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The first patch I've missed... it's weird.
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Post by
seebs
I really don't get what your issue is the point of RealID is that you only add friends to it that are REAL friends from your REAL life
This is a flat-out lie -- not on your part, but on Blizzard's. They even say it's for "forming" relationships. All their usage examples are keeping in touch with guildies and the like -- people you don't necessarily know out of the game.
Just think for a while about the forums thing. Sure, they backed down... But they made it quite clear that they had intended
all along
to force you to use your real name in all forum posts. That is not a feature that was intended only for real-life friends.
so they're going to know you REAL name and ethnicity anyway.
So what? Doesn't mean I want to use a name I dislike when talking to my friends.
Post by
seebs
Okay, I went and asked in the Customer Service forum.
No, you cannot change your name just by asking. No, you cannot change your name to something that you don't have convincing documentation for. So if your response was "just change your account name", well, good effort, but no such luck, try again.
Post by
GravenTerenas
people with ethnically-identifiable names.
Where the hell do you live mate, Nazi Germany? Why would people have to hide their ethnicity from their real life friends?
Post by
seebs
Why would people have to hide their ethnicity from their real life friends?
Again, the "real life friends" line is 100% bull. Real ID is intended for "forming" relationships with people you meet through WoW -- Blizzard periodically accidentally admits that, even though they've got that "only real life friends" cover story.
The fact is, in reality, people use Real ID to keep in touch with people they don't know in real life, because a way to keep in touch with your WoW friends is desireable enough that they don't really care what Blizzard says it was intended for. Real ID is used the same way PSN handles, Xbox Live handles, Steam handles, and the like are used -- a way to keep in touch with people you met through the game.
But it's only used that way by people who don't have to worry about what strangers in WoW will make of their names.
Post by
Lorkin
There's some stupid logic to your processing that I just don't understand. You sound like an emo civil rights activist that get's all heated about a video game. Either this is a humongously craft troll post or you really are nerd raging hard, either case at least change the title of the post to something along the lines of "Why I quit over Real ID".
My brother uses an Alias, a name that everyone calls him around work etc. His real name is something different, same name on his credit card. He was able to use his Alias name as his account name with no problem. It shows his alias name when he signs on via Real ID. Either you have never bothered to try to change your account name or you were too afraid to talk to customer service about it. Whatever the reason, it seems like you've never bothered to remedy this.
If this is a trans gender issue, I believe Blizz can accommodate what ever friends you have and whatever they want to be called. Generally you invite your REAL (thus the REAL ID part) friend IRL that normally would know you by whatever birth name you were given. They would know not to call you a name that would send you off the deep end. If you are giving it to guild members, you are doing it all wrong. Normal in game friend list is for that, or go on steam or trillion for that cross realm or even cross game chat.
Again, no one is FORCING you to use Real ID. It doesn't prohibit you from raiding, pvping, or talking to people on your server or in your guild chat. Normally raids and such are done via Vent or another voice service. You making it sound like you want to use it, but having NO OTHER OPTION is piss poor and makes you look lazy. Again it seems like you are fighting the fight and making this a civil right case. It's just a video game, don't play it or any other Blizz products then.
If my first name was Hitler, I would be sure to NOT use that name for my account. If after the fact, I would do everything I could to change my account name to something different. If that doesn't work and I am really afraid to show all the strangers I invite to Real ID, I would just use an external IM service.
Post by
Lorkin
Why would people have to hide their ethnicity from their real life friends?
Again, the "real life friends" line is 100% bull. Real ID is intended for "forming" relationships with people you meet through WoW -- Blizzard periodically accidentally admits that, even though they've got that "only real life friends" cover story.
The fact is, in reality, people use Real ID to keep in touch with people they don't know in real life, because a way to keep in touch with your WoW friends is desireable enough that they don't really care what Blizzard says it was intended for. Real ID is used the same way PSN handles, Xbox Live handles, Steam handles, and the like are used -- a way to keep in touch with people you met through the game.
