Denial of Service attacks by EA?

[Astrel]

I have been playing UO for 12 yrs, and in the past, as far as purchasing new expansions, etc., have relied on my guild mate in the US.

Now that my friend has left the game I am confronted by the following situation:

I play on Asuka, a Japanese shard, and when I go to the US EA store I am automatically booted to the Japanese store due to my IP address.

I cannot buy anything in Japan because only Japanese account names and passwords are recognized at the Japanese EA store and the official Japanese Ultima Online site, which by the way offers no support whatsoever; no email, no telephone.

I figure that no one could come up with such a system accidently, and can only conclude that EA intended it to be that way; making it impossible for its customers to actually purchase their products, and that despite the new expansion the powers that be at EA/Mythic are planning to shut down UO completely in the coming months.

I also note that other players are experiencing similar problems regarding purchases and payments. Looking at EA's gamecode site I notice that they have an alternative payment method. However, the products that you can actually buy are only up to the 8th anniversary, which again, can only be intentional.

As for using credit cards, in Japan they are not really necessary as you can pay at any convenience store, or get it COD the following day with no shipping charges for items above $15, so buying anything at all is fast and hassle free.

I did contact EA support staff in the US, sending them a very polite report on my situation. However, their answer was no answer, or F**** Y**, as we say in the vernacular. Perhaps they could give us a date of when UO is actually closing down.

 

[Ender]

Yes, a company wants people to not be able to purchase it's stuff. Of course.

 

[DarkScripture]

I am unclear on the living in Japan and not needing a credit card and you not stating if you do indeed have one. There is always paypal and use their debt card. Sounds more like you may need a new friend in the right places.

 

[Phaen Grey]

Chrissay posted you can purchase from the EA store directly rather than the uogamecodes page. Have you tried that?

 

[Lord Frodo]

I think this is fallout from when all the credit card comp. got hacked and lost a lot of money from it.

 

[Astrel]

DarkScipture, I merely mentioned the situation of buying stuff in Japan to show that the online stores here will take your money whatever way you want to give it, and as credit card numbers get ripped off by the hundreds of millions in the US and Europe no one wants to use them apart from when on vacation. I find Cash on Delivery (COD) the best option because I don't even have to leave my house and my purchases are delivered to my door in less than 24hrs for free.

 

[Astrel]

Phaen Grey, as I stated in my post I cannot purchase anything from the EA store(s).

 

[DarkScripture]

Okkk... umm I can say that COD for online orders seems a bit silly. Am I getting lost reading into this too much? You want EA to let you buy with a COD? If not get a friend to buy what you need or use a pre-paid card. I can think of 20 ways to fix this issue for you. As far as the IP redirect seems to be more the issue on a whole for you.

 

[DarkScripture]

There are even programs and services that will mask or choose your IP.

 

[Phaen Grey]

Phaen Grey, as I stated in my post I cannot purchase anything from the EA store(s).

You only mentioned the one store, I have seen a lot of people calling UOGameCodes.com the EA Store. Does UOGameCodes also redirct you?

 

[Astrel]

DarkScripture, no I don't necessarily want to use COD, just that I cannot use the stores whatever method I pay. I mentioned COD because that is a preferred method for many people here.

Of course, if I bought a Japanese operating system and a japanese keyboard I would be able to use the Japanese EA sites for some purchases, but not those requiring my real account numbers and passwords, which are in English.

 

[Astrel]

Phaen Grey, I could use the uogamecodes site if I used a credit card but I don't (and even If I did, could I trust the competence of EA with such details? I doubt it).

 

[Viper09]

Phaen Grey, I could use the uogamecodes site if I used a credit card but I don't (and even If I did, could I trust the competence of EA with such details? I doubt it).

Lol. Yeah, while you don't tons and tons and tons of others do trust them with such details with no problem. Just because you don't like EA doesn't mean they aren't trustworthy when it comes to dealing with money.

But you can always use pre-paid cards if you are so paranoid.

 

[DarkScripture]

I have some info I would like to share about the subject. If you like i could PM it to you.

 

[Esmeralda]

Well I´m a bit troubled with the ea store too.... I´m from germany, and sadly nothing appears when you enter "ultima online" or "stygian abyss" at the german ea store.
I do have a credit card, but I recently used it to buy stuff from uogamecodes, wich is why it won´t let me buy something else within the next weeks.
The 30 days timer on the store doesn´t work even... it blocks me around 90 days (from one gametime to another gametime period).

So I´m awaiting tomorrow with a bit of fear in my heart... *sighs*
I´d do the happy dance and some air-jumps if I´d find uo on the ea store in germany

 

[Viper09]

I have some info I would like to share about the subject. If you like i could PM it to you.

Who you responding to? If it's me then sure.

