In the latest podcast Stephen Reid makes a mention of the biochem nerf. Part of the decision on that was based on reading chat logs where people were excluded from pugs because they didn't have biochem.

 

Now, what jumps up and grabs me is the topic of Bioware reading over chat logs.

 

I have personally had several private conversations in MMOs over the years. The idea of any company, as a matter of course reading those private conversations just astounds me.

the devs play the game aswell. reading what someone puts in general isn't hard to read.

Yeah, this would bother me a little. Anyone have a link to a transcript?

Of course they can read anything we write. It would be silly to assume they can't. DO they read everything? Probably not, but I am sure they could if they wanted to.

Yeah, this would bother me a little. Anyone have a link to a transcript?

 

Thread here

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=239418

There is no privacy at all in online games.

The companies reserve the rights to read the chat logs, and even to hand them over to the authorities in case that would be nessessary.

 

(But CSR and other staff usually does not have the time to do so idly, and using the tools without a ticket at hand is a very big NONO and leads to immediate actions against the soon to be ex-employee.)

uh oh people are worried about their cyber affairs being on public display.

Plus, you should be well aware that they have the right to moderate all chat - even if it is whispers.

Of course they can read anything we write. It would be silly to assume they can't. DO they read everything? Probably not, but I am sure they could if they wanted to.

 

Google can read any of your emails. They don't though for privacy reasons.

 

I have had conversations with guild mates who have split from husbands/wives, lost family members - all sorts of things. Those are private conversations - not public domain chatter to be sifted through as routine.

They parse them, and in most MMOs you agreed to it (like WoW f.e.).

 

No privacy in MMOs A friend of mine worked as a GM at Blizzard. You dont want to know

In the latest podcast Stephen Reid makes a mention of the biochem nerf. Part of the decision on that was based on reading chat logs where people were excluded from pugs because they didn't have biochem.

 

Now, what jumps up and grabs me is the topic of Bioware reading over chat logs.

 

I have personally had several private conversations in MMOs over the years. The idea of any company, as a matter of course reading those private conversations just astounds me.

 

Did he say party chat logs or like chat logs in General Chat? A lot of MMO companies do have the power to check over chat logs. Why? Mostly when someone gets harassed they have to go over the history of the accused toon to verify. GMs never share anything they read over in order to respect a person's privacy.

 

In the instance of Biochem it seems more likely a bunch of people complaining over General Chat or sending "Bug Reports" to GMs.

I can think of one thing the OP didn't read, the Terms of Service.

In the latest podcast Stephen Reid makes a mention of the biochem nerf. Part of the decision on that was based on reading chat logs where people were excluded from pugs because they didn't have biochem.

 

Now, what jumps up and grabs me is the topic of Bioware reading over chat logs.

 

I have personally had several private conversations in MMOs over the years. The idea of any company, as a matter of course reading those private conversations just astounds me.

 

Dude, you're using their servers and chatting on their property, duh. Also there have been a few times from the game of WoW where criminals have been found and caught because Blizzard keeps all chat.

 

If you're worried about what you say in a video game, you'd better be more worried about what you say on your cell phone or anything else that you use electronic.

Google can read any of your emails. They don't though for privacy reasons.

 

I have had conversations with guild mates who have split from husbands/wives, lost family members - all sorts of things. Those are private conversations - not public domain chatter to be sifted through as routine.

 

Sorry but in their game, where they moderate customers interactions with each other there is no "private".

In the latest podcast Stephen Reid makes a mention of the biochem nerf. Part of the decision on that was based on reading chat logs where people were excluded from pugs because they didn't have biochem.

 

Now, what jumps up and grabs me is the topic of Bioware reading over chat logs.

 

I have personally had several private conversations in MMOs over the years. The idea of any company, as a matter of course reading those private conversations just astounds me.

 

You have never had a private conversation in an MMO... every channel can be monitored if the company feels like it. And why the hell wouldn't they monitor chat in a new game? They are obviously making an effort to listen to the community, despite the crying on this forum, look at the guild leaders meeting they want to set up for example.

I really couldn't be less concerned about BioWare reading what I write inside of their own game.

I can think of one thing the OP didn't read, the Terms of Service.

 

There is a big difference between accessing chat logs to investigate a specific issue and casually browsing them.

Beta users were not allowed to use voice chat programs so that all communication was through in-game chat options, so that the dev team could aggregate information about the game in this manner.

 

It's hard to believe that they would change this practice if it proved useful to them.

 

Keep in mind that out of 1.7 million active subscribers, they're probably not "reading" your chat logs, but searching a database for key phrases or circumstances and reading snippets of that.

 

But they certainly have the ability to read it. And they probably will read bits of it now and then. I disagree with the practice, but not enough to get up in arms over it.

In WoW they do the same. When my daughter accidently gave away her password in chat, her account was frozen within a few minutes. Sometimes you should be happy that they monitor ingame activities and I'm sure they don't just go reading chats for no reason.

There is a big difference between accessing chat logs to investigate a specific issue and casually browsing them.

 

they can do whatever they want, the content is owned by them not you. All actions are logged and subject to viewing, this is the case with any mmo.

 

In the real world do you go to a public place with other people around with cameras and microphones to talk privately?

I have personally had several private conversations in MMOs over the years. The idea of any company, as a matter of course reading those private conversations just astounds me.

 

While they usually legally cannot make what you say public unless they have court orders and the like, everything you do and type in any media can be read by someone, unless users are allowed to fully encrypt it.

 

That applies to your SMS/Mails too btw. I remember that most engineers while working in telecom usually spent lunch breaks reading SMS and the like for fun.

 

If you want anything private, do it in person.

they can do whatever they want

 

Well, actually, no they can't. I don't know about the US but in the EU there are very strict privacy laws which they have to adhere to.

 

Any TOS of EULA document won't override the rights each individual has.

I can think of one thing the OP didn't read, the Terms of Service.

 

lol! Neither did 99% of the player base.

Well, actually, no they can't. I don't know about the US but in the EU there are very strict privacy laws which they have to adhere to.

 

Any TOS of EULA document won't override the rights each individual has.

 

they can view any log they want whether it is a chat log or not, them simply having the logs and viewing them for their own purposes is not a privacy violation, would be different if they were giving said information out to third parties.

Google can read any of your emails. They don't though for privacy reasons.

 

It's sort of adorable that you think Google has any such limitations. Try this: compose a message in Gmail and include some variation of the phrase "sending you an attachment", but don't attach any files. Hit send.

 

Proof that everything you write in Gmail is monitored. You're welcome.

Edited February 2, 2012 by Kuriostone