About Timmy and the Hacker

[Ixindor]

I know there is a topic on this already, but I wanted to get some information to other players. Below is the information about the incident and an email address for you, the players, to voice your concerns to the reporter. He obviously did not know enough about the game in his article. If you'd like to voice your complaints about it, please email him directly. Below is what I wrote to him. Its a long read, but I tried to explain everything wrong about his article. Feel free to add to it!

 

 

 

Email Address of Reporter: [email protected]

 

Incident: http://www.abc15.com/content/news/inves ... lekJw.cspx

 

 

 

[hide=Long Read]Mr. Ducey,

 

 

 

I have been a loyal player for many years now. Runescape is a fantastic game that has been around since 2001. I think that Jagex (the makers of Runescape) were unjustly represented in your article. I'd just like to point out the discrepancies in your article on Runescape and the kid known as "Timmy."

 

 

 

First off, I'd like to show you the Terms and Conditions that a player must agree to when he/she first creates an account. Your article stated that Timmy was only 11 years old. And that other players often asked for his help in the game. On http://www.runescape.com at the bottom of the page is the Terms and Conditions (http://www.runescape.com/terms/terms.ws) that you must agree to. It specifically states:

 

 

 

A SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT PRETEENS AND USERS UNDER 18

 

If you are under 13 years old you will be able to create an account but unable to disclose personal data through the game or website. Any personal data collected by us, which we find subsequently to be from someone under 13, will be automatically deleted. We recommend that parents / guardians set up an account and play together with their children. Many parents have reported that playing Jagex Products as a family is fun and rewarding.

 

 

 

If you are under 13 and subscribe to the members' version of our game you are representing (i.e. making a promise) that you have consent from your parents / guardian to use Jagex Products in accordance with our terms and conditions and privacy policy. We reserve the right to permanently ban any account if we are not satisfied that such consent has been given.

 

 

 

If you are under 18, by using our website you are representing (i.e. making a promise) that you have consent from your parents / guardian to use Jagex Products in accordance with our terms and conditions and privacy policy. We reserve the right to permanently ban any account if we are not satisfied that such consent has been given.

 

 

 

If we are notified by a parent that their child has lied about their age when registering for Jagex Products, we will terminate the account provided we have confirmation which satisfies us that the reporting person is indeed the parent or guardian.

 

 

 

Parents can find more information about the Game and how to contact us in the Parents' Guide.

 

 

 

Basically, what this is saying is that a player under 13 should NOT be able to disclose personal information. To explain it further, if a player under the age of 13 makes a new account and does not lie about his age, then that player will be restricted to a security feature known as Quick Chat Only. Quick Chat is a feature that allows the player to speak a selection of pre-made phrases ONLY until the player becomes 13 years of age. In short, if Timmy had not lied about his age to avoid the Quick Chat, he would not have been able to speak personal information to the Hacker. Your article clearly states that Timmy WAS able to communicate freely with other players. That means Timmy had lied about his age when he signed up for an account.

 

 

 

Also Timmy was engaged in an illegal activity known as Real World Trading (RWT). RWT is the act of spending real money for Items and/or services inside a game. RWT is a problem in almost ALL online games. Jagex has taken extreme measures to halt this activity. From my knowledge, they are pretty much the only huge company to try and tackle this problem. Jagex took a critical hit in revenue when they brought forth measures to combat RWT. For example: Certain features like the Wilderness and Free Trading in the game were either taken away from us or restricted heavily. From a players perspective, such as myself, Timmy's actions is one of the worst things you can do in this game. His actions (whether he knew what he was doing or not) is what caused Jagex to move to protect the game and their customers. When these features were cut or restricted, it caused massive turmoil through out our game community. This is exactly why the under age of 13 clause is in place. It is to protect a player who may not know what he is doing from making those mistakes.

