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Blizzard forum goers will soon no longer have to fear the dreaded internet troll.  (Source: Amazon.com)
Changes will first go into effect on Starcraft II forums, WoW forums likely next

Internet trolling charitably could be referred to as a pop culture phenomena.  People online seem often to develop proclivities for trying to get under each others' skin and in the most extreme cases a troll is born.

But trolls days of lurking around internet message boards may be limited -- at least if Activision Blizzard can help it.  The company, which makes the best-selling World of Warcraft and Starcraft franchise has announced that it will be forcing players to use their real names on online message boards.

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, will be the first game to enact the new rules when it releases on July 27.  Those changes will quickly be rolled out to other games -- likely including World of Warcraft, the world's most popular paid MMORPG, with over 11.5 million subscribers.

The company is offering players the option of putting their in-game handle next to their real world name.  However, it will not currently force players to do this.  It says that players choosing to do so will be helping to create a more positive environment.

It says the changes in generally should cut down on trolling and nasty behavior in the forums.  

Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, says such erasures of privacy are nothing new.  He points out that the world's largest social networking site, Facebook, recently switched to requiring real names, and that businesses are typically well within their rights to demand such provisions.  

That said, he said such moves are disappointing as part of the magic of the internet is anonymity and alter-egos.  He states, "Part of the fun of the online gaming would was the sense that you could construct a character different form who you were in the real world."

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Long Time Player's Opinion
By Reclaimer77 on 7/7/2010 5:24:15 PM , Rating: 5
As a long time WoW player, this is my opinion.

Blizzard has had a terrible record so far with account security. Every month thousands of accounts are hacked, hijacked, and stolen. We went from using a randomly created user account name to log into the game, to a known email address, and now our real names are being used. This is NOT the path to more security.

Now with a simple Google search after reading a forum post, someone can find your Facebook page, your Myspace, possibly your Email address and much much more. This isn't the end of trolling, this is the beginning of outright stalking and harassment on a scale never before seen.

Personally I will not be using the forums again, and most of my guild mates agree. We applaud Blizzards efforts, but this is simply adding far too much visibility. A certain level of anonymity online is essential for security and peace of mind. It's naive to believe the potential for great abuse, perhaps leading to bodily harm or emotional duress, isn't increased by this change.




RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By Lerianis on 7/7/2010 5:31:40 PM , Rating: 1
Did you ever think that the problem with having those accounts hijacked is that people are using too weak passwords that are EASILY guessed?
That is what the security officials in the world say it is from.

Putting your real name on these things is something that I will refuse to do (and it actually might be illegal to require that).

However, saying that Blizzard doesn't care about account security because of this goes way too far.


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By Reclaimer77 on 7/7/2010 5:42:13 PM , Rating: 2
I didn't say they "didn't care". They are simply not doing enough. And steps like this prove it.

I hate to sound like a doomsayer, but I fully expect to read a story one day about how some nutjob got someones home address because of this and did who-knows-what to them. It's happened before hasn't it??

quote:
Did you ever think that the problem with having those accounts hijacked is that people are using too weak passwords that are EASILY guessed?


Not all of them. That's simply not possible. You can't explain away the huge volume of compromised accounts with that. It even happened to me once, and I assure you my account isn't shared with anyone, my system is secure, and my password was impossible to "guess".

People might not be aware, but WoW Gold and Item selling is a million, maybe BILLION, dollar industry. These people are highly motivated, funded, and skilled in doing what they do. If it involves computers or networks, people WILL find a way in. It's that simple.


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By Myg on 7/8/10, Rating: 0
RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By Suntan on 7/8/2010 11:13:36 AM , Rating: 4
quote:
This can only be a good change.


Not really. Because it is entirely too easy for anyone with an index finger and the ability to spell “google” to see a large portion of your private life. Even parts of your private life that you may have no shame of, but you just do not want certain people to be aware of every detail.

My boss is close to 60. He likes to shoot animals and pull heavy loads with his oversized SUV. He has no understanding why anyone would ever want to play a video game, let alone talk about them on the internet, and if he knew I played video games, or did anything that wasn’t considered “manly”, I would receive less respect in the workplace and it could “unofficially” hurt my career, even though it occurs in my personal life and has no bearing on my professional life.

Now it’s easy to sit in your parent’s basement and think the world doesn’t work that way, or that my boss “sounds like a jerk” and I should just get a new boos. But the reality is that you portray different parts of yourself to acquaintances based on the relationship you have with them. Web archiving+easy searching of all that online data+easy way to link it to your real life relationships circumvent this social norm that has been around for centuries.

I think anyone posting anything on the internet that can easily be pulled up on google and linked to them is just asking for it to be unfairly used against them at some point in their life.

-Suntan


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By sviola on 7/8/2010 10:06:36 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
I hate to sound like a doomsayer, but I fully expect to read a story one day about how some nutjob got someones home address because of this and did who-knows-what to them. It's happened before hasn't it??


Yup...recently a french nutjob who was stabbed in a CS match found out who was the player who stabbed him, went to his address and , surprisingly, stabbed him...

Oh the humanity...


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By rcc on 7/8/2010 11:04:11 AM , Rating: 2
Chalk a good percentage of it up to players stupid enough to fall for phishing attempts, or downloading keyloggers.

So, has anyone heard of an account with an authenticator being hacked? Just curious.


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By HostileEffect on 7/8/2010 8:19:01 PM , Rating: 1
I have indeed read about one incident where an account with an authenticator was hacked into, the computer has to be actively monitored for the authenticator code though. I don't know if the method was ever patched.

One incident still counts as successful.


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By zonkie on 7/8/2010 11:13:27 PM , Rating: 2
I'll start. My real name is Harry Whiteflanks


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By Proxes on 7/7/2010 5:54:16 PM , Rating: 3
By them forcing the display of real names this just gives hackers more information to use to gain access to accounts.

I don't use email addresses like luvs2spooge@hotmail.com as primary contact information. Mine is firstname.lastname@whatever.com.

So displaying my name is just one less thing they need. I don't even use my real name in facebook.

