I had the same thoughts as this article- that Blizzard would see the rage coming and decide to move forward with it anyway. So it surprised me when they decided to take their word back. It almost makes me think that they planned this all along, just to get a reaction out of people and make themselves look like the good guys in the end. Especially when you read the last part of their apology post which states: "In closing, I want to point out that our connection with our community has always been and will always be extremely important to us. We strongly believe that Every Voice Matters, and we feel fortunate to have a community that cares so passionately about our games. We will always appreciate the feedback and support of our players, which has been a key to Blizzard's success from the beginning."
I read the appology and what I saw that stuck out in my mind was "At this time", Well that tells me they want to get the expansion sold, then I believe they will try this again after they make a ton of cash. At that point how many folks are going to quit if they do it like 3 days after they launch the expansion.
I had the same thoughts as this article- that Blizzard would see the rage coming and decide to move forward with it anyway. So it surprised me when they decided to take their word back. It almost makes me think that they planned this all along, just to get a reaction out of people and make themselves look like the good guys in the end. Especially when you read the last part of their apology post which states: "In closing, I want to point out that our connection with our community has always been and will always be extremely important to us. We strongly believe that Every Voice Matters, and we feel fortunate to have a community that cares so passionately about our games. We will always appreciate the feedback and support of our players, which has been a key to Blizzard's success from the beginning."
I read the appology and what I saw that stuck out in my mind was "At this time", Well that tells me they want to get the expansion sold, then I believe they will try this again after they make a ton of cash. At that point how many folks are going to quit if they do it like 3 days after they launch the expansion.
This was pointed out by a few members on these forums. I myself even pointed it out, let's face it the WoW community as been side-swiped and most of you don't even realise it. It's got to be said, Blizzard as got one good PR department, because they've managed to take the wind out of your sails and now they're aiming all guns at you, and preparing to fire.
well then since the RealID for the forums is no longer there then there is no real reason to complain is there. But like i said before you never really had a reason to complain in the first place your just complaining cause you can
"Possibly we humans can exist without actually having to fight. But many of us have chosen to fight. For what reason? To protect something? Protect what? Ourselves? The future? If we kill people to protect ourselves and this future, then what sort of future is it, and what will we have become? There is no future for those who have died. And what of those who did the killing? Is happiness to be found in a future that is grasped with blood stained hands? Is that the truth?"
well then since the RealID for the forums is no longer there then there is no real reason to complain is there. But like i said before you never really had a reason to complain in the first place your just complaining cause you can
Thousands of people felt the RealID was a bad idea. That IS a real a reason to voice an opinion whether you agree with it or not.
parrotpholk-Because we all know the miracle patch fairy shows up the night before release and sprinkles magic dust on the server to make it allllll better.
Holy God, it's hard to believe such a contrast between such thick PR in the past and such lousy PR now. I mean, looking at their videos from their anniversary retrospective, you would never guess the cynical "let them bitch, they'll be back" attitude within the group. The depth and breadth of the bull**** they have laid down to make customers believe their emotional attachment to the game was appreciated is unbelievable.
I might have less cause to speak as I'm not playing WoW, but, Blizzard used to be one of those companies that was part of my childhood, and I'd always have some special affection for. When Sierra, EA, and others let me down, Blizzard seemed to be saying, "Not us! We still love you! We're the good guys!" But the good guys never are, are they.
I'll tell you what, this is a real eye-opener for everybody, and it's going to end the days of fierce player loyalty. Game companies won't be able to count on the 'they'll be back' mentality once a bonfire of customer affection like this has gone up. It's kind of a signal fire to the rest of us. If players don't trust a company enough to get attached in the first place, they'll just roam nomadically through every title that catches their eye-- and that bodes badly for everybody. They won't be willing to put down a lot of investment in any particular game because the point's been driven home that it's money paid for something that doesn't exist, little pixels you'll probably walk away from soon anyhow. The ways companies will have to pander for micro-payments and fad signups will get more and more whorish, and their databases will bloat up with all the people who try, lose interest, and move on.
Great business model.
