Poll: What are you doing Blizzard?!?!
- Thread starter RaineHero
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You know penny acrade's f&*&wad theory? See what happens when you remove anonymity.
Edit: Credit goes to matt for this thought.
Edit: Credit goes to matt for this thought.
lol, that poll feels like an internet version of Lou Dobbs.
Seriously, though. I completely understand the desire to keep my internet anonymity, but the arguments for this change are sound, and I think that Blizzard is reactive enough to yank it (or gank, perhaps) if it doesn't work.
Personally, I think I'm most upset with this (which isn't much, mind) because this is diverting precious resources from game design. Run more numbers to tweak my subtlety talents, monkeys, muwhahahahaha.
Seriously, though. I completely understand the desire to keep my internet anonymity, but the arguments for this change are sound, and I think that Blizzard is reactive enough to yank it (or gank, perhaps) if it doesn't work.
Personally, I think I'm most upset with this (which isn't much, mind) because this is diverting precious resources from game design. Run more numbers to tweak my subtlety talents, monkeys, muwhahahahaha.
It's nice to see the trolling community really band together and show that they are unable to handle even the thought of responsibility. Warms one's heart, it does.
As the blueposter guy said, there's nothing to be learned about him from this feature that isn't written in the game manual. I hope that it'll lead to the Blizzard forums being someplace you might actually want to stay and post.
As the blueposter guy said, there's nothing to be learned about him from this feature that isn't written in the game manual. I hope that it'll lead to the Blizzard forums being someplace you might actually want to stay and post.
This is a terrible idea. If trolls and spammers are such a big problem - which they are on the Bnet fora, no doubt - then get more moderators! People who want to spam will still find a way somehow. Forcing people to use their real name is not going to stop that.
Also in their new forum system is a way to rank threads. Higher ranked threads will go up, lower ranked threads will go down. I foresee Blizzard abusing this to stiffle criticism. They're already deleting threads and posts that link to Husky's rant against this idea ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBwTpHNZDpQ&playnext_from=TL&videos=LzaczVZ5l2I&feature=sub )
As Husky pointed out, if you trust a person on the internet enough that you want to give him/her your full name, you can decide that yourself - but this new thing enforces you to show your full name.
Also, one of the comments in that big 45 pages thread found a nice inconsistency in the forum guidelines and this new idea
Also in their new forum system is a way to rank threads. Higher ranked threads will go up, lower ranked threads will go down. I foresee Blizzard abusing this to stiffle criticism. They're already deleting threads and posts that link to Husky's rant against this idea ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBwTpHNZDpQ&playnext_from=TL&videos=LzaczVZ5l2I&feature=sub )
As Husky pointed out, if you trust a person on the internet enough that you want to give him/her your full name, you can decide that yourself - but this new thing enforces you to show your full name.
Also, one of the comments in that big 45 pages thread found a nice inconsistency in the forum guidelines and this new idea
Personally, I have no issues with this.
But:
Female gamers, famous people and insecure paranoid people might have a issue with this.
Female gamers prefer to keep their gender hidden, or at least not make a issue of it.
Famous people playing WoW will not get a moments rest if they ever post on the forums (Yes, there are famous people playing WoW)
But:
Female gamers, famous people and insecure paranoid people might have a issue with this.
Female gamers prefer to keep their gender hidden, or at least not make a issue of it.
Famous people playing WoW will not get a moments rest if they ever post on the forums (Yes, there are famous people playing WoW)
Really, it's not that big of a deal to me, a name is only a name, and considering how you can easily change your contact details you can still change your name if you really want to keep a degree of anonimity(if that's even a word). Atleast it'll discourage trolls and flaming to an extent, which is always good on forums
It's a bad idea on multiple levels.
If nothing else, its basic level invasions of privacy and is basically mauling the innocent bystander with a meat tenderizer to punish the troll standing behind him. It's going to discourage a lot of people from posting anything at all just because they don't want their names getting out.
Myself included.
Beyond that? The internet is already a creepy place and it's bad enough that you can stalk people without having help like their first and last name.
Just wait. Blizzard's usually pretty good about responding to people's concerns, and if it starts impacting their profit margin they'll act.
Either that or the law suits that come up irrevocably connecting this to some stupid shit like what's already mentioned or identity theft (since people already know how to rig up a key logger to swipe your WoW account, how much harder would it be to grab their first and last name, their credit card number and a few other critical pieces of info?)
