Question of the Day, July 8, 2010

[GrinningManiac]

I'm fine with SAYING my name (Alasdair), but...

1. Nicknames are cooler
2. Good Nicknames are memorable
3. More unique
4. Fits in better with the crowd (who also use funny quasi-statements/puns/gibberish)

 

[rekabdarb]

is there an "already do" option? cause my name backwards is my real name

 

[wickes666]

the anonymity given by the usernames help the conversation take a much more balanced, and neutral tone. the only way to achieve a pure conversation, empty of all prejudice is when all members of the conversation know as little as possible about the others

 

[GrinningManiac]

Depends on the forum really, but majority of the people I meet on the internet will ever meet me in real life so meh. I wouldn't give other info such as where I live etc.
Oh and my name is Patryk Florczak, I'm Polish :]

The Polish, Czech, Hungarians, Croats and other East Europeans-but-not-Russia always get the best names...
Got a Polish-descended chap around here with last name Osowski
Osowski is pronounced o-WOW-skee...that's so cool

 

[soapyshooter]

I cant vote..the hell?

Anyhoo.. I don't see why that would be a bad idea. As long as its just a first name. I really don't want thousands of people knowing my name. ID theft starts at that.

 

[Wakefield]

Yes I would. I see no reason why not.

Do I want to? Not really.

 

[Rylot]

Since it's Chris Taylor, yeah I don't mind. Best of luck finding me.

 

[ItsAPaul]

The Escapist isn't as bad as Blizzard since I don't even want the people I regularly raid with to know my identity, much less those who frequent the forums. Still, I'd quit posting for sure if you guys pulled this.

 

[Scizophrenic Llama]

It'd depend on the environment, but definitely not a place like Blizzard. A bad encounter with another WoW player could lead to some creepy stalker-esq. type stuff.

Not to mention, unique usernames are just fun to have.

 

[OceanRunner]

No. It's much safer that way.

 

[Patton662]

Depends on the forum really, but majority of the people I meet on the internet will ever meet me in real life so meh. I wouldn't give other info such as where I live etc.
Oh and my name is Patryk Florczak, I'm Polish :]

The Polish, Czech, Hungarians, Croats and other East Europeans-but-not-Russia always get the best names...
Got a Polish-descended chap around here with last name Osowski
Osowski is pronounced o-WOW-skee...that's so cool

Yeah that one's pretty cool, mine not so much though since it's pronounced floor-chuck.

 

[nick n stuff]

yeah. my name is nick...need i say more

 

[Asturiel]

No, unless it was a forum of about >20, I would like to keep my identity hidden.

 

[child of lileth]

If it's just first name, yes. I've even done it before already.

 

[Frankydee]

don't see why not. My military email address is under my full name (which I didn't have the option otherwise) so it's not anything particularly new.

 

[nuba km]

I don't have face book or twitter only accounts on games an this sight so people can't use it to virtually bully me I also have a very common name so they couldn't track me if they are a creep or something

 

[Eliam_Dar]

No, though I may understand the motives I do not support this, the free flow of ideas would stop if we had to use our own names. Additionally "Eliam" is the name I choose for myself, I don't see why I have to give it up.

 

[Djinni]

I only replied "yes" because I predict that this is the direction the entire internet will eventually go. All the people who said they would never use their real name will end up doing it because everyone will require it except extreme or shady sites.

As someone else already pointed out, there are a number of journalistic sites that already require using your real name to preserve the integrity of their sites. So Blizzard is by no means the first.

And how will they enforce using your real name? One way is that they must have your real name for billing purposes if you use a credit card to pay for your game subscription. If you don't use a credit card I don't know how they will enforce it. Perhaps they won't allow you to post to the forums unless you have a verifiable account name (use a credit card).

But what it comes down to is that none of this is a violation of anyone's rights or illegal. It is voluntary to post anything to any part of the internet. If you don't want to follow their rules, don't post.