Playing to fickle fans rather than hang on to the genre's most insanely loyal and fanatical followings is a bad idea. They're seriously overestimating the addictiveness of the game itself, which burns out pretty fast when the fun is gone and there's an ugly mood of mistrust with the game staff. They'll soon find out that the fan emotion they mock behind closed doors is part of why people kept going back, and when it's gone, they'll just be left with a faceful of ADD kiddies demanding 'moar, moar, moar!' while simultaneously corpse-humping each other out of the game.
I guess I'm out of the MMO genre until I find out which companies cater to people who actually have enough self-respect not to post every detail of their lives for public consumption. It's getting harder and harder to find the thoughtful, smart people in the MMOs anyhow, they're drowned out by screaming hordes.
Hey, anybody but Blizzard or Sony! Give us premium MMOs that cater to grown-ups! Please? I'll pay a lot more to get something confidential, non-codependant, and relaxing to do in my downtime that doesn't force me to deal with a bunch of attention-starved adrenaline junkies but lets me connect with people I click with. I have monies! Just waiting to spend them!
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. It is like voting, sure you could just go out and vote and hope that enough people vote your way but that isn't really going to accomplish anything, there is a reason why every candidate has a support team who's whole job is to get people to vote for them and not the other guy. In order to get something accomplished you have to campaign for your cause, because just like voting in real life, when it comes to voting with your wallet a lot of people either 1)Don't ever vote or 2)Don't have a clue of what they're actually voting on.
When it comes to a new bill for example, a huge portion of our country don't have a clue about anything (arguable a larger percentage of the population then does understand the issues). Those people still vote one way or the other, but since they don't understand the issue at hand, they have to be led to vote one way or another.
Nothing has ever been accomplished in life by people sitting back and choosing a side on an issue in peace and by themselves. Everything has been accomplished by campaigning for a side and getting people to realize why they should vote your way. So saying people should just quit if they don't like it is not enough, they need to try and convince those who will automatically side with blizzard no matter what they do, that what blizzard is doing is wrong and bad for the future of gaming.
Blizzard gets away with a lot of stuff, and it has nothing to do with that stuff being a good thing to do. It has everything to do with 90% of their player base being completely apathetic and just siding with Blizzard no matter what happens. That is a bad thing. It's not enough to speak with your own wallet, you have to convince others to join you.
Actually speaking with your wallet <i>always</i> works. Thats how entire countries make their decisions; people die for money every day. I'm a tad certain(sarcasm!) that money is enough reason to stop Blizzard from destroying anonymity. This to people like myself, is a side effect of large corporations trying to completely ruin net neutrality. This kind of thing is much more important than the marjority of players will ever understand. This is about control. When the people speak in terms that cannot be ignored, we get what we want. When we stand around and bitch, moan, and actually do nothing; we are kept in our places.
Mike Morhaime, co-founder and CEO of Blizzard Entertainment, has released a statement that says "real names will not be required for posting on official Blizzard forums."
Wow, I couldn't care less about me using my real name. Don´t play WOW but I have already bought SC2 and I am planning to buy D3. If you are able to conjure up enough hate for a nerd to search you up IRL, maybe you need to think about how you behave.
I honestly don't understand why people are so emotional about this. It's the same as when some of my friends are scared of answering their phones when they don't recognize the number. I'd be thrilled to have a conversation with some random person concerning a post I made. Who gives a shit what medium to discuss in.
Maybe I'm just naive to believe people are reasonably sane enough to respect peoples privacy. I don't know. Maybe I'm gonna be the last one laughing when one of you guys put an axe in my door. Got to warn you though, I have a guard-dog. He's small, fluffy and spends 90% of his day licking his own balls but knows how to fight!.
Jokes aside, very well made post and I enjoyed reading many of these comments.
Wow, I couldn't care less about me using my real name. Don´t play WOW but I have already bought SC2 and I am planning to buy D3. If you are able to conjure up enough hate for a nerd to search you up IRL, maybe you need to think about how you behave.
Jacob
For some men, a woman telling him to take a hike is enough to send him into stalker mode.
parrotpholk-Because we all know the miracle patch fairy shows up the night before release and sprinkles magic dust on the server to make it allllll better.
well said by Jon Wood, if u dont like stop spamming, and quit.
