Falke

Originally Posted by Blatte

That is silly, I had a similar problem since it was my bro that bought my account in first place (and why I didn't had the right answers)

My reset weren't about birthdate, maybe because I told them it was the Birth date that was bugged; I'd tell you to give them the last digits of your credit card too, it will probably help to prove your ID.
And mention the error message you have when you try logging it.

I know how worrying this can be but if you persevere, Im sure you'll got it fixed soon, don't give up.

Originally Posted by Katerinae

Also, call me some kind of dinosaur, but I'm at an age where I don't honestly remember what it's like to be asked for my hall pass, or to be expected to obediently submit to the every absurd whim of authority figures. I actually do kinda expect NCsoft to fix this on their end, without my jumping through hoops.

Originally Posted by Sermon

I contacted support with much (but not all) of the requested information and had the issue resolved within several hours. I wouldn't wait for NCsoft to magically resolve this on their end, just take a few minutes to track down as much of the info as you can from your inbox and contact support.

Originally Posted by GadgetDon

Given the lack of any further redname responses in this thread, I presume the official position is "that's all your guys problem" to those who have had problems. I'm curious if that will also be the position if anyone misses out on the "loyalty" reward due to this SNAFU. Or does "loyalty" only go one way?

Originally Posted by Teeto_K

To all of you out there who are afraid at not having the information needed to give to support:

Just explain the situation thouroughly. Give as much information as you do have. Tell them about how you haven't used the security question in X years. I myself don't have ANY of the serial codes or my master account number, yet my own account lock out was fixed by the first response from Support. Tell them what you need, and why you need it. Be concise and straight forward.

There is still hope.

Originally Posted by Katerinae

This is not directed at the messenger, but dear messenger, please do pass this sentiment along to those to whom it pertains:

Today I logged into city of heroes, and in the launcher I saw that there was a new costume pack (I'm a sucker for these item mall things). So I go to my account to take a look at it, and in all likelihood buy it.

I log in like normal, and then... ok, there's a new security screen. God I hate these things, but whatever, it all looks like information that I know. So, I enter in the correct information. And then I eye the CAPTCHA icon with disgust... perhaps I'm an oddball, but I find that thing to be nearly unintelligible (and the audio version is actually worse). So, realizing there may be a lockout, I take my time and make very certain that I have my captcha letters entered correctly. I submit...

Wait, wrong information? Ok, I'll try this captcha thing again here... re-enter all my information, be super careful with the captcha letters... submit

And ...wrong again? So I try yet a 3rd time to get this stupid captcha thing right, on my 3rd try I am absolutely certain I got it right... so I submit...

Wrong again. What? How? Ok, maybe there's something wrong with my secret question info? I look carefully at the question... It's not asking for a mother's maiden name or a pet's name, it's a custom question which I recognize as one of my own. I know what the question is, and what it is asking for, and it's deliberately cryptic, yet surprisingly simple. I *KNOW* the answer, but... it's not working. Is there an extra space in there? A capital letter I'm getting wrong? I don't know. So I try a slight variation on my answer... and fight with the captcha thing again.

Yes, it fails. So, I try another slight variation, fight with the captcha thing...

failed again. and now I'm locked out of my NCsoft master account.

Mind you, I am IN CITY OF HEROES, STANDING AT WENTWORTH's, but I am apparently not me, and cannot access my master account. I know what my secret question is asking for, and I have no idea why it's refusing my answer.

OK, fine... I'll go through the customer support nightmare...

Not being the dullest crayon in the box, I check the stickies and such at the support page before trying to contact support. And I find this:
__
Subject:
I know my NCsoft master account password but cannot answer hint questions in order to authorize my location.

Question:
Here is my account information:
NCsoft master account name: ENTER ACCOUNT NAME HERE
First and last name: ENTER FIRST AND LAST NAME HERE
Physical Address: ENTER POSTAL MAILING ADDRESS (not e-mail address) HERE
Date of birth: ENTER DATE OF BIRTH HERE
Serial codes/access keys: ENTER CODES/KEYS HERE
Unique Account ID(s): ENTER UNIQUE ACCOUNT ID(s) HERE
__

I read it.
Then I read it again.
Then I took a deep breath, went and got myself a glass of water, and read it a third time.

- master account name: no problem

- first and last name: not sure actually, whether it was myself or my spouse who set it up originally, i mean this was like 6 years ago... but hey, i can put both names, right?