 

 

 

Here is Rule 12 - Real World Trading:

 

 

 

1. Why do we have this rule?

 

 

 

We have this rule for three reasons: Firstly, because we dont want you to be able to buy your way to success in our games. If we let players start doing this it devalues our games for other players. We feel your status in real-life shouldnt affect your ability to be successful in the game. Secondly, we cannot monitor the transactions made between players outside the game, and if players swap items for external benefits we cant see, to us it looks like an unbalanced suspicious trade. Thirdly, often when players attempt to break this rule and sell items for real cash the items are actually stolen, so you could even end up getting in trouble for receiving stolen property. If you purchased an account you might find it suddenly returned to the original rightful owner and yourself out of pocket.

 

 

 

Lastly, the Hacker in question was also at fault. Hackers/Phishers/Hijackers are present in all MMORPG's. It is not a problem with Runescape only. Jagex has many securities in place to help prevent these kinds of situations. For example: In Runescape, you have Banks that hold your items/money/gear for you. You can place a Bank PIN on it to prevent a Hacker from getting into your Bank. So even if Timmy lost control of his account for whatever reason, the Hacker would not be able to take or manipulate Timmy's Items if his Bank PIN was in place. Also, all over the Runescape site are warnings to NEVER type your account password on a website other than http://www.runescape.com. There is a Reporting System that allows you to report players that are invovled in wrong doing. One reportable offense is Web Advertising. If another player is typing out a Web Address in the game, that player can be reported under Rule 7.

 

 

 

Here is Rule 7 - Advertising/Website:

 

 

 

1. Why do we have this rule?

 

 

 

Links to sites can sometimes be dangerous to players (by leading you to sites with inappropriate content) or your computer (by downloading a virus when you go to the site). This precaution has been taken in order that no links to any sites may be advertised in-game or in the Forums, thereby protecting you and your computer.

 

 

 

Had Timmy not been involved with RWT, which mostly involves traveling to another website to negotiate the deal, then Timmy would have known to REPORT the player. The player had instructed him, in your article, to another website that was not Runescape. This should have raised Red Flags and Timmy should have reported the player and been on his way.

 

 

 

The Hacker will eventually get caught. Most Hackers that advertise other websites get caught because other players WILL report him for his wrong doing. It is only a matter of time. The Hacker, along with Timmy, will eventually get banned.

 

 

 

Just to sum up what I'm talking about, I will tell you what it sounds like Timmy was doing. Since Timmy was 11, he lied about his age when he registered (Bannable Offense 1). So now that he registered his ages as over 13, he can freely talk with other players with no restrictions. Obviously, since his grandmother was taking money for her grandson, she had no clue about what Timmy's activities online were. Timmy would play Runescape and look for ways to further is levels/skills/money/items. When he found out a way to get items without actually working for them, he stated RWT (Bannable Offense 2). He convinced his grandmother to get him money so that he could buy items for the game. Then later down the road he met the Hacker. The Hacker saw this as an opportunity to strike and convinced Timmy to check out his site (Bannable Offence 3). Timmy traveled to the site and entered his password on a site that looked like, but was NOT http://www.runescape.com. The Hacker was able to get onto Timmy's Account and do whatever he pleased.

 

 

 

Even though it looks like Timmy is the victim here, he is not. Timmy set into motion all his troubles himself. The Hacker, although wrong as well, saw an opportunity and took it. It is fairly rare now for Hackers to get the upper-hand in Runescape. Hackers really only succeed with rule breakers (aka Timmy) and people that aren't familiar with the Rules of the game. There are so many precautions and securities that are in place to protect players. Granted Timmy is only 11, so he may not have known better...but if he has been playing long enough to become a "High-Level," then more than likely he DID know the rules and ignored it to try and gain an advantage in the game. Thus, his innevitable downfall, was his own fault.

 

 

 

That wraps up about all I have to say. I CC'd the Advertising Department of Jagex so that they know that you now know the truth behind your article. Your article made Runescape look bad in the public eye. Jagex has been making great strides to become open and honest with their community. Your article made Jagex look like the bad guy. I hope that Jagex takes actions against both Timmy and the Hacker. Timmy needs to know that what he did was wrong. And his actions have made us honest players suffer greatly in the past. Whether it be a Temporary Ban or Permanent Ban is up to Jagex.