I like the real id system, if u want to keep your real id hidden, is because u want to do something wrong... if not... give your real id, and continue playing as usual, nothing is going to change. what u gain is a lot more..., the kind of people that usually ruin the game, will do so just 1 time, then they wont be able to do it twice.
This has nothing to do with the reasons blizzard gave. This has all to do about a deal they have cut with social media. Many young people do not mind posting their entire life online for everyone to see however many of us do not want our real names out there for many reasons and that should be respected. If I wanted to post in my real name I would have done that when I registered.
Just as a thought one of the first things I do before I interview a person appling for position with my company is google them and see what comes up. If I do not like what I see, they are most likely not going to get a job. And that includes thoughts on twitter, facebook if I can get in, and now will include postings on Blizzard forums.
What blizzard has done with REAL ID means I will no purchase any product from them in the future. What once was a company run by gamers for gamers has turned into nothing more than another EA. They are going to slowly kill the golden goose.
This also means I will not let my children play World of Warcraft anymore either because their account is my account in my name, in addition I would not want my childrens real name being published. I hope they think this is worth it because it is going to cost them customers and not just WOW customers.
well said by Jon Wood, if u dont like stop spamming, and quit.
I like the real id system, if u want to keep your real id hidden, is because u want to do something wrong... if not... give your real id, and continue playing as usual, nothing is going to change. what u gain is a lot more..., the kind of people that usually ruin the game, will do so just 1 time, then they wont be able to do it twice.
I like it.
I don't. You have a typical fallacy in your above. Simply because someone is concerned about privacy issues, does not mean they are doing, or thinking of doing anything wrong. As for trolls and other such scum, they will likely always be with us. Unless this was a ploy, Blizzard likely looked at the potential losses (not to mention governmental involvement because of the privacy issues) and decided it wasn't worth it.
Like others have said you can't quit what you're not apart of anymore. I played WoW since launch, and for me personally it finally became dated. I finally realised that I really am 'done' with World of Warcraft for good. I did every thing I wanted to do. WoW was great back in 04 and even in 08 it was still great for me. But after that it really did just go down hill. I can honestly say I've been gone from WoW for months now and I've not ever been tempted to resub. Heck, I haven't really even thought about the game hardley at all until now. usually I quit and make myself swear it off, this time I didn't even do that. I just let my sub run out when I got bored and never looked back. I bought a PS3 and have been having a great time with it. I was just finally ready to truely let go of that game for good, I was 15 when I started WoW and had just turned 21 when I quit. I hadn't even realised all of the great console games that I had missed out on.
With so many new MMO's that I'm extatic about WoW just does not look good to me at all anymore. I love Star Wars and can't wait for SWTOR, and FFX14 looks great too. I am a huge fan of the series but FFXI was just to old. Then theres GW2.
With choices like this one that Blizzard has made, it just makes me that much more glad that I'm not apart of the WoW community any longer.
A ratings system leads to rating wars, a lack of negative critique and the supremacy of popularity over information and genuine opinion.
Exactly. We see pretty much the same thing in our "election" system. The Real ID was a bad idea from the start, if one considers the implications and the problem it was claimed to be addressing. I suspect some bean counters and/or suits got blinded by the FacePalm numbers, and didn't consider the implications (or thought they could push it through any way, with minimal losses).
I don't know if somebody already posted this link but here is the article that says that Blizzard has done away with the Real Names on forum posting thing,
Except that they haven't removed RealID. They've simply dropped the requirement to post using your real name on the o-forums.
They will still go ahead with the rest of the RealID implementation, and Facebook crossover. And I would not be at all surprised to see them work the real name thing into the forums a wee bit at a time. At first it'll be special perks for those that have sold their souls to the RealID overlords, and little by little, you'll eventually have to acquiesce to it, or be left out in the cold.
As such, I canceled my accounts, as well as my Starcraft II preorder. While I do enjoy WoW for what it is, I have a large selection of other games I can play without having to fully give up any semblance of privacy any more than I already do simply by being on the internet. I left them a detailed listing of why I was canceling my accounts, and the preorder as well.
I hope they reconsider this RealID plan, but given how everyone has read their 11th hour decision to back off the forums issue as a win against RealID, I really doubt they will not move forward with this.
