Miss Medicina posted about 3.3.5 and Real ID stuff today.
I am someone who is very, very protective of her real life identity and would like to thank Miss Medicina for reminding me to let you all know that I do not plan on sharing my Real ID info with ANYONE I don’t actually know in real life. And even then, I’m not sure everyone I know will get my info. Not only do I like my privacy, but I don’t really like the idea of some people seeing me online on ALL of my toons at any given point.
There are three or so ways to get a hold of me if you really need to reach me: email, commenting here and twitter, in order of likelihood of my seeing stuff.
Having said THAT, be sure to check out the Battle Net page about Real ID. There’s going to be a lot of misinformation going on and it’s important that you educate yourself about what Real ID friending someone means and does not mean.
PS: Ruby Sanctum is patched into the game but will remain INACCESSIBLE, people. We’ve got at least another week’s wait on that since they want to make sure this launch goes relatively smoothly on US servers before they patch Real ID into the European servers. And THEN we get to play with the scary dragon.
The RealID thing kinda squicks me in some ways, because I first signed up when I was going by my birth name, which is not a name I really want to identify with anymore, but I can’t find a way to change the name on the account. Not to mention that sometimes I log onto characters no one knows about to have a little privacy.
On the other hand, I can already list off the people who will be getting my RealID, and there’s only two of them right now. There’s two or three more that I MIGHT if they want to swap, but they’re going to have to ask first, and all but one of them are RL friends in addition to WoW friends.
Personally, I’m not too bothered by the whole thing. The people I will add are people I’m already comfortable enough with knowing my name, email address, hell, a few people I’ll be adding know where I LIVE.
‘Course, the difference is, I know these people. And I think that’s why they explicitly say it’s a tool for friends, family, and co-workers. They don’t mean some guy you PUG’d with during last night’s raid, they mean people who know each other outside of WoW who may not play on the same server (and the like, obvs there are more situations than just that). To me, it just seems like a clear case of “fine for people with common sense, a potential issue for idiots.”
That being said, I expect you’ll be ignoring my request, Kurn, since I’ll inevitably be all “ZOMG HAI KURN WHAT UP” while you’re trying to save Valithria or something. ;)
I suppose it may be worth mentioning that I have been doing something similar for a while now, by launching WoW through Steam. It’s not quite the same as the tool they’re using, but I’m already used to being able to chat with people regardless of what character we’re on and whatnot. That may be why I’m taking the addition in stride.
Apple – it squicks me a little. I wish the controls were a lot more refined. I’d love to let, say, People A, B, C and D see me when I’m on my hunter or any of my other toons except the paladin when I’m raiding. And I’d love to be able to log on invisibly if I just wanted to check the AH. If it were a little more like that (and if I could hide my real name) then I’d be more inclined to share that sort of thing. As it is, three people are getting my Real ID and one of them is my brother.
X – I won’t even get your request since I’m fairly sure you don’t have the appropriate email address. ;) I agree, btw, with regards to fine for common sense, problematic for morons. Or those who are having trouble understanding the intended use.
I’m almost tempted to give you the email address though, X, just because it would be HILARIOUS to get “ZOMG HAI KURN WHAT UP” while healing Valithria. hahaha!
I like the idea in general.
I DON’T like the fact that you can see the names of your friends’ friends, this bugs me. I honestly don’t like social networking crap (I use it as it’s the way my friends communicate).
However, I will still probably be using it. My friends that I play with are free to know all my characters, and when I’m playing (they all know where I live, and have my cell if need be).
I also kinda like the idea that I can now pester my RL friends who play on other servers.
Well, I know your new raid times… Maybe I’ll just roll an alt and do it anyway. :P