No Real(ID) Worries
by Xanther on Jul.09, 2010, under Real Life, World of Warcraft
Why am I not that worried about RealID on the Forums? First, because it’s not implemented yet, which means it still has great potential for change. For example, Bliz realized how stupid it was for them to post the real names of their own employees, so they retracted that part of it. I mean, the forums are a huge group of computer-savvy people, and it’s open to the public. Plus it’s already prime target area for hackers. So why wouldn’t you expect them to, just for fun, find the real life poster and start sending them stalker videos, pictures of their houses, and everything else that says “if we want to mess with you, we can. especially now we know your name!”
So if Bliz realized that they needed to protect the identity of their staff, then there’s still time for them to realize that they should also respect (and protect) the privacy of their customers.
But here’s the second reason. I don’t have to post in the forums. In fact, I rarely do. And if Bliz went and made it retroactive…? I’d delete my old posts. I don’t have to post, so I don’t have to worry about my name appearing on there.
So why would I delete my posts and refrain from posting anything new? Because in the WoW world, I go there as Xanther (or my various character names associated with this identity). I don’t go there with my real name out in front. There are just too many things that could go wrong / be a pain, by directly, publicly associating my WoW identity with my RL one on the web. No, it’s not because I go around doing things I wouldn’t want other people to know about me (like flaming or trolling forums, creating a bad name for myself, or any number of things). I try to be more of the “do unto others…” type of person. But it’s just because I choose to keep the two separate. When someone searches for my real name, I want the things that come up to come up (well, not everything, but at least it’s all associated with me in RL). I don’t want WoW to be on the top of the list.
I mean, I’d be fine if I had to post under the same name every time, and was able to use a screen name (aka Xanther). Or if you had to get the character you’re posting under to a certain level (so people don’t just create level 1′s and troll the forums), or any number of other things. But I don’t think it should automatically, and without option, be associated to your real name. Regardless, it’s my choice to post or not under that real name, and I choose not to. So there’s still a choice. Of course, it’s all subject to change anyway. Who knows, maybe this will mean Bliz finally goes away from using our email addresses as usernames and will let us get back to using a username to login… For security reasons alone they should make that step! But anyway. It’s still subject to change. And if we really don’t like it? We can just stop giving them our money. Either way, at this point… I have no Real(ID) Worries.
July 9th, 2010 on 1008
I wondered when you would talk about this. I had it at 50/50 that you would rant and rave and maybe even cancel your account, or do this.
Both would have been, IMO, valid.
There is no chance that the posts already on the forums would be changed retroactively. There would be 14 law suits waiting for them the next day.
I did post on the primary forum about this… Here is what I said…
“Im going to stop myself from getting all hyperbolic on this… I personally cannot believe Blizzard is going this direction.
When the SC2 beta went down, there was talk about it coming back online with tweaks on the RealID system… I was sure those tweaks would be the option to not display a real name.
Imagine my shock and disappointment to read that Blizzard is choosing to go this way instead.
Now, thats fine, mind you, this is private property, they can make us wear nametags to enter if they want, so long as they dont force us to enter, which they dont. In fact, we will still be able to use our high powered binoculars to watch how the blues interact with those that DO choose to come in. (re MMO-Champion’s Blue tracker, a far better tool than what Blizzard is providing, which is also sad.)
So. Why am I posting.
Cause Blizzard has a problem. Currently, you are NOT ALLOWED to change your Battle.net name. If Betty White gets married to Lebron James, and takes his name, she cannot change her name to Betty James… Now, is there a way to do this that is hidden? I looked, for about as long as Betty would before getting angry.
So, do you have to contact Blizzard Billing and Support between the hours of 9-5 on a weekday? Will you be required to provide a notarized copy of the marriage license, in triplicate?
If so, how is Blizzard verifying Betty White is Betty White in the first place? I dont recall any process that actually proves I am who I say I am.
So… If there is no way to change your name, Blizzard is going to be in trouble with folks who legitimately change their names.
On the other hand, Blizzard is unlikely to want to be in the business of checking photo-IDs at the door.