 

[IanJames]

Cybernickel has stated he will have codes for gold

 

[DarkScripture]

Search from google on
How to Surf the Web Anonymously with Proxies

 

[Astrel]

Just one other thing worth mentioning here, and that is that as far as the new expansion is concerned, go to the official ultimaonline.jp store and guess what? They don't actually sell it, and tell you to go to amazon to buy it.

However, if you want the 7th char slot and storage upgrade you have no chance, as your acc number and pw must be in Japanese.

Also, if you click the Live Events button on this site it tells you of all the latest events, or what they were a year ago in 2008.

 

[Astrel]

Viper09, read again, even with prepaid cards I cannot buy anything.

 

[jbfortune]

EA must hate Ultima online.

 

[Lord Frodo]

Can I order just the one in the red dress?

 

[Astrel]

Anyway, there is enough information in this thread, and others, to show that some people are having problems upgrading their accounts due to the EA purchase system (or lack of it), and could you believe it possible that a company that comes out with a new product doesn't even bother to sell it in its own stores?

The alternative, of course, is to buy upgrades through brokers for EA gold. How do people obtain so much gold? Well, there's scripting, duping, and no doubt other exploits as incentives that such a system creates.

But wait a minute, how can UO survive if everyone pays for upgrades and gametime through UO gold? The answer being that it cannot. That is why I say that EA is planning to close UO for good.

 

[Viper09]

Or from where you live there may be some problems. That's all I gathered so far.

Edit: Most problems I've been seeing are from lack of having a credit card of some sort.

 

[Ahuaeyjnkxs]

I am also having total denial of service by EA... just about switching subscription from one account to the next.

It's ridiculous, and EA told me : sorry we cannot help you any further and gave me 30 days FREE on the account I DON'T EVEN WANT. I even asked them if it was an insult, my e-mails have been ignored since then.

Bleh.

I also think they plan on shutting the game, because someone up there hates it.

 

[Chrissay_]

I've pmed Astrel directly regarding their situation. I mentioned due to this special circumstance that they are welcome to create a ticket through http://support.ea.com and customer support will help purchase the game.

 

[Lord Frodo]

I have been playing UO for 12 yrs, and in the past, as far as purchasing new expansions, etc., have relied on my guild mate in the US.

Now that my friend has left the game I am confronted by the following situation:

So this is not a new problem for you. Are you stationed overseas or do you live there? If you are stationed there then call someone (toll free) on a base in the US (that you know) and have the Phone # for UOGamecodes or EAStore ready. They can put you on hold. call the # then Xfer it over to you. Remember those phones are for offical use only so don't get caught.

 

[Lord Frodo]

I've pmed Astrel directly regarding their situation. I mentioned due to this special circumstance that they are welcome to create a ticket through http://support.ea.com and customer support will help purchase the game.

Way to go. This is support.

 

[rareitem]

EA/Mythic are planning to shut down UO completely in the coming months.
............
I also note that other players are experiencing similar problems regarding purchases and payments.
.............
Perhaps they could give us a date of when UO is actually closing down.

Just for your information:

Im having no problems regarding purchases payments.

dont get paranoid man, if they close UO you will save 12$ a month and you will gain in mental health for sure, whats the problem then???

 

[Phaen Grey]

Phaen Grey, I could use the uogamecodes site if I used a credit card but I don't (and even If I did, could I trust the competence of EA with such details? I doubt it).

Ok the option there is a prepaid card, you can get them for any amount you want from most banks and several other sources, once used its there is no money on it for anyone else to steal from you. You can also apply for a paypal card number, the payment comes out of your pay pal account if you only have enough for what you are using it for there. Again no one can take it from you once its spent. There are options out there for use; a friend spent a year as an exchange student in Japan, used to buy cards from a cell phone store to pay for UO.

On a side note, I've used a credit card to pay for 6 accounts, and many purchases from UOGameCodes, I've never had a problem with either service.

 

[Astrel]

Viper09, not just where I live in Japan, but no EA stores in Europe sell the upgrade and I guess that there are more than a couple of people playing UO in Europe. Plus, even if you do use a credit card you may not be able to buy it from the US store (as posted).

 

[Ahuaeyjnkxs]

What about me ? I created a ticket and it's being ignored... I even created two.

I just want to switch accounts and have some service, it's not much to ask I think !

 

[Aurelius]

I figure that no one could come up with such a system accidently, and can only conclude that EA intended it to be that way.

There's a hangover from EA non-US being semi-independent bits of the company, they were allowed to advertise and sell what they thought their local market wanted - hence for a while EA UK sold UO gametime cards by mail, but not other UO services, for example. Then when it all went internet based, someone seems to have decided auto-lookup of your IP and redirect to the relevant regional webstore was a good idea, forgetting that they are NOT all the same in what they offer on their web stores....