One of the CM posted his name on the board just so show everyone that it's not a big deal. Within 5 minutes people had his phone number, where he lived, and personal pictures. Blizzard had a policy of even the CM's real names showing, they've now changed that because of security concerns.

I think that part should have been mentioned in the article.

For people with common names that's not a big deal. My first and last name are common, but they are different enough to where being put together I'm almost 100% sure I'm the only person in the US with that name. My last name is common and a few actors have it but the spelling is different than the popular version.


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By Pjotr on 7/8/2010 7:14:17 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Did you ever think that the problem with having those accounts hijacked is that people are using too weak passwords that are EASILY guessed?


The password is only one of two tihngs you need to hack an account. The other part is the username. Before battle.net linkage, WoW accounts had an arbitrary username that you never had to type if you checked the "remember username" checkbox. This made it impossible for keylogging viruses to find out your username!

After Blizzard linked WoW account to battle.net the username is no longer used, instead you have to use your e-mail address. Now this is a lot easier to know. For one it's one of the ways you actually got the virus to begin with, so it can be known from that. Secondly you are likely to type your e-mail address in other applications and a keylogger will find this.

With real names posted on forums, a google search might now reveal likely e-mail addresses to check for.


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By omnicronx on 7/8/2010 12:32:15 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
The password is only one of two tihngs you need to hack an account. The other part is the username. Before battle.net linkage, WoW accounts had an arbitrary username that you never had to type if you checked the "remember username" checkbox. This made it impossible for keylogging viruses to find out your username!
If a keylogger/virus is logging everything on your machine, then your security is bound to be compromised at some point anyways, regardless of whether or not one application has the 'remember username' checkbox on.

If its a virus designed to say specifically go after certain things in certain conditions, (such as a login screen), a virus for example could just as easily know what to log, including the username your are submitting, regardless of whether you've typed it or not.

So in reality good security practice should solve your problems, which chances are, you have not been doing if you have key loggers or viruses on your machine.. Seems like a Chicken and Egg non problem to me.. You can't really be compromised unless you are already compromised ;)

If someone can take your name and email address or name and figure out how to access your machine, you've done something wrong..

Now of course there are real life issues such as someone trying to find someone in real life that they have a grudge with, but thats a different issue ;)


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By ssjwes1980 on 7/10/2010 3:35:42 PM , Rating: 2
It doesnt matter how secure your PW is on wow log in mine is always max amount used like 15 characters. I have letters numbers and symbols in mine and its still been compromised. Its cause of keyloggers . I think that it does help buy you time but in the end if you got a keylogger a crazy PW wont save you. I just randomly change my PW once a month and dont have problems anymore. You have to also watch what sites you visit and check your computers anti virus and such like you should anyways just most people dont want to bother with all the steps you can and should take to protect your info.


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By n0ebert on 7/7/2010 5:40:28 PM , Rating: 3
Indeed. There is a rather lengthy post on Blizzards WoW forums where a GM posted his real name to try and downplay the seriousness of this change. Within 45 minutes, they found his home address, who he was living with, their real names, his phone number and facebook account.

It's an incredibly short sighted change if they follow through with it.

This will lead to all sorts of problems outside of the game they're obviously not anticipating. What happens if you kick a disgruntled player from your guild who is a bit troubled and starts stalking those who he was guilded with? Obviously a worst case scenario, but it still applies.

But Blizzard will not listen, they never do. They'll push it forward regardless and absorb the damage as they always do.


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By Myg on 7/8/2010 4:45:27 AM , Rating: 1
Like thats a special feat in itself?

Such things were possible before the internet and google, remember that...


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By smut on 7/8/2010 5:16:47 AM , Rating: 3
And? It was also a lot harder back then as well.


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By Fanon on 7/7/2010 5:48:23 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
Players have had a terrible record so far with account security.


I fixed that for you. Blizzard is not responsible for the security of your computer. They are responsible for ensuring that their systems cannot be hacked to acquire your account credentials. Anything beyond that rests completely on the shoulders of the player.

Name one instance where Blizzard's data centers were hacked and accounts were compromised. You can't because it has never happened. People get "hacked" not because of Blizzard's fault, but because they're stupid. They get software installed on their computer that compromises their account security.

A user's name being displayed is hardly a security threat. You mention a Google search can produce your Facebook, MySpace, and whatever else information. This is true, but it's also true for the thousands of people with the same name.


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By Reclaimer77 on 7/7/2010 5:58:53 PM , Rating: 2
/shrug

This is about PERSONAL security more than it is account security. I don't really feel like discussing you on the things you're saying.

I feel the forced use of real names is too great a potential for misuse. It's really that simple.

quote:
A user's name being displayed is hardly a security threat.


How can someone say that in this day and age? You're wrong to the point of stupidity.


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By Fanon on 7/7/2010 7:52:33 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
This is about PERSONAL security more than it is account security. I don't really feel like discussing you on the things you're saying.


And yet, your argument is predicated on the perceived lax security on Blizzard's part. Your first paragraph is devoted to the topic of account security. I can understand not wanting to discuss. Knee-jerk reactions rarely ever stand up to facts.

quote:
How can someone say that in this day and age? You're wrong to the point of stupidity.


Show me where I'm wrong, then. Back up your statements, or don't won't our time posting.


By Reclaimer77 on 7/7/2010 8:28:55 PM , Rating: 1
Ok well, I see no need for such hostility on this issue. I don't want my real name plastered all over the internet. If you want me to take back the first paragraph, ok fine, I don't care.


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By Azure Sky on 7/8/2010 12:07:46 PM , Rating: 2
could you please post your real full name, infact, could you re-register an account here using your real full name, if its so safe and not an issue why dont you do that already?


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By Fanon on 7/9/2010 8:59:57 AM , Rating: 2
Jesse Chambers

No I will not create another account.


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By bodar on 7/8/2010 8:17:29 PM , Rating: 2
Perceived lax security? RealID is already exploitable by addons, buddy.

http://www.wow.com/2010/07/06/security-flaw-allows...

When you freely give your real name out on the internet to anybody, you make it VERY easy for someone to tie that online persona to an address, phone number, other online personas, etc. That opens you (and your friends/family as possible collateral damage) up to harassment both online and off. It should be up to each user exactly what info is given out and who gets that info.

http://www.coffeedrunk.com/2010/07/07/micah-whippl...


