Wow to use real names on official forums (Real ID)

[SpiritWarrior]

http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/p...s-plan/1404707

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Activision Blizzard, maker of World of Warcraft and other popular videogames, is drawing fire over its plan to require users of its discussion forums to start posting their real names. Blizzard announced on Tuesday that it would begin introducing the "Real ID" feature to its official bulletin boards and the move to require real first and last names has drawn hundreds of comments, most of them negative. Blizzard said in a blog post that the change was intended to "help improve the quality of conversations and make the forums an even more enjoyable place for players to visit." "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," it said. "However, the forums have also earned a reputation as a place where flame wars, trolling, and other unpleasantness run wild," Blizzard said. "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." Most of the feedback from fans of Blizzard's online role-playing games denounced the real names requirement. "I can't even begin to fathom why you would do this," wrote "Tophia." "Even as someone who hates the fact that these forums are a joke and overrun with trolls and morons... I can't stress enough how terrible a solution this is," said "Whiplashr." "I don't want my real name out there." "With this decision, you are going to alienate so many people from these forums. Myself included," said "Pyrogx." "I will never post in a gaming forum where my real name is displayed. Ever." "Tacotruck" supported the move. "I look forward to this change. The trolling has always been terribly annoying on Blizz forums." Blizzard is not the only online operation grappling with the question of anonymity on the Web. US newspapers have also been debating the practice of allowing anonymous comments and The Buffalo News announced last month it will begin requiring real names from people who want to leave comments on its website. World of Warcraft, which was launched in 1994, is the most popular multiplayer online role-playing game with more than 11 million monthly subscribers.

While I do think the forums need to be cleaned up as there are more idiots and malicious people there than there is help, I am not sure if this is a solution or if I like it. What think ye?

[Memnoch]

That's ridiculous. It's not just privacy issues and risk of identity theft, it's career issues. There are times that I don't want people in certain professional circles to know that I play WoW, especially when I'm trying to raise funds to buy a company and the loan officer at the bank sees my "Woot We Killed Lich King Sucka!!!!" thread? What if someone in a gay and lesbian friendly guild gets googled by their employer? Even playing video games in itself can be questionable in the eyes of many employers/people in the professional world. I don't particularly want to see my name crop up in a WoW context when some employer googles me, because they might automatically discount me just because I play WoW. It's like people who post their drunken photos on Facebook - but at least you can somewhat control who sees those. In this case you may not even be doing something wrong, but your employer sees you have a lot of posts on the forum and wonders if you have enough work to do.

In game, I'm not even using it except for 2 close RL friends in game. But because I'm a guild officer all my guildies want to "RealID Friend" me, probably the way they do MSN. There are also times that I don't want them to know that I'm chilling on an alt and trying to escape the endless tells and whispers and shit I get as an officer in a raiding guild.

It's the same as IW. Most of us use aliases here, and though some of us know each other by real name because we've been here so long (e.g. I know Ziroc, Cloudy, Yorick, Bungleau et al) it was by choice that we gave people our real names. What if Z made us (not choice, but made us) all use our real names here? What about young 13yo girls? Will they be comfortable giving out their real names so that they can possibly be stalked?

Blizz is trying to tap into the whole social networking thing. They're trying to make it like Facebook but they don't have some of the privacy controls, like the ability to control who sees your name, who can friend you, etc. It's far from polished at this point. Doubtless in Blizz's inimitable way they will roll it out and improve it via patches but until it's in a state that I am comfortable using I won't be using it. Likewise I won't be posting on the WoW forums if they put this in.

And LOL at them using trolling as the reason why they are doing this. Just because they can't moderate their own forums and allow numerous aliases etc doesn't mean they have to do this. They can easily clean up trolling by removing people's ability to post on level 1 alts or on multiple accounts which is the biggest problem. Doesn't take Einstein to figure out that some bored kid can create a level 1 undead rogue alt named "Rektum" and use it to troll. Just have one logon, your highest level character or the one you nominate as your main. That will kill 90% of the trolling. It's clearly an attempt to replicate Facebook and ultimately monetise by capturing an audience.

Also WoW wasn't launched in 1994 lol. Reporter needs to check his facts.

[Kyrvias]

This is a horrid idea. Among those listed by memnoch, I don't have much to add. I'm in a gay/lesbian friendly guild, , and if a future employer saw that, they might be quick to judge. Especially since I try to separate my personal life, gaming life, and work life. Ye,s there are 3

I can only see bad things coming of this. Bioware tried something similar- but at least they let you keep your identity under a username, or show it in your profile should you choose to.

