Miniature Mallyx in Pre-Searing - Another Glitch or Not ?

But that's Microsoft's emulator detecting a PPC emulator inside a Microsoft-emulated OS. Can GW do the same?

Its pure speculation. Copping out the "its not my theory, so you cant blame me" doesnt help the fact that youre still spreading bogus info.

Unless its THERE, Texmod cant do anything. Texmod cannot MOVE anything in the game. It cant create buttons. It can only change TEXTURES. It doesnt change the functionality of anything.

Even if the button does exist, Texmod wouldnt be able to make it appear since Texmod doesnt touch the client or the data going to Anet at all.

No it does not appear to be the case. We have no information as to how Mallyx got to pre-searing.

All that appears is some people are getting to presearing with non-presearing items.

And since its been DONE BEFORE, i think thats a more plausible scenario than anything else.

Alright couple points:

1) Texmod only allows you to change the skin applied to objects. It cannot apply a "clickable" skin. So if there were truly an invisible or hidden (by skin only) button on the screen and a change to the skin made it visible... it would have been clickable the entire time. A button in the UI is clickable no matter what color you skin it. So lets please let go of Texmod as the path for this possible exploit.

2) I don't think that the world of hackers out there were leaving GW alone until suddenly it was ok to use Texmod. They'll have been trying to hack and get into GW since release. Lets not see a connection where there may not be one.

3) The recent dupe hack was discovered at about the same time as this appearance of mallyx in pre. By some accounts the dupe exploit has been possible for quite a while. What changed? Someone either got greedy OR gave the information out to a greedy person. Its also possible that the same oops happened with information on access to pre. There may not be any tie between these two exploits other then information got out beyond some small smart group to the world of overly greedy i-net kiddies and that brought both to light.

You are proposing spoofing the client to tell the server that your character travelled to GH from Pre.

Even if you could get the exact data needed, and simulate it, how would you get the server to coperate with a non-official client? It would instantly try to patch your client to repair it.

Even then, who's to say theres not a server side check that sees if your character is even allowed to enter GH (triggered by unlocking Ascalon for the first time).

I don't have an issue with TexMod, the issue is with any third-party application interacting with GW.exe or GW.dat. As i said, the TexMod theory isn't mine, i'm just putting it out there as a *potential* problem - it may be interacting with existing code on the server to enable the GH jump.

I completely understand that simply showing a graphic will not make it function, but don't discount the possibility that smarter people than you or i have worked out how to use TexMod for malicious intent by allowing a UI object that under normal circumstances can not be seen in Pre to interact with a hack.

There's little difference to hacking and modding to a hacker...the simple fact that TexMod *may* enable a hack by accessing / editing / deleting / inserting files in GW.dat or make calls to external scripts and *could* be enabled as a result is enough to can TexMod if a link can be proven. This is pure speculation and i have no facts to back any of it up, so consider it BS unless proven otherwise. I'm happy to look the fool and put it out there than do nothing and sit idly by. I'm also happy to have any and all of my posts deleted by a mod if i'm doing nothing but scare-mongering or stirring the pot.

Until someone from Anet can categorically and emphatically denounce TexMod as the source of a potential hack, be it the ability to browse the GW.dat file or render alternate textures externally, then questions will continue to be asked about the sense of allowing GW mods, as benign as texture modification may be. If that happens, it'll give me a greater sense of relief than embarrassment and i'll shut my big fat mouth from here on in.

In a nutshell I'd just like to see better protection on GW.exe to detect modification to the file or prevent it from being launched from another application. You can edit GW.exe to enable multiple copies of GW to run on a single PC which is handy for running multiple accounts, and GW does not require registry files to run, so all things considered it's pretty piss-poor client-side protection that enables hacks like this to be discovered and bots to run undetected. Surely Anet should be able to detect a hacked or third-party launched GW.exe - it can detect an out-of-date GW.exe fileversion, so why not an invalid or altered one when a server-side check is made prior to launch?

Antithesis...you obviously fail to understand Anet's stance on the issue.

Meanwhile, things like macro botting scripts are still a bannable offense. When they okay-ed texmod, botting didnt become ok.

im surprised arcanemacabre's idea of a macro hasn't been discussed more in depth. I don't know much about modding anything but could something like that be set up with out hacking the exe?

Ok I am not bothering to read through all the posts but the way someone got this mini was from the guildhall glitch. You know, the one that happened like a year ago. This has been discussed to death on presearing.com, what we have managed to come up with is that people left characters from presear in the guildhall. So now people are bringing post items into pre.

Yeah I don't like mods... not for any games unless they were optional add ons created by they game makers in this case (a.net.)

I've read the posts and i do understand the stance. It's naive to think that modifications will be limited to benign activities and that creates a grey area about what can and can't be edited, and the can of worms that enabling modding opens.

