After a huge backlash Blizzard reversed its decision to require a phone number to play Overwatch 2 — but only for existing accounts. New accounts still require it. Blizzard announced that it would be removing SMS Protect for Overwatch 1 players, but keeping the restriction for new Overwatch 2 accounts.
SMS Protect requires players to link their Overwatch accounts to a non-prepaid phone number, which excludes a large population who cannot afford cellphone plans. The intent behind this system is to cut back on "smurfing," a term used to identify high-skill, high-rank players who create new accounts to beat up on newer players. The move was seen to be equivalent to Google requiring an active phone service to "prevent spamming".
History has shown that this type of two factor authentication does not deliver the outcome desired. Users who want to use and abuse systems will just get a new phone number.
At a first (very brief) glance it might have seemed like a 'good idea' - but it obviously isn't. What other practices have you seen creeping into people's lives where technology (perhaps unintentionally) appears to be disadvantaging a specific group of people?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by legont on Saturday October 08 2022, @11:14PM (3 children)
It used to be one had to spell her guts on paper in doctor's office and it would die in that office.
Nowadays they built electronic systems and they are unbelievably bad in all regards, but mostly in security. Right at any doctor web page dozens unrelated sites want you to give them script rights. Than they want all the information - medical and personal. Images of ids. They want password recovery questions, double authentication and so on. And they all simply don't work - die every other week and even doctors can't use them properly while old patients including mentally disabled are supposed to.
It's a house of horrors security wise especially for old and sick.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by legont on Saturday October 08 2022, @11:17PM
Did I mention SSA wants double authentication and fucking password rules too?
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 09 2022, @12:47AM (1 child)
So without the 2FA etc, crooks can try DOB etc as password, waltz in to Ms Senior Moments accounts and do/take what they want.
Even with 2FA the crooks can probably also call support and pretend to be the old lady herself trying to get access to her account... Or get the 2FA code via various tricks.
Hard to find a good solution when so many people are feeble minded. Most older people aren't as good at physically getting through an obstacle course, no surprise if its similar for mental obstacle courses...
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Sunday October 09 2022, @04:31AM
Part of why they're so easily scammed is that they're so accustomed to having to give everyone all their information.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Gaaark on Saturday October 08 2022, @11:24PM (5 children)
A&W used to let you go to their site and print off coupons: now you need the app.
We rarely, now, go to A&W.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 5, Insightful) by optotronic on Sunday October 09 2022, @01:49AM (1 child)
I worry about how many things I won't be able to do in the future because I'm not willing to install yet another app on my phone.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 11 2022, @07:29AM
It is getting that way now. Dominos, KFC, MacD all want you to use their app to get specials. At first it was really great. The people at work all raged about MacD $1 burgers and $2 meals and now it is back to the usual specials they had in the past just through the app.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 09 2022, @02:02AM (2 children)
I didn't know A&W were still around. They pulled out of my area many years ago and I just assumed they went out of business. Do they still have those nice and heavy glass mugs for dine-in?
Yeah, and I don't install any "exclusive" store apps. Like you, the stronger they push me to need their app, the less likely am I to patronize them.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Sunday October 09 2022, @01:50PM (1 child)
Yup: love that frosty mug of rootbeer, with a teen burger, no bun, lettuce wrapped...it's like having a salad with your burger.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Freeman on Monday October 10 2022, @02:49PM
Talking about a salad burger.
You can get an "iceburger" from Mooyah. It's a messy replacement of the bun with a big 'ol hunk of iceberg lettuce. Messy in the fact that the sauces just run everywhere. It's pretty tasty, though. I particularly liked that I could get Cholula on my Black Bean burger. They stopped giving their lemonade+tea mix as an option, though. Sure, they have iced tea and lemonade separate, but you can't get the same taste. We pretty much quit going there after that.
https://www.mooyah.com/menu [mooyah.com]
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Insightful) by dwilson on Sunday October 09 2022, @02:31AM (3 children)
So the premise is, requiring a cell number from a pre-paid plan is 'poor shaming' the people who can't afford such a thing?
The same people who CAN afford the game Overwatch, a PC capable of running modern games, an internet connection fast enough to be competitive while playing an FPS, and the time off work to play the damn thing?
..is there any overlap between those two groups? If so, what's the percentage?
- D
(Score: 3, Interesting) by tekk on Sunday October 09 2022, @04:33AM
I don't know about OW2 specifically but Blizzard has historically gone to considerable lengths to make their games run on poor hardware. I think part of it is the enormous debt they owe to cyber cafes who may be loathe to upgrade perfectly good computers by way of making Starcraft the lasting hit that it was; for a similar example note that League of Legends, another big game in cyber cafes, only discontinued Windows XP support in 2019. For internet speeds, games don't require any bandwidth. You don't need to stuff that many bits down the pipe these days than you did for something like Quake 3.
