WoW Petopia Community

Aye they can ruin lives those guys can

Not surprising, considering the sheer volume of opposition and bad press about this whole thing. I mean, the BBC and other major news stations covered the issue. I know of several folks on the wow_ladies community who cancelled their accounts over it, and I'm sure they weren't alone. Based on that kind of pressure, Blizzard would be hard-pressed NOT to back off for the time being.

That said, maybe this will give them time to rethink the whole concept. Perhaps they can come up with something safer?

Tygamoon wrote:Well if I were the other Micah Whipple I would be steamed over this whole thing. His privacy was compromised over something he might not even be associated with. Yes I believe it was a publicity stunt on the part of Blizz. I'm happy they posted they will not be using real names but am also very suspicious of this whole pathetic thing. I may continue playing after all but sure as that I'll be much more proactive when it comes to these sorts of things. /lesson learned

yep.

I really feel bad for Micah. The whole thing was not his idea or his fault, as far as I know. Seems like he's just the scapegoat.

Keep in mind that he threw himself out there. He made himself a scapegoat.

I feel bad for the other Micah.

I'm very glad they've changed their minds, this whole thing had been frustrating. I can handle change but I play games for the fantasy element, to have fun and take a break from the world for a while, I don't need any portion of my "real life" dragged into it. I can't help but expect them to throw some other privacy compromising changes our way soon as they've muddled up my opinion of them. :\

I was very, very happy to read this. I do think the speculation about it having been a big publicity stunt from the get-go sounds more realistic than I like, and I wouldn't put it past the Activision crowd to think it'd be a good idea... The timing though, right as people are getting bored with the end-game and Cata-impatient... It's very convenient. I guarantee many people that were starting to drift to other activities during hours they'd normally spend on WoW are now thinking "now that THAT's over, I can get back to the game I love."

On wow_ladies, the moderators created a master post to celebrate this, and they said:

This may not really be over, y'all. This whole fiasco shows that Blizzard took the loyalty of its users for granted, and that they do not share our valuation of privacy and personal security. I don't want to dim our celebration here - because this is a real victory, and should go untarnished - but I think this has come as a sharp wakeup call for many of us, and it is imperative that we not go back to sleep on this issue, and do not let them try to pull a stunt like this again. This community - both wow_ladies and the gaming community as a whole - just proved it has a shocking capability to mobilize, which is a fabulous resource. I hope we won't have to use it again.

That's pretty much how I feel right now. Like I said elsewhere, I wasn't ready to throw in the towel and quit the game, but by the same token, I'm not ready to believe we're out of the woods with this whole thing... *shrug* I dunno, I guess I'll just see what time brings.

On the other hand, I'm so very, very, very relieved we can go back to being excited about the Cata beta information.

the timing and wording are just to off for me.i wont be coming back just yet.maybe not ever.i feel bad for all the pizza places that got pulled into this mess as well.thats alot of wasted gas,food,and money...

Guildie posted this...

Noor wrote:

Guildie posted this...

That's brilliant! xD

Yes, its a victory, but yes, I agree it doesn't feel right. They said 'at this time', not 'we'll never do it'.

They know that if they do implement such things, subscribers will walk to another MMO and not look back.

Yes, its a victory, but yes, I agree it doesn't feel right. They said 'at this time', not 'we'll never do it'.

With ya there...I wonder, if they do this with or just after Cata, when everyone is so busy/excited over new content....

or they might just not do it, it may never happen so don't get to worryed just yet. Time will tell.

From Teigan's guild's forum

http://esc-hatch.blogspot.com/2010/07/w ... tomer.html

This explains a lot.

Thats still not going to make me stop playing wow lol

i read this today, thought i would share it with yall. made me laugh.

As of 9 July 2010, due to an incredible amount of negative press (including this very article) and outcry within the gaming community, Blizzard has canceled the plans to require Real ID in order to post on the forums. The overwhelming numbers of trolls will continue to clog up the official forums, facing no opposition and no real threat of punishment. Micah Whipple valiantly sacrificed himself to allow this grand tradition to continue unabated.
Mike Morhaime (co-founder and CEO of Blizzard Entertainment) had recently gotten married and was on his honeymoon during the entire debacle. It is rumored that he returned from his honeymoon and furiously devoured Robert Kotick whole.

On his honeymoon?! OMG I would castrate somebody with wet sinew if I came back from my honeymoon to that lol