I think it's safe to say Blizzard is willing to risk letting the game die, so long as they can implement less privacy. It clearly doesn't matter what the users think, or how many quit. "We're listening..." Yeah, but you just don't care. They've made their choice, and I'll make mine by deleting my account.
Originally posted by Hashberry I think it's safe to say Blizzard is willing to risk letting the game die, so long as they can implement less privacy. It clearly doesn't matter what the users think, or how many quit. "We're listening..." Yeah, but you just don't care. They've made their choice, and I'll make mine by deleting my account.
Also nobody is forcing anyone to use their real name, you all act like you being forced into something....if you don't want to post in the forums the don't, there are other forums, and the WOW forums are not necessary to play the game.
I can say with 100% certainty my children and I will not play a game that gives away our personal information including my name. This is not only a bad decision it is massively iresponsible. When someone runs into a problem with Stalkers, peds, or crimes of any kind because Blizzard made identifying and tracking down people in the Real World based on the virtual one that they get sued into the next century.
Maybe they don't like being the big boy in the industry anymore. I'm so shocked I can not even describe it. My kids and I have 13 accounts total and we were planning to purchase the expansion on day one. As long as this is in line all of these accounts are closing at the end of the current pay cycle.
OMG..... the fact they even think this is a good idea makes one question their common sense. Play Blizzard games, where the anonymity of the Internet no longer lives.
I can say with 100% certainty my children and I will not play a game that gives away our personal information including my name. This is not only a bad decision it is massively iresponsible. When someone runs into a problem with Stalkers, peds, or crimes of any kind because Blizzard made identifying and tracking down people in the Real World based on the virtual one that they get sued into the next century.
Maybe they don't like being the big boy in the industry anymore. I'm so shocked I can not even describe it. My kids and I have 13 accounts total and we were planning to purchase the expansion on day one. As long as this is in line all of these accounts are closing at the end of the current pay cycle.
OMG..... the fact they even think this is a good idea makes one question their common sense. Play Blizzard games, where the anonymity of the Internet no longer lives.
But they aren't giving out information, unless you choose to let them. Just don't post on the forums, it does not affect the gameplay.
I can say with 100% certainty my children and I will not play a game that gives away our personal information including my name. This is not only a bad decision it is massively iresponsible. When someone runs into a problem with Stalkers, peds, or crimes of any kind because Blizzard made identifying and tracking down people in the Real World based on the virtual one that they get sued into the next century.
Maybe they don't like being the big boy in the industry anymore. I'm so shocked I can not even describe it. My kids and I have 13 accounts total and we were planning to purchase the expansion on day one. As long as this is in line all of these accounts are closing at the end of the current pay cycle.
OMG..... the fact they even think this is a good idea makes one question their common sense. Play Blizzard games, where the anonymity of the Internet no longer lives.
But they aren't giving out information, unless you choose to let them. Just don't post on the forums, it does not affect the gameplay.
The fact is that the main reason Blizzard is going through with this Real ID thing is because of a deal they have going with Facebook. Knowing what Facebook likes to do with their privacy policies, I am pretty sure that sooner or later, there will be no choice.
For how long will it be opt in and not mandatory, how long before they decide that your gaming will be improved by having to opt in to access an in game voice ability, the cash shop or something else, how long before you HAVE to opt in AND have a facebook profile to use battlenet, blizzardTV or even to play the game you want to play.
How long before they decide they can make more money showing you demographic targetted adds or sell informtion to marketers?
Are the possibilities above extreme, yes, yes they are. Do you seriously think it wont have crossed the suits minds for some point in the future, after they get people cosy with the soon to be situation?
They want to tie you to them, by having you define your online self within their game/social space and having all your friends there too.
And when they have you they will try to make as much as they possibly can from you.
Some facts for those joining the discussion late, so hopefully you will understand WHY so many people are in an uproar over this...
1. There is already an addon hack that has not yet been addressed from what I understand. Your toons are already linked to your name and can be found by entering a simple line of code, one I'm not going to list here, I think it's been listed elsewhere, but I'm not about to help out anyone seeking to cause more problems.
