Hi folks! Back from not playing or thinking about WoW for a while with a hyper, hyper short post with the following content:
Giving Out People’s Personal Details On the Internet Is Not Okay
Blizzard is apparently moving over to forcing people to use their RealIDs to post on the official forums.
This is not okay.
This is not going to prevent trolling, this is not going to create an atmosphere of respect and mutual support. All this is going to do is make the forums less safe. People do, in fact, get stalked online. People do, in fact, get harassed and abused online.
It is a common misconception that trolling is caused by anonymity. It is not. It is caused by people being assholes. Frequently, it is caused by people being racist asssholes or misogynist assholes or various other sorts of assholes who like to target people of a particular type
A person’s “real name” is not neutral. Your name allows people to label and judge you according to a set of criteria they, not you, decide upon. If you check out the comments on the wow.com post where this is announced, you’ll notice that an awful lot of the people who are most strongly against this change are women. Much as we would like to deny it, geekdom in general and the WoW community in particular is horrendously hostile to women, and as a result many women choose not to openly advertise their gender in the game.
Conversely the only people I’ve seen supporting this change have either (rather hypocritically) posted under pseudonyms, or else have been called things like “Kevin Ross.”
Your name reveals (or suggests) things about your gender and your cultural background which will cause people to treat you differently. It’s functionally equivalent to forcing people to label every post with their sexual orientation.
Forcing people to post using their real names is going to open up anybody with a “foreign” sounding name to racist or xenophobic abuse. It is going to open up people with female-identifying names to misogynist abuse and sexual harassment. And even if we ignore the out-and-out bigots who make up a vocal part of the online community, the fact is that even otherwise sensible people can and will make judgments about you based on your gender or perceoved background – your guide to DK DPS in patch 4.3 will be better received if you post it as David Williamson instead of Jalpa Patel or Helen Roberts.
For straight white men like me, this is a minor inconvenience (although some of us might not want our names associated with our WoW lives for a variety of reasons). For people who are not part of that majority, this forces them to mark themselves as Other.
It is not fucking okay.
It is not okay to give out personal information about people without their consent.
It is not okay to assume that the only reason somebody could have for wanting to keep their real name a secret is that they’re a troll.
It is not okay to pretend that revealing your real name online is a mark of moral superiority.
It is not okay to dismiss people’s real concerns over their comfort or personal safety, just because you do not share them.
EDITED TO ADD
Aaaaand it *also* turns out that add-ons can reveal your real, full name to anybody, without your consent or knowledge.
You can disable this intrusive piece-of-shit feature through Parental Controls. Which is the only way to do it. By pretending to be your *own mum*.
le sigh.
Edited Further to Add
And of course the comments at WoW.com are the predictable mix:
10% – People saying “this is a problem”
80% – Men saying “My Name is John Smith SEE YOU ARE ALL BEING STUPID”
5% – Women saying “Umm, actually guys it’s more complicated than that”
1% – Women saying “My Name is Jane Smith and I REFUSE TO BE A VICTIM and IF SOMEBODY STALKS ME I WILL SHOOT THEM WITH MY GUN”
4% – Men saying “See! Because that one woman said it was okay that means it is totally okay!”
I had not even considered this angle, that it might open up people to the effects of racism or xenophobia. When we choose handles, we can all be “equal”. When we don’t, bias can come creeping back in.
zelmaru´s last blog ..Privacy “creep”- Real ID on the Forums
Yeah, it genuinely didn’t occur to me until fairly recently either.
I’d always been of the “pseudonyms are for cowards” school until I started paying vaguely closer attention to the Social Justice Blogsphere, at which point I got smacked about the head with fact that hey, some people have *stalkers* or *abusive psycho exes*.
It’s what I understand the cool kids call a “privilege check”.
Excellent post and heartily seconded. I admit my biggest problem with this whole thing is that Blizz isn’t even asking my consent for my real name to be used anywhere and everywhere. They’re just moving ahead with it as though no one out there might possibly have any reason at all to want to be anonymous.
And good for you and any other man out there who can understand the extra layer of problems any woman might have with Real ID. I’m so tired of guys acting like it’s not a big deal to disclose that their name is Bob Jones and then trying to force their comfort of the changes down my throat because I happened to say I dislike them.
It is all very much not okay. I think Analogue also summed it up pretty well over at Looking for More with this:
“the next time something happens like, say, an official discussion of whether I like Tree Form or not, that affects my class later on, my voice won’t be heard.
I know Blizzard won’t care, but I do.”
Alas´s last blog ..Random and nonsensical
I’m so tired of guys acting like it’s not a big deal to disclose that their name is Bob Jones and then trying to force their comfort of the changes down my throat because I happened to say I dislike them
It’d be hilarious if it wasn’t so depressing:
“God, why are you GIRLS always complaining about stuff like this. I mean seriously what is it with you GIRLS and your GIRL ideas. Why do you keep trying to get GIRL on my game.
… what do you mean the community’s sexist?”
But yeah, it’s particularly annoying when people are all: “Look, it is not a big deal MY NAME IS JOHN MAN MC WHITEGUY and I live in NORTH AMERICA see! How hard was that!”
Thankfully, the WoW forums are optional. It’s not like Blizzard is outing everyone that’s ever made a post on the forum, just that they’re setting this particular bar for entry moving forward. Anyone can opt out of the forums. So I don’t think it’s necessarily morally wrong.
That being said, it’s incredibly stupid. It’s their game, their forum, and they’re welcome to set up any requirements for participation they want. But I can’t imagine anyone in their right mind ever wanting to participate in the new forums.
The forums are optional, but then so is the whole of the rest of the game. Plus the official forums *are* supposed to be the primary means of communication between Blizzard and their fanbase.
The problem (well, one of the problems, aside from the fact that the whole idea is a privacy nightmare) is that a rule like this disproportionately affects some groups of people. This *does* constitute discrimination.
As I mentioned on I think it was a post on World of Matticus about this:
My RL surname can be twisted by the immature into something rude. I pretty much will not be posting on the official blizzard forums. I’ve mentioned this to my good wow mate who is probably one of the few people I’d RealID and he thought I was possibly overreacting but agreed it’s not nice to have personal info out there.
I’d be interested to see from a legal point of view whether my previous posts being converted from my char name to my account name would constitute a breach of the Data Protection Act although chances are we’ll be signing that away when patch day comes just to play the game or have already done in the Terms and conditions.
Echo´s last blog ..I Haz Announcementz
Apparently it won’t be retroactive.
On the other hand, I’m extremely leery about where this is all headed.
Well said, Chas.
Issy´s last blog ..Heavenly Argosies
Thanks
/signed
Miss Medicina´s last blog ..The Completionists Ramble
/thank
/wave
A guildie told me about this earlier today. I found it hard to believe, but … there it is. Ugh. I fully agree with your post. This is NOT okay. I have already pretty much turned my back on the forums because they’re so steeped in curdled cap, this will ensure I will never go back because I have no intention to reveal my true name there. I’m a woman, and my last name is a rare one in my country (never mind abroad). If some stalker got it into his head to target me, I’m pretty sure he could find out just where I live with basically no effort at all, in no time at all. I wasn’t so worried about privacy when I first hit the ‘net some 13 years ago, but now it is a huge concern for me, and this seriously ticks me off.
So basically what this means is that people who refuse to be exposed in this manner will no longer be able to:
1) help other players by writing guides or advice
2) announce events
3) advertise their guild
4) discuss the lore or other aspects of the game/community
5) offer feedback where “blues” may see it
And this is supposed to be a good idea?!
This change will NOT reduce trolling and general asshattery unless it comes in combination with a big increase in moderator presence and associated punishments. And even then, the privacy issue and the risk of attracting stalkers would remain. Ridiculous.
I seriously don’t understand how people can not understand that some people have concerns over privacy.
