Last night I saw that Gnomeaggedon had cancelled his account over RealID. While an extreme reaction, and something that I am not prepared to do as I think that it is somewhat knee-jerk, it’s his choice to do so. But while I was reading his post, something really bothered me. I’ll quote it here for you all:
“… Now when I am sick I either need to go to work, or provide a doctors certificate (even though that is not the company policy), because as a known WoW player it is assumed that I at at home playing WoW.
When I work from home (as my role permits) I am required to provide an detailed timeline of my activities (unlike other non-WoW (or declared WoW) players.
When I take my allotted holidays, I get asked whether I am taking the time to sit in front of the PC – “Are you really flying interstate.. show me the tickets”…”
I’m really shocked at this. Blown away even. On the level of, are you fucking kidding me shocked. I’m sorry bro, but can you be any more pathetic? You don’t need to quit WoW over realID, you need to quit your boss. Or at the very least stand up for yourself. You’re not standing up for yourself by quitting WoW for the reasons that you gave. You’re running away and hiding, on what I can only assume has been a continual process. As only you are required to provide a detailed timeline when working from home, and no other employees, what you are saying is that your company has no trust in you, and instead of standing up for yourself you just blithely accept this. Show me the tickets when you go on holiday?? Are you out of your fucking mind?
All over the internets yesterday I saw the same thing written; videogamers are looked down upon, and this RealID thing will cause people to find out about our secret shamefull life. This is not the reason to be jacked off about RealID. The reason to be jacked off about RealID is because, as Gevlon has said this morning, it is the next step in Blizzards way for us to boost moron players at our own expense. This is Blizzards aim to have RealID. Their aim was not for the entire world to find out that you play videogames. That is an unintended consequence. But for us it is an opportunity. An opportunity to stand up for yourself, for fucks sake.
Ask your co-workers today what they do in their free time. Maybe you’ll discover that one likes fishing. So ask him how much time he spends on fishing, when he fishes, why he does it, how much money he spends on it. Show some interest in his fishing hobby. And then perhaps he’ll do you the same courtesy and ask you what you do in your free time.
And at this point you all need to fucking stand up for youselves and tell them that you play video games. And if you can’t do that then go back to roleplaying in Goldshire and trying to convince yourself that you’re in control of your life.
The Noisy Rogue 
July 8, 2010 at 8:06 am
Stand up for ourselves? I am sorry, but if you and gevlon claim that you cannot change the decisions of a private company such as Blizzard, what makes you think you will be able to change the entire perception of society? I really think that changing the former is much easier.
Employers want workaholics, full stop. I play games to relax, not to make them a copy of real life (that is Gevlon’s approach).
Boycott does work, as long as it is well orchestrated, did I cancel my account? Not yet, did I cancel all my preorders from Blizzard? Oh yes. Will I cancel my account if RealID is made compulsory? Of course.
July 8, 2010 at 8:22 am
The only way to change society is one person at a time. If you keep hiding what you do like it’s something to be ashamed of, then things will never change, ever. Why the hell should i apologize for playing games to a guy that wastes half his salary on say drinking or online poker. ‘Cause i’m not as cool as he is? I call bullshit!
I don’t mind the RealID in-game. Heck, i don’t even mind it in the forums, but i get why others do. “My hobby is shameful” is not a valid reason!
July 8, 2010 at 9:42 am
I suppose it all comes down to what’s more important. Maximising your career prospects and keeping certain aspects of your private life private, or attempting to change society’s view of videogames one person at a time to the detriment of your career.
I certanly know what’s more important to me and my family.
July 8, 2010 at 2:07 pm
Bingo, Gabbatron. As I mentioned in my blog post yesterday, this isn’t voting rights or marriage laws we’re fighting for – it’s a change in the court of public opinion. Certainly not worth my standing up and making a big deal out of it when I can fill my time with plenty of other video games out there that don’t require me to link to Facebook – which is exactly where this is headed.
