Blizzard Introduces One-Time Password Devices For WoW

An anonymous reader writes "Two days ago Blizzard announced that they will be selling keychain tokens to add one-time password support (FAQ) to World of Warcraft. Have compromised World of Warcraft accounts become such a serious problem, that OTPs are already neccesary for games?"

Comments

Not a problem... an opportunity

[gbulmash]

Have compromised World of Warcraft accounts become such a serious problem, that OTPs are already neccesary for games?

Probably more like Blizzard has decided that people paranoid about having their accounts compromised have become such a serious market segment that it can eke out a few more pennies selling these dongles for 6 euros a pop.

If it was a huge problem, Blizzard would begin requiring them. The fact that they're optional means they're probably just a new way to sap a few more bucks from players who have invested so much of their time and being into this game that six euros seems a very reasonable security blanket.

Re:Not a problem... an opportunity

[pipatron]

These things cost way more than $6 to make

Yes, maybe if you handcraft them in Norway from reindeer horns and freshly clubbed seal, but in the rest of the world you can buy a USB memory for less than this.

Re:Not a problem... an opportunity

[Tridus]

Depends on who is making them.

http://www.entrust.com/strong-authentication/identityguard/calculator.cfm

Entrust here likes to advertise they're 1/7th as expensive as the ones RSA sells, and those are still $4/year.

So at $6 until the token dies, Blizzard isn't exactly making a mint on these things. The profit for them comes in reduced account restorations.

Unless you'd care to source me someone who sells them so cheap that Blizzard is making a fortune at these prices, since there's probably also costs for the server end of the setup?

Re:Not a problem... an opportunity

[Manip]

Thank you Mr. Conspiracy theory. But the truth is that:
- There is a serious problem in WoW
- It is extremely common for accounts to get compromised
- Sometimes people quit the game after a breakin (-$13/month)
- A 30 second google search found similar devices for between $17 and $23 a go

If I had to guess I would imagine Blizzard breaks even roughly on these devices. I can't imagine there being a huge profit margin on $6 and that they justify it by keeping people playing.

can't beat stupidity

[rewben]

Its not the system that has a flaw, its the stupidity of people for giving away their usernames/passwords for powerlvling etc.

Re:Bilzzard?

[plasmacutter]

I believe they wanted to spell it "Bill-zard"

base client: 25 bucks
bc client: 25 bucks
name changes: 10 bucks
realm chances: 25 bucks (per character, that's 250 bucks if you are transferring off a realm on which you were established)
wrath of the lich king: (unknown, but be prepared to chop up your first born son)

There are those who could learn from this...

[bonhomme_de_neige]

Wowzers, now I can have more security for my account on some computer game than my online banking (I'm looking at you, Citibank).

The first thing that comes to my mind is...

[Null Nihils]

Why can I get this feature for a MMORPG account, but not from my bank, or any other banks I know of?

I value my real money far more than imaginary swords, shields and armor that exist as bits in an entertainment company's database.

Maybe some people's priorities are different...

Also

[Konster]

I can imagine that the problem of hacked accounts is *huge* and primarily a problem on the user's end. I'd wager a guess that Blizzard's largest demographic sometimes also engages in P2P/Warez in conjunction with poor security habits. Trojan-laden warez, account sharing, piss-poor passwords and wide-open PC's; users leave themselves wide open to getting their virtual goodies ransacked and run off with.

I played WoW for 4 months a few years ago and was surprised at the number of trojans packed in the executable installers of some popular UI mods.It wasn't a very clever(but it was effective)way of farming usernames and passwords. Considering the global reach and sheer numbers of people playing WoW, and the virtual goods for real life cash trade, I wouldn't be surprised to learn about WoW-specific trojans running around in the wild. Some people make it easy for the bad guys; using the same login details on WoW related forums as their actual wow account, to purchasing gold and other items from shady websites (good way of farming cc numbers, shady websites also use cc info to pay for their own account time, leading to charge backs and other hassles)to just flat out sharing their details willy-nilly with anyone half trusting.

And there's no evil in Blizzard charging two cups of coffee for an extra layer of protection. I'm sure they've spent oodles and oodles of cash in the past dealing with these issues, so there's nothing wrong with recouping past costs and helping to avoid a portion of future expenditures.

I would appreciate separate user names and passwords for account management and character login, too.

Re:Also

[jamesh]

And there's no evil in Blizzard charging two cups of coffee for an extra layer of protection. I'm sure they've spent oodles and oodles of cash in the past dealing with these issues, so there's nothing wrong with recouping past costs and helping to avoid a portion of future expenditures.

I don't even think they are trying to recoup costs, it's just a token amount so that every single user doesn't click the 'give me a free token' button. People love getting free stuff, even if they don't need it (or is it just my wife that does that? Hi wife, if you are reading this :)

Long Term evolution...

[Vapula]

Phase 1 : OTP is a plus that you may buy
Phase 2 : A free OTPtoken with each WoLK extension sold
Phase 3 : A collector edition with WoW+BC+WoLK+token
Phase 4 : Mandatory token for all accounts

That way, they cut the grass under the feet of the chinese farmers who sell ready to play accounts and to the reselling of accounts on E-Bay and such...