Scott Jennings – MMO Fallout

G_Unit_pictures — G-Unit doesn't handles account theft.

Our game servers, account databases, and support sites are under constant attack and being probed for any vulnerability. It’s a war that by no means is over.
-Scott Jennings, NCsoft on Aion.

There may not be a fight between gold farmers and developers as intense what is going on between Aion and the gold farmers. Not simply definable as a growing feud, this battle has turned into all-out gang war, with NCsoft going as far as bringing in G-Unit (no, not that G-Unit) to fight off the hoard of bots and spammers. The gold farmers have also stepped up their part of the fight by doing their best to steal as many player accounts as possible, not to mention launching countless attacks against NCsoft’s security systems.

Scott Jennings, in a recent note to the community, affirms players that they are continuing the monitor systems, and have confirmed that there are currently no critical issues with the NCsoft account security. NCsoft will continue to audit their security systems, and players can expect changes to come this year, continuing the security updates Guild Wars and other NCsoft titles received last year.

Following the high profile, and very sobering (as described by Jennings) cyber attack that breached the systems of Google and a host of other companies, it is difficult for players to feel that their information is safe. Unfortunately all we can do is watch and try our best to keep our information safe, while at the same time hoping nothing happens over on the developer’s end.

More on Aion, Security, NCsoft, and more as it appears.

I don’t know about you, but when I think of botters and gold farmers, just the mere thought of “U buy g0ld n0W, cheep pricz, accounts, wWwDoTChInaGolDdotCoM” makes me want to pop a cap. Luckily for me, and any Aion players out there, NCsoft has just the answer: The MMO developer has hired G-Unit to come in and bust bots, and possibly flip a few lines our way…Oddly enough, I was not aware Scott Jennings was part of G-Unit, nor that he could rap. I’m getting a word from my producer…The group is GSU? What would the Georgian Steel Union know about busting bots?

I see! Rationality of typed articles and nonexistent producers aside, disregard that last paragraph. If you’ve played Aion over the past months, you are no doubt aware of the major issues the game has with those pesky gold farmers, bots, and spammers. NCsoft has made quite a number of steps at beating back the mob of unattended shells, with mixed reviews of their efforts. The next step in the fight comes in the form of a Games Surveillance Unit, also known as GSU (or G-Unit as my recently fired producer referred to it). NCsoft is hiring this team for its NCWest Houston office, and is bringing Scott Jennings aboard for the fight. As of this posting, the job is no longer available.

NCsoft West, the U.S. branch of NCsoft, the world’s largest independent developer and publisher of online computer games is seeking talented candidates for Game Surveillance Unit Agents to work in our North Austin office.

Game Surveillance Unit Agents are responsible for monitoring our services to identify individuals that are violating our User Agreements and causing harm to our game services. They are responsible for executing various processes for monitoring the in–game and out-of-game environment for Bots, Farming, RMT, Private Servers, Account Theft, and other ‘cheating’ type behaviors. This position requires the ability to navigate a computerized data entry system and other relevant applications.

This reminds me of Eve Online’s Operation Unholy Rage, which you may remember was a complete success: