Blizzard Nixes Plans to Require Real Names
- Thread starter John Funk
- Start date
An experiment that would result in massive disaproval ratings that could damage hard earned image campaigns. Millions could be lost in bad publicity. But don't get me wrong! I'm as disapointed as you. I've often wanted to see what happens online when anonymity is removed. Blizzard is just to big for the risk.Twilight_guy said:
Real names upset the trolls because it stops them being dicks, its harder if someone knows who you are. It's why dicks say things online that they would not say split screen or in the arcade.
Having said that proper moderation would massively cut the douchebaggery. I'm guessing Blizzard are too scared of their users or too cheap to get the proper number of mods. This is conjecture. I've never been there, MMOs aren't my thing, but I've heard the stories.
If I had to give my full name here I would have to curb what I say and not share my opinions on controversial subjects. It could well cost me my job.
Having said that proper moderation would massively cut the douchebaggery. I'm guessing Blizzard are too scared of their users or too cheap to get the proper number of mods. This is conjecture. I've never been there, MMOs aren't my thing, but I've heard the stories.
If I had to give my full name here I would have to curb what I say and not share my opinions on controversial subjects. It could well cost me my job.
while i do sympathize for the person in that story, it is more a horror story about the human condition instead of strictly the internet. No one is forcing anyone to give up their anonymity. If you don't want to do it, then don't. Don't post in Blizzard's forum.Keava said:
As i said before, i'm not afraid. I'm not speaking for other people. I'm not denigrating anyone who wishes to stay hidden. And while you might believe that I'm taking a risk by saying my name in a public forum, but there's risk in everything we do. We take a risk we leave our homes. We accrue risk whenever we meet someone for the first time. When we go out on a first date. It's a risk we assume everyday.
As many people have stated, this might have made an interesting experiment. And as with most experiments, participation is not compulsory. Keava, i have never once suggested that you should tell us your name. And i never will. It's a choice you have to make. Just like the choice to leave you home everyday.
Blizzard was giving people a choice. And it turns out that too many rejected that choice.
So please calm down. Knowing my name shouldn't cause you stress.
I am making a choice for myself. Why is that ignorant?
He was more arguing that it's their forums so they can make you do anything they want on it, you know even if that will cause most the same people to leave and just make it so it's nothing but trolls with fake names.Dexter111 said:Wait... weren't you FOR this just a few minutes back? xD
Also... that "Post" isn't from "Nethera" (whoever that is) but is a Public Announcement by Blizzard's CEO (Mike Morhaime) just posted by different Blizzard representatives on different forums, so you might wanna change that
OT: Well that didn't take long, then again I haven't seen the internet so against something in quite a while. But I think Blizzard is a lot like the government just because it didn't work this time doesn't mean they wont try to slip it in later or try to implement it one piece at a time.
I agree completely. Getting your name leaked out onto the internet usually leads to bad things. For example, some asshole in my wife's old team leaked her name and facebook page out onto the internet. This was over 6 months ago, we still get the occasional creeper call or weird email. We've been forced to remake her facebook and myspace pages, close all her old bank accounts, unlist our phone number, get new Email addresses, and we've contemplated moving. All because her name was out on the internet for 15 or 20 minutes at most.Keava said:
And all this time, the "Trolls" were "Rofling" about all the "Lulz" they were creating. There used to be a thread on /b/ about it. Now how fucking cute is that. They're making my wife's life miserable, and they think it's hilarious.
So yeah, don't post your name online unless you WANT trouble. Anonymousness is necessary for trolling, yes, but it is also necessary for safety.
No, they have more power than ever and their abusing it with this Battle.net crap, shoving new stupid rules down for the money.SomethingAmazing said:
Also I know what I'm talking about because I don't feel comfortable having to use my real name. Anonymity is great power I'd like to keep and seems to work perfectly on the Escapist, I can't see why Blizzard can't do rules that are similar and monitor forums properly.
Thank you so much. You said it better than I ever could, all these irritating posts are getting to me too.Keava said:
Of course he was in favor of it, have you ever seen him once say blizzard has done something that might be a slightly bad idea?Treblaine said:
Blizzard was never going to implement this in the first place. They have a tendency to bend over for angry players, and lo and behold, they canceled an idea that made players angry.
It's nice to know that Blizzard is still trying to improve things for everyone, though.
