Blizzard Forums Make Real Names Mandatory

[alleghory415]

This is actually getting a lot more press than I thought it would:
BBC News - World of Warcraft maker to end anonymous forum logins
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/10543100.stm

USA Today - 'WoW' studio Blizzard to require real names on forums
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gamehunters/post/2010/07/wow-studio-blizzard-to-require-real-names-on-forums/1

ABC News - Bye-Bye Trolls? Blizzard Forums to Use Real Names
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=11108240

CVG - Fans rage over Blizzard forum plans
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=254846

PCGamer (UK) - Why Blizzard?s new forum plan is an epic fail
http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/07/why-blizzard%E2%80%99s-new-forum-plan-is-an-epic-fail/

The Register - Blizzard exposes real names on WoW forums
http://www.reghardware.com/2010/07/07/wow_forums/

About.com - WoW Real ID: A Really Bad Idea
http://antivirus.about.com/b/2010/06/22/wow-real-id-a-really-bad-idea.htm

Ars Technica - Blizzard: post about StarCraft 2? Use your real name
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/07/blizzard-post-about-starcraft-2-use-your-real-name.ars

Gamespy - Blizzard to Require Real Names on Official Forums
http://uk.pc.gamespy.com/articles/110/1104456p1.html

Kotaku - Blizzard Forums Will Soon Display Your Real Name
http://kotaku.com/5580585/blizzard-forums-will-soon-display-your-real-name
Kotaku - Blizzard's Real Name Forum Policy Has Fans In An Uproar
http://kotaku.com/5581209/blizzards-real-name-forum-policy-has-fans-in-an-uproar

Joystiq - Your real name to appear on Blizzard's official forums
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/07/06/your-real-name-to-appear-on-blizzards-official-forums/

Inc Gamers - Blizzard Going Too Far With Real ID?
http://www.incgamers.com/Columns/94/blizzard-going-too-far-with-real-id

MTV Multiplayer - Blizzard Cracks Down On Anonymity In Official Forums
http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2010/07/07/blizzard-cracks-down-on-anonymity-in-official-forums/

TechEYE.net - Blizzard forces users to show real names: Internet security they have heard of it
http://www.techeye.net/security/blizzard-forces-users-to-show-real-names

Product Reviews News - WoW Real ID System: Security Flaw Found
http://www.product-reviews.net/2010/07/07/wow-real-id-system-security-flaw-found/

ITWorld - Blizzard to share your name with angry video game nerds
http://www.itworld.com/personal-tech/113202/blizzard-share-your-name-angry-video-game-nerds

Voodoo Extreme - Is Blizzard's Real ID Safe, Or A Playground For Sexual Deviants?
http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/55728/Is-Blizzards-Real-ID-Safe-Or-A-Playground-For-Sexual-Deviants
Voodoo Extreme - Blizzard Forums To Require Use Of Real Name, Rage Ensues
http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/55910/Blizzard-Forums-To-Require-Use-Of-Real-Name-Rage-Ensues

Examiner National - World of Warcraft Players WoWed by Blizzard's REALID announcement
http://www.examiner.com/x-48234-Santa-Ana-Internet-Examiner~y2010m7d7-World-of-Warcraft-Players-WoWed-by-Blizzards-REALID-announcement

EuroGamer - Blizzard forums to require real names
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/blizzard-forums-to-require-real-names

GameFocus - Blizzard To Kill Anonymity On Forums
http://www.gamefocus.ca/?nav=new&nid=10091

Strategy Informer - Battle.net removes "veil of anonymity" on forums, real names used
http://www.strategyinformer.com/news/8551/battlenet-removes-veil-of-anonymity-on-forums-real-names-used

HuskyStarcraft - Blizzard Forums: First and Last Names [VIDEO]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBwTpHNZDpQ

AusGamers - Blizzard Switching Forums to Real ID System
http://www.ausgamers.com/news/read/2926798

Australian Gamer - Blizzard decide to give out subscribers' real names
http://www.australiangamer.com/news/3239_blizzard_decide_to_give_out_subscribers_real_names.html

Zeroday - Is Korean Law Driving Policy at Blizzard?
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/zeroday/2010/07/07/is-korean-law-driving-policy-at-blizzard/

 

[Agayek]

It's a question of security on internet. Annonimity mean confidentiality. Not for nothing that Facebook have function that hide your specifics info to thouse who are not your friends if you wish

True, but if you think someone can't get just about any of your personal information with some patience, you're naive. There is no real privacy anymore, especially if you use Facebook or any other social networking site.

Consider this:
-You apply for a job.
-The manager in charge of hiering googles your name.
-He finds lots of posts made by you on forums, all nicely time stamped and everything
-He dislikes that you play wow, and have a tendency to post during working hours.
-You do not get the job.

