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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe Daily Quest: A little too real for me
by Anne Stickney 
Jun 23rd 2010 at 9:00PM
Patch 3.3.5 is here, and with it comes the introduction of the RealID system, and many, many opinions about the use of it. While I thought the feature was interesting and well worth playing with on the test realms, I do enjoy my privacy -- and until Blizzard introduces an "invisible" setting for the RealID system, I won't be using it. Here's a collection of thoughts by others around the Warcraft blogging community regarding RealID:
- World of Matticus discusses why RealID isn't for him.
- The Stoppable Force has some information about RealID, and suggests that people stop with the righteous indignation.
- Too Many Annas shares some thoughts on privacy, RealIDs and roleplay.
- Miss Medicina talks about the Patch 3.3.5 patch notes, as well as the RealID system.
Filed under: The Daily Quest
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 5)
Gorgondor Jun 29th 2010 1:22AM
Invisible would be nice yeah.
This is the first time that blizzard has implemented something anything like this, after about 10 mins of playing around with it last night after i got home from work, i already had a new list of things i wanted them to add to it, mostly WoW specific, as I did play the SC2 beta and used it there, i think it was done pretty well there.
Some of the things i'd like to see in WoW though are;
-Outgoing Pending invites: would be nice to see who's still hasn't accepted and who has declined.
-Tooltip for the popup: When some1 comes online, we now get a little popup in the bottom left that says "Joe Bloggs has come online" but it doesn't say anything about what character, what realm, or even what game, I found myself automatically mousing over this to see a tooltip for these details.
-Confirmation of Conversation invites: When being invited to a conversation with Real I.D. friends, you just get dumped straight into it, there should be a confirmation to join, and perhaps a list of who's in that convo you're getting invited to.
-Chat seems too Formal: Displaying first and last names in the chat feels too formal to me, as well as taking up precious chat space (little sarcasm there), would be nice if we could get the option to turn last names on and off in chat, and perhaps even have it just display the characters name others are on.
Just a few of the suggestions, i might re-post this over on the blizzard forums actually.
It's a new feature, and these things i've mentioned i can live without, but it would be nice if blizzard continued to flesh it out more and more over time, just like they've done with so many other additions in World of Warcraft.
Mine Jun 24th 2010 9:08AM
"Outgoing Pending invites: would be nice to see who's still hasn't accepted and who has declined."
The reason for not letting you see who's not accepted and who's declined is to protect people's privacy. Suppose someone were to make up random emails at common domains like gmail.com, aol.com etc and try to friend them (not really a 'suppose' as it happens in other media eg email spam). When they hit on a legitimate email address it will actually get sent to someone, who, if they're smart, will reject the request. If your first person could see that, they now know that's a legitimate email address and battle.net username. Not so good...
Lilkitten Jun 23rd 2010 10:41PM
Sorry Kazeko, but the friends of friends destroys that privacy. This feature serves no useful need. It destroys the argument that only people you choose and trust see your name as it shows up on your friends friends list to people you have no control over that can see it. If I do not know those people I do not want them messaging me. If I do know them I would already would have added them.
Irem Jun 23rd 2010 10:59PM
Yeah, it also confuses me that they said they implemented that so that you can "easily populate your Real ID friendlist with people who have similar interests" (not an exact quote). Although they were careful to say that they meant RL friends, that doesn't make any sense--an RL friend that you trust to know your real name is likely to already be on your Real ID list, right? So it makes it sound as though the "friends of friends" thing is meant to get you adding more people and meeting more people--but only add the people you know and trust. What?
Ruben Jun 23rd 2010 11:00PM
I think it's great. I don't have to have a real ID friend in randoms, however I can still 'friend list' that good tank from last week, etc.
I have real life friends who play on other factions/servers and I love the ability to chat to them in game now. I don't play WoW as a form of escapism, I play to enjoy and have fun with friends.
I also have a real life friend on another server who does runs of raids, I have an 80 character on that server with him, so now when I'm playing an alt, it's easy for him to inform me of what's going on.
Lilkitten Jun 23rd 2010 11:05PM
And what if he adds someone to his Real ID friends list who decides just for the fun of it to look up your name and get personal information about you and start posting it in game? Remember, you have no control over who he adds and everyone he adds will see your real name on his friends list. And if you don't think it will happen, well, it's only been out one day and already has.
No one is saying that the concept of Real ID is great. It truly is. But if they would simply end Friend of Friend that would end 75% of all objections. Also if they would allow a secondary email account or an alias to our battlenet accounts so we don't have to give out our email address to be added, something they have always said NEVER do, then that would end the rest of the objections. That is all we are saying and it wouldn't in anyway negatively affect people who don't care about the security concerns.
Irem Jun 23rd 2010 11:11PM
The Stoppable Force is missing the point entirely. People aren't worried about "ZOMG HAX" as much as completely baffled as to why Blizzard would design this Facebook-lite system to apparently appeal to as narrow a group as possible, without the bare minimum of privacy options to make people more comfortable.
I -loved- the idea of the system when I first heard about it and was really looking forward to it. I now have no use for it. I do not want my legal name associated with the characters I play, not only because I don't go by my legal name (and it's a hassle having to explain that RL, let alone in a game where every time I type "Jane Doe" pops up), but because I chose my characters' names and that is what I want people to call me in game. I give out my name very seldom, even the name I go by RL, because nine times out of ten the person I gave it to will stop addressing me by my character's name and start calling me by my RL name, even in the presence of people I don't know.
I don't want people to know my alts. Some people get this, some people don't. Sometimes no matter how much I like you, I do not want to talk to you or anyone else, not even to tell you that no, I don't feel like talking right now. And not to spend the following five minutes reassuring that person that I feel fine and that not wanting to talk to people at the moment is not code for "something is terribly wrong, ask me about my day." I know they mean well and that's why I don't tell everyone all of my alts.
I understand that if I don't like it I can just not use it, that it isn't mandatory, and all of that. What upsets me is that I really would have LOVED to use this, and they could so easily make it more accessible, but they didn't, and now it doesn't offer anything for me. So I won't use it. Apparently a lot of other people won't, either. I don't understand what the point is of creating something that so many people could enjoy, and then making sure that a lot of them won't touch it.
Kylenne Jun 24th 2010 12:31AM
On the subject of legal names, I want to bring up the very real problem this poses for transgendered players. Many trans people go by names that are not the ones they were born with, for a number of reasons; some may not have the means to jump through the legal hoops, some are along different stages of transition and may only be out as trans to select people. Regardless, it's really effed up and insensitive of Blizzard to be forcing people to go by names they may not have even disclosed to those closest to them.
This is not some hypothetical scenario I'm bringing up, either. I have several trans friends who are very upset over having to use legal names they have not gone by in years, names that represent a great deal of pain and hardship to them. One of them, a transwoman, has been fighting with Blizzard for months to change the name on her account and they refuse to, despite the fact that the cardholder/billing address is under her current name. So every time she logs on, her partner (the only person she's friended under RealID) sees her legal birth name, that does not reflect who she is and is a sort of a lot of agony for her. Having the ability to choose an alias would solve a lot of problems not only for trans players, but players from all walks of life who want that choice.
TR Jun 23rd 2010 11:17PM
I thought the The Stoppable Force's addressing "But then my email address is saved in their client forever and ever!" saying "It explicitly states in the FAQ that your Battle.net email address is not displayed in the Real ID friends list." missed the point. The FAQ is just saying it doesn't /display/ it.
This doesn't address the potentiality of Douchey McNozzle who griefed you in trade chat/raid/heroic being a friend of your friend, and now he has you location/availability second hand. True you can ignore him again (the FAQ doesn't say if this will also block his seeing where you are in game) or petition a GM to resolve the issue 3 days later since it's not a high priority.
I find it odd that Blizzard is implementing a second component where one has to enter information already given to login to the game. The whole point of the bnet username to Battle.net account email address merger was to have a single sign-on to all Blizzard games. So why not add extended code to just share the existing WoW friends list and match the still in beta friends lists for the upcoming games?
The only thing I can think of is it's a method of having that information given then stored in a module separate from your account. That way should the oppurtunity arise (probably well of the drawing board by now) there's a method to share it with 3rd party services like Facebook and IM services. Should the 3rd party aggregate list get hacked at least your account (and their databases!!!!!) won't be. The only info shared is your email address.
Incidentally, this is the method all-in-one IM programs for AIM, ICQ, Yahoo!, and Live Messenger already work. Unfortunately, all of the aforementioned services have been hacked at least once in the last several years, and people who have their options set to "Friends Only" still get IMs from Mitzi on friendster who's real shy but wants you to critique her boobage. Should there be extended downtime in patch day, and you're so inclined you can join her network and voila! She now sees yours too! Your friends list that is. It's also the method email viruses use to propagate.
TL;DR: The concerns people are voicing are from privacy compromises that already exist and haven't been corrected in years. It used to happen on MySpace, now it's Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare stalkings. It's the unsolicited IM, txt msg "are you there?" that goes ding in the night.
Michelle Madison Jun 23rd 2010 11:23PM
REAL ID NEEDS TO:
1) Allow the creation of an alias
2) Allow the friends of friend feature to be turned off
3) Allow us to appear offline / and hide certain characters
What is the benefit in forcing us to use the real first and last name attached to our battle.net / billing account (my REAL ID name isn't even mine, it's my boyfriends) -- Why are they unwilling to allow us to use handles like every other similar service on the web?
Playstation network - No real first / last name required or revealed
Twitter - No real first / last name required or revealed
Steam - No real first / last name required or revealed
Facebook - No real first / last name required or revealed (I could type in garble or a fake last name)
Xbox Live - No real first / last name required or revealed
Wii / DS - No real first / last name required or revealed
etc, etc
Show me one other similar service on the web where they reveal your REAL first and last name to friends, AND friends of friends in order for you to use it? What is stopping them from allowing the creation of a handle?
I am tired of people saying "use it for people you know in real life" -- the issue is, although I may know them in real life, and trust them with the first / last name associated with my account, and my e-mail address -- I don't trust the people THEY befriend with my personal information -- I also don't trust the security of their PC or account. It would be very easy to shoot your real life friend a quick e-mail, text, or phone call saying "hey my handle is xxxxxxx!!"
Even if this service is used as intended, as it stands now, it's still dangerous and a major security concern. So I ask, why force the use of real names to use it? What is stopping you, Bliz, from the simple fix of an alias / handle / pen name, like *every* *single* *other* communication outlet uses?
Sean Jun 23rd 2010 11:46PM
I love ya, Blizz. I really do.
However, this patch is of such epic fail, it will go down in history as your biggest flop.
RealID? Nobody will use it.
Chat interface screwed beyond measure.
Thousands of people that can't login or crash every few seconds related to Out of Memory errors.
Epic, Epic fail. Seriously. This will go down in history ...
Adnoid Jun 24th 2010 12:27AM
The main problem with the RealID is the privacy issues. This system clearly breaks privacy laws here in Canada and needs to be changed. Facebook has already had to change their privacy settings/options because of this. Blizz won't be far behind.
Danieru Lynx Jun 24th 2010 1:01AM
*headdesk* *headdesk* *headdesk*
zdave Jun 24th 2010 1:03AM
yeah, not going to use realID. if i want to socialize i'll hop on facebook. if i want to strategize with 9/24 other players and get down to business taking out the big LK, i'll play wow.
or maybe i'll go back in time to when i was 13 and actually WANT to use realID to talk to my friends on different realms because i just can't wait to talk to them at school tomorrow even though i am currently texting them and thinking about them while i masturbate with my left hand and faceroll my dk/pally with my right.
...or something like that. my point is: twitter, facebook, texting, facebook mobile, some weird android app that basically loJacks your friends....there's plenty of ways to talk to your friends in a non face to face manner. WoW should not be one of them.
Sky Jun 24th 2010 1:44AM
anti-social much?
zdave Jun 24th 2010 2:04AM
see: definition of antisocial.
i have real life friends, and i like them. but i don't play world of warcraft as ANOTHER social networking tool in which to connect with them.
TonyMcS Jun 24th 2010 1:31AM
There was a time, long ago when I used pseudonyms to protect my so-called privacy, but in the end I just decided to use my own name and intials for my game name and basically take responsibility for my own actions.
RealID is for grownups, not children in hiding. I can now see and talk to all my friends regardless of realm, faction or even game. If you are that worried about "friends" stalking you (or people objecting to your appalling behaviour) then don't use RealID.
If on the other hand, you regard your relationships online to be as real as offline ones, then you'll see RealID as a great step forward. No more puzzling over who the hell is addressing you or trying to remember multitudes of alts.
Best of all - it's optional, so the paranoid really don't have to use it ;-)
Sky Jun 24th 2010 1:44AM
you sound needy and desperate for social interaction
Lilkitten Jun 24th 2010 2:23AM
Once again, someone who dismisses people with genuine privacy concerns that conveniently doesn't address the friend of friend issue and makes it sound like you can control whoever sees your name. Why do you have to misrepresent what Real ID does?
Sleutel Jun 24th 2010 8:36AM
Erm, "TonyMcS"? That's a STILL a pseudonym. Unless you want to post your full name, address, and phone number right here... you're still hiding behind anonymity. It's just anonymity that a friend could potentially GUESS is you, but not confirm.
The next time you're crowing about your high horse, you might want to glance down to check that you're actually in the saddle, first.