Blizzard's "Real ID" system

[Kane Knight]

I don't really have a dog in this fight, since I'm not going to be playing these games any time soon. It does seem a bit extreme, though.

Good idea? Bad idea? Somewhere in the middle? My vote's on the latter, but I figured this might spark something.

World of Warcraft maker limiting forum posting, cross-game chat, other Battle.net features to those who sign up using their real names; user outcry thread tops 30,000 posts.

Full Article (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6268568.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=newstop&tag=newstop%3Btitle%3B9)

[Nark Order]

I don't really mind it all too much. Using your real identity doesn't bother me. I don't really know why it's necessary but it may help for security reasons also. WoW has the most stolen accounts out of any game I've ever played.

[thedamndest]

Going by what I have read on reddit 99.9999% of the players think it's a terrible idea. The biggest reason I've come across is the assumption that everyone playing WoW is a crazy stalker and if you piss them off they will be at your door in the next few days. If not your door then someone with your same name in a Terminator fashion.

I don't see that being realistic at all because a cross country trip would mean being away from WoW for more than eight hours. I think there could be a legitimate worry that it could lead to some trolling, but it really comes back to what you have out there on the internet to begin with.

I don't see the need for a change though. If I played WoW I would rather play with somebody named Azguard Lightbringer than Barry Goldstein.

[Nark Order]

I do think that the Battle.net ID system was partly a good move though for Blizzard. Instead of having to have a separate ID for every game, you can now contact your friends if they're playing any blizzard game. I think one of the biggest non-advertised reasons for the change though is now it's much harder to sell and trade WoW accounts, which was a big problem for Blizzard for quite awhile. Now if you want to do so, you have to basically trade or sell away something that is laced with traces of your identity. Also, if you give away your battle.net account, playing other Blizz games online will be a huge pain in the ass, as you'd have to register another battle.net account.

There's something convenient for users, but there's also more security from Blizz.

[thedamndest]

Is there any way to just make up a fake name? Like can I claim I am Dustin Dunbar? I really don't know all the details except what has been bitched about on reddit.

[Nark Order]

It's pretty hard because I think they require it to be the same name on your credit card, unless you call them and sort it out. Not sure of the full details though.

[Hanso Amore]

I doubt that, becausse then teens names will be their moms names.

[Gray]

This change has been reverted anyway due to the strong criticsm of it.

I'd like to take some time to speak with all of you regarding our desire to make the Blizzard forums a better place for players to discuss our games. We've been constantly monitoring the feedback you've given us, as well as internally discussing your concerns about the use of real names on our forums. As a result of those discussions, we've decided at this time that real names will not be required for posting on official Blizzard forums.

It's important to note that we still remain committed to improving our forums. Our efforts are driven 100% by the desire to find ways to make our community areas more welcoming for players and encourage more constructive conversations about our games. We will still move forward with new forum features such as the ability to rate posts up or down, post highlighting based on rating, improved search functionality, and more. However, when we launch the new StarCraft II forums that include these new features, you will be posting by your StarCraft II Battle.net character name + character code, not your real name. The upgraded World of Warcraft forums with these new features will launch close to the release of Cataclysm, and also will not require your real name.

I want to make sure it's clear that our plans for the forums are completely separate from our plans for the optional in-game Real ID system now live with World of Warcraft and launching soon with StarCraft II. We believe that the powerful communications functionality enabled by Real ID, such as cross-game and cross-realm chat, make Battle.net a great place for players to stay connected to real-life friends and family while playing Blizzard games. And of course, you'll still be able to keep your relationships at the anonymous, character level if you so choose when you communicate with other players in game. Over time, we will continue to evolve Real ID on Battle.net to add new and exciting functionality within our games for players who decide to use the feature.

In closing, I want to point out that our connection with our community has always been and will always be extremely important to us. We strongly believe that Every Voice Matters (http://eu.blizzard.com/en-gb/company/about/mission.html), and we feel fortunate to have a community that cares so passionately about our games. We will always appreciate the feedback and support of our players, which has been a key to Blizzard's success from the beginning.