This whole thing makes me madder and madder the more I think about it.
you forgot 6) get tech support over the forums. and tracert? not just no but hell no. now you’re jane doe whose tracert says you live in podunk kansas, population 116.
god’s bollocks! /facepalm
/signed
Good post.
I was going to just say “Thanks” but apparently the blog gets uppity if I repeat comments.
So “thanks for commenting and being supportive!!
Just because you have some good experiences (me, I admit it, I’ve had great friendships arise out of on-line gaming) doesn’t mean that is true of everyone.
I like to judge people by how they represent themselves, not by the name their parents left them with. I’d be much happier if they switched to a handle system like every other MMO on the planet uses in order to limit “trolling.” The BS about “creating” an environment for friendship is such a wasted sentiment. The game itself provides the medium, we don’t need “features” that allow us to make friends easier. Like my name is a good indicator of how I’ll fit on that scale.
Windsoar´s last blog ..Getting Out of Hand
Agreed. A handle system would be a good idea, because it would combine some degree of accountability (no more hiding behind level 1 trolling alts) while still protecting people’s privacy.
The inability to accept that (SHOCK HORROR) different people might have different experiences is the thing that seriously boggles me about this whole thing.
Thanks for comments-slash-linkbacks.
Thanks for getting this up so fast. I got to blather on about the social implications to me personally and ignore talking about the scary implications.
The general lack of understanding that bad things can and do happen with online interactions, even if its a small percentage, just baffles me. Wanting to *prevent* potential problems is always the wisest course that you can pursue, and by pointing out potential flaws and unintended consequences, you’re making the system better. Sheesh
The scary implications are scary.
The sad thing is that I do in fact know exactly why people are ignoring them, because it wasn’t that long ago that I was a member of the “pseudonyms are for cowards” club myself. If you never expect to be stalked, or harassed, or just to have somebody ignore you or talk down to you because of who you are (or who you appear to be) it’s very easy to think of anonymity as something that cowards hide behind, whereas for some people anonymity is necessary if you’re going to be treated like an ordinary human being, or stay safe from the abusive ex who is literally trying to kill you.
The thing is that trolls *do* hide behind anonymity, so it truly is a dual edged sword, and the case can be made that it’s bad… for some people.
I contend that those people that abuse anonymity are jerks in the first place (as you so rightly point out), and that those for whom anonymity is a shield and first line of defense stand to gain FAR more from anonymity than society stands to gain from outing the losers.
The needs of the individual far outweigh the “needs” of the community on this one.
Tesh´s last blog ..I Had a Dream
I completely agree with everything you said (also nice to see you post again, Chas).
It’s also left me with a huge amount of wariness and mistrust towards Blizzard and their word. When RealID first came out and people were worried about privacy, they assured us that “this information is for your friends only!”. Then we found out friends of friends could see it, and now this… Honestly, why should we trust anything they say about future features?
And doesn’t Blizzard promise not to share your personal information with people when you create an account with them? I’m really wishing I had used a fake name on mine.
I also really loved and appreciated this line, totally agree = “It is a common misconception that trolling is caused by anonymity. It is not. It is caused by people being assholes”
I’m really wishing I’d used a fake name as well. That being kind of the final irony here: people who actually want to anonymously troll the forums STILL CAN. It’s only people who foolishly assumed that Blizzard would keep their personal information safe that get the shaft.
It’s like DRM. It mildly inconveniences pirates, it annoys the hell out of legitimate consumers.
Hi, my name is [Obviously Female First Name] [Unique Lastname]! If you google my name all the hits are me! You can find out my political preference, a convention where I gave a talk, who my facebook friends are and whatever info you can gleam from that – my facebook is locked down but, say, my little brother’s isn’t. Look! There’s my resume! Oh, wow, now you know where I went to school and allll sorts of other stuff! Sure the contact info is obfuscated through the resume service but wow! You know, that post I made about DKs being overpowered was really rather rude. Perhaps a personal note would make me reconsider my thoughts. Oh, you live twenty minutes from me? Maybe you’d like to stop by!
Oh, hi Mr. Prospective Boss. Yes, I am the author of “Why Tree Form Totally Sucks Right Now” on the Cataclysm Healing forum. I thought it was pretty good. And yeah I made that post about DKs being overpowered. Oh, you were looking for someone a little less… geeky? For a C# .NET application programming job? Really? Oh, well, that’s your right… sigh…
No more wow forums for me….
On a side note, it is weird how you can be *too geeky* for tech jobs, isn’t it (I’ve got a friend who was turned down for a job at *Google* for being too geeky).
But yeah. There isn’t enough GAH in the world for this.
Yeah, I had a friend in grad school who had the same thing happen to her from Google – I think they are a little less than what their public image says…
Also as per your last edit – I will also refuse to be a victim and SHOOT THEM WITH MY GUN if they stalk me, but I’d really, really rather not have that hassle. I think it might scare my baby.
Analogue´s last blog ..Real ID Gets worse
In case my last edit wasn’t clear, my problem with “I refuse to be a victim” isn’t that I don’t think women should stand up for themselves, it’s that I don’t think it’s appropriate to say “I refuse to be a victim” in response to somebody saying “I am concerned about this.”
It’s sort of like when those bombs went off in London in 2007 and there was that huge outpouring of people making awful photoshopped pictures saying “I am not afraid” and it got so bad that some people set up a counter-site called “I am fucking terrified” because contrary to popular believe it is OKAY TO ACCEPT THAT SCARY THINGS ARE SCARY.
Sorry, personal bugbear.
What bugs me about “I refuse to be a victim” is that in my opinion it is empty posturing unless you have already been victimized. Of course it is important to stand up for yourself, show solidarity, protect your rights, all that. But if player #1 happily uses his real name because he “refuses to be a victim” and nothing happens to him and he can’t really see why people are being such “wusses” about it, and player #2 gets targeted by stalkers in and beyond the game … then player #1’s attitude is damn condescending and egocentric to boot, adding insult to injury.
Ooh, we’ve hit the comment-threading limit.
Umm, yeah, this.
Saying “I refuse to be a victim” in response to somebody else expressing their fears (or, worse, talking about their lived experiences) isn’t just patronizing, it’s victim-blaming.
The problem with “I refuse to be a victim” response to “there are stalkers” is that it implies that if someone is eventually a victim of stalker, then it’s hir fault.
“The problem with “I refuse to be a victim” response to “there are stalkers” is that it implies that if someone is eventually a victim of stalker, then it’s hir fault.”
I agree. It has the unspoken message that the one being stalked is not refusing to be a victim and is therefore being a victim by choice.
Having been stalked by a guildmate at one point in my WoW playing time, I guard my privacy in-game fairly possessively. Basically his threats of personal violence scared the hell out of me, but at least he couldn’t find out my last name. Luckily I used a random email address for registering with the guild website because he dug around in the administrator bit to see if he could find out my name that way. He threatened to beat me up and rape me and now Blizzard want to hand those individuals our personal details willy nilly. Awesome.
I also post or at least used to post fairly often on the Priest, Druid, PvP and Battlegroup forums. Not any more. I really don’t see how anyone I’m having a discussion with needs to know either my gender or my name. Especially since googling them will tell them all sorts of things from where and what I studied to the stuff I do in my spare time. Oh and there is photos too. Everything I post is intended to be useful, I don’t pick fights, I don’t troll and yet I’m being forced off the forums. Now who will bump our recruitment thread
Wow, that’s really awful. I can see why you’d be protective of your privacy given the circumstances.
Again, the inability of some people to accept that other people’s concerns are legitimate is what most upsets me about all this.
“given the circumstances.”
In some games those circumstances are just normal. In Eve or hardcore Diablo 2 ganking someone often provokes that sort of response. Sometimes even defending yourself against gankers can cause that reaction.
