RealID and Hacked Accounts

Okay, so this is not meant to be fear mongering, but rather to present a problem I just thought of with the new RealID system (as if there weren't enough problems already).

Here is the fictional scenario. I have a couple people I know really well and decide to trust them with my RealID info. Unfortunately I can't make them get an authenticator and they end up hacked. Two things can now happen that didn't happen before the RealID scenario. The hackers look through the RealID list on the hacked account to scout for accounts that are a better payoff (large number of geared 80s) and they can tell when people play so as to have a better chance of looting those accounts before someone notices. They also have the battle.net account name of such accounts which is one less bit of information to look for and allows them to scan databases of phishing sites for that email to see if any of those passwords match up.

Since RealID friends of friends can also see all this information, they could add friends to the hacked account so that those accounts have this information as well.

Thoughts?

- Souca -

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...eNo=2&sid=1#38

http://us.battle.net/realid/index.html

http://us.battle.net/realid/faq.html

Those links should answer just about anything you need to know about Real ID. Using Real ID is optional.

Q u o t e:
If someone gets hacked, the hacker gets their info and now the account login for all their friends too?

No they won't. Real ID friend emails are not something that can be gotten through the compromise of your account.

Cool, at least they didn't miss this one. Still have no intention of using it. Wow is not a social networking site and I don't want it to be. This part alone is the main reason I'll never do it:

Quote:

---

Real ID friends will be able to see all of each other’s characters across games; there will not be an option to hide specific characters from Real ID friends or to appear offline to them when you’re logged in.

---

I just don't like the all or nothing approach they have taken with this feature. The cross realm and cross game chatting is definitely a great plus (though I do wonder about how it works with cross faction chatting for Horde Spies!), but the combination of a real name and not being able to play without being visible just make it more invasive than the real world in some ways. While I try to avoid conspiracy theories, this does seem like something that was mandated by the Facebook deals than anything Blizzard thought their gamers would directly want. I don't think people would complain about a tier in the middle where you didn't have to show all your chars or give your real name to people, but I'm not in marketing or corporate strategy, so what would I know?

Oh, and on a side note, I can't post on the official forums about battle.net accepting my login and then not logging me in because I need to log in to battle.net to post on the forums... ;)

- Souca -

I understand and share some of your concerns. We may have to get in there and see how it's going to work. I plan on using it for certain people that still talk to on my old server,

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Svpernova09

I understand and share some of your concerns. We may have to get in there and see how it's going to work. I plan on using it for certain people that still talk to on my old server,

---

Yea. That's the harsh thing to me. I have friends on other servers I never see because I never know when they log on. Being able to chat with them would be a huge boon, but I'm not sure I fully understand the risks beyond the ones I've found on my own. It just seems like a Pandorica, that once opened can never be closed.

- Souca -

You can always un-friend them.

I really don't see any 'risks' other than 'omg stop talking to me already' or 'man, I don't want my boss/wife/raid leader to log on and see me hiding on an alt!'

Yes, you can unfriend them, but you can't get your real name back from their memory, them having a list of all your characters, or the battle.net account name. I'm not sure I want to give out one of those things, let alone all three of them. I don't pretend to have ultimate privacy, but I do try and control what information I give out willingly.

- Souca -

I am not sure I have close enough friends that I want them to know my name whole name. I would like more options. Allow fake name. Allow to put chars or games on DND/Ignore. Maybe I want to play SC2 and not have anyone bother me from WOW. Maybe I would make friends that would be annoying ("Hey, you are playing on your alt that are you having fun with, can you come play on your main that you are bored with and do stuff for me?") ("Hey, I know you are in the middle of a SC2 game that you can't stop, but I want you to sign in your WOW char to do a profession for me") ("Hey my friend that is mean saw your name on my friends list when I let him play as me and put your name on the forums to call you an idiot, is that okay?")

It just seems like it is close to being good, but needs more. It is like LFG chat channel. Sure it can work, but really does it work as good as LFD does now?

If they don't already know my email address and full name, then why would I add them as RealID friends in the first place? It would be nice to be able to chat cross-server/game with casual acquaintances I've met through WoW, but that's not what the system is designed for nor being marketed as.

Sure, I do wish it was more like a steam id that was just as anonymous as a wow character name, and I wish there was an invisible/offline mode. They've obviously made a design decision to make it something IRL friends are using and not game-only friends. Also makes people behave a lot better when they're no longer as anonymous as they once were ;).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kadaan

If they don't already know my email address and full name, then why would I add them as RealID friends in the first place? It would be nice to be able to chat cross-server/game with casual acquaintances I've met through WoW, but that's not what the system is designed for nor being marketed as.

Sure, I do wish it was more like a steam id that was just as anonymous as a wow character name, and I wish there was an invisible/offline mode. They've obviously made a design decision to make it something IRL friends are using and not game-only friends. Also makes people behave a lot better when they're no longer as anonymous as they once were ;).

---

I agree with not having a problem with people I know already having this information, but it also shares with people they know. Do you know all your friends friends? You may trust me, but do you trust all the same people I trust? From everything they have said, my friends get to see your real name too. And if you trust them to have that info, wouldn't they be on your friends list anyway? Why do we need that second level of separation?

Basically by making someone a RealID friend, you are giving them the right to decide who can see your real name.

- Souca -