[SpiritWarrior]

Originally Posted by Memnoch And LOL at them using trolling as the reason why they are doing this. Just because they can't moderate their own forums and allow numerous aliases etc doesn't mean they have to do this. They can easily clean up trolling by removing people's ability to post on level 1 alts or on multiple accounts which is the biggest problem. Doesn't take Einstein to figure out that some bored kid can create a level 1 undead rogue alt named "Rektum" and use it to troll. Just have one logon, your highest level character or the one you nominate as your main. That will kill 90% of the trolling. It's clearly an attempt to replicate Facebook and ultimately monetise by capturing an audience. Also WoW wasn't launched in 1994 lol. Reporter needs to check his facts.

I think he meant to say Warcraft in general maybe, lol.

I think I agree about using trolling as an excuse. It's like corpse-advertising or air-spam in Orgrimmar. Let me go off track for a sec and explain why.

You have to report it (corpse advertising) and wait hours for your ticket to be answered. In the meantime, 100-200 nubs have gone to the obscure website, downloaded a keylogger and had an authenticator attached to their account, all their gold mailed off, their characters stripped and their items gone. They then must wait around a week for Blizz to restore their characters and prove they are who they say they are. Blizzard could prevent all this by posting a single full-time GM in a major city on every realm. Reports could be done in a click and the GM would be on it so fast. Just add a button for corpse spam the same way there is one for reporting lag. Just 1 GM per realm. Or 1 per 2 realms. But dedicated only to these realms. They can afford it. If you look at the technical forums they are working overtime just to keep up with the amount of hacked accounts now. Try calling technical support and you will wait at least 1 hour on a good day. 3 hours on a bad one.

I think they can do this with the forums. Hire mods dedicated to censorship and discipline only. Hire them to review and screen new posts as they are posted - the same way Youtube has censores that catch explicit videos. You will notice sometimes they are there for 5 mins then vanish. Who cares if people don't like it? It's a game forum not a place to hang out all day. If I go there looking for help or support with my game that is what I expect to get. If you wanna hang out or just chat find a forum like IW - there's hundreds of them.

[Kyrvias]

Originally Posted by SpiritWarrior If you wanna hang out or just chat find a forum like IW - there's hundreds of them.

And this is why I love Ironworks

[Memnoch]

Looks like Blizz have realised what a retarded idea this was and are backtracking on plans for it.

Blizzard backs down on real-names in WoW July 12, 2010 - 9:23AM Blizzard Entertainment is backtracking on plans to require players to use their real names when posting on its online forums. Following an outcry in the gaming community, Blizzard lifted the planned requirements. It said it will still make other changes intended to curb bad behavior in the game forums. These include the ability to vote comments up or down, with low-rated posts slowly disappearing. --------------------------------------- ScreenPlay: Blizzard abandons plans to get real --------------------------------------- The maker of World of Warcraft and the upcoming StarCraft II was bombarded with criticism this week when it announced the real-name requirement. Gamers say it could make them vulnerable to real-life harassment, hurt job prospects and encroach on privacy. Blizzard, part of Activision Blizzard, is still proceding with its optional "Real ID" program, which lets gamers use their true identities when playing. http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/g...712-1069d.html

I wonder which muppet came up with this harebrained idea and was it all just a big publicity stunt?

[Kyrvias]

I don't think it was publicity. In a company as large as blizzard, tehre has to be times when someone thinks of a hairbrained idea and the person needing to approve it just goes, "Yeah sure, whatever."

It makes me glad they're backtracking on it. I can't see a single positive that would apply to it. I don't use the forums, personally I prefer to come here, so why I'd have to use a Real Name that was searchable is beyond me. Ah well.

[SpiritWarrior]

Better. Not sure wtf they were thinking.

See despite the initial uproar about the in-game REAL ID, it is different. It's not forced on you so it's not invasive. You can opt in or not. By adding someone or not adding someone and never using it. Obviously, make sure that someone you add can be trusted. Also in-game your REAL ID friends can also view your other REAL ID friends and you can view theirs - all by real name.

Anyways, my point is the forums REAL ID was being forced on us. We could opt out by never posting there. I also wonder if previous posts would have beeen grandfathered in, and reveal your account names for posts you made years ago. Hell no. Glad they killed it. This is not Facebook.

[Kakero]

That's sucks! I always wanted to know the real name of the person behind the female toon that I've been cybering with.

[SpiritWarrior]

You could always use the generic "fat guy named Russell".