Blizzard Forums Make Real Names Mandatory

[JEBWrench]

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.

There is nothing at all stopping you from using a fake name on Facebook. My real name oddly enough isn't Jeb Wrench.

OT: Assuming they have some way of requiring your real name, what do you do if you change your name? I'm hoping for a list of name histories, personally.


"Jane Doe"
"Jane Doe-Smith"
"Jack Doe-Smith"
"John Smith"
"Mr. Mytzlplk"

 

[yoyo13rom]

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.

When you pay the monthly subscription, you have to use real ID, don't you?
Maybe that's how they'll check to see if someone's not telling the truth.

OT: I don't get it! Where's the "PROFIT" for this action? Blizzard is always(at least most of the times) thinking about "PROFIT". There has to be secret agenda, I just know it!

 

[Treblaine]

So yeah, my real name is John Doe, I live in Germany and I am 1 meter 75, I weigh 65 kilograms, my mother's name is Stephanie, my dad's name is Ray and my ass is itchy. And you all are insufferable pricks who need to die in a car wreck.

Now then, come and find me.

((<3 u all, was just demonstrating how there's no real way of knowing it is that person who is posting or if that person even exist ...)

for the last time, it is linked to your credit card when you create an account. To give ANY false information is a criminal offence on par with credit-card fraud that could not only leave you fined but you may never be able to get any sort of loan, cash card or mortgage for the rest of your life.

This is hugely invasive of Activision-Blizzard, people give their personal details to them in good faith that they are only for transactions... now they have changed the deal and say it must be public.

 

[AceAngel]

Rule 1 and 2 for 4Chan mentality is the reason for being so aggressive on why people want to stay an Anon.

Nothing will change, unless people are required to supply images of themselves as well, in which case, you'll alot more about people stabbing each other on the streets.

 

[Deofuta]

snip

"Someone should build a pylon near their BRAIN!"

Made me lol.

 

[Jamash]

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.

They can't force you to use your real name, but they can suspend your account for fraud if your made up name doesn't match up with the card or bank account details use to pay for your subscription.

Even if people are using their parent's credit cards, I think it would be quite easy to check whether "Max Power" live at the same address as Mrs Smith or the card holder who pays for the account.

Also, I expect using a fake name to pay for a WoW subscriptin (which is a service much like your electricity supply or telephone and ISP contract) would more trouble than it's worth. I'd hate to have my business investigated by the IRS or Immigration officials just so that I could continue posting on a forum anonymously.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Reasons this is a stupid idea. Accuracy, accountability, gender determination, mispelling, Data Protections Act, anonymity, name changes, ID, marriage, third party marketing, free information, siblings on same account, open accounts, embitterd friends, reverse engineering names, spam mail, "John Doe", free trials, Oriental letters, racism, ...
Reasons this a good idea: It allows Blizzard to know exactly who to hit with extra marketing.
Net result on forum trolling. Slight increase.

 

[ANeM]

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.

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.

 

[Ranorak]

"Hi, I'm hypothetical Famous Person, I'm looking forward to all the harassment and spam I'm going to get."

"Hi, I'm female, I'm looking forward to all the harassment and spam I'm going to get."

 

[Chimaera]

As much as I'd like to think that people value their basic freedoms, I doubt that many Blizzard customers are going to object to this.

Given the explosion on the official forums, as well as many popular off site communities, and even Facebook I think there are a lot more people objecting to this than you think.

 

[tehroc]

978 pages and counting on the official WOW forum in only a day. A CM posted their first and last name and now his address, phone number and criminal record are posted publicly on the net.

 

[Acidwell]

How can they think this is a good idea, people have been stabbed over Starcraft and wow in internet cafes. Now if someone wants to do it all they have to do is google your name. Stupid on so may levels.

 

[Mantonio]

What's funny is that a forum mod posted his real name on the forum, to show that the system was all right.

Within minutes his address, phone number, relatives and their ages, that he voted for Obama, etc etc, were found. His Facebook page was also discovered as well - he's since closed it.

Go to pipl.com. Go to Spokeo.com. Go to Google.com and search for you name. Even if you aren't willing to pay money it can be easy to find information. Now imagine what someone with time, money and a malevolent motive could do.

