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Blizzard Made Me Change My Name
First of all, the reason that my account is in violation is that my name contains a title prefix. It took dozens of inquiries to get that explained. 'Cmdr' is the problem. I'm told that since the game has an internal honor system with titles, my name is not allowed. Never mind the fact that 'Cmdr' is not one of their titles. Never mind that countless other titles abound in the game: Mr, Sir, Sensei. Am I in violation of their policy? Probably. Is the policy stupid, meaningless, or inconsistent? I think so, but that's not really why I'm writing this.
I've been using 'CmdrTaco' online for around a decade now. It predates the existence of this website. It has followed me from game to game, both local, networked, and massive. My only problem with it is that as Slashdot grew in popularity, I started finding places where an impostor has taken it. I was excited when I was able to get it in Warcraft. It's like a warm blanket. It's stupid I know, but it's mine.
But Blizzard chose to take it from me. Now let me be clear: this is certainly their right: They own the dice and the board and the rulebooks, and I only play in their world. But If the US Government told me to change my name... let's say Congress passed a law making it illegal to have a first name that is a verb (Don't laugh, the White House cease and desisted The Onion!) Well I guess 'Rob' would have to go. My friends would still recognize me: I'd still have the same face, address, and social security number. I'd just have a cool new name like "Captain Fantastic Malda". With a name like that, the auto mechanics would never try to rip me off!
In this virtual world, two levels gives me a couple new pieces of armor, and suddenly I am unrecognizable to anyone who may have run an instance with me. In guild chat, I am a total stranger to people I may have chatted with for months. My history with other players has been erased. It almost makes me wish that I spent my first 45 levels ninja looting!
It's not like Blizzard decided to change gameplay dynamics. I spend a lot of time working on the Slashdot moderation system, and I never have any problem changing any "Rule" in the system if I believe it will improve the overall functionality of the whole system. If blizzard wants to make my mace have 5 less DPS and 3 less stamina because it's unbalanced, well I can accept that. Balancing gameplay is really hard. But in a massive multiplayer game, your name is different- that isn't about balance, it's about identity.
A friend of mine actually quit Everquest over a forced name change. His name was Marilyn Hanson and while fighting something he was disconnected without warning. When he returned, his name had been changed to a randomly generated one. When he asked GM, he was told that he could not have celebrity name. When my friend asked who Marilyn Hanson was, the GM could not answer, but instead just said arguing wouldn't matter. My friend quit EQ that day.
I don't think I'll quit WoW over this, but I will take away some lessons. The GM I talked to had a nickname of something like Lathanian. I found this disconcerting. If you were arrested by Officer Snuggles or found guilty by the honorable Judge Lawtron, it's hard to take that seriously. In this case 'Punishment' is being dealt. A real human is wearing a shroud of anonymity and handing out the bitchslap to a total stranger. That really makes the whole experience even more dehumanizing. In a massive virtual world, we're still people.
You don't see names and faces, which is why you'll see a 60 corpse camp a 30. When you don't see the real person on the other side, the tendency is just to forget. You expect it from opposing factions- but it feels different when it's the GM. Personally this is something I struggle with in my work too. You deal with a hundred support requests and it starts becoming abstract. Unreal. Virtual. I doubt it's much different if you work at the support counter at a retail store, but I think it's easier to forget when the only communication is chat.
Second, the GMs at blizzard really have no power. I asked for contact information. For email information. For names. For an appeal. To talk to a supervisor. And the best they would give me was the generic help phone line or a mailing address. Like with a stamp! I was told that almost every question I asked was unanswerable in game. I gave an email address but they never emailed. They wouldn't even tell me what was wrong with my nickname until after a half dozen inquiries of why. You have really no recourse against a GM. That scares me.
Lastly, I didn't really realize that I was so attached to my nickname. It's not because I'm "Famous"- We have a lot of readers, but these days very few actually know who I am. And of those, the percentage of people who play warcraft, and are alliance, and on azgalor... well it is very tiny. As CmdrTaco I probably had a total of 5 people actually recognize my nickname (and nobody ever gave me gold because they read Slashdot!). As Violated, nobody ever will recognize me for my day job. But that's really not what bugs me. I was really attached to my name. This character bounded through Azgalor slaying monsters and meeting new people. Now that character is erased and another character stands in its place. Same armor. Same class. But different somehow. I like my nickname. I wish I had it on every system I used. I'm annoyed that someone else registered my nickname on gmail before I could. It's always the first name I try when a system asks me to create an account. I feel strangely possessive about it. I doubt I'm alone in being attached to a pseudonym. And I feel kind of stupid admitting it.
