Blizzard RealID and Steam: Why we cant "trust"

[evrett37]

The makers of the MMO World of Warcraft are changing their forums to have the real first and last name of the poster displayed. Many players are upset at this, particularly those who fear being googled and harassed or molested IRL. Blizzard claims RealID is a tool to manage forums better, however it has its origins in social marketing. Social marketing that works under the same theory as Steam - helping you, whether you want it or not, be more a part of the online community. The idea is to co-mingle the gaming account with facebook and other things outside the game (like targeted ads) and make sure your "friends" can call contact you outside the game. To create social pressure preventing you from moving on to another product. Social networks function better the more information is shared so the companies have every incentive to prevent people from opting out. And there have already been cases where "glitches" reveal the true info of opted out people. Its already revealing your true name on the in-game "friends" lists. Ironically I use the friends list to track people I want to avoid so now I have all their real life names.

There was a brain drain in the software industry. People who were previously designing dot coms and excel spreadsheets are now in the entertainment business. They are trying to justify their jobs by selling gaming companies on the incredible marketing power of social networks. Gaming companies dont want you to buy someone elses game. They want you to stay loyal to their brand. Enter steam. Its the same reason box stores sell memberships and grocery stores have club cards - to make you feel a part of something that you wont walk away from. Humans are social animals and even if intellectually you dont care, instinctively you dont want to walk away from your "pack" at the Safeway club or whatever.

Blizzard RealID is a perfect example of why we must be strong and insist the games we buy are just games, not marketing tools. There are people trying to justify their income by preying on you, the customer. Anytime we fail to hold the line, someone somewhere will try and sell the idea of crossing that comfort zone to a company. The soft threat is that you are being tracked for targeted marketing. But it is no longer tinfoil hattery to say that registering on Steam could someday lead to nutjobs tracking you down cause Valve sold your user or just released it in a change of policy.

 

[StStutter]

The risk of nutjobs tracking you down from Steam are I believe much less likely than the risk of you running into nutjobs on the street. So yes, in a globalised world, there are more nutjobs who could track you down, but there are also billions more people to be tracked down. And on top of this, Steam has many security features which decrease these odds even further.

 

[LaRate]

Some of these developments are quite scary. The major problem is that if you have a quite unique name (not John Smith or Juan Carlos) it is easy to cumulate data from different sources if they happen to be accessible publicly in the web. Just posting into a WoW forum might cost you a job maybe because you are not hired for being an assumed WoW addict or maybe your boss finds out about you posting there during office hours...

I'm not afraid of nutjobs tracking me down and knocking on my door, I am much more afraid of nutjobs stealing my idendity for some internet shopping or for some messing around with people I know. And I do not trust any security measures of a proprietary, closed-source system. The news are full of security breaches in major corporations (here in germany, customer data of the leading phone company was leaked - including personal and bank account data).

As I don't assume a complot of the game industry to make us their willing consumption zombies, I certainly am more and more concerned what amount of data about me is available on servers connected to the internet, just one glitch away from people that might use them against me - be it for their own gain, because they don't like me or just for the kicks.

 

[StStutter]

Damn I just noticed who I replied to. I swore not to ever climb the highest mountain because of the numerous trolls along the way

 

[StStutter]

Some of these developments are quite scary. The major problem is that if you have a quite unique name (not John Smith or Juan Carlos) it is easy to cumulate data from different sources if they happen to be accessible publicly in the web. Just posting into a WoW forum might cost you a job maybe because you are not hired for being an assumed WoW addict or maybe your boss finds out about you posting there during office hours...

I'm not afraid of nutjobs tracking me down and knocking on my door, I am much more afraid of nutjobs stealing my idendity for some internet shopping or for some messing around with people I know. And I do not trust any security measures of a proprietary, closed-source system. The news are full of security breaches in major corporations (here in germany, customer data of the leading phone company was leaked - including personal and bank account data).

As I don't assume a complot of the game industry to make us their willing consumption zombies, I certainly am more and more concerned what amount of data about me is available on servers connected to the internet, just one glitch away from people that might use them against me - be it for their own gain, because they don't like me or just for the kicks.

This is a reasonable worry. Unfortunately, this only means that you have to watch what you do on the internet the same way you watch what you do IRL. You probably shouldn't be posting on WoW forums during work anyways, so you're gonna have to take that risk that your boss finds out.

No more giving away credit card numbers to random strangers or sketchy street sellers or their internet equivalents.

This will however also mean that major internet corporations will begin to act more like regular ones with regards to personal information, security etc.

