Character name can't be hidden.

[Dallas]

So, the cyber-bully demanding I extract his vengence upon myself is somehow less pointless?

[Karbuncle]

Definition of a witch hunt is
"The term "witch-hunt" since the 1930s has also been in use as a metaphor to refer to moral panics in general (frantic persecution of perceived enemies). "

Isn't that what i said x.x? I guess I didn't draw attention to the term "Metaphor", But I was trying to describe it based on its roots "Attacking/Accusing/etc People due to panic and misinformation/Ignorance".

Either way, I'm relatively positive no one on BG is panicking to the point of religiously seeking out gimp players and metaphorically "hanging" them for it. Its nothing even remotely close to a Witch hunt, still >_>

[Elexia]

As I said, don't troll if you don't want to be caught when this goes live. Only reason to be crying about this.

[Daniel_Hatcher]

As I said, don't troll if you don't want to be caught when this goes live. Only reason to be crying about this.

Yup, exactly the case, people are only moaning because they troll, for shame...

Now sarcasm aside, don't be so deluded.

---

As for the "It's their character not yours debate" technically it is our character. We pay for it thus it is protected as a product we purchased. At least in the UK it is anyway.

[Elexia]

Yup, exactly the case, people are only moaning because they troll, for shame...

Now sarcasm aside, don't be so deluded.

---

As for the "It's their character not yours debate" technically it is our character. We pay for it thus it is protected as a product we purchased. At least in the UK it is anyway.

Deluded? Lol, unless it's going to display my real name, address, phone number, social security, bank accounts and blood type I'm pretty sure there's very little reason to be crying that people will know your character name.

Unless people cry in-game when they party with someone? Since they can see your character name too you know. Do people cry about FFXI-AH? There's truly zero concerns unless they're giving out real life information, which to my knowledge they aren't.

Thus why I say it's mainly people who like to troll are the only ones truly worried about it. Oh and just an FYI, you own nothing, actually read the EULA and ToS, you're basically "renting".

[RAIST]

therein lies the heart of some of the debate though...you aren't renting, you are paying for access to content, then if that content is denied to you due to the malicious action of a third party, who is entitled to damages and who is responsible for compensation of those damages. It just spins round and round.

Then there is the whole debate over what is created by the company versus what is created by the player. You name your avatar. You select how it looks--both by choosing racial features and equipment. Certain aspects of that avatars appearance and how it interacts with it's surroundings are not entirely dictated by the company, but more so by the player.

There is a LOT of gray area, and a lot of wiggle room. There is case precedent for considering EULA's null and void due to the fact you are not made aware of that EULA until AFTER purchasing the software and opening, voiding your right to return it--details that in some jurisdictions are legally required to be established before any financial transactions are made, or any financial agreement for future payments can be signed.

Virtual Property rights are simply in limbo, and until something more definitive is on the books, companies should air more on the side of protecting the player's interests on such matters....but that isn't the case most of the time. What is so annoying about this is that one of their own services allows you to hide most all your info, or publish only certain portions of it--even allws you to restrict whether it is openly published to all, or just registered users. Just how far will they go with it?

What is ruffling the feathers so much isn't necessarily the issue of WHAT is being displayed. There is also issue with the tactic they are using--on one of their community sites, they are forcing you to display character specific information (regardless what it is) to participate, while on another one of their community sites they allow you to opt out of displaying it with no penalty to participation. Regardless of whether you feel they have the rights to display the info, why do they let you opt out on one hand, then force you on the other?

[Darkshade]

It's going to be sad if this stops people posting, quite a few will indeed stop using these forums if this is forced on your main character. It will be even more of a problem for JP players I would think.

I cant think of a single FFXI forum that forces you to associate and publicly show your ingame account to post, it's pretty stupid. Hell I'd be scared to say anything bad about the GMs or customer service after they add this..

What are you using a seperate Square Enix account than your Play Online account just for logging in? If not, it's not like GMs can't already see that.

Guys I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of this. Plenty of MMOs do this, and it's how posting is setup on FFXIAH and no one has a problem with it. If you're too afraid of linking your main character, link a mule. It probably isn't even required anyway.

[Runespider]

Plenty of MMOs do this, and it's how posting is setup on FFXIAH and no one has a problem with it.

I don't post on XIAH because of that, I'm sure many others don't. There are also quite a lot of anon accounts on there.

[katz]

I dont use FFXIAH because there are anon accounts and because people dont actually play the game anymore but use it as a social network. At best the information is out of date and serves little purpose.

[Khiinroye]

There is also issue with the tactic they are using--on one of their community sites, they are forcing you to display character specific information (regardless what it is) to participate, while on another one of their community sites they allow you to opt out of displaying it with no penalty to participation.

The ls community site makes displays your character name, world, and linkshell, at the minimum. I would think that knowing your linkshell would make it easier to find information on you than knowing 1 to 3 of your job levels.

Edit: It also shows your job/subjob level on the last reading, shell type (pearl, sack, shell), Character race/gender, nation of allegiance, rank, and title, none of which can be hidden. Well, I guess this site will actually show less information for participating.