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Phone Number Required to Play?

WiliestWiliest Member
in General Discussion
I don't give out my phone number to anyone...ever...for any reason. Blizzard/Activision is REQUIRING a phone number to play OverWatch 2. I played and enjoyed OW since release casually. I will NOT be playing OW2...along with many others for this reason.

In fact, Blizzard just solidified my plans to get rid of my cell phone and get a Land Line again. There are many people that are tired of being tracked and spied on by major corporations or governments and are doing the same. We didn't need cell phones 20yrs ago...we don't need them now.

Do you plan on requiring a phone number to play your game? If so, please let the community know now so we can stop supporting it. Thanks.

Comments

  • WiliestWiliest Member
    No this is not a joke or a meme.
  • AzheraeAzherae Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Wiliest wrote: »
    No this is not a joke or a meme.

    So you will get a Land Line, but then not actually use the phone number from it to play OverWatch? Just making sure I understand.
    ♪ One Gummy Fish, two Gummy Fish, Red Gummy Fish, Blue Gummy Fish ♪
  • McShaveMcShave Member, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    I hope they require a phone number just so they can call you after you you make a bad play and say some dumb stuff like "ha, noob!" and stuff like that. Like, you try to pk someone who is gathering herbs and then they kill you after you engage, then your phone starts ringing. would be great 10/10 experience.

    but seriously, I don't think a phone number is required? just email as far as i'm aware.
  • burnerecks@yahoo.comburnerecks@yahoo.com Member, Braver of Worlds, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    We should start a list of things we didn't need at first, but do need now.

    I'll start.

    Medication for paranoid personality disorder.
  • UnknownUnknown
    This content has been removed.
  • SapiverenusSapiverenus Member
    edited October 2022
    @Euthenasia
    @Natasha
    Only reason spying, privacy invasion, and other boundary breaking isn't more pervasive and more "violating" is because of those that are particularly bothered and even 'psycho' about being spied on. And those that 'audit' the government by digging deeper.

    Or do you guys not know what the NSA, CIA, whatever else are up to? PRISM? Windows backdoors? Intel/ AMD CPU backdoors?

    It's just the world we live in.
  • faimxfaimx Member, Alpha Two
    just download google voice, get a free number.
  • BaSkA_9x2BaSkA_9x2 Member, Alpha Two
    You do realize it's quite easy to get VOIP numbers, burner cellphones, etc, right?

    People who actually have reasons not to be tracked still use phone numbers.
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  • BlackBronyBlackBrony Member, Alpha Two
    Wiliest wrote: »
    I don't give out my phone number to anyone...ever...for any reason. Blizzard/Activision is REQUIRING a phone number to play OverWatch 2. I played and enjoyed OW since release casually. I will NOT be playing OW2...along with many others for this reason.

    In fact, Blizzard just solidified my plans to get rid of my cell phone and get a Land Line again. There are many people that are tired of being tracked and spied on by major corporations or governments and are doing the same. We didn't need cell phones 20yrs ago...we don't need them now.

    Do you plan on requiring a phone number to play your game? If so, please let the community know now so we can stop supporting it. Thanks.

    Just buy a prepaid phone with cash, and use that number for games?
    I mean if you really care about privacy you wouldn't use the internet, at least the "public" one.
  • AbaratAbarat Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    edited October 2022
    Euthenasia wrote: »
    We should start a list of things we didn't need at first, but do need now.

    I'll start.

    Medication for paranoid personality disorder.

    A switch to decaf, perhaps.

    @Wiliest Why not just give them a fake number? People have been doing it for years.

    ps. please dm me your phone number, i would love to discuss this further.

  • akabearakabear Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    I would have thought giving a credit card number would be more of a worry than a phone number.

    Each to their own I guess.
  • FantmxFantmx Member, Phoenix Initiative, Royalty, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Wiliest wrote: »
    No this is not a joke or a meme.

    Yes it is, you just don't realize it.
    q1nu38cjgq3j.png
  • WHIT3ROS3WHIT3ROS3 Member
    Fantmx wrote: »
    Wiliest wrote: »
    No this is not a joke or a meme.

    Yes it is, you just don't realize it.

    This is a complete Joke and OP is the punchline.

  • maouwmaouw Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    I'm wary of giving out my phone number too - but if the company is explicit about not handing it to 3rd parties, I'm ok with that.
    I don't like Personally Identifiable Info (PII) being used by a company's data analyses - but if they at least agree to anonimise the data before the number crunching (doesn't have to be true anonymity, just map it to a garbled string), that's a mid-way point that I'll reluctantly agree to. Simply because the more my PII is handed around the company, the more likely a breach of security will expose that data.

    So, why not use a burner phone/etc.?
    It's coz MMO's do much better if there's some sort of proof of id tied to every account - makes it way more difficult to create throwaway accounts for shady purposes. Plus, people take more responsibility when it comes to following EULAs, coz each account matters.

