Blizzard Responds to Concerns Over Real ID
"Players can continue to read the forums anonymously regardless of whether they choose to post in them, and their gameplay experiences will not change if they choose not to use the Real ID communication features in game," a Blizzard rep stated. He also indicated that players can enable parental controls that can lock children from forum posting capabilities and prevent them from using the Real ID system.
Strangely enough, players can use whatever name they want when signing up for Real ID, however the account associated with the name must be linked to a unique game CD key. The catch is that the names must be legitimate--no goofy or offensive names will be tolerated.
"We have multiple teams here who will be monitoring the forums and looking for inappropriate names," the Blizzard rep said. "When the situation does arise, our community and customer service representatives will investigate and determine if any action is needed."
He added that using fake names only hinders the company's ability to provide timely service. The Terms of Use agreement also require that players provide Blizzard with accurate information, as certain aspects of customer service rely on identity verification.
Real ID will be integrated into the StarCraft II forum later this month. The service is expected to invade World of Warcraft sometime around the launch of Cataclysm.
Yes, it's optional to use it on the forums. Do you know how? You can choose not to post.
So, there goes guild recruitment threads. No bug reports. No feedback on game systems. No customer service forum or technical support forum. No exchanging of stories. No ability to ask questions of other players, or theorycraft, or exchange ideas. We've had these things since 2004 and built a great community from it, regardless of what forum nay-sayers say about the volume of garbage.
In one day, Blizzard announced they were taking all of that away and destroying the community. Unless you want to use your real name for every post. It's not about cleaning up the forums -- it's about the profit they're going to make by sharing data with Facebook.
The whole story: get it before you write an article.
Blizzard really opened a can of worms with this one.
Yes, it's optional to use it on the forums. Do you know how? You can choose not to post.
So, there goes guild recruitment threads. No bug reports. No feedback on game systems. No customer service forum or technical support forum. No exchanging of stories. No ability to ask questions of other players, or theorycraft, or exchange ideas. We've had these things since 2004 and built a great community from it, regardless of what forum nay-sayers say about the volume of garbage.
In one day, Blizzard announced they were taking all of that away and destroying the community. Unless you want to use your real name for every post. It's not about cleaning up the forums -- it's about the profit they're going to make by sharing data with Facebook.
The whole story: get it before you write an article.
grow up, it is not a big deal. you tell people your name all the time in polite conversations, lets hope this forces people to act like a human.
I enjoyed my time in WoW, but I never thought privacy concerns would be what made me quit. They're definitely not going to stop at the forums with this RealID crap.
Yeah, and what of prospective employers that look you up and find you on WoW? Or who knows who or what else that could find you. Using full real names is a bad idea. At least give the option to hide the last name from showing. It would be much better for everyone that way.
They are not making profit from Facebook for sharing data - maybe you need to get the whole story?
Otherwise, believe it or not, there are other forums on the internet where you can post with your anonymous name and find guild members. You can do bug reports natively from the game client and via email. Tech support is also done via email and phone. This may not be known to you because you don't seem to have the whole story, but not everyone that plays the games even uses Blizzard's forums. I'd say that, considering there are 20-30 million Blizzard accounts of one form or another considering the volume of game sales and WoW subscriptions, less than 10% use the forums...and the true number is probably far less than that.
Fact of the matter is, you're creating a worst case scenario - my advice is to wait and see how it works out before you start the Chicken Little routine.
Actually, this will eliminate trolls much more effectively...ever had a person follow you in the street harassing you with absolutely no chance of any real consequences? I wonder why that is? And if it were possible to find your real name from the game client, why wouldn't they have already found your email address and mail bombed you? Why do you think there are people on here who don't really care either way? Are we just "stupid" for thinking this will work?
No offense, but your faith in the Real ID system is pretty naive. There is no way that its implementation in WoW's forums is going to be a smooth ride. Just the fact that Facebook is involved behind the scenes should tell you something...
I'm sure that name will be deemed inappropriate, as it may be HIGHLY offensive to some people.....lol