...is it sad that my main reaction here is "Oh, thank god, now I have a completely JUSTIFIED reason to avoid going to the Starcraft official forums!"
All in all, it appears to be a really, really stupid move, but...well. As schadenfreude-tastic as this is, at least one particular point here is valid, however horrific a move this is from a business point of view.
Don't want your info posted? Don't use the official forums. There's already dozens of unofficial forums that Blizzard has no real say over, in part BECAUSE of the reputation their official forums has that they're trying to avoid. This just adds another reason why people will avoid them. If this were something needed to play the game? I could see the massive uproar. As it is, I see cause for a major facepalming. But really, common sense disarms the danger. If one cafe where you go to chat with your friends put armed bear traps in their front entryway, would you give up coffee? No, you go down the street to the next cafe.
I don't particularly mourn people leaving WoW, but I find the degree of "this is the last straw!"-ness rather impressive for something that has no actual effect on the game. It's more a "geeze, Blizzard, that was stuuuuupid" moment than anything else.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
All in all, it appears to be a really, really stupid move, but...well. As schadenfreude-tastic as this is, at least one particular point here is valid, however horrific a move this is from a business point of view.
Don't want your info posted? Don't use the official forums. There's already dozens of unofficial forums that Blizzard has no real say over, in part BECAUSE of the reputation their official forums has that they're trying to avoid. This just adds another reason why people will avoid them. If this were something needed to play the game? I could see the massive uproar. As it is, I see cause for a major facepalming. But really, common sense disarms the danger. If one cafe where you go to chat with your friends put armed bear traps in their front entryway, would you give up coffee? No, you go down the street to the next cafe.
I don't particularly mourn people leaving WoW, but I find the degree of "this is the last straw!"-ness rather impressive for something that has no actual effect on the game. It's more a "geeze, Blizzard, that was stuuuuupid" moment than anything else.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."