Hello, all.
Dear, Willie and or any Bakers monitoring this thread... Just so I understand this correctly this is an Opt In type scenario? Because this is most definitely NOT something I want happening with my account. Let me explain.
I consider my Cake store account to be a secure account that needs to be protected just like any of my other accounts that require monetary transactions such as banking institutions, paypal, etc. I certainly trust that you guys keep our personal info and product codes secure however I believe online security is two way street and the brunt of the responsibility lies on the user/customer because really... we tend to be the largest security gap for various reasons.
So to keep unwanted eyes away from my sensitive data I try to do everything possible to keep those accounts isolated from my more general online activities (such as forum posting). When I log into my store account I do it on a specific computer that ONLY goes on the internet for necessary transactions and downloads. That computer is locked down as much as possible and only gets connected with a hard wire (no wireless adapter installed). I don't surf on it, do any research, log into forums or anything else. I always use private windows with elaborate security settings and stay connected for as little time as possible to accomplish what I need to. Needless to say I use lengthy and complex passwords for any sensitive accounts and NEVER store them ANYWHERE digitally.
Then I use my beater laptop for everything else and use different emails, usernames, passwords, etc for any public sites I participate in (like the forum). That way if someone somehow manages to hack their way into one account or my network it should, in theory, be next to impossible to access the stuff that really matters.
I am also about to make some even more elaborate changes to how I have all this set up but I won't go into that.
Am I paranoid? Perhaps but I have been hacked before back when I was young and foolish about my intertubing. Nothing drastic happened but it was still an unpleasant experience and I decided to take all precautions I could to avoid it in the future especially considering I do more stuff online now.
"Merging" my forum account to my store account would completely defeat all this extreme separation of Beepster the affable n00blie you all know and love from the guy who actually pays for all this stuff. I simply don't have the time, energy and/or money to wrangle with a hacking situation.
So I don't mean to rain on your parade or anything and do look forward to some improvements to the store accounts (because it is a little wonky at times) but I have absolutely no need or want for the "convenience" of having my forum account tied to my store account especially if they are going to use the same password.
Please let me know that if I choose to leave things EXACTLY as they are that all I have to do is nothing and I'll scuttle back off into my busy corner to continue my various other scheming and plotting. If that is not the case then I will probably have to call you guys to get this sorted out and explain further why this is important and to hopefully come to some sort of arrangement.
Thank you and good luck with the upgrades.
To everyone else, sorry I have not been around but I've got lots of good things cooking at the moment that I'm sure many will find quite interesting if I can see it all through. Cheers and take care.