Blizzard to remove the veil of anonymity

Opt out of RealID like that... and you can't use the forums when they change, which means you can't get tech/issue support from Blizzard.

Yes, how dare companies make sure company time is spent on the company.

Jesus. This is the only opposition to RealID I find absolutely laughable. Concerns about security are one thing, but evading the consequences of goofing off is quite another.

I'm sure there will still be a way to utilize tech support, people with kids need more tech support than anyone!

"Junior just reset my password and my guild was raiding ICC tonight! What do I do???"



TL

Here's one scenario of how Real ID can now transfer in-game trolling to the real world, from a post that was subsequently deleted from the official WoW forums:
He elaborated on how this happened further down:
He's now having to use the Parental Control workaround to cloak his Real ID in game, but if that doesn't work, he should consider at the very least complaining to the ESRB, which certifies Blizzard's privacy policy.

It should probably be pointed out that there's almost certainly a bit of careful misdirection going on here. They state clearly that they can do whatever they want with your information, and then helpfully give examples that most people would find reasonable (giving it to authorities as part of a criminal investigation). However, they aren't offering as an example that they are also reserving the right to sell your information to anyone they choose.

Either an email system with a turn about of several weeks.

Or an expensive support line.

Your choices, let them give out your name to every nut job on the net, pay them for several weeks where you can't access your account, pay them while they keep you on hold for an hour or two.

Perhaps you dont really have a clue what it is to work at an office. There is no desk job that is hecktic enough to keep you working every minute of the day. There is a lot of iddle time across the month. A lot of salary workers are paid of the idea that they are expected to complete tasks when needed, not because they are expected to grind their butts.

Additionally, mental exhaustion has been found to be worse for an employee than physical exhaustion. It is expected for most of these employees to chill out a bit.

As one of the IT guys I can assure you: EVERYONE, WITHOUT EXCEPTION does this. The issue is, execs don't really think much along those lines. Companies have taken the policy to snoop around the web for your footsteps. Even if your manager is perfectly fine with you browsing the web 80% of the time (yes, there are positions that are so important that we pay them salary to be there 100% of the time, only so they are at hand when needed even if this is just 20% of the time.) Do you expect a full time receptionist to just sit there reading magazines all day long if there is no one to attend to? Our receptionists are idle about 90% of the time. We just need them there for that 10% of the time when some one calls in or a package arrives, or some one may show up for a meeting or interview.

It wont matter at the end how legitimate or even how manager approved the use of the internet at work is, though. I am still to see a single contract that does not clearly specify the use of any network resources for not business use to be strictly forbidden, and an employer will use this against you.

Many companies have actually gotten in trouble for this, at the lesser case they have been received public degradation, but the repercussions have not been drastic enough for them to stop doing it. Many execs think they are doing "the right thing."

Also keep in mind, not only is too much online activity linked to your name during work hours that can get you in trouble. Co-relating your name to company bashing of any kind can also get you into disciplinary action. This can be things as simple as you saying "i hate my job." (One of the queries that is specifically looked for, btw.)

I'll stop here though, because truth be told, if you honestly think the way you post, you have zero experience in a job that sets you in front of a computer for 8 hours nearly without any human interaction.

That is indeed an interesting story. Although to a point I can see the guy preventing that one, unless he was ignorant about the "friend of friend of friend being able to see your name" with the RealID feature. I know I didn't know that until yesterday either. Fortunately in game I just keep a real life friend hooked in RealID and he only has me in his list too.

If you turn on the parental controls, that account can not post on the forums.

NOTE: almost 45k responses on that one "official" thread on the WoW forums. Yikes.

I can't help but think.

Serves you ******* right.

Additionally, there's some evidence that the parental controls can be bypassed.

Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.

Oh, yeah, I'm WELL aware that the line basically means, we can do what we like with the info. I'm not suggesting for a second that any MMO company is completely foolproof from ever considering being unscrupulous with the data, either. My point was that this isn't just a Blizzard thing - the OP singled them out as having this inflammatory line in an EULA... while posting on the boards of a game they play, which has a very similar line in its own.

while in an ideal world an employees every waking moment would be dedicated to Mother Company, in the real world desk jobs come with a lot of down time. Most people I know do most of their internet stuff 'on the clock' so to speak.

as long as the job gets done, so what.

On the plus side they just saved you and me probably $40-$50.

Nor is there an excuse do stuff that you know will get you disciplined, tbh. Find another way to goof off.

And yes, I do have experience with this sort of thing. It's precisely why it annoys me seeing people like go on about it, because people like me ending picking through the ******* slack.

You never have five minutes of downtime? Interesting.

You never spend an extra couple of minutes at the coffee pot or water cooler? Amazing.

And you never, ever spend a couple of minutes with personal emails at work? Stupendous.

You never sneak a peek at the news while at work? Spectacular.

You are either singleminded and amazingly dedicated to your job, or so inefficient that you cannot complete all of your tasks within your working hours.

I'm sure that there are some people who use their time unwisely at work and cruise the internet instead of working, but to claim that no one ever has any downtime is facile.

Says some one who's post history shows enough posts during weekdays, from 6 to 5, to get him in trouble with most companies that do these kind of scrubbing.

Even if you used Lunch Hour as an excuse (note: you have many posts spanning outside of any realistic "lunch hour") I highly doubt you are in the minority that lives close enough to work to go there for lunch, catch up with the forums and comes back to the office, therefore you are still using company resources to access the internet. I could be wrong, you could work extremely odd hours, but that would almost take you out of the entire "standard desk job" category I was talking about.

Heck, if these where Blizzard's RealID forums and I was a troll, and y ou happened to have a realistically easy to track name, I could end up sending your employer a list of all the posts you been making during work hours (you can be sure we can get that info to make a reliable report.) Only the most family-like workplaces would ignore such a report, if presented properly.

That brings to mind, if more companies follow suit I could make my own reporting startup company selling this information to employers! Hmmmm

Hmmm...

Should link up with my WoW anonymizing service... We'll keep you anonymous, unless your employer pays through the nose!

Nah, that's not ethical. So, therefore, you are my competition!

woah tiger, Rationally speaking, its very unlikely it was this guy's idea, giving out his name maybe was a bit of macho that turned bad for him(if he wasn't coerced by his superiors to "take one for the team", i can't say i would doubt a boss would do that) but this guy was not high up enough to have made this policy, and i reiterate that from my personal work experience, a decision this blindly asinine stinks of an executive. They maybe need a few extra pizzas, but I have sympathy for the poor working schlub who stuck his neck out. (though my insane conspiracy theorist mind wonders, what if he was actually against the changeand wanted to illustrate how bad an idea this was, he may have forgotten his mother was vulnerable, but was willing to take the hit to show his bosses how badly and quickly things could go horribly wrong. maybe he is a hero )

for clarity, sword 2 is granado espada, they are kind of re-releasing it. didnt care much for it myself, but its not horrid, and the art is amazing, id love for Cheryl, jay, and Dave to raid their costumes ruthlessly, thats our victorian booster right there. but a few of us were suggesting this. Could even make it funny put it like "at paragon studios, we will keep your information VERY secure, and then do a big pic of lord recluse, noble savage and WAR Witch standing facing out to the reader looking menacing, as if guarding the player's id's. It is comic booky, both plays up the lack of blizzards folly and emphasizes our characters.

EDIT: ok, we could still use this. there wills till be bad pr reverberations.

Opt out, receive no forums, receive no tech support, AND people ingame can still use a simple slash command to find your Real ID! Win win!... er.. wait... that's... omg, what were they thinking?