The Lawbringer: Armory annulment
by Mathew McCurley 
Dec 17th 2010 at 1:00PM
The internet used to be a fairly private place, for the most part. Sure, things were sharable, but it was a close-knit community of people doing the sharing. The technology at the time was not ready for the Facebooks and Flickrs and everything else the world has dreamed up while we punched our keys and killed internet dragons. Now, the internet is a public sphere where nothing is private and the allure of privacy is a battle we fight every day against those who would sell our personal data or snoop into our lives.
Oversharing on the internet
The concept of oversharing has been around for a long time, but the true meaning of technological overshare has finally come home to roost in these days of permanent sharability. We have acquiesced to the share-me-share-you mindset, and it's here to stay. In the legal world, information is everything, because decisions are made on facts and facts alone. The clever legal scholars and lawyers in the bunch make the facts fit or not fit those rules.
One particular segment of the law has been changed completely because of the mass amount of overshared information that is being thrown around all over the internet -- divorce attorneys and divorce proceedings. In fact, there's now an overabundance of evidence in divorce cases, from pictures, status updates, YouTube videos and everything in between. Are people getting more comfortable with their indiscretions, or have people always been this bad with their affairs and we just never noticed?
So attorneys are using the internet. Big shocker. Most of this probably has little effect on those of us who try to keep ultra-personal information to ourselves and off the internet. Sure, you know that I hate Tol Barad (when I'm losing) and alternatively love it (when I'm winning), but that gives little bearing on my personal life other than the acceptable fact that I do, on occasion, play World of Warcraft.
I've been thinking about the armory feeds for a long time. The idea of Real ID haunted me, when my name was going to be attached to my characters on forum posts back when that was a thing, and it felt like it hurt my fight against my own personal overshare. I didn't hate the concepts of Real ID and now use it frequently to keep track of my friends, but I hated that outside of the game there was a way to see who my characters were.
The armory feeds on Blizzard's official community site make available a comprehensive list of items obtained, achievements earned, and notable events in your character's life, all with (albeit vague) time stamps. While this is an awesome tool that I use all of the time and absolutely adore the presentation of, it scares me in the most hypothetical way possible.
We shouldn't get rid of the feeds or anything like that, but I was trained to always see the hypotheticals, and that's what I want to share with you today. If we don't think about the worst case, we'll be damned surprised when it comes to fruition.
Currently, the armory feeds show the 50 most recent notable activities of the character. The number is not what is of concern, but rather, the information and time stamps. Sure, looking at just one snippet of 50 different achievements at any given time will not give a clear picture of one's playstyle, but we're talking about evidence collection, not just snapping a picture of the most recent. Over time, the information can be compiled.
So, here are my two hypotheticals. The first is that issue that so many people have dealt with because of the advent of the MMO. I've known people whose relationships have deteriorated and destroyed themselves over MMOs such as World of Warcraft and computer gaming in general. It's sad and it's painful to hear, and you could replace computer gaming or raiding with anything else and you would have the same problem.
Here's a question to those of you out there with significant others who do not play World of Warcraft -- does your partner know your character's names? How about what server you play on? If you're ever accused of spending too much time playing the game you love (and hopefully because of it, you're never in front of a judge dividing up your property), they might have a list of all the time you play.
Divorce attorneys use Facebook feeds, pictures, and status updates to gauge people's careless outbursts against their court appearances. It's true and it's scary. Is the armory feed any different? How does the judge even know that your character is who they say you are? Will a Ventrilo deposition with your raid leader be admissible evidence? I swear, your honor, that my time is not all spent here. Ask my 10-man -- I totally went to grab lunch yesterday. (The best judges use Mumble, anyway.)
My second hypothetical is not meant to scare but to discuss a potentially sensitive topic. Facebook outbursts, feeds, and pictures have been and will continue to be used by family courts and family attorneys to test what is best for a child in custody battles. What happens when a now-vindictive parent decides to use the armory feed data as evidence that the other parent spends more time with a game than his children? Do you think that most courts and judges will give a fair-minded approach to understanding the intricacies of your raiding schedule as opposed to the amount of time and dedication needed, in their eyes, to care for a child? It's a complete toss-up -- every judge is different. It has already happened with Facebook games and has the potential to happen here.
