Right, and that's entirely irrelevant to my point. It's akin saying that *right now* I can buy various illegal drugs so it wouldn't be a big deal if the US government made them legal. While the ability to purchase such things is factually accurate, it has very little bearing on the importance of a large and powerful body making an about face on a major policy and even going so far as to facilitate the activity that policy forbade.

My point is that whether you agree or disagree with Blizzard's decision, the decision itself is extremely important.

I doesn't matter that this sort of thing was going on underground before, or that Blizzard isn't doing the selling themselves. Their policy has now shifted from "only cosmetic items may be sold" to "all items may be sold, whether they be cosmetic or have actual gameplay value". The fact that this is official is extremely significant.

This has nothing to do with whether this change is good or bad, but everything to do with it being an important break from Blizzard's previous philosophy/policy.

It's not a trivial change. Previously you could only buy purely cosmetic benefits for Blizzard games (unless you were involved in seedy craiglist-style transactions). The shift in policy from only allowing the sale of cosmetic effects to allowing the sale of actual in-game benefits is significant, even if Blizzard isn't going to be doing the selling. Whether you think it's wonderful or terrible, it's a notable change in game dynamics.

Except it's not clear why you can't have the best of both worlds. Being perpetually connected and being able to download games with just a CD-Key are not mutually dependent.

This is hilariously old school. A lot of very common surnames have origins in occupations (SEE: Smith).

If you specifically mean propaganda created by people in high places, then you're probably correct. However, don't underestimate the power of an echo chamber. A sufficient number of ignorant individuals can create and propagate absolute insanity to millions at a rate which makes the greatest advertising executives and spinsters envious.

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Ban incoming in 3... 2... 1...

Keep in mind as well that the situational awareness and correct reactions required to survive or really accomplish anything on a PvP realm are valuable skills to bring into a PvE context. They alone don't make a good raider, but they are the hardest skills to teach.

At the same time, not all PvE realm players are there because they don't have the mentality to deal with challenges. Some people simply don't enjoy having their play schedule impeded or interrupted at random by other players.

You insensitive clod!

http://idle.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/07/06/169222

I'll have you know I suffered intense emotional distress when I saw the mention of broccoli.