Privacy

[Ravi Mendis]

May i ask for a stealth/incognito mode. i.e:

1. To have the option to not use our Facebook profile provided name

2. To have the option to not use our Facebook profile picture

Some of us use Facebook to stay in touch with friends and family across the world. I regularly get to see photos of my nieces for example whom i've not seen in 2 yrs...i have real personal info and photographs (some of which in compromising situations having been tagged from school days

I REALLY rather not have to reveal or share too much of my personal info to play Civ World. It is one of the primary reasons to not play...

[Glinda]

So make another account.

[jordie3000]

Or put your pictures behind filters. As for the ones you've been tagged in, there's not much you can do about that, either way, since it's someone else's privacy filters.

[Ravi Mendis]

So make another account.

Glinda, aren't you the good fairy (witch?) from Wizard of Oz?!

Do Facebook allow this? (I think some sites prohibit multiple accounts).

FYI: i do normally use an alias for online forums, etc where it's probably better to safeguard identity.

I suppose i could do this now and invite my alias

BUT...that doesn't detract from say protecting the privacy of young people...i think the game producers (i.e 2K) need to be responsible for that.

[dkk]

I think this is a very legitimate concern. I do not think Facebook's terms allows multiple accounts, though to what extent that is enforced, I'm not sure.

[Telgard]

So make another account.

Shouldn't have too. Plus it breaks 4.2 of your Facebook Eula. Its not heavily enforced..but..eh.

Glinda, aren't you the good fairy (witch?) from Wizard of Oz?!

Do Facebook allow this? (I think some sites prohibit multiple accounts).

FYI: i do normally use an alias for online forums, etc where it's probably better to safeguard identity.

I suppose i could do this now and invite my alias

BUT...that doesn't detract from say protecting the privacy of young people...i think the game producers (i.e 2K) need to be responsible for that.

No, facebook doesn't. ...Most online forums don't allow you to use multi-accounts either. Just one alias and no real ID like facebook.

I think this is a very legitimate concern. I do not think Facebook's terms allows multiple accounts, though to what extent that is enforced, I'm not sure.

I think it is a legitimate concern as well. Players should be able to edit both there player names and their city names because... city naming is lol right now..

[2K Greg]

This is a suggestion that has come up a few times, and we do recognize that it's something a lot of you guys would like.

It's on our long-term list of things to look in to implementing, but at the current time I can't guarantee that it will end up being added.

[dkk]

I'd highly recommend you bump it up your list. This isn't a cosmetic change or even a game design issue, it's a necessity in an online game. Not having some sort of privacy settings will become a deal breaker for a lot of people, especially once the game goes live and becomes more accessible to trolls and worse.

[Smedeley]

I'd like the ability to have a one-time "Nickname" setting for each new game when you start, where you'd be able to specify your name just like you would in regular Civ games. You could expand this further to allow the players to name their own "Province" or "Kingdom" that their city would tied to, like the Civ Fields when custom naming yourself and civ in a normal Civ game.


Field example:

Name Field: Nebusatian
Province/State/Region/Kingdom Field (suffix for the type of area should be cultural/civ specific): Smedulon
Adjective Field: Smedulonian (could find a use for this just as in normal civs)

For example, I could choose the nick name Nebusatian and be known as "Lord (or whatever rank I am) Nebusatian of the Smedulon State, American Colonies." Or, "King Nebusatian of the Smedulon Region, Egyptian Empire." And so on.


This would solve two birds with one stone. Allowing name privacy as well as appease those who would like to use a handle or custom leader name. This of course would mean you'd need some sort of profanity filter in place.

[jordie3000]

Let's remember that we're playing a Facebook game. Not all Facebook games have a nickname option - while I haven't played lots of them, I can only think of one offhand that had such an option. If you are concerned about your privacy, keep your private info behind filters, or don't play social-media-based games (this is especially true if you take advantage of Facebook Connect or RealID stuff).

