World of Stalkercraft

[GreyArea]

I think this is a damn good idea, tbh. The anonymity of the internet allows behaviour towards others that would never be countenanced face to face.

Online harassment will still happen with this rule. Some people don't care if you know their name, especially if they have a common name or are in such a position of privilege that they can't be affected by the abuse tactics they like to use against others.

And it will be easier to harass, stalk, physically intimidate, threaten, or kill people offline. If you know some Internet user's name, you can probably find them. See the links from SkeptiChick, above, as well as http://borderhouseblog.com/?p=2535 .

More reasons here: http://www.metafilter.com/93492/But-my-name-really-is-Deathblood-Blackaxe#3171416

Keyboard Heroism needs to stop if the image of MMORPGs, and all online gaming in fact, is ever going to improve amongst the vast majority of people who aren't involved in them.

If the image is going to change, players and the companies they pay are going to have to change their culture. Right now it's fratboys in the locker room, 24-7.

And it happens outside games, as well: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/apr/06/gender.blogging

 

[Jalok]

Slight change posted today on the WoW forums. if I'm reading it correctly they are no longer planning to make forum posts use your real name, but instead an account unique identifier. So still no more hiding behind alts and such, but now no connection to the real world unless you start running your mouth unadvisedly.

Jalok

Sticky post is on the general forum page, don't believe I can do linkipoos yet

 

[jasonpatterson]

seems this only applies to the forum, not the game itself are the forum IDs (and thus real names) tied to the ingame avatars? IE is there a way you can tell Joe Blow on the forum is ElfStomper138 in the game?

The forum ID's are real names, not just an ID tied to a name, and yes, they are tied to in-game avatars. All of your avatars. You will be able to tell that Joe Blow on the forum is not only elfstomper, but also trolldude, and mysticman, as well as know all the servers that person plays on.

No, the RealID was only supposed to be tied to an in game identity if you chose to do so.

http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=25626109041

Slight change posted today on the WoW forums. if I'm reading it correctly they are no longer planning to make forum posts use your real name, but instead an account unique identifier. So still no more hiding behind alts and such, but now no connection to the real world unless you start running your mouth unadvisedly.

Jalok

Sticky post is on the general forum page, don't believe I can do linkipoos yet

Good change, I'm glad they are making it. It was a pretty stupid move on Blizzard's part in the first place. Here's the link to the blue post in question.

 

[chulbert]

So, really, if I wanted to play online keyboard-hero, there's nothing to stop me from creating an account whose RL name says James Randi and includes an address in Fort Lauderdale. Voila, now I can act like a complete douche without any personal repercussions. In fact, better yet, it's Randi who has to deal with the angry vigilantes.

Nothing to stop you except paying for a copy of the game. Your Blizzard account must be associated with a purchased copy of a given game in order to allow posting to that game's forum. It's not quite as easy whipping up a new Hotmail account and registering.

 

[TraneWreck]

Maybe some WOW players will take this as an opportunity to get a real life ..

We should hire a camera crew to follow you around and see how you spend your leisure time. I'm sure it's WAAAAAAAAY more valuable than playing video games.

 

[RhodyDave]

I'm all in favor of this. Accountability is a much needed concept in the online social world. Enough of all the hateful, angry posting while cowardly hiding behind a pseudonym.

 

[jasonpatterson]

Nothing to stop you except paying for a copy of the game. Your Blizzard account must be associated with a purchased copy of a given game in order to allow posting to that game's forum. It's not quite as easy whipping up a new Hotmail account and registering.

You could buy game cards and use those with a bogus name. It would be against the EULA though. If you're OK with the fake name bit, then the cards wouldn't be such a big deal to buy/use.

 

[uk_dave]

http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=179819 has some discussion on the realID change.

But not all JREF members can defeat the mighty krackson of Zarg to reach the community pages.

 

[TraneWreck]

I'm all in favor of this. Accountability is a much needed concept in the online social world. Enough of all the hateful, angry posting while cowardly hiding behind a pseudonym.

While I agree, I would recommend reading this post by a woman who plays the game:

http://www.metafilter.com/93492/But-my-name-really-is-Deathblood-Blackaxe#3171416

I found that on PZ Myers' page.

She pretty much sums up the major problems.

But generally speaking, the choice to remain private about one's affairs should not be eliminated, regardless of the setting.

 

[luchog]

You could buy game cards and use those with a bogus name. It would be against the EULA though. If you're OK with the fake name bit, then the cards wouldn't be such a big deal to buy/use.