2. This hack works in all Blizzard games via Real ID.
3. There is no such thing as a private list of friends names on the RealID list. Your first and last name will appear on the status pages of your friends friends, even when they are strangers to you.
4. Blizzard has outright stated they are creating a social networking site based on Real ID. This will NOT, I repeat, NOT, be limited to forum posts, this goes far beyond their feeble attempts to whitewash what and why they are doing this as 'controlling forum trolls'.
5. On Facebook, if you click on even ONE Facebook game or opt in on any of the addons they offer that link to others, it can automatically cancel out your privacy settings, making all your information publicly available. They even have a popup that comes up warning you of this when you choose to play a FB game. Thus, by linking WoW with Facebook, to opt in will allow your info to be public.
6. You must use your email account that you use with Battle.net, which is the exact same email addy you use to logon to WoW, Starcraft, and other Blizzard games and services. Just think about that.
7. Your contact info is the same as your billing information. You cannot change it . It's connected with all of this, including the security keys for your game, supposedly to verify your account if you wind up getting hacked. If this info is not kept private, then having said info made public will make it possible for hackers to use it AGAINST you.
8. Issues still exist with people not even being able to activate parental controls and opt out.
9. There is an expansion pac coming soon....with every expansion and patch, there are glitches....and if in game GM's cannot help you, they send you to, guess where...the technical forums. Thus, if you experience problems, you will be forced to expose your info just to get help in fixing whatever may go wrong. Help channels and private GM responses are no guarantee that things will be taken care of in game, you may find yourself with the choice to either expose your real name for any stranger cruising those forums or to just quit the game altogether.
10. Blizzard has a history of starting with opt-in and going to mandatory. I offer Battle.net as the perfect example. More is to come, they simply haven't announced it yet.
11. Frankly, the list could go on, including possible future linking of your name to your toons in game....exposing female gamers to male harrassment, and vice versa to be fair....exposing gamers to gold farmers and hackers cruising the forums for personal info to use....data mining by splash marketing types to sell to malware creators...etc.
Here is my big question. They already have your forum name tied into your real name, when you make a blizzard account. They can not say they are using it for trolls, or flamers, or identification purposes as they can already identify you. If this company is trying to publish every players name publicly, there is a bigger agenda pushing the idea. They can already ban forum accounts. Whose name is on that account is inconsequential and irrelevant, as they already have the ability to ID everyone on their forums by name. There has to be some money making agenda for them to put their players privacy and safety at risk. People play these types of games as a release from real life, not so that it can become a burden or a risk of any kind in real life.
Horrible decision Blizzard....not only that, you don't want your own people's personal names being used for the same reasons your customers don't want to use their real names. Do this, put the guys name who came up with the brilliant (*sarcasm*) idea up on the forums, and let all the players track him down and tell him what they think of his idea. This experiment will show you how moronic this idea actually is.......good luck Blizzard, if these are your views as a company on basic privacy, you have lost my business for life.
I wonder if anyone has gone into public records to get the info on of all the key players at Blizzard, so that everyone can communicate with them and let them know their idea is trash? Maybe they are trying to market this product REALID, as a form of internet identification for gaming. In any case, everyone knows it is usually bad to put your personal info out on the net for the world to see.
It's why I don't play it after all; a game made by players for players doesn't appeal to me.
That phrase doesn't even mean what you're using it for. What game has been made and was successful that was created by a bunch of non-gamers? But if that is what appeals to you, so be it.
"The funny thing is, that no one mentions. Most of the names are already in the credits of the game..."
Don't feel arsed to look through ALL those credits. But...I highly doubt COMMUNITY MANAGERS are listed; maybe the CM's Department Manager(s), but the individual ones??? That'd be like listing all the GMs of a game; haven't seen it done in the 14 years of playing video games.
I also, "LoL" at the posting is optional...how is it optional when GMs tell you to post on the forum under Tech/Cust Support??? And what if you can't even get in-game (critical errors, etc)...what? go CALL them. I'll refer to another post where I was on the phone for 1hr 30min before I gave up (1hr "wait" then 30min "Transfer-hold").
