Looks like Blizzard just gave up..

Tarka

Originally posted by Aki_Ross

Originally posted by Tarka

 

Didn't they just say that the ability to show your real name in the game is optional?

"And of course, you'll still be able to keep your relationships at the anonymous, character level if you so choose when you communicate with other players in game"

Optional for now, but in the future, who knows. That's why the fight isn't over until they give in on displaying real names in anyway.

 Oh please, so now the problem has resolved you want to focus on "what if" scenarios?  Seriously?  At exactly what point will you be satisfied?  When they write a new TOS in their own blood promising on their mothers graves that real names will never, ever, ever be shown in the game which includes even as an option?

Well done to the community for bringing their feelings to the attention of Blizzard.  I congratulate them.  But put the pitchforks and burning torches down, the problem has subsided.  If another problem arises then fine, deal with it.  But stop dwelling on the "what ifs"

As the old saying goes "we'll cross that bridge when we get to it". 

Eliandal

Originally posted by Tarka

Originally posted by Aki_Ross

Originally posted by Tarka

 

Didn't they just say that the ability to show your real name in the game is optional?

"And of course, you'll still be able to keep your relationships at the anonymous, character level if you so choose when you communicate with other players in game"

Optional for now, but in the future, who knows. That's why the fight isn't over until they give in on displaying real names in anyway.

 Oh please, so now the problem has resolved you want to focus on "what if" scenarios?  Seriously?

Well done to the community for bringing their feelings to the attention of Blizzard.  I congratulate them.  But put the pitchforks and burning torches down, the problem has subsided.  If another problem arises then fine, deal with it.  But stop dwelling on the "what ifs"

As the old saying goes "we'll cross that bridge when we get to it". 

 

  HAH HAH - stop dwelling?  You give the majority of this community far more credit than they deserve.  Frankly, tin foil hats should be mandatory around these parts !!!

Locklain

Originally posted by Tarka

Originally posted by Locklain

Originally posted by Tarka

Personally I think Blizzard should be given a pat on the back for this decision.

Why congratulate them on barely evading one of their biggest mistakes ever?

Because, unlike other companies, they DID decide to act on the customer feedback. 

I'm personally not the kind of person who holds grudges when a person has realised the error that they made and are seeking to make amends.  Changing your mind about a situation isn't a sign of weakness, if anything it shows that you are human and not perfect.  No, I'm not condoning their RealID idea in the first place, I believe it was a mistake from the start. 

But at least Blizzard have now realised the full implications of their idea, and have acted in response to the customer feedback.  That's more than what others may have done.  The likes of SOE, Funcom etc may have just "stuck to their guns" regardless.

"Customer Feedback" more than likely equated to a pack of lawyers grinning ear to ear getting ready for the class action lawsuits.

Aki_Ross

Originally posted by Treekodar

Originally posted by Aki_Ross

Optional for now, but in the future, who knows. That's why the fight isn't over until they give in on displaying real names in anyway.

So Aki, how are we going to keep the pressure on them?

Same thing the community as been doing all a long. All they've got to do is to make a pledge that they will never force it upon people. And then if they go back on it, we'll find out what type of person is really running the company. And then you all can make up your own minds if you want to continue dealing with them.

brokenss

Shame

SnarlingWolf

Originally posted by Herodes

It is kinda funny to read all the "Thank you so much" posts in the WoW forums.

I mean, Blizzard kicked their player base in the balls, then expected you to like it, then after you shouted they said "at this time we don´t plan to do this again." And people say "thank you".

 The people saying Thank You are the ones who get butterflies in their stomach thinking how great it is that a company just listened to them. These same people forget that a lot of MMO companies do listen to their customers, they just don't make posts constantly saying "We're listening". So when a company makes a terrible decision, then backs down on that decisions once the players show them it is terrible, those same people equate it as "They listen to us, woo hoo" instead of "If they were ready to make a move as terrible as this, what other terrible moves might they be working on".

 

It's all perception.

alakram

Awesome.