    Public trust of institutions is really low now, especially following revelations around Zuckerberg - I don't really know how to fix that.

    Extra context: I used to be more lax about this stuff, but I've recently had strangers trying to blame me for their speeding fines - it took months before the taxation office believed me. DESPITE IT BEING IN THE MIDDLE OF LOCKDOWNS WHEN BARELY ANYONE SHOULD BE DRIVING ---- gah I get so mad thinking about it
    I wish I were deep and tragic
  • pyrealpyreal Member, Warrior of Old, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    What about a prepaid phone? I've been using tracfone for years, only pay $20 a month. I can't believe people shell out $100s a month for phone service.

    Saying that, I do pay $120 a month for Starlink...
  • LinikerLiniker Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    you are being tracked right now by intrepid.. they can see your IP!! RUN
    img]
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  • maouwmaouw Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Liniker wrote: »
    you are being tracked right now by intrepid.. they can see your IP!! RUN

    giphy.gif
    I wish I were deep and tragic
  • SQuinTzSQuinTz Member
    trust me spam callers from india allready have your number lol..
  • DeadfoolDeadfool Member
    Maybe a hot russian woman will send you a message saying she is in your town and if you would like to hook up...
    x2i66qpsxhoo.png
    Drinking refreshing snowflakes tears
  • GandalfthegrapeGandalfthegrape Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    It was because you need a phone number and not that overwatch 2 is the same game as 1 and they are just stealing the game you paid for already essentially? If you actually looked a the snowden leaks you would know land lines were compromised loooong before the internet even existed. The way data is collected in itself is a security issue, anti cheat having kernel level access is a security issue. Requiring a phone number to get rid of most botters and cheaters is a good system considering the environment of already massively compromised systems. I hope they require a phone number for anything other than the trial. Killing rmt in its tracks is a must for any healthy mmo.
  • MrdgamesMrdgames Member, Alpha Two
    Wiliest wrote: »
    I don't give out my phone number to anyone...ever...for any reason. Blizzard/Activision is REQUIRING a phone number to play OverWatch 2. I played and enjoyed OW since release casually. I will NOT be playing OW2...along with many others for this reason.

    In fact, Blizzard just solidified my plans to get rid of my cell phone and get a Land Line again. There are many people that are tired of being tracked and spied on by major corporations or governments and are doing the same. We didn't need cell phones 20yrs ago...we don't need them now.

    Do you plan on requiring a phone number to play your game? If so, please let the community know now so we can stop supporting it. Thanks.

    Well we are lucky Intrepid is not a government agency that can track every move you do by having your phone number... PS: If you have an issue with it buy cheap google trash phone with a new number that is registered not on your name. Dunno how deep you want to go but at the end you should not even use the internet if I was you.
  • WiliestWiliest Member
    I'm going to simply reply to everyone and tell the people that know and understand, thank you. To those that don't understand the concern I hope you take the time to research the problem. To those who provided amusing answers...thank you, some of you have a great sense of humor.

    Still would like an official response to this. We shouldn't need to give up our privacy to PLAY A GAME.
  • mobtekmobtek Member, Founder, Kickstarter, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    They are planning on asking for your number but only so Steven can call you on your birthday, whats the problem?

  • WiliestWiliest Member
    Still looking for an official response.

    Blizzard backed down from requiring phone numbers for existing players of OverWatch. I asked two upcoming MMO developers this question and the first one responded the same day that they will NOT be requiring phone numbers.

    Will Intrepid invade the privacy of people playing their GAME and require a phone number?

    Based on some of the responses above, I'm not the only one concerned about this.
  • WiliestWiliest Member
    Will Intrepid respect the privacy of their customers and NOT require a phone number?
  • WiliestWiliest Member
    I'm still looking for an official response to my question? Will Intrepid respect the privacy of their customers and NOT require a phone number to play a game?
  • WiliestWiliest Member
    DavinMckenzie wrote: »
    Hey there! I understand your frustration with Blizzard/Activision requiring a phone number to play OverWatch 2. However, I'm not sure if they have changed their policy since this post was written.

    Blizztard changed the policy to only require phone numbers for new accounts. Which is still ***** up. Why anyone would want to give them money in 2023 is beyond me. The only reason they changed the policy is the backlash they received from foreign players with account issues...and people like me.

    I'm still going to continue asking this question until we receive an official response. I feel it's very important to keep the internet free...which incudes games. If I want to shop at Gamestop and buy a time card with CASH to play a game...I should be able to.

    Nothing nefarious. I just don't think companies should have a right to my information...ever. I don't think it's too much to ask for personal privacy (in America it's a constitutional right), not to be tracked, or my information sold for profit.

    So I'll ask again...will Intrepid respect it's players privacy and not require phone numbers to have an account?
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