04-29-2003, 03:11 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-29-2003, 03:16 AM by Count Duckula.)
I really didn't want to post and run on this one. A deadline of a big-chunk-of-my-final-grade-in-a-class-I-refuse-to-flunk paper got moved. Roman philosophy and BG2 as stress relief. Now it's Eugene Ionesco and D2 as stress relief, coupled with ethics presentation and bike riding as stress relief. Next week: 4 minute film and primal scream therapy. Never let it be said that I'm not getting my money's worth at this place. :P
From Occhi:
First Ammendment rights are NOT the issue: it is a private not government relationship.
Company does own all, but at what point does this censoring become ridiculous? You can't say c*ck on battle.net, but you can't say l*sbian either. That always bothered me. And what about a case-by-case basis? Blizzard does nothing about these. Excuse me, but I happen to find "SlayerofJews" and "BurnStrsNstrps" offensive. (And I have caps of these too.) Blizzard disregards the email I send, and the "image is everything" trick that we Hollins girls use to get the administration's trick doesn't work with the Coldwurm the Burrower that is Blizzard Entertainment.
And can you believe that HansOnnerTitz is taken on US West? I sure can. Not sure about East.
Ethics issue: How do you draw a line that makes every one happy? Simple: you can't.
Would even a case-by-case be more feasible? From what I've been reading, even EverQuest is better patrolled than B.net.
All items belong to the proprietary game environment created in the game.
Yes, but is it ethical to charge a "transaction fee" for such items? Research on various item-selling sites has shown me that sellers put in this clause to make things okey-dokey so Blizzard won't get after 'em. Are they really protected from Blizzard's wrath if all they're charging for is the movement of an item file from one account to another, and nothing else?
This makes me wonder if and how often Blizzard patrols the realms and how active a role they're taking in enforcing their ToS. Alas, that is another PowerPoint presentation for another time. ;)
from Gekko:
The internet allows people to do and to say alot of things that they could never get away with in public. In addition to the fact that there is nearly complete anonymity, it is very difficult to punish anyone in a meaningful way.
My presentation is always coming back to this very statement in some form or another. One day I left Battle.net as a screensaver while I went to lunch. I came back and found a flame-fest between two people covering all kinds of verbal abuse, including a few pieces on their respective parentage. (Putting it politely...) Could these stellar examples of adolescents get away with it offline? Nope. Could the item-selling and other skullduggery happen offline? Nope.
Blizzard recently banned 131,000 CD-keys -- and yet has the spam from bots advertising websites selling hacked items stopped? Absolutely not.
But people are now more reluctant to purchase because they don't want to take the chance that their account will be deleted in the next purge. Here I am, doing the anime flag dance. Yay, Blizzard! Yay for following your ToS! Yay for this one-strike policy! Yay for growing a backbone! Yay! (I pity the foo with the cash on hand to pay for a bit of code. Makes one wish that the trainer for D2X was already out on some realm so all the cheaters can flock there. :P)
[color=Next consider the forums of popular diablo websites The smaller the community, the higher the quality in general This is because the administrators can have some control over the community[/color]
Which is why I love this place, Ironworks, the DSFC, the Vampirism community, for being large enough to make a difference but small enough to still be in control.
(/suckup)
hehe did I answer any of your questions, or did I just go on a bit of a rant? Oh well, I tried
I like hearing opinions. That's why I write stories. :)
from BlackLightning:
I suppose the fact that a gamer has purchased a game proves that they, in buying that game, accept the rules and regulations that come with it. However, the gamer does have a certain right as to what he or she wants from the game, and if the game fails to deliver, then the buyer has the upper hand.
Interesting...care to share more?
from Gekko:
They have consistently promised great things and then not followed through.
I can imagine Battle.net now..."Put out 1.10 or we flood the forum!" No, we have to hit them where it hurts... "Put out 1.10 or we'll mock GFrazier!" Wait, some of us already do that...hmm...
That's all for now. Time to go image hunting. I'll try to post the presentation somehow.
EDIT: Bolty, can I use this quote, pretty please? Look, these accounts were banned. Almost everyone here complains constantly about cheaters on Battle.Net, and now when something is done about it they start sympathizing with the cheaters? Don't get me started. You know with me it's always been black-and-white: you cheat in a multiplayer environment, then **** you and the horse you rode in on for robbing me of the money I paid for my game. To me, there is no limit to the lengths I'd be rooting Blizzard to take to keep any and all cheaters the hell off of Battle.Net permanently.
