Lets talk about .... Avatar book and bookmarks

[Guest]

So I noticed one of the new features on Avatar Book is that a selection of our bookmarks are now showing on our avatar profile.

I bookmark people for a variety of reasons as I'm sure most of us do, some are people I like to hang out with, some were bookmarked because I don't want to hang out with them and like to be alerted when they're on ! Personally I'd like to have the option to turn off this new function so that my bookmarks are only accessible to me.

I'm curious as to what everyone thinks about this. Do you like having your bookmarks displayed for all to see? What do you think are some of the benefits of this? What about the downsides? Is this something you would like to be able to toggle on and off?

Polly

 

[Keep It Real]

I agree, I don't want Polly to see when I am ingame either.

LOL, I think it would be best to keep our webs private.

 

[imported_Phoenix_Rising]

I don't want everyone able to see who I'm bookmarking or not bookmarking. That's my personal list, and it should stay that way. Just my opinion.

 

[Guest]

Pfffft !

Actually I like the online status thing, I was talking about the fact that our list of bookmarks is now showing on our profile in addition to our friendwebs.

Polly

 

[Guest]

I don't like it either, however there are 2 privacy features to block users from avatarbook features. I opted to just remove avtarbook completely nd just leave the iplaytso app there. Its very basic, but it lets users see my sim name, city and fav object, thats enough.

 

[Guest]

That will block your real life facebook information, but as far as I can tell in game you can click on anyone's sim and then go and look at their avatar profile on avatar book, therefore being able to see their bookmarks (admittedly its only showing a few, not a complete list).

Polly

 

[Guest]

I agree with you Polly I wasnt thrilled to see that either. I too bookmark for a variety of reasons and I dont think its anyone elses business who I have bookmarked. I would like to see that with a privacy option on it soon.

 

[Guest]

Does it feel like Big Brother is REALLY trying to watch you now? LOL Careful when your sims goes to the potty, facebook is looking!

 

[Guest]

Just curious.... some of don't use facebook (whatever) at all.
Is any of OUR information collected for display to users of that application?

 

[Guest]

Donovan I think that every sim has a profile on Avatar book regardless of whether you have an account on Facebook. I'm not sure if you have to have a Facebook account to view it though (as I have one I can't test it).

Try clicking on the Avatar Book link on a sim's profile next time you're in TC3 to see what you can see?

Polly

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

Just curious.... some of don't use facebook (whatever) at all.
Is any of OUR information collected for display to users of that application?

[/ QUOTE ]

Donovan, I checked you out last time I was in TC3 !

You have an avatar profile on Avatarbook and I could see details of your friends and bookmarks. Did you try accessing it to see what you can see and if you need a Facebook account to view avatar profiles?

Polly

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

Just curious.... some of don't use facebook (whatever) at all.
Is any of OUR information collected for display to users of that application?

[/ QUOTE ]

In short terms YES it is!

 

[imported_JimDog]

<blockquote><hr>

Did you try accessing it to see what you can see and if you need a Facebook account to view avatar profiles?

[/ QUOTE ]
Yes you do have to have a Facebook account to use Avatar book. I recently posted an interactive Google Gadget to the Wiki site that uses the same web services Avatar book does. If you don't have access to Avatar book, it should give you some idea of the information that's available.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

Just curious.... some of don't use facebook (whatever) at all.
Is any of OUR information collected for display to users of that application?

[/ QUOTE ]

Donovan, I checked you out last time I was in TC3 !

You have an avatar profile on Avatarbook and I could see details of your friends and bookmarks. Did you try accessing it to see what you can see and if you need a Facebook account to view avatar profiles?

Polly

[/ QUOTE ]
Yes, I checked, and you need an account.
It bothers me that info that is not available to others in-game, is available on an off-game site.
Our bookmarks are nobody else's business.

 

[MandiK]

I dont really bookmark anyone. My husband &amp; his sims, and Coy. Those are the only people I ever bookmark. Besides my own sims just as a quicker way to pull their bio's up and see how old they are, where they live, etc...

:edit: I just checked out mine on Facebook. I also have Gracie bookmarked, lol because she is exciting and I like to stalk her to see if she is doing anything interesting. And I also have a girl bookmarked who I used to like to work with at the restaurant. Interesting, I dont even know who I have bookmarked, lol

 

[NightFlyer]

I agree with Donavan here.

