Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Blizzard Does Listen To You
Honestly, I'm pleasantly surprised: Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime just announced that Real ID will no longer be required to post on the SC2 and WoW forums. They are responding to (an unprecedented level of) player feedback and concerns and rescinding Tuesday's announcement. We can all breathe a sigh of relief: we get to continue using the forums without having to risk the dangers of exposing our real names.
I am both overjoyed and relieved. It took them longer than I'd like to figure it out and make a statement, but you have to give them credit for doing the right thing, listening to the players, and even having the Big Man himself sign the statement.
I'm still worried about privacy, and the direction of Real ID. I'm still worried that my game about killing internet dragons will be transmorphed into an intrusive social network. Hell, the fact remains that even if they went back on it, Blizzard still claimed Real ID was "only for people you know and trust" while planning to give out your real name to anyone with an internet connection if you used the forums.
But Blizzard deserves credit and some positive press. And I've re-preordered SC2 and will not be allowing my WoW account to lapse.
I am so glad that I no longer have to choose between my principles and my games. At least for now.
Thank you, Blizzard.
I am both overjoyed and relieved. It took them longer than I'd like to figure it out and make a statement, but you have to give them credit for doing the right thing, listening to the players, and even having the Big Man himself sign the statement.
I'm still worried about privacy, and the direction of Real ID. I'm still worried that my game about killing internet dragons will be transmorphed into an intrusive social network. Hell, the fact remains that even if they went back on it, Blizzard still claimed Real ID was "only for people you know and trust" while planning to give out your real name to anyone with an internet connection if you used the forums.
But Blizzard deserves credit and some positive press. And I've re-preordered SC2 and will not be allowing my WoW account to lapse.
I am so glad that I no longer have to choose between my principles and my games. At least for now.
Thank you, Blizzard.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Who is Activision/Blizzard's Customer Base
Traditionally, the customer for a video game company (publisher or developer) has always been the gamer. Or, to avoid categorization, anyone who purchases a game to play it. As a moneymaking venture, gaming companies focused on eliciting as many purchases as possible. This motivated the developers to provide games and features that the most gaming customers would be interested in paying for.
Ask the average person on the street, and it's likely they think of television the same way: that the customer of the television industry is the viewer. You would think, then, that this would motivate television companies to make decisions in the interest of the viewer, because their primary goal would be to make the viewer happy.
And yet, Firefly gets canceled, great shows get underpromoted into obscurity, and we're inundated with reality shows that everyone claims to hate yet everyone seems to watch. [I believe they watch mostly because they want to watch TV and that's what happens to be on, and because it's something they can talk to coworkers and strangers about as a shared point of experience, much like sports; but the reasoning doesn't really matter to the point I'm trying to make here]
So why doesn't television cater to the audience in the way you'd predict if the viewers were the network's customers?
Because the television network's customer is not the viewer. The network's customer is the advertiser.
NBC is not in the business of providing television programming to viewers. It is in the business of providing eyes to advertisers. Every decision is not made based on providing quality programming in a way viewers want to see it. Decisions are instead made based on the most cost-effective ways to get advertisers to pay top-dollar for ad space. That just so happens to lead to television striving to attract viewers, which often leads to the network acting in the viewers' interest; but such actions are coincidental. They are simply a side effect of serving advertisers.
There's no need to demonize the networks over this, but it's important to be aware of it so we have realistic expectations. Television networks do not consider you to be a customer, so don't be surprised when they routinely act in ways that seem unfathomable to you as a viewer. If they lose 10% of viewers over intrusive product placements or longer commercial breaks, they'll do it if it increases the other ad revenue by 11%. They'd never do it if viewers were the customers.
So what does this have to do with video games, and Activision/Blizzard's expansion of Real ID? I'm glad you asked.
Actiblizz's recent actions seem unfathomable. They are going against the wishes of the vast majority of their players. They are startlingly unresponsive to criticism from the customerbase on the Battle.net and Real ID issues. They are taking actions that are clearly contrary to the best interests of their players, and are going out of their way to avoid explaining them (except through the ocassional half-truth like "cleaning the forums"). People are canceling WoW accounts and SC2 preorders left and right over something that seems so easily avoidable or fixable. Don't they care about losing so many customers?