#3 really is an issue with the queueing times what they are, though ;)
(Score: 4, Informative) by damnbunni on Sunday October 09 2022, @11:27AM (1 child)
Broke-ass people can save up for individual purchases. They can't necessarily swing a postpaid phone plan every month.
Source: I was broke-ass for a lot of years. I'd sometimes manage a windfall and buy something cool for myself, but I couldn't increase my monthly bill load.
It requires a POST-paid plan. Prepaid phones (or VOIP) will not work. So you can't just buy a phone card when you need it.
I don't quite get the 'and the time off work to play the damn thing'. Even people with shitty jobs usually don't work such long hours they can't spare an hour or two after work to play a game.
I'm no longer broke, I just refuse to give Actiblizz my phone number on general principles. I have their damned authenticator token, and that's not good enough?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 11 2022, @07:44AM
I've just found out that I have a pre-paid plan. Had it for years. Never thought about it. I haven't done post paid for .. wow.. 20 years? So, I guess I'm just not good enough for Blizzard. That's sad. Really. What am I missing out on? I've already spent years at LANs with Quake, Quake II, Q3, UT, Starcraft 1/2, Counter Strike, Counter Strike, Counter Strike, Counter Strike, Counter Strike, Counter Strike, Counter Strike, Counter Strike, Counter Strike, Counter Strike, Counter Strike, Counter Strike, Counter Strike, and of course, Counter Strike, as well as quite a number of other games. Is this just the 90s come again, online?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by SomeGuy on Sunday October 09 2022, @02:47AM (1 child)
Limiting SMS obstruct to new accounts, and leaving it newer products? Not exactly what I would call a fix. Feels like one of those [YES] [Rape me later] dialogs.
Or how about ALL people, even if they don't realize it?
I could list so many things. But I'll start with the core problems: For some strange reason, people just want to put up with all the abuse and BS. For example, people these days just sit in front of their computer or cell phone as it force feeds them ads and they don't even consider that wrong. Sure, an individual might not be able to fix the problem, but what does everyone have against trying to make things better? Second, there is the attitude that things must work only ONE way - like 2FA systems that refuse to work with landlines (hell, in the case of this story, landlines would do a better job of preventing problem accounts as one can't just swap out a card for a new number). They don't care if it even puts your life in danger - the other day I heard a manager scold one of her employees for being late, insisting that he "text" her if he gets stuck in traffic and will be late. Never mind that is fucking illegal.
That reminds me, there have been times when I have been instructed on paper forms to scan some QR code "on your cell phone", to get additional information. So far, nothing critical, but the point is they didn't even consider anyone might want an alternative.
Aside from non-cell phone owners, bad technology also is a disadvantage to the poor sighted or seizure prone. Blue dashboards LEDs lighting up car cabins and blinding bright LED headlights that make it hard to drive. In-car entertainment systems or appliances that have no tactile feedback. Appliances, web sites, and I don't even want to think if some cars have this, may have screens loaded with unwanted animated crap flashing in your face.
I also believe that as more companies use "AI" to design and produce products, we will see more abusive features, justified because their "AI" puppet says something is optimal for making money.
Of course, technology paired with corrupt business practices will suck up every last piece of your personal data.
Should I reiterate the problems with using a "Microsoft account" to log in to your computer?
Thankfully I haven't run in to anyone lately that insists I must use facebook or twatter for something.
This post is best viewed in Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0. :P
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 11 2022, @07:38AM
I spent half a public paid Microsoft course trying to get access to the course material that needed a Microsoft account to access. Eventually the instructor pulled the PDF version and put it on a share that all the lab computers could see. By then I was looking at the diagrams on the board, listening to the admins who have done this stuff for years and are only here for accreditation and wondering what to do next. My feedback for that course was that if they REQUIRE an online account then that needs to be stated in the course pre-reqs. I gave the course 1/5 with feedback to our training people that the company that holds it should not be used in the future. Having the instructor say to me 'oh just put in your phone number and make a new account' was not helpful.
Yes, work pays for Microsoft training.
No, we don't use that provider much anymore. If at all. Mostly because Microsoft now provides a lot of the training as self paced in the cloud and the other courses are no longer required.
No, I don't go on MS based training anymore. After several of them I've given up. The PowerShell 4.0 1 and 2 are awesome. Highly recommend for anyone who works with Windows. Anything else I avoid.
We went to the cloud. Turns out, the cloud comes to you when you need it. Follows you around. Stays with you. Forever.
(Score: 4, Touché) by Username on Sunday October 09 2022, @06:21AM
So a game called Overwatch violates your privacy in 1984 style? Almost like it's in the name.