People always like to say "Well then just quit" or "Speak with your wallet." The issue is that course of action doesn't work on its own.
I think it would work just fine "on its own." You don't think if a few million people canceled their subs that Blizzard wouldn't notice or care? I think too many gamers forget the power of the wallet in favor of shrugging and paying anyway beacuse it's just easier to do that. If you vote with your wallet, it actually means denying yourself something for a time.
You make it sound like MMOs are drugs. Well in some people's cases it may as well be.
My sentiments as always, "put up or shut up". Nothing more ridiculous than people ranting over an over on a board that shows they're still paying to play the game.
"You can spit in my eye only 16 more times, and THEN I'm leaving!"
Quit the game, and post in your exit survey why you're quitting. Enough people quit, they'll learn. Posting how much you hate the decision while still paying for the game makes your words empty and pointless, literally. You might as well be saying how much you hate a restaurant's food with a mouth full of it while ordering the second course and leaving a huge tip.
Credibility, it's not just for breakfast anymore.
Re: SnarlingWolf, nothing gets accomplish by ranting and paying, either. If you don't like it, quit. If enough people quit, it will change. If you are the only one that quits, then it's just you that doesn't like it. It's called capitalism, and it really is that simple.
What you want is to eat your cake and have it to, you want Blizz to value you as a person and your input, but to Blizz you are .00000000001% of their game population. Keep in mind, they deliberately and with forethought of the consequences alienated 1% of their gaming population by making the upper tiers of the game easier and more available. They intentionally decided "we have 30% of the game being seen by 1% of the population, and if we change it, that top 1% will very likely leave the game, but the other 99% will enjoy it more....very well, sacrifice that 1%".
As a consumer of a 12 million player game, your words could not be more empty, because they're not heard in the cacaphony. If you quit, and you are alone, then it's just you, go play something else. If enough people quit, Blizz will have to change to save the cash cow. Not rocket science.
QFT
with one correction,
Bliz don't have 12 million wow subs. You may want to take a real good look at the chinese data before making that kind of retarded comment. As you said, people just keep putting out the same old crap...like the sub count. Not 12 mil now and would've actually have been lucky to be that high.
Oh and why you're talking to Bliz you guys should ask them why they give xpacks to the china market for free but charge the western muppets....good for the goose and all that jazz...
Hey, sorry for being stuiped but, whats Blizzard doing with the Real ID thingy? I quit WoW for APB so i havent kept updated? What happend??
Oh no sorry i now know what there doing, now my question is why is haveing your real name in Fourms such a bad thing? is it really that bad? you dont really have to use fourms
Hey, sorry for being stuiped but, whats Blizzard doing with the Real ID thingy? I quit WoW for APB so i havent kept updated? What happend??
Oh no sorry i now know what there doing, now my question is why is haveing your real name in Fourms such a bad thing? is it really that bad? you dont really have to use fourms
How can I quit that which I am not subscribed to? I left WOW over 4 years ago, so not much I can do to voice my displeasure about this move. I am a long time fan of the Starcraft and Diablo franchises and this move will ensure that I won't be purchasing either title, but they'll never know it unfortunately. So raging on forums is about the only recourse, though I am seriously considering actually sending them a snail mail just so they get an appreciation of my disagreement on their policy. Unlike John, my name is very unqiue and its far too easy for people to locate me therefore while he might not care, it matters a great deal to me.
Well said! I'm in the exact same boat on every point you made made, including the fact that I have a unique name.
WoW isn't the only game that the battle net change's effect. This has the possibility to cause a stir with other gamers outside of the MMO gener, but I question how well educated people will be on the matter before spending 60 dollars/euros for SC2 or Diablo 3.
oh right Diablo 3. battlenet huh, I have a 95% certainty that you'll be required to register your copy on battle net. which means... I'm pirating a cracked version, because I like my privacy too much.
I think you need the battle net for online coop play with D3. Since Dungeon Siege 3 is releasing first half of next year, and may be a better game, might be easiest just to go to alternative games rather than using hacked Blizzard-ware.
I think you need the battle net for online coop play with D3. Since Dungeon Siege 3 is releasing first half of next year, and may be a better game, might be easiest just to go to alternative games rather than using hacked Blizzard-ware.
for the point of it. I already go to great lengths to get translated japanese only games. Or read them with atlas and Agth translator tools. It's just another game that I want a specific way and won't pay for unless it's the way I want it.
Hey, sorry for being stuiped but, whats Blizzard doing with the Real ID thingy? I quit WoW for APB so i havent kept updated? What happend??
Oh no sorry i now know what there doing, now my question is why is haveing your real name in Fourms such a bad thing? is it really that bad? you dont really have to use fourms
Snakex: read the first post.. Granted, the thread has plenty of posts but the approrpiate thing to do isn't to ask such an asinine question but to actually read the first few posts in the thread. Chances are the first post will direct your attention to the meat of the issue and subsequent posts will show you more of the argument. These threads get big and unwieldy enough without someone asking these sorts of questions without bothering to do at least some looking on your own.
(1)TL:DR must be your way of saying that thinking hurts. Then again, this may explain why it looks like you responded to the post without using your brain. (2) It's not about community, is it? You just have nothing better to do.
Quite frankly, you are a professional wrtier for the game industry, so no one is going to descriminate against you for playing games. I for one would have chosen to use an alias for all my online authoring just to be safe.
Fact is that plenty of people in decision making professions will discriminate against gamers due to sterotypes and pre-judgement. If you cannot see that outside your professional existence, then you either have no friends outside the gaming business or your blind and dumb.
Personally I work hard at maintaining a low e-profile and like it that way. Also anyone that thinks this kind of move is going to come with out added legal liability has there head up there arse. Most judges barely know what a computer is let alone how to rule in the most techinical of issues. Not saying they are dumb only that legal precedence is still being establishished. WIth real world cases involving assault and murder with motive linked to online games, I fail to see how any more to expose a customer's privacy is good.
I for one do not see this move as some benign idea or policy. It stinks, no matter how you try to gift wrap it.
I personally speculate that within a year of Real ID going active, the world will see it's first WOW Serial Killer. This makes sense because of:
a. How passionate gamers can get over in game affairs
b. The similarities of demographics between the typical cases of Serial killers, and gamers. (both predominately males ages 20-35)
c. The massive population of WOW subscribers. (with six million subscribers, the odds of there NOT being just one person capable of this is comparable to winning the Mega-Millions lotto, maybe twice over.
Imagine that nut-case who finally snaps and starts going down his multi-page list of people that did him wrong in game.
Quite frankly, you are a professional wrtier for the game industry, so no one is going to descriminate against you for playing games. I for one would have chosen to use an alias for all my online authoring just to be safe.
Fact is that plenty of people in decision making professions will discriminate against gamers due to sterotypes and pre-judgement. If you cannot see that outside your professional existence, then you either have no friends outside the gaming business or your blind and dumb.
Personally I work hard at maintaining a low e-profile and like it that way. Also anyone that thinks this kind of move is going to come with out added legal liability has there head up there arse. Most judges barely know what a computer is let alone how to rule in the most techinical of issues. Not saying they are dumb only that legal precedence is still being establishished. WIth real world cases involving assault and murder with motive linked to online games, I fail to see how any more to expose a customer's privacy is good.
I for one do not see this move as some benign idea or policy. It stinks, no matter how you try to gift wrap it.
I personally speculate that within a year of Real ID going active, the world will see it's first WOW Serial Killer. This makes sense because of:
a. How passionate gamers can get over in game affairs
b. The similarities of demographics between the typical cases of Serial killers, and gamers. (both predominately males ages 20-35)
c. The massive population of WOW subscribers. (with six million subscribers, the odds of there NOT being just one person capable of this is comparable to winning the Mega-Millions lotto, maybe twice over.
Imagine that nut-case who finally snaps and starts going down his multi-page list of people that did him wrong in game.
This, right here. What are the chances that this (Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) becomes what you've just touched one.It isn't a longshot or paranoia either. I think we can all be honest here and say that most people aren't exactly the brightest or most ethical and that there really are plenty of people that are either half-cracked or just about to snap.
What would be very, very interesting is if the moderators would be kind enough to sift through this thread and the RealID Poll thread and compile the potential aftereffects of RealID. Alternatively, an enterprising community member can do the same thing. From that point, an e-mail can be formed that people can copy and paste to send to the ESRB or whatever body they think is appropriate. Any takers?
