PLAYERS of the wildly popular online game MapleStory are furious with the company which hosts the game on its servers, Asiasoft.

Tens of thousands of virtual dollars were lost by gamers after Asiasoft's servers were hacked into, and players are charging that the company did not provide them with adequate protection.Worse, they say, Asiasoft has not compensated them for their losses.

Online forums are abuzz with chatter among victims, and 20 gamers called The Straits Times to complain about being shortchanged.The gamers, mostly professionals in their 30s, say they have spent up to $10,000 each on the game.

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