Maybe Blizzard is just trying to help the competition... beef up the player base in LoTRO and EQ/EQ2 so they don't end up getting labeled as a monopoly. ;-)
"In the end though, companies don't often take this particularly seriously because it is so rarely backed up with action. "
so true, mainly because most gamers are nothing more then lazy crap talking posers, who wouldn't try to back up what they said even if they already had it in reverse. they whine and whine and whine, while the companies just laugh at them and point out, then why are u still playing. Face it, nothing will ever change unless people grow a spine and stand up for themselves. I'd bet that if everyone complaining about this change, actually proved they were willing to enforce their threats, companies would take them seriously instead of taking advantage. But thats just my opinion.
The best example of people speaking with their wallets was Star Wars Galaxies. They made horrendous changes. And now the game is all but a ghost town. I agree with the article if you don't like it. Quit Honestly they cant ignore subscription numbers and cancellations. They have a pain threshold and if that is reached they will change their direction. But the reality is it wont be reached because people like to complain about issues like this.
Sorry that is really not a good example. Yes a lot of us canceled our accounts. Several folks i knew got refunds on mustifar as well, due to how shady the deal was.
However what did that get us. Abosolutly nothing. the NGE stayed in place. Do you see any pre nge servers run by soe?
So yea SOE lost a lot of players, but that did not stop the nge.
But I do agree if you dont like what the company is doing dont give them your cash.
I couldn't agree more with the article. I quit WoW years ago because they didn't have any in depth housing or player driven and world changing aspects. It was just purely PvE for the sake of raiding or PvP for the sake of grinding equipment to look "cool". I have to agree if you don't like what Blizzard is doing then leave the game and show them how upset you are. Funny thing is they ask you why you're leaving when you cancel your account so that's a great time to point out how upset you are.
Wow, I never thought blizzard will be the one to do such an awsome thing as REAL ID, seeing they have the biggest amount of kids and nerds, flaming and trolling on their forums knowing no retribution will ever come to them, because their real IDs are hidden. Imagine the world without flame and trolls... just awesome, heads up Blizz!
Also, to ppl saying "they will easily find me irl":
1) Why would anyone wanna find you? I mean forum trolling and flaming is just that - trolling and flaming, noone will bother to buy tickets to your town to kick your ass, thats just dumb, only a 14year old might think that.
2) Why would anyone wanna find you? Unless you're insulting and trolling people, that being exactly the point of the REAL ID system - preventing this kind of stuff from happening.
Also who got balls to post with their real name? ;P BLIZZ = WIN this time xD
So its whiney as people who say "We don't want real ID" and then when Blizzard says alright now real ID. Its moved too somthing else as far as i see it this post has changed to discuss the Real ID and now its to bitch about World Of Warcraft.
Wow, I never thought blizzard will be the one to do such an awsome thing as REAL ID, seeing they have the biggest amount of kids and nerds, flaming and trolling on their forums knowing no retribution will ever come to them, because their real IDs are hidden. Imagine the world without flame and trolls... just awesome, heads up Blizz!
Also, to ppl saying "they will easily find me irl":
1) Why would anyone wanna find you? I mean forum trolling and flaming is just that - trolling and flaming, noone will bother to buy tickets to your town to kick your ass, thats just dumb, only a 14year old might think that.
2) Why would anyone wanna find you? Unless you're insulting and trolling people, that being exactly the point of the REAL ID system - preventing this kind of stuff from happening.
Also who got balls to post with their real name? ;P BLIZZ = WIN this time xD
Way too late. Blizzard has already backed down on this one. Real names are not going to be used in the forums. I suspect it wasn't just the number of out raged players. I suspect it was the potential liability from the privacy departments of various *governments* that changed their minds. It was a BAD idea from the start. It violates one of the most basic principles of privacy/security policy.
Not to mention, that I suspect that the troll side show was simply an excuse. Trolls can be more effectively dealt with in other fashions(if that is the real intention). Those who aren't concerned about their privacy, security have never had a run in with 4chan or some such.
Comments
I read the appology and what I saw that stuck out in my mind was "At this time", Well that tells me they want to get the expansion sold, then I believe they will try this again after they make a ton of cash. At that point how many folks are going to quit if they do it like 3 days after they launch the expansion.