Actually no, people use it mainly for people they trust or know IRL. Your regular friends lists is used to keep in touch with WoW friends you meet in game. Real ID is NOT used the same way as PSN, Xbox, Steam Handles etc. I.E you are using it for the wrong reason.
If you are that afraid that people might think you're a terrorist or something, DONT INVITE THEM to you list. Duh!
Post by
seebs
There's some stupid logic to your processing that I just don't understand.
I don't think I agree with the word "stupid", but yes, apparently there's something here that you don't understand.
My brother uses an Alias, a name that everyone calls him around work etc. His real name is something different, same name on his credit card. He was able to use his Alias name as his account name with no problem.
That's nice. According to customer service, though, it's not actually allowed, and if they ever notice, they can kill the account.
Either you have never bothered to try to change your account name or you were too afraid to talk to customer service about it.
I've asked. I've gotten a very consistent answer from them: No, you cannot change your name without government-issued documentation showing the new name. And you can't change the name of an account unless you can prove that it's your account, meaning you also have to have documentation of some sort for the old name.
If this is a trans gender issue, I believe Blizz can accommodate what ever friends you have and whatever they want to be called.
That's an interesting belief you have, but it is contrary to the available evidence, that being what Blizzard's published FAQs say, what Blizzard's representatives say, and basically every other piece of evidence on file.
They would know not to call you a name that would send you off the deep end.
But they wouldn't get a choice, because the game uses the legal name no matter what your friend wants to call you.
Again, no one is FORCING you to use Real ID. It doesn't prohibit you from raiding, pvping, or talking to people on your server or in your guild chat.
No, but not being able to use Real ID prevents me from keeping in touch with my friends in-game, because I have too many friends for the default friends system to handle. If I could use Real ID, I could keep in touch with all of them.
Again it seems like you are fighting the fight and making this a civil right case. It's just a video game, don't play it or any other Blizz products then.
That's pretty much the answer I seem to be getting from everyone, yes.
But, you know... It was a pretty good game. I really liked it.
If that doesn't work and I am really afraid to show all the strangers I invite to Real ID, I would just use an external IM service.
Yeah.
And basically, here's the point where we differ. I like to think about whether things are Good Policies. Not just whether they work for me, or I can work around them. It's not enough that I can use the water fountain. It's not even enough that the colored folks have a perfectly good water fountain they can use, over there. I want things to actually be fair to begin with; I don't want people to be gratuitously pushed away from a service or a feature for no sound reason.
I like to support companies who treat people fairly, not companies who give special treatment to some groups of people and let others hack something together on their own.
Post by
seebs
Actually no, people use it mainly for people they trust or know IRL.
Interesting theory. Given the number of stories I've heard of people using it for people they met in-game, though, I don't know that I believe it.
Your regular friends lists is used to keep in touch with WoW friends you meet in game.
And it
sucks
at it, because it doesn't give you a way to track alts, etcetera -- and you don't have enough slots to have a reasonable number of friends.
Real ID is NOT used the same way as PSN, Xbox, Steam Handles etc.
It is by a lot of people -- people with common names, for instance. They can just use it to be friends with anyone, and it works fine. And it could be by everyone if it used nicknames.
Post by
pezz
My brother uses an Alias, a name that everyone calls him around work etc. His real name is something different, same name on his credit card. He was able to use his Alias name as his account name with no problem.
That's nice. According to customer service, though, it's not actually allowed, and if they ever notice, they can kill the account.
Pretty sure they don't actually care. My girlfriend has an RL friend from high school in her Real ID friends list. His name, in all caps, is F*** YOU. I'm only using asterisks to avoid Wowhead's filter, but rest assured my girlfriend's friend does no such thing.
Post by
Lorkin
What can I say, you're SoL.
For someone with THAT many friends you can't fit them in your friends queue, I'm hesitant to believe you would walk away from this game due to the REAL ID policy.
