I wrote earlier today about how I was recently banned from the Diablo 3 Beta for making literally 11,000 gold per hour, as well as taking advantage of a secret strategy for obtaining materials. I assumed that this was the reason for the automatic ban, because there was no possible way for Blizzard to have conducted a "thorough investigation" since I had only played the beta for a few days. Today I received confirmation that my use of the tools Blizzard provides every player were considered exploitative of the Diablo 3 Beta economy. I have been asked to tell customer support about my ideas for making gold or real money BEFORE trying them in the retail version of the game.

So how is the view from way up here? It’s great actually -- we’re really happy with how Cataclysm is going so far, and we have big surprises on the horizon. On the other hand, there are details you can see at ground level that you can’t make out from 10,000 feet.

When we started these blogs, the idea was to foster developer communication to the players without some of the inherent problems of posting in forums. Some players have pointed out recently, and we totally agree, that the blogs up until now have been from a very high vantage point. We looked for topics with universal interest that would feel important and newsworthy. That has worked overall, but we also feel like we’ve lost something from when I used to be down in the metaphorical trenches talking to players in the forums.

These forums have always been about players talking to players. We don't want to foster the expectation that it's going to get a blue response if someone tries hard enough (lol I'm replying to a thread calling for a blue). While GC added a lot to these forums (and I say 'these forums' because he only posted in the North America forums) we think we can reach more players, particularly those in other regions, more directly through the blogs, or concerted Q&A's. Blogs also tend to be a better medium for getting the message out there loud and clear, but does have downsides that it removes the conversation that we know is appreciated quite a bit.

Manchmal muss man die User einfach überraschen: #communitymanagement #blizzard #epic

Blizzard announced that they will be requiring anyone who posts on their Starcraft II and World of Warcraft forums to use their real first and last name, as identified by their account details.  Naturally, people are up in arms about this.  MMORPG forums are not the place for real life identities, it’s not for establishing relationships, or rekindling friendships with people you already know.

Of course, there are naysayers.  People are claiming that anyone who is vehemently opposed to the Real ID change are doing so by “fear mongering” or “blowing things out of proportion”.  Saying things like “this is no big deal”, or “this is the internet, you have no privacy anyway”.

Oh yeah?