If nothing else, its basic level invasions of privacy and is basically mauling the innocent bystander with a meat tenderizer to punish the troll standing behind him. It's going to discourage a lot of people from posting anything at all just because they don't want their names getting out.
Myself included.
Beyond that? The internet is already a creepy place and it's bad enough that you can stalk people without having help like their first and last name.
Just wait. Blizzard's usually pretty good about responding to people's concerns, and if it starts impacting their profit margin they'll act.
Either that or the law suits that come up irrevocably connecting this to some stupid shit like what's already mentioned or identity theft (since people already know how to rig up a key logger to swipe your WoW account, how much harder would it be to grab their first and last name, their credit card number and a few other critical pieces of info?)
The first rule of online message boards is to NEVER EVER GIVE OUT REAL LIFE PERSONAL INFORMATION.
That rule is there for a reason. Those of you who say it's not a big deal should really read up on E-Stalking and Identity Theft. There are a lot of crazy people out there.
If this goes through, I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if someone lost his/her life over it. I'm not trying to be overly dramatic with that statement, I'm just saying that there've been cases where someone got killed over internet-grudges.
That rule is there for a reason. Those of you who say it's not a big deal should really read up on E-Stalking and Identity Theft. There are a lot of crazy people out there.
If this goes through, I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if someone lost his/her life over it. I'm not trying to be overly dramatic with that statement, I'm just saying that there've been cases where someone got killed over internet-grudges.
I don't see the problem here, the blizzard forums are filled with whining old-schoolers that ***** about how they want it to be exactly like 10 years ago anyways, so if I wanna discuss WoW or SC2 I'll probably head over to another community instead, where I can have a productive dialog.
I can understand the privacy rage, but I don't think Americans have that much to complain about. I share name with EIGHT others, I'm not that hard to find.
But as I said, I never use the blizz forums anyways, so this is not a problem for me.
I can understand the privacy rage, but I don't think Americans have that much to complain about. I share name with EIGHT others, I'm not that hard to find.
But as I said, I never use the blizz forums anyways, so this is not a problem for me.
What's the problem here? It's just a name that your parents gave you instead of a name that you gave yourself. Is there really that much of a difference? It's completely impossible to trace back to you personally, and it's only shown if you post on the forums. Don't want people to know your name? Don't post on the official forums. Simple as that.
People are too panicky about mixing "real life" and "internet life". Get used to it, internet anonymity is (finally, and thankfully) in its death throes.
People are too panicky about mixing "real life" and "internet life". Get used to it, internet anonymity is (finally, and thankfully) in its death throes.
Heres the thing. In order to get technical support for any Blizzard game the first place you are supposed to go is to the forums. So if your game breaks, it no longer becomes a choice.
As for those that are saying a name is nothing let me explain something. I typed in my name in google. On the first page is a link that can be used to obtain the town and state I live in. This link is not to my facebook, nor my myspace, nor a random blog. No, it is to the obituary of my mother in the local paper. That is why giving out "just a name" is a bad thing.
As for those that are saying a name is nothing let me explain something. I typed in my name in google. On the first page is a link that can be used to obtain the town and state I live in. This link is not to my facebook, nor my myspace, nor a random blog. No, it is to the obituary of my mother in the local paper. That is why giving out "just a name" is a bad thing.
one sided poll, but the reason is fair enough.
the thing is that internet anonymity is dying, thanks for social networks and people that can't deal with the slightly harsh realities of our society. its quite sad that large companies with a lot of influence on the interwebz are slowly pushing towards fully disclosed nonsensitive information.
it might not be a big deal if this was an isolated thing, but it's a definite trend and it seems that it'll ultimately lead to the loss of internet anonymity.
and honestly, i don't get why this would even be an issue at all. what benefits could this bring to their forums really? if i troll, i'll continue to do so even if under my nickname it's written Andy L or whatever. noobs and morons will still be flamed for being idiots and friends will continue griefing each other. the point is probably just for blizz and such to have more control over their already overly cuddled and simple minded player base.
the thing is that internet anonymity is dying, thanks for social networks and people that can't deal with the slightly harsh realities of our society. its quite sad that large companies with a lot of influence on the interwebz are slowly pushing towards fully disclosed nonsensitive information.
it might not be a big deal if this was an isolated thing, but it's a definite trend and it seems that it'll ultimately lead to the loss of internet anonymity.
and honestly, i don't get why this would even be an issue at all. what benefits could this bring to their forums really? if i troll, i'll continue to do so even if under my nickname it's written Andy L or whatever. noobs and morons will still be flamed for being idiots and friends will continue griefing each other. the point is probably just for blizz and such to have more control over their already overly cuddled and simple minded player base.