It’s horribly naive to think the only reason people act like cunts on the internet is anonymity. Some people act like cunts because they are cunts.
Stabs´s last blog ..Eve- PI Economics- part 3 Stockpiles
Umm, I think that’s pretty much what I said in the original post?
I was just making the point that it’s not a matter of “other people’s concerns”. Anyone could be victimised by this, white, middle aged males called John Smith could still be traced and then harassed.
Stabs´s last blog ..WoW- RealID
This announcement really does astound me at just how badly thought-out it seems.
Stopping trolls and creating a better community? Well sure, that’s an admirable goal but this is possibly the worst way to go about fixing the proble. How about hiring some more forum moderators? Bam. Done.
I don’t see the point anyways. I mean, the forums can never be as bad as the three hours of offensive, hateful, shocking racism I saw take over trade chat yesterday. They should work on fixing the actual things that take place in their game first.
As for myself? I don’t post on the forums and now never will, but my big worry is if I ever have to – namely, on the Customer Service forums. It’s not really “opt-in” if I have to opt-in just to get their damn game working or resolve my account being hacked. Even if this weren’t such a significant topic I would still find such “optional until you need us, and then it’s mandatory” setup infuriating.
I honestly just don’t see the point of this, and why so far Blizzard is being so obstinate and “our way or the highway) about it. The “benefit” of reduced forum trolling is laughably insignificant, yet the negativity and hate from those who dislike the idea is absurdly rampant. There’s so little (if anything) to gain and so much to lose…and yet they keep insisting on it for really, no reason. It’s bizarre and seems incredibly self-destructive.
Rades´s last blog ..The Forsaken in Cataclysm spoilers-
As far as I can tell, the issue here is that people seem to have decided that the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory, rather than being a moderately insightful edition of an okay-ish webcomic is actually SCIENTIFIC PROOF.
People really do seem to believe that trolling is caused by anonymity and only by anonymity.
I’m a white, North American, male, and this change scares the hell out of me. A bit of a weird analogy…but to me, it feels like one day they decided that I shouldn’t wear clothes in public. *RIIIIIIIP!*
I don’t usually post on the forums, but this change is all but enforcing that I never will.
(Also – if I choose to leave my real name somewhere, it’s because that’s my choice to do so, and not because I was forced into it. See above.)
It scares the hell out of me too (admittedly I’m not North American) – a lot of people *do* have legitimate privacy concerns. It’s just that funnily enough the majority of the people saying “why are you upset about this” are men.
I’m about to get married and take my partners name. She’s a lawyer whose family background (read surname) is African. This will make my name one in a million. There is no chance that anyone seeing my name will not know who I am immediately. It doesn’t help that I’m well known in my profession and that she is well known both in her profession and the wider community as a whole.
Even worse, she works as a lawyer – She. Puts. People. In. Gaol.
I do not want those people, or people associated with them, able to Google her or my name and see ANYTHING about us.
I have disabled RealID on my account… but I’m saddened by this change.
I seriously don’t get how Blizzard can not realize that some people have legitimate reasons for not wanting to post under their own name. Perhaps they just *genuinely* think that their player base are all loser geeks without jobs or families.
I completely agree with all of this. The fact that Activision/Blizzard even CONSIDERED this is asinine. We can only hope they’ll reconsider applying this feature to the forums.
Sadly I doubt they will. “Using Real Names Will Stop All the Trolling” is to much a part of internet received wisdom.
Not that I disagree with the basic point, but isn’t “people discriminate, thus we should all hide our differences” somewhat awkward logic? Maybe I’m too much of an idealist, wanting people to improve instead of circumventing the problem.
Even though I also disapprove of this change, I have to admit that I’m actually feeling kind of apathetic about it at the same time. Looking at Facebook and similar trends, I can’t help but wonder whether the internet as a whole isn’t simply becoming less of an anonymous space. Maybe in twenty years it will be normal for everyone to use their real name on the internet all the time and we’ll look back at this and laugh about how we could ever be so paranoid.
Shintar´s last blog ..Why we should have more class quests
Of course people shouldn’t have to hide who and what they are. But we should have the choice, a real choice beyond “Don’t use the forums, then”. And it isn’t so easy to change the idiots, especially the really hateful ones. Plus, from what I have seen — and I admit my impression could be wrong — the penalties for trolling or hatespeech are both a joke and rarely actually enforced. So, stripping away our choice to reveal our real name (and gender and possibly nationality/ethnicity with it) without offering proper protection from harassment and stalking is an insanely bad thing. Not to mention that they can’t do anything if, due to having your real name, a stalker takes his activities beyond the forums and game.
You’re a woman? Cheers, you’re free game now. The wanker brats KNOW you really do have a vagina and tits, even if all your characters are male. And the sheer hate and spite that simply knowing another person is female (or otherwise “different”) can trigger can be sickening. How do you change that? By being a shining example of human decency? Always a good idea anyway, but it isn’t even guaranteed to work face-to-face, much less on the internet. And if you’re dealing with sexual harassment/stalking, even acknowledging the stalker in any way can encourage him. By being a really good and knowledgeable player? That may work, but it may also be harder to be taken seriously in the first place if they know you are “different”.
What we need are more moderators and harsher penalties. THAT would actually hit the trolls and protect the decent people. THIS will keep decent people away from the forums through no fault of their own, and make targets out of players who have done nothing wrong. A troll or stalker doesn’t even have to post on the forums himself or even own an account before he can see everyone’s real name (unless they only make the forums viewable for people who have a full, active account — which I seriously doubt they will do). That is crazy.
But… people know that I’m a woman when they see me on the street too, and people deal with it. I don’t see why the internet absolutely has to be this completely anonymous space where nobody knows who or what you are. In real life, people taking on fake names is generally associated with either playing make-believe or doing something for which you might be persecuted. Is it any wonder that internet activities have a reputation of being silly or dodgy? I don’t see why discussing a game is so embarrassing and scary that we couldn’t do it with our real names instead, maybe people wouldn’t look down on it as much then either.
I do agree that the “searchability” is annoying and it would be better if Blizzard at least changed the forums to only be accessible to those who have a Battle.net account themselves, so your name doesn’t get plastered all over Google with every comment you make. Not saying they’ll do it… but then again, looking at the uproar caused by the announcement so far they might still backpedal on the whole thing anyway. I’d be happy with that, as I said I’m not actually in favour of this, I’m just not sure whether the mere idea is quite as “the sky is falling”-bad as people seem to think and not every argument against it is necessarily that compelling to me.
Shintar´s last blog ..Why we should have more class quests
But… people know that I’m a woman when they see me on the street too
Obviously I can’t speak for your experience, but my observation, and my understanding of the experiences of a great many other people is that people actually treat women very badly in the street.
People who see me walking down the street know that I’m a woman. That’s correct. But unless I choose to give them my name, they won’t know a thing about me, other than the fact that I’m a woman. Can they still do horrible things to me? Yes of course. That’s why I’m very aware of what’s going on around me when I’m alone outside of my home.
There are many personal information search engines online that scare the shit out of me. If I type my name into them, all of my personal information comes up. My current address, my previous addresses, my phone number, my family members, my mother’s address. All at the click of a button. For free.
I don’t want the entire WoW community to have my name, which will then in turn give them everything they need to know about me. This change is not okay.
And if people think that no one will use this information for real life trolling, they are, in a word, wrong. Example: Just a couple of weeks ago, I got a slew of harassing phone calls in the middle of the night from various trash numbers, threatening me, my fiance, and my cats….all because two years ago, I put my cell number on a flyer when my cat escaped my apartment. So somebody kept that flyer, and used it to harass someone they didn’t even know, for fun. Now imagine getting into a heated discussion with some immature jerk on the forums. They may not troll you there because it uses their real name, but they can still be anonymous with phone calls to you.
