WRUP: Two guys, a moonkin, and a pizza place
by Fox Van Allen 
Jun 18th 2011 at 10:00PM
Oh my goodness. I'm so embarassed. I didn't even see you walk in. And now here you are, staring at my computer screen, in full knowledge that I write nothing but fanfiction in my spare time.
It started innocently enough. After watching an episode of Seinfeld, I couldn't help but be upset over the fact that Elaine had never started a relationship with her boss, J. Peterman. I had visions of her being caught in the rain, totally drenched -- her clothes ruined. Her boss would walk up, lay a comforting arm on her shoulder, and say, "Why Elaine, did you forget your ... urban sombrero back at the office? Would you ... like to come up to my apartment? I have a spare."
Five minutes and two-hundred-seventy-four pages later, I had a fanfiction masterpiece. It didn't matter what made sense and what didn't. I was in control. I could make anyone fall in love with anybody! Steve x Kimmy Gibler. ALF x Lucky. Nothing was off limits!
My latest story involves a certain boomkin, pre-med student Berg, and this girl Sharon. All the action takes place in a pizzaria circa 1999, and man, is it hot. See, Berg is there ordering a pizza, and he's not wearing a lot of clothes because it's very hot on account of all the pizza being steamy and whatever, and ..."Oh, Tony," said Mona, smiling at the hunky housekeeper in front of her. "You've caught me just as I was getting out of the shower."
... oh, what's that? You don't care about my fan fiction? Fine. Forget you. I'll just leave you with a rundown of what all our WoW Insider writers are playing this weekend and save my stories for an audience that will appreciate them. This week's bonus question: "Blizzard announced that certain users wouldn't see authenticator prompts if Blizzard is sure of the identity of the person logging in. Does that make you feel more secure, less secure, or doesn't it make a difference?"
Alex Ziebart (@AlexZiebart) I've been in a WoW slump for awhile -- I've still been into the game but I have had no interest in logging onto the game. I've picked up my mage alt again to try and get back into it and it's so far been successful and I'm enjoying myself. This weekend probably holds more of that. As for the authenticator thing ... if Blizzard says it's still secure, I have absolutely no reason to doubt them. However, like Mat says below, part of the power the authenticator holds for me is peace of mind. I liked entering my authenticator code when I logged in. It's like ... if you had doors on your house that locked automatically at night, I bet you're still going to check that they're locked before you go to bed.
Anne Stickney (@shadesogrey) I am up to a whole lot of nothing this weekend, if I have any say about it. This means of course that I will probably be slammed with things to do, but what can you do. As for the authenticator change, it bothers me -- not that I think my account is any less secure or anything, but that little box reminds me "Hey, you have that widget on your account and it's working just keen, please give me numbers thank you!" With no little box, I don't have that reminder -- and I don't have any sort of visual cue that said authenticator is even on my account. I'd kind of like the option to turn the box on and type in the numbers, because I am weird like that and honestly prefer it that way.
Daniel Whitcomb (@danielwhitcomb) I actually think I will make another attempt at getting my druid to 85 so he can queue for the fire festival and grab a Scythe off of Ahune. Because Scythes, much like bowties and fezzes, are cool. I'm cool with the Authenticator change in theory, but it still feels weird not to enter it, and it's probably going to be a pain to dig it out to enter it AGAIN when I move or go on vacation.
Fox Van Allen (@foxvanallen) I had this whole fancy night planned out. I was going to invite a certain someone over for a romantic dinner; maybe watch a movie together before heading off to a room filled with rose petals and candles. But those plans got ruined, so I'm just going to hang out with Tyler instead. (Yawn.)
As for the authenticator, I think all the hand wringing over it is pretty ridiculous. Still, I'm surprised Blizzard hasn't learned their lesson -- taking away peoples' authenticator prompt is going to make them feel less secure, whether they're actually less secure or not.
Joe Perez (@Lodurzj) A quiet weekend for me this week, maybe a little alt leveling maybe some alt raiding. I'm going to be gushing over my brand new Mic stand and Boom! Yes, I'm that much of a geek. As far as the authenticator's go, I already wrote a rather lengthy response to it on World of Matticus. After some experimentation, I'm not too concerned about it. I only really wish I had an option to disable the feature so I could enter my code every time. That however is more because I'm a creature of habit, and I don't like changing my routine if I don't have to. I don't think we're any less secure, but it would have been nice to have had some prior notice to the change and maybe a way to opt out if we felt like it.
Josh Myers (@Elamqt) My druid went feral for PvP leveling, so I'll spend the weekend enjoying one-shotting cloth-wearers with Ravage. Sorry it came to this clothies, but balance is just really bad. :(
On the authenticator front: Is makes me uncomfortable, but I don't know enough about security systems to know if that discomfort is warranted. I like the reassuring presence of the authenticator question, but I do recognize the quality of life change of not needing to find my authenticator before logging in ...