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By Fanon on 7/9/2010 9:05:59 AM , Rating: 2
And exploits will be fixed, buddy.

Yes, Micah Whipple is certainly an average player. Surely you can tell the difference between harassing an employee who may, or may not, make unpopular decisions for a game that millions of people play and the average player. Surely you realized Micah Whipple would be easy to find and target since his location was relatively known due to his employer.

In an earlier post, I gave my real name. My information is on the Internet. I encourage you to find me.


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By seamonkey79 on 7/8/2010 4:23:27 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
A user's name being displayed is hardly a security threat. You mention a Google search can produce your Facebook, MySpace, and whatever else information. This is true, but it's also true for the (twenty-six) of people with the same name.


There are 26 people showing in the world having my name. It wouldn't be all that hard to narrow things down to an age bracket, locality based on all sorts of things already visible, but currently using my character's name, not my real name.

It's less difficult to narrow things down for some of us than it would be for John Smith, et al.


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By EricMartello on 7/10/2010 3:06:17 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
There are 26 people showing in the world having my name.


Really? What's your name?


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By walk2k on 7/7/2010 6:15:10 PM , Rating: 1
Well said.

You know there once was a time on the Internet - before the "web", when using your real name was not only encouraged but practically required. It was called "Usenet".

These, are not those times any longer. The times, they have a'changed.


By ZachDontScare on 7/8/2010 4:40:37 PM , Rating: 3
Absolute rubbish. Usenet required nothing of the sort. Usenet has no 'central' authority to enforce such a rule even if one existed. I used Usenet for many years, and always went by a pseudoname or handle. In fact, back in the day, using an online handle was the norm. It was expected. Particularly among programmers your online handle was practically as important as your real name.


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By BruceLeet on 7/7/2010 11:05:49 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
and now our real names are being used. This is NOT the path to more security. Now with a simple Google search after reading a forum post, someone can find your Facebook page, your Myspace, possibly your Email address and much much more.


Not to step on anyones feelings....well, here we go.

If you were so determined for anonymity on the Internet you wouldn't be posting your real information, Facebook is okay, there are Privacy settings. You can make yourself invisible on that website (but who wants that right). It's all these websites that you registered at, facebook games that you have clicked ALLOW on to play to pull your PERSONAL INFORMATION and all the countless Terms of Service from all over the web that you have agreed to let them give out/sell your email information to 'partners' (why do you think that website was free to register at) and hey you even agreed to BLIZZARDS TOS.

It all boils down to people like you, who want to believe that their information is...."safe".


By Reclaimer77 on 7/8/2010 4:12:12 PM , Rating: 2
I don't see any logic in your argument Bruce. For one thing, if you go to my Facebook page, it's completely locked down. The only thing my Facebook page let's a non-friend know is that I have a Facebook page. And no, I did not click ALLOW on Facebook apps. Stupid accusation.

But how would you get to my page? You would HAVE TO KNOW MY NAME first.

quote:
It all boils down to people like you, who want to believe that their information is...."safe".


LOL right, I'm the bad guy here. Where did I ever say true safety was a guarantee? I didn't. But there's a difference between a comfortable level of risk and an outright endangerment.


By ZachDontScare on 7/8/2010 4:49:12 PM , Rating: 2
Thats a nonsense argument. The question is not whether your info is out there ... its whether psychos and stalkers on WoW can connect the name of the guy who killed their character online with a real person.

You obviously have to watch what personal information you put online, particularly to prevent identity theft. But that does not follow then that if you put some information on facebook, you must therefore allow any psycho who wants to hunt you down and knife you for killing his character to know who you are. Even without a Facebook or other Social Networking account, you can find information about people online. If someone intends to do you harm, its not a picture of your dog thats important, its where you live, and that can be found out easily enough via many sources.

People need to think of this as a physical security issue, not an identity theft issue.


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By Motoman on 7/7/2010 11:11:17 PM , Rating: 2
Yes.

I almost never post on the WoW forums. But I can assure you, that if they enact such a rule, I will never be back.

This is tantamount to reckless endangerment of their users, as far as I'm concerned.


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By Myg on 7/8/2010 4:43:27 AM , Rating: 2
Only if your acting recklessly...


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By Motoman on 7/8/2010 2:37:19 PM , Rating: 2
No. As already demonstrated on their forums, all you need is a name and a couple guesses and *bam* you can have all kinds of info about a person.

...so that noob tank that couldn't keep aggro off my healer, and I let him die while tying to keep my toon alive? Yeah, now he can figure out who I am, and his unhinged nerd rage can come to my door IRL.


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By callmeroy on 7/8/2010 9:01:15 AM , Rating: 2
I'm also a long time WoW player (one that hasn't been playing more than 5 hours a week for the past month and half btw -- just bored with the content, need the xpac to get my interest back in it)....

Your post is exactly in line with my opinion on the issue with the Real ID for the forums and account security in general.


RE: Long Time Player's Opinion
By Ammohunt on 7/8/2010 2:29:08 PM , Rating: 2
I don't see the problem i use my real name on all forums i vist My real name is "Ammo Hunt"

Seriously, what kind of serious MMORPG player still plays WoW? gold farmers and 12 year olds rule in WoW.


By FastEddieLB on 7/9/2010 6:14:45 AM , Rating: 2
Give this poster a 6, s/he's quite clearly put into words every concern that I and many others have on the matter of this change. As someone who's had to deal with a few stalkers in my time this change is making me glad I quit WoW months ago.

Cataclysm was tempting, but this put the final nail in the coffin.


How did I miss that...
By raumkrieger on 7/7/2010 6:24:19 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, will be the first game to enact the new rules when it releases on July 27.

How is this the first I'm hearing this?? I would have thought the finalized release date of a game 12 years in the making would have made bigger news than it did.




