Blizzard Exposes Detailed WoW Character Data

Gavin Scott writes "Blizzard has introduced a new web site called the Armory which lets you get information on any World of Warcraft character, extracted from their live databases, in near real-time. This exposes a great deal of information that was not previously obtainable including profession choices, skill levels for all skills, and the character's complete talent specification and all faction reputation data, along with all gear currently equipped. The complete roster of any guild or arena team is also available. Some players are upset about this, such as arena PvP teams who now have all their gear and talent choices exposed to the world, or players with non-standard or less-popular talent choices who fear they will have difficulty getting into pickup groups now that people can instantly find out everything about them. Are these complaints fair? Blizzard claims to own all the data and the characters, but at what point does this data represent personal choices and information about their players which would be covered by their own privacy policy? In a virtual society, should people be able to present a view of themselves that differs from (virtual) reality, or should all details be exposed?"

Comments

It's just a game! GET OVER IT!

[pestie]

I don't usually post things like this, but seriously... Slashdot, WTF? "Your Rights Online?" There's a reason I have my account set up to minimize all the "Games" articles and maximize all the "Your Rights Online." And that would be because my rights actually matter, whereas video games don't. Maybe this would matter if it involved the exposure real data, but it didn't! You gamer fanboys get that it's all pretend, right? Like, it's not real and doesn't (or shouldn't, anyway) have any bearing on your real lives? OK, then. Jeez.