The requirement for mobile phone verification for Discord is wrong

Discussion in 'General Gameplay Discussion' started by Zinj, Sep 14, 2022.

  1. Zinj Well-Known Member

    1. There is zero protection from recording and misuse of a private phone number. Nor is there even a legal disclaimer for it. It's more than enough that you already have an e-mail address from us.

    2. This requirement is discriminatory and elitist. Contrary to your opinion, not everyone has a mobile phone.

    Now I'm not surprised that this was put in place. The people who did so tend to be urbanites with good, multiple ISP options, redundant electric supply, and usually high income levels. However, the expectation that the rest of the country, or the world, has like access and income levels is rather narrow minded. (Don't feel like I'm picking on you specifically, I have the same arguments with so-called I.T. "industry leaders" all the time.) There are reasons why I, and other people, persist in solely utilizing a land line.

    Just my observation and opinion.
    Svenone, Cheallaigh, Laera and 3 others like this.
  2. Nunja Well-Known Member

    I agree. lf I wanted my phone number registered I would have done it. Absolutely no reason to input phone # for discord for EQ2.
    Cheallaigh, Laera and Jesaine like this.
  3. Tkia Well-Known Member

  4. vlada Active Member

    out of curiosity i checked my discord in 3 places, pc, phone and web. no mobile phone number has been added and isnt needed for my guild discord, i do not use the eq2 discord as ive been banned for over 3 years.so this appears to be a DPG requirement from what people are saying.it needs to be changed
    Laera likes this.
  5. Jesaine Well-Known Member

    It's all about Data Mining and Privacy Violation as Zinj said. Same reason I won't put most apps on my phone, but that's another story.
    Cheallaigh, Lateana and Laera like this.
  6. Almee Well-Known Member

    I resent having to use Discord, or any 3rd party software, but DPG seems to love 3rd party apps so I'm stuck with having to use them because I've invested so much time and money in the game.
    Cheallaigh, Laera and Nunja like this.
  7. Nunja Well-Known Member

    You and me both.
    Cheallaigh and Laera like this.
  8. Angeliana Senior Community Manager

    The addition to the phone number requirement is to prevent scams, abuse, and spammers. At some point, most of us know someone who clicked a link claiming to give something "free" and then their account was scammed from them. Then they had to come back letting everyone know their account was "hacked" and not to click any links they sent out. Someone inevitably had already clicked it, their account was "hacked", continue ad nauseum until it only those wise to the scam were left who would not click the link.

    This prevents that scam as the "hacker" has no way to verify the account is theirs to steal it, password change it, and post on it. This also prevents random spammers and scammers from invading our servers and channels.

    While we understand this change is not optimal for everyone, and some are unable to use this verification process, it was done for the greater good of our players and Discord server for safety reasons.

    As for disclaimer or how your phone number is used, feel free to read up about it here: https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/6181726888215-Verification-Required-FAQ

    We at DBG do not have access to your phone number or email on file with Discord. We are only utilizing the tools provided to keep our players as safe as we can while choosing to be in our Official EverQuest II Discord channels.

    I am available on the forums from start to end of my weekly workdays and I also pop in at random times on the weekends. So please feel free to message me any time and I will do my very best to respond as soon as I set eyes on your message.
    Twyla likes this.
  9. Jesaine Well-Known Member

    Angeliana, the trouble is that mistrust regarding this sort of thing is at an all time high, and for good reason. Google and Apple both spy on Android and iPhone users respectively. I'd wager half the forums population could share at least one story of talking about something face to face with somebody and then being bombarded with ads for it. The vast majority of phone apps data mine as well. Amazon and Facebook are probably the worst offenders, but hardly the only ones. Even the third party flashlight apps have insane unnecessary permissions. Market analytics is the new gold, and everybody wants in on the action. Many of them use explanations similar to yours also.

    I'm not saying Daybreak is guilty, but understand that the optics are bad. Nobody seems immune to the bad behavior either. I use a blacklist firewall and even caught NordVPN trying to send data packets from my PC to MIT. That finally stopped a few months back, OR they got even sneakier about it. Point is, if you can't even trust a VPN provider, who can you trust?

    All that said, game accounts have been a hot theft commodity. Discord accounts though?? And if we're talking getting game accounts via Discord site registration, that's prevented by not asking for the information in the first place. Making the Discord community more open will grow the game's community. As for spammers and trolls, that simply takes a moderator who is willing to pay attention and shut them down.
    Cheallaigh and Laera like this.
  10. Angeliana Senior Community Manager

    While we understand your concerns, the good far outweighs the bad and the change will likely remain in place. It has been this way in some of our other Discord servers, including EverQuest, without issue.
    Twyla likes this.
  11. Laera Member


    Actually the bad more than outweighs the good, since as several people have said, they either don't own phones that can get text (me) or don't trust the app/have privacy concerns (also me). I suspect there we be a huge drop in the population of that Discord.
    Cheallaigh likes this.
  12. Maviarab Active Member

    Does anyone ultimately care though?

    It's a discord app for a game for christ sake people. Not life and death or anything actually..you know..important. Also, so a few people either don't have or can't use a phone. Well welcome to the real world folks where not everything revolves around you. And for the record, having privacy concerns yet actually owning a phone in the first instance is just..well...*shakes head*....
  13. Jmme New Member

    Not sure if the phone number requirement will prevent scams since I see info online for temp phone numbers.
  14. Angeliana Senior Community Manager

    All it takes is 1-2 accounts which have or had Nitro active and gifts from it still in inventory for it to be worth the scammers time. These are often sold for real world cash. (See SS below) Sure, it's a gamble for them, and sometimes doesn't pay off, but other times it does. Those times are what keep them going.

    EDITED TO ADD SS LINK: https://prnt.sc/tERR07csF2-U

    Employees have a scheduled set of hours they work, as well as other work to attend to, we cannot be here 24/7/365. If you mean volunteers, we also cannot ask them to be 24/7/365 as they would likely have work/school or lives outside of volunteering to monitor Discord.

    Discord has built in means to assist with the moderation of the servers during times no one is available to have eyes on it, this is one such part which we are choosing to utilize. And, as mentioned before, this also tightens up security and safety for the players overall.
    By setting up the server properly it allows us to utilize in full the community feature which in turn allows us into the Discovery and Verified areas of Discord. So it grants us further reach than we would have otherwise.
    Twyla likes this.
  15. Angeliana Senior Community Manager

    As far as last checked, those no longer worked. But if people choose to use them then it between them and Discord if their accounts are compromised.
    Twyla likes this.
  16. Geroblue Well-Known Member

    As a 30 plus year computer tech, I was informed at my last 2 jobs to never use my cellphone for purchases, etc. as they aren't as secure as most people think they are.
    Cheallaigh and Breanna like this.
  17. Angeliana Senior Community Manager

    My husband was a cellular technician for 20 years. I am aware of their downfall. This is not making purchases, however, it is to verify your account only.
  18. Lateana Older than Dirt, Playing EQII since 2004

    No, the good does not outweigh the bad. It is bad,end of.
    Cheallaigh and Geroblue like this.
  19. Anguisette Member

    I've been a member of Discord since 2015, both as a Beta tester and user. I have had my cell number attached to my Discord since 2016 and I have never had an issue with it. Literally all you are doing is adding it to the Discord, Discord will send your phone a text to verify it. The only other time you will receive anything from Discord is if you log out or use Discord on another PC and need to reauthorize your login. No app is downloaded or needed, it uses your phone SMS system, just like normal texting.

    Having your phone setup also gives you extra control over your Discord account, such as being able to add 2FA for even greater safety, or use an authenticator or QR code to login.

    In response to some of the other posts above --
    • Logging into many websites on the internet while on your PC put you at far greater risk of malware/adware or worse such as keyloggers, viruses, or trojans.
    • Ensuring proper phone settings (mic and camera allowances and location services) reduce the risks exponentially of targeted ads. You'd be shocked at how many things on your phone, even from factory, have settings to use your location, mic and camera at will enabled.
    Angeliana, Aggy and Twyla like this.
  20. Sturmlocke Linux enthusiast playing EQ2 via Proton.

    Not an expert on Discord, only login once in a while, but I wonder if adding a physical form of verification or authentication for an account would help calm ppls minds and secure other folks from spam attacks, which are increasing at an alarming rate btw. I do understand data and privacy related concerns on this subject though, bc everyone is trying to gather data nowadays. Big brother is watching you everywhere and new gen ppl in the mainstream have been made aware of this fact ever since Snowden dropped, others way before that ofc. That said, I also understand that we have to somehow protect customers and users from being abused by random and scamming parties.

    [IMG]
    Anyone remember these?

    Or: https://support.discord.com/hc/en-u...346605719-Physical-Key-for-2FA-would-be-nice-

    Instead of doing it via a mobile or phone number that is. Just a wild thought. Does Discord offer any alternative to the verification via phone nr like that?

    That said, it makes me a happy bunny seeing how many of us here care for IT security, no matter if its us on the community or dev side. Nice! All on Windows, I assume? Well then, no different than say Apple or Google in this regard. Join us, join us, join us ---> https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq2/index.php?threads/eq2-on-linux-and-mac-guide.604032/

    Ahahaha, I sound like some kind of cult member. Jking a bit of course, or am I?

    Btw, the only way to make sure that no one is tapping into your mic or cam is by using a kill switch to physically disconnect it from the motherboard, everything else in software is easily bypassed: https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/

    Cheers