Blizzard Triggers a Different Kind of Cataclysm

[tsb247]

This seems like a good idea to me. Not sure why anyone would have a problem with others knowing their real name.

Seeing how knowing someone's first and last name is essentially giving someone else the tools to find any and all information about that person...

This just screams, "BAD IDEA!" at the top of its lungs.

Get in an argument with someone on the forums? No problem! Just use their first and last name to Google the rest of their info and cyber stalk them for the rest of their lives. Why stop there? Knowing someone's first and last name is essential to steal their identity, bank account info, address, contacts, etc.

 

[Mcface]

Soo this isnt a joke? wow i thought it was.
Oh well, i dont use the forum anyway.

Nextt they will require your social, date of birth and credit card number.

 

[Blue Horn]

This seems like a good idea to me. Not sure why anyone would have a problem with others knowing their real name.

Seeing how knowing someone's first and last name is essentially giving someone else the tools to find any and all information about that person...

This just screams, "BAD IDEA!" at the top of its lungs.

Get in an argument with someone on the forums? No problem! Just use their first and last name to Google the rest of their info and cyber stalk them for the rest of their lives. Why stop there? Knowing someone's first and last name is essential to steal their identity, bank account info, address, contacts, etc.

I just googled my first and last name. Apparently I own a construction site in Las Vegas and am also a head Chef at Murphy's Pub... just sayin.

 

[Enigmers]

Well, I was already on the fence about buying Diablo III, guess I wont be buying it now.

This is to do with their forums; when you're playing their games your name will only be shown to people who have added you to their friends list via your e-mail (and only after you've given your consent.)

 

[Kasawd]

Just use a pair of fake names. Seriously, Blizzard is forcing you to forsake one big-ass right since we hit the internet. Being a total jerk without anything to trace you to your real name or whatsoever.

We will see how this works out though.

They're not "Forcing" you to do anything. It's not as if you have to post so many times on the forum to dodge a permaban.

They're not forcing you to use RealID to acquire ten in-game friends in order to enter IceCrown Citadel.

The forum is seperate from the game.

EDIT: Although, to tell you the truth, the trolls often amuse me on the forum XD. I'll be sad to see some of them go.

Apparently you think I cannot read. Of course I know this. I didn't said they were forced to use their real names in a game, did I? I am just saying, if Blizzard pulls this one off without too much issue, we might see some kind of adaption in other forum boards.

I am just saying, you are -forced- to use your real name or else you lose the right to post. So I don't understand why you put "Forcing" like that. Many people use the forum boards to gather intel or helpful tips, sometimes want to drop a reply. If you need to use Real-ID for one or two posts without wanting to reveal who you are for real..Well, my bullshit detector would go off. But like I said, you can use fake names.

No, I figure you literate, considering your post on a forum using language.

Of course I am aware of this, I'm a stranger to proper Warlock builds. So, naturally, I check out the warlock forums from time to time. Gauging from a rather large official thread, this isn't a great thing to do to the community, no.

This isn't going over well with the repeat posters and will put down a lot of the traffic the forums see.

If you can use fake names(as no doubt will be done), you aren't forced to use your real name.

 

[Vrach]

You know, when I think about it, with all the E3 info on SW: TOR, this might actually be good news in a way

 

[lacktheknack]

Why not? Still no one knows who you are, where you live, or where you shower/buy groceries/vomit after getting drunk, etc. It's still fairly private.

 

[Yureina]

This has to be a joke...

I'm glad that I don't post on Blizzard forums anymore. I'm terrified of the idea of someone getting real world information about me through a game or an internet forum without my consent. I was not even really a forum troll or anything, and I find this idea totally disturbing. I guess now I know for an absolute certainty that I will never go back to playing WoW. I already had people trying to pry information from me in the past, and it would get much worse if they had a name that, through some searching, they could learn where I live and what I do in the real world (I have an uncommon first/last name).

Seriously... this cannot be true.

 

[Kasawd]

SNIP

I realize that. Sorry if I come off too hostile, that isn't my intention. Of course fake names are an option and a tempting one, but the principal of forcing someone to do so remains. But I do see the other side of the coin. I am done with all these trolls and flamebait, I hope Blizzard can pull this one off perfectly. As you and I might know, the forums there are crowded. Not strange for an MMORPG with such humongous userbase.

No problem, man, I was getting a "little hot under the collar", myself.

Crowded, indeed, though I'm not done with the trolls. They provide a good deal of amusement for me. This will lead into a new kind of complaint thread, though, so I suppose all is not lost in the way of creative trolling.

RealID threads, RealID threads everywhere.

 

[Normalgamer]

In an attempt to combat forum trolls, Blizzard fights them with their own names and community

Recently, we introduced our new Real ID feature - http://www.battle.net/realid/ , a new way to stay connected with your friends on the new Battle.net. Today, we wanted to give you a heads up about our plans for Real ID on our official forums, discuss the design philosophy behind the changes we?re making, and give you a first look at some of the new features we?re adding to the forums to help improve the quality of conversations and make the forums an even more enjoyable place for players to visit.