If I really thought this were going to stay limited to the forums, I wouldn’t be so vehemently against it. I wouldn’t like it, nor would I use the forums again, but I wouldn’t be so furious about it. I just don’t believe it will stop here. Blizzard wants to create a “social-gaming service” apparently. The day that my real name is linked to my armory or shows up as a tool tip when you mouse over my character in game (like some sort of bizarre Facebook) is the day I’m done.
Well said. Also: if some bastard who sees me walking down the street decides that being a woman makes me a good target right there, I can at least try to defend myself directly (hopefully with the help of nearby people, though sadly you can never count on that). Try fighting back when you get anonymous threatening letters, phonecalls or emails. Police here, and I bet in most other places/countries, are badly overworked, understaffed and often don’t know the “new media” well, and stalking is still not taken as seriously as it should be especially if you can’t say who the stalker is.
And Blizzard have already lied to their players: Real ID isn’t just for trusted friends. At this point, everything they say about that idiotic system should be viewed in that light. Combine that with the incredible condescension of calling people’s very valid concerns “scare-mongering” and essentially saying, “Don’t like it, don’t use it. We don’t care!” and it just sends some really bad, really worrying signals. You don’t have the right to be heard or to get customer support unless you pay with your privacy? That is crazy.
I bloody well hope they’ll get tons of bad press about this, and run-ins with privacy/data protection groups.
Yes, people who see you on the street know you’re a woman.
Do they turn and follow you and shout you off the street, screaming that you need to get your tits off the sidewalk because it’s a right-of-way for people with dicks? Do they jump at the back of your neck and whisper threats and demeaning comments about your body – which they can’t see, it’s covered by clothes, but still they take those shots in the dark.
No?
Well, guess what, that shit happens in game if the little hormone case males find out there’s a girl behind a toon.
Not kidding, okay, so GUESS WHAT: RL street is NOT like hanging out in game!
/I’m totally blown away that you can be that.. blind? or.. whatever. “People treat me fine on the street” WUT?/
Well, I’ve never had anything even remotely like that happen to me in-game either, and I’ve never hidden my gender.
I’m not saying you can’t run into crazies, but I’ve never had reason to assume that it’s any more likely to happen online than in real life. I know I still hear a lot more stories about people attacking their neighbours or someone in a bar than I hear about internet psychos.
Shintar´s last blog ..Why we should have more class quests
Oh, on a totally unrelated note: cheers on your class quest blog entry. (I hope our hosts don’t mind me posting that here since I don’t have a Blogger account.) I second every word of it and have always wished for more class quests. Not only do they give you a better “feel” for what your place in the world is, they can also be a fantastic opportunity to get you to explore your class and learn to play it better. The epic flightform questline is flat-out awesome on both accounts.
I’d like racial quests, too. Both class and racial quests could go a long way to add immersion, get people to play more characters (thus playing the game longer), and make the ol’ grind to max level a lot less repetitive between alts.
Not that I disagree with the basic point, but isn’t “people discriminate, thus we should all hide our differences” somewhat awkward logic? Maybe I’m too much of an idealist, wanting people to improve instead of circumventing the problem.
I’m not sure you’re being too much of an idealist, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with my logic.
In an ideal world, it wouldn’t matter if you were a man or a woman, black or white, disabled or nondisabled, transgender or cisgender. In such an ideal world, in which such information did not matter, it would not matter if people revealed it or not. Which would mean it wouldn’t be a matter of “hiding” anything.
In the real world, however, people treat you differently depending on how much they know about you. Many people choose simply *not to reveal* information that will cause other people to treat them worse and this is perfectly okay. For some people, their gender is an integral part of their identity, for others it isn’t (and for some it is, but it’s not the gender they were assigned at birth) some people strongly define by their sexuality, others don’t. The point here is that *people* get to choose what other people get to know about them, what is an important part of their identity, and what is something they don’t want other people to care about.
Insisting on revealing real names, in part, means you are forcing people to be *defined and judged* by those names. This is something a lot of people aren’t comfortable with.
Fantastic post. This whole idea is just one giant /facepalm. *Especially* as a female with a relatively unique name, ugh.
@ Shintar – the paranoia will exist as long as stalkers etc exist as well as narrow-minded employers etc exist.
/facepalm indeed.
What the hell Blizz?
Yeah, see, if I still went by my legal name, I wouldn’t care so much about MY OWN name being public (though that doesn’t mean I think this is in any way okay) because it seems to be a relatively common name, going by a quick Google search.
UNFORTUNATELY, I go by a completely DIFFERENT name, that will hopefully soon be my legal name (and the name on my battle.net account if I jump through some hoops), and that name, based on a quick Google search, is pretty damn rare. The first PAGE AND A HALF of results? Were me. All of them. And the next three or four pages had me scattered throughout them. Those links? Go to my personal blog, my personal website (which will eventually be set up as a writing blog), various little things I’ve done online. With my name and information that someone could glean from those sites that Google would point them to, somebody could not only stalk me online, but could probably track me down and stalk me in real life, too.
And given how CRAZY some of the people on the WoW forums seem to be, I am NOT down with that.
Apple´s last blog ..RealID Forums
I don’t post much on the official forums as it is. They are a hive of scum and villainy. Pretty much the only times I post there are to let Blizzard know about bugs or suggestions. Years of QA in the gaming industry have made me a little neurotic about finding and reporting bugs. But if this change goes through, they’re going to have to get their bug reports directly through the in-game ticketing system, because I am never posting on the forums again.
It’s not because I’m afraid of potential employers knowing I play WoW. In my line of work, that’s usually a plus. Especially when most of my posts are bug reports… =P
No, it’s because I hate the legal name my parents saddled me with. I always have, and though I tolerate it being associated with me in the real world for work purposes, it still fills me with hate. Any time I see it representing me or being connected to me in any way, I am incredibly angry. I do not want to see THAT NAME on the internet, the place I have set aside as being my sanctuary from it. I have been going by Kiryn Silverwing on the internet for at least ten years. That’s what my fiance calls me. All of my good friends in real life know me as Kiryn. The facebook account I use is under that name. Not because I’m worried about privacy, but because I hate my legal name and I want it to DIE.
I would have changed my legal name years ago, if not for the fact that it’s an incredibly huge hassle to do so, and I figure if I’m going to change my legal last name when I get married next year to that of my future husband, I can take that opportunity to change my first name at the same time. I’d really rather not have to go through that twice. Though from what I hear, getting your name changed on your battle.net account is about as difficult as getting your legal name changed in real life.
I don’t want my legal name associated with my posts at all. That is not ME. That is not who I AM. I don’t want to look at it. I don’t want other people to look at it.
All this change is going to do is chase away most of the people who legitimately used the forums for good. And I doubt it will do much to deter the people who like trolling.
Kiryn´s last blog ..The end is coming — at least for the WoW forums
@Shintar – I’m not paranoid and I have coping mechanisms for gender-based discrimination (but no gun). But irl I’m in a public role and my (quite uncommon) name and my mobile phone number can be found with less than 2 minutes effort, advertised on my work website. Do I want that (quite disturbed) player who harrassed me daily via a series of alts to have access to my phone number? Nah.
So I can never post in the forums again, through no fault of my own.
And the addons-giving-your-real-name-away thing is just plain scary. Blizz Just Don’t Care.
I’m off to pretend to be my own mother now.
WTB US Privacy Commissioner?
Xeppe´s last blog ..R is for Respect
I was absolutely astonished when I read about this earlier – this is “New Coke”-level corporate stupidity on Blizzard’s part. Unless the goal is to shut down their forums, in which case, well done. I will certainly not be posting – I have an unusual name (as in, at most a half dozen with my first- and last-name combination in the US), and professional and personal contact information is available for me online because I’m a member of a licensed profession that at the very least requires that my work address be public record (and when I was unemployed, it was my home address, which probably means it’s cached somewhere). Just…appalling.
