My RealID

I am going to share something with you today. It’s my RealID, the one most people know me by, the one even my Mother used for me (as much as she hated it).

My name is Snowy.

Of course if you have ever received an email reply from Gnomeaggedon, I have probably already (chosen to) shared that with you.

Snowy isn’t my TrueID, my legal name, though I have considered changing it.

I have known people for 20+ years that only know me only as Snowy, because I am Snowy. Occasionally there is a need to reveal my Clarke Kent true identity and they are stunned, even disbelieving. Yet, 99% of them continue to refer to me as Snowy.

This ReadID goes back a long way, back before I was born in fact. My family has generations of Snowys, not just my immediate family, my extended family.

The only person in my family that wasn’t a Snowy was my mother. She only hated the name because when someone phoned the house, they would ask to speak with “Snowy” – they had no idea which one of us because we were just Snowy.

I remember vividly the day 35 years ago, as I walked down the driveway towards the city centre, that my Mother said to me…

Son, you have an unusual name. Most people on this earth don’t need to know that name. It is yours, keep it close. Once someone knows your name they will know it forever and they can, and sometimes will, use it against you.

Remember, this is in the days when the house was never locked, the car was parked on the street – unlocked, when young kids could roam the streets without fear and when they got lost, or in trouble, could turn to any person on the street and receive help.

I have been Snowy for 35 years. My workmates refer to me as Snowy, my friends refer to me as Snowy, my family reunions are filled with…

Hey Snowy, it’s been a long time, I remember when I used to dangle you on my knee.

If I have chosen to adopt this as my realID for 35 years, why would I permit a game company, A GAME COMPANY, to reveal my TrueID?

National ID

I have opposed on multiple occasions the introduction of a national ID in Oz, quite simply because if you need to know who I am, I will have already told you.

But at least that is in the name of national security and efficiency.

This is for a GAME COMPANY!

Policy Creep (or is that creepy policy)

When I first went to University, education was free and available to all Australians.

Foolishly I quit.

18 months later the government introduced a $400 per semester fee. I protested (even though I wasn’t studying at Uni at the time), but many people argued…

It’s only $400 and it will weed out those that don’t really want an education.

Now, in some cases it’s $5,000 per subject. This didn’t happen overnight, it crept, budget after budget.

Funding for Uni’s didn’t improve – it declined

It weeded people out. If you could afford it (whether you deserved it or not) you could study. If you couldn’t afford it… Well, why would we want to educate those people anyway, right?  They might have non-middleclass views that might jeopardize the rate at which we consume natural resources!

Blizzard’s ReadID is Creepy

1. Blizzard’s RealID is just to facilitate the communications between real friends (and let their friends see who you are) (which, ummm, I did already via “my own” communication network).
2. Now it’s to communicate with Blizzard.
3. Tomorrow it’s to integrate with Facebook
4. What’s next? So I can get a visa to travel to the U.S.A.?

Cancel tomorrow, wasted.
Cancel today, worthwhile.

As I said to Pie:

Why wait?

Do it now.

Let’s examine this.

Don’t cancel now.

• You can play until 20/8 until resubscribing.
• The change goes live
• In an after the fact act of disgust you let your account expire without Blizzard and Activision knowing how you feel.

You cancel now.

• You can play until 20/8 before reactivating your account if you so desire.
• The change goes live – whatever, you have already made your statement to blizzard and it’s shareholders.
• The change doesn’t go live – blizzard and the shareholders know you were serious and won’t accept this in the future AND you reinforce their positive behavior by resubbing.

Your opinion is heard now in the accounts/finance department, in the management reports, in the shareholder reports, or you accept the change by not acting.

If it takes them until cataclysm to change their mind and your account has been inactive, what have you lost?

Nothing!

You are $15 per month better off – go to the movies, play another game, whatever.

Your characters, achievements etc are all there, just waiting for the day that Blizzard wakes up from this nightmare.

Too little, too late

We didn’t protest the introduction of RealID strongly enough.

Now we have the creep.

How much creep can you handle before you quit, or can you stop the creep now and enjoy all of Blizzard products, present and future?

Snowy and Out!

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http://gnomeaggedon.net/2010/07/08/my-realid/

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.