If you are that friendly with everyone you meet, why are you going to the ends of the earth to hide your Real Life name anyways. Are you afraid they won't like you after?
Comparing this video game to civil rights and racism is just absurd. If you take both of these issues with the same importance in the grand scheme of things, you have other issues at hand.
Post by
monopoman
ALL my RealID friends are very close either in-game friends or real life friends.
I do not have a single person on my RealID friend list that I do not have trust in.
I think the system is actually against using it for everyone you meet in WoW since they would know your whereabouts in game at all time across servers and even across blizzard games now.
Like I said this is like complaining about ANY FEATURE added to the game that does not suit your needs then quitting over it. You can do whatever the #$% you want its a free country but this is a stupid reason to blame Blizzard.
Post by
seebs
For someone with THAT many friends you can't fit them in your friends queue, I'm hesitant to believe you would walk away from this game due to the REAL ID policy.
Well, it hasn't been super easy for me. I only probably had twenty or thirty friends -- but most of them had several alts, etcetera. It's been, in fact, a pretty big bummer, because I really got along with those people, and I'd been friends with them for years.
But one of those friends I knew through WoW is a guy legally named Jessica. And if he can't use the Real ID system to keep in touch with his friends without being called "Jessica" all the time, then that system is sucking pretty badly for a very good friend of mine. And I'm more opposed to that than I am interested in continuing to play a particular game with those friends of mine. They can find me easily enough through other channels to keep in touch.
If you are that friendly with everyone you meet, why are you going to the ends of the earth to hide your Real Life name anyways. Are you afraid they won't like you after?
Man, you just can't read, can you. Everyone knows my real name. I'm not worried about how this affects
me
personally. Heck, in City of Heroes, my global nick name is effectively my real name. (It's not exactly the legal name, but it's not as though it'd take more than a minute to find my real name given the name I use.)
But I have friends who don't go by the names on their accounts, so they can't use this feature, and I don't feel that it's reasonable that they can't use this feature, when Blizzard could easily make it possible for them to use it.
Comparing this video game to civil rights and racism is just absurd.
No, it really isn't. Civil rights and racism ultimately come down, not just to big things, but to the little everyday stuff that people take for granted. You know. Stuff like whether you can use the super cool friend functionality in a video game without it being a major source of stress because it insists on using a name you hate, but which happens to be your legal name.
If you're a guy legally named Jessica, this system sucks. This system sucks for a lot of people with problems like that. Not because they're necessarily hiding that name from people, but just because they
don't like using it
. But Blizzard has made it 100% clear: No excuses, no exceptions, you use your legal name and we won't let you change it.
And since this system is designed in a way that is bad for other people, I dislike it. Allowing people to pick a nickname is not an unreasonable or ridiculous request; it's a baseline of functionality that should have been in there all along.
Post by
seebs
My brother uses an Alias, a name that everyone calls him around work etc. His real name is something different, same name on his credit card. He was able to use his Alias name as his account name with no problem.
That's nice. According to customer service, though, it's not actually allowed, and if they ever notice, they can kill the account.
Pretty sure they don't actually care. My girlfriend has an RL friend from high school in her Real ID friends list. His name, in all caps, is F*** YOU. I'm only using asterisks to avoid Wowhead's filter, but rest assured my girlfriend's friend does no such thing.
Fascinating. So if we wanted to spend hundreds of dollars re-buying all the WoW stuff, we could create new accounts and start over. (Can't transfer characters to an account in a different name...)
Post by
Mozblue
If your quotes of Blizz are correct then they're contradicting themselves as to add people to RealID you have to give them your e-mail address something that Blizzard tell you to only do with trusted friends (real life or online).
Anyone giveing they're RealID details to someone purly based on them being in your guild is asking to be hacked.
But none of this changes the fact that it's optional (any forum argument are redunt now that elements been retracted).
And quitting game for RealID is just pointless as clearly you still care about the game or you wouldn't be here.
