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The end of internet anonymity in MMO's

Fredy Olafson said:
i just hope somebody from US sues that company so bad so they don't recover to quickly , since for sure they have servers in US .
and here a quote about this kind of situation *anonymous free speech*



http://www.eff.org/issues/anonymity
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I played that game until this announcement came out, closed my account that very evening. The way they are getting around any "first amendment" issues is by saying that the forums are "purely optional". That is to say that you don't have to use them and if you choose to you then have to "agree" to using your real name.

The funny part about the "optional" statement is if you have a problem ingame, the GMs will tell you to "post it on the forums". Kind of looks like a way to lessen their workload.

So now it will be:
GM:"post that issue on forums"
Player:"can't you fix it, I don't want to use the forums and post my real name"
GM:"sorry, no, that is (the companies) official policy, you have to post the issue on the forums"
Player:"well thanks anyway, if I post about this sexual harassment issue on the official forums, then the harasser with know my real name. So why would I want to do that?"
GM:"I hear you, I don't post anymore either, but that is (the companies) policy, sorry I can't help you"
Player:"well I guess I need to decide to put up with the harassment, pay money to transfer to another server, away from my friends, or quit the game"


When the post about this came out, the forum post had, by the end of that evening over 800 pages of predominately negative responses, except for the trolls that caused all this in the first place. By the end of the second day, there were 1800 pages.

This "new rule" is part of a deal that (if I understood the post correctly) is due to a deal with Facebook (not sure if I was allowed to type that or not). Apparently they are somehow linking the official forums together with Facebook.
 
Profit said:
Paranoia.
No trouble can come from someone knowing your name, unless you're in the business of causing trouble, or you're hiding from someone.
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say that signed with your real name, or its just hollow text.
 
If it wasn't for all the d**heads out there, this wouldn't be necessary in the first place. I agree it is shitty people now loose their incognito - then again, it's also shitty that people troll, make fake accounts (or new accounts when being banned in new names), harrash other people etc. behind a forumname because they can't do it face to face.

Personally I don't care - I have nothing to hide and always used my real name as I also revealed my real look.

I do understand why some are paranoid, but I also do understand why a company / forum might have chosen this, if they kept having problems.

And with all the scamming going on in the world, I predict this is only the beginning ...
 
Lykke said:
If it wasn't for all the d**heads out there, this wouldn't be necessary in the first place. I agree it is shitty people now loose their incognito - then again, it's also shitty that people troll, make fake accounts (or new accounts when being banned in new names), harrash other people etc. behind a forumname because they can't do it face to face.

Personally I don't care - I have nothing to hide and always used my real name as I also revealed my real look.

I do understand why some are paranoid, but I also do understand why a company / forum might have chosen this, if they kept having problems.

And with all the scamming going on in the world, I predict this is only the beginning ...
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It's not that hard to get fake IDs (if you know the right people), how would this be any different?
 
TheVoid said:
It's not that hard to get fake IDs (if you know the right people), how would this be any different?
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Dunno, really, i'm quite sure some people will find the need to get around the rules. If you sign up for a forum you have to agree to the rules though, also that you used your RL name in this case. If you do, and you use a fake name, the company/forum can 'come after you' if they find out. If it's not stated in the rules, they can't do anything. If they are suspecious because of some kind of unwanted behaviour, and they have your IP adress (and on top of this ban proxys etc.) there are ways to find out who the owner of the ip is. It is then also possible to check, wether the name is correct or not.

Might be babbling though .. not really into all this shti lol :lolup:;)
 
Lykke said:
Dunno, really, i'm quite sure some people will find the need to get around the rules. If you sign up for a forum you have to agree to the rules though, also that you used your RL name in this case. If you do, and you use a fake name, the company/forum can 'come after you' if they find out. If it's not stated in the rules, they can't do anything. If they are suspecious because of some kind of unwanted behaviour, and they have your IP adress (and on top of this ban proxys etc.) there are ways to find out who the owner of the ip is. It is then also possible to check, wether the name is correct or not.

Might be babbling though .. not really into all this shti lol :lolup:;)
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it's kind of tricky but yes, ISP have a list of all IPs/Users, so if a forum owner says, this ip bla bla bla at this time they can check who it was.

also, IPs ranges are assigned to countries/companies, so for those who know them it's not very hand to find an IP owner
 
Lykke said:
Personally I don't care - I have nothing to hide and always used my real name as I also revealed my real look.