Why would they even impliment this feature of bookmarks available to view especially of accounts which don't utilize FB?

If we don't have an account we (our avatars) shouldn't even be involved. I don't have an account and don't plan to open one. My bookmarks and friends are no one elses business.

 

[Guest]

Lee said it is so in the future if you have mutual bookmarks you will automatically be friends. I am not sure how having them posted will help this. I do think it needs a privacy feature. I even tried to find one. I bookmark store owners, crafters, coworkers, people I like and people I want to avoid. My list means nothing.
I can see a lot of drama coming from this. For the ones in relationships. LOL Why do you have her bookmarked?!? I thought you did not talk to him!!! Sit back and watch. Why don't you have me bookmarked? As TSO turns.
A random section of bookmarks shows. I don't think anyone can see the full lists just how many.

 

[NightFlyer]

Even if there was privacy feature one could enable without an account how would one enable it?

They need to just change this bookmark thing plain and simple.

If one feels a need to know who all is on another's bookmarks let them ask whomever it is they are curious about and they can divulge this information or not as they see fit.

Don't subject us all to an invasion of privacy we have no control over.

 

[imported_Gracie Nito]

For some reason I can't even see all my bookmarks. Only the first 8 are displayed. I really could care less who can see my bookmarks as I have never used this feature for any specific reason and often even forget why I have some people bookmarked. However, I can understand that some people would prefer to keep their bookmarks private. They have always been private before and now they are publicly displayed for anyone to read.

As I understand it, you must have an EA.com account to even login to avatarbook to view our information. So it's not like total strangers are stalking our avatars.

This is a whole new feature of the game and we do need to all understand how it works and what needs to be changed to suit our own privacy needs. I encourage everyone to get an FB account so that you can explore and let the devs know what is needed.

 

[coyoteee]

<blockquote><hr>

I dont really bookmark anyone. My husband &amp; his sims, and Coy. Those are the only people I ever bookmark. Besides my own sims just as a quicker way to pull their bio's up and see how old they are, where they live, etc...

:edit: I just checked out mine on Facebook. I also have Gracie bookmarked, lol because she is exciting and I like to stalk her to see if she is doing anything interesting. And I also have a girl bookmarked who I used to like to work with at the restaurant. Interesting, I dont even know who I have bookmarked, lol

[/ QUOTE ]

Awww! Mandick only bookmarks the important people.

 

[coyoteee]

<blockquote><hr>

For some reason I can't even see all my bookmarks. Only the first 8 are displayed. I really could care less who can see my bookmarks as I have never used this feature for any specific reason and often even forget why I have some people bookmarked. However, I can understand that some people would prefer to keep their bookmarks private. They have always been private before and now they are publicly displayed for anyone to read.

As I understand it, you must have an EA.com account to even login to avatarbook to view our information. So it's not like total strangers are stalking our avatars.

This is a whole new feature of the game and we do need to all understand how it works and what needs to be changed to suit our own privacy needs. I encourage everyone to get an FB account so that you can explore and let the devs know what is needed.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree with Gracie. We're testing, guys. So test the FB app and tell the devs about what you think. And don't bookmark Polly, she might think you're stalking her.

~M

 

[imported_Dali Dalinza]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

Just curious.... some of don't use facebook (whatever) at all.
Is any of OUR information collected for display to users of that application?

[/ QUOTE ]

Donovan, I checked you out last time I was in TC3 !

You have an avatar profile on Avatarbook and I could see details of your friends and bookmarks. Did you try accessing it to see what you can see and if you need a Facebook account to view avatar profiles?

Polly

[/ QUOTE ]
Yes, I checked, and you need an account.
It bothers me that info that is not available to others in-game, is available on an off-game site.
Our bookmarks are nobody else's business.

[/ QUOTE ]

You know, I am so angry about this that I almost cancelled all of my accounts to TSO in the past ten minutes. How DARE my information be on Facebook. I don't subscribe to Facebook, and I want NOTHING to do with it. I am furious that my bookmarks and other stuff is posted on the 'net. I tried getting on to see, but it required registering at Facebook and I'm trying to get ready for work.

And, I have the sinking feeling that even if I quit today the friggin info will remain on Facebook until I can cut through the bureaucracy to delete it!

Believe me, this is an aspect of the "improvements" that has broadsided me. I had no idea private information could be broadcast to the masses. I am so out of here if this is not fixed.

Thanks for the alert Polly. What a stupid, dopey and privacy invading piece of crap the Facebook connection is.

There isn't an emoticon angry looking enough that I could find to insert here.

 

[imported_Qute Pi]

Wow...there is so much drama in game now, I can only imagine the drama that will be caused by the lack of privacy.

If I don't have a page its because I don't want to be included in that feature! I hope this changes.

 

[imported_Dali Dalinza]

<blockquote><hr>

Wow...there is so much drama in game now, I can only imagine the drama that will be caused by the lack of privacy.

If I don't have a page its because I don't want to be included in that feature! I hope this changes.

[/ QUOTE ]

According to Polly, you have a page whether or not you want one.

The logic seems to be -- if you don't want your info shared with the entire universe via Facebook, you need to sign up to Facebook in order to have any control over what is showing to the entire internet.

Drama? That doesn't even scratch the surface of what I am feeling.

 

[NightFlyer]

I'm with the two above ^ ... I have no need for this application, choose not to participate and am not happy to have my privacy invaded.

It's a matter of principle and if the powers that be can't understand this then I have to question thier ability to understand many other areas of this game.

Actually that is already in question.

 

[imported_Qute Pi]

<blockquote><hr>


According to Polly, you have a page whether or not you want one.

The logic seems to be -- if you don't want your info shared with the entire universe via Facebook, you need to sign up to Facebook in order to have any control over what is showing to the entire internet.

[/ QUOTE ]

just another example of the players being ignored and the dev's doing what they want regardless.

i prefer my privacy over ANOTHER social networking site.

 

[imported_Gracie Nito]

Ok this definitely needs to be fixed right away. I've turned into a total noseybutt. Everyone that has complained about privacy just made me want to go look them up even more. Now mind you, I could always look up your skill levels, your friend webs, your house info, your roomies in game before. It seems the only new thing is the public viewing of bookmarks. I suggest all that want to remain private, delete your bookmarks immediately.

Or if you want to have more fun, bookmark total strangers and keep people wondering what you are up to. I elected to bookmark only sims with the "coy" in their name

Someone should bookmark only sims with the last name of "Bear"!

Too bad people can't see my ignore list. That would be a better drama!

 

[Guest]

Per Michaels blog post 12/19/07

Avatar Book has been generating a lot of interest in the past few weeks. Everyday dozens of new users are joining and it is being accessed thousands of times. This is really good news and shows that accessing in game data on the web is of growing importance.


Here is a quick overview of the new features in Avatar Book that have been recently released: First, as you will see on the main page, we have enabled guest viewing so that you don’t have to be a subscriber of EA Land in order to explore Avatar Book. Further down on the page, you will see the option of inviting your Facebook friends to use Avatar Book. Simply select the friends you would like to invite and click submit. Also, we have implemented a profile box that displays on your real facebook profile page all your avatars that you made public in your privacy settings.

Don’t be surprised to see how effective these features may be in attracting new users to the game! Sharing information through Facebook’s social web are viral ways to get the word out about EA Land and grow our community. Inside the application, we have included online status and links to the FB pages in the Search and Friend Web pages. Finally, on an avatar’s profile page we have enabled bookmarks also with online status. Bookmarks are a temporary change so please bear with us! We are working on a more meaningful way to make friends in EA Land that we can then provide you access with.

Thanks again for your patience, your interest and your feedback. We hope to continue to let Avatar Book evolve into something that is the most useful to you and most beneficial to EA Land.

Best wishes for the holidays!

-Michael

Just in case you all didnt see it.

 

[imported_Qute Pi]

<blockquote><hr>

Or if you want to have more fun, bookmark total strangers and keep people wondering what you are up to.

[/ QUOTE ]

lol that was my plan all along, how'd you guess? lol jk. good idea tho!

 

[imported_Dali Dalinza]

<blockquote><hr>

Ok this definitely needs to be fixed right away. I've turned into a total noseybutt. Everyone that has complained about privacy just made me want to go look them up even more. Now mind you, I could always look up your skill levels, your friend webs, your house info, your roomies in game before. It seems the only new thing is the public viewing of bookmarks. I suggest all that want to remain private, delete your bookmarks immediately.

Or if you want to have more fun, bookmark total strangers and keep people wondering what you are up to.

Too bad people can't see my ignore list. That would be a better drama!

[/ QUOTE ]

Exactly, Gracie. And we all know what the collective we are like. Second guessing is a sport around here. Like most people, I have bookmarks that are kinda random. They include people I like, people I want to avoid, and people that I have bookmarked for who knows what reason. Of course, much hilarity or heartbreak might be had for anyone trying to decipher the hidden meanings, LOL.

I thought Facebook was a feature we could choose if we wanted to do so. I had paid no attention because I have no interest in participating. How dare I be forced to participate! I know there is a clause in our new agreement that says we can expect no privacy, but I was foolish enough to think that meant IN game. I had no idea that the internet at large was included in my waiver of privacy expectation.

I really feel this should have been an opt in option, not one where we have to jump through a kazillion hoops to opt out.

 

[imported_Dali Dalinza]

<blockquote><hr>

Per Michaels blog post 12/19/07

Avatar Book has been generating a lot of interest in the past few weeks. Everyday dozens of new users are joining and it is being accessed thousands of times. This is really good news and shows that accessing in game data on the web is of growing importance.


Here is a quick overview of the new features in Avatar Book that have been recently released: First, as you will see on the main page, we have enabled guest viewing so that you don’t have to be a subscriber of EA Land in order to explore Avatar Book. Further down on the page, you will see the option of inviting your Facebook friends to use Avatar Book. Simply select the friends you would like to invite and click submit. Also, we have implemented a profile box that displays on your real facebook profile page all your avatars that you made public in your privacy settings.

Don’t be surprised to see how effective these features may be in attracting new users to the game! Sharing information through Facebook’s social web are viral ways to get the word out about EA Land and grow our community. Inside the application, we have included online status and links to the FB pages in the Search and Friend Web pages. Finally, on an avatar’s profile page we have enabled bookmarks also with online status. Bookmarks are a temporary change so please bear with us! We are working on a more meaningful way to make friends in EA Land that we can then provide you access with.

Thanks again for your patience, your interest and your feedback. We hope to continue to let Avatar Book evolve into something that is the most useful to you and most beneficial to EA Land.

Best wishes for the holidays!

-Michael

Just in case you all didnt see it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, once again the Wiki blog trumps this "official" board. Ironic that many of us find the Wiki too difficult, when the nerds seem to find Stratics too hard to master.

A "sorry" doesn't cut it. This should not have taken place at all.

In all the excitement Michael is feeling about the advertising potential (at the expense of the subscriber's privacy), I wonder if he has considered what a potent tool Facebook/Avatar book could be for slamming the game and putting potential customers off? If anyone with an avatar gets a Facebook page, that puts many people on the marketing front lines that have nothing but animosity for this game. The way I feel right now, I might join them.

Edited to add: a humorous aside: my avatar "One Night Stand" has a name that does not meet the Facebook automated name standards. I could not register, so if he is listed in the avatar book, he is banned from signing up to Facebook. :/

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

Bookmarks are a temporary change so please bear with us! We are working on a more meaningful way to make friends in EA Land that we can then provide you access with.


[/ QUOTE ]
What does this even mean???? They are going to dis-able bookmarks? Bookmarks will no longer be a feature? What?

...and that last sentence is just gobbledygook.

 

[imported_Qute Pi]

<blockquote><hr>

Edited to add: a humorous aside: my avatar "One Night Stand" has a name that does not meet the Facebook automated name standards. I could not register, so if he is listed in the avatar book, he is banned from signing up to Facebook. :/

[/ QUOTE ]

Qute Pi name was also banned and I could not register with it... hmmmm...
I just wanted to put my stuff on private lol, which I still didn't figure out...yet

 

[imported_Gracie Nito]

The wiki and the blog are two completely different things. It was confirmed months ago that stratics is not "official" by any means. The official word from developers comes from the tso-e.com website where you will find names of all developers currently working on the game and Ea-land. The wiki was established so that players could present new ideas and expand on those ideas in a better format than a message board offers.


Michael has been posting on the blog for months about facebook applications and how they will be intergrated in the game. I specifically created a facebook account to keep up with these changes just so I could offer knowledgeable feedback.

None of it made any sense to me at all until I started using FB and the avatarbook application. While I understand it as a marketing tool, I have also found it useful for my game play as well. Many security issues have been brought up in discusions with Michael in the pub and I'm sure we will have more opportunities to give input.

As for meaningful friendships, I believe they will be making advances to where we can control what friends we have in game. Not just a bunch of happy go lucky serenaders on our webs.

 

[coyoteee]

<blockquote><hr>

Ok this definitely needs to be fixed right away. I've turned into a total noseybutt. Everyone that has complained about privacy just made me want to go look them up even more. Now mind you, I could always look up your skill levels, your friend webs, your house info, your roomies in game before. It seems the only new thing is the public viewing of bookmarks. I suggest all that want to remain private, delete your bookmarks immediately.

Or if you want to have more fun, bookmark total strangers and keep people wondering what you are up to. I elected to bookmark only sims with the "coy" in their name

Someone should bookmark only sims with the last name of "Bear"!

Too bad people can't see my ignore list. That would be a better drama!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yay for COY! :-D Gracie and I are gay lovers. Didn't y'all know?

 

[Guest]

Last I checked, everything defaults to private. If you have a real FB account then this is kept private and not publically linked to your avatar profile unless you choose to make it so.

When I check my avatar profile for my main sim in TC3 it says I have 0 bookmarks, I suspect this is a bug as my bookmark list is pretty full.

The devs are playing around with AB, if you don't like some of the latest additions then be sure to give your feedback so that they know what you like or don't like about it.

Polly

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

The wiki and the blog are two completely different things. It was confirmed months ago that stratics is not "official" by any means. The official word from developers comes from the tso-e.com website where you will find names of all developers currently working on the game and Ea-land. The wiki was established so that players could present new ideas and expand on those ideas in a better format than a message board offers.


Michael has been posting on the blog for months about facebook applications and how they will be intergrated in the game. I specifically created a facebook account to keep up with these changes just so I could offer knowledgeable feedback.

None of it made any sense to me at all until I started using FB and the avatarbook application. <u>While I understand it as a marketing tool, I have also found it useful for my game play as well.</u> Many security issues have been brought up in discusions with Michael in the pub and I'm sure we will have more opportunities to give input.

As for meaningful friendships, I believe they will be making advances to where we can control what friends we have in game. Not just a bunch of happy go lucky serenaders on our webs.

[/ QUOTE ]
That's fine - but I hope you understand that there are many of us that don't see it that way.
Speaking just for myself, I see it as a waste of resources that could be put to better use as improvements to the actual game, as well as being disrepectful towards player's privacy. At the very least, they should have asked players about that aspect of it.
Marketing is fine, and even necessary, but there is no compelling reason why this site must be accessible from inside the game - and no reason whatever to make info available on this site that is not accessible IG. Unless it's for provocative reasons - "Psst! C'mon in and see stuff you can't see in the game!". Which we all know is very prevalent in the ad world (anyone see the Disarrono (whatever) commercial where the gal.... and the ice cube... you know).

 

[imported_Dali Dalinza]

<blockquote><hr>


Many security issues have been brought up in discusions with Michael in the pub and I'm sure we will have more opportunities to give input.



[/ QUOTE ]

Security and privacy issues needed to be addressed BEFORE the Avatar Book and Facebook connection was launched, not after.

This is not an issue new to devs or anyone who uses the 'net -- or shouldn't be. Privacy issues, and freedom from spam, are well-known and publicized issues. For EA to be throwing subscribers into the quagmire is inexcusable.

 

[Guest]

I believe we first started to discuss this in August on the blog, privacy was a concern in those posts if I remember correctly, later if I have time I'll re-read it.

 

[Guest]

I think to be fair the devs have taken our privacy concerns into consideration when setting up Avatar book (at least to a large extent).

Back when discussions began, some of us stated that we weren't happy having our real life face book accounts linked to any ingame information. The privacy settings for this have all set to a private default - in other words they listened and our real life information is not linked to our Avatar profiles (unless we choose to make it so).

The only new thing which we have no control over is the bookmarks. Its not a full set of bookmarks, it just shows a random selection of up to 6 (for some reason I can no longer log in to my Avatar page to check). As stated previously I don't like this new feature and have given my feedback on the blog.

Hopefully they will reconsider this and either remove our bookmarks or make it so we can choose to display this information or not.

Polly

 

[imported_Gracie Nito]

<blockquote><hr>

Last I checked, everything defaults to private. If you have a real FB account then this is kept private and not publically linked to your avatar profile unless you choose to make it so.

When I check my avatar profile for my main sim in TC3 it says I have 0 bookmarks, I suspect this is a bug as my bookmark list is pretty full.

The devs are playing around with AB, if you don't like some of the latest additions then be sure to give your feedback so that they know what you like or don't like about it.

Polly

[/ QUOTE ]


Yes there are security measures in place so that you do not have to have your Facebook account linked in any way to your avatarbook.

If you want to create an annomymous Facebook account you can do that. You can use your annoymous account to access avatarbook. Avatarbook was security linked so that to login to your avatar on avatarbook, you have to login using your EA.com account. This is a secure login through ea only and Facebook does not have access to this information. You do not have to share your avatar information with facebook account.

What was added this week, was the ability for any facebook user to add the avatarbook application and to login as a guest to view our avatars. Each avatar has basic information about it. Where they live, who their roomies are, who is on their friend web. Date and time they last logged in to the game. Why a total stranger that has never played tso would want to see our avatars is beyond me.

Today the avatar's private bookmarks were added to these pages. These should have remained private as they always have been or we should have been warned ahead of time to clear our bookmarks.

 

[imported_Dali Dalinza]

The real pisser is that to have any control over what is displayed -- even "just bookmarks" -- I have to sign up at Facebook. Why should I have to give them any information at all? I want nothing to do with Facebook. I don't want Facebook to have my information in their databanks. It was a really stupid, ill conceived notion to force all players to have to deal with Facebook in order to maintain privacy (such as it is).

 

[imported_Gracie Nito]

Dali,

Even if you logged in to avatarbook, you would have no control over your bookmarks. There are no user controls for editing any of our avatar information. A few months ago, Michael posted about an in-game user interface for facebook controls. I believe when this is activated it will allow us more control over what is displayed in the avatarbook.

The best thing you can do for now is to delete your bookmarks so that no one can see them. As for all the other information available it is the same information we can find about Dali if we are logged in the game. I can tell if you are online, I can see your friend web, I can see where you live, I can see your skill points, etc.

 

[Guest]

No you dont have to have a FB acct to get the privacy settings, they are default.

 

[imported_Gracie Nito]

<blockquote><hr>

No you dont have to have a FB acct to get the privacy settings, they are default.

[/ QUOTE ]

There is something wrong with the security settings if they are set as default not to share avatar information with facebook. I was able to login as a guest with avatarbook today and was able to view information about many avatars that do not have facebook accounts.

My understanding of the security feature was that our avatars would not be visible to facebook unless we chose to make it so.

 

[Guest]

The security settings are only to keep people from seeing your Facebook page. You can choose to share that page with all or keep it private. There are no privacy settings keeping people from seeing your friends or bookmarks.

 

[imported_Gracie Nito]

Ok the bookmarks are no longer visable on avatarbook. I can no longer see my bookmarks or anyone elses.

 

[Guest]

Indeed ! They're gone !

Thanks very much to the dev team for listening to our concerns

Polly

 

[NightFlyer]

That's great!

Now if they can just delete our avatars until we sign on to the program we'll be all set.

Just keep our avatars greyed out like the sims who have deleted and remain on our webs. No need to see us on your friend web or what ever if we opt not to sign on to FB with an account.

 

[Guest]

Theres no need to worry about that, players who look at your avatar book page cant see anything more about you then they can in game. I'm assured they have great plans for it that will benefit the players and bring in new players. Really everyone ought to try FB its fun and remember you can create your page with your sim name most of the time, but you dont have to use RL info at all! So whats the problem?