- physical address: what on earth? I didn't think that NCsoft even had that on file... well I guess they do in their credit card validating information, but if I never selected the option for NCsoft to save that information, then how would they have it? Again, I have two possible answers, an actual address or a PO box, no idea which, maybe I can just list both?

- date of birth: I'm pretty sure I know this one... however, your date of birth is actually a huge security risk, it can be used with other information to generate your social security number, and it is strongly advised that you do not put that information on the internet. So it's possible that I put in a fictitious date of birth... or maybe not... I did mention this was 6 years ago right? I typically only use one fake date of birth though... so again, can I list 2 answers?

- security codes/access keys: I used to be one of those people who saved all of their boxes, receipts, etc. But I've gotten hip to this whole digital age, and I don't actually have my original box with my 25 digit CD Key... for city of heroes, or aion (got that on steam?), or guild wars (haven't played that in years, don't care), and all of the expansions, content packs, etc? That's a list of codes as long as my arm, many of which I never saw the actual code for (online purchased packs don't show them)... But it's no big deal, I can download the patcher/client from nc soft if I build myself a new computer, and I know the account name & password for both the game and the master account, and all my codes are stored happily in there... right? That's how I've been using NCsoft games for YEARS NOW. So frankly, on the issue of access keys, I have no F'ing idea.


ADD to this experience, the fact that I have a dynamic IP address. And NCsoft has gotten some kind of idiotic notion that an IP address is a real place that never changes. So if this security system stays in place, I will likely have to go through this process over, and over, and over, and over, and over, every time my ISP feels like rolling my IP addy to a new one.

*Deep breath*

I have not called customer support yet, because I don't trust myself to avoid biting the head off of whoever answers the phone right now.

I have played city of heroes for a long time. I love the game, I truly do. I have the 57 month badge, I'm not sure how long exactly I've been playing, but somewhere between 57 and 60 months. I "frequently" brag about the design & interface ideas that went into city of heroes, on other sites, even other game sites, and frequently encourage old CoX players to come back and check the game out again, as it's changed a lot over the years. city of heroes is my favorite mmo, ever. And even when I don't play it regularly, I keep the account open, and funnel $30/month into NCsoft coffers.

I am not speaking as a disgruntled kid who is mad because their character class got nerfed or something. I'm speaking as a very loyal paying customer who feels as though they've had their account hijacked BY NCsoft.

I'm playing the game, right now. I am looking at the automated emails from ncsoft about how I'm not really me, in my email inbox, right now. I know the full 16 digits of that credit card which they only show the last 4 digits of, and the security code on the back. But I can't access my master account because: my secret question is messed up somehow, and my IP address is now banned.

And, all I wanted to do, was purchase the the new beast pack.

ARE YOU F'ING KIDDING ME?

I don't have all of the information they're asking for. Sure I can play the game, but if I can't access my own account, then we're not actually having commerce, they're taking my automated payments, and I have no method of adjusting that, except to call my credit card company and tell them to block payment to NCsoft because they are charging my account fraudulently.

And ultimately, what kind of security are we getting for all of this? A second password, really? That and an exercise in frustration with that stupid CAPTCHA thing, and possibly more calls to customer support, every time my IP changes?

This isn't a 'difficult implementation'.
This isn't a 'rough patch'
This isn't a 'need to iron out some bugs'
This isn't a 'hiccup'

This is completely and totally f'd up from concept to implementation. This security implementation is absolute hogwash. My grandmother could implement a security fix better than this, and she's been dead for 15 years.

At my place of work, a screw-up of this magnitude would result in someone being fired. That's not an exaggeration simply because I'm upset, it's the truth. NCsoft as a corporation has 2 (TWO) simple ultimate goals as a company. To retain customers, and entice new ones, to make money. This security implementation does more to harm those basic goals than if someone deliberately set fire to the ncsoft offices. There will be thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of legitimate players, who will be locked out and not have the information they need to get back in. This is a mistake which will deeply affect NCsoft as a viable game company, affecting profits in the short term as people's only means of adjusting accounts is now to blacklist ncsoft at their bank. And affecting long term customer loyalty in the most horrid ways. As corporate mistakes go, this is not an "Oh, did we make an oopsie?". This is a "dear god, what were you thinking!?? clean out your desk! Now!"

god, do you people (ncsoft) even realize that if enough people have to stop payment through their credit card or bank instead of their game account, that financial institutions will start blacklisting NCsoft as a fraudulent corporation?

