I'm still waiting for anyone to give me a real, logical reason why my personal information has to be ON the forums in the first place.pyrus7 said:
Blizzard?s Unreal Real ID
- Thread starter Shamus Young
- Start date
Actually, I know a guy in wow whose real ID and real name I now have...
But he said he also has a whole other account with his 'real name' something like "Mayor McCheese".
Celebs probably wrote in under a false name also, so getting their realID junk out won't change a thing...
Still, anonimity is king for all!
But he said he also has a whole other account with his 'real name' something like "Mayor McCheese".
Celebs probably wrote in under a false name also, so getting their realID junk out won't change a thing...
Still, anonimity is king for all!
Yeah, this is not a hypothetical.
I have a friend was stalked by someone she knew from an internet forum, stalked to the point where the stalker was calling her boss trying to get her fired. The person from the internet forum was a bit crazy and was trying to get my female friend to broken up with her husband so that this crazy stalker could date the husband. Keep in mind, neither my friend, her husband, or the crazy stalker ever met in real life. This happened over an internet forum.
I won't use any system that puts my real name and reputation at risk to the whims of individuals of unknown mental stability.
I have a friend was stalked by someone she knew from an internet forum, stalked to the point where the stalker was calling her boss trying to get her fired. The person from the internet forum was a bit crazy and was trying to get my female friend to broken up with her husband so that this crazy stalker could date the husband. Keep in mind, neither my friend, her husband, or the crazy stalker ever met in real life. This happened over an internet forum.
I won't use any system that puts my real name and reputation at risk to the whims of individuals of unknown mental stability.
The Blizzard forums? If that's the case, it's because it's part of Kotick's latest scheme. He doesn't want his loyal customers to have to trouble themselves by going all the way to the game store, or go to all the trouble of logging into a digital distribution service, so he's going to take your personal information and access your credit cards and bank accounts, so he can take all of that money for you.The Rogue Wolf said:
/sarcasm
In all honesty, I think it's part of them trying to eliminate bots in the forums and whatnot, but still, there are much easier ways of doing that.
Why do most papers publish editorials unless they are attributed to an identifiable person?The Rogue Wolf said:
If I go up to you in person and call you ethnic slurs, berate your parentage and make fun of your intelligence, chances are I will have to face the ramifications of my actions then and there. On the internet, where people like to remain anonymous, I can do all these things (and more!) and never have to deal with the reality that my actions have consequences.
I can see why so many people are up in arms about this, it seems that this generation in particular is so self-involved that the very concept of being held accountable is alien to them. How else can you describe the loud backlash against something that is actually normal in our day to day lives; ergo: being identifiable, either through name or face and having our actions associated with our identity?
In terms of the forum rules - I think that the privacy argument here is obviously bullshit. If you do not want your "personal information" on a public forum, then don't post anything to the forum! There, your "privacy" is intact, although I have to admit that I find the idea that you name being associated with your opinion is a violation of "privacy" to be utterly laughable- what's next, complaining that people who are looking at your face on the bus are "violating your privacy?"
Look, my "real id" is associated with this post. It's attached to my Facebook and any escapist columnists complaining about Blizzard in this case are hypocritical bastards. I'm sure the argument they would use is, "Well you have a choice to participate or not and participate in this way - and that's absolutely farking true. People also have the choice to participate in Blizzard's services. I make a choice to participate here, and I make a choice not to hide who I am - this is an easy decision for me since I am an adult and fully acquainted with having to deal with the consequences of my decisions.
So, basically, you're saying that the real problem with the internet is that there isn't the ability for people to do things to offenders in real life? If only those that used racial slurs could be punnished in real life for the things they say on the internet.Jake Martinez said:
And what of minor transgresions? Such as the transgression of being married to a man that a not-all-there internet admirer decides would be happier with her such as the case I wrote about above? Is that just an acceptable loss? Acceptable risk?
And what of the permenance of the internet? As things such as the "Way Back Machine" demonstrate, any small statement is captured for enternity on the internet. In real life, an off-color comment over drinks with friends expires the moment it's said except in the minds of those that hear it. However, on the internet every such a comment is now on public display for eternity. The words never dispear and are archived for anyone in the world to find and see. Currently, that's not a huge issue because pseudonyms create a level of anonymity. But strip that away and every hiring manager, relative in-law, and co-worker can find that off color comment you made 30 years ago.
But I guess all of these are just acceptable losses.
Well yes, some celebrities do tend to use aliases when in public. That said, though, it isn't that hard to check what their real name is if you make even a rudimentary search.hellsop said:
Having said that, I have no idea who the two people you mention are. But then again, I am from Europe and not much into mainstream culture, so chances are I wouldn't know of them either way.
I'm glad they've changed the forum thing. I wasn't happy with that change.
The friends of friends thing on the other hand, I think is people overreacting and needing tinfoil hats.
RealId friends are meant for real-life friends. People you would trust giving your full name too. Someone you're willing to add to Facebook (where your name is always shown, and searchable). If you're concerned, watch who your friends are adding, and if they start adding too many people you don't know, just un-friend them.
But the forums was a bad idea, and one I"m happy they reversed. Good to know Blizzard does listen.
