REAL ID
- Thread starter rhysj
- Start date
After investigating the matter from a business perspective, I have found out that the decision to include real names was based on the Facebook model, and had nothing to do with servicing the WoW customer better.
Facebook earns its income from advertisers. The only thing Facebook has to sell is access to its users information. Facebook gathers users information by allowing free use of its "service" which is really just its investment to get its resource - which is all users of Facebook. The thing is, since Facebook doesn't charge its users, the users can't really complain much, even if Facebook continually rewrites the privacy rules in its favor.
Enter Blizzard - with a HUGE customer base, along with all the personal information that comes with it. As many know, and has been widely reported, Blizzard and Facebook have been in a lot of discussions lately. So much that Blizzard has decided to adopt a Facebook model for dealing with interaction between users, and is driving the forums and communication in game toward that vision. Blizard has consulted with, and entered into a business relationship with Facebook on how to do this. Someone in Blizzard has decided that their user base is of the same sort as Facebook's, and has seen how they can make additional money of them.
Big Problem - While for Facebook the users are the resource and the Advertisers are the customers, Blizzard wanted to turn one set of its customers (Players) into a resource for the second set of customers (Advertisers). Had they succeeded, it would have meant a huge new influx of revenue. They counted on their customers (Player Base) to be the bunch of lemmings they typically are with respect to playing this game, as there really isn't anything better at the moment. They counted wrong.
You can call conspiracy theory if you want, but it doesn't really matter. There is a strong business case toward Blizzard moving to the Facebook model. When it comes to profits, however, while each user is worth $15 a month from a player base standpoint, they are only worth about $0.35 (estimated, based on Facebook model) a month from a resource standpoint (which would still earn Blizzard a few Million a year extra in revenue). This means if only one of every 43 users quit due to this decision, Blizzard would lose money. Someone made the calculation, and decided to scrap this idea.....for now. I have no doubt it will be incrementally implemented without much fanfare over the coming years, and history shows we will go along eventually. Blizzard just went too far too quickly for the idea to be palatable with the current player base.
Facebook earns its income from advertisers. The only thing Facebook has to sell is access to its users information. Facebook gathers users information by allowing free use of its "service" which is really just its investment to get its resource - which is all users of Facebook. The thing is, since Facebook doesn't charge its users, the users can't really complain much, even if Facebook continually rewrites the privacy rules in its favor.
Enter Blizzard - with a HUGE customer base, along with all the personal information that comes with it. As many know, and has been widely reported, Blizzard and Facebook have been in a lot of discussions lately. So much that Blizzard has decided to adopt a Facebook model for dealing with interaction between users, and is driving the forums and communication in game toward that vision. Blizard has consulted with, and entered into a business relationship with Facebook on how to do this. Someone in Blizzard has decided that their user base is of the same sort as Facebook's, and has seen how they can make additional money of them.
Big Problem - While for Facebook the users are the resource and the Advertisers are the customers, Blizzard wanted to turn one set of its customers (Players) into a resource for the second set of customers (Advertisers). Had they succeeded, it would have meant a huge new influx of revenue. They counted on their customers (Player Base) to be the bunch of lemmings they typically are with respect to playing this game, as there really isn't anything better at the moment. They counted wrong.
You can call conspiracy theory if you want, but it doesn't really matter. There is a strong business case toward Blizzard moving to the Facebook model. When it comes to profits, however, while each user is worth $15 a month from a player base standpoint, they are only worth about $0.35 (estimated, based on Facebook model) a month from a resource standpoint (which would still earn Blizzard a few Million a year extra in revenue). This means if only one of every 43 users quit due to this decision, Blizzard would lose money. Someone made the calculation, and decided to scrap this idea.....for now. I have no doubt it will be incrementally implemented without much fanfare over the coming years, and history shows we will go along eventually. Blizzard just went too far too quickly for the idea to be palatable with the current player base.
reets
New Member
Make sure to check your RealID settings now in your settings. Goto battle.net and sign in, click Account in the top right, goto Settings > Communication Preferences
Jethiel
Moderator
Thanks Reets! Now this makes me feel comfortable using RealID - follow the instructions above and you can now turn off RealID Facebook friends availability and the Friends of friends listing. So as long as you make sure you change those settings it can just exist as your personal friend list.
My name is Joe and I personally endorse this message.
My name is Joe and I personally endorse this message.