We should try to fix the rest of the world now that we are at it.

Tarka

Originally posted by Aki_Ross

Originally posted by Treekodar

Originally posted by Aki_Ross

Optional for now, but in the future, who knows. That's why the fight isn't over until they give in on displaying real names in anyway.

So Aki, how are we going to keep the pressure on them?

Same thing the community as been doing all a long. All they've got to do is to make a pledge that they will never force it upon people. And then if they go back on it, we'll find out what type of person is really running the company. And then you all can make up your own minds if you want to continue dealing with them.

 Lol, good luck on getting them to pledge.  Of course its possible.  But unlikely.  It's more likely they'll just leave it as it is now, as an option in the game that no one will use.

Robsolf

Bummer... I was hoping to "Jay and Silent Bob" some folks...

Tarka

Originally posted by SnarlingWolf

Originally posted by Herodes

It is kinda funny to read all the "Thank you so much" posts in the WoW forums.

I mean, Blizzard kicked their player base in the balls, then expected you to like it, then after you shouted they said "at this time we don´t plan to do this again." And people say "thank you".

 The people saying Thank You are the ones who get butterflies in their stomach thinking how great it is that a company just listened to them. These same people forget that a lot of MMO companies do listen to their customers, they just don't make posts constantly saying "We're listening". So when a company makes a terrible decision, then backs down on that decisions once the players show them it is terrible, those same people equate it as "They listen to us, woo hoo" instead of "If they were ready to make a move as terrible as this, what other terrible moves might they be working on".

It's all perception.

 on the other hand, maybe people are just being polite by saying Thank You.  You know, that actually gets you a long way than just spitting in someones face when they've made an error and tried to redeem themselves a bit.

Take it from someone who used to be on the OTHER end of the phones to asshats whining about the most inconsequential things, a little politeness goes a long way and can get you further than just being plain rude and obnoxious.

As for companies who DO listen to their playerbase when customer feedback contradicts what the company want to do, lets see.....SOE?  Nope.......Funcom?  Nope.......Cryptic?  Nope.........even Blizzard will do their own thing when it pleases them.  That's why you should grateful that these individuals HAVE listened. 

I realise that it's somewhat alien to some people on here, but politeness IS appreciated.  It shows maturity and rational thought.

Kremlik

Well they were using the 'it's to combat trolling' excuse mainly that didn't sit well with me when they had a perfectly good system in place already with SCII's forums, which thankfully they are now choosing to use, plus the fact you were forced to 'opt in' if you needed any techical support.

I'm still thinking that the change from SCII current system to RealID wasn't Blizzard's intention but Activision's, seeing the outcry on the forums and across the net, Blizzard had reason to fire the idea back at Activision and standing their ground with reasons why it'll cripple Battle.net and the RealID system - Ever since Blizzard wanted to put more focus on the other 3 projects things have been 'wrong' with 'Blizzard's' thinking, like I said I smell Activision 'helping' and it's about time Blizzard remembered that they aren't Blizzard's 'boss' but partner and keep that greedy gobsh*te out of their products

utopium

Originally posted by Tarka

 Lol, good luck on getting them to pledge.  Of course its possible.  But unlikely.  It's more likely they'll just leave it as it is now, as an option in the game that no one will use.

All we've got is speculation, isn't it? I'm wary of the fact that they tried to push this one through during the summer holidays, but if they are in fact retreating, it may take them some time to rethink their future strategy. (Someone in the company might have had a lot of prestige riding on this one, so he'll have to lick his wounds as well.)

Lorgarn

Originally posted by parrotpholk

Wonder how many cancellations happened that caused this. Right decision though

Hmm, not that many at all is my guess.

 

I can't figure anyone so stupid to cancel a game subscription just because of a silly thing like this. Oh well, the world is filled with them now isn't it.

SnarlingWolf

Originally posted by Tarka

Originally posted by SnarlingWolf

Originally posted by Herodes

It is kinda funny to read all the "Thank you so much" posts in the WoW forums.