I do understand why some are paranoid, but I also do understand why a company / forum might have chosen this, if they kept having problems.
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Saying that you have nothing to hide is you lying to yourself. Yes you might think you dont have anything to hide but actually you do hide things, and you do it every day without really paying attention to it.

it's been proven that ppl start to selfcensor themselves when they get monitored and so on. A good example would be germany where they have implemented the eu datarecording act. People are now less likely to go the the shrink etc or to call the hospital, shrink etc etc due to this being monitored.

let's just make an example. Lets say you have a slight psycological problem, in reality it's no real problem for you to function or work etcm but it's a bit annoying and make you do wierd things some times or such, and you have some questions about this. if you had to make a post in your real name on a forum to ask this question do you think you would be more likely to ask it if you had to write in your full name or under a pseudonym?

I can almost guarantee most ppl wouldnt ask the question but instead be quiet about it.
 
some just don't get it . bad words on a forum online don't kill , but real life meetings with owners of virtual characters from the game you like might not be very peaceful .
i am gonna give a quote from an article about MMO and IRL violence :
http://www.brighthub.com/video-games/mmo/articles/28809.aspx?p=3

Most of the cases of real life violence which have been linked to games are clearly motivated by classic human behaviours rather than the act of playing the game itself. The student stabbing his friend after an argument was clearly highly strung to say the least but the incident only has the most tenuous link to gaming. The clan warfare is classic tribalism - humans behave differently in groups and the psychology of mob behaviour is well documented. The kids trying to fund their addiction through murder happened to need the money for online gaming. If they had needed it for drugs we might never even have heard about the story.

The sword theft murder is a much more potentially thorny issue. The rise of virtual crime, particularly in Asia, is well documented. If people are going to put real money values on virtual items and property then theft will have a real world impact. If crimes go unpunished this is an obvious potential cause of real life violence and so we are starting to see virtual crimes resulting in real world punishment. The amount of money being thrown around in MMO games is on the increase, check out our Most Expensive Items Ever Sold in an MMO for examples.

Read more:http://www.brighthub.com/video-games/mmo/articles/28809.aspx?p=3#ixzz0tBYe4m5t
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for the sake of polite speaking are you going to take risks that violent actions like the ones described in the quoted article, to happen at a larger scale ? what if somebody does some unpopular actions ingame , but still within game rules and upset some angry people and the last pay the "trouble maker " a IRL visit ?
how many of you weren't tempted to kick ass IRL of those who looted you in PVP 4 , if you had more info about the pker ?
same goes with other games .
 
TheVoid said:
it's kind of tricky but yes, ISP have a list of all IPs/Users, so if a forum owner says, this ip bla bla bla at this time they can check who it was.

also, IPs ranges are assigned to countries/companies, so for those who know them it's not very hand to find an IP owner
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hehe i think most isp's in sweden no longer keeps those records :D
 
Legion said:
hehe i think most isp's in sweden no longer keeps those records :D
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I find that hard to believe, internet crime would be way too easy without those
 
Why would anybody in their right mind want to divulge personal information on unsecured sites such as forums is beyond me. I would close down my account straight away if that were the case or not register in the first place. I prefer to keep my gaming life away from RL. It is for this reason I don't bother with social network sites why would you want your personal life open for every one to see?

Yes I do realise you can mark your personal area as private but even so it won't stop your name coming up in a search.

Long live alter egos :yay:

Hawk:wtg:
 
Why would anybody in their right mind want to divulge personal information on unsecured sites such as forums is beyond me.
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Why does anyone release personal info anywhere? They do it all the time. Just about every time you go to see a Dr. over here nowadays, they even copy your drivers license. Working for a hospital, I have to say I hate this because I know the level of idiocy that I see in some co-workers, especially the ones that are just here a little while with a temp agency... It would not surprise me at all if there isn't tons of this info being sold on black market...

At restaurants, who knows if that little teeny bopper waiting on you isn't writing down your cc number when they take it to the cash register.

People complain about internet privacy, but then go and hand their rights to privacy away daily to hundreds of thousands of everyday people working in various industries... where the real identity theft actually starts...
 
TheVoid said:
I find that hard to believe, internet crime would be way too easy without those
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It's true and yes that is the only thing the new ipred law in sweden has done, made it harder for the police. Due to that isp's dont want to hand out info to a private part ie ipfi etc they no longer keep the info as it breaks the users privacy rights, this makes it on the other hand harder for the police.
 
