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07-06-10, 03:35 PM   #1
seebs
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Official forums: Real names only

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.
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07-06-10, 03:43 PM   #2
Dridzt
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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.

Last edited by Dridzt : 07-06-10 at 04:03 PM.
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07-06-10, 03:50 PM   #3
Jzar
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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.
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07-06-10, 03:55 PM   #4
smcn
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It's so very upsetting that they're soiling the integrity of the official forums with this.
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07-06-10, 03:58 PM   #5
mlautens
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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.
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07-06-10, 04:16 PM   #6
voodoodad
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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....
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07-06-10, 04:51 PM   #7
Soulofsin_007
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I disagree with it, but I also don't use the forums. I think they are taking this RealID thing to far. I love the idea in-game, but anywhere else? Nope.
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07-06-10, 05:59 PM   #8
speak
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wow, this is really ridiculous. i guess the time is now for all of us who value our online presence to start using fake names and game time cards.
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07-06-10, 06:19 PM   #9
voodoodad
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What gets me is that the tone of the blue post tries to make is sound as if this is the greatest thing EVAR! As if submitting your personal info up for grabs is something we've been just begging for, and now that it's here we should be jumping for joy.

One step closer to identity theft? H@#L YEAH!
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Last edited by voodoodad : 07-06-10 at 06:22 PM.
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07-06-10, 06:20 PM   #10
seebs
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Of course, if you use a fake name, you can't recover the account if it's compromised.

I'm on my way out. Wrapping up auctions, and so on, gonna probably send 30k worth of stuff I had up for sale to a friend just to make the bag space thing be someone else's problem.

Needless to say, unless this gets reverted and we get a hell of an apology, this is the end of my time working on addons, pretty much.

I'll miss wowi a lot, you guys have been a really good community.
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07-06-10, 06:40 PM   #11
ricks322
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Come on, people are going to Stop Playing the Game, stop writing addons just because of a change on the WoW forums!!!


Give me a break. If you don't like the changes on the forum, DON'T post there!

There is way to much name calling and crap on those now you can hardly find any thing usefull. Any questions are answered by 20 different people with 20 different answers.

Identity theft, come on from having your real name listed with a post on a web forum, get real.

As stated I only go there to find Blue posts.
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07-06-10, 07:25 PM   #12
hankthetank
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Thumbs down

what's next? real id on the armory with your address and phone number right under your /played time?
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07-06-10, 07:25 PM   #13
seebs
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Originally Posted by ricks322 View Post
Come on, people are going to Stop Playing the Game, stop writing addons just because of a change on the WoW forums!!!
Yup.

Give me a break. If you don't like the changes on the forum, DON'T post there!
Exactly. No tech support or customer service for me, then -- because if you call tech support, they tell you to post on the forums. No posting on the official UI/macro forum. No posting on my realm forum to look for new guildies.

There is way to much name calling and crap on those now you can hardly find any thing usefull. Any questions are answered by 20 different people with 20 different answers.
Yes.

Identity theft, come on from having your real name listed with a post on a web forum, get real.
Yup. Say you post asking for technical support. Someone now has your name, the model of your computer, the OS you use, and possibly other information about you. Nice start on a social engineering hack.

How many people do you think will realize that the person calling them from "Blizzard" to help with their problem logging in is actually a gold farmer, not a real Blizzard rep?

As stated I only go there to find Blue posts.
So in other words, you're not one of the affected users, so why should anyone care what you think?

One of my in-game friends is, so far as we know, one of two people in the world with that particular name...
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07-06-10, 07:50 PM   #14
Cairenn
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Just a reminder folks, you are expected to follow our Site Rules, as always.

We recognize that this is a hot topic and we have no objection whatsoever to people discussing it here. However, we won't allow it to turn into a flamefest nor will we allow personal attacks. Disagreement is fine, but keep it civil.
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07-06-10, 07:55 PM   #15
Seerah
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Originally Posted by Jzar View Post
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.
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07-06-10, 08:04 PM   #16
LittleWhiteDove
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This is part of the post I put in the official Blizzard forum but I am also posting it here as a warning/caution.

The change has already been introduced - not the showing of your real name but the legal right for Blizzard to use it..

A bit stupid of me not to read all the embedded links when I agreed to the new Terms of Use that I had to sign when I logged into account management today. The agreement for Terms of Use was last updated on May 26, 2010. There was nothing in the Terms of Use relating to this new policy that Blizzard is going to introduce to the Blizzard forums in the fall.

However, if one does follow all the links then one will find that (and I quote from the privacy policy as updated on June 30, 2010)
"...Blizzard sites may also have message boards, forums, and/or chat areas, where users can exchange ideas and communicate with one another. When posting to a message board, forum, or chat area, please be aware that the information is being made publicly available on-line and the user does so at his or her own risk. For certain forums, anyone posting or replying to a post will be doing so using their Real ID -- that is, their full first and last name -- with the option to also display the name of their primary in-game character. ... " (Does "chat areas" here refer to in game chat?)

So a caution to all. If you even want to pay your monthly bill, change your password, or what ever you will be giving Blizzard the right to use your real name should you post on the forums once the new ones are implemented.
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07-06-10, 08:14 PM   #17
voodoodad
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Seebs, I have to agree with at least part of ricks322's post (although not his tone). Don't make a big decision (like leaving wow) based on this admittedly stupid decision on Blizz's part. Just forget about the o-forums. I plan to.

@ricks322; I stated previously that giving out your real name was a step toward I'd theft. Your actual name combined with your e-mail address is an increasingly potent threat to personal security, and if you don't believe that, then that's your right. But I refuse to take unneeded risks, and this definitely qualifies as that.
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07-06-10, 08:24 PM   #18
Sythalin
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Originally Posted by ricks322 View Post
Come on, people are going to Stop Playing the Game, stop writing addons just because of a change on the WoW forums!!!
Pretty much. Check any other major sites and count the number of people who plan to/have cancelled if this comes.

Give me a break. If you don't like the changes on the forum, DON'T post there!
As it's been said, to not post is to forfeit legit reasons to use the forums. As also pointed out, phoning tech support directs you to the forums to seek your answers. So yes, posting is essentially a requirement.

There is way to much name calling and crap on those now you can hardly find any thing usefull. Any questions are answered by 20 different people with 20 different answers.
That's what keyword searches are for.

Identity theft, come on from having your real name listed with a post on a web forum, get real.
No offense, and I'm not trying to start an argument here (I know, SHOCKING! ), but if you truly believe this then you are quite naive when it comes to the "information highway". Go plug your name here or here (this is hardly all inclusive for resource sites, mind you). I already did it with my semi-unique real name and my info was the top of the list. You'd be amazed at how much you can get from just a name.

The question I still ask is simply this: How long until in-game chat displays your RealID? It's literally one step away at this point.

Last edited by Shadowed : 07-06-10 at 08:33 PM.
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07-06-10, 08:37 PM   #19
seebs
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Originally Posted by voodoodad View Post
Seebs, I have to agree with at least part of ricks322's post (although not his tone). Don't make a big decision (like leaving wow) based on this admittedly stupid decision on Blizz's part. Just forget about the o-forums. I plan to.
It's really not that big a decision. This is a hobby. I play WoW to relax. It just stopped being relaxing.

Posting in the forums is the only way to actually get technical support -- email and phone both direct you to post in the forums. The forums are not optional.

Basically, though... I have too many friends for whom this is a much bigger deal breaker. If I stuck around and kept handing Blizzard money because it didn't directly affect me (it's not as though I keep my WoW hobby a secret), how do you think my friends would feel, the ones who loved the game but who have serious reasons not to be associated with their legal name? I think they'd feel like I didn't really care about things that matter to them. Blizzard screwed a lot of people over here. Even though I'm not really one of them, enough of my friends are that I feel like I have to stand with them on this matter.
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07-06-10, 09:54 PM   #20
Rilgamon
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I really like using the forum and I dont mind doing the
work for blizzard helping ppl with their addon problems but if/when they
find lawyers that make this happen in a free country I will stop using/helping the forum. Consider who we are playing with ... publishing kids names that have
problems with knowing what they can post and what not in a forum is just criminal ... Someone who wants to find my real name has probably no problem
since I mix the info too on some sites but I know it and I can live with it.

I really hope the storm gets louder out here ...
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