We Fly Spitfires – MMORPG Blog

Blizzard Authenticators. You know you're hooked on WoW when you worry more about losing one than your wallet or house keys

There’s been a lot of concerns over account security in MMOs recently, more so in WoW than any other game and, frankly, it’s always something that’s baffled me. I can understand why accounts get hacked, and I can understand how accounts get hacked but what I find surprising is still how slack security is in most MMOs. For something that causes so much ruckus and, apparently, uses up a huge amount of resources and customer support time, there are some pretty obvious (to me) steps that have never been taken to improve basic security.

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One day we'll be able to experience true immersion in our living rooms just by sacrificing our dignity and sense of style

I know I harp on a lot about immersion in MMOs and how I want to feel my character (figuratively speaking) and escape from my every day worries when I play but I don’t think I’ve ever stopped to talk about exactly why it’s important. Truth be told, I’m not sure I could’ve given you a very eloquent explanation and probably would’ve just mumbled something about roleplay before distracting you with a photo of a cute dog trying to hump a chair leg and then made a run for the nearest exit. That was until today when Dàchéng (blogger of The Dàchéng Diaries) made a very poignant and powerful comment on the subject in my post moaning about Real ID:

“…It is your sense of immersion in the game world that lets you believe that you’re killing things…That suspension of disbelief is what immersion brings, and when it ceases, you are just clicking buttons in a dark room while the sun shines outside.”

Perfectly said.

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Really, I Don't Know... Real ID. Bask in my wit, people!

Even though Real ID hasn’t hit Europe yet, it was introduced to WoW in the latest patch a few days ago. It’s been met with some positive reactions, some negative ones, and has definitely keep a hot topic over the last week in the MMO blogosphere. Like most things in the gaming world (if not life), the fuss will die down soon and everyone will have forgotten about it. Still, it’s got me wondering what Blizzard have planned for the future. Not so much on a feature level, but now a complete gaming level. Could their Real ID system (which no doubt shall be integrated into Diablo 3 and Blizzard’s next MMO) be a stepping stone for them creating their own gaming monopoly? Guess only time will tell.

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Now that I'm level 63 I'll be able to impress everyone with my crap gear and clueless behaviour

I realised today that I hadn’t logged in Age of Conan in a while and that’s always a sign that my subscription is headed for termination. It’s not that I haven’t been enjoying AoC, rather it’s that I’ve been very busy in real life plus found myself getting sidetracked by WoW again somewhat. So, in an effort to try and not only rekindle my interest in Conan but also get the most out of my sub, I decided to try out the free level 50 character creation option plus use up several weeks worth of ‘offline’ levels. The result? My pubescent Asian Avenger has now matured into a full blown middle aged Dark Templar, only 17 levels away from the level cap (or about 4 weeks of doing nothing except maintaining my subscription).

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I received a very nice email from Jeff Martin at Company of the Wolf a couple of weeks ago asking if I’d like to do an interview with him for his blog. I was thrilled and flattered so of course jumped at the chance. What totally surprised me though (so much so that I didn’t quite believe him until he posted more details when he published the interview) was when he said he knew that people from Blizzard and Turbine read my blog. Huh? Ex-squeeze me? Bacon powder? People from those companies MY blog? How bizarre.

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Real ID: Making stalking more rewarding than ever before

As a lot of sites are reporting at the moment, Real ID has hit Battle.net and will be coming to World of Warcraft very shortly in it’s next patch. For those of you that aren’t familiar with it, it’s basically a cross-game chat system that lets you keep in touch with, well, anyone you want to really (provided they’re playing either WoW or Starcraft 2… for now). Initial reaction seems to be quite negative as folk aren’t very keen on the idea of fellow players finding out their real names (Real ID is linked completely to your Human Name and has nothing to do with character name or nickname) or tracking them wherever they go. I don’t blame them.

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I don't know whether to feel disturbed or aroused by this image

The Internet notoriously polarises opinion and reflects everything in either black or white, often with little or no room for the grey in-between. We see this a lot in how MMOs are reported and commented on by fans and it’s why we have those big debates such as “casual vs hardcore” or “WoW does/doesn’t suck”. The games themselves also try for one strong audience in particular and we end up with either ultra-hardcore, better-off-punching-yourself-in-the-face, games like Darkfall or super-easy-breezy, I-heart-carebears casual ones like World of Warcraft. It’s all very strange though because real life isn’t a single extreme but rather a combination of lots of factors , good and band, all mixed together. So why can’t our MMOs be more like that?

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