Stealth mode is back!

[Morningstar]

Premium members who are in stealth mode are no longer appearing on the sidebar's Neofriends list. *does happy dance* I like my privacy!!! And now finally have it back.

[Blue]

That's good news. I like my privacy, too. Maybe it will work for us non-premium members soon.

Then the Neofriends side module will always say: "None of your Neofriends are currently online. You must be lonely."

The "You must be lonely" crack kind of rubs me the wrong way. I'd really like to be able to turn that module off completely.

[Morningstar]

Blue, I think it should be turned off permanently too. It is an invasion of privacy. And the worrisome mom in me thinks of how easy it would be to stalk someone on Neopets. Or maybe not stalk, but at least target or harass. It could cause hurt feelings among friends--you suddenly feel the need to return a neomail to someone because they know you are online, when you just don't have the time to chat--maybe you've got 5 minutes before work to do your dailies. But, you now feel obligated, since they know you are around.
Or, even worse, someone pretends to be your friend, gets you to neofriend them, and then, during those times that they see that you are offline, they attempt to gain access to your account--by guessing your password and such.

As far as I am concerned, it is info that people don't really need to know about you.

[Asthaloth]

To be honest I'm running "long in the tooth / Munky fingers" resolution, so I don't actually see it...

[Morningstar]

To be honest I'm running "long in the tooth / Munky fingers" resolution, so I don't actually see it...

*scratches head* Setekh, I am confused. What is long in the tooth/munky fingers resolution?

[Matrinka]

It just annoys me that right now it seems like Neopets is telling all of their regular players that they are not entitled to privacy - they have to pay for it.

[Blue]

Morningstar, I agree with you completely. I usually do my dailies in about 5 minutes before heading off for work (snowager is sleeping at that time).

I had not even considered the offline/hacking possibility. I would hope that someone wouldn't take to stalking a NeoFriend, but that module does make you think a bit more about your neofriends. Admittedly, I have only 3 neofriends, one of whom quit playing a couple of years ago. I would (and have) do anything within reason to help them out if/when they need, but I don't really need to know when they're on-line. If I really need to know if they're still around, I can see on their lookup pages when they were "last spotted", or send them a neomail that they can answer at their convenience.
Immediate site problems, questions, etc. are best answered here on PPT.

Anyway, is there any way to test and see if the non-premium users are now stealth, too? I have my "User Status" set to "Do Not Display" under site preferences, but do not see any "stealth" settings there.

[AySz88]

Considering that Neofriend-ship is something that needs to be reciprocated, I don't really see the problem. Why would someone malicious only try to hack into your account when you're offline?

In a more general sense, though, I get the feeling that younger people (20s and teens, like I) have distinctly less want for privacy. I heard about a small privacy-related uprising about Facebook's "mini-feed" feature when they introduced it, but when I joined, I felt it was one of the stronger points of the site, not something that gave me privacy worries at all, and seeing how many people around here use Facebook very often, I doubt many of them feel many qualms about it either.

I have my "User Status" set to "Do Not Display" under site preferences, but do not see any "stealth" settings there.

I sent something in about the "site status" dropdown being probably-misleading, since (as far as I know) it governs an entry on your user lookup and not the module. (I wish they'd have integrated it into the new status system instead of having two different systems.) They just sent back a "We are working on this problem. Thank you for your e-mail!"

[Morningstar]

Morningstar, I agree with you completely. I usually do my dailies in about 5 minutes before heading off for work (snowager is sleeping at that time).

I had not even considered the offline/hacking possibility. I would hope that someone wouldn't take to stalking a NeoFriend, but that module does make you think a bit more about your neofriends. Admittedly, I have only 3 neofriends, one of whom quit playing a couple of years ago. I would (and have) do anything within reason to help them out if/when they need, but I don't really need to know when they're on-line. If I really need to know if they're still around, I can see on their lookup pages when they were "last spotted", or send them a neomail that they can answer at their convenience.
Immediate site problems, questions, etc. are best answered here on PPT.

Anyway, is there any way to test and see if the non-premium users are now stealth, too? I have my "User Status" set to "Do Not Display" under site preferences, but do not see any "stealth" settings there.

