Same, mostly because it also helps people not DMing me as much which is nice (until they start doing it anyways and I get annoyed with the pinging noise…), while Steam is mostly just close friends + some random Eastern Europeans I never talk with that are still playing Counter Strike in this day and age
It’s just nice only really checking on these kind of things exclusively when you want to, yourself (although that doesn’t apply to the check-pvp argument, I suppose).
Everyone has a right to their privacy. Assuming someone has malicious intent or some deep dark secret because they hide their alts is dangerous thinking - the kind that falls into the close-minded “X is always Y” format.
I’ll gladly choose to hide my alts in this way, purely on the basis that the malevolent could use it to track me down should I ever be unfortunate enough to rile their buttons - and I will rile their buttons, because they deserve it.
I’m not exactly secretive about my alts; I will openly admit it’s me if I show up with a different face - but if we’re at the point where I’m comfortable showing you where you can find me, chances are all but certain that I’ve grown to trust you personally. Hiding my alts from strangers is, as others have said, just a comfort thing.
You are hunted… Be wary.
who knew the Jailer was using Check-Pvp?
Has anyone tried checking the Jailer in Check-PVP? Maybe we’d finally figure out what his deal is.
This is Jailer-Argent Dawn.
He was headless horseman all along.
I knew it! The Jailer’s a multiboxxer!
He’s probably got ten druids stacked on each other in Bastion as we speak!
I agree with everything you just said 
Yes, I know. I’m a genius. My opinions are great and my takes are always correct.
dangerous thinking - the kind that falls into the close-minded “X is always Y” format.
Wait, how did this quote get here?
I think check-pvp has a lot of good uses, while I understand that people want to hide their alts for privacy reasons etc, on the other side of the coin guilds deserve to know who they’re inviting into their guild as well.
If you’ve caused beef with a guild in the past before and you try to join it (or god forbid do the incredibly lame infiltration shtick) and instead of apologising to them and being forgiven you try to dodge consequences then no one’s going to be happy once it’s inevitably found out.
In the end its just a measure that often saves a lot of trouble down the line.
My take is that these two points can exist mutually and don’t cancel out the other. The right for privacy is as valid as the right to avoid individuals; just as you can hide your alts to escape a stalker, said stalker too can hide their alts.
Both are fine stances to hold, but ultimately I will always value my own comfort and boundaries over a potential
GM’s ability to background check me.
My point is that the feature is often demonised as being some actual breach in people’s privacy, while its mostly just used as a useful tool.
And while I understand that in very few situations it’s good to dodge out of personal things like actual stalkers, most often its uses are a lot more benign.
If that were so, why were the top few comments sadly so trollish and dismissive for no reason? It doesn’t really reflect well on the “more benign users”
I understand your point, but like many others have said, it comes down to personal privacy and online safety.
Because, for good ends or not, it is a breach of privacy. It’s a third party tool that lets people’s other character be viewed openly without the player’s consent; this is by its nature breaching privacy, and sites like radier.io are actively criticised for a very similar reason.
It may be useful for certain situations, but some people prefer comparative anonymity for the mundane reason of the fact it is their right to decide how they want their data being used. People delete Facebook for a reason. It isn’t always nefarious. Hiding alts shouldn’t always be viewed as suspicious but as the business of the player alone; especially when discord has very much become a de-facto replacement for battle.net anyhow.
There is an argument to be made that Check PvP is a breach of privacy - that argument being that you don’t need to opt into the site/program for it to pull your information from Blizzard’s servers.
Actually, in saying that; the previously mentioned “deny third party access in account settings” is technically opting in, but the problem there is it appears to be activated by default - so until or unless any person learns about this setting and intentional chooses to leave it on, the system isn’t opt in and is therefore a breach of privacy.
Been a long time, so I can’t say if this option is presented up-front upon creating a new account. Probably should be…
The bottom line is that this game is our hobby, and in lockdown it is where a lot of us spent most our time. Internet privacy isn’t less important than real life privacy, and there have been lawsuits behind this very issue. Not everyone closes their curtains because they have something to hide; often they just don’t want you looking in on their business.
I think it’s worrying when people who like to be private are automatically assumed to be up to no good, or even a sexual predator. That kind of thinking isn’t helpful to anyone. Nor is it helpful when people who defend privicy and online safety are assumed to be in league with predators too. As you said, we just want to be safe.
Because it is very common for people who erp and/or grief to hide their alts. As long as Blizzard’s response to such disgusting behavior on their platform remains a deafening silence, people will be more and more trigger happy when dealing with such topics. If those people were dealt with as they should by Blizzard, nobody would even care to use check-pvp. Just how you say people want to protect their privacy (which in the context of a made-up character name in a video game I can hardly see it as being a big deal), so do other people want to protect themselves from predators.
Perhaps. Personally I don’t see how being an online troll, insulting neurodiverse people - and liking the post that did it - helps the issue.
Although I’m glad to see that by and large this thread was mostly civil
I have a saying in my place of work; life is an ongoing struggle between security and efficiency.
You could label anyone who hides themselves away as a sexual predator and lock 'em all up pre-emptively; that’s very secure - unfortunately you’d end up filling a lot of those prison cells with innocent people who are just particularly introverted, or paranoid, or both.
You could just force everyone in the game to be known by their account, allowing everyone else free knowledge of their alts; that’s very efficient - unfortunately you’d end up dooming anyone who becomes a target for some stalker-griefer-troll.
A balance is always needed.