I mean, Blizzard kicked their player base in the balls, then expected you to like it, then after you shouted they said "at this time we don´t plan to do this again." And people say "thank you".

 The people saying Thank You are the ones who get butterflies in their stomach thinking how great it is that a company just listened to them. These same people forget that a lot of MMO companies do listen to their customers, they just don't make posts constantly saying "We're listening". So when a company makes a terrible decision, then backs down on that decisions once the players show them it is terrible, those same people equate it as "They listen to us, woo hoo" instead of "If they were ready to make a move as terrible as this, what other terrible moves might they be working on".

It's all perception.

 on the other hand, maybe people are just being polite by saying Thank You.  You know, that actually gets you a long way than just spitting in someones face when they've made an error and tried to redeem themselves a bit.

Take it from someone who used to be on the OTHER end of the phones to asshats whining about the most inconsequential things, a little politeness goes a long way and can get you further than just being plain rude and obnoxious.

As for companies who DO listen to their playerbase when customer feedback contradicts what the company want to do, lets see.....SOE?  Nope.......Funcom?  Nope.......Cryptic?  Nope.........even Blizzard will do their own thing when it pleases them.  That's why you should grateful that these individuals HAVE listened. 

I realise that it's somewhat alien to some people on here, but politeness IS appreciated.  It shows maturity and rational thought.

 You have that same incredibly wrong player view of what constitutes listening.

 

Doing everything that players post about is not listening, it is foolish and stupid. Sticking to your own design ideas and tweaking/improving those ideas based on player feedback is listening, and the proper thing to do. So to say that a company will do it's own thing, it should if it wants to last. If all you did was implement what every player everywhere said, your game would die quickly and be incredibly terrible and lacking in fun.

 

I'm also sure if everyone was "polite" when they mentioned implementing this that it would still be implemented. Sometimes politeness doesn't cut it.

elocke

---

Originally posted by Rydeson

Originally posted by Tarka
Personally I think Blizzard should be given a pat on the back for this decision.

So we reward Blizzard for saying 'I"m sorry" after they spit on the players?    Considering they didn't do a 180 because if was the right thing to do.. but probably cause they saw that some actually backed up their words by cancelling..  I think I'll not pat them on the back and instead will keep the heat on..  Let them know they are not boss of my privacy
ps edit .. this still doesnt' address the real id addons in game that Blizzard can't see to stop.. they are only reversing their plans for the forums.. 

---

What is wrong with the read ID addon in game? I find it incredibly useful and much better to keep separate track of Real Life close friends and just ingame aquaintances I happy to party with more.

Spit on the players? I'm a player and I didn't feel this way at all. They probably did the 180 to stop the incessant whining. I'm thankful that we can now get back to "normal" forum talk as opposed to "fear" mongering that everyone got up in arms about on this one.

Tarka

Originally posted by utopium

Originally posted by Tarka

 Lol, good luck on getting them to pledge.  Of course its possible.  But unlikely.  It's more likely they'll just leave it as it is now, as an option in the game that no one will use.

All we've got is speculation, isn't it? I'm wary of the fact that they tried to push this one through during the summer holidays, but if they are in fact retreating, it may take them some time to rethink their future strategy. (Someone in the company might have had a lot of prestige riding on this one, so he'll have to lick his wounds as well.)

 That's the issue now.  On the one hand you have rational people thanking Blizzard for re-evaluating the situation, and on the other you have people who aren't happy with the decision and will probably NEVER be happy because Blizzard won't "pledge" what they want them to pledge.

We should be thankful that Blizzard decided to rethink the situation.  They COULD have taken the Funcom route in communication:  "We've already been considering options internally and feel that we are heading in the right direction."

Ryukan

Pro-RealID'ers need not be too disappointed, they will probably just implement it right after Cataclysm is released. SOE doing the NGE to SWG right after ToO expansion anyone?