 

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

 

 

 

A true loyal fan of the game,

 

 

 

Ixindor (I used my real name in the email)[/hide]

[compfreak847]

Good letter, waste of time though. It's doubtful they will ever read it. Just another sensationalist news story.

[spacheco]

score= RWT nubs:1 us : 289129861098629876092872

[qeltar]

Yes, and be sure to include in your letter lots of sneering comments about how funny it is that he got hacked, and how much he deserved it, and how it was his own fault, and how much you "LOLed" at hearing about an 11-year-old kid getting ripped off.

 

 

 

Give the guy a good taste for the what the RS player community is really like. Maybe he'll do another story on it. :roll:

[warren211]

Anyway, your email is totally spot-on. There's a reason this game is 13+. Not only because laws require it, but because gullible preteens are more likely to get their account stolen. I really wish reporters wouldn't just write articles like these without thorough research. This is like the fifth journalist who has said nothing but crap about Jagex.

 

 

 

EDIT: I'm an idiot. I didn't know the link led to the article itself, i thought it was just the guy's email. I removed my initial ignorant comment.

[Pinkbullet3]

I hope you didn't spend too much time typing (along with copying + pasting) up this thing. We'll see what happens. (How did they find this kind of report anyway? Did Timmy's grandmother phone into the station?)

 

 

 

:?

[Sir_Kurity]

Timmy got owned.

[sarg1010]

I must say, gf on trying to post that on the RSOF :lol: But yea... Good read and if timmy really was indulging in RWT, it's his fault, not anyone else's. Maybe his grandmother's or guardian's, because they should have been paying more attention to what timmy was doing :shame:.

[No_99_Melee]

"Haha I'm gonna hack you again."

 

 

 

Epic.

 

 

 

Anyways what's the point in replying to a local news source? Waste of time IMO.

[mikeg0477]

Your reply to the news station was dead on. Not sarcastic, but instead a well thought out response. :thumbsup:

[Pikmin_Warrior]

Your reply to the news station was dead on. Not sarcastic, but instead a well thought out response. :thumbsup:

 

That it was. True, I thought the situation was absolutly hilarious as karma got back at the kid with his multiple offences, but even I like to post well thought out letters.

 

 

 

But seriously, I'm disappointed the news crew didn't even research the Runescape rules to find out that Timmy was also breaking the rules.

 

 

 

I hope the news team reads that letter, and who knows? They might do another report on how to stay safe while playing online, and use Timmy as the person to not be like. After all, RWT, lieing about his age, ignoring rules, the kid had it coming.

[Jard_Y_Dooku]

This whole situation reminds me of:

 

 

 

A victim dies and a murderer is punished. That is balanced.

[Ixindor]

I must say, gf on trying to post that on the RSOF :lol: But yea... Good read and if timmy really was indulging in RWT, it's his fault, not anyone else's. Maybe his grandmother's or guardian's, because they should have been paying more attention to what timmy was doing :shame:.

 

 

 

LOL thanks..Stupid Forum Mods...oh well.

 

 

 

"Haha I'm gonna hack you again."

 

 

 

Epic.

 

 

 

Anyways what's the point in replying to a local news source? Waste of time IMO.

 

 

 

I don't know. For some reason that article rubbed me the wrong way. I'm not exactly for sure if Timmy knew that what he was doing was wrong, but the fact that the kid DID break multiple rules and then cried about it, just pissed me off. Its just bad PR for Jagex on the account of an 11 year kid. I really hope the dude reads the letter and then either takes the article down or does a follow up to show its not Jagex's fault.

[Omali]

Yes, and be sure to include in your letter lots of sneering comments about how funny it is that he got hacked, and how much he deserved it, and how it was his own fault, and how much you "LOLed" at hearing about an 11-year-old kid getting ripped off.

