Official forums: Real names only

seebs · 07-06-10, 03:35 PM

For those who missed it:

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...sid=1&pageNo=1

The official forums are moving to Real ID, all posts will be identified by your real name (as in your billing information). You can choose to ALSO display a character, but you can't choose not to show your real name.

This does NOT affect the existing forums, but you won't be able to post to them any more.

FWIW, I think that's it for me. I really enjoyed WoW, but this is ridiculous.

Dridzt · 07-06-10, 03:43 PM

I have to 100% agree with you.
Not sure if I will stop playing the game but that's the end of official forums for me.

For those that intend to stay in-game (at least until such idiocy is forced upon us there too)
feel free to file a complaint here:
https://www.esrb.org/privacy/contact.jsp

I already did.

Jzar · 07-06-10, 03:50 PM

I'm not a huge fan of the forums at mmo-champion.com, and here I get to be associated directly with my addons, giving me some sort of creditibility. Would there be any chance of some more forums here to give anyone displaced from the official forums places to post those sorts of things here?

I may just quit using the forums, but this is the first change they've ever made to WoW where my response has been "I feel betrayed" instead "I like this" or "I hate this". I hope I don't get to the point where I do feel like I have no choice left but to leave the game.

**Seerah** · 07-06-10, 07:55 PM

Originally Posted by Jzar

I'm not a huge fan of the forums at mmo-champion.com, and here I get to be associated directly with my addons, giving me some sort of creditibility. Would there be any chance of some more forums here to give anyone displaced from the official forums places to post those sorts of things here?

Funny you should mention this!

We have thought about reorganizing, etc. our forums a few times in the past, and started getting serious about the idea again over the weekend.

We plan on cleaning things up, moving things around, adding some areas... We just need to buckle down and get it done!

The planning stage is already in the works.

We realize that many people in our community enjoy using these forums for more than just UI talk, too.

ikathma · 07-07-10, 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by Dridzt

I have to 100% agree with you.
Not sure if I will stop playing the game but that's the end of official forums for me.

For those that intend to stay in-game (at least until such idiocy is forced upon us there too)
feel free to file a complaint here:
https://www.esrb.org/privacy/contact.jsp

I already did.

Just an FYI, I literally just posted this link over on the general forums, hit post and received a 72hour ban for "Spamming and Trolling" the forums. I think I've posted a total of four times or so in the last few weeks. And the post was gone in seconds.

Sythalin · 07-07-10, 04:02 PM

Originally Posted by ikathma

Just an FYI, I literally just posted this link over on the general forums, hit post and received a 72hour ban for "Spamming and Trolling" the forums. I think I've posted a total of four times or so in the last few weeks. And the post was gone in seconds.

Oh I'm just itching with curiosity now....

ikathma · 07-07-10, 04:10 PM

Yep, things are interesting right now. I guess the RealID thing is sort of working, it's bringing the forums community together all right. Just not in the way I think was intended. Anyways, signed your petions Chaos and sent my comments to the ESRB. Now to wait for the dust to settle.

Enceladus · 07-07-10, 06:35 PM

Addons accessing your RealID information

I haven't seen this mentioned yet on this particular thread. Can any of the add on authors comment on whether this will work or not for an add on that you are running to pull that info and broadcast it somewhere else with out you knowing it?

Sythalin · 07-07-10, 07:07 PM

Originally Posted by Enceladus

Addons accessing your RealID information

I haven't seen this mentioned yet on this particular thread. Can any of the add on authors comment on whether this will work or not for an add on that you are running to pull that info and broadcast it somewhere else with out you knowing it?

Yes it's very possible. An addon can scan your RealID friends, as well as their "Friends of Friends" list and broadcast to other users (also using the addon) via the addon channel and no one would ever know the difference.

So for instance, if this were ever plugged into GearScore (arguably the most used addon ever), it would be capable of transmitting your entire list, as well as your friend's lists, to every other GS user out there.

Shefki · 07-07-10, 07:23 PM

Originally Posted by Enceladus

Addons accessing your RealID information

I haven't seen this mentioned yet on this particular thread. Can any of the add on authors comment on whether this will work or not for an add on that you are running to pull that info and broadcast it somewhere else with out you knowing it?

See these two threads on the official forums for where I posted about this specific exploit:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...26350209&sid=1
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...sid=1&pageNo=4

The thread you're linking to is about the exposure of your real name. Even if you've done nothing with Real ID this can still be exposed. Obviously the names of your friends and their friends can be exposed, but your own name even if you're not actively using Real ID is probably not obvious to most people. Blizzard seems to have taken some steps to hide this information, but there are a couple of ways that it's leaking out anyway.

The first of those threads is less technical and explains the steps you can take to mitigate the risk.

Alestane · 07-07-10, 07:24 PM

Originally Posted by Enceladus

Addons accessing your RealID information

I haven't seen this mentioned yet on this particular thread. Can any of the add on authors comment on whether this will work or not for an add on that you are running to pull that info and broadcast it somewhere else with out you knowing it?

There are a number of things that add-ons you install and load can do to the detriment of your account or your characters, if you're not careful.

They can sell or delete your gear;
They can mail your gold to someone when you visit a mail box;
They can auction your stuff for low prices.

In some of these cases, you may be able to interfere, if you are quick and perceptive, but if you don't react quickly enough, they can do severe damage; and since the damage originated from your client while it was under your control, you wouldn't have a whole lot of recourse.

The User Interface, including addons, does have access to your Real ID information, including your friends and their friends (including you), so an add-on could theoretically expose your information this way. But this is hardly the first or only reason that you should be careful about what add-ons you use. Care includes watching for suspicious activity, reading descriptions and comments, and downloading add-ons only from reputable sites you are familiar with; Curse and WoWInterface both have formal fan site relationships with Blizzard and an interest in making sure the add-ons they host are as clean as possible.

speak · 07-07-10, 04:14 PM

the official forum thread is almost 29k posts now, 1400+ pages. by the time i finish reading the posts on the last page, three more pages of responses spawned rofl.

i've already enabled parental controls to disable RealID in game.

next step is to change my billing from credit card to strictly game time cards, and to change my contact information to fake name & address. will also be setting up a new email address to use in the contact information.

I wonder if anyone at blizzard will think it weird that my updated information will be like this:

First name: cSdgmtabwpQFsDXj
Last name: meaSijTtZGWVPhsL
Address: 9477294693057 S. eiGmxbNkSTYPHrzo Street.

rofl.

Ferous · 07-07-10, 04:20 PM

change my contact information to fake name & address

If you're going to do this, you might as well quit because if you ever got hacked, you couldn't retrieve your account back if they ever wanted you to prove your identity

I am starting to come around and state that it may be a bad idea to post real names, but to change your contact info, is a bad idea. Though, changing to time cards is always a good idea

speak · 07-07-10, 04:25 PM

Originally Posted by Ferous

If you're going to do this, you might as well quit because if you ever got hacked, you couldn't retrieve your account back if they ever wanted you to prove your identity

I am starting to come around and state that it may be a bad idea to post real names, but to change your contact info, is a bad idea. Though, changing to time cards is always a good idea

why's that? as long as i keep the record of my fake name and fake address/information, i can provide it to them for verification right?

they might not like a bunch of random letters/numbers but i guess i could always use John Doe right

Petrah · 07-07-10, 04:30 PM

Instead of Germany suing Facebook, it should be the people of the United States sues Blizzard Entertainment.

Look at that. An entire country suing a company over privacy concerns. Blizz best step back and take a look at what they're doing.

Sythalin · 07-07-10, 04:41 PM

Originally Posted by speak

the official forum thread is almost 29k posts now, 1400+ pages. by the time i finish reading the posts on the last page, three more pages of responses spawned rofl.

i've already enabled parental controls to disable RealID in game.

next step is to change my billing from credit card to strictly game time cards, and to change my contact information to fake name & address. will also be setting up a new email address to use in the contact information.

I wonder if anyone at blizzard will think it weird that my updated information will be like this:

First name: cSdgmtabwpQFsDXj
Last name: meaSijTtZGWVPhsL
Address: 9477294693057 S. eiGmxbNkSTYPHrzo Street.

rofl.

I may be following suit. I've already changed my email to a newly created gmail account. I don't mind the RealID in game; I've only added my closest friends (as advised) and don't plan to add anyone else. Unfortunately, it's true that changing my name would be a bad thing in the event of a hacker.

As far as CC vs. time card, think I may go to the latter. Last thing I want to run the risk of is some security flaw that exposes ALL account info (it's happened in other games before) because someone screwed up one line of code.

Slakah · 07-07-10, 05:11 PM

Woah, the gaming communities I belong to are in drama mode

.

smcn · 07-06-10, 03:55 PM

It's so very upsetting that they're soiling the integrity of the official forums with this.

mlautens · 07-06-10, 03:58 PM

Astonishing, closing in on 400 pages in that thread. LOL

I almost never visit the official forums. When I do, it's to look for blue posts.

Since you can get the blue-tracker digest at MMO-champion, I think I'll just do that and forget that the official forums exist. Of course, that's what they want, REALLY. They're as tired of the forums as anyone else. And this will kill 'em, real quick.

voodoodad · 07-06-10, 04:16 PM

Ok, Cairenn... Out with it... You've really topped yourself with this April fools prank, but it's time to come clean. I mean aside from the fact that it's 3 months late (or 9 months early... Half-empty, half-full) it's a masterstroke that you were able to get Blizz to go along with this. Grats on the great joke, but forcing people to use their real names in forums? REALLY??? C'mon....