Kelly Aarons (@Cadistra) I'm babysitting my friends' house while she's away, so there's that, but mostly it'll be goblin warrior, tauren paladin, and dailies on Cadi. We are so excited for 4.2! Fun, fun, fun, fun! Speaking of fun, I'm hoping to enjoy some of the fledgling sunshine that we're getting. I'm thinking of riding downtown at the Waterfront, especially now that the city is no longer on fire. /ashamed
Mat McCurley (@gomatgo) Going to be doing lots of video recording this week for < i>WoW-related crap as well as planning out Firelands stuff. WoW is on the menu, as usual. Other than that, it seems like it's going to be a game-lite weekend. As for the authentication change, I have a sneaking suspicion that the new parameters being taken into account are using hardware and IP IDs to figure out if it is you logging in, and if that is secure, I'm cool with it. Blizzard already fights for a better security image, and hopefully this will help that. But I don't mind the authenticator process becoming less invasive.
Matt Low (@Matticus) Busy beating Red Faction: Armageddon. Or at least, trying to. Got back into the Starcraft 2 scene again. Need to find me some fun multiplayer maps that aren't all melee based. Don't like the authenticator change. I want to be able to enter mine every time. I paid 6 bucks for peace of mind. I'm not feeling that peace of mind right now.
Matt Rossi (@MatthewWRossi) KITTEH KITTEH KITTEHWe had a scare the first night he was home, but Vet says he's in good shape; energy is good. It's been a rough past couple of months for my wife and myself, so we're happy to have the new kitten and happy he's okay.
I'm trying to figure out what I want to be doing in WoW, to be honest. I enjoy the game but really feel like Blizzard made some big mistakes with Cataclysm in how they released content and what content they released that has made raiding much less fun for me so far. I hope 4.2 makes some of it better.
As for the authenticator change, I have no opinion, but I could have a picture of the new kitten (his name is Sasquatch) biting my authenticator if you want to see that.
Michael Gray (@writegray) I'm going to something like SWINEFEST or SWINETASTIC or something to have some beer and BBQ. Western Maryland is an odd place.
Robin Torres (@cosmiclaurel)I'm going to pick a character and take her through the Mt.Hyjal quests and obsess about Archaeology a bit. While flying around, I'll be knitting and playing Hanging with Friends (same handle as my twitter). As far as the authenticator, I think we should be able to opt-in to this "service" and that the default should be to keep plugging in my code happily.
Sarah Nichol (@mentalshaman) I will be horse riding for the first time in something like 5 years. All of my gear is in storage, and I'm dead nervous. The game will be 'try not to fall off'. As for the change - I probably won't notice it much, aside from maybe lose my authenticator in desk clutter more often.
The weekend is the perfect time to kick back, relax and enjoy some game time. Are you an achievement junkie? Can't get enough raiding? Rolling a new alt? Considering taking the leap into roleplaying? Whatever your favorite way to play World of Warcraft, let us know in the comments what you're playing this weekend!
Filed under: WoW Insider Business
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Tim Jun 18th 2011 10:13PM
Haven't been playing much myself. Watching tv, obsessively checking WoW Insider for whatever (creature of habit), watching old tv shows on my computer and reading comic books on my computer. Oh! The new Teen Wolf show on Mtv is pretty keen. Only thing worth watching on such a worthless network. As for the authenticator, I like to use it. I feel more secure that way also although I don't log in any where else BUT home. Oh well...
DonNochay Jun 18th 2011 10:51PM
Wait....you watch that Teen Wolf crap? After seeing the previews I began laughing uncontrollably.
Ian Jun 18th 2011 11:03PM
The scenes shown in the previews were so badly written I thought it was a parody at first. After that, I was just sad.
Tim Jun 19th 2011 8:32AM
I rather enjoy the show. I love monster movies. As a child I would buy everything I could on Bela Lugosi and Boris Karlof. I will always love wolf man, drac, mummy, frankenstein, and creature from black lagoon. And I liked the goofy teen wolf movie growing up. The first one. Just like Buffy, they took a campy movie and added some edge to it. Works for me. Don't watch it if you're too Uber geek for it.
Heroblade13 Jun 18th 2011 10:16PM
Inb4 thrall x jaina
Kaylin Jun 19th 2011 2:26AM
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/1628/thrallxjaina.png
Matthew Jun 18th 2011 10:21PM
I feel less secure, but I KNOW I am not less secure. Feelings aren't facts. Cognitive Therapy FTW.
Getting my Tauren Pally, Creamydlight on Proudmoore, ready for next weeks Proudmoore Pride.