I read a comment saying: your name is nothing special, you are not a unique snowflake, get over yourself.
Well. Unless your name is Micah Whipple this may be true.
http://wowriot.gameriot.com/blogs/Americans-are-bad-at-games/Real-Names-on-the-Official-Forums-New-REAL-ID-function
(also, good to see you posting again, although its a shame that the topic to draw you back in was so awful)
dwism´s last blog ..Dwarf Warlocks- Thats Awsome
I have been arguing the showing of your Real Name with Real ID on the official forums for the past few weeks and it just gets worse!
Check out the various Real ID threads on the offical General forum (europe) and back me up
We have two people in my guild of Asian decent that I am away of. We no doubt have more, however these are the two I know of. Their real life names are Robert and Marie.
Automatically thinking those with a name that is NOT anglo-saxon will be subject to racism is, in itself, racist. It implies that 1) One race will pick on another and 2) That there are different behaviors by people of different races. Do we really live in a world where we think Anglo-Saxons are the only racists in the world?
And do we still live in a world where this is an automatic assumption? How do we feel better when we ignore the issue – hide behind false names – than tackle the issue head on? Shouldn’t our diversity be celebrated, rather than hidden? And why do we assume that white, straight males are all racist/sexist/homophobic bullies? Are white, straight males the last group that it’s ok to assume things – bad things – of?
Agreeing with the changes or not, the issues raised in the blog post are much, much bigger than a real name appearing on the forums. It assumes that people will judge others on their name and it assumes that assumption will be done by males with anglo-saxon names. I, for one, am sick of people assuming that I’m racist and sexist because I’m white. You could say I’m sick of being judged on my race and sex.
“your guide to DK DPS in patch 4.3 will be better received if you post it as David Williamson instead of Jalpa Patel or Helen Roberts.”
By who? Women? Indians? Asians? Australians? Gays? The disabled? The elderly? Left handers?
“For straight white men like me, this is a minor inconvenience”. I’m a “straight white man.” am I like you? You have lumped all straight white men into one giant stereotype. Do we listen to the same music? Eat the same foods? Like the same women? Hate the same races? Maybe we can start a Klan?
“It is not fucking okay.” Damn straight it’s not. Racism is the lowest form of human behavior. Just because your real name is for show doesn’t change that. And just because you’re a “straight white male” doesn’t mean you don’t face it. The other day, at work, a female customer suggested I beat my wife. Why? Because I’m a “straight white male.”
“Automatically thinking those with a name that is NOT anglo-saxon will be subject to racism is, in itself, racist. It implies that 1) One race will pick on another and 2) That there are different behaviors by people of different races. Do we really live in a world where we think Anglo-Saxons are the only racists in the world?”
Call it pessimism, being realistic or whatever the hell you want. I’ve been playing online games in some format for about 11 years and the one constant is the immaturity of the vast majority of each community. Wow has a lot of immature people who play it. If I had a £ for every time I got called a “hate” term I’d be rich
In your own post you assume that Chas is referring to racism being perpetrated by “anglo saxons” however in no way did he actually state that they were the ones doing it. I think from your own experience below you evidently read a bit much into it.
There’s other people from different backgrounds just as racist which I think was what you were getting at. I don’t think Chas was saying what you that he meant.
Echo´s last blog ..I Haz Announcementz
Automatically thinking those with a name that is NOT anglo-saxon will be subject to racism is, in itself, racist. It implies that 1) One race will pick on another and 2) That there are different behaviors by people of different races. Do we really live in a world where we think Anglo-Saxons are the only racists in the world?
Well … that would be an excellent rebuttal to my initial post, if I had said “The problem with this is that every single white person will immediately racially abuse every single person they perceive as not being totally anglo-saxon“. But I didn’t.
Your argument seems to be that it is impossible for racism to exist *at all*.
I, for one, am sick of people assuming that I’m racist and sexist because I’m white. You could say I’m sick of being judged on my race and sex.
Oh wow, I TOTALLY SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE.
Because suggesting that racism might so much as *exist* in your community is EXACTLY THE SAME as systematically discriminating against people.
By who? Women? Indians? Asians? Australians? Gays? The disabled? The elderly? Left handers?
To answer your question. Yes. Probably. Probably, if you mean Asians living outside Asia. Almost certainly. Probably. Probably. Probably.
Generally people across social and ethnic demographics do in fact respond better to white men than to members of other demographic groups. This also works in blind tests – employers are more likely to interview candidates with European sounding names than non-European sounding names, and certainly men are more likely to be interviewed than women (and of course to get paid more). These are all real, testable, observable phenomena.
And just because you’re a “straight white male” doesn’t mean you don’t face it. The other day, at work, a female customer suggested I beat my wife. Why? Because I’m a “straight white male.”
Wow! That totally changes my perception of race politics! I had never considered the option that sometimes people might say things to white people that upset them. This totally means that there is no such thing as racism! Because that is totally how it works!
Vok, you might find http://www.derailingfordummies.com and A Primer on Privilege: What it is and isn’t useful to read before trying the ‘that is racism against white people’ angle.
“Privilege is not: About you. Privilege is not your fault. Privilege is not anything you’ve done, or thought, or said. It may have allowed you to do, or think, or say things, but it’s not those things, and it’s not because of those things. Privilege is not about taking advantage, or cheating, although privilege may make this easier. Privilege is not negated. I can’t balance my white privilege against my female disadvantage and come out neutral. Privilege is not something you can be exempt from by having had a difficult life. Privilege is not inherently bad. It really isn’t.
Privilege is: About how society accommodates you. It’s about advantages you have that you think are normal. It’s about you being normal, and others being the deviation from normal. It’s about fate dealing from the bottom of the deck on your behalf.
Almost everyone who is reading this had some form of privilege. If you are a member of three marginalized groups, in ill health, and poor, you’re still able to access and use the internet, both demonstrating and conferring privilege.”
Pewter´s last blog ..RealID Saga Part One- Silencing Voices
You know, I was one of those people who actually had faith in Blizzard with this whole RealID thing (stupid, I know!). This though, as you put it, is not okay. I’m a female gamer and honestly it’s not an issue of worrying about people knowing my name. It’s the fact that I alone should be the one who decides whether or not to give out my private information in a public setting. Is Blizzard “forcing” me to use the forums? No, but it isn’t that straightforward either. Blizzard is asking for its subscribers to PAY once more for the right to participate in the game community, except this time it is with personal information. I know it’s just a name, but it’s still your information. Didn’t Blizzard Developers’ mothers ever tell them not to give out their name on the internet to just anyone?
I liked RealID because I could continue enjoying the game while only giving my information to people I felt like. It’s too bad really, because I like the idea of RealID overall. Even Facebook isn’t this invasive – you can still use an alias there if you wish, and no billing information is checked to force you into using your real name.
Poptart´s last blog ..Quick Cataclysm Preview- Worgen and Troll Druid Forms
The nonconsensual aspect is the thing that pushes this over from “a bit invasive” to really seriously not fucking okay like seriously for serious.
You know what infuriates me the most about this? The flippant way we get told that if we don’t want to have our names pubic then we shouldn’t post. Yeah, like if I don’t want to get raped I’d better not go to the park at night, wearing a mini-skirt.
Well, fair enough, then. I’ll be avoiding the official forum like the plague and keep my tech-help to myself in the futute. *sigh*
Chadrassa´s last blog ..Trollocks and Dwarlocks- oh my…
First, I’ve seen many guys get screwed by a psycho-bitch, so it goes both ways Tam.
Fuck you Blizzard.
I didn’t sell my privacy to the motherfucking Facebook, much less to you.
First, I’ve seen many guys get screwed by a psycho-bitch, so it goes both ways Tam
Firstly, Chas not Tam.
