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Blizzard's StarCraft 2 and World of Warcraft to implement Facebook integration
Real ID, if you haven't been apprised, is Blizzard's Orwellian approach to policing its community. In one fell swoop it removes the anonymity, agency and escapism that actually make massively multiplayer online games enjoyable. But again, I shan't go on -- read WoW.com's coverage, if you want to find out more.
Battle.net's integration with Facebook is actually quite neat, if you don't mind the whole invasion-of-privacy thing. You'll be able to connect to Facebook from Battle.net and import your friends, rather than having to know your friends' email addresses. Still, with some 2,000 pages of complaints on the official World of Warcraft forums, you can be damn sure that it'll be a while before the community is able to stand back, take stock and analyse at the bigger picture.
Incidentally, if you're a fan of StarCraft or World of Warcraft, and you're opposed to these proposed changes, go and register your discontent on the forum! It's not too late to force Blizzard to rethink their totalitarian technology.
Comments
13
Subscribe to commentsSugarDaddyJul 7th 2010 11:55AM
Sorry, I'm not quite getting the reference to Orwell here. It seems a little forced and alarmist. From what I read, the RealID requirement is for the battle.net forums. You will still be able to have anonymous friends in Starcraft 2 (don't know about WoW cuz I don't play and don't care). But even then, you can use a fake name. It's not like they're posting your birthday and your home address.
But the facebook integration is a giant meh. I prefer to keep my facebook segregated from everything. I never ever link accounts. I think it's bad practice.
juliewithoutJul 8th 2010 11:14PM
Actually, do you know, that Blizzard is doing this, to do a social-profiling for you? So when you do something wrong, Like this guy. They can easily put you into Prison. Details. http://2su.de/bKh
SugarDaddyJul 9th 2010 8:26AM
@juliewithout: Yes, I've seen that story before. That's far more about catching a fleeing felon than it is about uncovering people's hidden secrets and reporting them to the authorities as you are insinuating. Blizzard didn't report that. The FBI came to Blizzard for help. "We know this guy plays WoW, can you help us out?" Simple.
You highlighting this story as your prime example of Blizzard being Big Brother really shows that you don't know what you're talking about (and likely many others that share this Blizzard=Orwellian view). Blizzard not only has a legal obligation to help the FBI in that case, but there's a moral obligation as well. What if the guy was a child molester rather than a drug dealer?
My point still stands that much of this reaction to Blizzard requiring Real ID on the forums is poorly thought out alarmism.
SalviatiJul 7th 2010 12:42PM
As quoted by a Blizzard CM: "We put a lot of thought into this change and have a long-term vision for the Real ID service"
This is not the end of RealID, it's just the beginning. They claimed at first that it was just supposed to be between real life people that you trusted with your personal information, now this. Where will it end? Will they tie RealID with the Armory info? Who knows?
At least if I decide to get SCII, I'll know better than to sign up with my real name. But do I want to even support a company that is so caviler with my personal information...
Thanks for over a decade of fun Blizzard, but I don't know if I can continue to support you, at least I can look forward to Portal 2, you monster...
ThrushJul 7th 2010 1:07PM
I'm not opposed to this as most people seem to be. I think it adds some accountability to the forums. I don't use the WoW forums mainly because they're loaded with people berating each other. I would hope that having your real name attached to your post would make people think twice about foolishness and only post valuable input. This may actually make me start using the forums.
Michael K PateJul 7th 2010 1:06PM
When RealID launched, the discussion came up in my small social guild about what to do and within a few minutes I had multiple friends. Being able to talk to friends when they are playing on other realms has been fantastic. If you don't like the idea of RealID, no one is forcing you to use it.
I don't participate in the forums, and most players don't, because of the way that people act in there. If this discourages that sort of behavior, it will be well worth the change. And give some of us a reason to actually go there again.
Obviously RealID isn't meeting your needs but that doesn't make it "pathetic, poorly thought-out" or "totalitarian." You are perfectly able to continue to participate in the same way everyone has since 2004.
Note: As for the Facebook integration, I haven't made up my mind yet. But that is less about Blizzard and more about Facebook.
a Nony MouseJul 7th 2010 5:49PM
http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/55728/Is-Blizzards-Real-ID-Safe-Or-A-Playground-For-Sexual-Deviants
With just a name.
Sebastian AnthonyJul 7th 2010 6:32PM
Ya, scary eh?
The community has already sent thousands of dollars worth of pizza to Blizzard employees...
You can be damn sure that it'll only get worse :)
AJJul 8th 2010 4:18AM
Your extreme alarmist view on the RealID situation is why I've avoided the forums in the first place. If you don't want someone as a RealID friend, don't give them your email address. If you don't want your name displayed on the forums, don't use the forums. No one is forcing you to do as much. The forums are completely separate from the game, and are in no way, shape or form, necessary to enjoy the full experience of WoW. As a matter of fact, I've told people that if they want to enjoy the game, avoid the forums, and use fansites instead.
Take a step back, take a deep breath, and chillax, it's not like they're posting your birthday, social security number, mother's maiden name, and banking information. The only reason Blizzard's people are getting harassed, is because it's very easy to look up the names of the employees and find out where they live, since they work in IRVINE CALIFORNIA. That doesn't make finding them that difficult at all, but when you're dealing with people across the ENTIRE COUNTRY, well, I'll just say that I share my name with an 18 year old girl from Florida, so they could have no idea if that's the real me or not.
Seriously. Alarmist view is alarmist, and full of massive amounts of paranoia. Everything is not a conspiracy theory anymore. It's their game. Their servers. Their website. Their rules. Don't like it? Stop using it.
Not a NameJul 8th 2010 4:36AM
Here's the sort of information you can get from just a first and last name:
http://asnowstormbyanyothername.blogspot.com
Sebastian AnthonyJul 8th 2010 7:08AM
Dang...
Again, I really doubt this will go through -- at least not in its current form. Here's hoping...
SugarDaddyJul 9th 2010 8:35AM
And isn't that the point? If you don't want people to know who you are, don't post on the battle.net forums. If you don't care (because all of that information is public anyway), and you know your comment is intelligent and well-thought, then post. You'll actually be helping your reputation. Are you afraid that your comments are going to create enemies that are going to visit your house and murder your dog? I don't get it. Don't post inflammatory comments or don't post at all, and join one of the many other anonymous forums where they discuss Blizzard games.
It seems to me that the people who'd be most upset about this change are the trolls.
BenJul 8th 2010 3:30PM
I think they might just be threatening, but on the other hand, the users (at least some of them) brought this upon themselves. I'm scared to post or stay too long on the Blizzard forums. But Bliz is most likely just trying to scare the trolls. Because it will end up like this: http://www.cad-comic.com/cad/20100707