Which, by the way, if you think WoW has been dumbed down recently, just wait until Blizzard is heavily courting the FarmVille demographic as RealID progresses. They’re on the path to World of FarmVille.
July 8, 2010 at 8:16 am
Two questions:
1. Do you have a job?
2. Does your boss know you are playing WoW?
Thanks.
July 8, 2010 at 8:33 am
I work as a rafting guide, I own a bar, I translate, and I teach English in high schools in Italy. This winter with one of my classes we worked on how to design your own video game. With another class we worked on a class blog, based on my talking about this blog. I had some cool discussions with other teachers in the staff room when they heard about the projects.
But in all of my jobs, either I am the boss, or my boss is not the type of person to even consider that I could not be trusted to effectively do my job based on what I do in my free time. This does not make me lucky. I purposefully worked to be in the position that I am, because I will not put up with, even for a moment, the sort of attitude from an employer that Gnomerggaden it suffering.
July 8, 2010 at 3:25 pm
We’re not all in the position of “being our own boss”. Most people with jobs have to answer to someone who was on the high school football team before atari was a glimmer in someone’s eye.
July 8, 2010 at 7:54 pm
I’m sorry, did you miss the bit where I mentioned that I TEACH IN SCHOOLS? Not my own boss there.
July 9, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Thanks for the answer.
Your answer (and the answer of arleff below, for which I thank him) explains it.
You won’t put up with a boss who’d see the fact that you play WoW in negative light. I’d also give it to you that such bosses are not very good ones. Good.
That said, you can’t deny that the world is full of such bosses. Your experience might be different from mine, but of all the jobs that I had / was interviewed for / heard of from my friends and colleagues, maybe 10% would see WoW as a non-factor. I am not saying that’s an immediate show-stopper, but it is a factor, a negative one, and more often than not a big one.
I canceled my account as well. My real life is much more important than WoW and I don’t want to handicap myself.
That’s it.
July 9, 2010 at 3:46 pm
Damn, I miss the Edit button. Sorry for all the language gaffes above.
July 8, 2010 at 1:48 pm
I have a job as a manager in a fairly large company (1300+ employees).
My boss knows I play WoW and have done so for years, he has no interest in it all.
I have recently been promoted with all the interviewing procedure being done through HR.
Of far more interest to the company than my gaming was my performance and my ability to do the job.
I’m always on time, I can be relied on to do extra when the shit hits the fan, I’ve had one sick day in 7 years. The team I manage produces very good results, we work well together.
If a gamer has a poor work performance and finds they aren’t getting treated as well at work as they would like, its not down to the gaming – its down to the effect it has on their performance at work.
I’m far from convinced there is an army of gamers discriminated against because they are gamers. I find it far more likely there are a number of gamers who slack a bit at work and then use the ‘gamer’ tag as an excuse for their failure to get success in the workplace.
I have had to deal with staff in the past who wouldn’t appear on a Monday if their favourite football team was playing on a Sunday due to them having a ‘few’ beers after the match. There were no issues with them being football fans, the issues were with them being unable to perform their duties properly on a Monday along with the absenteeism and the fact it gave all the team who did show up a heavier workload.
Companies expect a level of performance in return for the salary they pay. If your gaming prohibits you from providing that level of performance then either find another job or accept you need to tone down the gaming in order to provide the performance.
This isn’t rocket science here, its a basic lifestyle choice.
I also don’t buy that the gnome in question is being fully honest with us over the treatment his manager is dishing out. I’m not sure what the employment laws are in his country, but in the UK if he has to provide doctors lines when others don’t and there is no reason for this other than him being a gamer then if I was his manager I’d be in court on the wrong end of a Constructive Dismissal tribunal claim with my boss seriously kicking my ass for breaking the law in such a stupid manner. Of course if our gnome already has a history of absenteeism then his boss has just cause…. Back to the individual’s performance rather than the individual being a gamer.
July 8, 2010 at 6:37 pm
Thank god you wrote that, I was starting to think that I was losing my mind.
July 9, 2010 at 2:22 pm
Well, I’m currently serving in the military and we’ve had quite a bit of trouble with “Gamers” as a whole so now everyone has a bad taste in their mouth about it and people like me who follow up after the fact are treated with caution because they assume we will be the same. Not every place is biased like this but you have to accept the fact that many are and they will continue to be.
July 8, 2010 at 8:55 am
Warcraft is an addictive game (I speak as an addict). I don’t think it’s unreasonable for a company which employs addicts to take special measures to ensure that these employees are pulling their weight.
July 8, 2010 at 9:18 am
Game “addiction” is not real addiction and stuff like that does not apply. It’s a hobby like any other and it should not be threated any differently.
Your boss does not own you and has no right to discriminate against you in such a way. Your performance at work is what matters, not what you do in your spare time.
July 8, 2010 at 11:58 am
The nature of what is a real addiction is interesting and beyond the scope of this blog. For example – do you think that addiction to gambling is not a “real” addiction? Or addiction to cannabis (which is not chemically addictive afaik although I am not a doctor)?
In any event, I agree with your comment “Your performance at work is what matters”. This is right, and since you are engaged in an addictive activity (even if you yourself are not an addict), I think it’s not unreasonable that your employer might want to take extra care that you are actually working when you are being paid to do so.
July 28, 2010 at 6:25 am
I agree that “game addiction” isn’t a real addiction. I have never gone into withdraw from not playing wow for a week. Wow doesn’t slowly dissolve my septum and I have NEVER had to give out handjobs for 15 bucks a month to play. The addiction to wow is all in your head, because unlike say, crack, if you just suddenly stop playing the side effects are 15 dollars a month more in your pocket, more free time, and maybe getting out of the house. Not the shakes. The boss at my job might know I am a gamer, I get hyper every august since I live in the same town Gen Con is held. Not that it ever comes up. I just do my job, get my check, and use my vacation time to dress as a wizard. That’s all anyone can do.
July 8, 2010 at 9:27 am
Ok, there are three different issues here: Anonymity, privacy and game design. I do not care about the second one, I care a lot about the second and I care about the third one.
All these three are being mixed and put in the same pot. They have to be differentiated in the conversations.
Should your employer worry about you playing games -No-. Will it, if they have an HR dept I can assure you they will.
Can we change the perception of society, yes, but, it is going to take a long time (one generation I should say)
July 8, 2010 at 9:50 am
I don’t know. I think that first off I know a lot of “gamers”, so I never feel looked down upon because I play games. Maybe it’s because I am a chick, so these days it’s still somewhat of a novelty to people (even though it’s not that uncommon anymore really). I myself hate this whole RealID mess they’re brewing up because I don’t feel like I should have to pay for use of Blizzard’s gaming community with private information. That’s more invasive than facebook, which doesn’t even bill you :s
Also, different people are in different situations. Do people deserve to put up with tyrannical, unnecessarily invasive bosses? No, they really don’t, but the sad fact of the matter is a lot of people can’t AFFORD to stand up for themselves. It costs them and their families their livelihood sometimes, it’s unfair but that’s how things can be. Given how difficult it can be for some to land a job these days I can see why they put up with things they have no business putting up with. Me, I can afford to just drift between jobs or maybe not even have one at all when I feel like it, or at a moment’s notice declare how unfair a situation is and just leave. Not everyone has the same opportunities open to them all the time.
July 8, 2010 at 10:37 am
thats the point… adam you maybe your own boss or whatever but for me its not so good.
wow is like smoking pot…
smoking pot=taking heroin=junkie
wow=killergame=potential person running amok
thats what its all about here in germany. playing videogames is something bad cause of the media. just let the next idiot go postal at his school and it starts all over again…
you are some freak sitting in the dark playing pornographic or ultraviolent shit who maybe some lunatic satanic murder.
lucky me i dont listen to rock music…
July 8, 2010 at 11:12 am
I disagree with you Adam.
In the corporate world where all the good paying jobs at big firms have literally thousands of applicants, even the slightest thing off the norm can get your CV thrown into the garbage bin.