From Occhi:
First Ammendment rights are NOT the issue: it is a private not government relationship.
Company does own all, but at what point does this censoring become ridiculous? You can't say c*ck on battle.net, but you can't say l*sbian either. That always bothered me. And what about a case-by-case basis? Blizzard does nothing about these. Excuse me, but I happen to find "SlayerofJews" and "BurnStrsNstrps" offensive. (And I have caps of these too.) Blizzard disregards the email I send, and the "image is everything" trick that we Hollins girls use to get the administration's trick doesn't work with the Coldwurm the Burrower that is Blizzard Entertainment.
And can you believe that HansOnnerTitz is taken on US West? I sure can. Not sure about East.
Ethics issue: How do you draw a line that makes every one happy? Simple: you can't.
Would even a case-by-case be more feasible? From what I've been reading, even EverQuest is better patrolled than B.net.
All items belong to the proprietary game environment created in the game.
Yes, but is it ethical to charge a "transaction fee" for such items? Research on various item-selling sites has shown me that sellers put in this clause to make things okey-dokey so Blizzard won't get after 'em. Are they really protected from Blizzard's wrath if all they're charging for is the movement of an item file from one account to another, and nothing else?
This makes me wonder if and how often Blizzard patrols the realms and how active a role they're taking in enforcing their ToS. Alas, that is another PowerPoint presentation for another time. ;)
from Gekko:
The internet allows people to do and to say alot of things that they could never get away with in public. In addition to the fact that there is nearly complete anonymity, it is very difficult to punish anyone in a meaningful way.
My presentation is always coming back to this very statement in some form or another. One day I left Battle.net as a screensaver while I went to lunch. I came back and found a flame-fest between two people covering all kinds of verbal abuse, including a few pieces on their respective parentage. (Putting it politely...) Could these stellar examples of adolescents get away with it offline? Nope. Could the item-selling and other skullduggery happen offline? Nope.
Blizzard recently banned 131,000 CD-keys -- and yet has the spam from bots advertising websites selling hacked items stopped? Absolutely not.
But people are now more reluctant to purchase because they don't want to take the chance that their account will be deleted in the next purge. Here I am, doing the anime flag dance. Yay, Blizzard! Yay for following your ToS! Yay for this one-strike policy! Yay for growing a backbone! Yay! (I pity the foo with the cash on hand to pay for a bit of code. Makes one wish that the trainer for D2X was already out on some realm so all the cheaters can flock there. :P)
[color=Next consider the forums of popular diablo websites The smaller the community, the higher the quality in general This is because the administrators can have some control over the community[/color]
Which is why I love this place, Ironworks, the DSFC, the Vampirism community, for being large enough to make a difference but small enough to still be in control.
(/suckup)
hehe did I answer any of your questions, or did I just go on a bit of a rant? Oh well, I tried
I like hearing opinions. That's why I write stories. :)
from BlackLightning:
I suppose the fact that a gamer has purchased a game proves that they, in buying that game, accept the rules and regulations that come with it. However, the gamer does have a certain right as to what he or she wants from the game, and if the game fails to deliver, then the buyer has the upper hand.
Interesting...care to share more?
from Gekko:
They have consistently promised great things and then not followed through.
I can imagine Battle.net now..."Put out 1.10 or we flood the forum!" No, we have to hit them where it hurts... "Put out 1.10 or we'll mock GFrazier!" Wait, some of us already do that...hmm...
That's all for now. Time to go image hunting. I'll try to post the presentation somehow.
EDIT: Bolty, can I use this quote, pretty please? Look, these accounts were banned. Almost everyone here complains constantly about cheaters on Battle.Net, and now when something is done about it they start sympathizing with the cheaters? Don't get me started. You know with me it's always been black-and-white: you cheat in a multiplayer environment, then **** you and the horse you rode in on for robbing me of the money I paid for my game. To me, there is no limit to the lengths I'd be rooting Blizzard to take to keep any and all cheaters the hell off of Battle.Net permanently.
UPDATE: Spamblaster.