobs hundreds or thousands of times maybe enjoyable, but for many repetition = boring. The bosses are just more enjoyable than the trash because they are unique and are not killed by the hundreds like trash.
KittyPoots Nov 7th 2006 2:50AM
Saying it didn't hurt anyone isn't quite true. It wasn't fun getting ganked by them in all of their epics that they maybe have been too bored to fight for, regardless of how many times they cleared the mobs. If you don't like how the game works play another. There wouldn't be much of a game left if everyone could just skip to whatever they wanted.
Hammer Nov 7th 2006 3:19AM
Cheating just ruins a game for yourself.
And these guys really ruined the game for themselves.
Michael Nov 7th 2006 3:53AM
Haha, its so lovely that these cheaters were banned. Its no mild line of sight cheat, or some other bending the rules within the game mechanics. Altering or adding .mpg files is a little too much. I am glad that they got busted.
What weighs much more is that all their progress in Naxxramas or elsewhere is now under question. Really no more cheats on Bosses in Naxx? They claim not, but do I believe it?
We in have Naxxramas on farm as well, but we still clear BWL, AQ and ZG every reset. For one, we earn tons of money with those runs and it gives us something to do in the game.