Fans rage over Blizzard forum plans

[SunScramble 60]

You want trouble? Here's one handy example:

A Blizzard CM who decided to try and support the new changes just found out exactly why it's a bad thing.

I think it's fairly safe to say that this is perhaps the dumbest idea that anyone has ever had ever.

To alleviate people's concerns, Blizzard employee Bashiok decided to say his real name on the forums, his real name is Micah Whipple

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/threa ... 1&pageNo=1 Post #16

So say hi to Micah Whipple

Address:
473 Avenue B
Lakeport, CA 95453-6032

Phone Number:
(707) 263-0190

Age:
28

Family:
Kimberly K Whipple, age: 54
Jason Stephen Whipple, age 34

It looks like he's staying in the same house as his mother =[

http://www.whitepages.com/search/FindPe ... port%2C+CA
http://www.peoplelookup.com/search-summ ... cusfirst=1

Oh btw, here is his facebook too:

http://www.facebook.com/micah.whipple

There are now pictures of him, his family, and his house all over the internet, his family have stopped answering the phone due to the constant calls from outraged Warcraft fans, and he's deleted his Facebook account.

I figure there's a lesson to be learned here, if you've got the slightest interest in your own privacy.

[KMakawa]

Not a WoW Player, but don't see what the problem is..

A lot of forums use this as it is.. it gives you more credibility and personality rather then some made up name? surely..

[Izo]

PCgamer may not care about people knowing their true names but I'm sure many people do particularly with what people can do with it afterall it's stupid to just throw your real name around. That is an identity thief's heaven, find someone's name, look them up on facebook for more personal info and let the fun begin

Not a WoW Player, but don't see what the problem is..

A lot of forums use this as it is.. it gives you more credibility and personality rather then some made up name? surely..

You might want to name those forums as all the ones I've seen allow people to cover their name on their profiles.

[fionn1 38]

What happens if....you on purpose mess up a raid, I have seen videoes of people doing it on purpose.. it would not be the first time a person takes a game personally and takes it out personally on the person that cocked up!...just a thought..

[kremlik 35]

Compounding the issue is that Blizzard want to link with Facebook as well, the first post may seem a little OTT, but if the general public can find YOUR information that easily, anyone can.

Blizzard seems to forget how much of a mess changing the usernames to emails were, I very much dought that any Battle.net 'login' is getting it's fair share of spam because of that, the big issue for most people is that it is a 'like it or you get cut off from the public forums', same with the 'friend of friend' issue with the friends list, theres no control on what data you 'share' and who can see it - it's an irrony factor as Facebook (as I said Blizzard are working with) HAVE these control features!

It's all well and good saying 'well you don't have to use them', but there are people who like those features but would perfer the 11.5 million nay... the WHOLE world from publicly seeing who they are and I can honestly see one 'good' side to it - no more 'alts' and cyberbulling on the forums. HOWEVER it's only a matter of time when Blizzard REALLY distory the trust in their playerbase by putting all those details into the armory which the playerbase STILL have no real control over..

The playerbase is only really asking for more control over their own personal data, but Blizzard can't see past their own games and how bad the 'real world' could be

[B_G_G 46]

This is a bit weird, if people don't want to use their real names on a forum then why on earth force them to?

Surprisingly my real name isn't actually B_G_G, but since I'm pretty sure there's more than one Tim on the internet it's what I use to be distinct.

I don't really understand why Blizzard thinks this is necessary, no other forum I've ever heard of does. Even Facebook lets you decide yourself.

[hephaestos 25]

15 year old A.Smith was shot in the street yesterday... apparently he did overusee the zergling rush technique...

this is the 10000th death related to blizzard's new forum...

oh yeah I see the headlines comming ...

[_Marty_ 58]

You want trouble? Here's one handy example:

A Blizzard CM who decided to try and support the new changes just found out exactly why it's a bad thing.

I think it's fairly safe to say that this is perhaps the dumbest idea that anyone has ever had ever.

To alleviate people's concerns, Blizzard employee Bashiok decided to say his real name on the forums, his real name is Micah Whipple

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/threa ... 1&pageNo=1 Post #16

So say hi to Micah Whipple

Address:
473 Avenue B
Lakeport, CA 95453-6032

Phone Number:
(707) 263-0190

Age:
28

Family:
Kimberly K Whipple, age: 54
Jason Stephen Whipple, age 34

It looks like he's staying in the same house as his mother =[

http://www.whitepages.com/search/FindPe ... port%2C+CA
http://www.peoplelookup.com/search-summ ... cusfirst=1

Oh btw, here is his facebook too:

http://www.facebook.com/micah.whipple

There are now pictures of him, his family, and his house all over the internet, his family have stopped answering the phone due to the constant calls from outraged Warcraft fans, and he's deleted his Facebook account.

I figure there's a lesson to be learned here, if you've got the slightest interest in your own privacy.

That is hilarious. Guess that's point proved really.

That said, my real name is in other forums around - I am a member of BoardGameGeek and your real name is put on there too. No biggy.

Honestly, I'm not bothered who knows who I am.

[boskersrevenge 70]

Tim!

THE NAME OF A WARRIOR! RAAR!

[Sleepaphobic 50]

hahahha oh man that blizzard dude got owned.

[PandyBear 39]

i think this will be a shock for those that thought they were helping a hot blonde grind quests, and its turns out theyve been grinding with Terry, 34 from London.

[Reegeee 60]

All you can say is who do they think they are? How is it Blizzards decision?

They provide a service that people pay for. Just take the money and let them do what they want.

I don't play mmo's at all, but i agree that this is possibly the worst idea I've ever seen, and that guy that's getting harassed bloody deserves it in my opinion.

I mean you hear all kinds of stories about people getting murdered by internet rage related incidents, imagine how much easier it would be this way?

[Wick3d 2]

I feel Blizzard have let the success of WoW go to their heads, and ever since they merged with Activision they have become bastards. Activision have turned Blizzard Entertainment from a service catered towards gamers to a business which only strives for profit.

They told us the creation of "Activison Blizzard" was the beginning of a new era, well they seem to got that right.

They seem to be wanting to steal even more data from the very players who made them who they are today, therefore isolating their loyal fan base and turning towards the more casual end of the spectrum where their is more money; but they seem to have sold their souls during the transition.

There's no point whining, because the WoW players will not cancel their suscriptions therefore Blizzard will take their £9.99 per month and give them the finger and continue laughing all the way to the bank.

If you want them to actually stop and listen then its obvious what you have to do, convince 11.5 million people who are addicted to WoW to quit in the masses and watch how the giant tumbles down and begins to plead for forgiveness.

Then we will see who is in the driving seat again.

[alan666 43]

why anyone would use there full name is beyond me, hopefully this will push WoW over the edge

[Dajmin 63]

It depends if you get the option to turn it off or not. You should always have the CHOICE about who you appear to be to the outside world. I keep my gaming and real identities separate, same as I keep my work and personal lives separate.

I bet this idea gets the drop really quickly when people start dropping from the forum like it's hot.