Blizzard to force forum users to use their real name.

[Redliner]

Originally Posted by Locke

in the end I think its just like anything else, people should have the right to choose.

This.

In real life, I get to chose how much of my life I want to share with other people, and I should have the same option on line. My Facebook settings are clamped down as tight as they can go, (yes, I realize that doesn't make my profile impervious, but it's the best option available at this point without abandoning FB entirely) and if I want someone to be able to see into the more personal aspects of my life, I wil grant them access as I see fit.

Unlike some, I do not have an online alter ego. Who I am on the internets is pretty much the same as what you get in real life. I kept a blog for years, and although I used my real first name, I did not use my last name or name my wife or children in posts involving my family. I feel that they also have a right to their privacy, and it is not my place to expose them without their knowledge or consent. As much as identity theft is a problem, I am not nearly as concerned about someone stealing my identity as I am about someone using my internet activity as a way to get to my family. Using my real name would only heighten their potential exposure, and if a forum were insist that I use only my "real" identity, I would likely discontinue using that forum immediately.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

I am kept honest on Cpuck because multiple RL buddies read and post here.

I couldn't lie if I wanted too


Let me define for some of you what MMORPG means..

Massive Multiplayer Online ----====ROLE PLAYING GAME====-----

To suggest that I should relate my in game persona to my RL persona is contradictory to the definition of the very game in which I am playing.

True, you can role play yourself if you so would chose, but last time I checked there were no Tauren Druids running around in Cheetah form outside the Seven Eleven. I got into RPG's to take on the role of the main character, in MMORPG"s I am that main character.. so the role is my choice.

If I chose to be a devious Dread Lord with a tower in the forest full of player skulls, destroying all who come near and scarring the land scape, that is my choice. That is my persona, that is my role. It is no ones business which RL name or persona is connected to it, it should not matter.

Except that how you treat other players and behave outside the game is separate from what happens in the game...you don’t flame and troll and harass the guys you play pickup hockey with after the game. Why would you treat members of your chosen community that way? I guess unless you are an antisocial type in real life too.

[HeartsOfFire]

I used to play WoW. I used to peruse their forums when I played. I naturally used an anonymous handle.

When I first heard that Blizzard was going to do this, I was against it. I'm the kind of person that believes that the only ways to tell the complete truth are Anonymously and Posthumously (to quote Thomas Sowell), and on those grounds I did not approve of Blizzard's move.

But after some time I had an epiphany: World of Warcraft, and all the facets therein, are a private service. Utilizing a private service can mean giving up certain priviledges we're used to. For instance, the right to speak your opinion anonymously.

When it's a slow day at work, if I'm not on Calgarypuck, I'm on the Xbox Live forums, entertaining myself by reading the complaints about account suspensions, forced gamertag changes, or console bannings. Failure to abide by the terms of service as laid out by Microsoft results in forfeiture of the priviledge of the service, as is well within Microsoft's right.

The same principle applies now to Blizzard, I believe. World of Warcraft is a service provided to its subscribers by Blizzard, a private company. If Blizzard decides that forum posters will now be forced to use their real names to voice their opinions, that's their right as the service provider. As a subscriber, you have a choice: You can abide by the rules, or you can take your ball and go home.

I only see Blizzard backtracking on this idea if a significant portion of their subscribers cancel as a way of protest... but seriously, that will NEVER happen.

[Meelapo]

Originally Posted by starseed

Is it really necessary to post on Blizzard's forums?

When I played WoW I found it more beneficial to just read the sticky posts as those were the most helpful. There really wasn't any need to post. However, those people that did make handy posts might think twice now.

I don't understand why they need to go this route. The old model seemed to work fine. Sure, there were dumb posts but there were also insightful and thoughtful posts. To me it seems like something like this would just turn people off from posting. In this day and age it's too easy to get a lot of information about someone if you just have their name or address.

[Raekwon]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

Let me define for some of you what MMORPG means..

Massive Multiplayer Online ----====ROLE PLAYING GAME====-----

Thats great except your real name does not appear in a role playing game it appears in a real life forum.

[llama64]

This will only serve to kill their online community.

I definitely won't be posting on any Blizzard official media because I don't want my gaming to come up in a bloody google search.

Employers will google potential employees - there is absolutely no reason they need to know that I played WoW at one point in my life. There is a still a massive stigma out there suggesting that anyone who plays video games(especially MMO's) is non-productive and lazy. Considering it's a false stigma, I don't want it interfering with my professional life.

