News Blizzard "listening to feedback" on Real ID

They wouldn't sue Blizzard... the idiot anti-video-game lobbyists would just use it as more ammunition in their misguided crusade against any and all types of gaming. Blizzard would probably voluntarily ditch the RealID like a prom-night dumpster baby if something like that happened due to bad publicity, but they're not breaking any laws by implementing it.

 

If restricted access to a video game forum is enough to nearly make you sick, then I think you need to re-evaluate your priorities. Maybe cut back on the WoW some?

While most people are spouting rubbish about litigation and suing Blizzard, you actually make a good point.

If an incident was to happen and there was even the slightest link to the RealID forums, the fallout Activision Blizzard could receive would be insane. The media loves the type of sensational a story like that would provide.

In the eyes of the law they may have done nothing wrong, but since when has that stopped grandstanders taking the opportunity of some free self-promotion?

 

For those implying that Blizzards forums are *optional*....They're optional in the sense that with out the forums then the developers would not be able to gain feedback from players at all. I look at it like this. The people posting in class forums about game balance and stuff are already a minority (i used to be one). It's a small subset of people who give a damn about how the game is balanced and put forward arguments to the developers as to why changes should happen.

Now take that already minority and slash it even more, cause now you've excluded everyone who doesn't want to be known by their real name. That means less feedback, which means a smaller sample of feedback, which could mean less accurate changes to the way the game works and functions...which directly effects those who pay to play the game.

Guilds post on the forums to get members, cause lets face it...Spamming guild ads in game is retarded and ineffective. Plus, how will anyone find your http://myguild.com if you don't have a thread on your Realm forums?!

It would mean that the only tech support routes available to clients would be Phone and Email. Having had to deal with various issues with Blizzard from false bans to hacked accounts to payment issues I can say that their Phone and Email system are less effective than the forums. In fact several times I've been told by email/phone to go read the forums.

So lets make it clear. You pay to play WoW, the forums are used for the WoW community to provide feedback to developers. For them to say "THIS IS A COMMUNITY GAME" then basically exclude and make it uncomfortable for large sums of the community to post is just backwards on so many levels.

Long story short, it's a COMMUNITY game and excluding the COMMUNITY from it under the pretext of Social Networking is retarded. The community is already socially networked. There are huge guilds that span servers, etc, etc. To suggest that making it like a facebook game will make it better? Eh...I think they miss the point.

 

There are other ways for developers to get feedback without using forums. As it is Blizzard are under no obligation to provide forums and could get rid of them tomorrow if they wanted to. They are provided as an additional extra to your WoW subscription and you're allowed to post on them if you agree to follow Blizzard's rules. It's that simple, you don't like the rules you don't post.

Fairly certain nearly every, if not all, members in my guild were recruited by "spamming" guild ads in game. It's perfectly effective as a recruitment method. Not to mention there are plenty of other WoW communities that specialise in or offer guilds the place to advertise and recruit.

So they make the phone and email system better. Solves that problem. I also believe a statement has been made to the effect that they plan to run the technical support forums slightly differently to allow people to not have to use their Real ID to post.

 

Well as some of us correctly predicted Blizzard have altered their plans and appear to be moving to using a pseudonym based on your character name and account code/name. Seems a sensible compromise imo.

 

Why should the restriction be requiring one's private and personal information? There are these magical things called usernames and passwords, avatars and pseudonyms. Blizzard knows these quite well: WoW players already have an account name and various character names. Why not a RealID name which can be anything a person wants? It has absolutely nothing to do with him complaining about WoW forums having a restriction, only the type of restriction.

Or were you purposefully not understanding his post in the slightest just to try and make a quick dig about playing WoW?

 

With the current unstoppable rise of Identity Theft across the internet these morons (Blizzard) want players to use their real names while online? Just brilliant and I'm moving to Russia so I can take advantage of this situation and make my self a millionaire.

If someone's Identity is stolen by way of RealID then Blizzard should be held liable. Username, Avatars, and passwords are more than enough info needed to play a game online, what's next WoW characters run around the screen with the Social Security number of the player above it's head and credit card numbers on their backs.

WoW 11 million players today 11 players tomorrow Feel free to come over to Star Wars: The Old Republic upon it's release.

 

Read my post(s), they never agreed with the (now cancelled) RealID forum change because it could potentially do more harm than good (although I was curious to see how they would actually work) - but I do understand why Blizzard would want to something like that.

I used to play WoW myself, and my "dig" at Faulk_Wulf was because his response and words chosen is the typical comical, hyperbolic and immature overreaction that only goes to reinforce the stereotype that WoW players are crazy children.

 

Blizzard kills the idea....

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/64684