The road ahead
You'll see all of this in the future. It's probably happening, but no one is outright talking about it. Lawyers can't, mostly, considering the privileges involved. You'll hear hypotheticals, though -- hypotheticals that feel wrong and ludicrous but have a nagging sense of truth to them. Divorce proceedings are happening all over the world right now, and in some of them, a husband or wife is having to explain his or her hobbies and activities, which may or may not include World of Warcraft. Hell, imagine trying to explain the crazy amount of time people play Farmville to a judge. The fact is that the overshare is here to stay, and it now falls on us to figure out what to do with information that is free-flowing, always available, and potentially dangerous.
Because, really, the last thing I want coming up during my divorce proceedings is how I didn't let my hypothetical wife roll need on her bracers and took them for myself. You see here, your honor, it was a bigger upgrade for me.
She's just jealous.
This column is for entertainment only; if you need legal advice, contact a lawyer. For comments or general questions about law or for The Lawbringer, contact Mat at mat@wow.com.Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, The Lawbringer
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Vogie Dec 17th 2010 5:49PM
Actually the only thing's I've experienced about the armory are good things. I keep my sister & her husband's profiles as a favorite on my browser, so I could tell when they've started to play again (as they don't have kids and therefore can afford to game-hop), and the RealID (who I'm only connected to my wife, sister, and bro-in-law with) has only helped further. It's something we share.
I remember the Post here on WoWinsider (back in the day when it was wowinsider... oh, wait...) about how a person proved to his non-Azerothian wife that he wasn't cheating, as the Armory gave a play-by-play on what he did while she was out: No floozies laid, just dragons slain. I remember sharing that with my wife and her getting a kick out of it.
She'll use it to check up on me, although not because of risk of unfaithful-ity, but I tend to level my toons faster than hers, so she's trying to keep up :D
jfofla Dec 17th 2010 1:15PM
There was nothing wrong with Real ID.
You people are whacko paranoids.
Spark Dec 17th 2010 1:23PM
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jfofla Dec 17th 2010 1:15PM
There was nothing wrong with Real ID.
You people are whacko paranoids.
-----
Tell you what - you refrain from calling us names for our caution and we'll refrain from calling you names for your ignorance.
Hob Dec 17th 2010 1:34PM
...says the person hiding behind a fake name on a message board.
Kaz Dec 17th 2010 2:04PM
"There was nothing wrong with Real ID for people in my particular situation that I believe most people fall into.
You people have different life circumstances than me where a persistent real name tag on an MMO account could lead to adverse, albeit unfair, concequences."
There Fixed That For You.
You're Welcome.
Randy Dec 17th 2010 2:32PM
Yeah I'm sure Drysc (Community Manager for Blizzard) completely agrees:
You either don't know nor remember that he revealed his Real ID to show it wasn't a big deal, and it was followed up with users immediately posting on the forums his cell phone number, address, map of his house, pictures, etc.
Blizz reversed Real ID because one of their own employees got raped with it.
But ya know if that doesn't bug you......
Magma Dec 17th 2010 2:46PM
Actually Randy, That didn't happen. The person they found had the same name as the blue but it wasn't him. Some poor guy got pretty screwed though.
Wildstaff Dec 17th 2010 3:24PM
personally i didn't have a problem with the use of real names on the forums. I understand that some of you want to exercise caution with your identity on the internet, but really, do you really think that someone is out to get you and if someone is, do you think the wow forums is how they'll do it?
Sure there might be one or two incidents where some loser with abolutely no life will get mad over a virtual world and take things too far, but do you really think a majority of the people on the forums gives a damn who you really are?
Cor Dec 17th 2010 4:56PM
Some people have a lot less to lose then other people.
When I was 21 I couldn’t care less who knew about my life.