Mike Morhaime
CEO & Cofounder
Blizzard Entertainment

[Requiem]

Terrible idea. The fact that World of Warcraft is widely known for its HORRIBLE community should instantly give someone worry about their personal information being on display. I have seen some extreme privacy invasion first-hand in far less popular MMOs. I wouldn't dare imagine what happens when any one of a couple million rejects I piss off in a game can find out real details about me.

[LoDownM]

In game it's great, can talk to friends who play on different servers and/or are playing starcraft 2. On the forums it's a retarded idea.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

There's an article in USAToday announcing a deal for links between battle.net and Facebook.

We know what this is really about. Marketing monies.

[Kane Knight]

Is there any way to just make up a fake name? Like can I claim I am Dustin Dunbar? I really don't know all the details except what has been bitched about on reddit.

That was my thought. Some user services I literally give my real name as "Zachary Amaranth," even though it's not.

Also, I'm perpetually tempted to use Squeegee Beckenheim.

People make up names and addresses for online services all the time. The question, I suppose, is how actively this will be dealt with, what proof is needed, etc.

[Kane Knight]

It's pretty hard because I think they require it to be the same name on your credit card, unless you call them and sort it out. Not sure of the full details though.

Which would be great, except you can buy subscription cards online and in stores, and unless they would change things for this, don't mandate an active credit card.

[Xero]

http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/928830626_5PypJ-L.jpg

[Gonzo]

It's pretty hard because I think they require it to be the same name on your credit card, unless you call them and sort it out. Not sure of the full details though.

I'm not sure but that may only apply to WoW. The other Blizzard games don't require a subscription service. I don't remember if you have to put any credit card info in if you're not playing WoW. I'm leaning towards no, but I can't remember. So, you may be able to sign up for a Battle.net account without a credit card, and in turn may be able to make one with a fake name. Then, if you used subscription cards, as KK suggested, you may never need a credit card.

[LoDownM]

I don't think that matters at all with the names on the credit card, my friend pays for his account and his girlfriends with no problem at all.

[Kane Knight]

I don't think that matters at all with the names on the credit card, my friend pays for his account and his girlfriends with no problem at all.

We're talking about RealID, though, where he would have to post on theforums and use certain features udner her name as well.

If they used the credit card to authenticate names, which is specifically what we were addressing. Personally, I don't think they would do this or even want to do this, as it would exclude a lot of their business (those subscription cards alone are worth a shitload of their business).

[LoDownM]

We're talking about RealID, though, where he would have to post on theforums and use certain features udner her name as well.

If they used the credit card to authenticate names, which is specifically what we were addressing. Personally, I don't think they would do this or even want to do this, as it would exclude a lot of their business (those subscription cards alone are worth a shitload of their business).

I was trying to say that. If they were going to do that, they would've done it when they initially released RealID a few weeks ago for WoW and SC2. In closing, credit cards mean nothing to Blizzard after they've got their 15 bucks for the month.

[Kane Knight]

Yeah, pretty much. It's probably more worth their while to not require a credit card.

[Gonzo]

I for one am glad they at least linked all their games to a battle.net account. I bought an authenticator because I had my WoW account stolen for the second time about 8 months ago or whatever. I only play SC2 and WC3 now, but I think they should sell an authenticator with all subscription based games.

[Kane Knight]

What's an authenticator and while are they selling it instead of, you know, including it free?

[Xero]

The Authenticator is a piece of hardware that generates a random string to access your WoW account instead of (or possibly in addition to - never had one) your password. It's not software (though they do have an iPhone version I think) because it makes it uncrackable, or so they say.

I've heard it's supposed to come with Cataclysm.

[Gonzo]

What's an authenticator and while are they selling it instead of, you know, including it free?

The Authenticator is a piece of hardware that generates a random string to access your WoW account instead of (or possibly in addition to - never had one) your password. It's not software (though they do have an iPhone version I think) because it makes it uncrackable, or so they say.

