WoW:The Darker side of Real ID

Friendship can be found in the most surprising of places, including the virtual world. In fact the social aspect of World of Warcraft serves as one of the game's many appeals.The bonds of friendship forged in game are often just as strong as those found in real life.However, maintaining these in game friendships can be far more complicated.With the option to faction and server transfer, friends in game can come and go, and since there formerly was no way to chat with them after the transfer losing touch with in game friends was a common problem.

Cue the introduction of Patch 3.3.5 and the Real I.D. system and much like the Berlin Wall the barriers of communication in World of Warcraft have finally been torn down.Players everywhere seem to be embracing the new addition,which provides chatting options never seen before in the WoW universe This new addition takes the social aspect of WoW to a whole new level, allowing players to remain in contact with their friends no matter the circumstances, but is there a darker side to this new feature?

Security has always been tantamount at Blizzard. Proof of this lies in the frequent reminders to not give out your account information,and the introduction of the Authenticator,both of which seem to lead to more security for players.Besides,the player can buy WoW Gold from us if they need to gather enough it in a shor time. So it came as quite a surprise when reading more about the Real I.D system that in order to utilize the function players would need to either give out the e-mail address that corresponds to their account,or obtain the e-mail addresses of their friends.

To add a friend with the Real I.D.system you must obtain their e-mail address.

Security has always been tantamount at Blizzard. Proof of this lies in the frequent reminders to not give out your account information, and the introduction of the Authenticator,both of which seem to lead to more security for players.So it came as quite a surprise when reading more about the Real I.D system that in order to utilize the function players would need to either give out the e-mail address that corresponds to their account, or obtain the e-mail addresses of their friends.

All WoW players know your e-mail address is a vital part of your WoW information, used with a password to allow players to login to their accounts. So it seems strange indeed that the usually cautious Blizzard has asked players to reveal their e-mail addresses, even to supposed friends. This would not have been an issue in the past, when logging in required a username and not an e-mail address, however with the switch to the Battle.net system the e-mail address has become a key link to a player's account information.

So with Blizzard's work to provide and help players achieve greater account safety in the past, the Real I.D. system seems to be a step in the opposite direction.With access to a player's e-mail address hackers are one step closer to wrecking havoc on your account With the amount of time and energy most players dedicate to their toons the loss of a character or items and gold can be devastating even if they may eventually be replaced.

The Real I.D system is amazing, and will truly take the social aspect of WoW to a whole new level.While this may seem like some paranoid delusion, we must remember that it's a crazy world out there and there are those that are out there waiting ready to pounce on any opportunity.

Gaining information has long brought out the worst in people and I expect in this case it will be no different.So think long and hard about adding friends to your list in this manner,only allowing access to your nearest and dearest friends and not that guy you met in an instance run last week. By using good judgment you can save yourself a lot of headaches and keep yourself out of a potentially bad situation.