You have probably guessed where I'm going with this by now: we, the players, are no longer the World of Warcraft's customerbase. Advertisers are.
It's pretty clear from this interview and other statements about Real ID about how they "have been planning this change for a very long time" that Real ID is the lynchpin in an effort to leverage an untapped asset that Actiblizz has more of than any other company out there except Facebook: our personal information.
Facebook makes its revenue from advertisers by using our personal information to help them target us more accurately, and by using our social connections to lubricate the spread of marketing messages. Activision has done the math, looked at their potential to help advertisers target 12 million people, and decided that, come hell or high water, the potential loss in subscription revenue will be dwarfed by the potential gain in ad revenue along with the other benefits to emulating the Facebook business model with a near-captive mob of players to be tapped.
Blizzard once had a reputation for making games for the players. They were known for scrapping sub-par products rather than releasing them for a quick buck. They were known for being more player-friendly than any gaming company outside of Valve. But to Actiblizz, we are no longer the customer. We are an asset to be monetized . . . stock in a warehouse . . . entries in a quarterly earnings spreadsheet. We are now Actiblizzard's product, to be sold to advertisers for more than our subscription is worth. This is, ironically, our reward for making the game so popular.
Actiblizzard has signed a contract with Facebook. They are committed to this course of action, no matter what we say. And no matter how many of us quit, it's most likely going to be a profitable move for them.
From this point forward, Blizzard's reputation is done. We can stop expecting them to treat us like customers. Advertisers are their primary customers now.
I wonder if Actiblizzard treats them as well as the old, dead Blizzard used to treat us?
Ask the average person on the street, and it's likely they think of television the same way: that the customer of the television industry is the viewer. You would think, then, that this would motivate television companies to make decisions in the interest of the viewer, because their primary goal would be to make the viewer happy.
And yet, Firefly gets canceled, great shows get underpromoted into obscurity, and we're inundated with reality shows that everyone claims to hate yet everyone seems to watch. [I believe they watch mostly because they want to watch TV and that's what happens to be on, and because it's something they can talk to coworkers and strangers about as a shared point of experience, much like sports; but the reasoning doesn't really matter to the point I'm trying to make here]
So why doesn't television cater to the audience in the way you'd predict if the viewers were the network's customers?
Because the television network's customer is not the viewer. The network's customer is the advertiser.
NBC is not in the business of providing television programming to viewers. It is in the business of providing eyes to advertisers. Every decision is not made based on providing quality programming in a way viewers want to see it. Decisions are instead made based on the most cost-effective ways to get advertisers to pay top-dollar for ad space. That just so happens to lead to television striving to attract viewers, which often leads to the network acting in the viewers' interest; but such actions are coincidental. They are simply a side effect of serving advertisers.
There's no need to demonize the networks over this, but it's important to be aware of it so we have realistic expectations. Television networks do not consider you to be a customer, so don't be surprised when they routinely act in ways that seem unfathomable to you as a viewer. If they lose 10% of viewers over intrusive product placements or longer commercial breaks, they'll do it if it increases the other ad revenue by 11%. They'd never do it if viewers were the customers.
So what does this have to do with video games, and Activision/Blizzard's expansion of Real ID? I'm glad you asked.
Actiblizz's recent actions seem unfathomable. They are going against the wishes of the vast majority of their players. They are startlingly unresponsive to criticism from the customerbase on the Battle.net and Real ID issues. They are taking actions that are clearly contrary to the best interests of their players, and are going out of their way to avoid explaining them (except through the ocassional half-truth like "cleaning the forums"). People are canceling WoW accounts and SC2 preorders left and right over something that seems so easily avoidable or fixable. Don't they care about losing so many customers?
You have probably guessed where I'm going with this by now: we, the players, are no longer the World of Warcraft's customerbase. Advertisers are.
It's pretty clear from this interview and other statements about Real ID about how they "have been planning this change for a very long time" that Real ID is the lynchpin in an effort to leverage an untapped asset that Actiblizz has more of than any other company out there except Facebook: our personal information.
Facebook makes its revenue from advertisers by using our personal information to help them target us more accurately, and by using our social connections to lubricate the spread of marketing messages. Activision has done the math, looked at their potential to help advertisers target 12 million people, and decided that, come hell or high water, the potential loss in subscription revenue will be dwarfed by the potential gain in ad revenue along with the other benefits to emulating the Facebook business model with a near-captive mob of players to be tapped.
