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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.
This is all spelt and punctuated correctly, and contains no duplicated paragraphs!
Who are you, and what have you done with the real Taco?
A real human is wearing a shroud of anonymity and handing out the bitchslap to a total stranger.
When did the topic become the moderation system?
...if you're playing a Paladin, you deserve everything you get.
"Nothing can shake my belief that this world is the fruit of a dark god whose shadow I extend." - Emil Michel Cioran
if you really want something done about it, why don't you link to their webform in the article. i think they may reconsider your case once they get slashdotted..
-- lol pwned
Geez - Get a job Taco.
I'm surprised in your story that your friend on EQ was disconnected and had his name changed. I had a druid on EQ quite a while back named Girlon and everything was fine until I made the surname Girlaction. Anyway, they just sent me an in-game message saying my surname was going to be changed and asked what I'd like to to be. It was really pretty simple.
Finance tutorials and more! Understandfinance
I don't know who you are, but you might want to pick a different username. CmdrTaco is the guy who runs this website and he'll be mighty upset.
qntm.org
Dear Sir -
The blatant lack of spelling and grammatical errors in this post can only lead me to the conclusion that this story was posted using CmdrTaco's stolen identity. I beseech you to end your ironic postings with his account.
Thank you.
Now we know why Taco has so many dupes. He's play WoW all the time!
It'll be a sad day when CmdrTaco is a celebrity name.
"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." -- George Orwell
when did slashdot start having legitimate articles?
Note that in the U.S. Navy, the actual rank and name tends to be "Seaman".
Which, of course, never leads to embarassing and uncomfortable remarks.
--
Evan
"$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
My troll is called "Slashdot" and I have had a couple of comments so far. But not from GMs as far as I know.
Slashdot is his journal.
:p
True that. This is one of my favorite entries.
We recently had heard in the office over one of the Yellow Machine that's made by Anthology Solutions.
I can't wait for somebody with the last name "Failure" (or something that sounds like it) to enlist with the army.
Private Failure
Major Failure
General Failure
Mwuahaha...
Although this kinda reminds me of a certain sketch in the movie Spaceballs
Major Major Major Major thinks they're a bunch of pikers for worrying about it...
"Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list!"
Nonetheless, was this the place to post about it? You know what Slashdot's capable of. Hundreds of thousands of posters, countless lurkers, and even a small percentage taking it upon themselves to avenge a perceived wrong can cause havoc. Remember what happened to Alan Ralsky?
I strongly suspect Blizzard might be about to get some undeserved grief from the Slashdot Horde now. Not your intent, perhaps, to use Slashdot as a lever against them, but this is a very probable and predictable consequence. So: was this the place? Shouldn't this have gone on a personal blog, rather than the Slashdot front page?
This thing's a monster and you're Frankenstein. Careful whose village you point it at.
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
If you're playing WoW, you deserve everything you get.
YetStillCmdrTaco (pragmatix)
"Teachers leave us kids alone
Dude, it's warm because you peed in it with all the excitement...
. . . But wait, is 'Cowboy' considered a title? Because if Blizzard made CowboyNeal change his name, that would be something to get upset over.
Phbhbhbht!!! I'm still trying to figure out when it stopped.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
But when I was asked in Dark Age to rename my Infiltrator ("Sofonda Cox"), my Cabalist ("Flaymin Nainus"), my Cleric ("Dawn Keebawlz"), and my Minstrel ("Grabbin Mcgroyn"), I wasn't really that put out. I drew the line when my Mercenary, "Meatmissile," was told that his name was inappropriate. That's when I bailed. I've since learned my lesson and my WoW Shaman is called "Jamin," which is actually just part of my real name ("Benjamin"). I only know one person in WoW whose name was changed, and it was done after he omgwtfpwned the hell out of Alliance in AB for a month and people got sick of it and reported him. His name was "Boodah" which was too close to "Buddha," a deity/religious figure, and thus a rule violation. He changed his name to "Dahboo" which I thought was rather clever.
"I have never won a debate with an ignorant person." -Ali ibn Abi Talib
Yes, but did you get any questions about your rodent rights record?
--
"Open source is good." - Steve Jobs
"Open source is evil." - Microsoft
They guy on Blizzard jot mad because to many of his stories got rejected
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
You mean you were able to talk to him? I can't ever get into his office, except when he's out.
ThePlayerFormerlyKnownAsCmdrTaco
I know someone who contemplated joining the Navy, but decided against it because he couldn't bear being addressed as "Seaman Sample".
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
At one of my commands there was a sailor (E-3) whose last name was "Guzzler". You do the math.
They temporarily assigned her the title of "Fireman" in spite of her rate. Good order and discipline and all that
Well, I did post it using the 'Editorial' topic icon, which I thought might subtly imply that I was editorializing ;)
Pants are still optional, but recommended for you.
You know, Slashdot doesn't evolve, it's all Intelligent Design.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
Subtlety? You must be new here...
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
Yeah well, since I didn't have an article to ignore, I just figured I'd skip the story instead. This is /., right?!
"You know you don't act like a scientist, you're more like a game show host." Dana Barret
The real CmdrTaco will never find out; it's been years since he last read Slashdot.
