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from what I understand these screen shots were taken from the beta, and that these watermarks are simply a way for blizzard to track people who break the NDA.
Surely someone are Destructoid plays wow and can take an in game screen shot to verify.. i mean that is what you are right? journalists? Or is passing along info provided to a public forum where people have been known to lie just for "karma"
Surely someone are Destructoid plays wow and can take an in game screen shot to verify.. i mean that is what you are right? journalists? Or is passing along info provided to a public forum where people have been known to lie just for "karma"
@Silverx2
"They have found evidence of this watermarking from as early as 2008."
Maybe try reading before you play the shitty journalist card.
"They have found evidence of this watermarking from as early as 2008."
Maybe try reading before you play the shitty journalist card.
No big deal. All the info supposedly available is already freely available anyway. Character name and realm? You can find that on blizzard's own armory or other wow related sites.
Well, can't say I can tell how this'll pan out, but I can at least sorta understand why they might do this.
Kinda surprised no one figured this out over 4 years on such a popular game. Makes me wonder about how many other games are doing this that we don't know about? Could consoles do this?
Was there something in the TOS that permits this? Another reason TOS and laws around them need to be seriously be discussed/reformed.
Was there something in the TOS that permits this? Another reason TOS and laws around them need to be seriously be discussed/reformed.
Oh, and I'm also pretty sure the ip address is supposed to be the Server's ip address and not the user's ip
I read this story yesterday and I'm just still confused why this is a big deal.
Who really cares if someone knows my character name and what world I play on? They could get that kind of information from, oh, I don't know, logging into the game.
Who really cares if someone knows my character name and what world I play on? They could get that kind of information from, oh, I don't know, logging into the game.
Try reading the fine print on the phone apps you install.
They can read your texts, read your phone contacts list, scan when you get phone calls and from whom. I'm not talking about the phone company, I'm meaning the app creator.
The only defense against getting hacked is for you yourself to be prepared as best you can. Learn how, and do it.
They can read your texts, read your phone contacts list, scan when you get phone calls and from whom. I'm not talking about the phone company, I'm meaning the app creator.
The only defense against getting hacked is for you yourself to be prepared as best you can. Learn how, and do it.
"The secret watermark which is being intentionally embedded inside WoW generated screenshots below top quality, DOES NOT CONTAIN the account password, the IP address of the user or any personal information like name/surname etc. It does contain the account ID, a timestamp and the IP address of the current realm. It can be used by hackers to link alt. characters to accounts and target specific spam or scam attacks, and it can be used by Blizzard to track down private WoW servers."
I think this people are really exaggerating and creating unnecesary alarm. This is information is already available on the Armory and almost any related fansite that uses the WoW Web API.
I have a library of screenshots of all my 10 characters. This library is more thatn 4 years old. How many times I've been targeted for scams, pishing, whatever? Never.
I think this people are really exaggerating and creating unnecesary alarm. This is information is already available on the Armory and almost any related fansite that uses the WoW Web API.
I have a library of screenshots of all my 10 characters. This library is more thatn 4 years old. How many times I've been targeted for scams, pishing, whatever? Never.
@Nakedest You mean the year Wrath of the lich king came out?
Where those screen shots with data from the WOLK beta?
Destructoid could easily clear up a lot of questions, I would go so far as to say its kind of in their job description, to verify rumors(which this is)
Do any of you play wow? I don't at the moment(its been years) why doesn't someone go in game and take a screen shot and then see if its watermarked.
Where those screen shots with data from the WOLK beta?
Destructoid could easily clear up a lot of questions, I would go so far as to say its kind of in their job description, to verify rumors(which this is)
Do any of you play wow? I don't at the moment(its been years) why doesn't someone go in game and take a screen shot and then see if its watermarked.
Like others, I'm wondering why anyone would be upset with this... unless they were stupid enough to post screenshots of themselves glitching or griefing... in which case they deserve what they get.
@Silver
Blizzard doesn't have their beta testers sign NDAS, and actually encourages streaming and screenshots.
Blizzard doesn't have their beta testers sign NDAS, and actually encourages streaming and screenshots.
Well I don't see the problem really is not like your credit card information is there or something. And there is creepy stuff everywhere this days, like steam scanning your installed programs to see what you use your pc for.
Even if this is legit for all screen shots that are taken, let me get this straight...
So it records how the photo taker is (your account name), the realm your on taking the pic, and the time it was taken.
I seem to remember digital cameras, and even so older ones doing something rather fucking similar when taking real life photos.
For all intents and purposes it's a time stamp, with no secure personal information involved. Why do people freak out about this? "Blizzard didn't tell me everything it was doing, I feel so betrayed." Dear lord people.
So it records how the photo taker is (your account name), the realm your on taking the pic, and the time it was taken.
I seem to remember digital cameras, and even so older ones doing something rather fucking similar when taking real life photos.
For all intents and purposes it's a time stamp, with no secure personal information involved. Why do people freak out about this? "Blizzard didn't tell me everything it was doing, I feel so betrayed." Dear lord people.
Googled OwnedCore...and this is their website description...
OwnedCore has the latest World of Warcraft and MMO news, bots, hacks, and exploits!
OwnedCore has the latest World of Warcraft and MMO news, bots, hacks, and exploits!
To everyone saying this isn't a problem:
The data that's in there isn't a big deal (could be wrong on that, there's interesting ways to combine data. Where and when the screenshot was posted, etc)
The big deal is the fact they didn't tell you.