(1)TL:DR must be your way of saying that thinking hurts. Then again, this may explain why it looks like you responded to the post without using your brain. (2) It's not about community, is it? You just have nothing better to do.
I canceled the sub on one of my accounts already; the other one will be canceled once the items are restored....lol...I should've put that mobile authenticator on it.
Still can't figure out why they didn't use Xbox Live's version...permanent ID..AND YOU CHARGE IF THE CUSTOMER WANTS TO CHANGE IT! And further give players the option to link their FaceBook with it; which is the real reason for this move (google the agreement with FB and SC2).
What.the.Fuck, both parties could have been happy.
Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising everytime we fall.
So, the current situation... angst ridden 12 year old looses to you in a duel in WoW and launches into the standard R-tard-esq rant. You have an ignore button or a few minutes of fun winding him up, becuase frankly it'd be rude not too!
New Situation... angst ridden 12 year old looses to you in a duel and launches into the standard R-tard-esq rant... followed by being able to get your real name and email address in about 30 seconds. Now you have a mail box full of spam from the porn sites he's signed you up to, 30000 hits on the "<Insert your Real Name here>-IsAnAsshole.com" web site he's set up. Forum and twitter bombs all over the place calling you all sorts and complete domination of the first page of a google search of your name prclaiming you to be a prick to the world ("John Smith" you get away with this one because your name is common... more power to you).
Paranoia? Have you met the average disenfranchised kid today?
Any that's just the kids, you get off lightly. Imagine what the adults can get up to... kids are cruel sure, adults are cruel, experienced, and maybe working in a position of power they can abuse. If I was crazy enough I could probably get the address and car reg details of anyone in the UK from their email address... sure I'd get sacked if someone found out, but it's a big ole system, it would take a while.
I think it was Ganhdi who first said... "Never take an crazy sociopathic idiot with you into the internet, you can always pick one up when you get there"...
... or was it Mr Myagi? Anyhow....
Now the aforementioned idiot has got your name and your email address... and via your email address the forum names and user names you've used all over the place, and if he's really lucky, your phone number, your zip code, and what ever other information is just a fews hours trawling the internet away, minutes depending on what his job is.
Real ID is a bad idea, and sets a precedent that others will follow. Anonymity on the internet has it's downside sure, we all know about that, but it's also massive protection from idiots. In extreme cases yeah the whole stalker wierdo thing, but the 12 year old can cause you a massive amount of hassle if he knows who you are.
In all honesty if the Real ID system stays where it says it will and only effects the forums and those you choose to put on your Real ID friends list I could live with it by avoiding it. However the fact that already Real ID goes a bit too far with revealing to people on your friends list other people on your friends list and they were not too obvious about that fact bugs me.
Once you slip up or a person on your friend's list or a minor child using an account with your name on it does the info is not changable cause your real name is pretty much your real name unless your willing to go to court to change it. Even then by that time your home, phone number and other personal info about you and your family could already be compromised.
If you listen carefully, you'll hear the beeping of the truck reversing up to Blizzard HQ carrying the industrial sized vats of KY. They'll need every drop; so many customers to shaft, so little time.
Isn't this the same company that demands to be sent a copy of your passport or drivers licence if you get your account stripped or stolen and want it back? Who lock the account until the matter's resolved to their satisfaction? Who sack their own staff for *gasp* daring to have an opinion contrary to the party line? Who banned people for playing on their own account whilst on holiday overseas? Who dropped the infamous Warden program on peoples computers without a word?
Does their moustache-twirling douchebaggery know no end? Nope, not while people are lining up, trousers down, cheeks spread anyway.
The ruptured capillaries in your nose belie the clarity of your wisdom.
If you listen carefully, you'll hear the beeping of the truck reversing up to Blizzard HQ carrying the industrial sized vats of KY. They'll need every drop; so many customers to shaft, so little time.
Isn't this the same company that demands to be sent a copy of your passport or drivers licence if you get your account stripped or stolen and want it back? Who lock the account until the matter's resolved to their satisfaction? Who sack their own staff for *gasp* daring to have an opinion contrary to the party line? Who banned people for playing on their own account whilst on holiday overseas? Who dropped the infamous Warden program on peoples computers without a word?
Does their moustache-twirling douchebaggery know no end? Nope, not while people are lining up, trousers down, cheeks spread anyway.
