One of the interesting reveals at the WWI was Blizzard's Authenticator for World of Warcraft. This is a USB dongle you slap into your machine when you want to play WoW. It gives you a six-digit code that you must match on your keyboard before you can log in. I don't pretend to understand precisely how it works. All I knew when I read about it from the promo leaflet in my goody bag was that I wanted one.
I have kept my accounts secure for years now. I have seen friends get keylogged, see their accounts get sacked, and then be perma-banned by Blizzard because of some perception of guilt by association with the gold-thieving bastards that robbed them. I don't do porn, don't download video's, use installer programs for mods, share my account details with anyone, of click on attachments to emails. So far this has kept me safe. But you never know what devious tricks the thieves will come up with next so I jumped at the chance to get some more security for my PC.
Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to try out the Authenticator. The WWI shop sold out of everything but TCG accesories within hours of opening and I was too busy playing WotLK and Starcraft II to queue up on that first day. But then I got to thinking - why should I have to pay for this at all?
Someone on the official forums made the mistake of likening the Authenticator to security at a bank. The poster said something like you pay the bank for security, why not pay Blizzard? It was a very simplistic analogy and a poor choice too. To my mind, paying Blizzard for an authenticator is more like buying locks for the bank's front doors. Here's why:
I pay Blizzard eight or nine pounds a month to play their game. I invest a significant amount of time in the game. If I were to multiply that time by the hourly rate I get to work it would be a lot of money. The result is a stable of toons with significantly advanced gear and rep. I expect Blizzard to take care of this treasury. I expect them to provide a stable server system that means I will be able to play when I want to for as long as I want to. Its not an unreasonable contract. I also expect them to protect my goods from outside interference. This includes spammers ruining my chat window, gold-farmers ruining the economy, and thieves trying to break in and steal stuff. After all, if someone hacks my account it is the Blizzard server they actually maraud in - not my PC. Their servers should have a robust enough protection to prevent unlicensed intruders sneaking in and smashing the place up.
But Blizzard instead say I have to stop thieves. They help me by giving a login procedure that consists of two words. One is guessible on the majority of accounts - a lot of players make the mistake of using their main's name as their login. The other is another word. It is of undefined length but is essentially a brute-forceable string or obtainable through the numerous flaws in Windows products.
Eventually they come up with a bettter system that cannot be hacked (yet). Should this not be part of the actual WoW product? I mean, if you can make your game unhackable, why wouldn't you include it as a selling-point? This isn't an upgrade - its an entirely different product - flawed versus perfect.
Its not like selling two version of a car, one with better locks than the other. Its like selling one with locks painted on the side and one that is completely burglar proof.
And what will Blizzard do when someone does crack their system? Is there a disclaimer on the side of the Authenticator that says 'may only work for a limited time - Blizzard does not accept responsibility for hackers that are cleverer than its developers'?
Sorry to be so negative for the second day in a row - I promise to write about something I liked from the WWI next time!
Please comment if you have thoughts on this topic, particularly if you bought an authenticator.
MMORPG.com writes:
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