People usually want to keep their anonymity because its so easy for people to google you these days.
Usually its not what you say, but where you say it that makes people want to use a screen name. Although some people want so to avoid having to own up to what they said.

But if I choose not to add my main character to my name (apparently thats optional) well then it really shouldn't matter if I troll or not.

Now id the only way to read/find these post is by being a subscribing member to battle.net well then I don't have that gripe.

There's two easy solutions to the problem you presented: 1) Get another job. 2) Don't post on their forums.

Both of these neatly solve whatever problem you might be having because of it. It's kinda silly to get up in arms about something you can easily just ignore.

1923 posts on the Escapist forums.. Impressive.
Now, imagine for a second you were told you could no longer post on these forums, you were now longer allowed to be a part of the escapist community, unless you put out your full name for everyone to see.

Sure, that might not seem too terrible. You certainly have invested a lot of time here.

Now imagine you're a girl, in a community that spent an 8 entire pages discussing how a girl in a video series showed some cleavage in one episode.
And now you have to be a girl. You can't just be a member of the community. You're now Jessica Forumgaer (Its Dutch). Now every second post you make is followed up by "OMG UR A GIRL" and a small sum of private messages of guys you don't know trying to talk to you because you have tits.

Now how about if it was a growing trend for employers that simply do not want employees that visit the Escapist. How would you feel if you were turned down for a job because someone googled your name and saw you posted here, under your real name no less.

It is also worth noting that it was, and currently still is a bannable offense to post anyones personal information on the WoW forums. That leaves the player base with a pretty massive disconnect.

The name's Kevin Schwall. It's on my profile (I think anyway, may just be first name).

If I happened to not get a job solely because of how I spend my free time, I don't really want the job in the first place. I'd never get along with that boss.

You do have a valid point with regards to harassing female members. The only solutions I can think of off the top of my head is for them to not post on the Blizzard forums, or to make another account with a different name. Maybe some real hardcore mod action can nip it in the bud and stop it entirely. Not sure, but that is something to think about.

 

[tehroc]

I actually think this has little to do with cracking down on their forums. Blizzard has a massive fan base and is actively trying to tie all their games and communities together into a single experience.

I think Blizzard is trying to create a social networking space from all their pieces. There is a lot of money to be had if they can leech people away from Facebook, Myspace, etc.

Blizzard has already arranged a partnership with Facebook. This is entirely 100% about selling your personal information to marketers.

Sounds fishy without a link, but with the recent events, I wouldn't be too surprised.

Another speculation is this is due to South Korea passing a law where any site with over 100000 users requires a real name, but if this was the case why would it be an issue to NA or EU forums? S. Korea has there own Blizzard forums and websites.

 

[reconrider]

if you go to their FAQ's on this you will see that everyone will have a "RealID" account, but it is up to you to decide who is allowed to see this info..... here is the address if you wanna take a look at it.... http://us.battle.net/realid/faq.html

from what i have read, its basically just like facebook...

 

[Wrds]

I wonder what Moot's feelings are about this, seeing as he values anonymity so much.

The whole point is not wanting some random asshole knowing your name just by looking at your name next to your post. It's kind of like companies doing some weird DRM that gamers who bought the game have to work around while pirates still crack it and play it for free.

I've defended Blizzard passionately in the past but I just can't get behind this. It's not necessarily going to backfire, it's just not going to do anything to flamers and trolls and will make regular users of the forums who contribute to the community more nervous.

I'm kind of contradicting myself since I have my name linked to this account but I don't post much anyways.

I apologize if my point has already been made, I didn't read the whole thread.

 

[park92]

so couldn't you just not give them actual information?

 

[Shjade]

I don't use Facebook at all precisely to avoid the kind of crap this change brings up.

I didn't use the official forums much before and, assuming this change goes through, I don't plan to touch them in future - particularly since I stopped playing WoW so SC2 will be my only reason to glance their way - but I'm really hoping this isn't just the first step toward even more integration of this kind of forced social networking in games I just want to freaking play for the fun of playing the games.

If it were optional, sure, whatever, some people are into that sort of thing. Requiring it is just completely off base. It might be done with good intentions, but it's wrong-headed in the worst way.

 

[Racthoh]

There's a thread on the WoW forums discussing this; as of this post it's at 26k replies. Not a lot of happy people.

 

[alleghory415]

This pretty much sums it up in my opinion:

http://seewhatyoudidthere.com/2010/07/07/realid-changes-the-very-real-ease-of-stalking-in-the-internet-age/

EDIT: Also this http://i25.tinypic.com/10sdgts.png

 

[Madkipz]

Very Relevant and sums up my initial reactions, THIS CHANGE IS AWESOME ON A GOD TIER LEVEL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NgAkWxcPBE&feature=player_embedded

 

[littlewisp]

This change creeps me way out. I've been looking forward to SC2 and was posting frequently there but. . .no.