Then there's the FACT it will become mandatory to use if you want to play:
<Real ID>
<Character Name & Titles>
<Guild Name>
What's that? Crazy you say? Didn't "you" say the same thing when we [crazies] said Battle.net would become mandatory and not remain optional? Or when "you" said Real ID would remain completely optional? Refer back to what I said about GMs and Tech/Cust Support.
Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising everytime we fall.
I think instead of bringing back open world pvp, Blizzard is trying to get into Real World pvp now hence the RealID idea
Omfg, you guys are never happy.
First you complain that blizzard screwed up pvp and that pvp in wow already sucked to start with because there was no consequence for it. Now that Blizzard provides you from some exciting irl pvp battlegrounds with permadeath and improved graphics, and without class imbalances affecting it, then it´s too hardcore for you and you blame them for it.
It's a C-O-N...spiracy........ It's really ridiculous, because all they will do is force people to make fake email addresses for fake names, and none of the info would be valid. Welcome to the World of Bull@#$% . I would bet they have big plans for Real ID as some form of valid internet ID card. The only thing that can be motivating a decision that completely alienates your entire player base is money, not common sense............
First you complain that blizzard screwed up pvp and that pvp in wow already sucked to start with because there was no consequence for it. Now that Blizzard provides you from some exciting irl pvp battlegrounds with permadeath and improved graphics, and without class imbalances affecting it, then it´s too hardcore for you and you blame them for it.
All of this just further proves the point and initial reason Blizzard is doing this in the first place.
If this many people "fear for their safety" when using their real names in-game or on a forum, it just reinforces the idea that the majority of wow players are asshats, or you yourself are one to the extent that others would wish to cause you harm.
It is truely sad that there are so many immature human beings in this world, that can't even play a video game in harmony without fear that someone will show up at their front door with a machete.
The experiment is this, all the "crazies" are now forced to keep their mouth shut on a forum. The most important part is this.
IF YOU DO NOT WANT YOUR NAME ON THE FORUMS DO NOT POST!
I played World of Warcraft for over 5 years, and guess how many times I posted on the official forums? 0
As far as RealID in game, there are some occassions when one might think real life reprocussions would come into play, let us look at a few now.
1. In a PvP server when Joe Smuck is griefing and camping 5 level 1 noobs, The 5 level 1 noobs decide to send a pipe bomb to Joe Smuck in the mail.
Solution, the 5 noob ass kids should have never rolled on a pvp server to begin with, and Joe smuck shouldn't be acting like a complete tool. Both are at fault. All 6 players need to grow up.
2. PvE server, Joe Smuck just ninja rolled himself some phat purples at the expense of the others in the PUG raid. Pugger #24 waits for Joe Smuck to leave work one night and shanks him before he gets to his car.
Solution, quit being a ninja looting whore. Play with others, play fair, respect the players around you.
3. PvE server, the #1 and #2 guilds in the world are frantically competeing for the next world server first in raiding. Guild Leader of Guild #2 needs and edge, and decides to poison the food of Guild #1's top 3 healers, taking them out of the race.
Solution, It is just a game, there is nothing in a digital world worth the real life of a human being. Live in reality.
Problem with all my examples, are there are players in wow just sick enough in the head to attempt them all. Blizzard is trying to take away the mystery of the avatar that crazy asshats hide behind when they act ridiculous inside a game.
Is it the right course of action, prolly not, we will see a few deaths from this, but what it will do is open the eyes of gamers to just how sick some people are, just how out of hand the MMO gaming genre has become.
It is also going to prove one more thing, that no matter what insane practices blizzard brings to their business model, people will still just eat it up like cake. Mark my words, ALLLLL these people you see whining about the change. When this change goes full stream, they will shut up, quit posting on the forums, and fall right into the RealID mold, like the good little sheeple they are. Wait and see.
Considering there are much easier and better ways of controlling trolling, though admittedly they might incur a cost, than publishing people real names on their internet forum, why do you think they have chosen to go down this highly controversial and dangerous route?
This has nothing to do with trolling and everything to do with future ways of making money off you.