 

 

 

Give the guy a good taste for the what the RS player community is really like. Maybe he'll do another story on it. :roll:

 

 

 

Qeltar, you're back!

[Suiku]

Reporters are noobs. Their only source was an eleven year old, LOL.

[kunasako]

Your letter is spot on. I like most am quite pissed how this is being blown out of proportion. The kid cheated, and karma came back and bit him, tough luck.

 

 

 

Somehow I doubt this'll get through though...

[00hydro]

Psht, way to go. What goes around comes around, and in this case it proved right.

 

Off topic, however, it's good to see Qeltar back. Maybe we'll get an update on TruthScape :P .

[Master_Smither]

I don't see a need for this news story to even have happened. The kid after most likely doing the stronghold of security and the stronghold of player safety was still dumb enough to give his password away. Not to mention he obviously didn't check the URL on the site. He also should have been banned anyway because hc spent $140 on items which is clearly against the rules. This report is an idiot who did not do enough background checking on runescape and it's policys. I did not like the article but maybe it's because I actually play Runescape.

[Stonepilot]

This made me feel empty inside, because the kid was named Timmy. It made me feel empty from all the laughs that escaped.

 

 

 

Number 1, reading about RS makes me feel so depressed about playing it, it makes it sound so nerdy.

 

 

 

Number 2, I mean really, who would follow a strange dude who told you to sign in to a weird website? It's called a URL. While I am sorry for Timmy(giggle), it was kind of a gullible decision.

[Italian5kamikaze]

I cant believe so many people are so obsessed with this kid, people get hacked every day, and people lose fifty times more than what he lost because of rwt scams yet this kid gets put on the news and is now an rs celebrity.

 

 

 

If only chris crocker would make a video screaming " Leave Timmy alone!"...

[Nukearcher]

kill pic of the timmys x fer found on other forum that had same kind topic

 

[Star_Fox]

^^ thanks. i'm sure most of us seen the picture like 1000+ times now. lets stay on-topic please.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number 2, I mean really, who would follow a strange dude who told you to sign in to a weird website? It's called a URL. While I am sorry for Timmy(giggle), it was kind of a gullible decision.

 

 

 

 

hes an eleven year old kid that probably doesn't adapt the same knowledge of the internet as you. its commonplace for younger children to fall for scams like this because they were never aware of it before using the computer.

 

 

 

 

Reporters are noobs. Their only source was an eleven year old, LOL.

 

 

 

his grandmother was actually the real source behind him. she told the reporters about her grandson's habit of playing runescape and how he managed to spend 140 USD to rwt.

[Randox]

Just general advice for life. If you are going to write a letter to someone you don't know, make it a short letter. People who don't know you can't be bothered to read a bunch of long leters, especialy if there not saying anything nice, no mater how true they are. If you can get it to a paragraph or two, you can't say as much, but theres more chance of it being read.

 

 

 

Also, the more polite you are the more likely you will be taken seriously. Just a tip for anyoen who does leter writing campains (which I don't, I just know this kinda stuff).

 

 

 

Taking a quick look at the article, I think the guy got the important stuff right. Bear in mind this is going to read by a generation that largely couldn't care about the workings of the game. The general idea is good enough for the articles purpose.

 

The second thing I notice is real money buys sword and armour to make him more powerful in the game. What we left out is that buying gold with real money is not only against the rules, its also a violation of real world laws in several countrys. Jagex owns the game and everything in it, so it is illeagal to sell their stuff just about everyplace.

[Misterknowitall]

If your letter gets answered, care to post the answer here too?

 

 

 

Off-topic: I never knew Qeltar used TIF :shock: . Good to see he's still into RS.

[Lets_3ekout]

Reminds me why I hate the media, dramatisation and exageration of every little thing. Some kid loses money on the internet on RWT, so new. His name's "Timmy", people might feel bad with that name, so suddenly it's decided an article must be written telling us of this cataclysmic event.

 

 

 

Also, why would he take a pic? The only use for it is to share it, just proving he RWT'ed. I suppose he's only 11.