I do not wish to continue highjacking the thread, i just want better protection from this sort of exploit and for Anet to prevent third-party applications from launching or altering the GW.exe file, or intercepting calls to inject or block in-game behaviour. If that means losing your pink IDS to prevent Post items showing up in Pre due to a GW.exe or GW.dat hack or emulation, then so be it.

Textures are the tip of the modding iceberg, they may be harmless but what lurks beneath the surface is a potential game killer. What happens if they work out how to modify meshes or bounding boxes by intercepting and altering client / server interactions and feeding it through a trainer? If we're to believe a private server is under development, then why isn't that within the realms of possibility? Counter-Strike uses a client/server model (granted you can run a local server, thus enabling a hack) - it started out with texture mods and has resulted in wall hacks and headshot bots. If Valve are powerless to prevent it from happening even on dedicated servers, what makes you so certain Anet can?

Data packets carry signatures that point to a slew of variables unique to the current user (in this case, the character). Assuming one was to figure out each of these fields to disguise, say, an ascended R/W named Bubba that resides in the Ring of fire into an pre-searing Mo/Me named Shirely that is currently in Ascalon city, then the challenge becomes altering these fields without leaving a huge print. (all this assuming we were able to identify which packets coincide with the actually transfer to the GH and then decrypt them)

Say you succeeded, then the question becomes how do we inject this altered stream of data in such a way that the server will actually accept them.

ALL of this assuming that A.net has little or no packet-protection.

Personally, this sounds like a job for someone who would be using their skill on something more then a game (as in a professional hacker).

i was just sayin ....and why does everyone use Bubba and Shirley as an example.....what did they ever do to you.....

so back on the serious tip.....the short and sweet answer would be yes but why waste you time doing it.

Texmod is harmless.. there is a program just call it "A" since i can't remember the name, that could allow for this to happen. From what i remember reading it allows for your char to transfer to another zone from the application it self meaning the client isn't in focus and you can warp to any zone in guildwars that you have previously been. I never used it or ever intended to, just like to know what other people could be using so i don't become one of those unlucky fellows that account got banned because they accepted a trade.

You continue to insist that texture modding is the beginning of the end. But the GW community is aware about the negative effects of texture modding and its possible imbalance in pvp (making specific spells easier to see and thus, interrupt, make certain targets glow, etc.), and such effects do not directly affect the client or the server.

Whats next? Modifying animations? effects? Doesnt matter. The actual battle is happening on the server. Its still server side. Wallhack (easily done with texmod...although pointless in an MMORPG) or an aimbot ( C + space?) is already applicable.

The existing blacklist is there already because those are the worst things you can do in this type of game are through macros/bots.

What about the duping exploit? The exploit used NON-MODDED clients to take advantage of a well known problem with MMOs. LAG exploits.

Malicious and opportunistic players would still find some way to ruin the rest of our fun REGARDLESS of what Anet does, says, or declares not allowed, dont you see that?

Narrowing your perspective to say "_____ shouldnt be allowed because it can cause ________" is the REAL road to disaster because it inhibits growth and learning.

Texmod has opened up GOOD mods that are better than Anet's own UI like the spirit radar, the health bar marker, cleaned up icons, and better adrenaline markers and these should be on EVERYONE's client.

===========================

On topic,we still DO NOT KNOW what has caused this, so everyone has to wait and see.

ok, I really love the doomsday feel to this thread. I can probably however tell you how this minipet got to pre. ANET has a bug in the guild hall programming. How do I know this, cause I had it happend to my account.

I got factions, my first game, at christmas. Night fall in Jan and prof in Feb. so we now have a timeline. My first proph char was created after the so called bug was fixed for Pre char right. At least I think it was, as I have only been on these forums about 2 months. anywho, she was sitting in pre when my guild fell apart. so I joined a new guild while in pre. Low and behold she had access to the guild hall.

I got her bags and salvage kits and whatnot not knowing it was a problem from my main. It wasn't until I made my 2nd pre char a couple months later that I relized you can't enter the GH from pre. I thought this to be wierd and then found out about the exploit.

Now remeber I did this in late feb I belive, dont know exactly but it was not a year ago. I can check the age of my char but I dont think that matters.

People who use and know TexMod know it cannot be the cause of this. Why? Because it is client side only. It doesn't interact with the game client at all...no it interacts with the Graphics API, DirectX...modifying the textures presented to the video card before they are displayed on the screen. No permanent changes can be made because the texture display is modified on the fly. If there were a hidden Guild Hall Button in Pre that you simply cannot see you would still be able to click it. Since you can click till your hearts content in that area on the guild window without triggerring a trip to the guild hall...there is no button there...changing the texture of the window to make the button appear would only change the look...not the content. Nothing on the client is modified.

Anet knows how the program works which is why they allow people to use it. If it did modify the client or gw.dat they would not allow it.

Program "A" was known as Requia, but it could not warp you back to Pre, just unlocked locations Post-Searing.

So, are you saying that if a character joins a guild while in Pre, that character can now access the Guild Hall of that new guild? I would think that if this were true, many many many folks would have discovered a hole that large by now and exploited it.