ElGuappo, if I didn't like my forum signature so much I'd use the last two sentences of your post! Well said, well said indeed.
Remember Warden folks, something that many of the people currently playing or those who came in late (like myself) never experienced. Blizzard thought Warden was a good idea and now this. Clearly, in the interim, they were taking steps to control much more of players' information and even if RealID doesn't pan out there is no reason to think that they won't try something bigger and more legal seeming.
Unsub. Spread the word. Boycott.
(1)TL:DR must be your way of saying that thinking hurts. Then again, this may explain why it looks like you responded to the post without using your brain. (2) It's not about community, is it? You just have nothing better to do.
I have not seen anywhere that this is mandatory to do except for the forums. In-game, it sounds like an option. I have played over 4 years (on and off), don't post on the forums, and hardly read them, even for builds/other info. So in my case, I am not bothered by it.
However, I never plan to use this feature, and if I was ever 'required' to post my real name in ANY game, I would simply not play it. I can see how this badly affects those who DO post on the forums, and for them, I sympathize.
In 4 years, I have never told anyone my real name in any online game, and I never plan to. If Blizzard ever made this an in-game requirement, I would consider it a threat to my identity and never play again. Even though I have more WOW breaks than binges these days, I always have fun when I go back for updates, at least for a month or so.
This has no real purpose if you ask me, except for agencies like Reynard, who get paid to spy on online games. Before anyone trys to call 'conspiricy theory' on me, go look up Reynard, and if you find nothing, google it with WoW or FBI in the text as well and you can find and read all about it. Over two years now, an agency has been getting paid to seek out would-be terrorist in online games, namely WoW and popular FPS games. Maybe, this is what online games are being 'forced' to do, and since WoW is so huge, start it out there. (ok, now you can call conspiricy theory on me). I'm sure if this feature went mandatory in all/most online gaming, Reynard could cut half of their staff.
I have not seen anywhere that this is mandatory to do except for the forums. In-game, it sounds like an option. I have played over 4 years (on and off), don't post on the forums, and hardly read them, even for builds/other info. So in my case, I am not bothered by it.
However, I never plan to use this feature, and if I was ever 'required' to post my real name in ANY game, I would simply not play it. I can see how this badly affects those who DO post on the forums, and for them, I sympathize.
In 4 years, I have never told anyone my real name in any online game, and I never plan to. If Blizzard ever made this an in-game requirement, I would consider it a threat to my identity and never play again. Even though I have more WOW breaks than binges these days, I always have fun when I go back for updates, at least for a month or so.
This has no real purpose if you ask me, except for agencies like Reynard, who get paid to spy on online games. Before anyone trys to call 'conspiricy theory' on me, go look up Reynard, and if you find nothing, google it with WoW or FBI in the text as well and you can find and read all about it. Over two years now, an agency has been getting paid to seek out would-be terrorist in online games, namely WoW and popular FPS games. Maybe, this is what online games are being 'forced' to do, and since WoW is so huge, start it out there. (ok, now you can call conspiricy theory on me). I'm sure if this feature went mandatory in all/most online gaming, Reynard could cut half of their staff.
What you say about Reynard is true and, if I recall correctly, they have actually found terrorists discussing things inside guild/party/local chat.
Don't forget about Warden though. Blizzard dropped Warden and with RealID they take it a step further. Say RealID either doesn't launch or doesn't pan out in the end. With what we have seen from Blizzard, taking a broad view of their behaviour, they are only going to try something more overt. It may not effect more than the forums when it launches, yet it will not only set a precedent for other companies (gaming and non-gaming) but will embolden Blizzard further. Ambitious people are often greedy and, truly, Blizzard didn't get to where it is today without ambitious people. When ambitious people stand to make a profit you either have the Legislative Branch of the United States government (congressmen and senators as special interest puppets) or buisnesses like BP, AT&T and Blackwater (concerned exclusively with proft over the safety of their employees and consumers).
(1)TL:DR must be your way of saying that thinking hurts. Then again, this may explain why it looks like you responded to the post without using your brain. (2) It's not about community, is it? You just have nothing better to do.
This was definitely "the straw that broke the camels back" for me causing me to cancel my sub.
