Blizzard Demands Your Real Name for Forums

kudos! more benefits than risks imo.

Which will be the reason that I will never use the service / post on forums. I find it an invasion of privacy that I cannot use an alias ID like I can on every other chat based service. If i wanted my real name out there, that would be my charachter name.

I cant wait for the first story about someone flipping out over a post, tracking that person down and murdering their family.

I actually wish more forums insisted on real names.

Generally the opinions expressed by those who don't want to be associated with the opinion are worthless.

(maybe all forums should have a filter where you can simply turn off anyone who uses an alias and never see their comments)

you'll be hearing cricket now, very few people will troll and cause havoc without an alias. So you got to use your credit card name, I am guessing.

This is great news for Steam

Interesting. It might work, but that kind of sucks at the same time. Why not have the user ID displayed by default, and then have their real name in their profile for those who care to see who someone really is? This allows creativity, individuality, and an increased effort to keep one's name good

http://www.cad-comic.com/cad/20100707

Nobody would really do that if the game forum is used properly like sharing of ideas, troubleshooting help, etc.. not trashtalking, trolling, and bashing other players.

So does that mean I can make my name Obama or Chuck Norris? I mean, they'll never know.

Just more ways to Facebook stalk people. I believe Newton's fourth law was: "Regardless of the forces of inertia or gravity, trollers will troll."

Here's the thing. Your invasion of privacy is allowing you to say whatever the hell you feel like saying without any consequence. I say, stop whining and grow up. That is something I would say to your face. 2nd, no one will be murdering anyone.. if everyone is vulnerable. It's kind of like the Swiss. Everyone goes to Military School... everyone receives a weapon... everyone keeps their weapon. NOW, go check out their crime rate. Anyway, Blizzard is doing something 100% right.

Wish more forums did this.

Seriously, you need your real name everywhere else in the world, so I fail to see this as a problem. If you don't like it, don't post.

Apparently, you forget that some people are THREATENED when they post opinions that other people don't like. Personally, I've been threatened with death more than 10 times when talking about 'touchy' subjects on the internet.

I really liked how Tabula Raza was for names. You picked one and all your characters shared the same last name and friend lists.
I would prefer if they made it so you had one forum name instead of your real name. In the end this will help out alot though.

It's like going to a bar and putting your name card smack dab in the middle of your forehead. I'm sure Blizzard did this to have more control over what people say on the forum. On the other hand, I could see this only causing problems for the users...

Blizzard 1 - Blizzard Forum Posters 0

There was a story about someone playing an online game. They didn't like that fact that the other person was continuously killing them (using a hack they claimed). Therefore, using the person's in-game ID, they tracked the person down in real life and killed them. This was in Germany or something.

Anyway, point is, this has nothing to do with your intended actions (i.e. you don't have to be flaming/trolling). This has everything to do with how some lunatic on the internet interprets your actions. Imagine pissing off the wrong person with your zergling rushes. They can tie your character to your account, which will have your real name. Then bam, goodbye cruel world. There are many unstable people in the world, and the last thing I want is some Diablo-playing psychopath to hunt down my family because I looted the awesome shield before he could.

So now what's gonna happen is that people will receive lots of friend request from Chinese WoW gold seller on Facebook.

Oddly all I hear are people whining about their names being used. I see very few people actually asking how usernames are going to be verified. I wasn't actually thinking about it until just now but yeah I'm guessing a CC would be mandated. I can't say as I really support that but I do (at least in some ways) support the RealID approach.

Maybe it will cut back on some of the hazing, false bravado and other BS that goes along with some forums or at least it might make people think twice about some of the stuff they post...then again (looking at my FB page) maybe not.

How will they know it's your real name?

Better yet, why not make people work for the information? Have a Get Info button in which they need to type in the words they see in a displayed picture, then they can see the person's information. What's more, though, is that the user who is being "spied" on will get notification that so-and-so has looked up your information, which will also reveal THEIR real name. It can also help keep a record of who is interested in your identity Just a thought.

So what if your name is John Smith? How's that gonna make you less anonymous? With a name like that you can troll as much as you want, but when you have a more obscure name you have to fear for your life. And again, how will they know it's your real name?

Well, I definitely will not use my real name in a medium (the internet that is) that can be accessed by anyone.

It's the same outside the net: Do I want to have the possibility to choose who knows what about me? Yes, sure.

By now it is common practice for employers to google employees. Do I want my future employer to have access to my holiday pictures, time spent in a game, usage patterns of what-else-not? No. Because it's simply my own business. While using facebook (with carefully choosing what information to share) may not be a problem, but being part of a gaming community (with profiles, successes and postings easily traceable to me as a person) might be. So I will not use it.

just typing my name in google... you get a puzzle box maker, a couple artists, a professional wakeboarder, a couple fishing charter boats (fater tand son buisness both use my name ) and a few other instances... and i have a pretty uncommon name it takes some anonymoty away but most people will not be able to track you unless is is mroe specific like you have to give a location

Don't like it. I like my aliases, not because I troll but because there's no way I want my real name out there where whoever wants to find it can see it. I'd be fine with just one alias universally, but not my real name.

They'll lost a lot of people by doing this!!!! When today everything posted can be used by the police or your ex-wife ;-)
You do not want that your employer know that you participate in a forum and be able to track you here.
Did you think I'm using my real name in Facebook???? certainly not!
In fact, the persons will not use their real names, so, what is the added value?
The risks are far away too high compared to the added value for the users... but for the marketing companies (and pirates) yes!

NO WAY! And I bet it backfires on them. I am not afraid to use my real name, no big deal, and my kids are all grown up. BUT! If I was the father of say a 13 year old WOW player in this day and age, this would end his or her connection to Blizzard.

Ok. My name is Ernie. How hard was that. Case Closed. Stop your whinning will ya's. Don't play WoW then if you don't want someone to know that your an arse.

Really? How will they verify whether I am Joe Schmo or John Smith? Unless they are demanding a Credit Card or something, I can still make up a "real name". Further, I am never going to leave my CC# on file with a forum for identification verification purposes!

I might not want everyone knowing every single thing I write. For example, if I had to use my real name everywhere, I would NEVER post anything at a political website at all as it would automatically make me the enemy of 50% of the population! The quickest way to stifle communication is demand that everyone show an ID.

Oh yeah, My full name is Ernie MacDonald. All my god. Its the end of the world. They KNOW MY REAL NAME. BOOOHOOOO. lol. I find this stuff comical at best. PLEASE DON'T FIND ME GUYS. Hahahaha

http://www.geekologie.com/2010/06/ [...] _in_re.php

For what it's worth - the situation you just described would be impossible in Diablo 3, since loot is now "relative to the observer" ...