World of Warcraft In the Axis of Evil

Kotaku is running a piece by Wagner James Au, discussing the place World of Warcraft has in 'The Axis of Evil'. From the article: "Then again, there's little reason to think the ban was enforced much at all. Veteran WoW players tell me they often raid with folks who say they are Coalition troops in Iraq who've cleverly hacked around military firewalls to log in. And while it's doubtful that anyone but Kim Jung-Il and his geek cronies could log into World of Warcraft from North Korea, there's still an embargo on Iran."

Comments

WoW belongs in the axis of evil

[pHatidic]

Rule of thumb: Anything that allows you to "level up" is out to fuck you, take your money, or both. Examples: School, military, corporate hierarchy, catholic church, world of warcraft, scientology, etc.

Now if you're both in the military and addicted to WoW then you're really in trouble. That's either the second or the fourth circle of hell, depending on how the maths work. Either way it isn't good.

Re:WoW belongs in the axis of evil

[thelost]

If I become catholic as well will I get to the fifth circle? If so I'm gettin' that addon! Level 5 here I come.

Re:WoW belongs in the axis of evil

[pHatidic]

Well logically it would be either level three or level eight. Hopefully level eight, I hear it has way better loot.

Not WW2

[Animaether]

You're thinking of the Axis Powers - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_Powers
This is about the Axis of Evil - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_of_evil

Regardless, WoW should have nothing to do with either of them apart from legislation restricting export of certain goods, such as software, to countries to which the originating country holds an embargo - such as Iran.
I had to look into that for the software developed at our country as well to see if we could sell to a potential customer in Iraq - and we could after it was 'liberated'.
Fore more information, see:

Supplement No. 2 to Part 774 - General Technology and Software Notes
( http://www.access.gpo.gov/bis/ear/txt/774_sup2.txt )

Point 2:
2. General Software Note. License Exception TSU (\"mass market\" software) is available to all destinations, except countries in Country Group E:1 of Supplement No. 1 to part 740 of the EAR, for release of software that is generally available to the public by being:

Supplement No. 1 to part 740 of the EAR
( http://www.access.gpo.gov/bis/ear/txt/740spir.txt )

E:1 Countries - Terrorist Supporting Countries
Cuba, Iran, \"Korea, North\", Libya, Sudan, Syria

Now, I hate farmers...

[Opportunist]

But I kinda wouldn't like the Chinese players to vanish because their government cuts them off.

Whether Vivendi will bow to Chinese requests, should they decide to demand it? Certainly. But they will enforce it only when there's positive proof that a player is Chinese, and only when someone requests it, they certainly won't waste resources to hunt them down. After all, it's money for them when someone plays. Actually, I'd guess they'd appreciate such a demand. After all, it allows them to ban an account, knowing well that the customer will buy another one.

Re:Now, I hate farmers...

[zerocool^]

Eve Online is creating a chinese shard to cater to this group. I doubt it will stop the chinese macro miners, but it might. Especially if their country blocks access to Tranquility. I mean, yeah yeah freedom of speech, but they're driving down the price of omber.

This will mean that Eve can no longer say they're only one server... but, still. 25,000+ people on the same server is nothing to sneeze at. Go invest in some RAMSAN's, blizard!

~W

Leave Our Troops Alone

[shoma-san]

Most of the folks that claim they can do this are probably not part or a combat unit in a Marine Expeditionary Force but still have to be worried about getting blown up while waiting to log into WOW. If there is a chance that they could die tomorrow and they want to play WOW then let them play WOW. Dropping a dime on them on Slashdot does nothing but make it harder for them to do what they want when they want.

Re:Leave Our Troops Alone

[Rob T Firefly]

I do hope this doesn't come off as insensitive or anything, but for some reason I'd be dubious if faced with an online avatar of someone who claims to have hacked past a US Military firewall - that is, hacked past a US Military Firewall - to do something as bandwidth-sucking and most likely specifically not allowed as playing a damn MMO.

I'd be happy to be proven wrong on this, as I'd love to think that even in a hellish war zone my fellow gamers can get their fix, but it just doesn't seem like something that would actually be allowed to happen all that much. And even if against all odds and logic it somehow did happen, I doubt said gamers would be bragging about their exploits in a damned text chat.

The idea that people who are sitting comfortably at home playing a computer game may be fishing for some sort of street cred or sympathy by falsely claiming to be among those whose lives are being put on the line is completely disgusting on every level.

