Hacked items gone mad...

[ShadowHM]

BTW - I wasn't advocating cheating, just stating the facts about Open.  It's "boring" which is why I play Closed.

I hope they fix the Realms here shortly, I'm getting really bored because I'm now super poor and can't trade for anything that I need!  (pgems, crafting supplies, etc).  I swear, I'm back on Open with the way things are - no trading and people are only wanting cheated gear!  WTF!

:(

p.s.  Cut Avatar Sheep.  :)

The short answer is that there are going to be cheaters everywhere. Quit living with that wide-eyed hope that things will get better anywhere on that front. The Realms are NOT going to be 'fixed'. Blizzard has made it abundantly clear that they are not going to operate a police force with any kind of consistency or determination. In Real Life, society pays a police force to do that work, and they still can't catch all the cheaters. Blizzard gives us a service for free, and it is not realistic to expect that they will spend much time or energy on any form of police force. (Notwithstanding any wishful thinking claims they make about design.)

Open B'net IS full of cheaters. So are the Open Realms games. Your only way to absolutely avoid them is to play Single Player. Or, you can do what most here do, and play mostly in passworded games with folks you know. Or, just be cautious in open (i.e. unpassworded) games for the inevitable hacked and twinked PK's. Trade only with those people you completely trust.

You could always give yourself the challenge of playing 'pure' characters, or, as some call it, 'group pure' characters where the only trades are between your own characters.

Further, being 'super poor' gives you a chance to hone some strategy and tactical skills, for those situations where the 'uber' gear would blast you through without blinking. That is the place where the folks that use hacked gear really deny themselves. They have no clue about game mechanics or strategy, and get bored because nothing challenges them.

The fact is that this game is as challenging as you want to make it.

And, lastly, don't take this personally. You are not the only person who seems to harbour the expectation that Realms games 'should' be clean and that this means you got short-changed and should be entitled to carry on about it.