People complain about this and many other things on the forum like it's their right to be able to WOW the way they want to, well guess what, life doesn't work like that. If you don't like something about the game to the point that it stops you playing then just step away.
Post by
seebs
But none of this changes the fact that it's optional (any forum argument are redunt now that elements been retracted).
Well, retracted "for the time being". But yes, I agree that it's optional.
I just want it to be an optional feature that I can use.
And quitting game for RealID is just pointless as clearly you still care about the game or you wouldn't be here.
Well, I don't know that it's pointless. It means my household is no longer paying $75/month to Blizzard, and it means that I don't have to deal with my friend being called Jessica all the time. Instead, we moved to CoH, where we get to pick our global handles, and everyone's happy.
But yes, I clearly still care about the game. Which was sort of what motivated me to start the thread -- it's interesting to me that WoW stays interesting even when I'm clearly no longer going to play it.
Post by
Kibbles
Idiots like you make me want to truck over small kittens.
1. RealID is optional. It does not affect you in any way. Your real name does not appear on the forums, and you do not have to use the forums, you can... Use sites like this.
2. If you have an ethnic name, why are you ashamed? Who cares? Blizzard can ban racists as well.
3. You argue you shouldn't have to make a 3 minuite application for a name change. Yet this is optional. And it takes 3 minuites.
4. You argue the nickname. Who cares? The only place people will see your real name is in chat. They know who you are, they can call you something else.
5. RealID isn't so beneficial as to even be wanted. It is just a shortcut for adding all your friends alts.
Your argument has more holes than Swiss cheese, and I haven't even scratched the surface. Ibtl, cool story bro. This entire argument is old news anway.
Post by
91278
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
seebs
Idiots like you make me want to truck over small kittens.
Glad to see you upholding WoW's fine traditions of courtesy.
1. RealID is optional. It does not affect you in any way. Your real name does not appear on the forums, and you do not have to use the forums, you can... Use sites like this.
Yes, it's optional, but I want to be able to use it.
2. If you have an ethnic name, why are you ashamed? Who cares? Blizzard can ban racists as well.
It's not a question of shame, but of the degree of violent bigotry found among WoW players. If your real name ends up getting leaked, it can create problems. Blizzard could in theory ban racists, but in practice they don't.
3. You argue you shouldn't have to make a 3 minuite application for a name change. Yet this is optional. And it takes 3 minuites.
Well, again:
I can't make such an application.
Blizzard wouldn't let me change my name, or my friend change his name. It's not allowed.
4. You argue the nickname. Who cares? The only place people will see your real name is in chat. They know who you are, they can call you something else.
But they can't prevent the game from calling me by a name I may not want to be called. I don't get to choose the name the game calls me.
5. RealID isn't so beneficial as to even be wanted. It is just a shortcut for adding all your friends alts.
Er, that's a huge deal. One of the things I found when I switched to a game that had this functionality is that it is
awesome
. Imagine logging in a new character and instantly having your whole friends list, without an addon. And imagine it automatically updating whenever any of your friends makes an alt. Oh, and being able to mail items cross-faction, cross-server, you name it, to your friends. (Admittedly, Real ID doesn't give you that, but it's still a cool feature.)
And yeah, I recognize that this is mostly a dead issue. The people to whom it was a big deal have mostly walked away completely. I still read forums occasionally, but I'm being reminded regularly of the downsides. :)
Post by
seebs
ITT: seebs revives months-old arguments because he's feeling lonely.
Mostly just because I was curious about Cataclysm stuff, and I thought it was weird how different patch notes are now that I'm not playing.
I do think it's interesting that the vast majority of the people arguing that this isn't a big deal base that on the claim that you can change your account name, when Blizzard says it's not permitted and they won't do it. I'm actually starting to be curious as to whether Blizzard's just been lying about that all along; it might be interesting to call and try to change the name on an account. But I suspect that, even if I get a recording of a Blizzard rep asserting that they absolutely don't allow account name changes, I'll still have people here insisting that I should call and change my account name. :)
Post by
224056
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
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