As mentioned earlier, hiding your IP through proxy may work, but it's a long way round a problem that would be best solved by letting people make the choice of where they are themselves, rather than a robot make it for them.

I also use a pre-paid 'credit card' though, for almost all web purchases, since I make that as secure as I want it to be by controlling how much cash it has on it - can't lose more than I put in, and I can monitor that pretty precisely!

 

[Astrel]

Well, its nice to get a reply from EA, but unfortunately I have no idea what a 'ticket' is and became no wiser on opening the support page. Does anyone know how to make/get a ticket?

 

[IanJames]

when you go to the support page link given by Chrissay above:

on the right, under support links: click on "Email Us"

You then need to log in with your account credentials, please note that you may need to create an "EA account" as your UO account may not yet be linked.

Then you fill out the form that is provided.

I have to admit, that its not an easy way to go about things especially if you've not used the EA.com site for support before.

 

[Harlequin]

Viper09, not just where I live in Japan, but no EA stores in Europe sell the upgrade and I guess that there are more than a couple of people playing UO in Europe. Plus, even if you do use a credit card you may not be able to buy it from the US store (as posted).

None of the EA Stores US/UK/DE seem to have it yet. I suspect they want it to be available only on the actual release date/time. So don't panic yet.

Btw, I and a bunch of folks not living in JP were able to buy codes from UOStore Japan. It requires our non japanese account names and passwords for registration and we had no problems. They have since blocked non JP ip addresses.

Not sure why you are having problems with getting your UO account recognized. Could be an issue with the japanese os using the double byte character set to input english. Try setting up a US english input method and see if that works.

Payment can also be done via 3 methods - credit card, and 2 other japan only methods. One of which is called bitcom or something.

Search my posts for a thread with the title "comprehensive guide".

 

[Astrel]

IanJames, thank you, I did as advised. My account was not recognized so I registered a new one (I note that when I chose Japan as my country Japanese was the only language option so I changed it to US). Then, I sent an email stating my wish to purchase, so will wait and see what happens.

 

[Ahuaeyjnkxs]

I tought this was interesting...

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/ea-to-redesign-ultima-for-china

This is from Raph's website :

Of course, we have been here before, sort of. Some anecdotes:

•During the early days of UO, when PKing was rampant, we notice a major issue in servers hosted along the Pacific Rim — much higher rates of PKing, harassment complaints, etc. We dig in, and it turns out that we were seeing lots of warfare and animosity between players from Asia and players from the US.
•Hong Kong servers suffered for a while from triad gang wars being imported into UO. Guilds would form that matched the gangs, and the streets of Britain would run with simulated real-life blood.
•Years later, I visit China, and I am surprised that anyone even knows who I am, since China never officially got a UO release. I was told that UO servers running either pirated servers or gray shard servers probably hit as many as 400,000 players across China.
The article I have read on this doesn’t offer a lot of details, but I think there is a fair amount of potential for this project.

400000 players and EA didn't do anything before ?

I think the figures are MUCH higher for NA emulators... more people hack this game than people who pay, MUCH more...

Why is this allowed to go on ? Everytime I log in UO theres barely one of two people that actually are not AFK, even in the most crowded spots. Even then I remain faithful to EA and see what I get ?

I get laughed at, I cannot switch accounts... I'm stucked with a non-upgraded account just because I wante dto check if it had any remaining characters.

Whats this all about ?

 

[Astrel]

Harlequin, thanks for the guide, it may well work for me when I have the energy to go through it. Getting the expansion itself should not be a problem as it will be sold on Amazon at a future date and I don't mind being a week or so behind. The real problem is the 7th char slot and storage expansion, which requires your account and pw, as I don't want to have to delete chars just to be able to use the new skills. Haven't checked on the payment method yet but on the Japanese EA store they have the pay at your local convenience store option (but don't sell UO stuff). Thanks again.

 

[Harlequin]

Glad to be of service.


I am thinking that they should put placeholders for SA on the EA stores. With descriptions Just don't allow people to add it to the carts yet. Or state that it will only be available on the release date. Might be able to calm a lot of folks down.

But that's just hindsight on my part now.

 

[Ahuaeyjnkxs]

So much for the return to britain bank program...

One thing escapes me... they put so much emphasis on this, and then create a new land ?

Sounds like... buy the expansion, or be tortured by living alone in an old UO desert...

 

[SchezwanBeefy]

If you need to get around IPs and that jazz, I recommend Hotspot. =D Just saying... even in Korea I've ran into some sites that were blocked (it's rare, but happens) by the chinese government. Not positive how all that works though. I just get little pages that pop up with the Chinese flag that says "100% banned for your health" with the official seal of the chinese filtering team or whatever.