Nethermancer

Way to go Blizzard....looks like i'm back on the Diablo 3 band wagon....for now.

expresso

Not sure why there's so much hate for blizzard. (other than this is mmorpg)

They announce their plans in full to the players way before they planned to implement them, the community spoke up and said we don't want that and so blizzard reverse their plans.

SC2 was due to not have chat room but the community said we want chat room and so blizzard said, ok we'll add chat rooms.

SC2 was due to not have LAN.... we'll we cant win all the battles

SC2 was due to not have clan support but the community said we want clan support and so blizzard said, ok we'll ass clan support.

Blizzard are one of the few developers that do listen to their players and they should be applauded for that.

Besides all this fuss has been free publicity for blizzard - the few hundred that might of cancelled or decided to not resub have zero effect - most will resub sooner or later.

I wonder what fuss D3 will kick up when we learn more about it at blizzcon this year.

Tarka

Originally posted by SnarlingWolf

Originally posted by Tarka

Originally posted by SnarlingWolf

Originally posted by Herodes

It is kinda funny to read all the "Thank you so much" posts in the WoW forums.

I mean, Blizzard kicked their player base in the balls, then expected you to like it, then after you shouted they said "at this time we don´t plan to do this again." And people say "thank you".

 The people saying Thank You are the ones who get butterflies in their stomach thinking how great it is that a company just listened to them. These same people forget that a lot of MMO companies do listen to their customers, they just don't make posts constantly saying "We're listening". So when a company makes a terrible decision, then backs down on that decisions once the players show them it is terrible, those same people equate it as "They listen to us, woo hoo" instead of "If they were ready to make a move as terrible as this, what other terrible moves might they be working on".

It's all perception.

 on the other hand, maybe people are just being polite by saying Thank You.  You know, that actually gets you a long way than just spitting in someones face when they've made an error and tried to redeem themselves a bit.

Take it from someone who used to be on the OTHER end of the phones to asshats whining about the most inconsequential things, a little politeness goes a long way and can get you further than just being plain rude and obnoxious.

As for companies who DO listen to their playerbase when customer feedback contradicts what the company want to do, lets see.....SOE?  Nope.......Funcom?  Nope.......Cryptic?  Nope.........even Blizzard will do their own thing when it pleases them.  That's why you should grateful that these individuals HAVE listened. 

I realise that it's somewhat alien to some people on here, but politeness IS appreciated.  It shows maturity and rational thought.

 You have that same incredibly wrong player view of what constitutes listening.

Doing everything that players post about is not listening, it is foolish and stupid. Sticking to your own design ideas and tweaking/improving those ideas based on player feedback is listening, and the proper thing to do. So to say that a company will do it's own thing, it should if it wants to last. If all you did was implement what every player everywhere said, your game would die quickly and be incredibly terrible and lacking in fun.

I'm also sure if everyone was "polite" when they mentioned implementing this that it would still be implemented. Sometimes politeness doesn't cut it.

Who said anything about "doing everything that players post about"?   It all depends on the circumstances.  There are times when your design is heading in the right direction, and there are times when you need to rethink your whole strategy to the problem.    Star Wars NGE is a prime example where a company decided to go ahead with a design implementation regardless of how the player base felt about it.   My point is that Blizzard COULD have said "Screw you" to the player base and continued down their previous path for implementing the RealID's.  But they didn't.  Which shows that Blizzard have more common sense than SOE, and many others. Plus THEY have shown that they actually have the balls to admit when they are wrong.  How long did it take SOE to admit they were wrong about NGE?

I'm sorry but you are making assumptions that can never be proven when it comes to the use of politeness.  No doubt many of the posters on the Blizzard forums said their piece about how they disapprove of the decision without the need to resort to irrational behaviour, name calling, immaturity and generally being an asshat.  Which actually goes to disprove your argument somewhat.

Kyleran

Well, I certainly do appreciate the fact they are willing to back down from this plan (with regards to forums) regardless of their motivation and I will now be purchasing SC2 and D3 at some point in the future.

 

MikeB

Please use the designated thread to discuss this issue: http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/283737/The-BattleNet-RealID-Poll-Discussion.html