Considering there are much easier and better ways of controlling trolling, though admittedly they might incur a cost, than publishing people real names on their internet forum, why do you think they have chosen to go down this highly controversial and dangerous route?
This has nothing to do with trolling and everything to do with future ways of making money off you.
It's gotta be something like that...It makes no sense otherwise...
Comments
I think it's safe to say Blizzard is willing to risk letting the game die, so long as they can implement less privacy. It clearly doesn't matter what the users think, or how many quit. "We're listening..." Yeah, but you just don't care. They've made their choice, and I'll make mine by deleting my account.
~Hashberry, seeking MMO!
Blizzovision: We're listening but don't give a shit.
Customer: Ok i understand your position and here is mine, account cancelled. kthnxbye
Archlinux ftw
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=25626461439&sid=1&pageNo=1
There's the thread and link therein to what I think you're referring to.
Also nobody is forcing anyone to use their real name, you all act like you being forced into something....if you don't want to post in the forums the don't, there are other forums, and the WOW forums are not necessary to play the game.
So now you can't anonymously act like an ass. Good job Blizzard!
I've never played WoW or even created an account with them, but seriously how hard is it to create a troll account with a fake name and fake info?
All that's missing is now someone who datamines the hell out of this service and let's the shitstorm start rolling.
Pi*1337/100 = 42
I can say with 100% certainty my children and I will not play a game that gives away our personal information including my name. This is not only a bad decision it is massively iresponsible. When someone runs into a problem with Stalkers, peds, or crimes of any kind because Blizzard made identifying and tracking down people in the Real World based on the virtual one that they get sued into the next century.
Maybe they don't like being the big boy in the industry anymore. I'm so shocked I can not even describe it. My kids and I have 13 accounts total and we were planning to purchase the expansion on day one. As long as this is in line all of these accounts are closing at the end of the current pay cycle.
OMG..... the fact they even think this is a good idea makes one question their common sense. Play Blizzard games, where the anonymity of the Internet no longer lives.
But they aren't giving out information, unless you choose to let them. Just don't post on the forums, it does not affect the gameplay.
Eleanor Rigby.
The fact is that the main reason Blizzard is going through with this Real ID thing is because of a deal they have going with Facebook. Knowing what Facebook likes to do with their privacy policies, I am pretty sure that sooner or later, there will be no choice.
For how long will it be opt in and not mandatory, how long before they decide that your gaming will be improved by having to opt in to access an in game voice ability, the cash shop or something else, how long before you HAVE to opt in AND have a facebook profile to use battlenet, blizzardTV or even to play the game you want to play.
How long before they decide they can make more money showing you demographic targetted adds or sell informtion to marketers?
Are the possibilities above extreme, yes, yes they are. Do you seriously think it wont have crossed the suits minds for some point in the future, after they get people cosy with the soon to be situation?
They want to tie you to them, by having you define your online self within their game/social space and having all your friends there too.
And when they have you they will try to make as much as they possibly can from you.
That is, after all, only good business.
F2P/P2P excellent thread.
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/282517/F2P-An-Engineers-perspective.html
Some facts for those joining the discussion late, so hopefully you will understand WHY so many people are in an uproar over this...
1. There is already an addon hack that has not yet been addressed from what I understand. Your toons are already linked to your name and can be found by entering a simple line of code, one I'm not going to list here, I think it's been listed elsewhere, but I'm not about to help out anyone seeking to cause more problems.
2. This hack works in all Blizzard games via Real ID.
3. There is no such thing as a private list of friends names on the RealID list. Your first and last name will appear on the status pages of your friends friends, even when they are strangers to you.
4. Blizzard has outright stated they are creating a social networking site based on Real ID. This will NOT, I repeat, NOT, be limited to forum posts, this goes far beyond their feeble attempts to whitewash what and why they are doing this as 'controlling forum trolls'.
5. On Facebook, if you click on even ONE Facebook game or opt in on any of the addons they offer that link to others, it can automatically cancel out your privacy settings, making all your information publicly available. They even have a popup that comes up warning you of this when you choose to play a FB game. Thus, by linking WoW with Facebook, to opt in will allow your info to be public.