And its not the boss who does the filtering, its usually Human Resouces who are usually cool freindly (useless) people.
Wow is popular enough that everyone know it is time consuming and as a player you run the risk of not giving that 110% because you game.
Hell, I wouldn’t hire a wow player myself tbh.
July 8, 2010 at 12:29 pm
“Hell, I wouldn’t hire a wow player myself tbh.”
I don’t know what to say to you.
July 8, 2010 at 12:57 pm
“In the corporate world where all the good paying jobs at big firms have literally thousands of applicants, even the slightest thing off the norm can get your CV thrown into the garbage bin.”
Completely agree with Okrane and he’s hit the nail on the head.
Before I played wow but my children did I made fun of it, I stated that I couldn’t see myself playing a game like that, I didn’t see the point.
And before the sanctimonious day dreamers start to tell me I can change the world one step at a time, I just have to be brave and take the first step. I don’t want to change the fucking world I just want to play wow in private, on my own time, without having to explain or justify it to a world that doesn’t get it yet.
July 8, 2010 at 1:15 pm
100% agree
July 8, 2010 at 1:20 pm
ok, now I’ve dried my tears and blown my nose I’ve had a look at Gevlon’s post that Adam linked.
Do yourself a favour, go and have a look, it’s the answer.
July 8, 2010 at 6:35 pm
I was gonna pass you a tissue.
July 8, 2010 at 2:34 pm
completely in agreement with Okrane, Chewy, et.al., with a little something extra to point out: not everyone has the luxury of immediately telling their boss to fuck off and keep his nose out of their free time. they may be working toward that happy day, but today they gots them bills to pay and a family to support, and the economies of most countries in NA/EU are rapidly going to shit.
It’s easy for you or Gevlon to say ‘we’re not gonna take it, no we’re not gonna take it…’, because you’re already ‘there’.
but not everyone’s ‘there’ yet. and they don’t want any monkey wrenches thrown into their shit while they’re busting their asses to get ‘there’
i agree, it’s not fair for your boss to base your career opportunities on whether or not you play those newfangled videogames in your free time. but on the other hand…
‘fair’? kids these days… ‘fair’
*shakes head disbelievingly*
July 8, 2010 at 7:34 pm
I agree with you, I was also shocked when I read that part of the post. Don’t most companies have HR departments or unions or something to protect the rights of workers? Aren’t there government agencies who also do this type of thing? You can’t be treated differently because of your hobbies (at least not where I live).
An employer asking for proof of what you’re doing on your vacation time? Seriously? The answer to this does not have to be telling your boss to fuck off (though it would probably be my response), a refusal to answer would be just fine. The fact that you play video games does not give people the right to invade your privacy and discriminate against you. I understand that some people are out of touch and think all people who play video games are slackers but thinking those things and being allowed to act on them are two different things.
July 9, 2010 at 3:52 pm
It doesn’t matter whether people thinking that you are a bad worker because you play WoW are right or wrong. What matters is that they do think so.
If we talked about something like free speech, I could see myself taking a stand against the public opinion. But doing that for a video game?? No, not worth it.
July 8, 2010 at 9:29 pm
It’s later in the day and I have my more somber head on.
I respect the people who want to change the world, I admire their enthusiasm. “Tell them to sod off, I play wow and what’s it got to do with you” well perhaps you have the time yet to make mistakes and recover.
I’ve spent many years developing my career and I work in a very cut throat environment. Anything that can be used against me will be and I’m not about to give the competitors any chances whatsoever.
Jasyla asked if there are HR departments and unions to protect the workers rights. Well there are certainly HR departments, but their direct role is to make people redundant, reduce costs. Everything else is offshored to the cheapest supplier frontended with a website and a ticketing system. If you rely upon them to save you you may as well believe that the airplane life jacket is going to save you when you hit the water from 25,000 feet. It won’t be the drowning that you have to worry about.