So, I gotta ask. Which will it be, Blizzard… Do you hate marriage. Or are you going to let me change my Battle.Net name?
Whats to stop people in the future, who buy into Battle.net for the first time, from saying their name is Mickey Mouse?
The slippery slope metaphor is overused, but honestly, in this case, Blizzard is really in an awkward position.
EDIT: A point I intended to make, but forgot before I hit Post…. For me, and I know several other people… We dont use internet alieses for anonymity. We Identify ourselves FOR ourselves. I am InspiredOgre, not because I am paranoid, or because I want to be a troll… I am InspriedOgre because among my tribe, we get the opportunity to name ourselves as we wish, to present to others a name of our chooseing.
Its a sacred thing, among my tribe. The Tribe ot the Intertubes. Its important…. While I know Ghostcrawler is Greg Street, he will ALWAYS be Ghostcrawler to me… Why is that not okay all of the sudden… Because of John Gabriel’s Theory? Really?”
I personally dont think anything will change, I think the system will go live. But about 3 things will happen.
1) People will either change their names (if its easy) or new people (or the really rich) will not give their real names when they set up their accounts. Over time, this will defeat the purpose of this exercise. (Remember, there is no way in hell Blizz wants to get into the Verifying ID buisness, and I think there would be a legal challenge if they DID try to verify who you are for the express purpose of ensureing you dont dodge a feature that is supposed to be entirely optional. (Note that if changing you name (an option that doesent even exist (oustide calling billing, I assume)) is easy, I will be doing so.
2) A large group of people will refuse to use the other parts of the RealID system… These folks (Like me) were already nervous about the fact that we were forced to go by our real names, and force our friends to go by theirs to avail themselves of the in game communication options (which I am bummed about, they were cool.)
A segment of the population which I hope is smaller, but cant be sure, WILL use RealID in game…. They wouldent, if they knew what happened on the forums, or were in some way educated about the issue… They game with a small group of close friends, and wont be bothered by what parts of the RealID system they see (The in game parts.)
There will be a small segment of truly ignorant people who are so stuck on the idea that we are all being paranoid or unreasonable, and support this system.
3) The forums wont get better… Unless you count only volume. Less people will use the forums, making for less bad behavior… But the noise to signal ratio will still be the same.
HOPEFULLY, (and this to my mind is no gurentee) Blizzard, after running their experiment, will be honest with themselves about the results. They will see that those few people who support the system are just that, few, and that it didnt help the fourms, and that it alienated many people.
The other possibility? That this will lead a segment of the industry down this path, thinking themselves wiser than the internet culture that feeds them, they will walk this path, right to their ruin. This is more than just a small thing, this is an attack on the culture of the internet.
I am convinced it will fail, and that lessons will be learned… But if it goes much further, Ill vote with my money, and stop playing Blizzard games.
And you know how easy-going I am, how much of a fanboi I am…
Anyway, great post, you should definitely post it on the main thread. Hopefully the “noise” of our dissent will become signal… And they will not go forward with it…
Im serious, please post on the thread, its important.
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=25712374700&postId=256239757662&sid=1#13395
July 9th, 2010 on 1030
“I had it at 50/50″ Haha, gotta keep you on your toes, right?
One note I forgot to add in, was how many people use their real name, or a portion of their real name in their email address? And Bliz forces us to use email addresses as our logins. Now, the smart ones would use an email address that has nothing to do with their name to increase security (for example, I would never use the email address I have shown on this site for my login! That would be begging for a hacker to steal my account!). But I have full faith in humankind that there is a decent portion of people using their name (first.last@gmail.com) as their login. IMHO, that is just one minor way to decrease security. Is it a big security gap in the grand scheme of things? No. But it is a gap.
July 9th, 2010 on 1107
I have NO doubt thats exactly how my account got compromised last month. My email is the same I use for everything, and thats not going to change.
Id rather deal with the gap than have to use more than one ID. (And since I was not using an authenticator at the time, I was asking for it, I suppose.)