6. You must use your email account that you use with Battle.net, which is the exact same email addy you use to logon to WoW, Starcraft, and other Blizzard games and services. Just think about that.
7. Your contact info is the same as your billing information. You cannot change it . It's connected with all of this, including the security keys for your game, supposedly to verify your account if you wind up getting hacked. If this info is not kept private, then having said info made public will make it possible for hackers to use it AGAINST you.
8. Issues still exist with people not even being able to activate parental controls and opt out.
9. There is an expansion pac coming soon....with every expansion and patch, there are glitches....and if in game GM's cannot help you, they send you to, guess where...the technical forums. Thus, if you experience problems, you will be forced to expose your info just to get help in fixing whatever may go wrong. Help channels and private GM responses are no guarantee that things will be taken care of in game, you may find yourself with the choice to either expose your real name for any stranger cruising those forums or to just quit the game altogether.
10. Blizzard has a history of starting with opt-in and going to mandatory. I offer Battle.net as the perfect example. More is to come, they simply haven't announced it yet.
11. Frankly, the list could go on, including possible future linking of your name to your toons in game....exposing female gamers to male harrassment, and vice versa to be fair....exposing gamers to gold farmers and hackers cruising the forums for personal info to use....data mining by splash marketing types to sell to malware creators...etc.
Here is my big question. They already have your forum name tied into your real name, when you make a blizzard account. They can not say they are using it for trolls, or flamers, or identification purposes as they can already identify you. If this company is trying to publish every players name publicly, there is a bigger agenda pushing the idea. They can already ban forum accounts. Whose name is on that account is inconsequential and irrelevant, as they already have the ability to ID everyone on their forums by name. There has to be some money making agenda for them to put their players privacy and safety at risk. People play these types of games as a release from real life, not so that it can become a burden or a risk of any kind in real life.
Horrible decision Blizzard....not only that, you don't want your own people's personal names being used for the same reasons your customers don't want to use their real names. Do this, put the guys name who came up with the brilliant (*sarcasm*) idea up on the forums, and let all the players track him down and tell him what they think of his idea. This experiment will show you how moronic this idea actually is.......good luck Blizzard, if these are your views as a company on basic privacy, you have lost my business for life.
I wonder if anyone has gone into public records to get the info on of all the key players at Blizzard, so that everyone can communicate with them and let them know their idea is trash? Maybe they are trying to market this product REALID, as a form of internet identification for gaming. In any case, everyone knows it is usually bad to put your personal info out on the net for the world to see.
That phrase doesn't even mean what you're using it for. What game has been made and was successful that was created by a bunch of non-gamers? But if that is what appeals to you, so be it.
"The funny thing is, that no one mentions. Most of the names are already in the credits of the game..."
Don't feel arsed to look through ALL those credits. But...I highly doubt COMMUNITY MANAGERS are listed; maybe the CM's Department Manager(s), but the individual ones??? That'd be like listing all the GMs of a game; haven't seen it done in the 14 years of playing video games.
I also, "LoL" at the posting is optional...how is it optional when GMs tell you to post on the forum under Tech/Cust Support??? And what if you can't even get in-game (critical errors, etc)...what? go CALL them. I'll refer to another post where I was on the phone for 1hr 30min before I gave up (1hr "wait" then 30min "Transfer-hold").
Then there's the FACT it will become mandatory to use if you want to play:
<Real ID>
<Character Name & Titles>
<Guild Name>
What's that? Crazy you say? Didn't "you" say the same thing when we [crazies] said Battle.net would become mandatory and not remain optional? Or when "you" said Real ID would remain completely optional? Refer back to what I said about GMs and Tech/Cust Support.
Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising everytime we fall.
Are Blizzard and the US Govt working together now or something? this seems like something they'd do
Blizzard is NOW on the forefront of Invasion of Privacy issues.
Omfg, you guys are never happy.