[WilsonFourTwo]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

I find this very interesting - I’m not singling you out by any stretch, but I’ve been reading this thread because I’m interested in seeing opinions on this development.

Other than for reasons of personal safety and privacy, which I feel are vastly overblown, I’m somewhat surprised that people are so keen to maintain two totally separate identities, their online one and their real world one. What really surprises me is that the main reason, though, ultimately, is that there is no internal consistency between the two, and people do not want their real world image affected by their online behaviour.

^^^This is the heart of the issue. I'll tell you that as professional and a gamer, I live two entirely different lives. But they're just one of many - and we all have them. Nobody acts the same around they're grandparents as they do when they're out with the boys. When was the last time you told Grandma about how perfect a chicks tits were?

Professionally, I'm hardworking, hyper-organized, detail oriented and (pretty much) a compassionless SOB. Although it's incredibly draining to live that way 10 hours a day, I do so because it's the only formula I've found for success in my industry. We don't negotiate and broker mega dollar deals over tea and cookies, I promise. It's a complicated, stressful life.

One of the counter balances to that lifestyle (ie. Stress relief) is gaming and losing oneself in the fantasy of it. When I'm gaming, I could care less about a magic sword or my kill to death ratio or who has the most impressive score in Pong. It's an idiot proof, carefree life.

The fact that I don't want/need these two (of many) identities linked is the same reason I don't use Facebook and alike. I'm not opposed to Facebook because of my safety.....it's because my colleagues to need to know about the hot brunette I'm nailing about as much as she needs to know what we're discussing in the boardroom.

To circle back and tie into the original topic.....if I wanted those worlds to collide/intersect, I would arrange it. I would do so if it served a positive purpose - but it doesn't, so I don't. All I see in Blizzard's move is the opening move in an long-term desire to monetize my life and lifestyle (ala Facebook). The sad part is, they going to lose because (if I must) I'll walk away and find another activity that's fits the same needs.

[Flashpoint]

Originally Posted by WilsonFourTwo

Professionally, I'm hardworking, hyper-organized, detail oriented and (pretty much) a compassionless SOB. Although it's incredibly draining to live that way 10 hours a day, I do so because it's the only formula I've found for success in my industry. We don't negotiate and broker mega dollar deals over tea and cookies, I promise. It's a complicated, stressful life.

That lets you post on CP while at work?



Would you still post here if CP went with "real names only"?

I would. But I probably wouldn't go out of my way to deliberately annoy people as often.

[GreenLantern]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

Except that how you treat other players and behave outside the game is separate from what happens in the game...you don’t flame and troll and harass the guys you play pickup hockey with after the game. Why would you treat members of your chosen community that way? I guess unless you are an antisocial type in real life too.

Pretty much what WilsonFourTwo said, you are starting to blur the lines now bud.

There is a difference between the person I am on the internet, professionally, to my family, buddies etc..

That is a part of life, if you aren't like this then you live on an island bud. Because I don't know many people that will talk about how bad they want to plow a chick to the same person they are about to sell something to, or a potential client.

And nobody said I was going to flame anyone on the message boards, why are you trying to pin that on me? All I am saying is that I deserve to stay in my role with anything related to the game. I'm not Kalik the Tauren Shaman in game to be John Smith the Computer Programmer on the message board, posting as Kalik?

This just got confusing, no thanks. I'd rather keep my RL identity seperate from my in game identity. And there are a few million people on the WOW boards right now that agree with me.

[WilsonFourTwo]

Originally Posted by Flashpoint

That lets you post on CP while at work?

Touche.

I assure you, the 'Must do' and 'Should do' baskets are (generally) empty long before I hop onto CP! And frankly, with a job that is 24x7, there's no guilt whatsoever!

[Meelapo]

http://asnowstormbyanyothername.blogspot.com/

Someone is posting information about Blizzard employees to show how easy it is to do.

[GreenLantern]

LoL there you go sclithereo, follow that link and tell me that you still think it is a good idea to have our real names linked to our in game characters.

[Raekwon]

I followed it and still think its a good idea. If you think its so easy let me know, I will post my real name and you see what you can find.

[GreenLantern]

It doesn't matter what I can find, it matters what the weirdos over at 4 chan can find when someone takes it over there.

Or, give it to buddy writing this blog.

Think about this man, 10 million people play WOW.

What are the odds that at least one of those people is a rapist, child molestor, etc..

Is even the risk of an incident worth this?

What are the positives that come out of this? Do you really think some 14 year old kid cares if anyone knows his name? Do you think he understands the consequences that can come of this from the weirdos and sickos knowing where a 10 year old WOW player lives?

There is just so much bad that can come of this, and btw the thread is up to 2000 pages on the WOW forums, go check it out if you are so for this and see all of the sides of the argument.

[GreenLantern]

Also if you think it is just linked to message boards:

Blizzard, the maker of the worlds largest and leading MMO is currently mired in controversy over their newest idea. Blizzard is implementing their RealID in game, which makes your real name available anytime you post on the new forums(coming soon) or to anybody on your friends list, or on their friends list.

So now you have to keep your friends list clear? Really... friends of friends get to see this? The rabbit hole gets deeper.

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-469671

Just a taste of some of the growing (2100 page thread now) concern over at the WOW forums from an anonymous player..

I'm not much of a forum poster. Sure, I'll read the forums to get a good laugh every once in a while, but I think this will be the second post that I have ever actually written up on the forums. However, it will most likely be my last.

For someone like me the use of real names on the forums is just a disaster waiting to happen.
1. I'm a girl and have had enough trouble with in game WoW stalkers without them having my real information.
2. I'm one of those people with a very unique name. In fact if you Google me I'm the only person you'll find with my name.
3. There is unfortunately a plethora of information about me on the internet. From a simple Google search anyone can find out my age and my general location. A little more digging and you can even bring up a picture, an old email address and an old mailing address. It worries me to think about what someone with more computer skills could dig up.

Now of course I use my real name every day without a thought to my safety, BUT if i find my self speaking with someone I don't trust, I don't even hesitate to provide him with a false name. Forcing people to post with their real names doesn't provide them with that option if they feel the situation could prove to be dangerous.

I'm sure that the chances of anyone truly being harmed because of a forum post are very slim, but with a name like mine, I can't take the chance.

You can speak for this person Raekwon? You as a female WOW player have no problem with everyone knowing this and having your RL name at their disposal?

[Komskies]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

Also if you think it is just linked to message boards:

So now you have to keep your friends list clear? Really... friends of friends get to see this? The rabbit hole gets deeper.

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-469671

Just a taste of some of the growing (2100 page thread now) concern over at the WOW forums from an anonymous player..




You can speak for this person Raekwon? You as a female WOW player have no problem with everyone knowing this and having your RL name at their disposal?

An in-game friend of mine won't share his RealID with me because his girlfriend doesn't want people to know her actual name.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Meelapo

http://asnowstormbyanyothername.blogspot.com/

Someone is posting information about Blizzard employees to show how easy it is to do.

Except that they pulled all that info from publicly available sources...I fail to see the issue here.

Oh, and I wasn’t saying you flame people in my other post - I was using the royal “you”, just the clarify that.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

Except that they pulled all that info from publicly available sources...I fail to see the issue here.

Their point is, that when you know someone's real name you can gather this information. Suddenly you know a lot about someone you have no familiarity with.

It's creepy. It's especially creepy if you didn't sign up for it, but it's happening.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

Their point is, that when you know someone's real name you can gather this information. Suddenly you know a lot about someone you have no familiarity with.

It's creepy. It's especially creepy if you didn't sign up for it, but it's happening.

But they’ve already plastered that information, and linked to their names, all over the place - how does using their name in one more spot, creating one more link, make any difference?

It’s also a two way street - you are surrendering your real name, but also unmasking the names of people that are potentially going to commit internet thuggery against you.

If real names in WoW forums was truly a concern, why would any of these people be using far riskier services like Facebook?

I guess ultimately its irrelevant, people will move to other WoW discussion boards to get their anonymous posting fix. I’m not trying to argue with people who don’t like it, just trying to understand it.

If I was trying to start an argument, I’d ask people who have issue with this how you handle driving a car with a publicly displayed license plate that I can track back to you and your precious loved ones any time I want - I just have to come across your car, same as coming across your toon in WoW, just a different environment, but both link back to you directly

[photon]

It's not that some person x has their information available somewhere out there that's the problem (well it is, but that's a different thing), it's that I can identify an exact person and then find their information.

If someone posts to CP, I don't know who they are. They may have a facebook account and a linkedin account and such, but if I have no way to correlate a particular user with a particular facebook account, it's meaningless.

But once I can associate one with the other, that's what people don't like.

Having a real name for an account is fine, but I think it should be optional for those who want to keep their gaming separate.