RE: How did I miss that...
By Anubis on 7/7/2010 6:54:12 PM , Rating: 2
we have known SC2 was being released on July 27th for 2 or more months


RE: How did I miss that...
By The Raven on 7/8/2010 9:27:17 AM , Rating: 2
Wow, good thing I didn't preorder!
This scheme sucks. They should just take measures to reduce the amount of trolls and not try to eliminate them outright. That is too ambitious. There will always be trolls. Think about the real world... Don't you know some trolls who use their real names when they talk to you face to face too? I certainly do. This scheme does nothing for that.


Maybe go down to the courthouse
By JakLee on 7/7/2010 7:50:58 PM , Rating: 1
I don't play WOW, DDO player here (F2P option rules).
BUT, if you really are that worried about your real name being posted on a website, try going down to the courthouse and changing your name to something more "internet friendly" like: Jose Madre (or just Joe Mama if you must); Mike Hunt; Ben Dover; or as mentioned above Fish Taco.
You can always use AKA on any "legal" forms if you want.




RE: Maybe go down to the courthouse
By Bateluer on 7/8/2010 4:54:19 AM , Rating: 3
You'd be willing to go down to the courthouse, change your name, update all financial records, legal records, medical records, etc, just to continue playing WoW/posting on Blizzard's forums and be forever known as Mike Hunt?

I'd just stop playing the game.


By JakLee on 8/3/2010 5:36:27 PM , Rating: 2
Riiiight, because if you changed it once, you could never change it again (and anyways, who WOULDN"T want to be known as Kickass McAwesome AKA Mike Hunt, AKA Bill Murphy


Would need more info
By Aloonatic on 7/8/2010 2:36:47 AM , Rating: 2
So your real name is John Smith. Well guess what, there are freakin thousands of John Smiths out there. Middles names? Yep, lots of John Philip Smiths too I'm sure.

So unless you have a strange/rare name then you are still going to be pretty anonymous.

Still, it'll be "fun" to see them get sued when 2 people have a big argument and one of them uses the information to track the other down and beat them with their rubber night-elf death-mace or something.




RE: Would need more info
By kd9280 on 7/8/2010 8:53:40 AM , Rating: 2
Yeah - it's funny when people use rubber weapons.

It'll be tragic when John Smith is murdered by some crazy knife-wielding psychopath because he dared to say something bad about said psychopath's character's gearscore.

Oh, and even worse when that John Smith who is murdered by crazy knife-wielding psychopath is not the John Smith from the WoW forums anyway.

It's happened.


iRacing
By wushuktl on 7/8/2010 7:43:47 AM , Rating: 1
www.iracing.com

They force you to use your real name in game and on forums, and your name is linked with your credit card so you can't fake it unless you faked the credit card company. I've never seen it as a problem.

And to people who are worried about security... that is RETARDED. "i don't want my name plastered all over the internet" what's the difference between this and, say, a phone book? Which reveals way more information than just your name on an internet forum




RE: iRacing
By nshoe on 7/8/2010 1:41:32 PM , Rating: 2
Funny, you won't find my name in the phone book either. Some of us care to have this thing call privacy.


Good idea
By masamasa on 7/8/2010 11:08:08 AM , Rating: 1
If you act like an ass you're going to get called out.




RE: Good idea
By Aeonic on 7/8/2010 12:30:42 PM , Rating: 2
That is a pretty nice benefit, except when you compare it to the costs of the innocent people who get stalked, harassed, and harmed because real-life asses had access to their real names.


This article says it all
By n0ebert on 7/8/2010 2:23:41 PM , Rating: 3
Pretty much hits the nail on the head.

http://news.filefront.com/why-blizzards-real-id-is...




Ya ok...
By bradmshannon on 7/7/2010 5:07:42 PM , Rating: 2
Unless they are going to display the name that is on my CC, my name will remain Fish Tacos.




Hi, my name is
By Methusela on 7/7/2010 5:10:37 PM , Rating: 2
Meth Use LA, and I'm a REALLY nice guy! Honest.

/boggle




Not the First
By mckirkus on 7/7/2010 6:20:44 PM , Rating: 2
IRacing bases your user name on the credit card you use to sign up so it's hard to play anonymously. That name is used in the forums.




Just imagine for a second...
By cornelius785 on 7/7/2010 9:17:58 PM , Rating: 2
... if a certain (or all) *chan enforced such a policy for its users. :P

That being said, I don't think connecting your real life to your gaming life is a good thing. I also support anonymity, to an extent, on the internet, for better or for worse.




Almost, but not quite
By homebredcorgi on 7/7/2010 10:50:51 PM , Rating: 2
I've often thought we should have "two internets" - one just like the current one, full of anonymity and trolls galore, and another that requires you to use your full name whenever you post any content (be it a blog or a forum comment, etc). The hope was that I could one day read a local news article that had comments that actually contributed to society in some way (the paper finally figured out comments shouldn't be allowed on the obituaries...I'll leave it at that).

Is this idea suitable for a computer game? I would opt to say no. However, I think the balance of anonymity vs. personal liability currently on the internet is shifted too far towards anonymity. For sites like icanhascheezburger, this is fine. For people more interested in serious discussions, you tend to get drowned out in the noise of idiocy and extremism that is our current internet.




yeah
By Murloc on 7/8/2010 6:33:52 AM , Rating: 2
homicides between gamers over a ninjaed purple piece of equipment will raise.

and anyway the majority of the players doesn't use the forums, so it isn't really a problem.




Mr. T is angry !!
By WT on 7/8/2010 8:10:53 AM , Rating: 2
First Name: Mr.
Last Name: T

Don't make me whip out my mohawk grenade, sucka !!!




Bad idea
By Aeonic on 7/8/2010 12:27:35 PM , Rating: 2
People who can't comprehend how this is a bad idea obviously haven't been paying attention to.. anything.. since the interwebz became popular in the 90's....Seriously, if you really think it's so harmless, why not back up your claims by posting your real name in a reply.

Blizzard is lying about this being to "reduce trolls". They don't care about trolls on their forums. They're trying to wring more money out of this by making it some kind of goddamn social networking site. Like we need another.

Anyone who doubts this is a bad idea should do a few google searches like "killed over video game", "killed over counterstrike", "video game stalker", etc. Providing real names is only going to play into the hands of the psychos who are crazy enough to do this kind of thing, where in the past they were stopped because of the protection of anonymity.