It's nice to know that Blizzard is still trying to improve things for everyone, though.
You missed the point. It is not about your name. I don't care about names of people i don't know, and most likely will never meet. It is irrelevant detail for me. It is not about me either. I quit WoW some time ago, because i did not like the direction the game was heading. But i am a journalist in real life, dealing with social and political affairs, i was taught by people way wiser than me to be able to see things through eyes of others, not just myself, so i can do my job properly.Ne1butme said:
Second thing, the choice is illusionary. As mentioned plenty times, technical support forums ar eonly place you -may- get an answer, because e-mail and phone support as well as in-game GMs will tell you to post your issues/bugs there. Furthermore cutting a large part of community from forums is hardly community building. MVPs (Most Valuable Posters), chosen by Blizzard staff due to their commitment and work for the good of community, said that they wont use forums anymore. What is the point of forums if people who cared and contributed positively for year, won't be able to post there?
If i would want real-life contacts i would use facebook or other of such silly ideas, on gaming forums i want the ability to discuss game related topics, that bear no attachment with my real life. It was basically limiting access to a service you have right to based things not even remotely connected to the whole purpose of that service.
For many of people opposing this idea it was choice between contributing to the community or risking their safety. It is a bad choice from any responsible business point of view.
And sure we risk our lives every day in a way, but why increase the risk even further through gaming forums is beyond me. It doesn't make sense. Trolls will still be unknown to you in-game. What their real name gives you, as a player? Are you going to stalk them? Are you going to call them? I doubt it. Single master ScreenName that would let you see all the users characters would be a much much better choice, involving real names is just poor attempt to force things like facebook down the gamers throat.
Sorry but I strongly disagree with that, I can think a head and predict things because we are human after all and one thing I know of is it is enough for me to never use their forums and probably not get their games either. And when you have technical issues and you want help you will probably have to go through the forum.SomethingAmazing said:
Seems your still learning that it might be fine to you but annoying or uncomfortable for others, and there is a lot of others.
We're dealing (and will continue to deal) with hypotheticals. Sounds like the biggest problem is that blizzard was attempting to create a walled garden using glass walls. You have to give your name (or any name) to walk in and play, but don't have to do so to just look from the outside. Perhaps they should require membership to browse the contents. I've seen communities like that before.Keava said:
There's no good solution to this, but i still stand by my claim that it would have been an interesting experiment. Perhaps we would have been surprised by the outcome, but probably not.
wasn't to surprised to see them making it optional after the massive QQ on forums for years.
I been playing WoW since release date which is over 5 years now.
I wouldn't have cared really either way if it was optional or mandatory but i think its the best since there is no upside for it to be mandatory except the forum troll lvl 1 alt people you cant find out who he main really is but there is a lot more downside to it such as the lose of subscriptions on their part.
I been playing WoW since release date which is over 5 years now.
I wouldn't have cared really either way if it was optional or mandatory but i think its the best since there is no upside for it to be mandatory except the forum troll lvl 1 alt people you cant find out who he main really is but there is a lot more downside to it such as the lose of subscriptions on their part.
Before, I could not express how outraged I was over their decision. Now, I cannot express how relieved I am that they decided to reverse it.
Thank you, Blizzard. I am truly grateful this did not come to pass. Honestly, for a second, I was considering making Battle.net forums of my own.
Thank you, Blizzard. I am truly grateful this did not come to pass. Honestly, for a second, I was considering making Battle.net forums of my own.
John, you can still write about privacy in gaming. Infact, I think this is an important topic now more then ever, especially due to the increasing demand of social networking services to "know your real name".John Funk said:
Probably, but keep in mind World of Warcraft is about 3 million players in EU and ~3-4 in US. It's a little too big group for such experiments. Trying it first with a more controlled group of maybe up to 50-100k would be better idea.Ne1butme said:
You can see what happens to social community portals like Facebook these days. Germany suing them for quite valid reasons. Identity theft is not that uncommon as you think and you should be glad it is not one of your concerns. Had several of such cases in my country alone with the local community portals, and the number of users there is not even close to amount of people playing WoW.
To quote the god damned spider-man "With great power comes great responsibility". You can't really experiment with such mass of people and the amount of attention Blizzard has. Gaming has other problems than social interaction really, and Battle.net 2.0 already raises enough issues among the more concerned crowd even without the RealID deal.