Edit: LOOK

[link]http://wowriot.gameriot.com/blogs/Americans-are-bad-at-games/Real-Names-on-the-Official-Forums-New-REAL-ID-function?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wowriot+%28Latest+Wowriot+Blog+Posts+-+Wowriot.Gameriot.com%29&gr_i_ni[/link]

THIS was found about him, easily, in under ten minutes. All because he posted his name!

 

[SilentHunter7]

*snip*

This will never work. As my one friend said, taking away Anonymity will never keep people from acting like jackasses, because most of the time, they're not acting.

 

[Madkipz]

In good sport blizzard sacrificed one of their forum blues, he gave up his real name and was tracked down by anon, that proceeded to prank call him, and troll his family and facebook account.

Cyber bullying is not that widespread but blizzard just added a couple of millions to that statistics with just one move as for the trolls, we will keep on trolling. Someone butthurt tracking me down, fine with me. With this move blizzard will cause nothing but pain and hurt across the board while giving more trolls the means to further plague their victims.

14 year olds want to have fun? visit wow board and pluck out random names, especially Gurlz1111 and find them. takes you at most 10 minutes or costs you some meager amount of dollars on most occasions.

 

[alleghory415]

In terms of a "global friend" system, I found that City of Heroes had the best one, in my opinion. You had your character's name and you created a "Global ID", which was basically a second screenname. If any of your friends were on another character or another server, you'd be able to see that Global ID and the name of character they were playing.

My best friends tried to add me to their RealID and I was all on board...until I saw a drop down menu called "Friends" which listed every RealID friend they had, even people I didn't know and I assumed the same applied to me.

The idea made me a bit uneasy, so I removed him. I figured if I'm on a different realm, he can just call me...

I guess in terms of the forums using my real name, I don't really post enough to have that make an impact (unless the servers are down and I'm feeling frisky), but when they announced the idea of global friends, I was actually pretty excited about it. I had made a lot of friends when I ran random dungeons who I would have liked to keep in contact with, but alas, it didn't turn out that way.

Also I'm not sure you can have a fake name. Tried to change the name on my account because it was under an ex's name and I thought they asked me to scan my driver's license to make sure that it was actually me. I didn't do it because that seemed a bit sketchy. Who knows, I may have stumbled onto a scam and was too paranoid to get hit. Ah well...

 

[fix-the-spade]

I'm waiting with popcorn and beers for the class action lawsuit that's coming Blizzard's way.

All it will take is a few parents with kids getting bullied because their enemies looked them up on SC2, then it's litigation ho!

This will never last.

 

[Madkipz]

So, use a fake name.

Beating around the bush? trolls already investing on fake names, mothers buying their son a game, idiots new to the net? in addition to it being totally illegal and lining down perfectly with credit card fraud, you are actually required to post you real name in chase you get hacked or need further validation of the account actually being yours.

I'm waiting with popcorn and beers for the class action lawsuit that's coming Blizzard's way.

All it will take is a few parents with kids getting bullied because their enemies looked them up on SC2, then it's litigation ho!

This will never last.

Popcorn? weaaak im going all out ballz to the walls troll mode This change is TROLL HEAVEN.

So yeah, my real name is John Doe, I live in Germany and I am 1 meter 75, I weigh 65 kilograms, my mother's name is Stephanie, my dad's name is Ray and my ass is itchy. And you all are insufferable pricks who need to die in a car wreck.

Now then, come and find me.

((<3 u all, was just demonstrating how there's no real way of knowing it is that person who is posting or if that person even exist ...)

Cannibal troll is cannibal troll, start nomnomnoming innocent minds like the rest of us ;/

 

[hyperdrachen]

Congratulations Blizzard, you'll soon be joining the social networking sites in the game of shit on the internet that went to far. Oh protosskillah developed a really irritating cannon rush? But look! protosskillah is in actual real life Steve Miller. Find him and stab him in the head!

I doubt this changes much of anything with peoples attitude. People on those social networking sites are every bit the dickbags to each other as hyperdrachen and trollerskates01 are.