This was pointed out by a few members on these forums. I myself even pointed it out, let's face it the WoW community as been side-swiped and most of you don't even realise it. It's got to be said, Blizzard as got one good PR department, because they've managed to take the wind out of your sails and now they're aiming all guns at you, and preparing to fire.
“Sorry, for all the sea references,”
well then since the RealID for the forums is no longer there then there is no real reason to complain is there. But like i said before you never really had a reason to complain in the first place your just complaining cause you can
"Possibly we humans can exist without actually having to fight. But many of us have chosen to fight. For what reason? To protect something? Protect what? Ourselves? The future? If we kill people to protect ourselves and this future, then what sort of future is it, and what will we have become? There is no future for those who have died. And what of those who did the killing? Is happiness to be found in a future that is grasped with blood stained hands? Is that the truth?"
Thousands of people felt the RealID was a bad idea. That IS a real a reason to voice an opinion whether you agree with it or not.
parrotpholk-Because we all know the miracle patch fairy shows up the night before release and sprinkles magic dust on the server to make it allllll better.
Holy God, it's hard to believe such a contrast between such thick PR in the past and such lousy PR now. I mean, looking at their videos from their anniversary retrospective, you would never guess the cynical "let them bitch, they'll be back" attitude within the group. The depth and breadth of the bull**** they have laid down to make customers believe their emotional attachment to the game was appreciated is unbelievable.
I might have less cause to speak as I'm not playing WoW, but, Blizzard used to be one of those companies that was part of my childhood, and I'd always have some special affection for. When Sierra, EA, and others let me down, Blizzard seemed to be saying, "Not us! We still love you! We're the good guys!" But the good guys never are, are they.
I'll tell you what, this is a real eye-opener for everybody, and it's going to end the days of fierce player loyalty. Game companies won't be able to count on the 'they'll be back' mentality once a bonfire of customer affection like this has gone up. It's kind of a signal fire to the rest of us. If players don't trust a company enough to get attached in the first place, they'll just roam nomadically through every title that catches their eye-- and that bodes badly for everybody. They won't be willing to put down a lot of investment in any particular game because the point's been driven home that it's money paid for something that doesn't exist, little pixels you'll probably walk away from soon anyhow. The ways companies will have to pander for micro-payments and fad signups will get more and more whorish, and their databases will bloat up with all the people who try, lose interest, and move on.
Great business model.
Playing to fickle fans rather than hang on to the genre's most insanely loyal and fanatical followings is a bad idea. They're seriously overestimating the addictiveness of the game itself, which burns out pretty fast when the fun is gone and there's an ugly mood of mistrust with the game staff. They'll soon find out that the fan emotion they mock behind closed doors is part of why people kept going back, and when it's gone, they'll just be left with a faceful of ADD kiddies demanding 'moar, moar, moar!' while simultaneously corpse-humping each other out of the game.
I guess I'm out of the MMO genre until I find out which companies cater to people who actually have enough self-respect not to post every detail of their lives for public consumption. It's getting harder and harder to find the thoughtful, smart people in the MMOs anyhow, they're drowned out by screaming hordes.
Hey, anybody but Blizzard or Sony! Give us premium MMOs that cater to grown-ups! Please? I'll pay a lot more to get something confidential, non-codependant, and relaxing to do in my downtime that doesn't force me to deal with a bunch of attention-starved adrenaline junkies but lets me connect with people I click with. I have monies! Just waiting to spend them!
Actually speaking with your wallet <i>always</i> works. Thats how entire countries make their decisions; people die for money every day. I'm a tad certain(sarcasm!) that money is enough reason to stop Blizzard from destroying anonymity. This to people like myself, is a side effect of large corporations trying to completely ruin net neutrality. This kind of thing is much more important than the marjority of players will ever understand. This is about control. When the people speak in terms that cannot be ignored, we get what we want. When we stand around and bitch, moan, and actually do nothing; we are kept in our places.
Mike Morhaime, co-founder and CEO of Blizzard Entertainment, has released a statement that says "real names will not be required for posting on official Blizzard forums."
