🚀 go-pugleaf

Looks like I may be the first one to post this...
	I started up a battle.net game this morning and it wouldn't let 
me on right away.  It said "Upgrading to new version of Diablo..."
	After waiting a couple of minutes, it launched right back into 
Diablo.  Curious, I started up a new game by myself.
	Now, I backed up my characters regularly, but I never gave 
myself illegal stats or gold, so I was curious to see what the Diablo 
trainer would do.
	I selected "save character."  Usually there are a bunch of slots 
asking which character to save.  But instead of saying my name, 
"Brutus," it was a bunch of garbage characters.  Just to check, I tried 
to restore Brutus.DMP into a new character... NOTHING HAPPENED.  Sounds 
like there is some sort of encryption going on here.
	But the best is yet to come!  I logged onto battle.net and 
joined a game.  Message: "A duplicated item has been detected."  Not 
from me, but from some level 1 wimp bearing a godly plate of the ages. 
The newbie couldn't wear it anyway, so I said, "Here, let me take a look 
at that..." confiscated it and disposed of it.  Apparently Diablo only 
displays a message telling you that cheated items exists, but does not 
destroy them.  However, further duplication will now be impossible, or 
so it seems.  And I'm pleased to report that the ONE dubious item I 
accepted from a very high level stranger (Storm Shield) did not report 
itself as cheated.
	I did not try town kill... that rarely worked for me anyway and 
usually crashed the game.  But I logged on to three different games with 
strangers and didn't get shot at once.  That's become a very rare 
experience lately.
	I only wish I had a character with actual cheated stats so I 
could see what happens to him.  Oh well, perhaps the infamous PegLegBoy 
will post a snarling message and tell us what happened to all his level 
15 spells.
	I doubt this will be permanent... probably someone will find a 
way around it.  But I hope that will not be for a very long time.
	YAY BLIZZARD!  And death to dorks who think they are "hackers" 
because they know how to use a hex editor.
-- 
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one
persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.  Therefore all
progress depends on the unreasonable man."
                                -- George Bernard Shaw

Russell can be heckled at
        http://sdcc8.ucsd.edu/~rglasser