Or instead is it just characters that leave a guild while in Pre and then join a new one. That's still a very big hole.

So, can anyone test that theory?

it amazing these so called "hackers" are smart enought to hack the code to get what they want but dumb enought to bring a mini Mallyx to pre.


p.s.
My dearest Galie dont read the forums before you have your morning coffie. j/k hugs & kisses

Apparently the "Go to Guild Hall" button for Pre characters is blocked only client-side. It makes one of these 3 possibilities open (or even all of them, however some may be much more difficult to do):
1. either by the hack directly affecting the gw.exe running on your machine - telling your game client that you actually pushed the button or changing a memory value to reenable the button so you can click it yourself; (one of those is most probable)
2. modify a file in the gw.dat to reenable the button or even make it a new interface entity,
3. send a packet straight to the server telling that you have just pressed the button (seems to be hard to do because of packet encryption, but those private servers running prove that there are ways around that too)

Each of those possibilities is a clear hacking, using outside software to modify how the game works. And it's ofcourse far different than what a Texmod does so I'm surprised people keep mentioning it in this thread.

It couldn't possibly come at a more worse time. We woke them up in the middle of the night because of this duplication thing and now this happens.

i logged in tonight and saw this in pre-sear:

http://puddingbroodje.nl/pets.jpg

Miniature Kuunavang, Asura and in the back Varesh...

Those are from codes....Gaile has a Kuunavang as well. Not a hack, just players choosing to use the codes on their pre-searing characters.

Someone isnt understanding the point of the thread AT ALL.

...Or they simply didn't know how those mini-pets were acquired. Be considerate.

I am not saying that this is an exploit or whatnot, I am just saying that one of my char was able to get into a guild hall in pre searing. Maybe there was a glitch or something on that particular char, I dont know. maybe leaving an guild and joining another does this. I was a noob at the time, so recreating what I did would be nearly impossible, for me at least, and I dont want to risk a ban. I just remebering it being wierd when my char couldn't get into guild hall in pre, cause I wanted to give him bags and a cool sword.

@HealingWisper
I think you could go to the guild hall back a while ago. I believe I remember doing it as a presearing character, about 2 years ago.

Yea they did but they made all pre characters that were in GH's go back to pre a few days ago i heard.

Ban the people who do it and be done. >.>

February 2006.

why does it feel like all of the people who figured out the Diablo and Diablo 2 exploits came to GW . ..

This feels like they just used a packet recorder to record the information sent to the server when hitting the Guild Hall button and just resent that information while logged into a presearing character as it does seem like the only thing that Anet did to fix the old GH from Pre thing was to remove the button. If it is something that simple, I'm surprised that it hasn't come out before. Then again, the dupe exploit was very similar to the old dupe tricks in Diablo and Diablo 2 so it is possible.

This shouldn't be as hard to fix as the armbrace thing as those things obviously shouldn't be in Pre-Searing. Then again, the superior runes and max weapons shouldn't have been in Pre and Anet didn't do anything with those. Would it be too difficult to be able to get rid of all players that have items and skills that are not obtainable in Pre?

They obviously anticipated the fact that new campaigns would be released with new highly desirable items and thus kept a pre character parked in their GH until the right time.

You people are really over complicating this...

programmers/engineer have big heads and big egos. they(we) don't always learn lessons of the past so easily. it's unfortunate but true. comfort zone ftw :-)

Its not a question of difficulty... its a question of whether or not Anet deem it a suitable use of there time. They did nothing to the items smuggled into pre before, can't see them bothering to do anything this time, especially with GWEN on the horizon and GW2 in development.

So is there any new news on this, Gaile? You and Velma find any clues? :P

Wy so many ppl like to drag bugs out and gain benefit on them?
the Armbraces first ........and now they can go into there Guild Hall in pre-searing...

Anet must say " THEY HAD NOTICED IT LONG TIME AGO" again.
They sensed Bugs, They sensed illleagle player.....AND DID NOTHING.

I lost my confidence in Anet..
I lost my confidence in GW

Velma is useless. I don't know what's in those Scooby Snacks, but she's talking in iambic pentameter.

It turns out this is probably related to a small bug that was fixed a while ago. Not the "leave guild hall" thing, but a glitch that we believe was corrected a few weeks back. (You can see the reference in the Update Notes I believe.) We're looking into the matter to make sure all possible aspects of this are closed, but we do believe they. I may have more info tomorrow.

No major glitch.
No dupes.
No rollback.
Pass the cookie tray, please.

Iambic pentameter is actually close to how we normally speak, which is the reason Shakespeare used it in his works.

I liked it better when Gaile said it...

:-)

Yay! Well that's a spot of good news. Can't be too careful these days with hacks and dupes and third party programs (oh my!). So this recent influx of post items in pre is most likely from this infraction from a few weeks ago? I guess I could see that. Not to sound like I'm out for blood or anything, but are those who took advantage of this exploit/bug/hack going to be seeing any punishment?