Rattle wrote:
] ] Three weeks ago, in a stunning raid, Russian hackers
] ] seized control of the servers that support one of the
] ] Internet's largest online gaming operations, demanding a
] ] ransom. It was a real-life, high-tech version of the
] ] movie Ocean's Eleven.
]
] Backups are really keen.

The more I think about this story, the more it smells like either a publicity stunt, or a small company trying to get press by pretending they're larger than they are.

The phrase "largest online gaming operation" caught my eye on this one, both because it's my industry, and especially because over the last week, I've been editing the "White Paper on the State of the Online Games Industry," which will be presented at the International Game Developers Conference next week.

Now, granted, the IGDA's definition of "gaming" is a bit different from this article's definition. We haven't done a whole lot of research into the realm of online *gambling* -- it's seen as a different part of cyberspace, though there is some overlap since we do cover the realm of "skill-based" gaming, like where several players throw in a few bucks, then solve a puzzle, and whoever solves it fastest gets the pot.

But I still take exception with the headline of "largest online gaming operation", since I've never even heard of the company that was referred to in the article, and when I or anyone else in the IGDA is asked who's the largest online gaming operation, the instant answer is Korea's "Lineage" game, which has 4 million players (dwarfing EverQuest's 400,000 subscribers).

That, plus, as Rattle pointed out, that any truly experienced and professional company would understand the concept of *backups*, makes this article smell like little more than, at best, an unresearched, and at worst, self-promoting press release, with a catchy headline trying to promote itself as real news.

Anyway, as the "online gaming" expert on Memestreams, that's my $0.02 on the issue.

Elonka :)

RE: Russian hackers raid largest online gaming operation