The first and most significant change is that in the near future, anyone posting or replying to a post on official Blizzard forums will be doing so using their Real ID -- that is, their real-life first and last name -- with the option to also display the name of their primary in-game character alongside it. These changes will go into effect on all StarCraft II forums with the launch of the new community site prior to the July 27 release of the game, with the World of Warcraft site and forums following suit near the launch of Cataclysm. Certain classic forums, including the classic Battle.net forums, will remain unchanged.

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 -- however, the forums have also earned a reputation as a place where flame wars, trolling, and other unpleasantness run wild. 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. With this change, you?ll see blue posters (i.e. Blizzard employees) posting by their real first and last names on our forums as well.

We also plan to add a number of other features designed to make reading the forums more enjoyable and to empower players with tools to improve the quality of forum discussions. Players will have the ability to rate up or rate down posts so that great topics and replies stand out from the not-so-great; low-rated posts will appear dimmer to show that the community feels that they don?t contribute effectively to the conversation, and Blizzard?s community team will be able to quickly and easily locate highly rated posts to participate in or to highlight discussions that players find worthwhile.

In addition, individual topics will be threaded by context, meaning replies to specific posts will be grouped together, making it easier for players to keep track of multiple conversations within a thread. We?re also adding a way for Blizzard posters to ?broadcast? important messages forums-wide , to help communicate breaking news to the community in a clear and timely fashion. Beyond that, we?re improving our forum search function to make locating interesting topics easier and help lower the number of redundant threads, and we have more planned as well.

With the launch of the new Battle.net, it?s important to us to create a new and different kind of online gaming environment -- one that?s highly social, and which provides an ideal place for gamers to form long-lasting, meaningful relationships. All of our design decisions surrounding Real ID -- including these forum changes -- have been made with this goal in mind.

We?ve given a great deal of consideration to the design of Real ID as a company, as gamers, and as enthusiastic users of the various online-gaming, communication, and social-networking services that have become available in recent years. As these services have become more and more popular, gamers have become part of an increasingly connected and intimate global community ? friendships are much more easily forged across long distances, and at conventions like PAX or our own BlizzCon, we?ve seen first-hand how gamers who may have never actually met in person have formed meaningful real-life relationships across borders and oceans. As the way gamers interact with one another continues to evolve, our goal is to ensure Battle.net is equipped to handle the ever-changing social-gaming experience for years to come.

For more info on Real ID, check out our Real ID page and FAQ located at http://www.battle.net/realid/ . We look forward to answering your questions about these upcoming forum changes in the thread below.

In another post it was clarified that this posting change would only happen to posts made after the change over, and not retroactively.

So, will Blizzard bring about a new era of internet politeness to your peers, or just force feedback onto fansites that allow you to keep a greater degree of privacy?

DAMN. eliminate anonymity, and see what happens. I kinda like this idea.

-m

I don't, people on the internet can be frightening, if they find our your real life info, can you imagine the cyber stalking and horrible things to come?

 

[Vrach]

Indeed. Apparently I'm a psychic weightlifter who owns a company that creates metal detectors.

Awesome.

Lemme paint a picture for you guys:
You're a psycho. Someone pisses you off in the game/on the forum (if in game, simply look around the forum, chances are you'll find his character posting at least once, In-Game Customer Support forums are a good place to look). That someone is in a guild. You go on the forums, easy enough to find the guild site. You look at the application.

The applications have a few "tell us a little bit about yourself", "occupation" and similar questions. Say that someone who pissed the psycho off is you. I just jumped onto your profile, and as you're not a paranoid guy, I learned that:
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
Birthdate: October 18, 1986

That's a nice bit of starting information. Say you were careless enough to mark yourself as a student as well, maybe even mention your school on your application. It's not really unusual, I've been a guild officer in a couple of guilds previously, people post that stuff all the time.

So now I have your state, town, I know what school/university you're in/at, I know your birthdate and I know your name. Good thing there's a guy with your name who's a psychic weightlifter who owns a company that creates metal detectors huh?

 

[deth2munkies]

This is utterly terrible. I don't know if this made it here, but one of the blues (Bashiok) posted his real name, and now there's a post of his address, family, facebook, phone number, etc.

The potential for harassment is obvious, and every player and especially blizzard person that posts on those forums will be stalked and harassed by the public that's up in arms about this.

I will never post on the forums again, it's out of control.

 

[marurder]

Blizzard is doing the same thing as China. I am against this, as it can lead to identity theft and forum trolls would never change. I mean seriously, what will it change? If someone pisses you off then you google their name find them on facebook (whatever) and start spamming there, it would actually make it worse.

 

[Nostalgia]

This was generating at least 3 pages of posts per minute last I checked. It had been up for only 5 hours and had over 6000 responses.
It's nuts.

Personally, I think it's really unneeded. I don't post of the official forums, and never would even if Trolls didn't exists (that's impossible, just to clarify). The in-game Real ID is fine, as you have choice whether to use it or not, but the forums are also useful for technical/customer support.

Just use a pair of fake names.

Can't change your BNet name.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Given the popularity of fan-based sites, I see this more as an experiment rather than an infringement. It should turn out to be interesting at least.

At least until the identity fraud bug bites.