Now, 20 years later, I have a wife, kids, mortgage and a career that I really don’t want messed with by someone with little to lose. Yes, I embarrassed you in PvP last night. Does that mean my wife should deal with obscene phone calls? Your outrageous behavior caused me to kick you out of the guild. Should I then have to explain to the police who came to my place of business that I am not a pedophile and spouse abuser?
When there are very real penalties (that are enforced) for people invading others privacy and stalking them then I would be more open. Until then, I’m Cor and that’s all you need to know =)
Iirdan Dec 17th 2010 5:02PM
What the forums did to Drysc was a terrible thing.
Sure, it showed the dangers of the system, but you shouldn't become the very thing you're railing against in an attempt to remove it. It was wrong to do that, especially since it wasn't even the right person, and it really shows just how vile and vindictive the WoW community can be.
I was very saddened to see that something like that had happened.
QQinsider Dec 17th 2010 11:56PM
"and it really shows just how vile and vindictive the WoW community can be"
Which is the whole fkn point. He posted his Real ID to argue the reverse, he and Blizzard got shown that they were wrong, and better it happened that way than to some totally innocent person. I have little sympathy.
Vyshia Dec 17th 2010 1:19PM
Interesting how much people don't see the information that's shared over the net as such a big issue. I'm glad that, in some ways, at least information shared over the net can be changed. I mean, how many 15 year old boys lie about their age to get to some juicy porn? It's not difficult to fabricate information over the net, just like - for a small fee - you can have any and all of your characters have a drastic name and realm change.
But then, this brings up the problem of why it's needed in the first place. Sure, some people have naggy wives - even ex-wives who are monitoring your every WoW movement, but what about the people you don't know about? The kind which are stalking you online and you don't even know about them.
It's this sort of idea which makes lying about yourself online the smartest thing to do. But with legal documents now being signed online, and the amount of credibility given to online information (identity fraud anyone?) lying about yourself online is also dangerous.
And hence the age of the internet, technology and X-generation. Makes me glad that I decided law was a bad idea.
Still, makes you think, right?
Rude Hero Dec 17th 2010 2:13PM
Well, nothing ever truly disappears from the internet. Google keeps backups of everything- they keep permanent versions of websites that are altered day to day.
Have you ever seen an image in a google search and clicked on it only to find that the image doesn't exist at its regular location? It's kinda scary!
anonymouse Dec 17th 2010 1:26PM
"The internet used to be a fairly private place"
For thous old enough to remember the net before the web, it was alot more open.
When usenet was the preferred method of communication, it wasn't uncommon to have your email address, name and maybe phone number in your .sig
Now days that would be completely crazy.
As a side note it should be pointed out that what most consider to be the first spam attack on the net was launched by a law firm (google Laurence Canter and Martha Siegel)
No love for lawyers here
Hangk Dec 17th 2010 2:02PM
I remember them! Remember, too, when Scientology threatened to Sue The Internet for making fun of them?
I miss the Old Internet.
Artificial Dec 17th 2010 2:15PM
Indeed, your example illustrates the author's point. I used to not only have my name and phone number, but office hours and address in my sig -- we went out of our way to tell people exactly where to find us and when we'll be there! You tend to be more open with people in more intimate settings. The more private the setting, the less guarded you are, then more open it becomes, the less open you become. As the internet has become less private, we've all become more careful and less open with the information we share on it.
Shoikler Dec 17th 2010 2:42PM
Google it? I was there, you whippersnappers! Of course, that was a very different internet, one that shrank every summer when the college kids went home and had to spend every September explaining to the new freshmen that, no, reposting "MAKE MONEY FA$T" to dozens of newsgroups was a baaaad thing.
Dangit, now I'm getting all wistful.
Jackwraith Dec 17th 2010 3:16PM
Ha! The Green card lottery. I remember that. But, then, I'm old.
Spark Dec 17th 2010 1:28PM
The tools Blizzard is providing to hook in to WoW are very interesting. I just wish there was a way to opt-out or, better yet, required opting-in.
frugality Dec 17th 2010 1:28PM
Wait, is one's Real ID linked to one's characters' armories?