LOL
finally they figure it out....
http://www.wow.com/2010/07/09/mike-morhaime-real-names-will-not-be-required-on-official-forum/23
Wow, I couldn't care less about me using my real name. Don´t play WOW but I have already bought SC2 and I am planning to buy D3. If you are able to conjure up enough hate for a nerd to search you up IRL, maybe you need to think about how you behave.
I honestly don't understand why people are so emotional about this. It's the same as when some of my friends are scared of answering their phones when they don't recognize the number. I'd be thrilled to have a conversation with some random person concerning a post I made. Who gives a shit what medium to discuss in.
Maybe I'm just naive to believe people are reasonably sane enough to respect peoples privacy. I don't know. Maybe I'm gonna be the last one laughing when one of you guys put an axe in my door. Got to warn you though, I have a guard-dog. He's small, fluffy and spends 90% of his day licking his own balls but knows how to fight!.
Jokes aside, very well made post and I enjoyed reading many of these comments.
Jacob
TIHI
For some men, a woman telling him to take a hike is enough to send him into stalker mode.
parrotpholk-Because we all know the miracle patch fairy shows up the night before release and sprinkles magic dust on the server to make it allllll better.
Damn straight, put up or shut up!
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
well said by Jon Wood, if u dont like stop spamming, and quit.
I like the real id system, if u want to keep your real id hidden, is because u want to do something wrong... if not... give your real id, and continue playing as usual, nothing is going to change. what u gain is a lot more..., the kind of people that usually ruin the game, will do so just 1 time, then they wont be able to do it twice.
I like it.
This has nothing to do with the reasons blizzard gave. This has all to do about a deal they have cut with social media. Many young people do not mind posting their entire life online for everyone to see however many of us do not want our real names out there for many reasons and that should be respected. If I wanted to post in my real name I would have done that when I registered.
Just as a thought one of the first things I do before I interview a person appling for position with my company is google them and see what comes up. If I do not like what I see, they are most likely not going to get a job. And that includes thoughts on twitter, facebook if I can get in, and now will include postings on Blizzard forums.
What blizzard has done with REAL ID means I will no purchase any product from them in the future. What once was a company run by gamers for gamers has turned into nothing more than another EA. They are going to slowly kill the golden goose.
This also means I will not let my children play World of Warcraft anymore either because their account is my account in my name, in addition I would not want my childrens real name being published. I hope they think this is worth it because it is going to cost them customers and not just WOW customers.
I don't. You have a typical fallacy in your above. Simply because someone is concerned about privacy issues, does not mean they are doing, or thinking of doing anything wrong. As for trolls and other such scum, they will likely always be with us. Unless this was a ploy, Blizzard likely looked at the potential losses (not to mention governmental involvement because of the privacy issues) and decided it wasn't worth it.
A ratings system leads to rating wars, a lack of negative critique and the supremacy of popularity over information and genuine opinion.
Like others have said you can't quit what you're not apart of anymore. I played WoW since launch, and for me personally it finally became dated. I finally realised that I really am 'done' with World of Warcraft for good. I did every thing I wanted to do. WoW was great back in 04 and even in 08 it was still great for me. But after that it really did just go down hill. I can honestly say I've been gone from WoW for months now and I've not ever been tempted to resub. Heck, I haven't really even thought about the game hardley at all until now. usually I quit and make myself swear it off, this time I didn't even do that. I just let my sub run out when I got bored and never looked back. I bought a PS3 and have been having a great time with it. I was just finally ready to truely let go of that game for good, I was 15 when I started WoW and had just turned 21 when I quit. I hadn't even realised all of the great console games that I had missed out on.
With so many new MMO's that I'm extatic about WoW just does not look good to me at all anymore. I love Star Wars and can't wait for SWTOR, and FFX14 looks great too. I am a huge fan of the series but FFXI was just to old. Then theres GW2.
With choices like this one that Blizzard has made, it just makes me that much more glad that I'm not apart of the WoW community any longer.
Cheers.
Exactly. We see pretty much the same thing in our "election" system. The Real ID was a bad idea from the start, if one considers the implications and the problem it was claimed to be addressing. I suspect some bean counters and/or suits got blinded by the FacePalm numbers, and didn't consider the implications (or thought they could push it through any way, with minimal losses).