Secondly, while I’m not denying that men have legitimate problems with this sort of thing as well, I think it speaks volumes that your description of the typical male experience is getting “screwed by a psycho bitch” whereas above Erinyes describes a situation in which an *actual member of her guild* threatened to *physically assault and rape her*.
This shit blizzard pulled out from their behind (trying to be polite here) is making me rage on so many levels it will take me few days to comprehend fully …
Anyway i expect forumland to be populated by minors with no sense of privacy sharing most probably their parent’s names if not their own, naive people, and people with fake names in their account bio. It will be like some kind of reality show with most of forum goers will be peeping tom’s silently watching the show. I do wonder what kind of show it will be? will it be comedy? horror show?
Yesterday ingame friends (or friends of friends or…)
Today the forums
Tomorrow Facbook & Farmville
Next month, make the account hackers lives easier and just sell them the info
…
I was reading through the forum where they revealed the personal details of the foolish CM that gave his real name.
His mum’s name, brother’s name, home address, driving convictions the list goes on…
Then someone pipes up and says… “No that can’t be him, wrong state” (apparently the details are correct).
The thing is, this CM’s family is now suffering, he will suffer. What’s he going to do, go into hiding, move his family into hiding?
What if it really isn’t his family or his details.
Some poor bugger that shares a name, probably never heard of WoW, how has 11 million fucktards ordering pizza to his house.
I have my own reasons why this isn’t acceptable, which really only leaves one course of action. RealID = Account Cancelled.
Gnomeaggedon´s last blog ..RealID Account Cancelled
Wow, I’m really sorry you’re going. You’re, like, huge.
Here, here! Couldn’t agree more, and I’m creeped out by it all. RealID is a dealbreaker, and if it becomes mandatory, I will leave the game over it.
Yeah, it’s seriously not alright. I’m genuinely on the edge of calling it a serious dealbreaker.
Chas – thanks for the well thought and strident view. We need a bit of “No, this is not ok” that is well articulated and strongly stated. As someone who has been stalked over a long period of time, this is not ok. A place I’ve gone for fun and relaxation, where I’ve made some now RL friends I visit is likely over for me. This is not OK!
I’ve always enjoyed your blog, helped me help my pally get her Kingslayer title. Sadly I won’t need to do the study anymore.
/bow
She who was once Jovvi
I’ve always enjoyed your blog, helped me help my pally get her Kingslayer title
… that’s pretty impressive since neither Tamarind nor I have managed to do that.
I’m really sorry this has driven you away from the game (on the plus side you’re in good company – you’ve got Gnomer with you).
So yeah, hi and thanks for reading and sorry this totally fucked up situation has screwed you
This is heading to Very Bad Places.
Why, why, why did Blizzard ever think that people who play MMOs wanted a “Facebook” experience with their gaming? I have a facebook and it is locked down as tight as it possibly can be, with 90% of it being family members who worry about my lack of communication by phone. The other 10% are the few friends I had in high school that remember who I am.
I do not want my gaming experience to be like Facebook.
I fear for the day they essentially make Real ID non-optional in some way (and making it impossible for me to use the Guild Recruitment, Suggestion, Bug Report, Technical Support, and Customer Support forums without revealing my REAL name is essentially a BIG step in that direction), that is the day that Blizzard & Activision stop getting money from me.
It will be a very, very sad day. (I have always viewed Blizzard as THE upstanding gaming company, when places like EA were just corporate grinding machines.)
Avaryse´s last blog ..Big Brother Blizzard
I agree completely. I do not want my video games to be Facebook. The only people I am friends with on Facebook are people I already know pretty well in real life — family members, coworkers, old friends from high school. Mostly so that I don’t lose track of people I used to know as we move around in life, as I did so much when I was a child. And even on Facebook, I do not use my real name. The fact that Facebook is LESS invasive than the new battle.net frightens me.
On Battle.net, the name on your account IS your real name, largely because the name needs to match for billing purposes and because we were told when we made our account that this information would never be given out to anyone — and now they won’t let you change the name on your account without legitimate paperwork to prove that the name you’re changing it to is in fact your real name.
This announcement has me seriously tempted to cancel my WoW account and never play again. For now, I will just refrain from using the forums and be sad at what the world has come to, but if they take even one more step, I think it will be the end of WoW for me.
Kiryn´s last blog ..The end is coming — at least for the WoW forums
Hmm… I hope that I really wasn’t giving off the sense that I was dismissive on my post about this, because I 100% agree with you chas! Thinking back, maybe I need to edit in a short paragraph at the end… My point is certainly that Online security is a BIG concern and extends WAY beyond just Real ID.
Firespirit´s last blog ..Real ID – Really
Awesome post.
I’m one of the ones who’d be labeled ‘Other’.
I have a very feminine first name and a very unique last name (I and a few of my friends have googled me, and I’m the only one who comes up). I also have a psycho ex-husband who once described to me, in great detail, how he’d pay me back for leaving him by torturing my pets. And, due to the fact that I once posted my real name online, I acquired a stalker who left me with a facial scar (when I told him to fuck off and leave me alone, he showed up at my door to ‘discuss’ the issue; I never gave him any contact information, he tracked me down by name alone; luckily, I wasn’t the only one in the house, at the time).
The fact that Blizzard will release real names online terrifies me. A lot of people are saying that Blizzard is doing it ‘without consent’, but that’s not true – by posting, you’re giving them full consent to display your real name. That’s why I’ll never post. The police who handled my stalking case told me to never, ever post my full, real name online, and that advice has worked just fine so far.
It just baffles me that, in this day and age, privacy is such a big deal to so many, yet Blizzard is taking an almost exact opposite stance.
In the event of my game not working, getting technical support is not worth acquiring another facial scar, police intervention, hospital reports, and so on (or even potentially getting killed). Why should I have to live in fear just because my video card is giving me grief over the latest patch? And, why should I go without the tech support if I don’t want to put my safety at risk?
Some will sign up for new accounts under assumed names. I considering doing the same thing. The problem with this is that if your account ever gets hacked, and you need to show ID to get it back, you’ll end up losing years of XP, gold and items simply because you put your safety above Blizzard’s need for social solidarity.
When I read the Blue post about how they “want to make sure we’re creating a great social-gaming service that people will want to use” my first thought was that it was just a sick joke. Then, I thought of the Borg. They’re trying to assimilate us all. The human race isn’t one big, happy social family. Some of us have to be protected from others.
It’ll only be a matter of time before the news outlets start mentioning the RealID issue in assault and homicide stories. Sad, but there you have it.
What’s the next step? Click on a toon, then select ‘display player’s real name’?
This would’ve been a wicked April Fool’s joke. Unfortunately, it’s July, and Blizzard isn’t joking.
I’m very sorry to hear what hell you’re going through. The fact that they are brushing off such very real fears is crazy. It isn’t scare-mongering, it is real. And they said they still have many more plans for this idiocy …
For me, Real ID and now the forum changes, on their own, are earth shattering. The forum change is very uncomfortable, granted, and I don’t think its a good idea at all, but at least you can still play the game.
What scares me is with the release of Real ID and these forum changes taken together. Where is Blizzard going with all this? Will there be a point where Real ID and the distribution of your private details across the Blizzard network becomes so open that you have no way to control it except cut off all ties with Blizzard in its entirety? What are these “cool new features we have planned with Real ID” they are talking about. As it stands, you can control your privacy by not posting to the forums. Its not critical to playing. Its what may come that makes me dread Real ID more.
Kruntak´s last blog ..Who are you Post and we will all find out
hey, a very interesting post on oficial forums regarding the matter ( http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=13816838128&sid=1&pageNo=455 nr. 9090 )
made by Valdu Steamwheedle Cartel :
“It’s time I contributed properly to this with a rant. Few (if anyone) will read my wall of text. It will change nothing, Blizzard will ignore it and it will soon be lost behind pages of other posts. It needs to be said regardless.
