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Final Fantasy XI Suffers DDOS Attacks

Posted by Zonk on from the save-the-tarutaru! dept.

_xeno_ writes "Final Fantasy XI is currently under a DDOS attack from unknown parties. No additional information is really available, but Square-Enix has contacted "[l]aw enforcement authorities in Japan, the United States, and Europe." The attacks started on April 9th and are evidently ongoing, causing server downtime, preventing people from logging in to the game, and causing extra latency. No word has been made on the exact nature of the attacks or any progress on blocking the attacks."

16 of 40 comments (clear)

  1. Time to switch to a different network? by Punboy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It seems that a large portion of the popular online games are getting their servers mutilated. is it time for them to switch to a different method of networking? perhaps create their own "internet" to "dial" into?

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    1. Re:Time to switch to a different network? by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      ...with what money?

      pay 50$ for connection per month and 12$ per month on top of that just to play a game?

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      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    2. Re:Time to switch to a different network? by digitalchinky · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That approach would not generate a positive revenue stream. There are millions of discreet networking links across the planet, but how would the gamer connect? The average internet connection is a mixture of different standards out to the ISP, after that it's mostly bog standard packet switchers - tcp/ip on HDLC (or similar framing)

      What you are suggesting is a good idea, but not very practical considering the additional hardware required to make it work. There might be some other way to rig it up on the existing backbones though it would have limited support since each provider tends to do his or her own thing with the data going across their wires.

      Hate to be a bummer on your idea though. It's good, but how would it work?

  2. Aside from "magic"... by Short+Circuit · · Score: 1

    ...why would anyone want to do this? I don't recall hearing about controversial elements.

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    tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
    1. Re:Aside from "magic"... by bersl2 · · Score: 1

      Somebody who doesn't particularily care about the quality of the game. A successful community is always more fun to disrupt than a troubled one. Or so their values are.

    2. Re:Aside from "magic"... by El · · Score: 1

      why would anyone want to do this?
      It's called "extortion", as in "pay us money and we'll stop DDOSing your server". (Isn't amazing how many questions can be answered with a single word: "money"?

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      "Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney

    3. Re:Aside from "magic"... by bersl2 · · Score: 1

      Disclaimer: IANAMMORPGer, so I wouldn't know better.

  3. Actually there IS a rumor as to whos causing it by falcon5768 · · Score: 1
    and its quite a interesting one....

    China.

    It is thought to be very likely that this is one of Chinas responces to the recent hostility to Japan. Given that supposedly a lot of Japanese websites are getting hit, and this is a technique that China has used on the past against the US when we bombed their embassy accidentally I wouldnt be shocked at all if they where behind the DoS attacks on a lot of Japans websites.

    I mean honestly what better way to fuck with japan than to screw around with their biggest exported MMORPG who has subscribers around the world. Sure it seems silly to us but to Square who's been scrambling for weeks now to block whos doing it only to get attacked day after day hour after hour its costing them a fortune. And thats all china was after when they did it to US sites, making us spend a lot of money to fix things not really take it down for good.

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    1. Re:Actually there IS a rumor as to whos causing it by phloydphreak · · Score: 1

      yup. Its China. the WHOLE frickin country. Not dissidents in that country, who are quite irritated at Japan, so irritated that they have been protesting in the streets. But, you're right, its defenitely the CHINA! be afraid! its CHINA!

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      radiohead
    2. Re:Actually there IS a rumor as to whos causing it by XellDx · · Score: 1
      EQ2.... far superior game(s)
      .

      Hear that sound? its your credibility falling out of the window.
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      X
    3. Re:Actually there IS a rumor as to whos causing it by Mandoric · · Score: 1

      "Dissidents", which explains why on-duty police officers are coordinating the demonstrations to the point of regulating the number of stones thrown to a certain amount per person?

      The Chinese government has never particularly liked a strong Japan, whether said "government" answers to an emperor or a leader of the Communist party; WW2 certainly didn't help. But the current demonstrations are being used, encouraged, and manipulated by the current government to simultaneously diplomatically threaten Japan (which disputes the ownership of offshore resources with China, is contemplating military normalization, and supports an de-facto independent Taiwan) and let off domestic steam.

  4. Re:OK, that was a nonstory by MMaestro · · Score: 3, Interesting
    How do you know that they didn't just break their network infrastructure yet again?

    Again? The game has been out for over 2 years in the US (3+ in Japan) and has run smoothly since then (don't forget its also designed for the PS2 so they have a VERY stable system). FFXI isn't Ultima Online where server problems plagued the game after two generations of MMORPGs passed it. FFXI isn't World of Warcraft where server problems can be justified (to an extent) to the 'we're just getting started, give us a chance' argument either.

    If you paid attention to the server status on the PlayOnline website, you also would've noticed that some servers were randomly going down also. Non-heavily populated servers going down? Can't be an overload of players. No server patch updates recently? Can't be a lag spike. Some script kiddie decided to try to 'hack' the game? Been there, done that, hasn't crashed a server either and if they did it would've crashed ALL the servers, not just one of them (they would've also had to hack PlayOnline before they could manipulate any important data). This isn't something you can just chalk up to 'hackers getting lucky this one time' so lose the 'FFXI SUX0RZ!' attitude.

  5. ddos attack? slashdot it! by tasinet · · Score: 1

    oh, it was undergoing a DDOS attack, so we helped by slashdotting it? smart.

  6. Re:OK, that was a nonstory by XellDx · · Score: 1

    I found it helpful. Also, other people started the blackmailing SE spin off, not the artcle. My post was in response to saying SE used port 25 to run the game off of - not only was it stupid to say that, but that wasn't what the article they linked to said.

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  7. Symptoms? by Guppy06 · · Score: 1

    Is this related to the problems with auction houses and the /search function I've been experiencing on Fairy today?

  8. Re:OK, that was a nonstory by meehray · · Score: 1

    From reading the FFXI forums, all the dDOS/hacks threads are still just speculation and rumors. Sorry if I missed something, but has SE revealed anything else about the server instabilities?