The legality of this issue is as Hoggersbud has stated. You may not agree with it but its true. Just because the servers are private property doesn't mean a users rights don't exist.

Personally I think that this idea is hilarious. I do think it should happen on a normal or pvp server versus a rp or pvp-rp server as politics should not ever com in to play on a role playing server.

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blizzard has banned large groups of people for gathering together before, don't be surprised if they do it again. its easy money for them if they ban everyone who participate's account and force them all to go buy another copy of the game (seeing how most who would participate are already hooked on wow). blizzard can ban whomever they please for virtually whatever reason they want (read the TOS), especially if such a gathering could possibly lag the server. i would love to join but i'm definitely not risking my characters for this. as for the people complaining about the event occurring on their server: if you can't go without a few hours of wow on a set date, you need a life.

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sorry, i should have cited my sources. here is one example i found by just googling 'wow ban account' (not in quotes).

http://www.cesspit.net/drupal/node/491

also if you want you can find many people who complain about their accounts being banned for apparently no reason and these people ALWAYS have trouble with blizzard's customer service being unresponsive and not helpful in assisting them to get their accounts back. i guess its just easier (and gets them more $$) for blizzard to ban an account and let them buy a new copy if they want to play again rather than spend time trying to get individual accounts reactivated

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Ron Paul is a passing novelty this election cycle. I commend him and his supporters for mobilizing and getting his message out, but his ideas are so far from mainstream that he won't attract moderate and right-of-center voters in spite of raising millions of dollars.

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Re: not voting Paul because his supporters might march in Whisperwind. Hey, seriously, whatever you think of this idea you gotta remember Paul didn't suggest it or support it; it's just that his ideas inspire insane amounts of support from a lotta people who check him out.

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Hoggersbud, While I agree that the LGBT incident demonstrates Blizzard's limitation in rights with regard to what they can allow and not allow in the game free-speech wise(This was never actually a legal issue, but a THREAT of becoming a legal issue. Blizzard backed down on their attempt to ban the player for 2 reasons: 1) Their own policy was mis-applied, and 2) They didn't want the bad publicity.), I fail to see how this applies to an organized effort to advertise a candidate for the Presidency. Are you saying Blizzard can not stop Coca-Cola from advertising or Hillary Clinton from speech-making in WoW? Certainly, if you mention Clinton or Ron Paul or Coke in chat you are not going to be banned, Blizzard wouldn't even consider it, but there is a limit. I not only think Blizzard has clear and solid ground to stand on in this issue, but that they should in order to protect their business and speak for the players who do not want this tripe in the game.

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First off whoever came up with this is a pure genius i support yall all the way. Also you guys should have a barrier of tanks on the out side and clothies on the inside of the barriers so it would be like secret service and what not for Ron Paul
Ron Paul Revolution.

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Ah... nothing like good politics to get a debate going. Do those of you who posted here and stated 'I hate politics' realize that you have already participated in the process? Well, maybe the comment should be changed to 'I hate political pandering as usual.' Also, are you in a guild? You work at an office? Welcome to politics 101. Anyway, enough of the side comments....

What everyone needs to understand (that hasn't realized this yet) is that Warcraft, and every other MMO in existance, is a community. It may well be a game, but you live a large part of your lives living in this community. It's just like going down to the pub after work to have a pint of beer. That was the greatest place to discuss politics: with those of like minds. What better place to do it than in the place we spend so much time with friends and acquaintances?

Now is the big question... Will blizzard allow this? If not, how are they going to stop it? Warcraft isn't Second Life where the owners have opened the environment freely to these sorts of things, but I don't recall anything explicitly disallowing it, either. (I'm not an expert on the ToS and EULA, so forgive my ignorance.) Can they effectively put a stop to it? I don't think they can. They could stop the march, ban players, etc. Doing so would only get all those that planned on participating in this buying a trial copy and using it instead. (hint, hint)

Can they effectively maintain the policy? No. In order to maintain this policy of disallowing political activity would mean that they would have to ban ANY player for mentioning, sanctioning, or participating in a governmental political process. Over the next 11 months, open discussion (or just flat out bull-nosed arguements) will only get worse. The CS department will become so bogged down in petitions and reports about players because they expressed a view different from someone elses. (How better to silence an opponent than deny them access to their forum?)

Now, should they stop this? In my opinion: No. It will only, in the end, create more problems than it's worth. What can you, as a player, do about it? Petition those that are disruptive to the game (ie violate the TOS or EULA). Ignore it the discussion at your peril. Participate in positive, active commentary. Above all, if you are over 18, register and go vote! (Just ask Al Gore about the importance of a single state and one vote.)

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Virtual worlds are as real as any other place. You build real relationships with real people. Players "go there" for social reasons, so how can it be expected that national politics won't enter into the picture?

Ron Paul did not organize this march. As usual for his campaign, it's spontaneous, grass-roots support just like his record-breaking fund raisers ($6mil in one day, more than any candidate in US history). He had nothing to do with those events or this one.

To the person that said Ron Paul is "so far from mainstream"... following the Constitution, standing up for individual liberty, supporting non-interventionist diplomacy, and saving America from bankruptcy are actually as "mainstream" as can be. Or maybe you consider yourself in the top 1% rich elite for whom these issues don't apply?

Neo-conservatives (inspired by Leo Strauss who said that people are inherently immoral and must be dominated and controlled by an enlightened elite [have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_of_Nightmares]) like Bush, Hillary, and Giuliani are not mainstream, despite their prominence in the media. They have no interest in anything other than perpetuating the status quo, which will complete America's accelerating decline.

Freedom is not free. http://RonPaul2008.com

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IF to SW? Why bother. Who is going to see anyone there? Just the poor folks who got the game under the Christmas tree. Some statement... may as well hold a protest march in the alley behind the bar you were in when you came up with the stupid idea in the first place.

BTW, there are a lot of people from countries other than the US that play on Whisperwind. When you are crying about having your civil rights disrespected, please remember to respect ours!

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He has never voted to raise taxes.
He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
He voted against the Patriot Act.
He voted against regulating the Internet.
He voted against the Iraq war.

Most importantly he wants a full, independent investigation of 9/11, which is what most of the families of the victims want.

Legend.

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While I actually like many of Ron Paul's stands, I do not believe an in game demonstration is appropriate. I suggest that all of us opposed to this "demonstration" create characters and log in to make our displeasure known.

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Orcs for Obama anyone?

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I think a boss spawn right in the middle of this march would be so cool. Would love to see a movie of this grim march all of a sudden burst into life and scramble for protection.

Or, perhaps even a PK fest. Have a bunch of High level assassins pounce on this march and tear em to bits (it make a funny movie).

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