Re:Leave Our Troops Alone

[Sunburnt]

The concept of a "U.S. Military Firewall" is not particularly intimidating. When I was stationed in the Gulf with the Air Force, the Communications squadron was using the same garbage as my 55-year-old mother - McAfee products, and not always with up-to-date patches. A friend in that unit informed me that such was common practice throughout the military in unsecured environments (such as a MWR tent with Internet access.)

Hell, even the censoring of certain websites (rotten.com, ebaumsworld.com, and theonion.com are the only ones I can recall, but it's been a few years) was easy to circumvent for anyone clever enough to uncheck the "Proxy Server" setting in IE. I wonder if anyone ever bothered fixing that?

Given the temperament of the bored kids I remember staffing the Air Force's server rooms, I'd imagine they're probably enabling this kind of activity. Can't say I blame them. I wish we had WoW instead of a copy of Tekken 3.

Re:Leave Our Troops Alone

[Xaositecte]

I happen to be in Iraq right now, Baghdad International Airport (Part of the 447th Communications Squadron) - and it's entirely believable. All you really have to do is call up tech control and, assuming you're on good terms with at least one guy there, ask for admin rights.

It'd be especially easy for Comm guys since all our jobs are getting replaced by Civilian contractors now that it's more or less safe inside the base walls.

Bastards get paid like $160,000 a year to do the same job I'm doing for ~$20,000. Damned enlisted pay structure.

Re:Leave Our Troops Alone

[Xaositecte]

In Comm squadrons over here (Yes, I'm in Iraq this very moment) - we've got a network morale drive filled with games, movies, etc. - all of which our leadership doesn't mind us using so long as we don't have anything better to do at the moment.

Communications jobs in the Air Force aren't exactly filled with tasks, so we've got a lot of free time to play around. Nobody here is a WoW addict to my knowledge, but it wouldn't be terribly difficult to pull off, and no-one would care even if they did.

Re:Leave Our Troops Alone

[KefabiMe]

Just to add, I have an Army friend in Iraq who tries to play WoW. While local LAN games are popular, he states that he has so much trouble with WoW (especially the Battlegrounds) because of his 8000 second ping. Yes, it would be excruciating to wait 8 seconds for Blizzard's servers to receive your command and then have to wait another 8 seconds to see the result back on your screen.

There are some good days where he gets only a 4000 or 3000 (*Woot!*) ping, but WoW is pretty much unplayable for anything except low level soloing.

Re:Isn't It Funny..

[Frogbert]

The Iranian government doesn't represent the WHOLE population of Iran. Just like the Americas Presedent doesn't represent the opinion of 100% of America.

No that's World of Starcraft

[sentientbrendan]

but only if you play a ghost. Only they can launched nuclear weapons.

Most countries are banned from WoW, too

[tangent3]

From http://vnboards.ign.com/wow_general_board/b19789/9 6506468/p1/?73

Just got banned today after playing WOW because I am not currently in North America. Apparently Blizzard does not care about those who are stationed abroad in the Armed Forces and working for them. I purchased WOW in the Post Exchange in Seoul Korea on the Yongsan Army Base there, which is considered by law, U.S. Soil. I installed the game and created my account using my U.S. Credit Card from Delaware. My billing address was an APO, AP address which stands for Armed Forces Pacific, Army Postal. After playing the game for 3 months I got an email stating this:

" Access to the World of Warcraft account BTOBEYONDER, and all World of Warcraft accounts associated with the payment information you have provided, has been permanently disabled. It is implicitly stated on the account creation page that: This account creation process is only available to customers in North America, New Zealand, Australia, and Singapore. As a result, the account(s) will no longer be accessible in any way and will not be reopened under any circumstances. Thank you for your time and understanding in this matter.

Regards,
Account Administration
Blizzard Entertainment "

Re:Most countries are banned from WoW, too

[Kadin2048]

Wow, if that's true, that's really a load of crap on their part.

I'll be honest, I play WoW from time to time and thus maintain my account there (so my character doesn't get dumped), but Blizzard has really begun to grate on me. They're starting to become one of those organizations that I just feel vaguely dirty for associating with, much less paying a subscription fee to.

I'd encourage anyone serving overseas at a military installation or embassy who's been given the shaft by Blizzard to publicize it as widely as you can; there's nothing that really inflames Ma and Pa Kettle like a corporation being dicks to troops overseas, and I could easily see an organization like Blizzard which is highly dependent on public opinion bowing to pressure and changing their policy in a hurry.

