@JoeCapricorn : ZOS/Bethesda needs to know on which platform and megaserver you play TESO in order to evaluate and investigate your report. (Please read the Guidelines For Bug Report Forum)

First, any time that the game client crashes, it is possible that files have been left open, and the game installation has become corrupt. So I always run the Launcher and use the Game Options menu feature to Repair Files before I log-in to resume play. In my experience, it is better to do that regardless of whether it needs to be done than it is to eventually discover that I should have done it.

@ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_JessicaFolsom

JoeCapricorn wrote: »

So I logged in first thing this morning and I got an error message that said "This account is already logged in"

I usually get that message if I crash suddenly and I relaunch the client and log in but my character is still technically logged into the game.
....

Of course, it wouldn't be surprising if the software on the Bethesda/Akamai gateway server has at least one bug which causes it to maintain a log-in indefinitely. It does surprise me, though, because every log-in for which a packet has not been received from the game client after about 15 minutes (it used to be 30) will be terminated. Even if you did not actually log-out, the system should have dropped the connection for lack of activity. From your report, perhaps that didn't happen.

Which implies either (a) a bug in the system software, or (b) that there was activity on the connection after you "logged out" which kept it alive.

But this time it was first thing this morning, about ten minutes ago. It had me feeling a little unsettled.

This doesn't mean someone else was playing in my account though. If that had been the case, I would have gotten an e-mail. This game has a strong two-factor authentication system.

....

The absence of the e-mail message to which you refer doesn't mean that either your computer system or the Bethesda system was not compromised.

If the other party was logged-in to your account by using the same IP address assigned to your system by your ISP previously, then (in my experience) ZOS would recognize the system as "trusted". Gaining access through your router, therefore using the same IP address, is usually accomplished through a wireless connection. Note: they might instead gain access via the broadband or DSL "modem" (which is actually a specialized router) if your computer is directly connected to that device.

Then they could sniff the packets to learn your log-in credentials. Worse, if they were able to "piggy-back" on your log-in, then they could continue by intercepting and deleting the packet that contains the log-out content.

One way to prevent a raw log-in by using someone's router, thus IP address, as well as captured credentials, is for Bethesda to also use some attribute to uniquely identify the computer on which you actually play the game, not just the IP address. For example, every CPU has a unique serial number, which is accessible to software running on the computer. However, if the other party is "piggy backing" on your log-in, then the Bethesda system would perceive any activity as coming from the trusted system.

If I were you, I would log-in to the router and change the user-name and password. Also change the session ID and assign a strong password for any WiFi connection which is enabled. Do not broacast the session ID unless you really do want to have a WiFi connection available to the public. If you cannot gain access to the router, then use the reset button to restore it to factory defaults, and re-configure it with a new user-name, password, etc.

It would also be a good idea to perform a security check of your computer to determine whether malware has been installed in the BIOS CMOS memory (among other places). However, when an intruder uses "fileless malware", there won't be anything "installed" anywhere on the computer. Their hostile executable is only present in the system memory (DRAM) and does not persist on the computer when it is powered-off. But they can return if no one has found the door which they used, and secured it.

Good luck, and hope for the best.

smacx250 wrote: »

Over the years I've had that happen a few times. Always got in the second try. Never found anything amiss with my account.

You probably wouldn't find anything amiss with your account. That is, if someone is "piggy-backing" then they probably would not want to do anything to affect your characters or resources. It would draw attention to their surrepititious access.

What could they do by using the connection, via your account, while you are offline? I don't know. I'm not a hacker.

Perhaps it is caused by a bug in the Bethesda megaserver system hosted by Akamai. If so, then whether it has ever been exploited is another question entirely.

My issue started with not being able to port anywhere. Every time I tried, I got "transfer failed". After trying wayshrine a few times and then trying to port to a house a couple times, I logged out and could not. I reset the game and now constant "account is already logged in..."