Anyway, I completely understand how some people don't see this as a big issue, while others like myself do. Personally I don't have a facebook, twitter, myspace, linkedin, etc account. My name is unique. I also know that I do searches on my employees and perspective employees. I do look at what they do and how they present themselves outside of the workspace and have used those sites to influence my desicision in hiring / firing.
Shame on you! You're the kind of employer I avoid at all costs. You should NOT use facebook profiles and what someone says to their friends, groups they're part of, etc. to judge how well a person will perform in a job. There should be a blacklist of employers who do this, it's misuse of social networking sites.
This was definitely "the straw that broke the camels back" for me causing me to cancel my sub.
Anyway, I completely understand how some people don't see this as a big issue, while others like myself do. Personally I don't have a facebook, twitter, myspace, linkedin, etc account. My name is unique. I also know that I do searches on my employees and perspective employees. I do look at what they do and how they present themselves outside of the workspace and have used those sites to influence my desicision in hiring / firing.
Shame on you! You're the kind of employer I avoid at all costs. You should NOT use facebook profiles and what someone says to their friends, groups they're part of, etc. to judge how well a person will perform in a job. There should be a blacklist of employers who do this, it's misuse of social networking sites.
Thoroughly agree with this article. Though if people really want to play the game and still insist that this RealID stuff is the spawn of satan, why not just avoid posting on the forums?
Article is very true.... in most cases they (Blizzard) pull something bone-head and some folks, like me, get mad and let their sub lapse... then miss things and come back. The real question is what must they do to really make us walk away for good, in large enough numbers to get their attention. For me, I had my long-standing account hacked and someone else played my characters. They even were in the process of transferring one of them to another server. I had to jump through all the hoops to get my account back, which took way too long and then I noticed that toon in transfer limbo. I asked customer service to please put it back where it was. They sent me a very nasty response that said there was no proof my account was hacked. This after admitting it was. So it would cost me the $25 dollars to completer the transfer and another $25 to move it back. Plus another character was alone on another server, another $25. I was livid, and wrote for them to reconsider - their response - where's our money. That ripped it... I'm now gone for good. So, is realID enough for any of y'all to do the same?
Good article Stradden, though I believe there is something to be kept in mind about posting with your real name on an official game forum as opposed to mmorpg.com. Namely, games illicit extremes of emotions from a lot of players. Those who are trolling on the WoW forums might not troll here. I think people will overall respect your real-life privacy on here. If you posted with your real name on the WoW forums, it could be very different. That would be an interesting experiment, though I don't recommend doing it.
I also hope that this isn't a sign of things to come for official MMO game forums. Can you guys imagine the EvE online forums requiring peoples' real identities? Considering how seriously some EvE players take the game, the fact that it's PvP, and the fact that one can lose so much in it, it would turn into a nightmare!
There is a very real problem looming ahead, getting back to Blizzard and WoW. People who engage in fairly seedy activities are clearly interested in WoW: gold sellers, hackers, etc. What happens if other unofficial marketers use the Blizzard forums to gain access to one's information and further bombard the person with stuff or hackers use it to compromise their email account, identity, etc? It could leave gamers open as targets for tons of crimes. Is this really worth it for a game? The 'best' that could occur is getting one's WoW account hacked. The worst is too awful to contemplate.
Then there are people like the poster I reproached previously: do we want prospective employers to be able to find out whether we play WoW? I don't think all employers like the idea of hiring an online gamer. Even though I admit it openly on my CV as one of my hobbies since I target employers who either respond positively or don't really care, this is not the case for all.
Even though the change at the moment doesn't affect me straight away since I neither play WoW right now nor have I ever posted on their forums, it will affect me in the future with respect to their games.
As of right now, I'm going to boycott Blizzard products with the aim of providing myself just that little bit more control over my real ID over the internet. That's a shame because I've bought every single game they've released since Warcraft 2.
Comments
You make it sound like MMOs are drugs. Well in some people's cases it may as well be.
QFT
with one correction,
Bliz don't have 12 million wow subs. You may want to take a real good look at the chinese data before making that kind of retarded comment. As you said, people just keep putting out the same old crap...like the sub count. Not 12 mil now and would've actually have been lucky to be that high.
Oh and why you're talking to Bliz you guys should ask them why they give xpacks to the china market for free but charge the western muppets....good for the goose and all that jazz...
