WoW players have my sympathies.

[logansrogue]

I know how it feels to be loyal to a company and a game brand and to have that game turned into something else entirely (Sims 2 => Sims 3). Thankfully, all my gaming experiences thus far have been "Buy a game, buy an extension pack, buy a few bits and bobs online" so it's not been something that's either drained my bank account nor been a huge emotional investment.

I can't imagine the hurt involved when you play such a social game as World of Warcraft, investing all that time and money to create characters, to explore a world, to work with other people to achieve things, and then have it all taken away because it's just not safe anymore.

The privilege flaunting in the whole RealID debacle is staggering, and that's why it's piqued my interest. It's yet another brick in the wall of denial that minorities face every day.

So to the WoW players on my list who might be reeling from this crap, my sympathies. I've been reading up on Activision and Bob Kotick make EA Games look like Glenda the Good Witch of the North. And considering EA Games decided to take the bulk of the game content in The Sims 3 and sell it per bundle on their EA Shop site, that's saying a lot.

Comments

[strangedave.livejournal.com]

Well, you can simply choose to never use the Real ID system. Tell no one you play the game with your email address, and refuse all Read ID connections, and it won't be used. . That still means you can't use the forums, but I never have anyway. So you can still choose to keep playing the game without worrying about your identity being broadcast.

But yes, the general cluelessness about privacy issues has been pretty staggering.

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

There's a security bug that means people can see your ID anyway, and the second you're hacked, you're screwed. There's a whole huge host of reasons why this can be dangerous for people, not just inconvenient.

Makes me glad I've never played WoW. (Though I loved the first non-online games).

[sakurakiss.livejournal.com]

They'll fix it...they have no choice. Enough people are hacked off about this that they're going to HAVE to figure out another way to work it...hopefully not before it's too late and someone does get hurt.

[im-an-aaangel.livejournal.com]

Yeah I'm hoping they don't do this.. female players already get shit from other people. Rape jokes/threats, people telling me to put down the mouse and pick up my barbies.. if those sort of people could really get my name and information I would not be happy.