I think that's the main point. Anonymity provides a layer of protection from psychos. By removing this layer, Blizzard is putting their customers at risk.

It is a bad idea.




Migration?
By siberus on 7/8/2010 12:32:34 PM , Rating: 2
Something like this could just end up moving people to one of the million wow wiki website forums.




Be Smart About It
By Ninhalem on 7/8/2010 12:48:26 PM , Rating: 2
If you don't want your account hacked in WoW, you chalk up the 7 bucks or whatever it is to get an authenticator. If you don't want to do that, then get the mobile authenticator for your phone. The numbers are randomly generated every 20 seconds or so and is very hard to crack. I've never seen the same code twice.

Also be smart and change your password every 3 to 6 months or so.




WIN
By morphologia on 7/8/2010 3:44:54 PM , Rating: 2
I'm all for troll-nullifying. Ever see that WoW gangsta YouTube video?




This is a bad idea
By ZachDontScare on 7/8/2010 4:36:31 PM , Rating: 2
This is an incredibly bad idea. I dont play WoW or any other video games. But I can see how this can open the door for stalkers and psychos who might take offense to in-game actions and try to get real-life revenge. And dont say it doesnt happen, because exactly that HAS happened. Not just in games, either. When you are dealing with strangers you cant take your security for granted.

And dont even get me started on women gamers, who now, after long being able to hide as 'just one of the guys', can expect to be stalked and constantly hit on by pervs. I know very attractive women who play WoW and other games, and they enjoy just being able to game without having every perv online going after them. With their names being exposed, a few google image searches and viola, you know if the girl you stalking is a hottie. or if she's single, or perhaps where she lives and if she lives alone. The same goes for celebrities - even minor or local celebrities. How about a newspaper reporter or TV anchor or local politician or business owner, who wants to game without being pestered by people?

For those spewing out such nonsense as 'but...but...you put your info on Facebook'... its a completely different issue. For the most part you know your facebook friends. On WoW, you are competing with others, and that can cause *animosity*. You can piss off the wrong stranger, even through just normal game play, who, now armed with your real name, can hunt you down in real life. If you were able to be anonymous in WoW, even with every last personal detail of yours on Facebook, it wouldnt matter BECAUSE THERE'D BE NO WAY TO CONNECT THE TWO . Do you get that? The point isnt that you have a facebook account... its that when the forums are anonymous, THE PSYCHOS CANNOT CONNECT YOUR WoW NAME TO YOUR FACEBOOK ACCOUNT OR OTHER INFORMATION ABOUT YOU ONLINE AND STALK YOU .

Let me tell you something I've learned from using the internet for well over 25 years now. Yes, since well before the web came about. Except in perhaps a professional capacity, anyone who uses their real name in a forum or in a game or any place online where there is conflict... is a F***ING IDIOT. I like using fake 'real sounding' names, myself. PROTECT YOURSELF and use a pseudo-name.




By Pjotr on 7/8/2010 7:11:01 PM , Rating: 2
http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info17081-20...

Turns out that as things went live, you can now run a small script in WoW to find out peoples real names even if they never accept you as a "Real ID" friend.




jason mick
By mfed3 on 7/7/2010 5:39:24 PM , Rating: 1
thanks for posting this article 4 days after every other news site.




What a great idea!
By FaceMaster on 7/7/2010 9:36:24 PM , Rating: 1
I know that if I had to use my proper name on this site, and my Mum found my account, she would go BESERK! She'd think that I was some raging psycho with a fetish for old women or something.




Dawn of a new era
By Myg on 7/8/2010 4:41:35 AM , Rating: 1
Finally, people will have to take responsibility for their actions online!

Its about time.

Hurrah for progress!




This is absurd.
By MrBlastman on 7/7/10, Rating: -1
RE: This is absurd.
By Lerianis on 7/7/2010 5:25:53 PM , Rating: 3
They will require your ingame name to match the one on your credit card used to pay the monthly fee or something similar.


RE: This is absurd.
By MrBlastman on 7/7/10, Rating: 0
RE: This is absurd.
By Lerianis on 7/7/2010 5:33:27 PM , Rating: 4
I hate to tell you this, but you are the exception to the rule.


RE: This is absurd.
By MrBlastman on 7/7/2010 5:36:02 PM , Rating: 1
I don't play MMO's, never have, never will--and there are _plenty_ of online gamers--FPS gamers, who feel the same way. I'm hardly the exception here.


RE: This is absurd.
By walk2k on 7/7/2010 6:19:17 PM , Rating: 3
Um hate to break it to you but there's 11.5 million people who pay monthly fees for this game.

Of course 9.5 million of them are chinese goldfarmers but hey =)


RE: This is absurd.
By quiksilvr on 7/7/10, Rating: 0
RE: This is absurd.
By Gul Westfale on 7/8/10, Rating: 0
RE: This is absurd.
By callmeroy on 7/8/2010 8:50:06 AM , Rating: 5
Oh there it is...I knew it would show up in this thread..the "let me make fun of people who play pay to play games so I can feel like the cooler more stable and mature person"...

Seriously grow the F**K up.

If you are a smoker you are even MORE pathetic making such comments....(or you drink a lot..)....Have to admit the comedy factor would be quite high to find out someone who feels its stupid to pay $15 a month on a computer game but yet they blow $50-100 a week on smokes and booze.

At any rate -- newsflash : People are different and have different interests, likes and dislikes.....film at 11.


RE: This is absurd.
By quiksilvr on 7/8/2010 3:38:51 PM , Rating: 2
So I guess there are more idiots that waste their money smoking and drinking, sorry I neglected them.

What makes me call them idiots are the fact that they waste years of their life on this game. And on top of this, people spend a whopping $15 a MONTH just to play it. People are different and have different interests, but that's not going to stop me from calling WoW nerds, smokers and alcoholics morons that need to open their eyes to reality instead of scratching that itch just to feel better about a 4 strength, 4 stam leather belt.


RE: This is absurd.
By callmeroy on 7/9/2010 10:24:14 AM , Rating: 2
You are an enormously close-minded invidivdual you know that?

