Question of the Day, July 8, 2010

[The Escapist Staff]

Question of the Day, July 8, 2010



Blizzard recently announced a plan to remove usernames from forums, and require posters to use their real names instead. If you had to use your real names in The Escapist forums, would you? Why or why not?

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[Crayzor]

It depends on the forum. I'd be more comfortable using it here than, say, gamefaqs, But I don't like the potential for abuse it has. People would only need to google my name to find my facebook acoount, and from there, personal information about me.

 

[Jandau]

No.

I preffer keeping my online and offline personas as separate as possible.

 

[Jaebird]

If it results in spam and potentially being hacked, then that will happen, regardless.

 

[Keepitclean]

No, I like the semianonymity

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Took me a LONG time to actually reveal my name, and I'm nervous about using it as is.
Luckily it's not unique, but it's a very dangerous game to play, given the net-ganking that can and does go on.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

For once, I think Tim Buckley got it right. As a woman I don't want every person out there to instantly realize I am a "Gamer Girl" when they see my forum name. I like the anonymity that an androgynous screenname brings me as it allows me to focus on the topic at hand and not fending off teenage guys who wants to know my cup-size in PM.

 

[Woem]

No.

I preffer keeping my online and offline personas as separate as possible.

Same here. Especially since I own a business, I don't want my customers to know of my alter ego.

 

[Species5618]

I voted yes, because i personally have no problem with it. However, i do recognize the right for anyone to remain in anonimity, and i understand very well why some people are hesitant to reveal their real name.

Edit: Like several others here have said, it does very much depend on where you are posting.

 

[LongAndShort]

As has been said, on this site I'd be willing but on few others. That shows less my willingness to use my real name than it does show my loyalty to the escapist.

 

[yoyo13rom]

There are a lot of "Jack Smith"s out there, so I can't see the problem.
If you ad a country to that it still isn't that bad/detectable.
If you ad a birth date I still don't think it's traceable.
If you ad a region, still no harm done.
If you ad a city/town then it might be traceable.
But I doubt someone would go through so much trouble to track me, Iacomi Theodor form Romania, down + I live in Romania, there's nothing I have that someone else doesn't.
I can't see the problem with Blizzard's new policy(I can comprehend it, but I fail to believe it can turn out as a stocker-fest).

I mean I consider credit cards(you live country or by something more quirkier, BAM! T.H.E.M know about it) far more abusive than some unknown-nobody knowing my identity.

 

[WrongSprite]

Yeah sure, I really don't care. Dafydd Miller. There. Have it.

Although there's probably less people with my name than most >_>

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

No.

I preffer keeping my online and offline personas as separate as possible.

Same here. Especially since I own a business, I don't want my customers to know of my alter ego.

Pretty much what Woem said (although I'm not the company owner, just the manager).

 

[Banana Phone Man]

No. I like my anonimity. I do use my real name when sending PMs to people.

 

[C95J]

its a bad idea, for other people who prefer privacy, but I have no problems with revealing my real name.

 

[The Cheezy One]

anonimity is fine, but the thing about being unknown is that you can say whatever you want and cant be held accountable because youre just another voice on the internet.
my name is
Matthew David Wensley
I am British, and live in Newcastle upon Tyne
none of that information can be used against me

 

[Jonluw]

I guess I would still post if the escapist was to change its policy, but I wouldn't be happy about it. The escapist is one of the safer places on the net, after all.

 

[Danallighieri]

I'd have no problem with my name being used, it ain't exactly like I'd be giving out my private information nor do I mind being held accountable for what I actually say

 

[Legion]

I don't like the simplicity of the poll: "Yes, I see no reason why not.". My answer is yes, but I see every reason why not.

It's simply a case of it not being enough to stop me from posting should it be required. If it is optional, then I would only ever give my first name away online.

Not that it would make a difference, I have no online presence under my real name anyway. I have a rare (possibly unique) surname so if I were I could find out pretty quickly. I have searched myself and found absolutely nothing.

I am pleased with that.

 

[Nemu]

No.

While I didn't (don't?) mind RealID in-game(I only invite people I ACTUALLY know, aside from a couple of people I've gamed with for YEARS), I do NOT find it necessary to have my name on display so that every asshole with no life could POSSIBLY decide to start something with me--especially since I'm a woman.

I allow a small group of folks online to know who I am, and I'd rather keep it that way. TBH, once I discovered that Blizz and Facebook teamed up, I changed the few privacy options I'd left slightly opened to completely unavailable. I hadn't planned on linking my FB to battle.net, I hadn't even visited the Blizz site there, but now I REALLY won't be doing much beyond playing the game and buying some swag occasionally...

Hopefully Blizz listens and changes this, cos some of us used the tech/cust support (and realm) forums every now and then, and after the new policy goes into effect, we could be out of tech/customer service support due to the fact that we don't want to put our name on the troll-infested forums.