Last I checked, stalkers and trolls aren't really all that concerned with EULA restrictions and policies. It should go without saying that, otherwise, they wouldn't be stalkers and trolls.

 

[luchog]

Naturally, the Penny Arcade guys weigh in on the matter. Not much actually commentary, mostly just links to other comments, including the one posted by TraneWreck. Apparently, Blizzard has backed down a little, but not enough to matter.

 

[HansMustermann]

Nothing to stop you except paying for a copy of the game. Your Blizzard account must be associated with a purchased copy of a given game in order to allow posting to that game's forum. It's not quite as easy whipping up a new Hotmail account and registering.

And, again, on UO exactly that happened daily. People were buying copies of the game _planning_ to cause enough grief to get that account banned, then repeat.

By comparison just to troll WoW's boards, you only need a one time expense of $18.99: http://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraf...3?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1278752322&sr=8-13 If you don't go overboard enough to actually get it banned, that's it. You don't even need any expansion pack to post or anything. And you get a free month included, so basically it's just a 4 lousy bucks actual expense for the extra game serial number.

And if you think that what'll keep you safe and people in line is a one time $4 tax on trolling, you're... very optimistic.

Plus, I would imagine that once that's in effect, trolls will just create their one account from the start with bogus info, so there's not even any extra expense involved. Heck, probably a lot of the more paranoid ones, already did.

Plus, for a stalker to get some RL names they don't need even that. The WoW boards are _readable_ by everyone, without any need for a registered game. That's a fundamental asymmetry right there.

 

[luchog]

And if you think that what'll keep you safe and people in line is a one time $4 tax on trolling, you're... very optimistic.

Not even that, if you use a pirated copy and a serial number generator. There are plenty of both floating around the web.

 

[HansMustermann]

Dunno if you even need the pirated copy, as virtually all MMOs let you just download a copy from their own servers as long as you have an account. A trial account will do, so basically anyone can download the client legally from Blizzard. Anyone who actually used dodgy warez sits to get a pirated copy of WoW instead of just downloading it from Blizzard, probably should get one of Bill Engvall's signs

The thing about serial number generators is interesting, though. I didn't think they worked on WoW, but that was just a wild assumption. Most interesting.

 

[KoihimeNakamura]

An account unique identifier is a good idea. Wonder what took so long..

 

[Tormac]

Why not just lie about it?

I always lie when filling out forms that I feel are intrusive. Fill their databases with garbage. If enough people do it, they will eventualy give up on trying to be intrusive.

 

[TraneWreck]

Why not just lie about it?

I always lie when filling out forms that I feel are intrusive. Fill their databases with garbage. If enough people do it, they will eventualy give up on trying to be intrusive.

Because the company has your billing information. That makes it very difficult to lie. It would basically require taking out a credit card in another name.

 

[Tormac]

Because the company has your billing information. That makes it very difficult to lie. It would basically require taking out a credit card in another name.

Buy the payment cards for people that don't have credit cards (if you're playing a game that has a subscription).

It takes almost no time at all to level a new Wow character to 80, if I was still playing WoW I'd start a new account over it if it realy bothered me.

 

[tesscaline]

Buy the payment cards for people that don't have credit cards (if you're playing a game that has a subscription).

It takes almost no time at all to level a new Wow character to 80, if I was still playing WoW I'd start a new account over it if it realy bothered me.

Lying about your account information can have repercussions. First of all, it's breach of contract. Second of all, if you have any problems with the account (hacking, billing issue, etc.) and need to verify that you're the owner, you won't be able to. Third, if Blizz figures out you lied, your account gets cancelled.

 

[TraneWreck]

Lying about your account information can have repercussions. First of all, it's breach of contract. Second of all, if you have any problems with the account (hacking, billing issue, etc.) and need to verify that you're the owner, you won't be able to. Third, if Blizz figures out you lied, your account gets cancelled.

These are the big ones.

I will also point out that you're forcing your consumers to jump through hoops to try and avoid cumbersome policies that have nothing to do with the game itself.

In so far as I can tell, World of Warcraft has been a juggernaut because there isn't much quality competiton. Most of the games that come out in that genre are just crappier versions of WoW. That won't last forever. I know a new Final Fantasy multi-player game is set for release in the next 6 months.

Pissing off the fan base is great if there's nowhere to turn, but not such a good plan when there are alternatives.

But the thing I really don't understand is why they've chosen such an extreme measure to deal with such a mild problem. Just hire a few mods and severely enforce the rules for a month until people learn to behave.

That would lead me to side with the folks here who have seen through the "incivility" excuse and are guessing that this is some marketing campaign with facebook.