?Diablo 3? Players? Accounts Hacked, How To Secure Your Gold And Items As Auction House Release Approaches

By Lisa Eadicicco | May 21 2012 10:42 AM

Blizzard's highly anticipated dungeon-crawler RPG Diablo 3 finally launched on May 15, after players have waited for more than a decade. The game shattered records for both Blizzard and online retailer Amazon pre-sales, but gamers may have to be careful when it comes to securing their accounts.

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It was reported that "Diablo 3" had taken its first real-world victim when a writer for gaming news site Gameranx was found dead after playing the game for three consecutive days. According to site, 32-year-old Russell Shirley was discovered dead in his home over the weekend by his landlord and a coworker after suffering a heart attack, as reported on May 23rd.

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According to PikiGeek, there have been reports of players having their Battle.net accounts hacked. People have been losing access to their accounts regularly, the website reports, with threads on Reddit and the official Diablo 3 forums as evidence.

The hacking occurred on May 19th and May 20th, according to The Examiner, and it is unclear whether this is a glitch within Diablo 3 or an account security issue. There are a few recurring names that have appeared in various accounts that have been breached, including leyiong, Nevin, SBJunkie luckllezz and McLeast. These names have appeared in players' Recently Played lists, The Examiner reported.

Change your password and get an authenticator, Blizzard advises on the Battle.net forums. However, many accounts with authenticators have also been hacked. Another solution is to submit a ticket, which would authorize an account rollback. This will set your character back a few levels, varying with each case, but it will return some lost gold and items.

However, there are restrictions on the number of rollbacks available. As of now the number seems to be two, as The Examiner writes, according to tickets that have been submitted. Being hacked more than once will permanently ban an account from the upcoming real money auction house.

Most likely this group of hackers is preparing for the opening of the 'Diablo 3' real money auction house, writes Tara Swadley of The Examiner. This is just a taste of what's to come in the future when the auction house officially opens and hackers everywhere try to steal goods and gold to sell for real cash.

The new auction house adds a different element to Diablo gameplay. Gamers aren't just playing for virtual currency, bringing the severity of the game to a greater level.

It's a step beyond simply raiding some accounts for some high level equipment to sell on a website that a few people will see, writes Jeroen Amin of Piki Geek. Items can be traded from account to account and sold quickly and relatively anonymously for quick cash.

The real money auction house's release date has been pushed back to the end of the month, according to Gaming Blend, and was originally expected to launch this week.

As we mentioned earlier this week, we've decided to move out our target launch for the real-money auction house beyond our original estimated date of May 22, Blizzard announced. Our new estimated date for the launch of this new system is Tuesday, May 29.

The real money auction house will allow players to buy and sell armor, weapons and other items. Blizzard is also taking a cut of the auction house action, with a 15 percent transaction fee taxed on to sales and purchases.

To ensure that your account will stay safe, refrain from participating in Public Games. Only play within your Real ID friends and Battle.net friends you can trust. Also, only accept Friend Invites from those that you personally know. Getting an authenticator can also make your account more secure, but players should still beware as those have been breached also.