Blizzard Forums Make Real Names Mandatory

[Logan Westbrook]

Blizzard Forums Make Real Names Mandatory

Blizzard hopes its "Real ID" system will create a more positive forum environment and curtail flaming and trolling.

Screen names will soon be a thing of the past on the Battle.net forums, and any post you make will be under your real name. Starting at the end of the month, use of Blizzard's Real ID will be a requirement in order to post on the Starcraft 2 forums, with the World of Warcraft forums following suit around the launch of the Cataclysm expansion. The forums for older Blizzard games like Warcraft III and Diablo II will be put together in a "legacy forum" section in which Real ID will be implemented.

Blizzard hopes that having some degree of accountability will help make its forums a more pleasant place for people to post, and says that this will apply to staff members as well: "The official forums have always been a great place to discuss the latest info on our games, offer ideas and suggestions, and share experiences with other players - however, the forums have also earned a reputation as a place where flame wars, trolling, and other unpleasantness run wild," said a Blizzard spokesperson in a statement on their forums.

"Removing the veil of anonymity typical to online dialogue will contribute to a more positive forum environment, promote constructive conversations, and connect the Blizzard community in ways they haven't been connected before. With this change, you'll see blue posters (i.e. Blizzard employees) posting by their real first and last names on our forums as well."

It's going to be interesting to see what effect this has on the Battle.net forums. Anonymity is often cited as a factor in antisocial online behavior, and perhaps removing it will genuinely improve the internet. On the other hand, this may make some people who have always behaved appropriately in the past less willing to post, and some people are going to be jerks whether you know their real names or not.

Source: 1up [http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3180272]


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[Digikid]

I think that Ctrl Alt Deletes comic pretty much sums it up perfectly.

 

[Agayek]

I was discussing this with some friends earlier today. It seems like an aggressively unnecessary new policy, and a really bad PR move.

That said, I don't understand why people are so upset about their real names being used. It just seems really weird to me that anonymity is that highly valued.

 

[NeedAUserName]

I do think this might work, not completely by any means, but it should scare of a couple of them.

 

[Kiefer13]

This is a stupid idea. A very stupid idea. It won't stop the vast majority of trolls from trolling, and it'll just drive away the people that aren't comfortable with their real identities being cast out onto the internet.

 

[Omikron009]

Here's what I wonder about this policy. How do they ensure that you use your real name, and not a made up one? I don't think they can.

 

[IceStar100]

The second someone get cyber bullied becuase of this. Blizzard going to have to pay through the nose on law-suits. Someone save this post it's coming and it's going to be costly.

 

[DTWolfwood]

There is a rule in the blizzard forum that, if anyone reveals anyone else real life information or that of a Blizzard Employee you are subject to an immediate ban from the forums. Love how that doesn't apply to them eh?

stupid idea. pointless. whatever i don't use the official forums for anything other than update info and help faq none of which requires you to post.

 

[Legion]

So what about people with common names? The idea of having a screen name isn't entirely to do with anonymity but is a way of being recognised as an individual due to having a name that nobody else can use.

As soon as all the John Smith's are recognised as such it shall become extremely confusing to know who is talking. Especially if you knew them prior their name being forced.

Unless the idea is that the user name and the real name is shown?

The second someone get cyber bullied becuase of this. Blizzard going to have to pay through the nose on law-suits. Someone save this post it's coming and it's going to be costly.

Well no, because being on the forums is not compulsory. They aren't going to change everyones user name to their real one without asking, you will have to sign up for this 'Real ID' thing in order to post.

 

[Woodsey]

Having your real name there doesn't really make you less anonymous - it's highly unlikely that anyone's going to know who you are still.

 

[Icecoldcynic]

Considering it's easy enough to use fake names on the forums anyway I doubt any actual trolls will care. All this is going to do is bother regular, honest players.

 

[NLS]

I heard something about this RealID thing that you have to connect it with your Facebook account?

 

[Carnagath]

 

[Cabisco]

Here's what I wonder about this policy. How do they ensure that you use your real name, and not a made up one? I don't think they can.

I was thinking that too, but I get the idea behind it and I guess that it's nice that they are trying to get rid of trolls instead of letting them fester.

Still, I don't see many people stopping the trolling with this new system, just a large amount of people suddenly called tits mcgee.

 

[Cousin_IT]

You only have to look at facebook to see this won't have much impact

 

[Delusibeta]

I can see this blowing up in their face and be completely non-effective against most trolls.

 

[Tiamat666]

This is a stupid idea. A very stupid idea. It won't stop the vast majority of trolls from trolling, and it'll just drive away the people that aren't comfortable with their real identities being cast out onto the internet.

Yeah, I don't think this will work either. I think most people will just evade to unofficial forums. I for one wouldn't want my employer to be able to research my gaming habits by googling my name. There is no way I will sign up to any casual or entertainment forum with my real name.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

I'm still one of those that isn't comfortable with my real name being able to be seen by other people online. It's not a terribly uncommon name, but it's uncommon enough that you could probably track me down if you could find out approximately where I lived, what my age was and had some general idea as to my physical appearance.

For these reasons I ESPECIALLY don't like Facebook. Look, even if people aren't planning to stalk you, somebody who knows your real name and personal information can sell this stuff to advertisers. I currently get about 2-3 junk mails a day. I know some people who get hundreds. So I'm just saying, my reticence about revealing any personal information has served me well.

 

[Sokrates89]

I'm not too sure what to say about this, when I first heard about it I actually thought that it was a good idea. But as the comic above illustrated I doubt that the "trolls" will stop posting their messages because of the fact that you can see their real names. So in some way it seems futile, but I do also believe that some of the "lesser trolls" or people who are thinking about writing something bad about another person... well, they might have second thoughts.

I'm afraid that we can't really decide if it's going to work or not before actually seeing the system up and running. So I guess we´ll just have to wait and see... oh yes, I also don't like the thought of having my real name visible to everyone online. Kinda makes me think how much of a persons personal information that will be revealed to others.

 

[Playbahnosh]

This won't work. It will do nothing to stop flaming and trolling, flamers are trolls are just like that. Furthermore, it will only make the other, normal, people uneasy, or unwilling to post with their real names. No, it's stupid.