Hey guys,
I don't know if somebody already posted this link but here is the article that says that Blizzard has done away with the Real Names on forum posting thing,
http://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2010/07/09/blizzard-stops-plan-to-force-real-ids-in-forums.aspx
Apparently the Angry bloggers did the trick. Who knew, the actually do have a good PR department...actually this was said last thursday to be correct.
Power to the Consumer yo!!! And we did'nt have to cancel our WoW accounts.
Except that they haven't removed RealID. They've simply dropped the requirement to post using your real name on the o-forums.
They will still go ahead with the rest of the RealID implementation, and Facebook crossover. And I would not be at all surprised to see them work the real name thing into the forums a wee bit at a time. At first it'll be special perks for those that have sold their souls to the RealID overlords, and little by little, you'll eventually have to acquiesce to it, or be left out in the cold.
As such, I canceled my accounts, as well as my Starcraft II preorder. While I do enjoy WoW for what it is, I have a large selection of other games I can play without having to fully give up any semblance of privacy any more than I already do simply by being on the internet. I left them a detailed listing of why I was canceling my accounts, and the preorder as well.
I hope they reconsider this RealID plan, but given how everyone has read their 11th hour decision to back off the forums issue as a win against RealID, I really doubt they will not move forward with this.
Maybe Blizzard is just trying to help the competition... beef up the player base in LoTRO and EQ/EQ2 so they don't end up getting labeled as a monopoly. ;-)
binarypc
"In the end though, companies don't often take this particularly seriously because it is so rarely backed up with action. "
so true, mainly because most gamers are nothing more then lazy crap talking posers, who wouldn't try to back up what they said even if they already had it in reverse. they whine and whine and whine, while the companies just laugh at them and point out, then why are u still playing. Face it, nothing will ever change unless people grow a spine and stand up for themselves. I'd bet that if everyone complaining about this change, actually proved they were willing to enforce their threats, companies would take them seriously instead of taking advantage. But thats just my opinion.
Sorry that is really not a good example. Yes a lot of us canceled our accounts. Several folks i knew got refunds on mustifar as well, due to how shady the deal was.
However what did that get us. Abosolutly nothing. the NGE stayed in place. Do you see any pre nge servers run by soe?
So yea SOE lost a lot of players, but that did not stop the nge.
But I do agree if you dont like what the company is doing dont give them your cash.
I couldn't agree more with the article. I quit WoW years ago because they didn't have any in depth housing or player driven and world changing aspects. It was just purely PvE for the sake of raiding or PvP for the sake of grinding equipment to look "cool". I have to agree if you don't like what Blizzard is doing then leave the game and show them how upset you are. Funny thing is they ask you why you're leaving when you cancel your account so that's a great time to point out how upset you are.
Wow, I never thought blizzard will be the one to do such an awsome thing as REAL ID, seeing they have the biggest amount of kids and nerds, flaming and trolling on their forums knowing no retribution will ever come to them, because their real IDs are hidden. Imagine the world without flame and trolls... just awesome, heads up Blizz!
Also, to ppl saying "they will easily find me irl":
1) Why would anyone wanna find you? I mean forum trolling and flaming is just that - trolling and flaming, noone will bother to buy tickets to your town to kick your ass, thats just dumb, only a 14year old might think that.
2) Why would anyone wanna find you? Unless you're insulting and trolling people, that being exactly the point of the REAL ID system - preventing this kind of stuff from happening.
Also who got balls to post with their real name? ;P BLIZZ = WIN this time xD
So its whiney as people who say "We don't want real ID" and then when Blizzard says alright now real ID. Its moved too somthing else as far as i see it this post has changed to discuss the Real ID and now its to bitch about World Of Warcraft.
Way too late. Blizzard has already backed down on this one. Real names are not going to be used in the forums. I suspect it wasn't just the number of out raged players. I suspect it was the potential liability from the privacy departments of various *governments* that changed their minds. It was a BAD idea from the start. It violates one of the most basic principles of privacy/security policy.
Not to mention, that I suspect that the troll side show was simply an excuse. Trolls can be more effectively dealt with in other fashions(if that is the real intention). Those who aren't concerned about their privacy, security have never had a run in with 4chan or some such.