Here's a good article:

http://carywhy.blogspot.com/2010/07/open-letter-to-blizzard-or-it-seems.html

edit:
and a google and white pages search of my name brings up my workplace and my address as the very first results. Awesome!

 

[solidstatemind]

EDIT: I love how many people on these forums as well as the Blizzard forums labor under the delusion that they 'understand' what is 'going on' better than the people who Blizzard pays to perform this work. Seriously guys, do you really think somebody at Blizz just woke up one day and said "HEY! I kno! Let's require all of the people who post to our forums to use their real names! ITLL B GRATE!"

It might just be possible that they've invested a little more thought about this than you think...

This is not an argument you would ever want to use about anything, because it is just wrong on so many levels. First, never assume that someone performing any given action knows crap about what they're doing. If you see a drunk guy stumbling towards a street swarming with speeding cars, you don't stop the person who's trying to help him by yelling "The hell are you doing? He knows where he's going!". No, he doesn't, he doesn't realise shit because he's drunk.

And while it may be a shitty metaphor, this is exactly the case here. All Blizzard is concerned with, at the moment, is turning Battle.net into the gaming equivalent of Facebook (and if this isn't spelled out obviously enough for you, I don't know what it takes), so they tunnel visioned straight to the services that are popular amongst the gullible crowd, e.g. Facebook or Xbox Live, which are the reasons for both RealID being introduced and the continuous dumbing down of B.net for SC2. Don't even try to argue that one, because the vast, vast majority of people seriously interested in SC2 (and have half a working brain) think otherwise. So just as the guy who was only interested in getting drunk didn't think about getting hit by cars on his way home, Blizzard did not think, at all, about the repercussions of converting B.net, and all the games associated with it, into something that should be spat upon.

That said, I don't even see a reason for them to create a "platform" for games using these methods. Hell, just let people create a virtual identity of sorts for Bnet that would be seen to everyone from any game and server using a nickname. It's not that hard, and hell, I'll pick GokuSSJ4 over my name any day of the week, because it sounds just that lame.

Your reasoning is terribly, terribly flawed, and your analogy is completely irrelevant. We're not talking about somebody getting drunk and making a bad choice. We're talking about a highly successful company making a business decision here.

I'm sorry, but companies don't generate billions of dollars of revenue by accident. They have professionals whose jobs it is to vet business proposals, prepare cost/benefit analyses, consider potential PR issues, etc. etc. It is reasonable and logical to conclude that Blizzard, being a very profitable and successful company, employs people to do just that, and that those folks did their due dilligence about this idea before it ever saw the light of day.

Now, is it possible that Blizzard underestimated the backlash? Entirely! They are not omniscient. However, neither are you, and just because you wish to interpret this act as Blizzard 'turning Battle.net into the gaming equalivalent of Facebook' does not make it true. (Oh, and as for 'what it takes to spell it out for' me, it takes evidence and things like examples. Not ad populum or ad hominem arguments. Chalk it up to my not having 'half a working brain', I guess.)

Look, it's clear that you really dislike this idea, and that's fine- you're certainly entitled to your opinion and all. However, for you to attempt to claim that the statements I made are somehow wrong simply because you don't agree with them, and you fail to offer any evidence supporting your position (other than the aforementioned logical fallicies)... well not only does that completely undercut your argument, it also makes you look like one of those irrational people freaking out before they have any solid details because they simply 'think it's wrong'. Sorry, but I don't think of Blizzard as the corporate equivalent of a drunken sot who just happened to play real life 'Frogger', got lucky, and not only made it across the busy road, but also happened to fall into a ditch filled with $100 dollar bills. I happen to believe that it's just possible that they might just have good businessmen and -women working for them.

Oh and to provide you with a perfect example of people erroneously assuming they know more than they do, note the comments about the Nefarious Mr. Bobby Kotick above.

Yeah, there's only one problem with that theory... From the press release of the Vivendi/Activision merger: "Blizzard retains its autonomy and corporate leadership, as well as full control over all present and future intellectual properties". Meaning that Activision can't make Blizzard do anything.

See what I mean about people assuming the worst, even without the proof to back it up?

 

[commasplice]

Snip.

I'm only number two? Crazy. It's kind of ironic; I was actually watching videos of Radiohead performing that song live, like, the day before I saw your avatar. It's actually better that way, I think. I had no idea bands could actually...DO that. I'm used to Cornell doing whatever the hell this is to the songs I grew up with. Yeah, I know, that was recorded 26 years after the band debuted, but there's also this, which was released in the same year as the album the song's from. Hell, even when Staley was visibly suffering on stage, he gave an amazing performance.