How the heck do people walk through life viewing it in either black or white is something I never understood myself.

Life isn't just absolutes. Some people really do just play a game for nothing more than because its fun...crazy concept for folks who think like you I know...but its honestly true if you want to acknowledge that or not.

Are you correct that some "WoW nerds" do waste their time away on the game and miss out on better things life has to offer...of course...but the fact you are correct for some doesn't mean you are correct for all.

There's extremes in everything...there's probably someone in the world that does nearly anything a bit too obsessively...there's probably an old lady someone right now who is addicted to knitting, there's likely a guy who just wants to do nothing but fish all the time....the worlds full of 6 billion souls..that's a lot of individual mindsets, thoughts, likes , dis-likes and opinions.

I'm not trying to be a jerk to you but the way you write its hard not to be...again you are very closed minded on this issue.


RE: This is absurd.
By Da W on 7/8/2010 9:27:42 AM , Rating: 4
quote:
So there are 11.5 million idiots in the world. Yipee.


And here is precisely why blizzard wants you to display your real name.


RE: This is absurd.
By TSS on 7/8/2010 9:41:26 AM , Rating: 2
Really? Then i assume that none of you use their internet connection to play online? Because that costs money.

As well as the electricity used to even operate a PC.

We are all already paying daily for gaming, maybe in costs we don't realise, but we do. So get off your high horse and go look up planetside. If your any of a true FPS gamer you'll hit yourself over the head for missing that game. Rumor has it there making a sequel though.

Point is if i look back at what i spent on shooters and what i spent on MMO's, it's roughtly the same in terms of years of fun, only shooters having a higher turnover in games, since they bore faster. And i've been playing shooters since wolfenstein 3D, and mmo's since Redmoon (released in 1998).

The only arguement i can think of for calling mmo players "idiots" is the golden days of Quake 3, Counterstrike and Unreal tournament all beeing released shortly after another. In that case, i would say, holding on to a decade ago makes you look like the idiot.

(fun little detail, i was the only one in my college class that had played MMO's before WoW, they all called me the idiot. WoW came along, and 13/22 people ended up playing it for a year+, not even including me. I held off 6 months calling them idiots while they delt with lag and server queues :p)


RE: This is absurd.
By icanhascpu on 7/7/2010 6:23:09 PM , Rating: 4
THis just in. FPS games unlike MMO games that are constantly updated with new .1 content several times between fully new 1.0 versions.

You getting a new little map or an extra gun selection in a FPS is nothing like the MMO. The monthly fee pays to keep the servers in top shape and puts money in the pockets of the developers for that new content.


RE: This is absurd.
By theArchMichael on 7/8/2010 4:20:21 AM , Rating: 2
This just in...

Server maintenance costs and maintaining an iterative development lifecycle may not be costing Blizzard $10 x 11.5 million people = $115 million dollars a month.
I think after purchasing a software product, especially a game, for around $50-$60, I'd be pretty pissed off if I had to pay even more monthly to play it and to receive bugfixes and minor enhancements.
Sounds like a ripoff.

In other news...

It seems as though Hot Pockets accidentally tainted with lead may be responsible for a recent outbreak of brain damage in the video game players community. Scientists predict around 11.5 million gamers been affected...


RE: This is absurd.
By callmeroy on 7/8/2010 8:53:41 AM , Rating: 1
You are ridiculous....

How old are you turning this year again....is it 5 or 10? I forget which....


RE: This is absurd.
By raumkrieger on 7/7/2010 6:20:00 PM , Rating: 2
Being the exception simply means he's smarter than those that follow the rule.


RE: This is absurd.
By icanhascpu on 7/7/2010 6:26:42 PM , Rating: 1
He is smarter becuse he thinks people shouldnt pay a monthly fee to a game they enjoy and he admits to have no experiance playing?

Are you stupid?


RE: This is absurd.
By MrBlastman on 7/7/2010 6:56:18 PM , Rating: 2
No, he's not at all.

I know what I want in life. If I want to play an RPG, I'll play a single player one that has a rich, developed story and plot along with extremely deep play mechanics--an RPG I pay once for to play.

If I want to spend time online, I spend it playing FPS, RTS or Combat Flight Simulators that require intense levels of skill to exceed in at the highest levels of prowess with no time commitment required to be good. MMO's offer none of that to me--so, why should I pay a monthly fee for them?

I've sampled MMO's and I was bored with them in only a few minutes.


RE: This is absurd.
By Ratinator on 7/7/2010 7:07:49 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
If I want to spend time online, I spend it playing FPS, RTS or Combat Flight Simulators that require intense levels of skill to exceed in at the highest levels of prowess with no time commitment required to be good. MMO's offer none of that to me--so, why should I pay a monthly fee for them?


Intense levels of skill and no time commitment required to be good are not synonymous. Either it doesn't take skill or you are spending a rather large ammount of time gaining that skill.

Not having played an MMO you would have no clue what levels of skill are required. I would personally like to see you go into a WoW Arena fight even against beginners. You wouldn't last 10 seconds.


RE: This is absurd.
By Reclaimer77 on 7/7/2010 7:44:15 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
I know what I want in life. If I want to play an RPG, I'll play a single player one that has a rich, developed story and plot along with extremely deep play mechanics--an RPG I pay once for to play.


Throw away games with scripted or only a few possible outcomes for any given juncture. Not very replayable.

I loved Fallout3, but after you beat it a few times, what's left??

Anyway this argument is stupid. You have an opinion, that doesn't make it more valid.


RE: This is absurd.
By Cullinaire on 7/8/2010 4:34:04 AM , Rating: 2
Sadly enough, MMO's are no different. Everything is scripted. The only difference is, you get new scripts if you keep paying.
Outcomes? How is an MMO any different from a SP game? You either beat the boss and get loot (or get outrolled) or you don't. And if you do beat the boss what happens in the world? Maybe there'll be a little announcement across the realm if it was something really special, but usually nothing. The boss respawns. Rinse repeat until you get your item or get sick of it all.
The only real difference between an MMO and SP in terms of evolving content is when they put on those huge one-time events. (I've experienced some of them GOODNESS THE LAG)
Any no, the presence of 10000 other people on the server does not change any of this at all (EXCEPT THE LAG).


RE: This is absurd.
By callmeroy on 7/8/2010 9:16:04 AM , Rating: 1
Well you could say that...or you could also say its the people that make the MMO genre more unique than an SP game (or even an online shooter)....

If you play an MMO as a solo experience you really don't have much room to talk about the "mmo experience" because guess what -- you didn't take advantage of it. That's no one's fault but your own.

I've been a WoW player for 5 years...recently I've grown tired of the content for a mix of reasons -- some being simply its summer and I go out more in the summer rather than sit inside and player computer games each night. Other reasons I have played the current expansion to death over the last year and a half (or however long its been).

But the reason I come back to WoW is because of the community of friends...also MMO's are open-ended.

Of course once you kill the boss the boss is dead...WTF you expect to happen...name something we humans do that doesn't have a finality to it? Everything has an "end"...races end...football games end...vacations ends...

But you are completely full of shit if you are telling me SP games give you more options than an good MMO...you are lying through your teeth.

There's tons of raids, zones...you have the whole AH game to play...some people have fun just learning professions and then acting like a merchant to people with them....there's the exploring / questing bit of course (a personal favorite of mine...at least when new xpacs are released)....town raids....PVP Battelgrounds...Arena...all with large numbers of people....

Tons more things to do than in an SP....

In short if you don't like it...just say you don't like it and move on...in the end I think we could both agree....your opinion isn't going to stop me from playing any more than mine is going make you go "hey let me try WoW out"...


RE: This is absurd.
By Cullinaire on 7/8/2010 9:51:23 AM , Rating: 2
Haha ok...I was basically saying the MMO game mechanics is no different from that of SP games but here you go off on some tangent about this and that.

Yes I played WoW and yes I have played it as it "should" be played...in a raid group and whatnot. (Sorry if I wasn't into it as "hardcore" as you...not caring too much about that) And the points I made still stand. A coop RPG with more people involved. And like you I got tired of the treadmill (although a lot sooner - 60 was enough for me) and dropped out.

Of course MMOs give you more options than SP games...that's the point isn't it? But having more of the same is just that. A SP game super sized for a large concurrent audience. Can't expect a dozen NPCs with exclamation points over their heads to service thousands at a time.

If you kill a boss (ok, THE boss), shouldn't it have some far reaching consequence on the game world? The only ones I see are macroeconomical: you get more trinkets/items to disenchant/whatever. At least in SP games you get some sort of closure...in an MMO you're just planning another raid so hopefully the right setpiece will drop. Any background story is LONG out of mind now.

Rinse and repeat with expansions: fresh storyline to keep you interested in it at first, then it's grind till you collect all the setpieces. I'm sure many skip the story part altogether. NOTE THAT I NEVER SAID THERE'S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT.

I'm not really bashing MMOs. When I first started playing them I really had some lofty expectations. Of course, now I also understand that if those expectations were actually met, the game would be horribly broken and nobody would play it after a month. The stuff I described above is just what MMOs are and I'm just laying it bare. I never called anyone out for enjoying it. Quote me if you think otherwise.

Why should I stop at "I don't like it" and "move on" as you say? Just stating my views as a former player and general gamer.

I'm not trying to convince anyone to do anything. That's your assumption. If someone reads this thread and makes up their own minds about it, great. I don't care.


RE: This is absurd.
By Cullinaire on 7/8/2010 10:05:03 AM , Rating: 1
I've read your other replies on this topic. Most seem to be pretty defensive...didn't know you cared so much about how people view your WoW playing. I sure as hell didn't when I was playing.
Anyway, you mentioned the social aspect of MMOs and I didn't really address that (since I never brought it up in the first place-nor did I have to in the argument I had made to Reclaimer).
I'll agree that MMOs are a great vehicles for combining gaming and socializing. Other games are a bit too frantic all the time to allow much of that. No rides across the continent, no hanging around the AH, etc.
And that's great, I enjoyed that too. However, none of it makes any difference to my original argument (and it was NOT ABOUT WHY PEOPLE SHOULD NOT PLAY MMOS).


RE: This is absurd.
By callmeroy on 7/8/2010 12:14:38 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah yeah..well you call it defensive...I call it honestly replying to other posts that started the topic in the first place. You know good old fashion sticking up for what you think is right/ the truth/ not backing down all that good stuff.

If you want to get technical you can't use the care argument -- anyone that posts on any topic in any forum is showing they "care"....regardless what your point is...even if its to say you "don't care"....well yeah you do, you cared enough to let everyone else know you don't care! :)

To show no care or concern at all on a topic is to never type a single post in the conversation. So you see -- even YOU CARE!

To be honest I just forgot WTF we are supposed to be arguing about...


RE: This is absurd.
By gamerk2 on 7/8/2010 9:54:26 AM , Rating: 1
Raids/Zones = Levels/Stages

Most RPG's these days have some form of Job system, some deeper then others, but thats hardly unique to MMO's

Several RPG's (Fallout, Oblivion) place a high focus on exploration, and for Stategy titles (Civilization, SoaSE) as well.

Areana's are hardly new; NES RPG's thought of the concept long before WoW came along.

Frankly, MMO's are dull and boring for the most part; the only one I found mildly interesting was EVE Online [which would be epic if you could FPS fly...]. PotBS had potental before they steered away from purly ship-to-ship combat (For the love of god, just make Pirates! Online!!!!). WoW, frankly, is the worst of the bunch, mainly due to the dumbing down of almost every major RPG element.

And I'm talking as someone who's played every major RPG ever released [Every Ultima, Wizardry, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Lufia, Megami Tensi, Tales, Oblivion, and Fallout game to 100% completetion at least twice each [usually in Japaneze form, of course], not to mention a few dozen stand alone titles).


RE: This is absurd.
By Regected on 7/8/2010 11:26:07 AM , Rating: 2
If you think that every mmo is scripted, then you have never hear of EveOnline. The players control dang near everything in the game. Maybe you should check it out, unless you lack the intelligence to make it past the tutorial. If so, stick to your lame "BOOM HEADSHOT" FPS which take no brains to play.