The data that's in there isn't a big deal (could be wrong on that, there's interesting ways to combine data. Where and when the screenshot was posted, etc)
The big deal is the fact they didn't tell you.
Ive always seen Dtoid more of a gaming blogger community than a gaming news website, so I wouldnt say its their "job" to do it IMO... Not that it would have been difficult, as Im sure theres at least one staff who plays WoW.
But yeh I dont see the big deal about the info in the screens, but I DO see the big deal about Blizzard not telling its players that they were doing it. This is the sort of reason why I no longer play WoW, not because of the gameplay itself.
But yeh I dont see the big deal about the info in the screens, but I DO see the big deal about Blizzard not telling its players that they were doing it. This is the sort of reason why I no longer play WoW, not because of the gameplay itself.
@sqlrob
Agian, who cares?
Are you also bothered that they don't tell you they provide readily available API's that provide the exact same information to anyone that wants it?
Seriously, it isn't a big deal in any way at all. This affects you in no way so it really doesn't matter if they tell you or not.
Agian, who cares?
Are you also bothered that they don't tell you they provide readily available API's that provide the exact same information to anyone that wants it?
Seriously, it isn't a big deal in any way at all. This affects you in no way so it really doesn't matter if they tell you or not.
@sqlrob:
Read your TOS again. They did tell you, just not exactly that the screenshots contained this info. They told you they could use methods to detect if you were cheating or breaking the TOS. How did you assume they would do this detection? What limits did you assume it to have?
Read your TOS again. They did tell you, just not exactly that the screenshots contained this info. They told you they could use methods to detect if you were cheating or breaking the TOS. How did you assume they would do this detection? What limits did you assume it to have?
advice is to not use the official screenshotting tool but use another program to make your screenshots.
it's hard to believe this game only came out in 2004, has it really been that long? Vanilla WoW was so fun to explore...sigh. Now i can't stand to look at the game and it's art style, and I used to love the way it looked.
opinions change, i suppose. Not surprised that Blizzard has added this to it's catalogue of questionable practices and decisions.
opinions change, i suppose. Not surprised that Blizzard has added this to it's catalogue of questionable practices and decisions.
Dale seriously, your choice of source on this is dubious at best - they have a fucking ad on the front page for a bot program. And it's not even a banner, it's in the fucking updates for the site. As in, the writer for the site put it there themselves. Couple that with the fact that this is a security measure that doesn't affect legit end-users in any way and well...I don't see why this is something as horrible as you/they say.
Was it really a secret, or was it in the EULA that no one really reads?
I mean, really, half the shit people could say Blizzard/Activision call nefarious is covered in the agreement we all sign, usually in some sort of confusing lawyer speak.
@Silverx2
All the information is really included in the sited source, if you really even cared to read that. You'd also see it says:
"Update: A lot of people are asking how we managed to decode the watermark pattern. Well it took a lot of teamwork, which you can find in the next pages here, and we came up with two source codes which successfully read the pattern data"
So, really, even if D-toid were going to dig deeper into this nonsense -nonsense they really aren't even calling a big deal (if you notice he wasn't making a huge thing out of it, just said to pull your screens if you're weird about security), most journalists/bloggers/people aren't going to have the know-how to manage to read/decode what they've found.
The most anyone COULD do with this is ask Blizzard/Activision for a comment on it, which will probably lead to being denied/a waste of time. But since no vital info is given, who the hell cares? Its not like we're paying to read this site or anything.
Also, if you play the game (which it doesn't sound like..) and care so much, the source also tells you how to find the watermark.. Have at it and verify it yourself. Nothings stopping you.
@Elsa
Some people are weird enough to be bothered even this little amount of info is out there like this, without their knowledge.
Plus, surely someone will come out and start spouting some unsubstantiated claim/conspiracy theory that this is just the start of something far worse and we should all wear tin-foil hats.
Most of us though, we really probably couldn't care less about this.
I mean, really, half the shit people could say Blizzard/Activision call nefarious is covered in the agreement we all sign, usually in some sort of confusing lawyer speak.
@Silverx2
All the information is really included in the sited source, if you really even cared to read that. You'd also see it says:
"Update: A lot of people are asking how we managed to decode the watermark pattern. Well it took a lot of teamwork, which you can find in the next pages here, and we came up with two source codes which successfully read the pattern data"
So, really, even if D-toid were going to dig deeper into this nonsense -nonsense they really aren't even calling a big deal (if you notice he wasn't making a huge thing out of it, just said to pull your screens if you're weird about security), most journalists/bloggers/people aren't going to have the know-how to manage to read/decode what they've found.
The most anyone COULD do with this is ask Blizzard/Activision for a comment on it, which will probably lead to being denied/a waste of time. But since no vital info is given, who the hell cares? Its not like we're paying to read this site or anything.
Also, if you play the game (which it doesn't sound like..) and care so much, the source also tells you how to find the watermark.. Have at it and verify it yourself. Nothings stopping you.
@Elsa
Some people are weird enough to be bothered even this little amount of info is out there like this, without their knowledge.
Plus, surely someone will come out and start spouting some unsubstantiated claim/conspiracy theory that this is just the start of something far worse and we should all wear tin-foil hats.
Most of us though, we really probably couldn't care less about this.
"The big issue here isn't the data, but with Blizzard somehow forgetting to tell players that their data is shown in these watermarks. "
its in the TOS and EULA. go read it.
its in the TOS and EULA. go read it.
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