Blizzard once had a reputation for making games for the players. They were known for scrapping sub-par products rather than releasing them for a quick buck. They were known for being more player-friendly than any gaming company outside of Valve. But to Actiblizz, we are no longer the customer. We are an asset to be monetized . . . stock in a warehouse . . . entries in a quarterly earnings spreadsheet. We are now Actiblizzard's product, to be sold to advertisers for more than our subscription is worth. This is, ironically, our reward for making the game so popular.
Actiblizzard has signed a contract with Facebook. They are committed to this course of action, no matter what we say. And no matter how many of us quit, it's most likely going to be a profitable move for them.
From this point forward, Blizzard's reputation is done. We can stop expecting them to treat us like customers. Advertisers are their primary customers now.
I wonder if Actiblizzard treats them as well as the old, dead Blizzard used to treat us?
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Real names on the WoW forums.
I cannot comment on this right now because I feel too betrayed and angry to be rational. Just thought you might like to know that anyone who wants to keep their real name private can't use any Blizzard forum anymore, including WoW and SC2 forums.
http://bit.ly/9ZfjeD
Fuck you, Blizzard.
UPDATE: some comments added. This is what I posted in the thread under one of my alts (gotta savor the anonymity while I have it):
This is a terrible idea, Blizzard. I know that you're going to go through with it no matter what we say, but hey, I gotta try. I love this game and I had a lot of respect and loyalty to your company, and that is all gone now with the advent of Real ID and it's expansion to other parts of the WoW experience. How long until giving out my personal information is no longer optional for simply playing the game?
You say that you're trying to improve the level of discourse on the forums. Do you realize that what you are doing is driving out every intelligent adult?
Any grown-up with a career outside the games industry? No longer posting on the forums, because it will hurt their career for their boss and peers to know they play WoW. Gaming is not understood by the masses, especially the career-minded.
Anyone mature enough to have a healthy sense of how to protect themselves online? No longer posting on your forums.
Any female who has ever been stalked (ie almost every female)? No longer posting on the forums.
Any female who has ever been ignored or disrespected simply for being female, but found herself finally treated as an equal in WoW because her gender was hidden? No longer posting on the forums.
What's left? Teenage boys who don't have enough career aspirations to want to keep their gaming a secret. The dumbest, most immature, most dead-end teenage boys.
That's the forum culture you are building. Good job thinking that one through.
UPDATE 2: You can post a complaint to the ESRB here:
https://www.esrb.org/about/contact.jsp
I'm all for parents supervising the gaming activities of their children. It is in no way the game company's responsibility to protect children. BUT the ESRB has taken that goal upon themselves to help inform parents. And a "TEEN" rating is not high enough when the game is giving out your personal information on the net. No minor, including 17 year olds, should be allowed to purchase this game without the presence of a responsible adult who is well-informed about the parental controls available to them. No minor should be able to choose to give out their personal information this way.
Here is the content of my complaint to the ESRB (limited to 500 characters, excuse the grammar):
Filing a formal complaint about Blizzard's announcement today that their forums will display your real first and last name.
It poses a security and privacy risk, especially for minors. Please raise the rating for all Blizzard games to at least what you would give Grand Theft Auto (preferably Adults Only).
Giving out personal information is more dangerous today than letting a child see the content in GTA.
The move also shows a startling disregard for privacy that you should keep an eye on.
http://bit.ly/9ZfjeD
Fuck you, Blizzard.
UPDATE: some comments added. This is what I posted in the thread under one of my alts (gotta savor the anonymity while I have it):
This is a terrible idea, Blizzard. I know that you're going to go through with it no matter what we say, but hey, I gotta try. I love this game and I had a lot of respect and loyalty to your company, and that is all gone now with the advent of Real ID and it's expansion to other parts of the WoW experience. How long until giving out my personal information is no longer optional for simply playing the game?
You say that you're trying to improve the level of discourse on the forums. Do you realize that what you are doing is driving out every intelligent adult?
Any grown-up with a career outside the games industry? No longer posting on the forums, because it will hurt their career for their boss and peers to know they play WoW. Gaming is not understood by the masses, especially the career-minded.
