doronjosama (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
doronjosama) wrote2010-07-08 03:58 pm
doronjosama) wrote2010-07-08 03:58 pm
Entry tags:
WoW: Even More Reasons Why I Hate Real ID
Blizzard announces that all Warcraft forum posts will display your real-life first and last name.
Um, how about NO? I only read the forums and very rarely post there, but this guarantees I will NEVER post there now. Sure, my name is already out there on the internet, but the whole point of Warcraft for me is to get to *play a game*, which translates to "escape my humdrum existence for a couple of hours a week". Aside from playing with some real-life friends and family, everyone else I've met in Warcraft (in my guilds, etc.) doesn't know my real name. Or if I'm really female. Or what I do for a living or what my other hobbies are. It's not relevant to the game. And I'd like to keep it that way.
But wait! There's MORE!
If you use certain add-ons in game, your RealID personal information is available to other players *whether you have accepted friends requests from them or not*. Also, I am getting conflicting reports on whether friends of friends can see your real name/information! That's charming! And so incredibly invasive!
Fortunately, there's a way to opt out. It's not the best way, as it means you have to set your account up as a child's account, but hell, I'll take it. It's illegal for a company to give out a child's personal information without a parent's permission, and as I've now set up my account where I'm my own parent, I don't authorize that.
It's an imperfect solution, but I'm sincerely hoping that Blizzard/Activision will see that a huge number of their players are NOT COOL with the RealID changes (at last count this morning, the thread on the WoW forums about the forum change had over 1800 pages, and hundreds of people were cancelling their accounts because of it). My hope is they will decide it's unethical and possibly dangerous to share people's information so freely and without express permission. I know WoW is a game that has almost as many female players as male players- speaking as a woman, I do not feel safe with the idea of total strangers being able to get my real name in the game. It sets up an unsafe environment for female players, who could end up stalked, harassed or threatened in real life. That's REALLY bad news.
I also wonder about the celebrities who are rumored to play the game. Many celebs play WoW for the anonymity it brings, forcing this RealID thing through means they will lose that.
It's a mess, certainly, but I am waiting to see how the chips fall. I will be very sad if the game becomes too risky for me to play anymore, since I really love it. But I'm not going to put myself in harm's way just to play my little orc and collect pets.
Um, how about NO? I only read the forums and very rarely post there, but this guarantees I will NEVER post there now. Sure, my name is already out there on the internet, but the whole point of Warcraft for me is to get to *play a game*, which translates to "escape my humdrum existence for a couple of hours a week". Aside from playing with some real-life friends and family, everyone else I've met in Warcraft (in my guilds, etc.) doesn't know my real name. Or if I'm really female. Or what I do for a living or what my other hobbies are. It's not relevant to the game. And I'd like to keep it that way.
But wait! There's MORE!
If you use certain add-ons in game, your RealID personal information is available to other players *whether you have accepted friends requests from them or not*. Also, I am getting conflicting reports on whether friends of friends can see your real name/information! That's charming! And so incredibly invasive!
Fortunately, there's a way to opt out. It's not the best way, as it means you have to set your account up as a child's account, but hell, I'll take it. It's illegal for a company to give out a child's personal information without a parent's permission, and as I've now set up my account where I'm my own parent, I don't authorize that.
It's an imperfect solution, but I'm sincerely hoping that Blizzard/Activision will see that a huge number of their players are NOT COOL with the RealID changes (at last count this morning, the thread on the WoW forums about the forum change had over 1800 pages, and hundreds of people were cancelling their accounts because of it). My hope is they will decide it's unethical and possibly dangerous to share people's information so freely and without express permission. I know WoW is a game that has almost as many female players as male players- speaking as a woman, I do not feel safe with the idea of total strangers being able to get my real name in the game. It sets up an unsafe environment for female players, who could end up stalked, harassed or threatened in real life. That's REALLY bad news.
I also wonder about the celebrities who are rumored to play the game. Many celebs play WoW for the anonymity it brings, forcing this RealID thing through means they will lose that.
It's a mess, certainly, but I am waiting to see how the chips fall. I will be very sad if the game becomes too risky for me to play anymore, since I really love it. But I'm not going to put myself in harm's way just to play my little orc and collect pets.