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"that explains why Blizzard finds it more worthwhile to implement robust authentication solutions when so many businesses that are susceptible to financial frau

"that explains why Blizzard finds it more worthwhile to implement robust authentication solutions when so many businesses that are susceptible to financial fraud do not." It's quite simple, a wow player that gets hacked and loses his items will most probably quit if he doesn't get his items back. Getting items back means you need to talk to a Game Master, who must determine if you actually got hacked or if you're trying to scam the game by giving all your stuff to a friend, and then claiming you got hacked. Having Game Masters employed costs a lot of money, and I guess the cheaper option is simply to improve account security rather than hiring hordes of GMs. As for banks and similar, comitting fraud is an actual crime that results in jail-time if you get caught, which is a pretty huge disincentive in itself. Added to that, real money transactions are much more traceable so it's possible to find out where the money and went and who benefited. Finally, a wow account costs $15 a month for everyone, I guess the average value per customer is much higher for wow players than bank customers?

patio11 16y ago
I guess the average value per customer is much higher for wow players than bank customers? No. Cost of customer acquisition for a single credit card is roughly the same as WoW lifetime value (both in the vicinity of $250). Lifetime value for a middle class bank customer depends on their product mix. On the low end, low three figures per year for a checking account which generates few fees. On the high end, well, suffice it to say middle class families are very lucrative indeed. (If you run $20k through your credit card a year, with an average balance in the $2k region, and you have a home loan and car loan, and... run some numbers for what your parents probably pay every year for banking services.)
- weego 16y ago
  "Bwahaahahaa. No." Enriching a conversation with your knowledge would be enough, feeling the need to belittle as well could happily be left on slashdot.
  - patio11 16y ago
    My apologies, that was out of line.
- henrikschroder 16y ago
  Oh, well, where I am, almost noone has a credit card (the monthly billable kind with juicy revenue for the banks), and the only money my bank makes off of me comes from what they can get from the money floating in my accounts. Oh, and my bank's online security is better than wow's, so my perspective is pretty different. Anyway, with those numbers, then I guess the profits from being a bank is so much higher and the actual fraud so much lower that they can afford to not care about it as much as Blizzard.

patio11 16y ago

I guess the average value per customer is much higher for wow players than bank customers? No. Cost of customer acquisition for a single credit card is roughly the same as WoW lifetime value (both in the vicinity of $250). Lifetime value for a middle class bank customer depends on their product mix. On the low end, low three figures per year for a checking account which generates few fees. On the high end, well, suffice it to say middle class families are very lucrative indeed. (If you run $20k through your credit card a year, with an average balance in the $2k region, and you have a home loan and car loan, and... run some numbers for what your parents probably pay every year for banking services.)

weego 16y ago
"Bwahaahahaa. No." Enriching a conversation with your knowledge would be enough, feeling the need to belittle as well could happily be left on slashdot.
- patio11 16y ago
  My apologies, that was out of line.
henrikschroder 16y ago
Oh, well, where I am, almost noone has a credit card (the monthly billable kind with juicy revenue for the banks), and the only money my bank makes off of me comes from what they can get from the money floating in my accounts. Oh, and my bank's online security is better than wow's, so my perspective is pretty different. Anyway, with those numbers, then I guess the profits from being a bank is so much higher and the actual fraud so much lower that they can afford to not care about it as much as Blizzard.