Anyone mature enough to have a healthy sense of how to protect themselves online? No longer posting on your forums.
Any female who has ever been stalked (ie almost every female)? No longer posting on the forums.
Any female who has ever been ignored or disrespected simply for being female, but found herself finally treated as an equal in WoW because her gender was hidden? No longer posting on the forums.
What's left? Teenage boys who don't have enough career aspirations to want to keep their gaming a secret. The dumbest, most immature, most dead-end teenage boys.
That's the forum culture you are building. Good job thinking that one through.
UPDATE 2: You can post a complaint to the ESRB here:
https://www.esrb.org/about/contact.jsp
I'm all for parents supervising the gaming activities of their children. It is in no way the game company's responsibility to protect children. BUT the ESRB has taken that goal upon themselves to help inform parents. And a "TEEN" rating is not high enough when the game is giving out your personal information on the net. No minor, including 17 year olds, should be allowed to purchase this game without the presence of a responsible adult who is well-informed about the parental controls available to them. No minor should be able to choose to give out their personal information this way.
Here is the content of my complaint to the ESRB (limited to 500 characters, excuse the grammar):
Filing a formal complaint about Blizzard's announcement today that their forums will display your real first and last name.
It poses a security and privacy risk, especially for minors. Please raise the rating for all Blizzard games to at least what you would give Grand Theft Auto (preferably Adults Only).
Giving out personal information is more dangerous today than letting a child see the content in GTA.
The move also shows a startling disregard for privacy that you should keep an eye on.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Cataclysm Talent Tree "Bloat"
Blizzard's stated goal in revamping the talent trees for Cataclysm and adding the Mastery aspect has been to remove a lot of the "required" talents from the trees and leave players with some options for utility talents. They know they can't eliminate "cookie cutter" specs, but what they want is for those specs to include the sentence "spend the last 5-10 points anywhere you want".
So far, they are failing.
So far, they are failing.
Monday, June 28, 2010
APB Review
If you are an MMO gamer, don't be fooled by the persistence of the world in Realtime World's new online GTA-clone All Points Bulletin (APB). It's not for you. I'd argue that it's not even an MMO. It's a shooter with driving and great customization options that just so happens to take place in a single persistent world instead of the usual structure of separate servers for each match.
The core gameplay consists of receiving a mission that gives you an objective and some opponents and sets you loose in the city. Each mission is more like a miniature Warsong Gulch match than a warcraft-style "quest" - though sometimes you will be Fed Ex-ing an item from one place to another - sometimes in an actual delivery truck, even. Nonetheless, such quest-like mechanics end up bearing more resemblance to capture-the-flag than deliver-the-parcel.
If you can accept the analogy: APB is like Halo or Call of Duty if you got to hang out in the map between matches instead of going to a "find a match" menu. Except it plays exactly like Grand Theft Auto, with very basic first-person shooting and challenging and sometimes wonky driving.
Interview Reveals that RealID is a Scam
Can't believe it took me nearly 2 months for me to come across this interview. In USA Today!
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gamehunters/post/2010/05/blizzard-and-facebooks-friendly-social-networking-deal-launches-with-starcraft-ii-/1
Holy crap. Blizzard's plans for Real ID are beyond what I even imagined.
So back at Blizzcon, Blizz announced that they were going to be using Battle.net to add cross game/faction/server communication. This sounded great. It would let me ask a friend logged into WoW if they wanted to come play some Starcraft . . . in the form of a whisper to their character! Yay!
Oh wait. Now it turns out that they weren't adding cross game/server chat as a benefit to the players. It's simply bait to create their own social network to get a piece of the Facebook revenue pie.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gamehunters/post/2010/05/blizzard-and-facebooks-friendly-social-networking-deal-launches-with-starcraft-ii-/1
Holy crap. Blizzard's plans for Real ID are beyond what I even imagined.
So back at Blizzcon, Blizz announced that they were going to be using Battle.net to add cross game/faction/server communication. This sounded great. It would let me ask a friend logged into WoW if they wanted to come play some Starcraft . . . in the form of a whisper to their character! Yay!
Oh wait. Now it turns out that they weren't adding cross game/server chat as a benefit to the players. It's simply bait to create their own social network to get a piece of the Facebook revenue pie.
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