Ah Legion, you're right, that there are things i might not want to write in public, but my name is not one of them :)

... I still remember when Kimmi publiced his phone number with big letters in some post years back :laugh::laugh: ... perhaps in the hope that someone would actually use it :D - he removed it again tho ...


(sorry Kimmi, it was just funny)
 
Lykke said:
Ah Legion, you're right, that there are things i might not want to write in public, but my name is not one of them :)

... I still remember when Kimmi publiced his phone number with big letters in some post years back :laugh::laugh: ... perhaps in the hope that someone would actually use it :D - he removed it again tho ...


(sorry Kimmi, it was just funny)
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well true, but there is the crux if you have to make a post with your irl name. it links any post you do to your name. if you could be anonymous you could still post it :)
 
this doesn't really make any sense

suppose my name is John Doe, and it's very common. if there are 50 John Does in the forum how can we tell who is who?

John Doe 1
John Doe 2
...



-Wow John Doe 40 is a great guy!!!
*What, wasn't that the dude that STOLE your uber weapon?
-No, it turn out to be John Doe 41
:confused:
 
Just an update...

They Pulled back the demand!

Can we get some coffee now? :lolup:
 
It was never going to work anyway, was only a matter of time before they would've retracted those requirements in their forums.
 
Whilst it never hurts to be careful about what you reveal, I always find it funny that many people paraniod about revealing basic personal information via the Internet have probably given information over the phone or through snail mail without a second thought to whom might be in ear shot or see it.
 
Mandy said:
Whilst it never hurts to be careful about what you reveal, I always find it funny that many people paraniod about revealing basic personal information via the Internet have probably given information over the phone or through snail mail without a second thought to whom might be in ear shot or see it.
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On the internet thousands of ppl can get the info, via snailmail or phone it's only a few ppl who get the info most likely.
 
Legion said:
On the internet thousands of ppl can get the info, via snailmail or phone it's only a few ppl who get the info most likely.
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Exactly..

Reminds me how a DB of a hosting company where i had a small website was hacked. Since then my email which i used to register there was flooded with spam, eventually i terminated that account.
 
GeorgeSkywalker said:
That other game has a lot of teenagers.
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Yes and they implement the RL names because they acts as ... teenagers. :laugh:

-rep for that Company's behavioural employee. :wtg:
 
Lykke said:
Ah Legion, you're right, that there are things i might not want to write in public, but my name is not one of them :)

... I still remember when Kimmi publiced his phone number with big letters in some post years back :laugh::laugh: ... perhaps in the hope that someone would actually use it :D - he removed it again tho ...


(sorry Kimmi, it was just funny)
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kimmi still has that info posted as his sig give him a call im sure he wouldnt mind a chat.
 
I guess I come to this post with no concerns about anonimity however what I do report is the use of information for gain whether political or malintent.

Given that the Nazi's would have had less chance in the domination of many European countries during the 2nd world war, if it were not for records of identities kept extensively by countries they overthrew.

Now in this day and age yes it is not hard to locate and Who-is IP and name attached, however the filter being the ISP (given the country it is in) is a limiting point to a minor extent.

I get the sense of struggling to sustain some form of anonimity in an IT world which really does not allow this, given history I remain wary of the possibilities.

Keep ya nose clean is my motto;)
 
Legion said:
On the internet thousands of ppl can get the info, via snailmail or phone it's only a few ppl who get the info most likely.
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You seem to have missed that I said basic personal info on the Internet.

The info that people regularly give over the phone or send via snail mail is far more revealing and personal, by a huge factor.

And if you think that it's only a few people who can access or obtain personal info sent via snail mail, and I'm not just talking about underhand or illegal means, you are very much mistaken.


Moonbiter said:
Exactly..

Reminds me how a DB of a hosting company where i had a small website was hacked. Since then my email which i used to register there was flooded with spam, eventually i terminated that account.
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And when you give personal details over the phone or via snail mail, what do you think the receiving company generally does with this info? ;)

Too often people only seem concerned about the obvious, and that's what I'm getting at when I say that I find it funny how some people don't give a second thought to the phone or snail mail.

They are so overly defensive with the most basic of info, which they have control of, they fail to see that the info they don't have control of means there are more holes in their defence than a fisherman's net. :D
 
I searched online for my real name and found posts I'd made in a programmers news group over 15 years ago while at Uni :eek:

One of the many reasons I use fake names when signing upto forums ;)
 
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