The management structure is designed only to benefit the individuals, while allegedly serving the company goal.
I may sound bitter, but I’m not, I’m realistic. I too play the game.
…and that is why I want to protect any soft underbelly. Morally or philosophically it may not be right, but it’s the way it is.
Read George Orwell,he understood the way the machine worked. Fighting the system rarely works ask Winston and Julia.
July 9, 2010 at 6:04 pm
George Orwell died in 1950. 60 years on much has changed, maybe not as much as we would like but still dramatic changes nonetheless. In the UK, amongst other major changes is the Health & Safety at Work Act of 1974 and the various updates it has received since then. I’m pretty sure Orwell would not have been able to imagine such an act becoming law and been unable to believe the differences that such an act could make to the workplace.
1984 is a phenomenal book, but isn’t truly relevant to today’s scoiety.
I don’t know of any HR departments who decide to make people redundant. Instead their role is to ensure when someone else senior in the company has already made that decision that the process is carried out legally. Blaming HR staff for redundancies is a classic case of shooting the mesenger.
Some people misguidedly believe the HR dept is there to protect the individual employees. It’s not, it’s there solely to protect the company (Hell, who pays their wages after all?) and ensure they behave legally in any maner of employer/employee law.
A large number of UK companies are turning away from foreign call centres as the service levels are poor and customers are voting with their feet. If you pay peanuts you get monkeys, if those monkeys start costing you more revenue in loss of business than they are saving by being cheap they won’t be around for long.
Cutting cost will always be important to any company, as otherwise the consumer (i.e. all of use here) just end up paying more for goods and services. They are companies, not charities, they have profit expectations to justify shareholder investment. Nobody likes redundancies, but nobody likes paying more than they have to for goods either.
I expect the company I work for to make the maximum profit return they can even if it is at my personal expense. The old cliche of ‘its not personal, its just business’ springs to mind. That’s why I believe if the best candidate for a role is a gamer s/he will get that role. I also believe a number of people will believe they didn’t get a role ‘because they are a gamer’ when the simple truth (but harder to accept) was someone else was better suited for it.
July 10, 2010 at 8:47 am
My last comment referencing Orwell was merely a way of illustrating the principle that fighting the machine doesn’t always work.
You’re quite right the HR departments enact the management decisions; they don’t make their own decisions which is why it was relatively easy to offshore them. Speaking of which, there is some trend to bring call centres back into country by UK companies, but that isn’t so for multinational companies who have made massive investments overseas and are only now seeing the returns.
I could go on but the thread is moving away from its original subject matter. It will be interesting to see how Blizzard’s strategy (or tactic perhaps?) plays out in the fullness of time.
July 9, 2010 at 7:47 am
Reading chewies comments makes me feel like such a noob. See I came to wow from knighthood on facebook, where my enemies (yes I had them, some very personal) not only knew my name, they had a picture of my face and through the use of ip trackers knew where I lived. Never bothered me I still dungeoned their family if I could. My boss plays wow. I play wow. most people I work with play call of duty. No one cares. I have never in the slighest wondered or worried that it would ever be a possiabilty that anyone would look down on me for being a gamer. Hard core heroin addict? thief? local police informer? maybe but playing your pc/console on your free time? nah. reading the above post makes me wonder if the world I live in is real? Cos I dont recognise his as reality
July 9, 2010 at 7:58 am
I don’t think you’re a noob. It’s just different people’s environments and circumstances.
One size doesn’t fit all.
July 9, 2010 at 3:21 pm
[…] at The Noisy Rogue has suggested that this is an opportunity for gamers to come out of the closet so to speak, […]
July 9, 2010 at 7:04 pm
update: seems like blizzard’s backed down on the issue. (or just kicked activision corporate out of the decision making process)
http://www.wow.com/2010/07/09/mike-morhaime-real-names-will-not-be-required-on-official-forum/
July 10, 2010 at 2:15 pm
[…] spawned a debate at the Noisy Rogue. I don’t know what the laws are like in Australia but in the UK no company could get away […]