 

[The Singularity]

I'd just like to let you all know that my real name is...John Smith. Good luck tracking me down with a name like that. Or you could just misspell your name or just make up some name. This will hurt trolls for a bit for a short time, then it will just go back to the troll riddled normal.

 

[commasplice]

There's two easy solutions to the problem you presented: 1) Get another job. 2) Don't post on their forums.

Both of these neatly solve whatever problem you might be having because of it. It's kinda silly to get up in arms about something you can easily just ignore.

If I happened to not get a job solely because of how I spend my free time, I don't really want the job in the first place. I'd never get along with that boss.

I think you're kind of missing the point, as far as job stuff goes. While I highly doubt someone would be fired or turned down for a job position because of their love for gaming, but it's not impossible for me to imagine. I think there's two big things you're not taking into account:

1) A lot of people work where they do, not because they like the job, but because it's the only one they could find. Think food service. Do you know anyone who grew up talking about how they wanted to flip burgers for the majority of their adult lives? Me neither.

2) Getting "another job" can be harder than it sounds, even with a degree. I know people who have gone to one of the most prestigious law schools in the country and STILL can't find work. I, myself, have been looking for a job for a while and I have yet to even get an interview.

You do have a valid point with regards to harassing female members. The only solutions I can think of off the top of my head is for them to not post on the Blizzard forums, or to make another account with a different name. Maybe some real hardcore mod action can nip it in the bud and stop it entirely. Not sure, but that is something to think about.

This brings me to the real point behind all of this. Yes, the users that don't want to be outed in front of their bosses can just stop using the forums. Yes, the ladies can do the same or make a new account. But they shouldn't have to. People shouldn't be forced out of a community they've come to know and love, just because they have a completely legal hobby that happens to be looked down upon by their employers. It's fucked up that they're being forced into this situation just because Blizzard wants to suck the same tit that Facebook's been hogging for all these years.

Edit:

Your reasoning is terribly, terribly flawed, and your analogy is completely irrelevant. We're not talking about somebody getting drunk and making a bad choice. We're talking about a highly successful company making a business decision here.

Ubi. Soft.

Now, is it possible that Blizzard underestimated the backlash? Entirely! They are not omniscient. However, neither are you, and just because you wish to interpret this act as Blizzard 'turning Battle.net into the gaming equalivalent of Facebook' does not make it true. (Oh, and as for 'what it takes to spell it out for' me, it takes evidence and things like examples. Not ad populum or ad hominem arguments. Chalk it up to my not having 'half a working brain', I guess.)

Emphasis: mine. Does their own website count?

"We also plan to add a number of other features designed to make reading the forums more enjoyable and to empower players with tools to improve the quality of forum discussions. Players will have the ability to rate up or rate down posts so that great topics and replies stand out from the not-so-great; low-rated posts will appear dimmer to show that the community feels that they don't contribute effectively to the conversation, and Blizzard's community team will be able to quickly and easily locate highly rated posts to participate in or to highlight discussions that players find worthwhile.

In addition, individual topics will be threaded by context, meaning replies to specific posts will be grouped together, making it easier for players to keep track of multiple conversations within a thread. We're also adding a way for Blizzard posters to "broadcast" important messages forums-wide , to help communicate breaking news to the community in a clear and timely fashion. Beyond that, we're improving our forum search function to make locating interesting topics easier and help lower the number of redundant threads, and we have more planned as well.

With the launch of the new Battle.net, it's important to us to create a new and different kind of online gaming environment -- one that's highly social, and which provides an ideal place for gamers to form long-lasting, meaningful relationships. All of our design decisions surrounding Real ID -- including these forum changes -- have been made with this goal in mind."

Again, the emphasis is mine.

 

[Meoith]

Yeah, I suspect there will be at least a few WoW related stabbings or other violent incidents, then again it's not really statistically significant if a few people from 11 million get killed. Every day there's a much higher chance of being killed by random things.

The media will have a field day(like they always do) when that eventually happens, its hard to believe Blizzard really thought this through.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

This is by far the worst idea I've ever heard from Blizzard. The internet is already a dangerous enough place to establish any kind of online identity, before real names even come into play. I still remember when my enterprising first girlfriend googled my email address and found a post of me having an argument on the Civ Fanatic forums with some random guy over whether or not it was appropriate to include Hitler in Civ 4. Boy, was that fucking embarrassing. And now they want to force people to use their real names in these kind of things, thus removing any shade of doubt as to who's posting?

 

[Swarley]

They have a 1500 page thread on the wow forums about this.

Either way, if the real ID stuff goes through I'm putting my SC2 on a new account with a faux name.