Re:Most countries are banned from WoW, too

[MachDelta]

I play WoW from time to time and thus maintain my account there (so my character doesn't get dumped)

You don't have to "maintain" your account, Blizzard will never delete your characters (at least under current policy), so you can go back at any time. I quit WoW for five months and all of my characters were just as i'd left them. I recently quit again and expect that if I ever want to go back to the horrible world of daily raids on MC/BWL/TAQ and eventually Naxx/Draenor, I could. But I don't plan on it. The items arms race (epix!) is precicely why I quit Diablo 2, and its the same reason why a lot of people are dumping WoW. :P

Re:Most countries are banned from WoW, too

[Trolan]

And when the guy contacted Blizzard informing them of his situation, they reinstated the account and credited him 4 days. There's nothing to see here, outside of an account being flagged due to location and registration IP address, all brought up, quite possibly by a guild split causing some people to be asshats and reporting him. No anti-military bias, just the usual issues which crop up when you have a massive customer base, and piles upon piles of complaints against people who threaten someone's e-peen, whether they're real or imagined.

Re:Isn't It Funny..

[The One and Only]

Its about as funny as seeing America enjoying the oil coming from Iran, Syria, Iraq and the like, nations who the US have declared their resolve to destroy.

Actually, the US didn't import oil from Iraq (aside from an "oil for food" program instituted by the UN) between 1990 and 2003. Since 2003, the US has been occupying and rebuilding Iraq. As for Iran, there's been a full embargo against Iran (including oil) since 1979. The Bush administration has never expressed a desire to go to war with Syria. In conclusion, nice try dumbass, check your facts next time.

Cuba?

[DesireCampbell]

Since when is Cuba harbouring terrorists? Or is 'Communism" part of terrorism now?

Re:Cuba?

[dbIII]

Since when is Cuba harbouring terrorists?

There's hundreds of them at GITMO.

I can't understand the US attitude to Cuba - can't trade with them but renting space for a naval base is OK.

Re:Cuba?

[iocat]

They'll continue being embargoed until they give back all the property of US companies and individuals they nationalized after Castro's rise to power.

Re:Cuba?

[DesireCampbell]

"I can't understand the US attitude to Cuba - can't trade with them but renting space for a naval base is OK"

That's the only thing about US policy you don't understand? :p

Re:Cuba?

[ultranova]

So, when does the USA intend to give back all the property of the British Crown that they stole after the War of Independence?

As soon as Britain can take it by force, of course.

Oh, wait, I forgot. It's different for Americans. Americans are special, and the world should do as they say, not as they do.

Excatly. And the name of the difference is power. As long as the US is the strongest nation on Earth, it will keep on being the biggest bully as well. As soon as some other nation gets the power, they will become the bully as well.

Why does the US, or any other country for that matter, still keep on talking about right, justice, democracy, or any such thing in their rethoric is beyond my understanding. No one believes it. International policy is not about those things, never has been, and likely never will be, and that's hardly a secret. It is about power, the acquisition and defense of it, at any cost. Talking about "Axis of Evil" or other such nonsense simply adds a touch of hypocrisy to it, it does not make it any less filthy affair.

Re:Cuba?

[spun]

So America's gonna give Hawaii back to the Hawaiians, hmm? Because you know it was seized in a coup d'état. Oh wait, that's right. Things are different for America.

Typo

[Oldsmobile]

Correct romanization is "Kim Jong Il".

"Avatar Racism"

[panda]

Actually, I thought that the piece on avatar racism in Second Life that was linked to in the article was more interesting.

Re:Isn't It Funny..

[vertinox]

True, but the Iranian government represents the population of Iran that would like to see the U.S. destroyed. Thats scary.

Not really. When you compare it to other things, you are more likley to die in a car accident or slipping in your shower.

Chances are Iran would never be able to nuke us. I'd be more concerned if we attacked Iran and then Russia and China decided to declare war on us for no good reason.

They have ICBM's that can hit every city in the US. Iran can barley hit Europe.

WoW in in combat zones.

[mansa]

You'd be amazed how many people play WoW, Counter-Strike, and a host of other network games in Iraq. The internet is such a big morale booster over there. Nearly every American base I've visited has free (govt. sponsored) Internet connections for troops that include web cams, microphones, and IMs. The pay Internet (AT&T Cyber Cafes) have everything else... pre-loaded games, cams, and access to many other things the govt. doesn't want to worry about. Everytime I went in there to download my e-mail (Yes! They had laptop cubes/ connections! ($5/hour)) there were no less than 5 people playing WoW.

For those people that lived/worked on Iraqi bases the Internet connections there were pretty much unmonitored/unfiltered and allowed everything through.

I also have to say I've seen Morale network drives too... When I was there last summer the music directory was 195gb and the movies and videos topped 300gb... this is on a NIPR military LAN too. I think the leadership looked the other way 'til the filesever blew up December. I don't know if it exists anymore.