My husband and I tested it. He is not premium. I am. I can still see him on my Neofriends list, even though he has status set to "Do Not Display." But he can only see me if I remove my stealth status.

And I agree. I think it bites that non-premium people are not afforded the basic privilege of privacy. It would be a shame to have to pay for privacy. I don't see anything really good about it at all. And only see the bad in it.

And stalking and hacking are my major concerns. Imagine this scenario: you are a 13 year old, someone much like my daughter. Some really "cool" older player with lots of stats and nps befriends you. And impresses you. So, you becomes neofriends. And instantly, he knows when you are online. And might send nonstop neomails to you. A bit of pressure. And you are just not mature enough to know how to deal with it. And don't want to tell mom and dad because they would get you to stop playing the game. And maybe not to do "bad" things in a face to face way. But maybe to get you to let him have access to your account to use an autobuyer. Or to pressure you to give him nps or your nice weapons.

Or imagine this scenario: You are in a popular maller's guild, which isn't private and is open to anyone wanting to join. A certain person, who is also in this guild, hates your guts. Hates all mallers and is extremely jealous of them. But, doesn't let on to any of them. Because he is in the guild, he becomes neofriends with all of the people in the guild. Suddenly, he can see when non-premium non-stealth guild members go offline. And can incorrectly guess their passwords 3 times to keep them locked out of their accounts. Sound far-fetched? Not at all. A few months back we had a person come on PPT and brag about how he targetted mallers. He would incorrectly guess their passwords to keep them out of their accounts. Think how much easier it would now be if he somehow were to become neofriends with them.

I don't like it at all. No one should know the exact second you are online or when you go offline. It is just not a sound idea. Some can call me paranoid, but in this day and age, I think it is better to err on the side of caution.

Last edited by Morningstar on Sat May 05, 2007 1:26 am, edited 2 times in total.

[VirtualMetal]

Considering that Neofriend-ship is something that needs to be reciprocated, I don't really see the problem. Why would someone malicious only try to hack into your account when you're offline?

I personally add neofriends to remember their usernames so I can mail them later. If I want to talk to them I'll go on a messinger or neomail them. I'm not in the slightest worried about getting "hacked" but when I'm just sitting arround in my birthday suit after a shower reading the Neo Times of a morning before work, I really don't need 20 neomails in my inbox saying "Hi what r u doin?!".

If I don't want Neo Stalker beta why should I be forced to use it? I'd just like the option to turn it off and on at my leasure.

[TDG]

I don't think people will stalk others through it, I just don't like people knowing when I'm online, or for how long. Its none of there business - if I want to talk to them, I'll mail them. I don't want random people mailing me "Hi, what's up?"

Its why I hardly ever am on MSN (in fact, I signed in for the first time in about a year a few days back), I hate people just chatting. I sign in when there's something specific I want to talk to somebody about which I can't do easily through Neopets, PinkPT or Email. I don't like just using it so people can bug me when I'm doing other stuff.

Dear Neopets,

I'll be the first to admit I don't like the new layout, however, you seem determined to stick to it, so I ask one thing from you that would at least stop my biggest issue.

The new Neofriends module is annoying, I don't want people knowing how long I use the site or when I'm online. I have thought of two solutions:

1- Have a dropdown list in the Neofriends module saying "I am currently [online/offline]". You select whichever you want and press submit, and your Neofriends' modules update to this. The way I see it, this will mean people can choose when they want their Neofriends to know whether they're online or not. I guarentee it will get more use than the current User lookup option where you could put things like "Online - Restocking", as you do not have to go to a specific page and enter your password everytime you want to change it. Additionally, its not out of the way for anybody, so there'll be no "I should change that to say I'm going offline, aww well, its too much hassle"

I understand that this gives non-premium members something that premium members pay for, but the way I see it - premium members' stealth mode only hid the "Last spotted:" prior to the change, so they're not losing anything through that idea. However, if the first idea cannot be done, I propose a second

2 - An option on the site preferences page where you can choose to turn off the timer on how long you've been online for. This is one of the main problems people have with it - they don't want people knowing how long they've been on. It would still encourage relations between Neofriends, but it doesn't lead to embarassing conversations such as "You've been on for 4 hours in a row?!!?"