Hey, sorry for being stuiped but, whats Blizzard doing with the Real ID thingy? I quit WoW for APB so i havent kept updated? What happend??
Google.com, my friend, google.com .
Oh no sorry i now know what there doing, now my question is why is haveing your real name in Fourms such a bad thing? is it really that bad? you dont really have to use fourms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBwTpHNZDpQ&feature=related
Watch this, the guy's spot on me with a lot of things.
Well said! I'm in the exact same boat on every point you made made, including the fact that I have a unique name.
WoW isn't the only game that the battle net change's effect. This has the possibility to cause a stir with other gamers outside of the MMO gener, but I question how well educated people will be on the matter before spending 60 dollars/euros for SC2 or Diablo 3.
oh right Diablo 3. battlenet huh, I have a 95% certainty that you'll be required to register your copy on battle net. which means... I'm pirating a cracked version, because I like my privacy too much.
I think you need the battle net for online coop play with D3. Since Dungeon Siege 3 is releasing first half of next year, and may be a better game, might be easiest just to go to alternative games rather than using hacked Blizzard-ware.for the point of it. I already go to great lengths to get translated japanese only games. Or read them with atlas and Agth translator tools. It's just another game that I want a specific way and won't pay for unless it's the way I want it.
Besides I never really liked dungeon siege.
Snakex: read the first post.. Granted, the thread has plenty of posts but the approrpiate thing to do isn't to ask such an asinine question but to actually read the first few posts in the thread. Chances are the first post will direct your attention to the meat of the issue and subsequent posts will show you more of the argument. These threads get big and unwieldy enough without someone asking these sorts of questions without bothering to do at least some looking on your own.
(1)TL:DR must be your way of saying that thinking hurts. Then again, this may explain why it looks like you responded to the post without using your brain.
(2) It's not about community, is it? You just have nothing better to do.
I personally speculate that within a year of Real ID going active, the world will see it's first WOW Serial Killer. This makes sense because of:
a. How passionate gamers can get over in game affairs
b. The similarities of demographics between the typical cases of Serial killers, and gamers. (both predominately males ages 20-35)
c. The massive population of WOW subscribers. (with six million subscribers, the odds of there NOT being just one person capable of this is comparable to winning the Mega-Millions lotto, maybe twice over.
Imagine that nut-case who finally snaps and starts going down his multi-page list of people that did him wrong in game.
This, right here. What are the chances that this (Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) becomes what you've just touched one.It isn't a longshot or paranoia either. I think we can all be honest here and say that most people aren't exactly the brightest or most ethical and that there really are plenty of people that are either half-cracked or just about to snap.
What would be very, very interesting is if the moderators would be kind enough to sift through this thread and the RealID Poll thread and compile the potential aftereffects of RealID. Alternatively, an enterprising community member can do the same thing. From that point, an e-mail can be formed that people can copy and paste to send to the ESRB or whatever body they think is appropriate. Any takers?
(1)TL:DR must be your way of saying that thinking hurts. Then again, this may explain why it looks like you responded to the post without using your brain.
(2) It's not about community, is it? You just have nothing better to do.
Breaking News~~~Blizzard loses 2% of its WoW population and earns millions worth of free publicity!! Stay tuned.
** and then gets sued in a "wrongfull death lawsuit" to the sum of 200 million dollars....
THIS!
I canceled the sub on one of my accounts already; the other one will be canceled once the items are restored....lol...I should've put that mobile authenticator on it.
Still can't figure out why they didn't use Xbox Live's version...permanent ID..AND YOU CHARGE IF THE CUSTOMER WANTS TO CHANGE IT! And further give players the option to link their FaceBook with it; which is the real reason for this move (google the agreement with FB and SC2).
What.the.Fuck, both parties could have been happy.
Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising everytime we fall.
So, the current situation... angst ridden 12 year old looses to you in a duel in WoW and launches into the standard R-tard-esq rant. You have an ignore button or a few minutes of fun winding him up, becuase frankly it'd be rude not too!
New Situation... angst ridden 12 year old looses to you in a duel and launches into the standard R-tard-esq rant... followed by being able to get your real name and email address in about 30 seconds. Now you have a mail box full of spam from the porn sites he's signed you up to, 30000 hits on the "<Insert your Real Name here>-IsAnAsshole.com" web site he's set up. Forum and twitter bombs all over the place calling you all sorts and complete domination of the first page of a google search of your name prclaiming you to be a prick to the world ("John Smith" you get away with this one because your name is common... more power to you).