Blizzard/Activision are currently spearheading a new and ‘radical’ paradigm shift for their product(s). The ultimate, long-term goal of this new direction is a direct, symbiotic relationship between Battlenet and Facebook, in which their products, customers, and points of customer exchange operate within a centralised, all-encompassing social networking environment, based upon a hybrid platform incorporating both Facebook and Battlenet data. All Battlenet customers will (by default) become Facebook customers, and subject to identical terms and conditions.
It’s in the bag:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=128252
Snippets from Facebook terms and conditions (try substituting ‘Facebook’ for ‘Battlenet’ – remember they are soon to be one and the same, as a Battlnet customer, you will also be a Facebook customer, and subject to the same conditions….
Q u o t e:
When you use Facebook, you may set up your personal profile, form relationships, send messages, perform searches and queries, form groups, set up events, add applications, and transmit information through various channels. We collect this information so that we can provide you the service and offer personalised features.
Q u o t e:
Facebook may also collect information about you from other sources, such as newspapers, blogs, instant messaging services, and other users of the Facebook service through the operation of the service (eg, photo tags) in order to provide you with more useful information and a more personalised experience.
Q u o t e:
By using Facebook, you are consenting to have your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States … We may be required to disclose user information pursuant to lawful requests……This may include sharing information with other companies, lawyers, agents or government agencies
Facebook have already been accused of selling your personal details to other organisations.
Chilling aint it?
Want to think about the future?
What is the future of WoW?
Imagine a WoW where the name of your character appears in small, black text next to your real name, and contact information, freely available to any player who hovers over your portrait, with a right-click option to add that player to your list of Facebook friends. From there it will be a breeze to access your new ‘friends’ personal details, from their Facebook profile.
If that sounds crazy… then let me progress into he realm of utter lunacy!
Imagine Stormwind City, with a large, brightly-lit MacDonalds sitting squarely in the middle of the Trade District, and a number of ‘tie-in’ cooking recipes for
players to learn ‘Thunderbuff Big Mac’ anyone? A Silvermoon with Coca Cola billboards splashed across the entrance. Blockbuster promos playing upon a screen every time you cross the ocean on a ship, or Zepplin.
Imagine facing a raid boss, who, before delivering his speech about how you all doomed, launches into a brief message from their sponsor:
‘If you love downing bosses in your favourite game kids… then you’ll LOVE downing our latest double Whopper with Extra Cheese available at participating outets – grab a promotional leaflet from our special Goblin Vendors in Stormwind of Orgrimmar now!!!!’
I mean… why not? Think of the cash benefits for ActiBlizzardBook! Maybe it’s not even so crazy? What is Facebook in reality but a HUGE means of bringing millions of people together in a virtual world free from geographical boundaries?… and then bombarding them with saturation advertising, each member a walking brand placement for the big corps?
I used to trust Blizzard
I’ve actually been a customer since the release of Lost Vikings back in 1996, back when the company was not called Blizzard, but “Silicon & Synapse”. In fact the three games I initially installed on the first PC I ever bought.. a 486 SX25 with 2GB of RAM and a 200MB hard drive were Doom, Lost Vikings, and Dune 2.
I devoured Warcraft (Orcs and Humans), Warcraft II, Diablo, Starcraft, Diablo II, Warcraft II! and finally World of Warcraft. Blizzard had (for me) always represented a company with a 1010% commitment to quality, and their customers, ALWAYS delivering their promises, and ALWAYS putting things they thought would be cool for gamers to experience ahead of everything. It seemed to me to be a firm composed of solid, passionate gameheads, who made enthralling, deep, richly involved game world for other passionate, solid gameheads; and I was a satisfied customer – who would never have hesitated to buy one of their products. Blizzard could be trusted not to underachieve, or rip off their customers… they were one of the good guys in a cutthroat industry.
Trust level: 100%
Some changes to WoW got me a bit worried. Didn’t like the way the game seemed to be increasingly dumbed down with each expansion. Some of the product tie-ins worried me. Microtransactions deeply worried me.
Still, Blizzard, even despite the Activision merge still ultimately delivered, and still engaged with their end users, still seeming to (generally) put the needs of their customers first.
Trust level 87%
Then came the Real ID announcement.
Trust level 0%
From a company I loved, and trusted, Blizzard have gone, almost overnight to a company I despise, and utterly distrust. It’s weird, but I kind-of feel personally betrayed in some strange way.
The famed ‘interaction with end users’ which was so-often held up as a shining example of how a big firm should engage with their customers has become a handful of blue messages – all of which boil down to ‘This is happening and there’s nothing you can do about it. If you don’t like it, tough! Don’t use the forums, we don’t care either way’
Obviously this kind of high handed, and arrogant standpoint is going to isolate most of their long-term and most passionate customers. However, it would also seem that this is taken pretty-much as collateral damage, even to the extent of being pre-known, but ultimately considered worth it.
You see, they plan on having a new customer base now, they no longer need us.
The bright, fresh-faced Facebook social networkers are Blizzard’s new clients, and pretty-much everything we are going to see from now on will be geared around them. Perhaps this, in part, explains the extent of the constant culling of depth, and dumbing down of their game?
Needless to say, they are very, very wrong, you see…
Social Network users and Gamers do not mix, and forcing it will create an emulsion, rather than a solution.
- Game heads don’t care about Facebook, or social networking. Sure, they might use the services, but when in ‘gamer mindset’, they care far more about melting faces, and beating the crap out of their fellow players then engaging with them via swapping pictures of their cats.
- Gamer and gaming culture uses nicks, aliases, handles and avatars to communicate – always have, always will.
Any attempt to ‘force a culture change’, to push a paradigm shift through via brute force is going to be resisted like never before (see thousands forum posts on multiple platforms), and will ultimately fail. No, honestly, it will fail.
- GAMERS DO NOT WANT TO GIVE THEIR REAL NAMES IN ORDER TO USE THE PLATFORMS THEY PLAY UPON, OR THEIR SUPPORT SERVICES – PERIOD!
See thousands of hostile forum posts from angry, bewildered and fed-up customers for more information.
When entering a game environment, gamers are generally looking for a temporary break from real life, a little bit of escapism from the humdrum daily routine. A change to be something, or someone else for a time.
- When I launch World of Warcraft, I do not want to be Frank Winterbottom of Dundee, who is a tax clerk for the Council.
- I don’t want to fight The Lich King as Sheila Shufflebottom of Birmingham, who is a supermarket checkout assistant.
I want to do all the above as Valdudoza, Fire Mage! Citizen of Azeroth, member of the Uberleet FullOfWinz Guild!!! (no I’m neither and I’ve never fought Arthas.. it was just an example, before any pedants wee on my bonfire).
Neither do I want Percy Snodkins of Wakefield to cover my ass and take hits for me with his immortal sword and shield, and I don’t want Veronica Pothelthwaite of Barnsley to heal my ass when it gets burned and blasted.
… get where I’m going with this? Do I need to elaborate any further?
Social networking and gamer culture DO NOT MIX! PERIOD!
The sad thing is, I’ve not mentioned any of the obvious security and privacy violations that live among the massive can ‘O worms that Real ID is about to open; they should be more than obvious to any right-thinking person.
Another sad thing, is that today a huge change to talent points was announced… but, weirdly, it’s like a ghost town. The community would normally be alive with discussion, rantage, advocacy, and analysis about this… but….
It’s like nobody has time even to think about it now, Usually I’d be full of questions, but I can’t even bring myself to care much right now…
Real ID has blotted the landscape, and regardless of how fast the CMs can lock, move or silence posts and discussion about Real ID, it’s going to remain the elephant in the room that we all need to talk about.
Valdu. “
I am gay.
And on my old realm, I was once really seriously harassed by some insane bastard, threatening me. Threatening to find out who I am, where I live, what I do each day. And make my life a living hell.
