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Blizzard Backs Down On Real Names For Forums
Ashe Tyrael writes "Earlier this week, Blizzard announced that they were going to be implementing changes in their official forums (for StarCraft II when it launched, and for WoW prior to Cataclysm) that would require users to post under their real names, as part of the Real
ID system. After perusing nearly 14,000 European and 50,000 US forum posts, the majority of which decried this move with various levels of vehemence, it looks like Blizzard has given in to the pressure. From the official statement: 'We've been constantly monitoring the feedback you've given us, as well as internally discussing your concerns about the use of real names on our forums. As a result of those discussions, we've decided at this time that real names will not be required for posting on official Blizzard forums.' Not that this doesn't leave room for them to re-implement this at a later date, but that's a pretty definite 'no.' It was clear they were going to take criticism, but the size of the backlash was impressive. It seems likely Blizzard simply wasn't expecting that level of antipathy toward their new policy.
So Blizzard probably estimated that 90% of those jerks would stop being jerks if their name appeared by their asshole posts. So what if 1% of the population complains about RealID? But in doing so, Blizzard totally ignored the other 98% of the populations enjoyment of privacy. And in doing so once they decided this would be mandatory for the betterment of the community, the rest of the community interjected and seemed to prefer the assholes and their privacy to the converse where the assholes now know who you are. To many of us, this isn't really a surprise.
Not that this doesn't leave room for them to re-implement this at a later date, but that's a pretty definite 'no.'
I disagree. I see Blizzard still chasing this dream of moderation through identity and drastically reducing their moderation. I would bet we shortly see a scheme where RealID is opt in with the catch being that if you aren't using RealID then each of your posts has to be read by a moderator before it is approved as viewable by anyone else. Community regulation can be a difficult and touchy subject with gamers and I suspect this is only the beginning of a very long trial run where Blizzard tries to find the happy medium between anonymity and self regulation.
My work here is dung.
we've decided at this time that real names will not be required
It only means that Facebook brainwashing has not fully worked yet. Expect them to try this again in an year, along with many other websites, when people have got more used to it ("well these other websites already do the same so what's the big deal")
Don't think that this had anything to do with privacy, or "feedback", it was simply that when the accounting department saw just how many hits they were going to lose and the kneecapping their advertising income was about to take, the called the higer ups and put a dollar figure to this kind of bone-head move and it was called off.
the preceding post was not spell checked... suck it.
I haven't played WoW in a LONG time, but for a while I was a devout player (closed beta, open beta, from launch until two years later), and if there is one thing I saw during my time, it was Blizzard listening to the masses.
Living With a Nerd
Hmm... The company with some of the most popular computer games in the world listen to customer feedback and reconsider their decisions based on it. You don't suppose there could be some sort of correlation, do you?
When someone says, "Any fool can see
I thought we had a WoW killer in Real ID this time, but like always the developers don't keep up to their promise.
We're rapidly advancing in a different direction.
The pros and cons on both sides of this debate are compelling. Blizzard's time, money, and "quality of product (the forums)" versus people's privacy.
Not sure why it had to be "either/or". I think they should have rolled out Real-ID-only forums in parallel and let people choose for themselves.
In the end I think Blizzard waited too long. "Serious" WoW-related discourse doesn't happen on Blizzard's forums anymore. Most serious players know to start at elitistjerks.com. Not that their forums are perfect, but if I want good info on class mechanics, gear, talents, rotations... that's where I go.
People can already be traced. In cased of extreme abuse the IP can lead to a subpoena which can lead to the ISP having to reveal the real location of who had that IP at that time. Why would Blizzard want real name to be mandatory for playing?
"Maybe this world is another planet's hell"
Aldous Huxley
Can they seriously not notice the weekly Facebook privacy dramas and not connect the dots as to how this scheme would blow back on them?
I haven't seen the issue addressed, but I can't see that this measure wouldn't violate EU privacy regulations in some way
When all of your wishes have been granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed - Marilyn Manson
Click on the posters name and you see a list of characters and what servers they're on. Now that level 1 anonymous troll isn't so anonymous while the rest of the populations privacy is still intact. Problem solved without as big an uproar, couple that with a new feature to ignore by account without actually giving out the account name to help ease any stalking fears and your set.
~~ Behold the flying cow with a rail gun! ~~
The system couldn't handle so many people named Cowboy Neal.
Have gnu, will travel.
Do you know what makes you rather pathetic? That you haven't bothered to find out that info was not actually the right Micah Whipple lives in the opposite side of California.
That utter failure of a copy pasted investigation is probably the least of the reasons they decided to change policy.
Actually, that's part of the problem. What if someone who is completely unconnected to WoW but happens to have the same name as someone who does play? And THEY are the one who gets griefed IRL by some maniac who takes a game too damn seriously?
My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
Never underestimate the power of nerdrage. We may be an army of cats, but stirr us up sufficiently and we become a pride of lions.
Blizzard should simply tie forum names to accounts in an opaque manner. You can only create a forum name if you have an account, and you can only create one per account and only if you have a game key activated on that account. The forum name can't be the same as the account username (to prevent disclosure), and once created you can't change it (CS can change it for you, but you have to give them a good reason to). That solves most of the problem without requiring real names anywhere.
Basically for the purposes Blizzard claims to need to address, real identities aren't needed. What's needed is only two things:
Neither of those requires disclosing real identities.
Although they reverted this change, I'm still pretty weary of the direction that Real ID is going. Personally, I've opted to delete all official WoW forum posts using a GreaseMonkey script I've found: http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/81103
Why does everyone dismiss the choice of NOT participating in Blizzard's forums as a way to protect your privacy and security. Plenty of people have made that same choice with regards to Facebook.
So many people seem to think that free speech means being free to walk into someone else's living room and call them a cocksucker without having to fear getting punched in the face.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
Posting real names would have ended all honest GLBT discussions in an instant. That's immediately a great reason not to post them.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
Look, if I apply for a job, the last thing I want them to know is personal data about me. If I played WoW, I would want to keep that private, because people are petty and opinionated, and the less they know about you, the less they don't like. That's my reason for freaking out about it. The long term record-keeping quality of the internet means that anonymity keeps my opinions, my hobbies, and my interests separate from the database containing my real name. It's not that I'm ashamed of it, it's that I refuse to submit to the whims and prejudices of others.
So had he been a stalker, he would have killed the wrong person.
How is that better?
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on