I don't meant to be a jerk! I just figure that there are enough people with various name/last initial combinations to make finding one specific one tricky, especially if that person isn't easily searchable due to privacy filters.

One of the things I like about CivWorld is that I can play with a bunch of people without having to add them to my friend list. That way, I don't have to worry about putting game people behind different filters, because they're not seeing anything anyway. Yeah, they might know my name, but so does the barista at Starbucks.

As for making separate accounts, just because it isn't allowed doesn't mean there aren't a boatload of people who do it.

[Ravi Mendis]

One of the things I like about CivWorld is that I can play with a bunch of people without having to add them to my friend list.

...and chat with them.

Precisely the point. Even if Zuckerberg doesn't (or fails to) allow people under 18yrs to join Facebook you know kids aren't gonna wait until their 18th to join

Then we have the issue of people on Civ World chatting with under-age players (when the game goes live)...you know the sorts that could make this scenario problematic, right?

Luckily it looks like 2K will address this issue...eventually.

[jordie3000]

Are you suggesting that unsavory people will use CivWorld to hook up with kids, and that letting people use pseudonyms will help negate that? I'm confused.

[Ravi Mendis]

Are you suggesting that unsavory people will use CivWorld to hook up with kids, and that letting people use pseudonyms will help negate that? I'm confused.

No, but using pseudonyms (and NOT your own profile/face picture) won't draw the unsavories...

Another example is that every now and again you get various anti-semitic rants, etc...all can be avoided with avatars and aliases.

[jordie3000]

I would argue that anonymity makes things like trolling and predation a lot easier - if there's no way for a person to be caught (because they are anonymous), there's nothing to stop that person from doing naughty things.

Yes, a pseudonym and separate avatar could make it less obvious a person is a teenager or a Jew, but if that is a dealbreaker for you, then playing Facebook games where your avatar and name are going to show up anyway is maybe something you should avoid. Make a separate game account. Technically it is not allowed but that has not stopped a lot of people from doing so, and I have a feeling that so long as you don't abuse the situation you could probably get away with it for a long time.

I'm not arguing against screen names - notice how I'm using a custom profile and haven't logged in using Facebook Connect. I'm controlling, at least to a small degree, how my personal information is going out... which, now that I think about it, is what you're arguing for with CivWorld. I guess the reason I don't entirely agree with you on this, though, is because at least with a Facebook game, everyone has agreed to use their names (or at least a version of such), whereas with a game company forum like this, there's far more anonymity in general, and I don't need/want everyone using it to see who I am. With CivWorld, everyone playing it is in the same Facebook boat; on the 2K Games forums, there's not as much of an agreement.

I guess I've just been very lucky and either haven't seen or haven't been in a CivWorld game (or any Facebook game) with harassers.

[Ravi Mendis]

I would argue that anonymity makes things like trolling and predation a lot easier

...and you'll find people who want to to predate and troll probably already have/use aliases

It's the innocents (using their true Facebook profile) who become victims...2K is responsible for providing them privacy, as Civ World chat is where this is contentious.

[Bantams]

So a few hundred ppl can see youre profile picture whats the big deal not as if they can add you from that picture or spam your inbox with game requests or see youre profile

Seriously dont see the problem here you can remove the ugly photo and replace it in like 2 secs

[Ravi Mendis]

you can remove the ugly photo and replace it in like 2 secs

Erm...not talking about ugly/bad photos. LOL (Unless you're calling me ugly...?!!?)

[AlibechM]

Erm...not talking about ugly/bad photos. LOL (Unless you're calling me ugly...?!!?)

...and even after all this, I still don't want to see your photos Ravi

[blackbutterfly]

...and even after all this, I still don't want to see your photos Ravi

Yeah man!! Put some clothes on!!!

2K should definitely censor those with naked profile pics...it's scaring the ladies away!!

[jordie3000]

Erm...not talking about ugly/bad photos.

Then make sure to put pictures you don't want every Tom, Dick, and Harry to see behind a privacy filter. This especially goes for the nudie pics!