Real ID is a great idea. You opt in with someone to be friends via Real ID - boom, no hassle communicating across multiple games and characters. How is this bad?
The friend list and Real ID friend list are two totally different things, from the sound of this.
So, now that the forum name thing is gone, what exactly is your guys' problem? Because Bikkstah's jab isn't exactly unfounded from the look of things.
Bikkstah's jab would imply that the use of one's real name is a requirement of socialization.
Isn't it? I find it very strange for people who've played MMOs together for 10 years or longer to not know each other's first names, even. That's Buffalo Bill territory.
Not everyone has been playing MMOs with the same people for 10 years, nor even for 10 years in the first place
And people have been socializing behind aliases for 20+ years, going back to BBS boards. Names aren't a requirement.
I still find it bizarre that someone will trust someone enough to know what game they are playing at any time of the day or night, but yet not trust them enough with their name.
And people that I messaged on BBS boards were not my real life friends, hence they didn't know my name. The few that were did.
Gnutson on
Erai - Operative <--Imperial Double Agent--> Sniper - Eari
SW:Tor - Tao - Kryatt Dragon Server
Even that can still be debated as it was marketed originally as a way to stay in touch with real life friends, who you'd assume would mostly know you by your name and not whatever handle your using today.
Except with some very specific exceptions, I don't play WOW with "real life friends." I play with Shakra, Drakusmortem, Ternia, Ekdar, and the other guildmates I've been playing with for the past decade ever since Asheron's Call launched.
And no, I don't particularly need to know Ekdar, Ternia, Drak, or Shakra's IRL names. In vent, we use our character names. Do they need to know my name's Mark? Uh, No? I answer to KiTA (or Xaoten, or Mynnas, or whatnot) just fine. In fact, a vastly larger number of people know "KiTA" than "Mark." Intentionally so.
The fallacy here is that Bobby and the rest of Activision are assuming they can reverse engineer the Facebook social networking idea and implement it with a culture that is vastly, vastly different than the type of bored housewives and ultra-casual gamers that play Facebook games. It's never going to work, for the same reason that the "friends" thing in Steam isn't well developed.
I don't really care that Drak bought "1/3rd of Starcraft 2", I don't care that Ternia played the new Transformers game for 6 hours this week. I care that they're on in time for the raid this weekend. Yes, being able to notice when they're playing SC2 and IMing them from in game is nice. But then again... It's just as easier, if not easier to just hit Right-CTRL and say "Hey Drak, you gonna be done in time for ICC tonight?"
So... why do we need Battle.Net 2.0 and RealID again?
KiTA on
0
HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
edited July 2010
City of Heroes / Villains (I'm sure someone brought this up) allows you to use your global handle when friending people, which is how I handled friending people from this forum when playing. They didn't have access to who I was friending. And another feature in CoX is you could select who to 'hide' from in-game - you can hide from server friends, people in general on the server (to not be whispered to), and your global friend list.
That's an awesome system.
Real ID has the right idea but isn't quite there. And I don't know if you guys noticed but Blizzard will cave on things. If enough issue is made about friends of friends having access to your list, they'll can it.
Henroid on
0
CorehealerThe ApothecaryThe softer edge of the universe.Registered Userregular
City of Heroes / Villains (I'm sure someone brought this up) allows you to use your global handle when friending people, which is how I handled friending people from this forum when playing. They didn't have access to who I was friending. And another feature in CoX is you could select who to 'hide' from in-game - you can hide from server friends, people in general on the server (to not be whispered to), and your global friend list.
That's an awesome system.
Real ID has the right idea but isn't quite there. And I don't know if you guys noticed but Blizzard will cave on things. If enough issue is made about friends of friends having access to your list, they'll can it.
We can only hope they can it. I don't see any reason why they would cave however, since they keep having the higher ups drooling over the revenue generated by Facebook.
If enough people cry foul though, anything's possible.
Henroid is thinking that we're opposed to the realID system. We're not. We're opposed to, like I said earlier, the huge, glaring, burn-your-corneas-out issue that's using your real name for the system instead of a global handle.
bowen on
not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
I still find it bizarre that someone will trust someone enough to know what game they are playing at any time of the day or night, but yet not trust them enough with their name.
Letting someone know that I played Civ4 for a few hours last night is not the same as letting people know your name -- and everything else that you can get from that in a few seconds of work.
KiTA on
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
Henroid is thinking that we're opposed to the realID system. We're not. We're opposed to, like I said earlier, the huge, glaring, burn-your-corneas-out issue that's using your real name for the system instead of a global handle.
Actually I asked to clarify what the problems are now that the name on the forum thing is gone, because the forum thing was the big OMFG issue.
I see the problems but I'm just questioning things man.
And if there is a quote from Activision that's like, "HEY THIS IS WHAT WE'RE EXPLICITLY DOING" fucking link me already.
Even that can still be debated as it was marketed originally as a way to stay in touch with real life friends, who you'd assume would mostly know you by your name and not whatever handle your using today.
Except with some very specific exceptions, I don't play WOW with "real life friends." I play with Shakra, Drakusmortem, Ternia, Ekdar, and the other guildmates I've been playing with for the past decade ever since Asheron's Call launched.
And no, I don't particularly need to know Ekdar, Ternia, Drak, or Shakra's IRL names. In vent, we use our character names. Do they need to know my name's Mark? Uh, No? I answer to KiTA (or Xaoten, or Mynnas, or whatnot) just fine. In fact, a vastly larger number of people know "KiTA" than "Mark." Intentionally so.
The fallacy here is that Bobby and the rest of Activision are assuming they can reverse engineer the Facebook social networking idea and implement it with a culture that is vastly, vastly different than the type of bored housewives and ultra-casual gamers that play Facebook games. It's never going to work, for the same reason that the "friends" thing in Steam isn't well developed.
While I disagree that there's no place for a social network in gaming culture, I agree that the use of "Real names" is unnecessary.
It's not a trust issue, as some have suggested. I have no problem with the people I raid with knowing my name is Ryan. It's just...why? They didn't get to know me as Ryan. They got to know me as Tweak, or Javen (I had it first), or any of the other names I've gone by. And that's fine. I don't need to know that my friend's rogue is actually Steve, not Radagar as I've been calling him for the past 8 years. What's in a name?
Real ID is a great idea. You opt in with someone to be friends via Real ID - boom, no hassle communicating across multiple games and characters. How is this bad?
The friend list and Real ID friend list are two totally different things, from the sound of this.
So, now that the forum name thing is gone, what exactly is your guys' problem? Because Bikkstah's jab isn't exactly unfounded from the look of things.
Bikkstah's jab would imply that the use of one's real name is a requirement of socialization.
Isn't it? I find it very strange for people who've played MMOs together for 10 years or longer to not know each other's first names, even. That's Buffalo Bill territory.
Not everyone has been playing MMOs with the same people for 10 years, nor even for 10 years in the first place
And people have been socializing behind aliases for 20+ years, going back to BBS boards. Names aren't a requirement.
I'm not discussing online socializing. I am saying that RealID is for your friends, people you know and trust. People that have been playing with each other for years and years but don't want those people to know their names are a little creepy. It puts the lotion on its skin or it gets the hose again. There are people in my guild who have been together in guilds since UO but won't give out their RealID. That's fucking weird.
Bikkstah on
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CorehealerThe ApothecaryThe softer edge of the universe.Registered Userregular
Henroid is thinking that we're opposed to the realID system. We're not. We're opposed to, like I said earlier, the huge, glaring, burn-your-corneas-out issue that's using your real name for the system instead of a global handle.
That's pretty much the consensus. There is the convenience of IMing people cross game and shit, and then there's the privacy issue and use of real names.
I'm on my AH character and I decide one Tuesday to completely crash the flask market. Someone on the server sees this and takes offense. They then use one or more various in-game scripts to obtain some of my personal info, which they then use to harass myself and my family in various ways. I have an 18 month old and my wife is pregnant. They don't need to deal with this and I don't want them dealing with it; especially if I'm away on a work trip (which used to happen a lot more often than it does now).
I could give a shit about the o-boards. It's the in-game security that needs to be fixed. The fact that Blizz backed down about info on forums does nothing to address the security hole in the game.
Real ID is a great idea. You opt in with someone to be friends via Real ID - boom, no hassle communicating across multiple games and characters. How is this bad?
The friend list and Real ID friend list are two totally different things, from the sound of this.
So, now that the forum name thing is gone, what exactly is your guys' problem? Because Bikkstah's jab isn't exactly unfounded from the look of things.
Bikkstah's jab would imply that the use of one's real name is a requirement of socialization.
Isn't it? I find it very strange for people who've played MMOs together for 10 years or longer to not know each other's first names, even. That's Buffalo Bill territory.
Not everyone has been playing MMOs with the same people for 10 years, nor even for 10 years in the first place
And people have been socializing behind aliases for 20+ years, going back to BBS boards. Names aren't a requirement.
I'm not discussing online socializing. I am saying that RealID is for your friends, people you know and trust. People that have been playing with each other for years and years but don't want those people to know their names are a little creepy. It puts the lotion on its skin or it gets the hose again. There are people in my guild who have been together in guilds since UO but won't give out their RealID. That's fucking weird.
So...not everyone is you? What's so hard to understand?
Real ID is a great idea. You opt in with someone to be friends via Real ID - boom, no hassle communicating across multiple games and characters. How is this bad?
The friend list and Real ID friend list are two totally different things, from the sound of this.
So, now that the forum name thing is gone, what exactly is your guys' problem? Because Bikkstah's jab isn't exactly unfounded from the look of things.
Bikkstah's jab would imply that the use of one's real name is a requirement of socialization.
Isn't it? I find it very strange for people who've played MMOs together for 10 years or longer to not know each other's first names, even. That's Buffalo Bill territory.
Not everyone has been playing MMOs with the same people for 10 years, nor even for 10 years in the first place
And people have been socializing behind aliases for 20+ years, going back to BBS boards. Names aren't a requirement.
I'm not discussing online socializing. I am saying that RealID is for your friends, people you know and trust. People that have been playing with each other for years and years but don't want those people to know their names are a little creepy. It puts the lotion on its skin or it gets the hose again. There are people in my guild who have been together in guilds since UO but won't give out their RealID. That's fucking weird.
You know what else is weird? Shooting people for a living. So feel free not to judge.
I'm not discussing online socializing. I am saying that RealID is for your friends, people you know and trust. People that have been playing with each other for years and years but don't want those people to know their names are a little creepy. .
That line of thought went out the window the second they told us that RealIDs would be mandatory on the forum.
I'm on my AH character and I decide one Tuesday to completely crash the flask market. Someone on the server sees this and takes offense. They then use one or more various in-game scripts to obtain some of my personal info, which they then use to harass myself and my family in various ways. I have an 18 month old and my wife is pregnant. They don't need to deal with this and I don't want them dealing with it; especially if I'm away on a work trip (which used to happen a lot more often than it does now).
I could give a shit about the o-boards. It's the in-game security that needs to be fixed. The fact that Blizz backed down about info on forums does nothing to address the security hole in the game.
Assumptions made:
In-game scripts can make this happen.
Part of the info available in the game interface is your address and phone number.
I'm not discussing online socializing. I am saying that RealID is for your friends, people you know and trust. People that have been playing with each other for years and years but don't want those people to know their names are a little creepy. .
That line of thought went out the window the second they told us that RealIDs would be mandatory on the forum.
And that line of thought came back in the window the second they removed the mandatory thing for the forum?
Even that can still be debated as it was marketed originally as a way to stay in touch with real life friends, who you'd assume would mostly know you by your name and not whatever handle your using today.
Except with some very specific exceptions, I don't play WOW with "real life friends." I play with Shakra, Drakusmortem, Ternia, Ekdar, and the other guildmates I've been playing with for the past decade ever since Asheron's Call launched.
And no, I don't particularly need to know Ekdar, Ternia, Drak, or Shakra's IRL names. In vent, we use our character names. Do they need to know my name's Mark? Uh, No? I answer to KiTA (or Xaoten, or Mynnas, or whatnot) just fine. In fact, a vastly larger number of people know "KiTA" than "Mark." Intentionally so.
The fallacy here is that Bobby and the rest of Activision are assuming they can reverse engineer the Facebook social networking idea and implement it with a culture that is vastly, vastly different than the type of bored housewives and ultra-casual gamers that play Facebook games. It's never going to work, for the same reason that the "friends" thing in Steam isn't well developed.
While I disagree that there's no place for a social network in gaming culture, I agree that the use of "Real names" is unnecessary.
It's not a trust issue, as some have suggested. I have no problem with the people I raid with knowing my name is Ryan. It's just...why? They didn't get to know me as Ryan. They got to know me as Tweak, or Javen, or any of the other names I've gone by. And that's fine. What's in a name?
This right here.
I've played/raided with RL friends for 10 years now. Joined guilds with them, continued on through multiple games. In most guilds I've been in for years, people know my name is Mike. Despite my RL friends, and guildies knowing this. I'm called Tur 98% of the time.
The idea of Real ID is nice. I liked the thought of being able to talk to friends on other realms or factions. Needing my name for that isn't a big deal if its ONLY my friends and their friends that see JUST my name. Do they need to use my real name though? No. a handle would work just as well, appease the masses, and add an extra layer of anonymity, so why not roll that out.
Even that can still be debated as it was marketed originally as a way to stay in touch with real life friends, who you'd assume would mostly know you by your name and not whatever handle your using today.
Except with some very specific exceptions, I don't play WOW with "real life friends." I play with Shakra, Drakusmortem, Ternia, Ekdar, and the other guildmates I've been playing with for the past decade ever since Asheron's Call launched.
And no, I don't particularly need to know Ekdar, Ternia, Drak, or Shakra's IRL names. In vent, we use our character names. Do they need to know my name's Mark? Uh, No? I answer to KiTA (or Xaoten, or Mynnas, or whatnot) just fine. In fact, a vastly larger number of people know "KiTA" than "Mark." Intentionally so.
The fallacy here is that Bobby and the rest of Activision are assuming they can reverse engineer the Facebook social networking idea and implement it with a culture that is vastly, vastly different than the type of bored housewives and ultra-casual gamers that play Facebook games. It's never going to work, for the same reason that the "friends" thing in Steam isn't well developed.
While I disagree that there's no place for a social network in gaming culture, I agree that the use of "Real names" is unnecessary.
It's not a trust issue, as some have suggested. I have no problem with the people I raid with knowing my name is Ryan. It's just...why? They didn't get to know me as Ryan. They got to know me as Tweak, or Javen (I had it first), or any of the other names I've gone by. And that's fine. I don't need to know that my friend's rogue is actually Steve, not Radagar as I've been calling him for the past 8 years. What's in a name?
The ironic thing is I have the reverse problem. I have added a few of my guildmates and friends from IRC to my facebook friends' list. And without a chart, I can't keep these names straight. I know them better as their handles.
In the end, that's not that far off from using your real name. This is what I keep saying. If you use SniperGuy across everything, eventually somewhere you did slip up. In small ways, but added together, it paints a clear picture of you.
From a security standpoint you're probably right, but it is an extra layer of security.
From a gameplay/immersion standpoint there's (a world, I think) a difference between adventuring with "Jaina the Mage" and "Stacy from Accounting." I feel like forcing the break in the fourth wall is unnecessary, if the purpose of the system is what they claim it to be.
I agree completely with that.
I personally feel there should just be a global handle that used everywhere in Blizzard titles, but that doesn't have to be a real name or an email address. And on the forums, the ability to see a poster's other characters.
As others point out, Steam does it right.
Not just Steam. Champions/STO even has cross-game chat channels, something I'm not sure you will even be able to do with RealID (cross-game communication, yes, but not a channel).
Even that can still be debated as it was marketed originally as a way to stay in touch with real life friends, who you'd assume would mostly know you by your name and not whatever handle your using today.
Except with some very specific exceptions, I don't play WOW with "real life friends." I play with Shakra, Drakusmortem, Ternia, Ekdar, and the other guildmates I've been playing with for the past decade ever since Asheron's Call launched.
And no, I don't particularly need to know Ekdar, Ternia, Drak, or Shakra's IRL names. In vent, we use our character names. Do they need to know my name's Mark? Uh, No? I answer to KiTA (or Xaoten, or Mynnas, or whatnot) just fine. In fact, a vastly larger number of people know "KiTA" than "Mark." Intentionally so.
The fallacy here is that Bobby and the rest of Activision are assuming they can reverse engineer the Facebook social networking idea and implement it with a culture that is vastly, vastly different than the type of bored housewives and ultra-casual gamers that play Facebook games. It's never going to work, for the same reason that the "friends" thing in Steam isn't well developed.
I don't really care that Drak bought "1/3rd of Starcraft 2", I don't care that Ternia played the new Transformers game for 6 hours this week. I care that they're on in time for the raid this weekend. Yes, being able to notice when they're playing SC2 and IMing them from in game is nice. But then again... It's just as easier, if not easier to just hit Right-CTRL and say "Hey Drak, you gonna be done in time for ICC tonight?"
So... why do we need Battle.Net 2.0 and RealID again?
You associate Facebook users with casual gamers, yet you're obviously a casual gamer yourself. Cell #'s and texts are by far the easiest way to ensure people are going to be on time for raids if it looks like they're running late.
I'm not discussing online socializing. I am saying that RealID is for your friends, people you know and trust. People that have been playing with each other for years and years but don't want those people to know their names are a little creepy. .
That line of thought went out the window the second they told us that RealIDs would be mandatory on the forum.
And that line of thought came back in the window the second they removed the mandatory thing for the forum?
Real ID is a great idea. You opt in with someone to be friends via Real ID - boom, no hassle communicating across multiple games and characters. How is this bad?
The friend list and Real ID friend list are two totally different things, from the sound of this.
So, now that the forum name thing is gone, what exactly is your guys' problem? Because Bikkstah's jab isn't exactly unfounded from the look of things.
Bikkstah's jab would imply that the use of one's real name is a requirement of socialization.
Isn't it? I find it very strange for people who've played MMOs together for 10 years or longer to not know each other's first names, even. That's Buffalo Bill territory.
The purpose of online gaming in general and MMOs in specific is escapism. To get away from the stuff in your real life for a couple of hours every day or every other day or twice a week (insert KILLING INTERNET DRAGONS blog entry here). That's what they do - that's their purpose. That's not the purpose and goal of social gaming like what you see on Facebook - and that's fine! - but it is for most other MMOs. Whether it's Activision or Blizzard calling the shots behind RealID is largely irrelevant; it's part of a larger initiative at taking MMOs and turning them into something they never were and that, I believe, most players don't really want them to be, for the sake of chasing a trendy way at making easy money.
MMOs are supposed to be a bit antisocial because that's what they're designed for. A lot of people take it too far and practically live in them, granted, but that doesn't mean the pseudo-anonymity it fosters should be removed. Every time a little piece of Real Life™ gets pushed into an MMO, a little bit of the reason to really keep playing them disappears.
korodullin on
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
I'm not discussing online socializing. I am saying that RealID is for your friends, people you know and trust. People that have been playing with each other for years and years but don't want those people to know their names are a little creepy. .
That line of thought went out the window the second they told us that RealIDs would be mandatory on the forum.
And that line of thought came back in the window the second they removed the mandatory thing for the forum?
Insert coin
You're not one for foresight are you?
Blizzard introduces details on Real ID.
Community lashes out on it, particularly one point.
Blizzard removes that point.
... You guys understand you actually have the power to change things right?
I'm not discussing online socializing. I am saying that RealID is for your friends, people you know and trust. People that have been playing with each other for years and years but don't want those people to know their names are a little creepy. .
That line of thought went out the window the second they told us that RealIDs would be mandatory on the forum.
And that line of thought came back in the window the second they removed the mandatory thing for the forum?
Insert coin
No. Trust, once broken, is not regained instantly.
Activision-Blizzard announced an intent to force us all to do something very stupid. A thread with 50,000 replies caused them to back down... for now.
The mindset behind the requirement is still there. They just know it's unpalatable... for now.
You associate Facebook users with casual gamers, yet you're obviously a casual gamer yourself. Cell #'s and texts are by far the easiest way to ensure people are going to be on time for raids if it looks like they're running late.
I'm not discussing online socializing. I am saying that RealID is for your friends, people you know and trust. People that have been playing with each other for years and years but don't want those people to know their names are a little creepy. .
That line of thought went out the window the second they told us that RealIDs would be mandatory on the forum.
And that line of thought came back in the window the second they removed the mandatory thing for the forum?
Insert coin
Er...what? The "it's only for friends and family" line was how they justified using real names for RealID. The fact that RealID was going to be mandatory on the forums means that the original line was just BS to pacify people who were freaking out.
Just because they reversed the forum decision doesn't mean they actually feel differently about RealID now.
When I re-roll a rogue come Cata, Staceyfromaccounging will be the name I choose (if character limits allow)
:winky:
mturalon on
0
GoodKingJayIIIThey wanna get mygold on the ceilingRegistered Userregular
edited July 2010
This is, at best, a repositioning. Blizzard found themselves checked when their customer exploded and people started finding very creepy shit about their employees through the very system they intended to employ.
But this is not over. Obviously the social networking aspect isn't going away. And the "at this time" language in that blue post suggests that Blizzard is going to come back to this in some fashion. It's not going away, and anyone who thinks that we have won ourselves something is not reading between the lines--heck, not reading the actual statement!
I am extremely skeptical about Blizzard games going forward, because it's clear at this point that Blizzard no longer exists. There is Activision, and the Blizzard brand. Blizzard was the business that had my faith and loyalty. Activision has none of that and never did. If this kind of fiasco is the norm, it likely never will.
reVerseAttack and Dethrone GodRegistered Userregular
edited July 2010
The whole problem here is the use of your real name. I bet 90% of people who are opposed to all this RealID shit would immediately stop complaining if your RealID was a username, not your real name.
Being able to see your friend's friends is not something I am cool with. As soon as I saw that I removed all the realID stuff.
Quit being such an antisocial gamer!
Fuck.
That's some ownage right there.
Not really, as I said in the post before that one, I'd support it 100% if complete strangers couldn't see all the same information your friends do. Out of context shit for the win.
I'm on my AH character and I decide one Tuesday to completely crash the flask market. Someone on the server sees this and takes offense. They then use one or more various in-game scripts to obtain some of my personal info, which they then use to harass myself and my family in various ways. I have an 18 month old and my wife is pregnant. They don't need to deal with this and I don't want them dealing with it; especially if I'm away on a work trip (which used to happen a lot more often than it does now).
I could give a shit about the o-boards. It's the in-game security that needs to be fixed. The fact that Blizz backed down about info on forums does nothing to address the security hole in the game.
I mean you said yourself this is a terribad example, but if you do a dickish thing, it is not particularly surprising in any context except the internet, that you will receive some sort of repurcussion. The idea here being to simply not do the dickish thing. I mean, yes, the stalker/harasser is clearly more in the wrong, but had you not done a dickish thing at all, it wouldn't be a problem.
Posts
I still find it bizarre that someone will trust someone enough to know what game they are playing at any time of the day or night, but yet not trust them enough with their name.
And people that I messaged on BBS boards were not my real life friends, hence they didn't know my name. The few that were did.
SW:Tor - Tao - Kryatt Dragon Server
Then you're blind
Except with some very specific exceptions, I don't play WOW with "real life friends." I play with Shakra, Drakusmortem, Ternia, Ekdar, and the other guildmates I've been playing with for the past decade ever since Asheron's Call launched.
And no, I don't particularly need to know Ekdar, Ternia, Drak, or Shakra's IRL names. In vent, we use our character names. Do they need to know my name's Mark? Uh, No? I answer to KiTA (or Xaoten, or Mynnas, or whatnot) just fine. In fact, a vastly larger number of people know "KiTA" than "Mark." Intentionally so.
The fallacy here is that Bobby and the rest of Activision are assuming they can reverse engineer the Facebook social networking idea and implement it with a culture that is vastly, vastly different than the type of bored housewives and ultra-casual gamers that play Facebook games. It's never going to work, for the same reason that the "friends" thing in Steam isn't well developed.
I don't really care that Drak bought "1/3rd of Starcraft 2", I don't care that Ternia played the new Transformers game for 6 hours this week. I care that they're on in time for the raid this weekend. Yes, being able to notice when they're playing SC2 and IMing them from in game is nice. But then again... It's just as easier, if not easier to just hit Right-CTRL and say "Hey Drak, you gonna be done in time for ICC tonight?"
So... why do we need Battle.Net 2.0 and RealID again?
That's an awesome system.
Real ID has the right idea but isn't quite there. And I don't know if you guys noticed but Blizzard will cave on things. If enough issue is made about friends of friends having access to your list, they'll can it.
We can only hope they can it. I don't see any reason why they would cave however, since they keep having the higher ups drooling over the revenue generated by Facebook.
If enough people cry foul though, anything's possible.
go read the thread, and get the words out of the activision-blizzard ceo's mouth himself.
PSN: ShogunGunshow
Origin: ShogunGunshow
Letting someone know that I played Civ4 for a few hours last night is not the same as letting people know your name -- and everything else that you can get from that in a few seconds of work.
Actually I asked to clarify what the problems are now that the name on the forum thing is gone, because the forum thing was the big OMFG issue.
I see the problems but I'm just questioning things man.
And if there is a quote from Activision that's like, "HEY THIS IS WHAT WE'RE EXPLICITLY DOING" fucking link me already.
While I disagree that there's no place for a social network in gaming culture, I agree that the use of "Real names" is unnecessary.
It's not a trust issue, as some have suggested. I have no problem with the people I raid with knowing my name is Ryan. It's just...why? They didn't get to know me as Ryan. They got to know me as Tweak, or Javen (I had it first), or any of the other names I've gone by. And that's fine. I don't need to know that my friend's rogue is actually Steve, not Radagar as I've been calling him for the past 8 years. What's in a name?
I'm not discussing online socializing. I am saying that RealID is for your friends, people you know and trust. People that have been playing with each other for years and years but don't want those people to know their names are a little creepy. It puts the lotion on its skin or it gets the hose again. There are people in my guild who have been together in guilds since UO but won't give out their RealID. That's fucking weird.
That's pretty much the consensus. There is the convenience of IMing people cross game and shit, and then there's the privacy issue and use of real names.
I'm on my AH character and I decide one Tuesday to completely crash the flask market. Someone on the server sees this and takes offense. They then use one or more various in-game scripts to obtain some of my personal info, which they then use to harass myself and my family in various ways. I have an 18 month old and my wife is pregnant. They don't need to deal with this and I don't want them dealing with it; especially if I'm away on a work trip (which used to happen a lot more often than it does now).
I could give a shit about the o-boards. It's the in-game security that needs to be fixed. The fact that Blizz backed down about info on forums does nothing to address the security hole in the game.
So...not everyone is you? What's so hard to understand?
You know what else is weird? Shooting people for a living. So feel free not to judge.
That line of thought went out the window the second they told us that RealIDs would be mandatory on the forum.
Assumptions made:
In-game scripts can make this happen.
Part of the info available in the game interface is your address and phone number.
Fuck.
That's some ownage right there.
PSN: ShogunGunshow
Origin: ShogunGunshow
And that line of thought came back in the window the second they removed the mandatory thing for the forum?
Insert coin
This right here.
I've played/raided with RL friends for 10 years now. Joined guilds with them, continued on through multiple games. In most guilds I've been in for years, people know my name is Mike. Despite my RL friends, and guildies knowing this. I'm called Tur 98% of the time.
The idea of Real ID is nice. I liked the thought of being able to talk to friends on other realms or factions. Needing my name for that isn't a big deal if its ONLY my friends and their friends that see JUST my name. Do they need to use my real name though? No. a handle would work just as well, appease the masses, and add an extra layer of anonymity, so why not roll that out.
The ironic thing is I have the reverse problem. I have added a few of my guildmates and friends from IRC to my facebook friends' list. And without a chart, I can't keep these names straight. I know them better as their handles.
Not just Steam. Champions/STO even has cross-game chat channels, something I'm not sure you will even be able to do with RealID (cross-game communication, yes, but not a channel).
You associate Facebook users with casual gamers, yet you're obviously a casual gamer yourself. Cell #'s and texts are by far the easiest way to ensure people are going to be on time for raids if it looks like they're running late.
You're not one for foresight are you?
The purpose of online gaming in general and MMOs in specific is escapism. To get away from the stuff in your real life for a couple of hours every day or every other day or twice a week (insert KILLING INTERNET DRAGONS blog entry here). That's what they do - that's their purpose. That's not the purpose and goal of social gaming like what you see on Facebook - and that's fine! - but it is for most other MMOs. Whether it's Activision or Blizzard calling the shots behind RealID is largely irrelevant; it's part of a larger initiative at taking MMOs and turning them into something they never were and that, I believe, most players don't really want them to be, for the sake of chasing a trendy way at making easy money.
MMOs are supposed to be a bit antisocial because that's what they're designed for. A lot of people take it too far and practically live in them, granted, but that doesn't mean the pseudo-anonymity it fosters should be removed. Every time a little piece of Real Life™ gets pushed into an MMO, a little bit of the reason to really keep playing them disappears.
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
Blizzard introduces details on Real ID.
Community lashes out on it, particularly one point.
Blizzard removes that point.
... You guys understand you actually have the power to change things right?
No. Trust, once broken, is not regained instantly.
Activision-Blizzard announced an intent to force us all to do something very stupid. A thread with 50,000 replies caused them to back down... for now.
The mindset behind the requirement is still there. They just know it's unpalatable... for now.
If they want our trust back -- fire Bobby.
... What.
Er...what? The "it's only for friends and family" line was how they justified using real names for RealID. The fact that RealID was going to be mandatory on the forums means that the original line was just BS to pacify people who were freaking out.
Just because they reversed the forum decision doesn't mean they actually feel differently about RealID now.
No the purpose is to have fun.
For some people it's not fun knowing that strangers now know your name.
When I re-roll a rogue come Cata, Staceyfromaccounging will be the name I choose (if character limits allow)
:winky:
But this is not over. Obviously the social networking aspect isn't going away. And the "at this time" language in that blue post suggests that Blizzard is going to come back to this in some fashion. It's not going away, and anyone who thinks that we have won ourselves something is not reading between the lines--heck, not reading the actual statement!
I am extremely skeptical about Blizzard games going forward, because it's clear at this point that Blizzard no longer exists. There is Activision, and the Blizzard brand. Blizzard was the business that had my faith and loyalty. Activision has none of that and never did. If this kind of fiasco is the norm, it likely never will.
Which some people get through escapism.
Seriously, you're just being a goose deliberately at this point.
PSN: ShogunGunshow
Origin: ShogunGunshow
Not really, as I said in the post before that one, I'd support it 100% if complete strangers couldn't see all the same information your friends do. Out of context shit for the win.
I mean you said yourself this is a terribad example, but if you do a dickish thing, it is not particularly surprising in any context except the internet, that you will receive some sort of repurcussion. The idea here being to simply not do the dickish thing. I mean, yes, the stalker/harasser is clearly more in the wrong, but had you not done a dickish thing at all, it wouldn't be a problem.
Escapism is what it boils down to. Having fun during that bout of escapism is a happy coincidence that, luckily, most developers try to strive for.
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)