Lans, I agree that Wryxian's follow-up posts are more reassuring. I followed the links to those, too (I've been reading every blue post on this that's cropped up, not just on the WoW forums, but on the battle.net ones as well). He's more visible than Nethaera is on our thread, and I appreciate that. He does make it sound like they're listening and giving feedback to the powers that be. But the tone of his later responses sound like a CM engaging with his community. That first post sounds like something he was asked to copy and paste, which is why I'm picking it apart.
I also want to make it clear that this isn't an attack on you; it's me venting my frustration at being spun by Activision-Blizzard. I resent it. This is sort of cathartic. Therapy by snark, directed at whoever made this terrible decision.
Hokay. Here goes:
We have been planning this change for a very long time.
Probably since December of 2007 or so.
The Facebook integration
was announced 5/5/10. Which means they were making the deal for a long time before that. Not sure how long, precisely, but I'd say at least six months.
During this time, we have thought ahead about the scope and impact of this change and predicted that many people would no longer wish to post in the forums after this change goes live.
"Many people." Not "trolls." "Many people." Which means they realized, even as they planned it, that posters both good and bad would stop participating on the forums.
We are fine with that, because we want to change these forums dramatically in a positive and more constructive direction.
Again. Good people will stop posting as well. This is okay by them. (For nebulous values of "them;" I'm not convinced these are the mods' words. Pretty sure this is something Wryxian was given to post by someone higher up the chain. His later responses to people posting in the thread have a different tone -- still formal, but not nearly as stiff and corporate.)
Changing the forums "in a positive and more constructive direction" is where my spin-detectors start really sounding. This is corporate-speak; it's the phrasing you throw out when you're passing out news people won't like. Last fall, I came in to emails from our CIO telling us how laying off 2/3 of the IT department was a GOOD thing for the company, and how, by getting rid of these people (some of whom had been with us for over 20 years), we would be able to move in a
new and exciting direction.
This is the language you use when you know you're delivering shitty news that people won't like. It doesn't really
mean much of anything.
It's been very obvious over the last few years that the forums are an exceptionally valuable source of information both for players and for us to gather feedback. There are many threads on this forum now, and over the last few years, that people have been constructively discussing many aspects of the game. They've received new wisdom and have then been able to go back to the game and enjoy it further with the new knowledge acquired through the forums.
Again, acknowledging the good stuff on the forums. Though, I note they never say the one word that actually, y'know, defines the forums:
community.
These threads, however, can often be lost amongst a great deal of other threads that are basically filled with trolling, name calling, flaming, off-topic conversations and that's just a small amount of some of the content that has been found in these forums over the years. We don't want that anymore, and we believe the Real ID change will bring about a lot of the improvement that we are hoping for.
Yep. There's bad stuff here, too. But rather than handing perma-bans to the people who repeatedly engage in that behavior (seriously, raise your hand if you've ever reported Ravenhunter for calling people faggots on the Feathermoon forums. I've been doing it for years, and yet he's still around), those kinds of posts continue to clutter up the forums.
Believe me, I can imagine the nightmare that it must be, wrangling even a fraction of the 11 million potential posters across -- how many individual forums? But if your forums are a cesspool, give your mods the power to clean them up. Three-hour bans and 24-hour bans don't stop trolls. And, if you look at the
forum code of conduct, most of the penalties for trolling and flaming are simply temporary -- obscene/vulgar language, inapporopriate language, harassing/defamatory language, insulting religions or nationalities: those all only receive a temporary ban under the rules. There's mention at the bottom of r"Repeatedly violating any area of the Blizzard Terms of Use or Forum Code of Conduct, including the areas detailed above, will often result in permanent banishment from the forums." Again, I point you to Ravenhunter, or whoever he's posting as these days.
If they want to clean up the forums, they need to make those penalties matter. First incident, the poster gets a 24-hour ban. Second incident, no posting for a week. Third incident, a month or more. Fourth incident, perma-ban.
There's a lot of scare-mongering going on about the change,
PEOPLE SAYING THEY DON'T WANT TO BE STALKED OR HARASSED IS NOT SCARE-MONGERING JESUS CHRIST.
Ahem.
That, right there, is what we call belittling, diminishing, and dismissive language. It's a form of
silencing, and it really, really grates on me to see it in that post.
Now, if Wryxian/Blizzard went on to correct
actual misconceptions: that the RealID names won't be retroactive, for example, I'd be less caps-locky. But look at what he goes on to say:
but there seems a need to make something very clear. The forums have always been an optional extra -- something you can choose to participate in if you wish to.
In other words, if you don't like it,
you don't have to be part of it. It's silencing, still, just spun to make it look like it's our choice to do so or not. Which it is!
But right now, with our character names visible, it's a choice of "Do I want to take part in this discussion or not."
With our real names visible it's, "Do I want to take part in this discussion, possibly opening myself up to being found and contacted against my wishesIRL, or not."
With our Real ID changes for the forums, this is still the case. The only difference will be, if you do choose to participate in the forums, then you will do so by using your real name.
Only difference. ahahahahahahahaaha.
That's a huge gorram difference, right there. The current posting method lets you make your statements under a handle that, unless you willingly give out your personal information, is still pretty anonymous. The Real ID method takes away the safety that comes with that anonymity. That's not a trivial thing.
But only after you've been warned and accepted this in advance.
Mmmm, ass-covering. Check out your TOS:
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY; SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY; INDEMNIFICATION
1. BLIZZARD IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE OR YOUR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE. IN NO CASE SHALL BLIZZARD BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE, ANY GAME OR ANY GAME CLIENT. IN NO CASE SHALL THE LIABILITY OF BLIZZARD EXCEED THE AMOUNT THAT YOU PAID TO US DURING THE SIX (6) MONTHS PRIOR TO THE TIME YOUR CAUSE OF ACTION AROSE. Because some states or jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or the limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, in such states or jurisdictions, the liability of Blizzard and its affiliates shall be limited to the fullest extent permitted by law.
2. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY FOR ANY DISPUTE WITH BLIZZARD IS TO STOP USING THE SERVICE, AND TO CANCEL ALL ACCOUNTS REGISTERED TO YOU.
3. You agree to indemnify, defend and hold Blizzard harmless from any claim, demand, damages or other losses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, asserted by any third-party resulting from or arising out of your use of the Service or any Game, or any breach by you of this Agreement, the Code of Conduct or any Game EULA.
So, basically, once RealID names go live, if you want to post, you'll get a bunch of warnings that say "HEY. IF YOU DO THIS AND SOMEONE FUCKS WITH YOU, IT'S YOUR PROBLEM." From that point on, as far as they're concerned, you chose to put your name out there and whatever RL repercussions you might suffer for trying to be a constructive member of the community is none of their concern.