Trolls by their very nature work to circumvent restrictions on their trolling. Trolling will not go away because one's "real name" is available for all to see. Don't be surprise when a lot of John Does start showing up on the forums. Forcing full names to be displayed will only make the trolls job easier. Now a quick google search will return a Facebook page, Twitter account, YouTube tube channel, blog, and from there a little judicious ready/watching will net an address and/or phone number. Even if that information is not listed explicitly an address can be deduced from incidental information that is left by the poster or his friends (venues visited, local news, name of a school).
Personal information should be controlled by the individual. It is not morally right for Blizzard to force people to give out personal information TO OTHER PEOPLE just to use a service. Some would argue "I already gave Blizzard my personal information. This is no different." I would point out that the information that Blizzard has was given to it only so that trust could be established between the the individual and Blizzard. Blizzard needs a phone number, and address for billing and support purposes to establish the ownership of the account. Beyond that point personal information should stay personal. There is no reason why I should be forced to give personal information to everyone who reads my post.
Why do I care if my first name is attached to a post? I care because I do not trust you. Yes! YOU! I have no idea who is ready my post. The GIFT [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/] doesn't apply just to how people act in forums; it also covers how people act behind the scenes. I don't know what you'll do with any thing I do or say(no matter how harmless it seems), so I will not give out more information than I feel is appropriate if only to restrict my embarrassment to an account name.
Does The Escapist force people to use a real name? No. Is it's forums over run with trolls? Not from what I can see. Slashdot is a science, technology, and political site that allows anonymous posting, but the threads are not a sea of spam posts (I wouldn't be surprise if Slashdot had more posts per day then the official WoW forums). Why, you may ask? Both sites are moderated. Escapist uses traditional moderators, and Slashdot has a self moderation system. Neither system is perfect, but trolling is kept in hand. Blizzards approach will not have much effect on the trolls and will adversely impact its legitimate users.
Personal information should be controlled by the individual. It is not morally right for Blizzard to force people to give out personal information TO OTHER PEOPLE just to use a service. Some would argue "I already gave Blizzard my personal information. This is no different." I would point out that the information that Blizzard has was given to it only so that trust could be established between the the individual and Blizzard. Blizzard needs a phone number, and address for billing and support purposes to establish the ownership of the account. Beyond that point personal information should stay personal. There is no reason why I should be forced to give personal information to everyone who reads my post.
Why do I care if my first name is attached to a post? I care because I do not trust you. Yes! YOU! I have no idea who is ready my post. The GIFT [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/] doesn't apply just to how people act in forums; it also covers how people act behind the scenes. I don't know what you'll do with any thing I do or say(no matter how harmless it seems), so I will not give out more information than I feel is appropriate if only to restrict my embarrassment to an account name.
Does The Escapist force people to use a real name? No. Is it's forums over run with trolls? Not from what I can see. Slashdot is a science, technology, and political site that allows anonymous posting, but the threads are not a sea of spam posts (I wouldn't be surprise if Slashdot had more posts per day then the official WoW forums). Why, you may ask? Both sites are moderated. Escapist uses traditional moderators, and Slashdot has a self moderation system. Neither system is perfect, but trolling is kept in hand. Blizzards approach will not have much effect on the trolls and will adversely impact its legitimate users.
Mountains out of molehills people.
Here's an idea: Fon't be a genetic waste of space on the forums & you won't have to worry.
Here's another: Don't add anyone using RealID--just add their toon names to your friends list.
Simple.
Oh, and get an authenticator.
Jeezus, you kids and your crying about nothing... As if you're so interesting and important as to be stalked by people the second you try the system.
And yes, I use RealID, been playing for 5+ years so it's reasonable to say that I would lose toons of significance were the VERY UNLIKELY to occur. Of course, I'm not stupid enough to have added anyone I don't actually KNOW in real life to that list...
Here's an idea: Fon't be a genetic waste of space on the forums & you won't have to worry.
Here's another: Don't add anyone using RealID--just add their toon names to your friends list.
Simple.
Oh, and get an authenticator.
Jeezus, you kids and your crying about nothing... As if you're so interesting and important as to be stalked by people the second you try the system.
And yes, I use RealID, been playing for 5+ years so it's reasonable to say that I would lose toons of significance were the VERY UNLIKELY to occur. Of course, I'm not stupid enough to have added anyone I don't actually KNOW in real life to that list...