All for being attracted to men, not women.
Luckily for me, I am – although registered in several online communities – rather protective of my realm name. So, there was no danger of anything really happening to me. However, in the end I had to transfer, to get rid of him.
I do not support this change in ANY EXISTING WAY EVER, regardless of how they change it, and already cancelled my subscription until further notice – speaking: until they reconsider this as the truly insane batshit it is.
Xerian´s last blog ..And another one killed
You’re absolutely right on this issue. This is a horrible violation of the trust of the customers. Before all of this happened, I had absolute trust in Blizzard. I was suspicious of Activision, but not terribly worried.
I was taking a break from the game, but excited about Cataclysm and Starcraft II. Now, I don’t think I’m going to come back to the game at all, and I’m not sure I’m going to be buying Starcraft II or any Blizzard product from here out.
Good news: they backed down. It looks like forum posts will be linked to character names rather than IRL names. It also looks like they’ve made it clear that RealID will not become mandatory in-game. (“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” sounds pretty cut-and-dried to me.)
I never really got upset about Real ID or being forced to post under my RL name on the Official forums… simple because there’s just absolutely no way I’d ever do it.
My RL name is unique. There is no other person in the world with it. There is only 5 people (my immediate family) in my country with my surname.
Posting under my RL name exposes my identity. Not something I’m going to do just to try and find an extra Warlock for my guild on another realm! Nothing something that I’m going to do just to protest the latest batch of Priest Patch changes either.
Sounds about as damaging, personally and professionally, as posting nude/drunk photos of yourself on Facebook.
Cassandri´s last blog ..Raid Leading and Cues
I agree with you Cass – and many others – if/when this were to happen, I’d certainly never post in official forums again.
Of course, the concern remains with in-game stuff, and as activizzard expresses, that still may happen. ugh.
Hinenuitepo´s last blog ..Still Undead and Kicking
So….Activizzard has rescinded on forcing the forum-real-id. HOWEVER. I’d like to point out why this is a diversion and they are still deceiving us:
1. Blizz pushes in-game real ID on us
2. Outcry ensues and continues to grow, so the snake (blizzard) thinks, “Hmm, what if we use our smoke-and-mirrors-media-saavy and do this: We announce that now the forums will require it, then as people outrage about it, we do a 180 and throw ‘em a bone, and “Let them win.” (BUT REAL ID IS STILL IN THE GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
3. Now players have think they’ve won the battle, outrage is doused, and with the lack of willpower and resolve wow players are famous for, they forget all about it
4. A month or two later, real ID is forced through on all fronts anyway.
5. Kotick and Zuckerberg sit in a jacuzzi in the bahamas, rolling in money
6. The first wave of serious wow-related cyber-crimes REally begins
but….
7. Many gullible people still play wow… they grow accustomed to this real-id. They no longer care for their own human rights, privacy, or even Freedoms that their forefathers died for. Eventually, the REAL government decides that society is now ready (having been groomed for it over time through social networking and online gaming)… for their National Real ID card. (Something that has already been tried and rejected in the past)
8. Say goodbye to your Freedoms, you’ve all chosen to lose it, so you could play an illusion, and throw your lives away.
-ex female wow player, all characters deleted
Nicely done, Chas, and obviously an important and popular topic!
120 comments, wow!
In any case, I came back from my hiatus to this pile of crap among other things. Thankfully Blizz was listening to the uproar.
Hinenuitepo´s last blog ..Still Undead and Kicking
[...] using the most annoying function of RealID–your name. I’ll let you read a number of very good reasons why using your name in the internet world can be bad; not necessarily, but definitely [...]
[...] think about the fact that now, all of the trolling on the official forums will be making fun of you because you’re a girl or because you’re a certain nationality, as people will see from your name. When we post under anonymous screennames, they can make fun of [...]
[...] Chastity over at Righteous Orbs has some very well-put thoughts on the subject, that I agree with [...]
[...] Seriously Not Okay (via James): It is a common misconception that trolling is caused by anonymity. It is not. It is [...]
[...] I had to link to a seriously great post on the subject from Righteous Orbs: Seriously Not Okay. Also check out the tip on disabling your addon’s ability to post your info. I was aware that [...]
[...] the US forums, and another 140 page thread on the EU forums. Chastity over at Righteous Orbs perfectly encapsulates my visceral reaction to everyone who has answered the outcry against RealID with “‘lol i can share my name [...]
[...] Chas, from Righteous Orbs – Seriously Not Okay [...]
[...] a brand and a business… the concerns of the little people aren’t relevant), KIASA, Lum, Chastity, Gnomeaggedon, Melfina (yay for a rational feminist perspective) and Tobold. Bonus points to [...]
[...] Righteous Orbs [...]
[...] views: Pewter, Miss Medicina, Chas, Ratshag, Byaghro. Comments are off in case this non-post somehow gets linked from wow.com and [...]
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by RanknVile, RanknVile. RanknVile said: RT @feliciaday: What does everyone think about this? << VERY bad. A reason why. http://bit.ly/anG9w9 [...]
[...] the blogosphere has already taken care of detailing why it’s outlandish, counter-productive, completely wrong and even outright dangerous. I’m only adding my voice to the [...]
[...] – over at Analogue’s ‘Real ID Gets worse‘ and Chas’ excellent ‘Seriously Not Okay.’ I’ve also, in frustration, said a little about it on Twitter. In fact, what I said on [...]
[...] at Righteous Orbs makes makes a strong case again this change from a discrimination standpoint. He’s (tragically) almost certainly [...]
[...] deconstructed this a lot better than I just did. Be sure to check out Spinks, Larisa, Chas at Righteous Orbs, and Anna at Too Many Annas just for [...]
[...] You can find them all over the internet, twitter and on various respected WoW blogs such as here, here and here. However I do want to talk about why these changes are extremely worrying, and more [...]
[...] Tamarind… [...]
[...] TO ADD: Chas’s post at Righteous Orbs is must-read. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)A question of [...]
[...] been somehow disconnected to the blogosphere then go look at Chas’ Righteous Orbs post titled Seriously Not OK. The pingbacks at the end go on for pages. There’s a helpful link in comments to both [...]
[...] Seriously Not Okay This is not going to prevent trolling, this is not going to create an atmosphere of respect and mutual support. All this is going to do is make the forums less safe. People do, in fact, get stalked online. People do, in fact, get harassed and abused online. [...]
[...] have been following the realID hoohah with interest, but thought that most of my views were being put very eloquently elsewhere. However I was prompted to put fingers to keyboard by this post, [...]
[...] finally here’s a post from good ol’ Chastity on it over at Righteous Orbs, and this is actually the first post I [...]
[...] read something that will make your heart sink, start with Chastity’s excellent post, then read through the comments until you get to this one and feel your heart [...]
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Tigorasou. Tigorasou said: RT @Gnomeaggedon: SHIT.. read this comment on Tam's blog and feel your heart sink: http://www.righteousorbs.com/?p=2098&cpage=1#comment- … [...]
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Gnomeaggedon. Gnomeaggedon said: SHIT.. read this comment on Tam's blog and feel your heart sink: http://www.righteousorbs.com/?p=2098&cpage=1#comment-21527 [...]
[...] free from Big Brother media and mainstream spin. Is it also a cesspool of idiocy? Of course, but that’s because of idiocy itself (as Chastity notes at that link), something that some people just can’t seem to give [...]
[...] started on forums, was reported by wow.com, and by the time you blink it’s all over the bloody place. I’ve even seen this one in one place I would never expect it – on Tobold’s blog. I know [...]
[...] Chastity says Real ID is not okay [...]
[...] I understand why they'd choose to boycott it as they see fit.Other views: Pewter, Miss Medicina, Chas, Ratshag, Byaghro, Myze. Comments are off in case this non-post somehow gets linked from wow.com [...]