Paranoia? Have you met the average disenfranchised kid today?
Any that's just the kids, you get off lightly. Imagine what the adults can get up to... kids are cruel sure, adults are cruel, experienced, and maybe working in a position of power they can abuse. If I was crazy enough I could probably get the address and car reg details of anyone in the UK from their email address... sure I'd get sacked if someone found out, but it's a big ole system, it would take a while.
I think it was Ganhdi who first said... "Never take an crazy sociopathic idiot with you into the internet, you can always pick one up when you get there"...
... or was it Mr Myagi? Anyhow....
Now the aforementioned idiot has got your name and your email address... and via your email address the forum names and user names you've used all over the place, and if he's really lucky, your phone number, your zip code, and what ever other information is just a fews hours trawling the internet away, minutes depending on what his job is.
Real ID is a bad idea, and sets a precedent that others will follow. Anonymity on the internet has it's downside sure, we all know about that, but it's also massive protection from idiots. In extreme cases yeah the whole stalker wierdo thing, but the 12 year old can cause you a massive amount of hassle if he knows who you are.
Ascension - EU Mature, Friendly, Laid Back SW:TOR Guild now recruiting.
In all honesty if the Real ID system stays where it says it will and only effects the forums and those you choose to put on your Real ID friends list I could live with it by avoiding it. However the fact that already Real ID goes a bit too far with revealing to people on your friends list other people on your friends list and they were not too obvious about that fact bugs me.
Once you slip up or a person on your friend's list or a minor child using an account with your name on it does the info is not changable cause your real name is pretty much your real name unless your willing to go to court to change it. Even then by that time your home, phone number and other personal info about you and your family could already be compromised.
If you listen carefully, you'll hear the beeping of the truck reversing up to Blizzard HQ carrying the industrial sized vats of KY. They'll need every drop; so many customers to shaft, so little time.
Isn't this the same company that demands to be sent a copy of your passport or drivers licence if you get your account stripped or stolen and want it back? Who lock the account until the matter's resolved to their satisfaction? Who sack their own staff for *gasp* daring to have an opinion contrary to the party line? Who banned people for playing on their own account whilst on holiday overseas? Who dropped the infamous Warden program on peoples computers without a word?
Does their moustache-twirling douchebaggery know no end? Nope, not while people are lining up, trousers down, cheeks spread anyway.
The ruptured capillaries in your nose belie the clarity of your wisdom.
ElGuappo, if I didn't like my forum signature so much I'd use the last two sentences of your post! Well said, well said indeed.
Remember Warden folks, something that many of the people currently playing or those who came in late (like myself) never experienced. Blizzard thought Warden was a good idea and now this. Clearly, in the interim, they were taking steps to control much more of players' information and even if RealID doesn't pan out there is no reason to think that they won't try something bigger and more legal seeming.
Unsub. Spread the word. Boycott.
(1)TL:DR must be your way of saying that thinking hurts. Then again, this may explain why it looks like you responded to the post without using your brain.
(2) It's not about community, is it? You just have nothing better to do.
I have not seen anywhere that this is mandatory to do except for the forums. In-game, it sounds like an option. I have played over 4 years (on and off), don't post on the forums, and hardly read them, even for builds/other info. So in my case, I am not bothered by it.
However, I never plan to use this feature, and if I was ever 'required' to post my real name in ANY game, I would simply not play it. I can see how this badly affects those who DO post on the forums, and for them, I sympathize.
In 4 years, I have never told anyone my real name in any online game, and I never plan to. If Blizzard ever made this an in-game requirement, I would consider it a threat to my identity and never play again. Even though I have more WOW breaks than binges these days, I always have fun when I go back for updates, at least for a month or so.
This has no real purpose if you ask me, except for agencies like Reynard, who get paid to spy on online games. Before anyone trys to call 'conspiricy theory' on me, go look up Reynard, and if you find nothing, google it with WoW or FBI in the text as well and you can find and read all about it. Over two years now, an agency has been getting paid to seek out would-be terrorist in online games, namely WoW and popular FPS games. Maybe, this is what online games are being 'forced' to do, and since WoW is so huge, start it out there. (ok, now you can call conspiricy theory on me). I'm sure if this feature went mandatory in all/most online gaming, Reynard could cut half of their staff.