Seriously though, World of Evertux Galaxies would be an awesome game. Think of it, Massively Multiplayer Online Fighting Penguin Simulation!
The Farewell Tour II
Wow! Check out that UID! Can I buy your handle from you?
Be a real patriot: Question authority. Think for yourself. Formulate your own conclusions.
Why not just CommandHerTaco?
I don't think I ever want to think of the term "circumfix" again. It sounds like a certain surgery gone bad.
tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
Disgruntled-looking plainclothes GM, his hair ragged, storms into the office of the Blizzard CEO.
"Sir!" he pants, "We've got a problem on US Nathrezim. A bug is preventing an alliance guild from running Molten Core! They've got 40 living, breathing people with families and jobs who've set aside an entire day to get leet loot, and they've been bamboozled!"
"Great scot!" cries the CEO. "Did you reset their raid IDs? Talk to the server admins? The programmers? Metzen?"
"No sir! According to the GM Code, Article 3, Section 6, I am not allowed to do anything useful whatsoever, anything which may be construed as a favor, renumeration, or a meaningful and intelligent action!"
"You snivling little shit! Do you know what this means? I'm going to be up all night making phone calls to those people, apologizing and begging their forgiveness. These wounds don't just heal by themselves. We've gotta do something now, before this situation gets out of control."
"But sir! The code!"
"Damn the code! You mention that pile of marketing bullshit to me one more time and I'll have you flaggelating yourself with a rusty scourge til next month -"
"- I thought that was just a rumor -"
"- with no overtime pay! Now, go down there and grab the lead programmer by the scruff of his neck and tell him he's got to fix this pronto. In the mean time, get your ass out to GM Isle and start farming epics for these guys. Anything they want. [Perdition's Blade] or [Eschander's Right Claw]. Hell, give the main tank the full Wrath set. You don't go home until they have everything they want."
"Sir! Yes, sir!"
"And if I ever hear some shit on the slashdot forums about you not responding like a human being again, I'll bust your ass down to QA monkey for Ghost so fast your thumbs will fall off! In fact, you should consider every day I don't an example of my generousity and mercy. Aren't I generous and merciful?"
"Sir! Extremely, sir!"
"Now, get moving, GM!"
What Taco says:
What Blizzard hears:
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH I don't think I'll quit WoW over this BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH
Erm, Blizzard's forums are "filled with a million whining kids bitching about 'game balance' or how X job got nerfed in Y update." Thats why a lot of people avoid them. I'm not sure what forums you're reading, but the WoW forums are pretty infamous about that sort of thing.
As far as censorship goes, I've seen plenty of posts extremely critical of Blizzard stay up on the top forum page, unlocked, for a very long time. Typically when a post is locked, it is because its extremely vitriolic and contains little to no constructive criticism.
Since Bliz made him change his nick he wanted to make damn sure that everyone on his server knew his new name was VIOLATED.
Now he can continue to reap the in-game fruits of his fame. ;-)
I wanted to reply with just an emoticon, but I got my own damn lameness filter ;)
Pants are still optional, but recommended for you.
I considered moderating you down as flamebait for cussing.
You must be new here. You cannot post in the same discussion you are commenting in.
I like my name. It's been my identity. It's simultaneously an indicator of my taste in movies and what I do for hobbies.
Sadly, After you get hit by lightning, you'll change your name to Johnny5.
What part of "Stuff that matters." did you not understand?
"My friend quit EQ that day." Sounds like your friend grew just a little bit that day.
Wanted: Clever sig, top $ paid, all offers considered.
If you're having trouble picking the stories you could just read what was posted yesterday.
Sorry, bad dupe joke there. Or you could read Fark.com.. er nevermind.
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
You're comment was incredibly useful. So useful that I wish it would take physical form so that I could beat you down with it.
Most of you don't even know what the OSS community used to really be like. It ain't what you see here on /. today.
...
You're right there Obediah.
Who'd a thought thirty years ago we'd all be sittin' here bitching on slashdot?
Aye. In them days, we'd a' been glad to have the price of a good compiler.
A command line based compiler.
Without an IDE or APIs.
Or a compiler!
On a filthy cracked C64.
We never used to have a computer. We used to have to code on punched hole cards.
The best WE could manage was to beg for compilation time on the mainframe at night!
But you know, we were happy in those days, though we were poor.
Aye. BECAUSE we were poor. My old Dad used to say to me, "Money doesn't buy you happiness."
Right. I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day on OSS, and pay Linus for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our Dad would kill us, and dance about on our graves singing "Hallelujah."
But you try and tell the young people today that... and they won't believe ya'.
Never piss off a user with a bigger soap box than you.
Don't make me stop the car, kids.
Mind the Gap
Because you're a giant pussy alliance paladin! FOR THE HORDE!
:P
Just an emoticon
What happened to the lameness filter there?
Grandparent: Lucky for you there was no lameness filter when you posted the article!
Oh, shit, GP is the big cheese, isn't he?
He's reading this, isn't he?
He can see who I really am, even as AC, can't he?
I'm sorry Rob - I didn't mean it%#)!*&$@(*#&(#@&*(!@# NO CARRIER
/. CmdrTaco
Sir CmdrTaco
Mr CmdrTaco
Violated CmdrTaco