Entries in mandatory authenticator (1)
Why Not Reward Those That Use An Authenticator?
iTZKooPA on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 - 1 Comment Tags: authenticator, authenticator incentives, blizzard, bribery, mandatory authenticator, subscription fee 
Awhile back WoW.com reported that Blizzard was having serious discussions about forcing players to use Authenticators. The behind-closed-doors talks came about due to an increasing number of hacks on player accounts. Furthermore, many of the compromised users claim to not have shared their passwords with anyone. The recent Google Ads-based WoW Armory scam was probably the most prolific phishing attempt to date, and has become a prime example to the means people are going to for WoW accounts.
Being a business, Blizzard wants to do everything possible to keep our accounts secure. Let's not kid ourselves, Blizzard isn't being entirely altruistic in its intentions. The company has a reputation to hold, it has a service to run, which is only possible with happy users, and by increasing account security as high as possible the company would save a ton of money in support costs. As it stands right now, the customer service lines can take upwards of an hour to get through to someone. That's with some 2,500+ customer service personal.
The only thing stopping Blizzard from making Authenticators mandatory is us, the users. Ever since the rumor started there's been a back-and-forth between users. Despite an Authenticator offering the utmost security (no confirmed hacks) players are reluctant to apply them because of the hassle or the cost. Even with the shipping fee now waved, many players are still finding reasons not to purchase the $6 item.
My suggestion to Blizzard is to kill two birds with one stone by giving players a monetary incentive to using the Authenticator. Any account that has an Authenticator applied, be it mobile or actual, can get a reduction in their subscription fee. I'm not talking half off, just a dollar. In six months an actual Authenticator would pay for itself, and in 18 months players would essentially "earn" themselves a free month of play. All while making Blizzard look good.
It's something us consumers would jump at, but Blizzard will only resort to it as a final solution (the Core Hound Pup being the first attempt). To me, a long-time paying customer, it'd be a nice olive branch. After all, shouldn't Blizzard's savings be passed on to those that are make it possible?
By employing this tactic players wouldn't feel "forced" into using an Authenticator, so much as "rewarded" for it.