What you say about Reynard is true and, if I recall correctly, they have actually found terrorists discussing things inside guild/party/local chat.
Don't forget about Warden though. Blizzard dropped Warden and with RealID they take it a step further. Say RealID either doesn't launch or doesn't pan out in the end. With what we have seen from Blizzard, taking a broad view of their behaviour, they are only going to try something more overt. It may not effect more than the forums when it launches, yet it will not only set a precedent for other companies (gaming and non-gaming) but will embolden Blizzard further. Ambitious people are often greedy and, truly, Blizzard didn't get to where it is today without ambitious people. When ambitious people stand to make a profit you either have the Legislative Branch of the United States government (congressmen and senators as special interest puppets) or buisnesses like BP, AT&T and Blackwater (concerned exclusively with proft over the safety of their employees and consumers).
(1)TL:DR must be your way of saying that thinking hurts. Then again, this may explain why it looks like you responded to the post without using your brain.
(2) It's not about community, is it? You just have nothing better to do.
Shame on you! You're the kind of employer I avoid at all costs. You should NOT use facebook profiles and what someone says to their friends, groups they're part of, etc. to judge how well a person will perform in a job. There should be a blacklist of employers who do this, it's misuse of social networking sites.
Playing MUDs and MMOs since 1994.
It's pretty much standard practice at our place.
Ascension - EU Mature, Friendly, Laid Back SW:TOR Guild now recruiting.
Thoroughly agree with this article. Though if people really want to play the game and still insist that this RealID stuff is the spawn of satan, why not just avoid posting on the forums?
Article is very true.... in most cases they (Blizzard) pull something bone-head and some folks, like me, get mad and let their sub lapse... then miss things and come back. The real question is what must they do to really make us walk away for good, in large enough numbers to get their attention. For me, I had my long-standing account hacked and someone else played my characters. They even were in the process of transferring one of them to another server. I had to jump through all the hoops to get my account back, which took way too long and then I noticed that toon in transfer limbo. I asked customer service to please put it back where it was. They sent me a very nasty response that said there was no proof my account was hacked. This after admitting it was. So it would cost me the $25 dollars to completer the transfer and another $25 to move it back. Plus another character was alone on another server, another $25. I was livid, and wrote for them to reconsider - their response - where's our money. That ripped it... I'm now gone for good. So, is realID enough for any of y'all to do the same?
Good article Stradden, though I believe there is something to be kept in mind about posting with your real name on an official game forum as opposed to mmorpg.com. Namely, games illicit extremes of emotions from a lot of players. Those who are trolling on the WoW forums might not troll here. I think people will overall respect your real-life privacy on here. If you posted with your real name on the WoW forums, it could be very different. That would be an interesting experiment, though I don't recommend doing it.
I also hope that this isn't a sign of things to come for official MMO game forums. Can you guys imagine the EvE online forums requiring peoples' real identities? Considering how seriously some EvE players take the game, the fact that it's PvP, and the fact that one can lose so much in it, it would turn into a nightmare!
There is a very real problem looming ahead, getting back to Blizzard and WoW. People who engage in fairly seedy activities are clearly interested in WoW: gold sellers, hackers, etc. What happens if other unofficial marketers use the Blizzard forums to gain access to one's information and further bombard the person with stuff or hackers use it to compromise their email account, identity, etc? It could leave gamers open as targets for tons of crimes. Is this really worth it for a game? The 'best' that could occur is getting one's WoW account hacked. The worst is too awful to contemplate.
Then there are people like the poster I reproached previously: do we want prospective employers to be able to find out whether we play WoW? I don't think all employers like the idea of hiring an online gamer. Even though I admit it openly on my CV as one of my hobbies since I target employers who either respond positively or don't really care, this is not the case for all.
Even though the change at the moment doesn't affect me straight away since I neither play WoW right now nor have I ever posted on their forums, it will affect me in the future with respect to their games.
As of right now, I'm going to boycott Blizzard products with the aim of providing myself just that little bit more control over my real ID over the internet. That's a shame because I've bought every single game they've released since Warcraft 2.
Playing MUDs and MMOs since 1994.