Anyway, I've said my piece on the subject. And just to be clear, I'm not really mad at Blizzard. I think what they did was needless and inconvenient, but not evil. Their policy may be silly, but I still was in violation of it, so I guess I got what I deserved. But I wonder about others. And not just in Warcraft, on any online forum. I wonder about our attachment to virtual names. And if nothing less, it will make me take changes in Slashdot a little more seriously next time.
And you were. So shut the hell up.
If you post it, they will read.
This was well thought out and written. Fuck you. Youre posting on HIS SITE telling him to grow up....
"where words meet intent, lies rhetoric's lament"
Did he post this whole thing just so he could prove to the other kids playing some RPG that Violated was infact CmdrTaco?
I've appealed several people's names in games before. I'm sorry, but "BigDickLoveYouLongTime" isn't appropriate. Now, I understand that you sexually frustrated teenagers need some way to express your induviduality, but come on.
e UpWithThisLongAssPieceOfShit"? It suits you.
You wanna be CmdrTaco? Go play the Matrix MMORPG, where you can play with the "PoontangGalore"s of the gaming world.
Or how about you change your name to "ImTooMuchOfAnAttentionWhoreToUseMyRealNameSoICam
Grats on rewriting exactly what he stated in the original piece and getting modded up for it. You are a true master of repetition. I'm guessing as a child you excelled at following your big sister around and repeating everything she said verbatim to annoy her.
- Toby
Quit your bitching and change the name. Just because your CmdrTaco here doesn't mean you can be CmdrTaco everywhere. What a useless article to match a useless site.
Oh, you fucker. I just hit "Submit" on an identical joke. Grrrrrrr.
Taco gets his panties in a wad because he got kicked!!! LOL!!!
OMFG the irony!!! Lameness filter encountered!!! LOL!!!
News fleash: Popular web site owner uses site to trash another company when he couldn't get his way! Waaaaaaaaa!
How is it an abuse of power? Is there some law written somewhere that you cannot say WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU WANT on an Website you yourself created?
Mac OS X and Windows XP working side by side to fight back the night.
Oooooh I lost karma. I meant to AC this comment but whatever. That wasnt flamebait, IT WAS A FUCKING FLAME. I ate that guy's bait. If you're some cocky asshole who thinks anyone playing or talking about an MMORPG is not "grown up," then DONT READ THE GODDAMN STORY. It was obvious from the headline what the topic is.
Mod me down sure this is flamewar crap, but so is the GP I replied to in the first place. Insightful? WTF?
"where words meet intent, lies rhetoric's lament"
Yes, except I don't see hundreds of duplicate accounts, and they actually follow their policy and do their jobs over there.
I'm so glad I didn't renew my subscription to this place - and I have no qualms over blocking your ads when the money obviously doesn't go toward improving the content, like this LiveJournal entry masquerading as "news".
Why is Taco spending so much time in Ass Galore?
Cynicism is the natural defence of the romantic.
...and do think, during the height of the dot-com madness, someone paid the Cmdr and his petty friends MILLIONS of dollars for this crap. He's ranting like a 2 year-old who's been given a "time out". This isn't news for nerds. I suggest he see a therapist and figure out why these make-believe play-prentend worlds are so important to him.
Best Buy can have you arrested
Yes but it's still a childish rant (ab)using his position on Slashdot. Get a blog loser and don't bore the rest of us with your childish rant about how you're not allowed to break the rules everyone else conforms to. Wah! Wah! Fucking cry baby.
Bad analogies are like waxing a monkey with a rainbow.
The real irony is that they ban you from using a "military title", but are fine with you playing an "ass galore paladin"...
Lemon curry???
Given your reasoning, CmdrTaco should STFU.
It's Blizzard's servers, they make the rules. They could shut the servers down, tell everyone to go home.
Why would Blizzard be smart to apologize? They didn't do anything wrong, and it's quite a pedestal your placing Taco on to think Blizzard would suddenly care about his blog entry over on Slashdot. This place is a niche community.
"Sufferin' succotash."
RAmen! Taco has been touched (bitch-slapped, rather) by His Noodly Appendage!
This is clearly an abuse of power as slashdot moderator - nobody gives a fig that your screen name on some stupid game was taken away from you. You have a tiny little brain if you think you can keep that dumb name for ever and ever on every game, site, forum, ... This is not of any interest to slashdot readers - it'e like the name you like to use to sign up somewhere has been taken! Oooohhhhhh! Let me cry my heart out in front of a million people. Grow up and get over it 'Commander'. Next thing we know you're going to complain on slashdot that somebody refused to serve you fries since your face is ugly. Snap out of it and get back to your job as moderator.
Ahh get your toungues out of Tacos ass you pussies. Sticking your neck out just because he's Taco, despite the immature and assinine post, just proves that without balls, you clearly won't be making any additons to the gene pool.
Sure this is his blog, but it is still a childish rant about rules he doesn't want to follow. Now once you're finished jacking it gay porn, please flame me.
Begin....
Gee, I don't remember asking for your opinion. But since you're likely a delusional, self-superior nerd who thinks that people care about what you have to say, I guess that would explain why you replied.
I wish your mom could be modded to +10.
So, are you hurrying to slobber over Taco's "coin purse" in the vain, vain hope that he'll un-$rtbl you, or what?
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
Just because you are an administrator on /., it doesn't mean that you have a right to post stuff that is not newsworthy.
I don't play games, so maybe I got this wrong, but those are some really studid rules! Especially no. 1: so even Michael Jordan would have his WoW name changed if he used his own. WTF, he _IS_ Michael Jordan. And what is you use your regular name, like John Doe, and suddenly you win on some TV show or whatever? "Hey dude, now that you're famous, don't forget to change your name in WoW, because we can't have you running around pretending to be you!". pretty stupid I think.
Anyway, I think CmdrTaco should change Slashdot to not allow the string "World of Warcraft" to be submitted in stories or comment. Why? Well, because it's the rules...
Hammer of Justice isn't new, dumbshit. Ranged execute is NEXT PATCH.
Maybe the guy likes playing a support class. You do know what that is, don't you?
(60 Shaman here, shamans aren't DPS either, we're support.)
why come here and do nothing but complain
/. has descended into mostly a pile of crap and cum.
Because most of the posts are of the form: 'Well, done let me pat you on the back as I cum in my pants', I think some people (mainly fanboys) are living in some kind of wank fest suspended reality and
And yes, that is really how I see you. If you can't handle it, log off and go read a good book or do some gardening until you click into reality with the rest of us, and stop cumming in your pants.
cry more noob
Another pally whine thread. Learn2PlayNoob kkthx
And just to be clear, I'm not really mad at Blizzard. I think what they did was needless and inconvenient, but not evil. Their policy may be silly, but I still was in violation of it, so I guess I got what I deserved.
OMG who really gives a damn ?
Keep this sh*t in your journal taco!
I'm getting a psychic impression - you're somewhere between the ages of 3 and 13...
Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
Maybe that's how things are on your fucking pirate shit server (you piece of fucking crap) but in the real world for those of us that play on the paid US servers, http://www.thottbot.net/?sp=24239 is the ranged execute they got for being a bunch of crying fucking babies.
Now get back to sucking on your momma's tit you're playing with the big boys now, SON.
What the fuck are you talking about? CmdrTaco's name is Rob Malda. This is very easy to find out and he responds to both his name and pseudonym on /.
GMs on the other hand don't give out their real names nor it is easy to find out what their real names are.
What Rob is ranting about is completely different than what you're bitching about. With a UID like that I would like to assume you aren't just some clueless retard but you've proven otherwise...
Noob
This entire article was a waste of time. I don't read /. for this. Can anyone explain how this is topical "News for Nerds". I can see this as news for Taco, I can see this as news for Taco's friends. I can't see, however, why/how this is news for anyone else?
Wow someone on /. making unfounded claims I never would have thought I'd see the day that happened. I mean with such clear and convincing evidence as...... Well ... Your emphatic claim, it must be true. Especially since no one any where in the world would have ever used the pseudonym "Wanderer" for anything at all prior to '76. Man you are such an innovator, such a forward thinking nick name genius. I don't know what we would have done for nick names had you not come along. All the internet should bow before you and thank you for your grand and glorious gift. I don't think that people were even using nicknames before '76 were they? That must mean that you invented the use of nicknames as well. Oh and that clever "ByteMe" one that's oh so witty of you. I'll bet no one in the fields of electronics or computing would have ever used such a gosh darn funny play on words in the decades prior to you using it. Damn I'm impressed by your 1337 nickname skillz d00d, your sheer brilliance has pwned us all.
Tell you what bubba I'll make you a deal. You put down the crack pipe and step away from the computer and I promise no one will ever use one of your nick names again. I further promise that no one will ever use the words "nick name" together to denote a personal pseudonym again. Deal?
What's that, slashdot karma points??? HA! I got your karma points right here!!
Anyway, 1337 sp34k is always the solution, so just change your name to CmdrT4c0 and forget about it...
Dumbass, the part of his name they have a problem with is "Cmdr"
John Wayne's real first name was Marion. People name male children with female names and vice versa all the time. Your point douchbag?
Write on, Rob. Write more.
Yes, do tell us about the time you went into Wendy's and you specifically asked for a burger with NO PICKLES because you HATE PICKLES. No pickles! Pretty easy, but nooooooo, the jerk gave you pickles on your hamburger.
Please also update the mood and music icons ala LJ.
Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
What a whine. Stop bitching and play by the rules you agreed to in the EULA. I wish they would ban more people for stupid names like CmdrTaco. It's a RPG, not Battlefield 2.