So yeah, another line of thought... NCsoft makes it difficult to get into your account management on the exact same day that Rift launches... I want to think that's a coincidence. I really do. I sincerely hope that this isn't what they were thinking when they created this mess. Because trying to handcuff people to their game subscriptions will cause people to call their financial institution and stop payment, and never 'ever' buy from ncsoft again. I'd really like to think that this is JUST the stupidest security implementation I have seen in 25 years of computing, and not something more deliberately calculating..

In theory, the customer support line is open right now. But I'm not going to call for two reasons. One, I simply do not have all of the information they apparently will want to have. And two, even though I'm known for having a calm demeanor and a cool head, I don't think I could speak with customer support right now and remain civil.

Honestly I don't know if I will ever call customer support. This security debacle is a such a complete mess, I am really truly tempted to just bail out on NCsoft entirely. This isn't a "omg i got killed in the pvp zone too much, i are nerf, make me better or i quitz!". This is a loyal, long term, calm, adult, ncsoft-friendly consumer, who has been a practical recruiter for ncsoft games, especially city of heroes. And I'm really really unhappy.

I'm going to go away now, and check back in a few days, or weeks. I have way too much stress in my actual life right now to be dealing with this kind of BS in what is supposed to be my escape from the stresses of real life.

NCsoft you need to fix this. "you"
Or I need to stop paying $30 a month for games, since I'm not me after all..

Originally Posted by Ruby Red

Originally Posted by _Cai_

This.

You know, it takes a lot to piss the Cai off, but this managed to do the job perfectly. The best part for me is that the email address associated with my main account makes replying to the support tickets almost impossible since it sends the original message as an attachment, thus not allowing me to put new information into the correct space provided on the original email.

Looks like I have a fun afternoon of listening to elevator music ahead of me.

Originally Posted by Beastyle

Currently, Support is handling a high volume of tickets. We apologize for the wait time, but rest assured that Support will get around to helping with your issue.

Originally Posted by Snow Globe

Again I understand that you, personally, have no control over this and you are only the messenger.

It is a big change for no reason whatsoever. It doesn't increase security, it only increases hassle. No matter how the tech guys want to try to spin it, it doesn't increase security in any shape or form.


Again, this security is a complete sham. Having the account white listed to IP Addresses only benefits NCsoft, not the end user. This is solely designed to provide support with the ability to shrug off any complaints that a user's account(s) have gotten hacked. With this system in place, players are treated as guilty first and then having to prove their innocence.

Instead this system, as others have pointed out, actually makes users existing security worse because the same questions a person uses to verify their account is likely the same questions that financial institutions use. This will enable someone that can hack a player's NCsoft account to be able to hack the player's financial accounts easier. Is NCsoft willing to be liable for that? I somehow doubt it.


It has and will continue to do so. As pointed out, there are ISPs and Mobile Carriers that frequently change a users IP Address. So with those ISPs they will constantly have to prove who they are. This is like having a police state:


(I could have invoked Goodwin's Law, but didn't.)

For a game company who purports to want a welcoming game environment, this should be a major concern. Instead of making players feel welcome to play the game, this security check is doing the exact opposite.

Quite frankly, I'm wondering how long NCsoft is willing to have its brand dragged through the mud over this.


Last night I provided support with my master account, my full name, my postal address, my date of birth, 16/17 game codes for my account, my user ids, and the last four digits of my credit card. It took 3.5 hours to track down all that information. It is now 21 hours later, and I have yet to see anything other than an automated response.

All this has done is make me feel unwelcome to play the game. It has NOT made me feel the least bit more "secure". Instead it is making me feel like I'm a criminal for having the audacity to try to access my account.

Originally Posted by Avatea

Hi all. We understand this is a pretty big change for some of you and while this was implemented in order to increase the security of all NCsoft Master Accounts, we certainly don't want to create situations where you are no longer able to access your Master account, therefore limiting your access to your City of Heroes account.

Originally Posted by Eiko-chan

I consider those numbers big. From some of the other posts seen, I'm not alone here. "Not a big group" would be more along the lines of 2-4.

Originally Posted by The Grim Heaper

wait... is this the one where you start off on the ship, and then there's the outside section with the giant platform?

If so, there is no door to go "inside" the skyraider base... about midway up the main body of the platform on the "front" there's an alcove with a room that supports 2-3 spawns, the glowie should be in there...

Originally Posted by Kitsune Knight

Have you tried checking to make sure the software/drivers are fully up to date? And just to be entirely pedantic, the executable is cityofheroes.exe, not COH.exe.