The friends of friends thing on the other hand, I think is people overreacting and needing tinfoil hats.
RealId friends are meant for real-life friends. People you would trust giving your full name too. Someone you're willing to add to Facebook (where your name is always shown, and searchable). If you're concerned, watch who your friends are adding, and if they start adding too many people you don't know, just un-friend them.
But the forums was a bad idea, and one I"m happy they reversed. Good to know Blizzard does listen.
Conversely, that "person on the bus" looking at my face does not have immediate access to my identity. He can't find out who I am, where I live, who my family is, where I work, etc. etc. just by looking at my face. He can't decide to make my life a living hell from behind the protection of his computer screen.Jake Martinez said:
You want accountability? How accountable can I hold someone who starts harassing me from behind a nigh-untracable phone (pay-as-you-go; you can buy those things, and their time cards, with cash)? Someone who decides it'll be a hoot to send five pizzas to my door every night for a week? To sign my Email address up for bestiality porn, to send sex toys to my workplace in my name (oh, hi, prepaid Visa cards you can buy with cash), to maybe start driving around my house and throw dog feces at it? Maybe that's still not enough for this guy, and he decides to shoot my dog with a .22 rifle, or try to convince my wife/girlfriend that I'm cheating on her, or even start stalking my daughter on the way home from school.
Where is your accountability when people can attack me from nigh-invisibility without me having so much as a clue who, or why? And don't tell me it can't happen. It has. It does.
What advice would you give women in WoW who've been stalked by creeps for days, weeks, months? Do you think those creeps would refuse to leap at the chance to stalk their obsession for real? I've read numerous posts from women who have had to change servers, change their character names, change phone numbers, even MOVE because of some nutjob who would just not leave her alone. These nutjobs subscribed to WoW; Blizzard had their information. It made absolutely no difference. The police are often stretched too thin to do much about it, and many stalkers are very careful not to cross "the line"- until they're ready. And then it's too late, because you have a kidnapping, a rape, maybe even a death. And then there's the minorities, those with alternative lifestyles, transgenders- anyone who "sticks out". They're targets as well.
Your idea of "accountability" assumes that an attacker and a defender are face-to-face on equal ground. Here's the problem: The Internet is full of snipers. They don't give a damn about your opinion of accountability, your sense of fair play, your idea that everyone should have to stand up for their speech. If you are a target of opportunity, they will destroy you, and give you no chance to defend yourself. You just have to give them reason... and for some people, [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/101031-Counter-Strike-Knife-Fight-Leads-to-Real-Life-Stabbing] it takes very little.
My pseudonym may not be cover, but it is concealment, and I will use it to protect myself. You can stand in the open field and shout your name for all and sundry if you like... but don't complain if you don't hear the one that got you.
And after all the good things The Escapist has said about Blizzard. Bastards. lol. there getting in early on their April Fool's day pranks, obviously.Susan Arendt said:
Why would they do that? Flying machines have been around since Warcraft 2 - you know, the game that had submarines complete with torpedoes in it? The goblins' forester power-suits were in WC3. Steampunk-ish engineering vehicles are not a new and startling addition to the series' setting just because you aren't acquainted with its history.Eukaryote said:
-It requires giving out your B.net account username to add friends.John Funk said:
-It displays your real name not only to your friends, but to the friends of your friends.
-I can't confirm this right now (no Blizz games installed to test functions since uninstalling the SC2 beta) but I extrapolate from the above that it also shares your status with those friends of friends, people who I likely don't know and would rather not share much of anything with, much less update them on my ongoing online activities anytime I decide to delve into some Blizzard-created fun.
-Previously mentioned addon glitch allowing players in-game in WoW to see your RealID name (assuming this will be fixed, but you did say "as currently implemented").
I could probably list two or three more items but they're more like nitpicky details than the above bullet points. If it were like Steam - uses a username rather than your real name, doesn't require sharing your account username to add friends, you can display as offline to hide if you want to get some private playing time in, etc. - I'd have no problem with it...but it's not.
I suppose it'd be shorter to just say I don't have a Facebook page, never plan to make one, and would prefer my games not try to force the issue, but that doesn't quite cover the whole issue.
who the hell is Felicia day?
(and don't give me a link to some social network site. I don't touch those with a ten-foot pole)
(and don't give me a link to some social network site. I don't touch those with a ten-foot pole)
The link in Young's thread on the phrase "a guild" goes to the website for a show that features Ms. Day, The Guild. She was also one of the stars in Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog (look it up). I don't know much else about her, though; you would correctly surmise that, while I can appreciate some of her work (I haven't actually watched The Guild, just know of it), I'm not one of her one million whatevernumberitwas followers.
Yeah, but see, here's the thing: not all fantasy games take place in the same setting, even if most of them share the archetypes for elf, dwarf, orc, etc. Those technologies are part of this fantasy game's setting. They belong there.Eukaryote said:
Crap, meant to just edit-add this into my previous post. Oh well. -.-
For what it's worth, it still makes for an interesting read as a thought exercise for why a "Read ID" system would be a bad idea for any large pre-established community. I mean... imagine if the Escapist just suddenly up and decided they wanted real names only. *Shudder*Shamus Young said:
