Jason Moyer on 8/7/2010 at 21:11
Blizzard changing their forum policy doesn't really change your ability to do that though does it? Although I'm sure a lot of people over on their forums don't really see it that way.
In any case, you can be held accountable for anonymous posting online just as easily as if you use your real name, so what's the point? Obviously it depends quite a bit on the laws of the country you live in, but if you were to go around making death threats or inciting violence or whatever it wouldn't take more than a few hours to get more personal details than your real name.
Also, on a personal note, people who use nom-de-plumes just come off to me as not really having anything to say of substance. There are exceptions (the Anonymous Scientology protests have a tangible reason for requiring anonymity) but really what's so frightening in this world about associating your real name with the bundle of thoughts and opinions you carry around in your skull?
Phatose on 9/7/2010 at 00:34
Possibly it has something to do with the fact that gaming tends to be a form of escape from the daily grind, and bringing real life back into it doesn't help that?
DDL on 9/7/2010 at 00:38
Plus, you know that at least one or two people are going to log in, check the real names of the hawt nightelf ranger they've been flirting with, and say
"....mom? :eww:"
demagogue on 9/7/2010 at 03:52
Quote Posted by Jason Moyer
I feel pretty strongly that companies (or governments, for that matter) doing retarded things ultimately comes back to hurt them.
Yeah, they end up dragging the entire world economy down with them and still don't bat an eye continuing their retarded ways into oblivion. I just don't have
much any faith that most companies and governments will ever act other than the most conservatively dogmatic way even if they did faintly realize how reckless it is in the long run. I can easily see a red flag like this stupidly branding someone and an employer preferring untarnished imbeciles whose only saving grace is that they don't really know computers that well.
Bluegrime on 9/7/2010 at 04:17
How exactly does having your real name make you any more accountable? The only thing Blizzard is going to be doing is banning you, and tying an account to a CD key does that just as well (if not better) then a real name. Really, the potential problems that come from the real name basis are far greater then anything their going to be gaining.
Lets take WoW, which can be insanely competitive. So player A has been grinding all week and finally got THE ULTIMATE DROP.. Only to have player B zip by and steal it right out from under his nose. So Player A goes on the forum, checks who the account is attached to, finds out their within walking distance of player B and kills him with an icepick.
If you think that is unreasonable or unfair to the community at large, then remember there's how many millions of people playing? Once you start putting that many people in a competitive environment, your going to end up with a few of them who might just use knowing someones first and last name (Both are supposed to be publicly available) to track them down. This policy their implementing is going to take the challenge out of finding someone and harming them, and it'll put the potential to do so in the hands of the layman.
Dramatics aside, we should start a pool and see how long it takes someone to get murdered over their 4 strength 4 stam leather belt. Moments like this..
[video=youtube;iZbosirrDjg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZbosirrDjg[/video]
May end up moving out into the real world.
june gloom on 9/7/2010 at 04:22
Quote Posted by Renzatic
Hmmm, your resume is excellent, your references impeccable, and your go-getter attitude quite enjoyable. I believe you're well on your way to being one of our next rising star senior executives. All I have to do now is a quick standard Google background check and...oh fuck. You're one of those piece of shit Alliance mouthbreathers.
I'm sorry, but I don't think you'll have a place at our great Fortune 500 company. We believe your ganker tactics in Warsong gulch show a complete lack of character, and just...damn...just the fact you're alliance show how bad you suck, dude. Seriously. Horde only here at our multi-billion dollar corporation. I believe it's in your best interest to get out before I call security.
Yeah I don't think that's what DDL was talking about.
It's more like:
"I see here that you play World of Warcraft. What proof do you have that you are a reliable worker? How am I going to believe you if you call in sick? How do I know you're not actually playing World of Warcraft?
Don't call us. We'll call you."
Koki on 9/7/2010 at 05:19
Quote Posted by Jason Moyer
Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of privacy, but I don't think there's anything wrong with people taking accountability for their online behavior either.
So which one is it?
I never thought I'll meet one of these "Let's put tracking device in every ID card and make it a chip surgically implanted under the skin, only criminals need to be worried" people. Thank you for giving me this chance TTLG
Avalon on 9/7/2010 at 08:38
This change won't remove the "trolls," it'll just remove all of the sensible posters who don't want to be trolled IRL. One of the biggest e-assholes I know, is a guy who has absolutely no qualms about telling anyone and everyone his real name, his cell phone number and his address. He brags about it. This won't make people like him go away.
The real concern is safety. As someone who played WoW for years, I will tell you that game is full of the most batshit insane personalities you can think of. I saw more than my fair share of psycho stalkers and people threatening real life harm - thankfully, without the ability to connect my in-game name to my real name (because it was an alias I used specifically for WoW and nothing else, for a few years anyway), none of these ever panned out. One, and only one, got really close, and remains my creepiest encounter - a random level 1 whispering me a previous address. My current address is easy to find - but the address he whispered me was one that I lived at so briefly, finding a record of it anywhere would be near impossible unless you were stalker supreme. I shudder to think of how many of those "misses" before that guy would have been hits if they had my real name to start from.
The fact is that video games in general draw hugely emotional responses from people. In a game where I can find a low-level player doing quests, laugh at him, kill him, spit on his corpse, and then prevent him from resurrecting and continuing his quests for the better part of a
day just because the game lets me do it with impunity, and
then go on the forums and brag about it, you can damn well be sure he'll be pissed.
Imagine any multiplayer game you've enjoyed, and I bet you can think of a dozen times that you slammed your fist into your desk in frustration. Now imagine how many people there are that won't let it stop at that. Maybe they're not killers, but they are the type that will send you a few threatening phone calls if they have the means, or a call to your work, or your wife, your kids, something just to "scare" you even if they don't plan on actually physically hurting you. It's reality, and it happens all the time. It's why no game of any kind should ever force this kind of thing upon its paying customers.
WoW in particular has the following on the posting page, that you must read every time you make a post:
Quote:
Help keep these forums a fun and safe place for everyone - please report any Code of Conduct violations you see, including:
* Threats of violence. We take these seriously and will alert the proper authorities.
*
Posts containing personal information about other players. Physical/email addresses, phone numbers, and inappropriate photos and/or videos. * Harassing or discriminatory language. This will not be tolerated.
It wasn't always there. It was something added over time because people began posting things - real names, included - that were leading to some very bad things. Blizzard recognized the problem that identity association can have in video gaming, and cracked down accordingly. Now, they're removing something they spent years learning was
necessary. It's silly. And anyone who tells you it won't happen is living in a very mythical dreamworld, and should eject their head from their ass.
Yeah, I get kind of worked up over these things, simply because I've been a victim of the crazy people myself. Hell, one of the craziest people I knew came from these very TTLG forums, and I learned from that experience how to (mostly) avoid being stalked via the internet. Now imagine how many kids are playing WoW, or the people who have never had that learning experience - the people who are about to have their real identities exposed to a bunch of angry and vindictive gamers.
Jason Moyer on 9/7/2010 at 09:01
Quote Posted by Koki
So which one is it?
I never thought I'll meet one of these "Let's put tracking device in every ID card and make it a chip surgically implanted under the skin, only criminals need to be worried" people. Thank you for giving me this chance TTLG
If you can't see the difference between a privately-owned company requiring you to share personal information in order to use their service and a government mining/sharing data on its citizens without their individual consent then I'm not sure what to say.
Koki on 9/7/2010 at 09:50
I can see the difference but that's not what you really said now was it? You immediately jumped on your moral high ground and started preaching how people hiding behind nicknames online are all cowards, though you were much more subtle than that.
