Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsPTR Notes: No cyborz in the Deeprun Tram
by Mike Schramm 
Aug 21st 2007 at 4:05PM
What did Skazarund do to get banned from the PTR? All he did wrong was cyborz, man. Cyborz, if you didn't know, is a little bit of the digital hanky-panky. The Internet in-and-out, if you will. The networked nookie, know what I mean?All joking aside, apparently that's true-- Timbal says the test realms are for "testing new game content and functionality, not your abilities to write romance novels." Now, I'm not a huge fan of cybersex or anything (the real thing seems much more fun), but there are people out there that do it, and as long as they don't hurt anyone, I'm fine with leaving them alone. Does Blizzard really feel the need to ban anyone who gets it on on the PTR? Is it somehow more wrong there than on the live servers?
Skaz may have been obscene in some way, and if so, then yeah-- he broke the terms of service, and a ban is in order. But if he's just gettin' it on, RP-style, baby, is that really being "disruptive or counterproductive to testing"?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Humor
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
DavidC Aug 21st 2007 6:32PM
[quote]Was it in public, or private? If they banned him for a private conversation with someone else, no matter how explicit, then it was a terrible invasion of privacy and they should apologize immediately.[/quote]
Privacy? are you out of your mind? You have no PRIVACY rights in the game ... at all. It's Blizzards Private Property and you pay a fee to be a "guest" of blizzard.
Just cause you get to come and eat dinner doesn't mean you can just go into the host bedroom and ruffle the sheets ... then get mad when the host catches you and kicks you out.
Lrn2Constitution
Green Armadillo Aug 21st 2007 6:45PM
The PTR's often have lengthy queues when there is actually new content to test (might not be true in this case since there's not much new content and this PTR has been up for such a long time, but it's best to keep policy consistent), so it's entirely reasonable to take action against people who are taking up space to do other things.
All you need to do is invite your cyborz buddy (or up to 39 I suppose) to your group so that nobody sees what you're typing and there's no way anyone reports you in the first place.
kidsmoke Aug 21st 2007 7:23PM
I really wish you guys would link to the penny arcade comics instead of just saying they are from there...
Hugh "Nomad" Hancock Aug 22nd 2007 7:23AM
Oh, god, I can't believe I'm going to get into this, but...
Irrespective of what the EULA says, does anyone believe that it is appropriate or reasonable to ban players based on private, consensual conversation?
Many people seem to believe contract = absolute moral right. This Is Not The Case. An EULA is not anywhere near as reliable as law, for example. It's a biased document written to given Blizzard as much power as humanly possible.
Just because Blizzard wrote something in their EULA doesn't mean that they are morally or indeed even legally right to use the powers they have granted themselves. Nor does it mean that people who believe that their decisions are unethical should just STFU because they (kinda) agreed to the EULA.
For example, Blizzard could simply terminate the account of everyone who criticised their game. Or anyone of a particular ethnic or religious background. Or anyone who identifies as gay. They are allowed to do these things by their EULA.
DavidC, would you still argue that that's morally appropriate for them to do, and no-one should complain about it?
It's rather important to speak up if you think something seriously wrong is happening in the world. Whether or not you signed a piece of small print saying that you couldn't sue for it.
(I'm not saying that's what happened here. I'm not saying Blizz are in the wrong on this one, or that it definitely was a private conversation. And I can see the "it's a test realm. FO if you're not going to test" argument. But I get really worried by people who assume anything that's legal to do under an EULA is also perfectly fine with them, irrespective of moral argument.)
ThorinII Aug 22nd 2007 11:36AM
"SEEMS" ROFLMAO!!!
Anyway, banning is a bit harsh if they did it in party or whisper, but the "T" in PTR does stand for TEST, so save it for the live RP servers. Maybe they should have just banned him from the PTR.
Also, it takes two to tango. What happened to the other player?
martinavila Aug 22nd 2007 4:19PM
In before "seems".
Mike... Put down the game man, you got on G4, there is something out there for you.