As you mentioned with the phone company in Germany, Steam and other virtual retailers are not the only ones at risk of leaking your information. So this leaves you with two options: stay off the grid by not using anything digital or electronic or take that small risk that your information is leaked. Steam doesn't change this.

Edit: Also, with the number of people on these websites you are no more at risk of having your identity etc stolen as you are of having your house robbed, and with the use of common sense about what you post around you can greatly reduce this.

 

[onedreamer]

Anytime we fail to hold the line, someone somewhere will try and sell the idea of crossing that comfort zone to a company. The soft threat is that you are being tracked for targeted marketing.

You wrote a good analysis yet you seemingly hope that the majority of the gaming industry customers care about privacy? I'm afraid it's the other way around. The new generation doesn't give a damn about privacy and actually longs for everything you are afraid of. They sign up on facebook and other social networks writing everything (true, not fake as we used to do) about themselves, they take pics of them half naked and share them with people that are unknown even "digitally", they "make friends" with unknown people. These are our teenagers, and they are currently a big slice of the games market, plus the biggest slice of this market for the future, so I am really afraid that your shouldn't hold your breath hoping to hold the line against the changes you are witnessing. Not saying that I don't dislike them as much as you do or that I wouldn't want to hold that line (I doubt I will buy a game from Steam, anyways, even if it's Civ), I'm just being a little bit more realist.

 

[Johnny Be]

This kind of thing always sounds like mass hysteria to me.

I don't have any problems in having the public details of my life shown. If they are private I simply don't post them/ give them/ upload them, no matter what... the same thing I do I real the world!

The funny thing is, I would bet, that most people who are against these measures also have public profiles with lots of personal information... like facebook, linkdn, picasa, etc...

 

[civ_king]

The makers of the MMO World of Warcraft are changing their forums to have the real first and last name of the poster displayed. Many players are upset at this, particularly those who fear being googled and harassed or molested IRL. Blizzard claims RealID is a tool to manage forums better, however it has its origins in social marketing. Social marketing that works under the same theory as Steam - helping you, whether you want it or not, be more a part of the online community. The idea is to co-mingle the gaming account with facebook and other things outside the game (like targeted ads) and make sure your "friends" can call contact you outside the game. To create social pressure preventing you from moving on to another product. Social networks function better the more information is shared so the companies have every incentive to prevent people from opting out. And there have already been cases where "glitches" reveal the true info of opted out people. Its already revealing your true name on the in-game "friends" lists. Ironically I use the friends list to track people I want to avoid so now I have all their real life names.

There was a brain drain in the software industry. People who were previously designing dot coms and excel spreadsheets are now in the entertainment business. They are trying to justify their jobs by selling gaming companies on the incredible marketing power of social networks. Gaming companies dont want you to buy someone elses game. They want you to stay loyal to their brand. Enter steam. Its the same reason box stores sell memberships and grocery stores have club cards - to make you feel a part of something that you wont walk away from. Humans are social animals and even if intellectually you dont care, instinctively you dont want to walk away from your "pack" at the Safeway club or whatever.

Blizzard RealID is a perfect example of why we must be strong and insist the games we buy are just games, not marketing tools. There are people trying to justify their income by preying on you, the customer. Anytime we fail to hold the line, someone somewhere will try and sell the idea of crossing that comfort zone to a company. The soft threat is that you are being tracked for targeted marketing. But it is no longer tinfoil hattery to say that registering on Steam could someday lead to nutjobs tracking you down cause Valve sold your user or just released it in a change of policy.

Relatively good analysis, but it could use a bit more tact, unfortunately if you are on the internet anywhere it can happen

 

[Senethro]

You wrote a good analysis yet you seemingly hope that the majority of the gaming industry customers care about privacy? I'm afraid it's the other way around. The new generation doesn't give a damn about privacy and actually longs for everything you are afraid of. They sign up on facebook and other social networks writing everything (true, not fake as we used to do) about themselves, they take pics of them half naked and share them with people that are unknown even "digitally", they "make friends" with unknown people. These are our teenagers, and they are currently a big slice of the games market, plus the biggest slice of this market for the future, so I am really afraid that your shouldn't hold your breath hoping to hold the line against the changes you are witnessing. Not saying that I don't dislike them as much as you do or that I wouldn't want to hold that line (I doubt I will buy a game from Steam, anyways, even if it's Civ), I'm just being a little bit more realist.

Are you thinking of the children? This guy is.

 

[LaRate]

As you mentioned with the phone company in Germany, Steam and other virtual retailers are not the only ones at risk of leaking your information. So this leaves you with two options: stay off the grid by not using anything digital or electronic or take that small risk that your information is leaked. Steam doesn't change this.