Please, you've already taken away a large chunk of what I loved about the site, don't force a feature I can't stand down my throat.

[miz sparrow]

And stalking and hacking are my major concerns. Imagine this scenario: you are a 13 year old, someone much like my daughter. Some really "cool" older player with lots of stats and nps befriends you. And impresses you. So, you becomes neofriends. And instantly, he knows when you are online. And might send nonstop neomails to you. A bit of pressure. And you are just not mature enough to know how to deal with it. And don't want to tell mom and dad because they would get you to stop playing the game. And maybe not to do "bad" things in a face to face way.

Now imagine that you're one of the 11 year olds that was clever enough to fake your birthdate so you could have neofriends.... just that much less likely to be able to deal with it.

[Ange]

In a more general sense, though, I get the feeling that younger people (20s and teens, like I) have distinctly less want for privacy. I heard about a small privacy-related uprising about Facebook's "mini-feed" feature when they introduced it, but when I joined, I felt it was one of the stronger points of the site, not something that gave me privacy worries at all, and seeing how many people around here use Facebook very often, I doubt many of them feel many qualms about it either.

I dunno...I'm 21 and have serious issues with the Neofriend thing, as well as Facebook. I pretty took all my info off it when they introduced the "mini-feed." Many of my college friends agreed.

Anyways, back on the topic of the Neofriend module...I only have a handful of Neofriends, half of which never sign on, but I wish there was the option to turn it off.

[Morningstar]

Considering that Neofriend-ship is something that needs to be reciprocated, I don't really see the problem.

Because you can't look anyone in the eye on this site. Sometimes you don't know if the person you are befriending is sincere or just pretending to be sincere in order to take advantage of you later on or just plain psycho. And once you find out, it might be too late. And I am not worried about mature people with a good head on their shoulders. I am worried about impressionable people. Kids who might be having family problems or are loners, women/men who are vulnerable because of their mental capacities or may be super down due to a recent problem in real life. Or people who are just too nice and sweet, those types who are always feeling sorry for people. It would be easy for someone to befriend these types of people and then take advantage of them later on. And so much easier if the person knows when they are and aren't online.

[Blue]

My husband and I tested it. He is not premium. I am. I can still see him on my Neofriends list, even though he has status set to "Do Not Display." But he can only see me if I remove my stealth status.

And I agree. I think it bites that non-premium people are not afforded the basic privilege of privacy. It would be a shame to have to pay for privacy. I don't see anything really good about it at all. And only see the bad in it.

And stalking and hacking are my major concerns. Imagine this scenario:

...snipped for space - refer to earlier post...

I don't like it at all. No one should know the exact second you are online or when you go offline. It is just not a sound idea. Some can call me paranoid, but in this day and age, I think it is better to err on the side of caution.

Morningstar, thanks for testing it out and letting us know! I hope that the non-premium members can do stealth soon. I'm not against the NeoFriends box, per se., but I think we should be able to opt out of it.

I do not think that you're paranoid at all. Your 'mild' scenarios you listed in your original post are bad enough, but they could certainly be taken further - especially if you factor in the innocence of a lot of younger players. Then again, I know that I am more sensitive and/or paranoid than many, thanks to an identity theft issue in the past.

Because you can't look anyone in the eye on this site. Sometimes you don't know if the person you are befriending is sincere or just pretending to be sincere in order to take advantage of you later on or just plain psycho. And once you find out, it might be too late. And I am not worried about mature people with a good head on their shoulders. I am worried about impressionable people. Kids who might be having family problems or are loners, women/men who are vulnerable because of their mental capacities or may be super down due to a recent problem in real life. Or people who are just too nice and sweet, those types who are always feeling sorry for people. It would be easy for someone to befriend these types of people and then take advantage of them later on. And so much easier if the person knows when they are and aren't online.

Excellent point. By knowing when someone is on or not and how long they're on, a predator has a lot of information on how to prey on someone. e.g. off during school hours during the week, on for long periods at night every night, etc.