Xero has it. It's like $7 and if you link it to your b.net account you have to put in the code that it generates in addition to your password. I have the physical authenticator, which, so long as I have it in my possession, I can't imagine anyone would be able to crack it. The way accounts get stolen are key loggers, so if you link an authenticator, the user/pass is useless without it.

I really think something like this should be standard with any subscription service game. It wasn't expensive so I was willing to buy it, but it is nice added security. I've had my WoW account stolen twice. The first time I didn't care because I hadn't played in a long time. The second time, I had only been inactive for a month or so. My characters were stripped, and generally they can retrieve your items by going back to an existing date and generating whatever items you had. I couldn't get my items back the second time, but with the new badge system in WoW it only took me two weeks or so of grinding out dungeons to be competitive again.

[El Fangel]

I have gotten nothing bud fake emails in the past 2 weeks, requiring me to sign in, change account info, asking for my payment info, character transfers for characters that are not mine, etc.

Ignored them all.

[Gonzo]

Yeah that's another popular method to steal accounts. I assume it takes you to a fake page where after you input your info, the thieves have access to your account and can change it so you can't login.

When my account was stolen the second time, someone took my account and linked it to another b.net account. I had to call Blizzard and supply them with information so that they could link my WoW account to my b.net account.

Stolen accounts pretty much fund the gold trade where people buy in game gold with real money. It's bullshit, but it's not surprising stuff like this exists. I imagine it exists in all subscription games in some aspect or another.

[Nark Order]

Gonzo, didn't peg you for a WoW player. It's cool though, lots of people around my area say the same about me and I'm a monster WoWhead (or was). Haven't played in a couple months but I have 3 80s.

[Requiem]

FYI, the authenticator has been cracked. Blizzard will not admit it, because obviously that would mean they screwed up and people would stop buying the authenticators, but there have been a decent amount of people over the past year or so to come out saying their account was hacked even with an authenticator.

[Gonzo]

FYI, the authenticator has been cracked. Blizzard will not admit it, because obviously that would mean they screwed up and people would stop buying the authenticators, but there have been a decent amount of people over the past year or so to come out saying their account was hacked even with an authenticator.

Do you have any links to any stories? I don't doubt it, I'd just be interested to read more into it.

It doesn't shock me at all that the authenticators could be cracked. Let's face it, there will always be a way to crack accounts. I'm not worried about getting cracked anymore because I don't play WoW, but if my account were stolen I would still be pissed. You can recover your account and stuff by calling Blizzard, but hypothetically, if you couldn't, you would lose any games on there because the cd keys would effectively be stolen too.

[LoDownM]

There was a big scare awhile back because some .dll interfered with the communication between you and the authentication server and got the numbers from your authenticator. But I think blizzard has fixed it on their end since then.

[Gray]

Yeah i believe it was referred to a "man in the middle" attack, i can't remember the exact details but when you pressed the button on your Authenticator, it sent the code out but it gets "intercepted" by the hacker, who then sends you a false keycode back. This gives them about 10 seconds to enter the correct code and access your account.

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/698627-Authenticator-Accounts-Hacked-ICC-Quests-Crimson-Deathcharger/

Just one headline about the attack from MMO-C.

[Requiem]

Most of my stories related to that are forum posts that I have read first-hand from people who have provided some pretty compelling evidence that lead me to believe them when they say it wasn't their fault. (People are pretty skeptical about it in general, especially when Blizzard insists it is foolproof.)

[Gray]

While this shitstorm was brewing last week with the Real ID/Name system on the WoW forums, some posters recommended that they email the ESRB to complain about this.

While i don't know entirely about the ESRB, i believe they do some sort of rating for content and the like. While its all calmed down now, its been found out that ESRB did a major leak of everyones email address who sent them an email to complain about their privacy being jeopardised.

http://www.threadmeters.com/slteqz/ESRB_Responds_to_Privacy_Concern_with_Leak/

:lol: