The Daily Quest: Shh, the internet dragon is sleeping
by Anne Stickney 
Jul 9th 2010 at 10:00PM
Here at WoW.com, we're on a Daily Quest (which we try to do every day, honest) to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere. Is there a story out there we ought to link or a blog we should be following? Just leave us a comment and you may see it here tomorrow! Take a look at the links below, and be sure to check out our WoW Resources Guide for more WoW-related sites.
The internet can breathe again. Earlier today Blizzard announced that they will not be requiring real names to post on the official Blizzard forums, and the blogosphere in response breathed a huge sigh of relief. Here's a whole mess of thank-you's and other notes regarding the decision from various bloggers:
- The Pink Pigtail Inn asks if the wounds can be healed.
- Empowered Fire is pretty giddy about the results.
- Achtung Panzercow says "Yub Yub." That's Ewok for "We won."
- Geek Girl Diva has a short and sweet note to Blizzard.
- Lorehound asks what we learned from all of this.
- Warcraftic discusses the Warcraft community and communication.
- Mana Obscura gives us their thoughts on the power of the fans.
- HuskyStarcraft recorded a video response to the notice about the decision.
- Can we go back to just killing internet dragons now? I think so.
Filed under: The Daily Quest
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
MrJackSauce Jul 9th 2010 10:14PM
Anne, your love of internet dragons is infectious! I now don't say that I play wow, I say I kill internet dragons. Makes me sound waaaaaay more epic!
slythwolf Jul 10th 2010 1:24AM
My 10s raid tried to kill an internet dragon tonight. He was big and pink and he put us in the shadow realm. And then we didn't kill him.
I was sad.
MrJackSauce Jul 9th 2010 10:18PM
I'm not fat nor greasy, In fact I just had a shower and I'm na...never moind! I DO enjoy killing internet dragons as much as I enjoy indoor soccer on Wednesday nights. And the fact that they keep getting bigger is ominous! It's about time we got to the root of the problem.
I'm looking at you "Crab"!
krusty_burger Jul 9th 2010 10:20PM
and all it took to change blizzard's mind was a 2500page thread, almost 50k posts.
pancakes Jul 9th 2010 10:40PM
Well it was a REALLY stupid idea...
Artificial Jul 9th 2010 10:21PM
But are they still handing out real names to third party addon software?
Possum Jul 9th 2010 11:39PM
Yes, but not intentionally. Also they're handing out your real name and the real names of all of your friends and friends of friends to any hackers who manage to get a hold of your account. Or the account of your friends who have you added.
Seriously. Real ID would be great if they would just let you use a handle.
Tom Jul 9th 2010 10:22PM
Yes, let's get back to killing dragons. I for one, am tired of watching people whip themselves into frenzies.
The disaster's been averted folks. Unreasonable people, back to the official forums! Reasonable people, back to staying away from the official forums!
Grovinofdarkhour Jul 9th 2010 10:26PM
The "internet dragons" guy = symbol of the movement = instant hero
man of the people
fireflyoftheearth Jul 9th 2010 10:26PM
OMG! The internet dragons... can't breathe... am dying... laughing too hard... Bwahahahahaha!!!
Also, my sentiments exactly.
Travieso Jul 9th 2010 10:30PM
Aww, some warning about the vulgar language in these blogs would be appreciated. :(
zdave Jul 9th 2010 10:37PM
joking please?
Possum Jul 9th 2010 11:37PM
My eyes! The goggles do nothing!
Seriously though, a warning about foul language on the internet? Just stick a big post it note saying WARNING: SOME LANGUAGE MAY OFFEND on your monitor.
Lissanna Jul 10th 2010 10:22AM
Warning: When people post on blogs, they don't have to follow the forum rules. There may be cursing when discussing a particularly sensitive topic that makes them angry.
Ronin Jul 9th 2010 10:43PM
I'm not sure the wounds can be healed, either.
Yes, the fanbois are once again out in force (tbh I think they're some of the biggest trolls out there) trying to make it seem like we were silly for objecting, but we had very real reasons for it.
The problem with the direction the company is going, hasn't changed. They've just sounded a strategic, temporary retreat. It's clear that they no longer value us as customers, nearly as much as they value us as a commodity.
Threatening to force us into Real ID and then backpedaling due to our response makes me feel like we've only temporarily averted this move. There will be other similar moves to take its place, and they will eventually wear some of us down and run some of us off, until they get their way with whoever is left. I truly believe that. The trust is gone, and would take a LOT to regain.
But the fanbois can get back to playing the game, ignoring the security issues, and patting themselves on the back for not being as anal as we are. Business as usual for now, in other words.
Edgarrin Jul 9th 2010 11:44PM
While you may have hated the idea, calling those who didn't mind it "fanbois" ruins your entire argument. If you were against it, fine. Don't call the other side childish names because they disagree with you.
Any arguments about privacy were typically overshadowed by sensationalism and hysteria. Those who presented strong arguments in a productive manner tended to be hidden.
Regardless, this whole "trust" thing....aren't you putting a bit too much emphasis on this? I mean, really. Have you ever screwed up? Blizzard did, and they recanted. I really don't know what else you expect them to do. If you are that distrustful, quit playing. But don't over-dramatize this any more than it already has been.
Ronin Jul 10th 2010 2:11AM
I never said anyone who didn't mind it was a fanboi. I said the fanbois are out making fun of everyone who was against it. There's a distinction there, sorry if you weren't able to understand it.
The fact that you say Blizzard just made a mistake and should now be trusted because they recanted, suggests that you still miss the points that caused so many of us to, far from being hysterical, let our money talk for us. This wasn't Blizz mistakenly thinking we wanted Real ID or wouldn't mind them making it mandatory-- this was Blizz pursuing an agenda based in treating us as a commodity, assuming we would just go along with it. Given that _that_ was their error, just reverting their decision doesn't go nearly far enough to put things back the way they were. That kind of lost trust can't be regained easily, if at all.
It's really not up to you to decide if people are over-reacting, and your "if you don't like it, don't play" statement also surpasses anything that could be imagined to be within your rights. Causing me to wonder if you protested to the "fanboi" label because it hit a bit too close to home.
Edgarrin Jul 10th 2010 11:08AM
I find it incredibly amusing that you label me as a fanboi because I attack your tone. If you would interpret my previous statement, I did say that people had a logical argument - you just had to dig to find it inside all of the garbage. You would rather be condescending, which is a pretty typical reaction.
Regardless, it is my opinion that a good majority of people overreacted, just like it is your opinion that people didn't. Now, go trumpet your success about how you "won" and go whine in your corner about how you can't trust Blizzard while You collect your epics. Meanwhile, I will accept this as what it was - a failed experiment that the company realized and stepped back from.
Ronin Jul 10th 2010 12:52PM
Again, I never said you were a fanboi.
Whatever you are, you're the one who continues to assign negative motives and claim your opposition is "whining". All while implying that you have the moral high-ground.
Maybe if you didn't spend so much energy objecting to me talking about fanbois, and more energy demonstrating you aren't one, I wouldn't still have to wonder _what_ you are.
(cutaia) Jul 9th 2010 10:51PM
Haha...joke's on you, dumbass. We kill internet dragons for gear, not xp. Psh.