Choosing the best, er, least bad, health insurance policy.
Arathi Weekend FTW
Luke Jun 19th 2011 1:07AM
I've been playing WoW since just a few months after launch. To this day I've never had my account hacked. I've never had an authenticator and I've only met a few people who have been hacked. I'm signed up for the dial in authenticator (now that it's available), in the event that there is unusual activity.
Is my time coming? Or is everyone else in the universe just really bad about using the same password for everything and visiting potentially dangerous sites?
I maintain that proper browsing habits, including Firefox and the right add-ons trumps having to worry about double authentication.
Also, Fox, you and me baby, we'll make a video. Two Priests One Heal.
Let's do it.
Daisyfizzi Jun 19th 2011 5:36AM
I feel less secure too, but only because there's nothing on the screen to indicate I have an authenticator attached. I worry that my authenticator will somehow get taken off the account and I'll no nothing about it until I get around to checking the email account associated with my Battle.net account. If they added some sort of 'hey you have an authenticator attached icon' or let you opt out of the changes, I'd be a lot happier about it.
Daisyfizzi Jun 19th 2011 5:38AM
*know, not 'no'.
My brain is sludge since I've only just fallen out of bed.
Spark Jun 19th 2011 4:54PM
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Matthew Jun 18th 2011 10:21PM
I feel less secure, but I KNOW I am not less secure. Feelings aren't facts. Cognitive Therapy FTW.
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How do you know that you're not "less secure"? I haven't seen anything that explains how this new process works. There are assurances from Blizzard that more than one thing is being considered (and some initial reports from the community that suggests there is more than a source IP address being considered). But there are no solid details. As such, we have to take it in faith that Blizzard has gotten it right. And that seems more like "feel" than "know" to me.
In contrast, we know how the tokens work. We know that they have withstood public scrutiny. And in doing so, there is some assurance that there are no immediate flaws that weakens the system (with the assumption that there are no errors in implementation). Security is hard (cryptography even more so). Even experts make mistakes. Public review helps unearth those mistakes by allowing a larger set of eyes to look for them.
It is tempting to think that secrecy delivers security. However, history shows otherwise. Those who are motivated to attack a system also know how to do so without disclosure. Weaknesses are unearthed in proprietary systems on a frequent basis. And then we can only hope that those who have done so are motivated by public good and not criminal intent. There is a considerable market for delivering security flaws to criminals.
I understand the desire to trust Blizzard. After all, they make great games. They are certainly talented in their field of expertise. And that talent inspires loyalty and respect. But making a game is not information security. Authentication is a fundamental information security challenge. And so, we should be looking at it with that in mind and resist our feelings for Blizzard's great products.
At the end of the day, for me to "know" I am more secure, I need to understand the mechanism (identifying my desktop) that has replaced the existing, very good mechanism (strong two-factor authentication). Until then, I can only suspect that Blizzard has fallen in to the fundamental trap of undermining security for the sake of convenience. They wouldn't be the first.
Donhorn Jun 18th 2011 10:27PM
I have solved the authenticator issue in a way that gives everyone what they want! It's...
*distracted by kitty*
Umbralwrath Jun 19th 2011 12:46PM
Oh look, a kitt....
::Distracted by Nathan Fillion::
techvoodooguy Jun 18th 2011 10:28PM
My modem has a happen of booting me off the net at the worst times and resetting my WAN IP at the same time, so I won't be noticing much from the authenticator change for at least a couple of weeks, when my modem has rotated through the various IPs it uses enough times for blizz to record them.
Joseph Smith Jun 18th 2011 10:43PM
It makes me feel like I do when I leave the house and can't remember for sure if I locked the door. I'm pretty sure it's locked, since I always do, but there's the nagging doubt that I'm going to head back home at the end of the day and find it empty.
Silversol Jun 18th 2011 10:52PM
Warlocks X Mages.... you said anyone!
Reanne Jun 18th 2011 11:22PM
thats impossible...even if he said anyone
Vitos Jun 18th 2011 11:54PM
Nah. Spriest x Boomkin.
Yeah. Fox'll love that one.
Ian Jun 18th 2011 11:00PM
The pizza place is mah belly!
JattTheRogue Jun 18th 2011 11:31PM
I LOVE the authenticator change and have actually been wondering why they haven't done something like this for a long time: my bank let's me register a computer so I don't have to answer security questions to log into my online banking; why wouldn't WoW? But I am very surprised that there's not an option to let you enter it every time. When I first heard about the change, I just assumed there would be. The difference between what Blizzard did and what my bank does is that with my bank, you have to actually opt in to it. I'm still perfectly fine with the change, but I can see why some people wouldn't be without the choice to enter it or not.