First you complain that blizzard screwed up pvp and that pvp in wow already sucked to start with because there was no consequence for it. Now that Blizzard provides you from some exciting irl pvp battlegrounds with permadeath and improved graphics, and without class imbalances affecting it, then it´s too hardcore for you and you blame them for it.
Damn wussy whiners. pft.
Rawr.
It's a C-O-N...spiracy........ It's really ridiculous, because all they will do is force people to make fake email addresses for fake names, and none of the info would be valid. Welcome to the World of Bull@#$% . I would bet they have big plans for Real ID as some form of valid internet ID card. The only thing that can be motivating a decision that completely alienates your entire player base is money, not common sense............
Yeah there is no way that the name would not be linked to the credit card used to secure the account.
Omfg, you guys are never happy.
First you complain that blizzard screwed up pvp and that pvp in wow already sucked to start with because there was no consequence for it. Now that Blizzard provides you from some exciting irl pvp battlegrounds with permadeath and improved graphics, and without class imbalances affecting it, then it´s too hardcore for you and you blame them for it.
Damn wussy whiners. pft.
i lolled
"All expectation leads to suffering" Buhhda
All of this just further proves the point and initial reason Blizzard is doing this in the first place.
If this many people "fear for their safety" when using their real names in-game or on a forum, it just reinforces the idea that the majority of wow players are asshats, or you yourself are one to the extent that others would wish to cause you harm.
It is truely sad that there are so many immature human beings in this world, that can't even play a video game in harmony without fear that someone will show up at their front door with a machete.
The experiment is this, all the "crazies" are now forced to keep their mouth shut on a forum. The most important part is this.
IF YOU DO NOT WANT YOUR NAME ON THE FORUMS DO NOT POST!
I played World of Warcraft for over 5 years, and guess how many times I posted on the official forums? 0
As far as RealID in game, there are some occassions when one might think real life reprocussions would come into play, let us look at a few now.
1. In a PvP server when Joe Smuck is griefing and camping 5 level 1 noobs, The 5 level 1 noobs decide to send a pipe bomb to Joe Smuck in the mail.
Solution, the 5 noob ass kids should have never rolled on a pvp server to begin with, and Joe smuck shouldn't be acting like a complete tool. Both are at fault. All 6 players need to grow up.
2. PvE server, Joe Smuck just ninja rolled himself some phat purples at the expense of the others in the PUG raid. Pugger #24 waits for Joe Smuck to leave work one night and shanks him before he gets to his car.
Solution, quit being a ninja looting whore. Play with others, play fair, respect the players around you.
3. PvE server, the #1 and #2 guilds in the world are frantically competeing for the next world server first in raiding. Guild Leader of Guild #2 needs and edge, and decides to poison the food of Guild #1's top 3 healers, taking them out of the race.
Solution, It is just a game, there is nothing in a digital world worth the real life of a human being. Live in reality.
Problem with all my examples, are there are players in wow just sick enough in the head to attempt them all. Blizzard is trying to take away the mystery of the avatar that crazy asshats hide behind when they act ridiculous inside a game.
Is it the right course of action, prolly not, we will see a few deaths from this, but what it will do is open the eyes of gamers to just how sick some people are, just how out of hand the MMO gaming genre has become.
It is also going to prove one more thing, that no matter what insane practices blizzard brings to their business model, people will still just eat it up like cake. Mark my words, ALLLLL these people you see whining about the change. When this change goes full stream, they will shut up, quit posting on the forums, and fall right into the RealID mold, like the good little sheeple they are. Wait and see.
Considering there are much easier and better ways of controlling trolling, though admittedly they might incur a cost, than publishing people real names on their internet forum, why do you think they have chosen to go down this highly controversial and dangerous route?
This has nothing to do with trolling and everything to do with future ways of making money off you.
F2P/P2P excellent thread.
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/282517/F2P-An-Engineers-perspective.html
It's gotta be something like that...It makes no sense otherwise...
To Blizzard's "We're Listening", I'll say this:
"I See You."
I cant wait for the Real Life PvP to start when this goes live.
What an incredibly bad idea. And as for blizzard listening, what a joke, the only thing they listen to is the jingle of the bank accounts.