RE: This is absurd.
By rcc on 7/8/2010 10:55:34 AM , Rating: 2
Right!!! Because as the Mom said while watching the marching band "Oh look, everyone is out of step but my Johnny"!


RE: This is absurd.
By hughlle on 7/8/2010 6:51:52 AM , Rating: 3
Or not. There are countless players not silly enough to walk into the monthly subscription game. I'm always amused listening to people trying to justify the fee. My brother prefere guild wars over the likes of wow. People are happy to pay for wow etc because it masterfully tricks users into believing they really do have friends and that people admire them... the people paying are the ones that need these "friends"


RE: This is absurd.
By callmeroy on 7/8/2010 9:30:59 AM , Rating: 1
You are a sad man if your post was written with sincerity.

I work for a living...I don't drink (me "drinking" means I had two beers with dinner one night two months ago), I don't smoke...I'm not really materilistic (not to be confused with being a cheap bastard...the stuff I do like I buy good quality stuff)...I don't spend much on myself for fun stuff...maybe going to the movies twice a month, buy a dvd once in a while...or a computer game...that's about it. The rest I spend on others.

So that all said I'm supposed to have this guilt thing over dropping $13 a month to play a game I enjoy because some perfect stranger like yourself doesn't approve?

One of the things I like about WoW is the community of online friends ....I won't lie...but your post is completely ridiculous because its not accurate in the least.

Why does everything these days need to have some deeper meaning? Why do we as a modern society feel the need to justify or expect justification for every damn thing we do?

Why can't no one just take something at face value?

That's all it is -- people playing a game together on recurring basis for long stretches of time (re: years) and being "cool" with each other thus enhancing the fun of the game.

Do we sometimes talk non game stuff...ask how each other's families are, jobs, talk about current problems to a limited degree....of course...oh wait -- its not right for us to be social at all? Does that violate your approvals as well?

The world is what you make it ultimate. If you chose to view the world with such cynism and/or contempt -- the whole time you are laughing at other people....thinking they are the fools...you never even notice the jokes been on you the whole time.


RE: This is absurd.
By TimDraper on 7/7/2010 7:41:49 PM , Rating: 2
No worries, you won't receive a monthly bill in the mail for any online games. They, just like (almost certainly) your internet provider, charge you in advance.

1 movie a month: $10 or so plus gas, food, etc. for 1-2 hours of _MAYBE_ something you'll like.

World of Warcraft or other MMO - $10-15 a month for as many hours as you feel like playing a month (assuming the servers are up at the time).

Which is a better entertainment bargain? Well if you play WoW for more than 4 hours a month, it's a no-brainer izznit?


RE: This is absurd.
By theArchMichael on 7/8/2010 4:34:00 AM , Rating: 1
Or you can get a girlfriend...

Can be super expensive depending on which one you get though.
But the options are:

-> You could spend countless hours playing a MMORPG seeking to extract every ounce of the $15 a month that you so wisely spent.

-> F#ck and do other things with your girlfriend


RE: This is absurd.
By callmeroy on 7/8/2010 9:42:21 AM , Rating: 1
You poor man...

You most suffer from a strange disease that allows you only to do ONE THING or concentrate on one thing ONLY ever...

Most of us folks ....can actually talk AND walk at the same time! Its true! We even have the ability to maintain a healthy relationship with our significant other and still magically find one or two hours a few nights a week for some time to do whatever -- play a game, watch a movie...I actually read some nights with alone time.

I hope one day you find a cure for your ailment..then you too will be able to enjoy life with the ability to focus on more than one thing at a time and find time to do multiple activities in life.


RE: This is absurd.
By Iaiken on 7/8/2010 10:25:44 AM , Rating: 2
Just ignore theArchMichael as he's obviously only capable of thinking in absolutes. In his world, all MMO players play like a full time job at the cost of their responsibilities.

There is no room in his world for people who enjoy a variety of things in moderation (one of which may be an MMO). It's simply not possible for people to spend time on an MMO instead of the exact same time-wasters as the rest of society.

Would time playing an MMO be better spent watching TV? Or maybe indulging in a book alone? Assembling a ship in a bottle? Or perhaps any number of sedentary solo pastimes?

He finds the entire idea that other people have preferences that don't conform to his frightening and so he feels the need to lash out like a cornered animal. What makes it so pathetic is that he isn't cornered, he has to go out looking for people to lash out against.

I managed to get a masters degree, a high paying job, meet my beautiful and intelligent wife, practicing Kung Fu, going out nearly every single Friday and Saturday night and playing WoW in some of the time between. However, there is no room for people like us in his threatening world of mmo-addicts who apparently must be out to get him.


RE: This is absurd.
By Flunk on 7/8/2010 9:29:45 AM , Rating: 2
For most adults that monthly fee is preitty small. Most people are paying car payments, insurance, housing, groceries and utilities so that $15 seems preitty inconsequential.

So kids, this is how people can play WoW or other pay for service games. When you get a job you'll be able to easily afford it too.


RE: This is absurd.
By AEvangel on 7/7/2010 5:31:44 PM , Rating: 2
What if you use the prepaid cards?


RE: This is absurd.
By MrBlastman on 7/7/2010 5:35:06 PM , Rating: 3
Exactly. There are plenty of ways around this asinine idea Blizzard is trying to push on everyone.


RE: This is absurd.
By Fanon on 7/7/2010 5:51:54 PM , Rating: 2
The plan, in its entirety, hasn't been fully disclosed. So, it's an assumption to say there are plenty of ways around it.


RE: This is absurd.
By Iaiken on 7/8/2010 1:30:43 PM , Rating: 2
You can't open an account without providing a credit card.

Most kids open the account on their parents card and then use pre-paid cards to continue. However, the credit card is always on file at Blizzard even after the card itself expires.

This would basically mean that their parents name will appear on all of their forum posts.


RE: This is absurd.
By Iaiken on 7/8/2010 1:30:44 PM , Rating: 2
You can't open an account without providing a credit card.

Most kids open the account on their parents card and then use pre-paid cards to continue. However, the credit card is always on file at Blizzard even after the card itself expires.

This would basically mean that their parents name will appear on all of their forum posts.


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