No of course Steam doesn't change the essential problem, however, that small risk as you put it becomes perpetually larger with every company you give your information to.

And having real names to associate them with publicly available information is a potential way for making yourself vulnerable to spoofs and social engineering.

I agree that it is your own responsibility to be sensible about your private information in the Web. But just one minor slip might be irreversibly connected to your name - persisted through Google, webarchive etc.

I know what I'm talking about: My full name is unique on the web. I just happened to type a test phrase into a little organizing tool once that synchronized with an online account. What I didn't know at the time though - the account was tethered with an online profile which is publicly accessible. Now, about a year later, I can still find that (rather embarrassing) text snippet when I google my name, although I erased the account only hours after it was online. My only luck is that I have about 10 pages of results and this one is on page 9 or something like that.

 

[TheDS]

I don't sign up for grocery spam cards or shop at places that offer them, simply because when they introduce the card, they raise their prices to make it look like you're getting a discount. And USUALLY the stores that don't waste resources on them offer the same products for less than the card-based price. So what's the point, except to advertise to you? You're paying for additional advertising to reach you, not for discounts.

Having learned about some of the tricks of social engineering and advertising, I can tell you OP isn't far wrong on his description of what's happening.

 

[Commander Bello]

It is not only this.

To my big surprise, I was able to find my address in a foreign country where I was living more than 20 years ago.
The more information you disclose, the more information can be found. And sometimes more information can be found even without your notice or your agreement.

And all the guys who now are saying they don't care will be quite surprised if eventually their employment application get's denied just because they are (or were) part of an obscure internet "community" which may not suit to the company's image.

Honestly, who would expect an employer caring for reliability and confidentiality to hire someone who can be found at Facebook, MySpace or Steam, boasting with biiiiig "friends lists"?

 

[Johnny Be]

Are you thinking of the children? This guy is.

I trust my children to have intelligence and common sense... that was what I taught them and I'm sure will be their best tool for life.

Things are rarely inherently good or bad, you just have to see what is acceptable to you or not. You almost always have a choice.

Sometime you have to fall and face some problems to learn a valuable lesson. And you have to accept your mistakes as your own instead of hiding behind masks that allow you to be irresponsible.

On the other hand I might just be an "old fart" with old ideas.

 

[StStutter]

I trust my children to have intelligence and common sense... that was what I taught them and I'm sure will be their best tool for life.

Things are rarely inherently good or bad, you just have to see what is acceptable to you or not. You almost always have a choice.

Sometime you have to fall and face some problems to learn a valuable lesson. And you have to accept your mistakes as your own instead of hiding behind masks that allow you to be irresponsible.

On the other hand I might just be an "old fart" with old ideas.

This is one of the best, most sensible posts I have ever read on the internet. I agree with you 100%. Thank you for wording my thoughts better than I could.

 

[BobDole]

I don't think the RealID thing and Steam are the same thing really. First off, I'll state that I'm a huge fan of all Blizzard games, and I'll definitely be getting SC2, but the RealID thing in general is BS (especially for the forums) and should be dealt away with ASAP (or at the very least, made optional).

With that being said, Steam isn't doing that right now, and so I don't think it's fair to say "protest almost everything about Steam and its integration into Civ5 because they have the potential to do this". If they did end up doing something like it and made real first and last names show up on friends list or in matchmaking or whatever, I would stop using it immediately. But Steam is much different than the RealID (which really does feel like marketing BS with all the Facebook tie-ins, Steam you could argue has this with the store but it's more of a separate entity from the other stuff).

 

[Greybriar]

Battle.net Real ID is what it's called. There is an article about it at GameRiot and some concerns are expressed here. Then, of course, there is the official thread about it at the WoW forums which at this time is 539 pages long.

If anyone values their privacy, they shouldn't post on the World of Warcraft forums after this change goes into effect.

 

[ori]

Moderator Action: since there is actual discussion going on, that is however unrelated to Civ5: moved to Computer Talk. For the Civ5 forums I'd recommend everyone to read the Notice Board.

 

[warpus]

I predict a mass exodus of users away from the WoW/blizzard forums to someplace else.

Also, you might find this video to be relevant:

Spoiler a couple bad words in there i think :

Link to video.

 

[Heretic_Cata]

Moderator Action: Warned for language in image.
Please read the forum rules: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422889

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Why not just put in a fake last name? For a while I put in Wilbury in the last name field everywhere (I like the Traveling Wilburys). Sometimes I just put in my last initial.