No more anonymous forum trolls?

[Beltar]

From the Blizzard Entertainment Privacy Policy page at http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/about/privacy.html :

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. See discussion regarding Real ID below.

...

This Privacy Policy was last updated on June 30, 2010.

They slipped this in six days before they announced it. That's why I think it's a done deal and all we're doing is shouting into the hurricane.

Right now, I just want some honesty out of Blizzavision. Don't piss up my leg and tell me it's raining. It's not about reducing trolling, that's become clear. Sack up and be honest with your playerbase, and tell us what your plans are so we can decide on staying or leaving.

[Aelflaed]

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.

This is the /exact same phrase/. Exactly. Same words. That the US government used to tell most of the space program they were going to get fired, and that they were canceling Constellation, and funneling the money into "education and green aviation" (whatever the fuck that is).

It's the ????? part of the equation. It's "we don't have a flying fuck's worth of clue what we'll be doing, but it'll be GREAT and WONDERFUL and you should TRUST US FOR EVERYTHING even though we're firing you and you're all contractors and we don't know what you'll do but you should STAY WITH US because it'll be POSITIVE and CONSTRUCTIVE!"

In other words, it's not really a because.

It's corporate sunshine being blown up someone's ass in an attempt to pacify people and get them to shut up.

(as is, honestly, most of the rest of that post that Threnn deconstructed)

[Bricu]

Buu put a really brilliant point up on his blog. This is a response to a South Korean Law?

[Beltar]

Buu put a really brilliant point up on his blog. This is a response to a South Korean Law?

That's one theory. Nobody's confirmed or denied it. It's an interesting coinkydink, though.

[Lansiron]

You would think that if something like that applied to South Korea, they would only worry about making it like this in South Korea.

Nothing against those guys; without them the word "zerg" would not mean what it does today. But when it comes to gaming, they're like a different species. I think someone actually ran a test comparing brain wave activity on an American Starcraft player and a Korean Starcraft player, and discovered that they were actually using different parts of it as they played.

Anyway, tangential.

The law probably came into play somewhere--Blizzard and Korea are best buddies forever, so I couldn't imagine it never did. It either served to bolster an existing plan, or it actually inspired this, at least in part; "So if Korea has to use their real names and we have to comply, what would happen if we just worked it out so the rest of the world did the same, make a social network of it, hey maybe get Facebook involved--" etc. etc. blah blah blah blah nobody really stops to think that this idea is stupid and that this is a game. Game with a social aspect. Not a social network that has a game attached. Gaaame.

I'm sort of posting stream-of-consciousness at this point. I don't have any kind of opposing point except that Wryxian's responses to the thread on the EU boards appear to be worth keeping up on, as it seems like that's the first place there'll actually be some indication of how the decision-makers are actually receiving this.

[Bricu]

I'm sort of posting stream-of-consciousness at this point. I don't have any kind of opposing point except that Wryxian's responses to the thread on the EU boards appear to be worth keeping up on, as it seems like that's the first place there'll actually be some indication of how the decision-makers are actually receiving this.

The only indication that the decision makers are receiving this will come from press releases that address this directly. One CM posting on the EU boards does not show the intent of the assholes-in-Charge. It shows the tenacity of one person slogging through bullshit created by his, or her, bosses. There is no communication with the community on this. It is a directive--as is a corporation's want--followed up by people who have to deal with the aftermath.

I do not envy GMs, CMs or phone bank people today. I don't hold this policy against them. At the same time, until there is more activity from other CMs or a statement from someone else, all these responses are token efforts.

[Lansiron]

True. Though there's been the odd anecdote about a phone rep or two letting slip that all is not unconcerned about this whole thing within the ranks, they can't say much more. I expect one of two things once a bigwig finally speaks up: either an even more ridiculously obvious attempt at "corporate spin" (please no) or an "after consideration of the primarily negative response to our statement concerning future plans for Real ID and our community forums, we have determined that it is appropriate to [scrap this idea/fix this idea so that it isn't so stupid]" (please yes).

On another slightly tangential note, just a thought:

This whole thing has me reading all the blogs tying into the matter, directing to various accounts of Internet stalking and all manner of real-life incident brought about by people who're either genuinely imbalanced, or just don't have the right idea. Specifically, as it pertains to female players.

I can't quite remember the last time I personally considered "girl gamers" to be anything remotely unique, and the amount of women we have among our own circle here is testament to that. However, it looks as if it's still this big thing elsewhere in the realm of online gaming, and that it can potentially draw all kinds of negative attention (be it sorely misplaced "affection" or just plain harassment) to such individuals. I have to wonder, if you feel it bears discussing; how often does this crop up for you ladies here, particularly in WoW? ...of course, just in typing that, I can already recall one or two specific incidents.

In the wider picture, looking at how there still exists so much rampant misogyny and outright creepiness, to the point where any female would be afraid to admit that simple fact, both in gaming and in the real world, leads at least to one certain conclusion: we--as gamers, and as a society--still have a hell of a lot of growing up to do. =_=

Tangent done.

[Aelflaed]

I have personally experienced:

Two stalkers, one that went outside of WoW and got my contact information off my blog and made me miserable for months. The one that went outside wow was also some weird "misplaced affection" though I don't think it was romantic.

One RP romance that got taken "out of game" and prompted a huge drama shitstorm when I didn't think it was in my best interests to leave Daug and move to California to be with him. (yes, I'm serious)

One weird commenter from the blog that tracked me down and tried to initiate Cyber with me (and is now why my armory profiles aren't linked on the blog)

Several weird RPers that started out normal and then tried to turn things into cyber and got angry (and in one case threatening) when I didn't feel that fake internet boning was how I wanted to spend my RP time.

Why do these things seem so damn WEIRD to the people here? Because most of us, the TRI and WFR and associates crowd, are adults and have normal interactions with each other and other people outside the game. Not everyone who plays WoW is like that, just like not everyone on the internet is like that. Its sad, but unfortunately it's still true, and seems to be especially prevalent in the "gamer geek" world.

[Yva]

Look, in my defense, Aely's brogue really turned me on. How was I supposed to know that wasn't your thing?

[Bellesta]

I can't quite remember the last time I personally considered "girl gamers" to be anything remotely unique, and the amount of women we have among our own circle here is testament to that. However, it looks as if it's still this big thing elsewhere in the realm of online gaming, and that it can potentially draw all kinds of negative attention (be it sorely misplaced "affection" or just plain harassment) to such individuals. I have to wonder, if you feel it bears discussing; how often does this crop up for you ladies here, particularly in WoW? ...of course, just in typing that, I can already recall one or two specific incidents.

I'm not really a super public member of Feathermoon, and don't have a popular blog or whatnot, but I've had a couple people early in my wow days get pretty forward and 'NO I WANT UR ATTENTIONZZZZZZ' Hell. My first day on the server I let it slip I was female and instantly had two men in the channel I was in gush on me about how there are no female RPers around. On my PVP server, it was a little worse? But my guild was pretty good about snarling at anyone who made a deal of it on vent. I played a male forsaken rogue anyway :p

None of the above really were worrying situations, minor annoyances but not something I would consider dangerous. Had they my first and last name? That'd be more dangerous.

But I was also a victim of RL stalking, and that's far, far more terrifying. My ex back in Portland is crazy, completely crazy. Crazy to the tune of more than 2 years later, still posting on his blog about me, or writing short stories about the breakup where he does violence to me and my pets. While I have long put myself out of reach to him, if my real name started to show up on the Realm forums, no doubt he'd find it eventually. I knew him since I was 8, and he still held grudges against old bullies from his elementary school days.