Blizzard just made sure ...

[Quark]

... I never post on their forums again.

http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?top...5626109041

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.

Hope you guys don't like posting on the official forums, or want to roll the lottery and assume you'll never apply to a company that thinks gaming is a bad habit.

[Treesh]

Hope you guys don't like posting on the official forums,

I never did post a lot there, but um, yeah. This is not going to be pretty. It may possibly stop some of the worst of the trolling, but yeesh. Maybe Blizzard is tired of even trying to mod the forums and this is their way to kill 'em off. =D

[--Pete]

Hi,

... I never post on their forums again.

Hope you guys don't like posting on the official forums, or want to roll the lottery and assume you'll never apply to a company that thinks gaming is a bad habit.

I never did post there much, but I guess I'll join you in not posting at all. Or at least until they do something about the chain effect. The friends of my friends aren't necessarily the people I want knowing my RL info.

--Pete

[Tal]

... I never post on their forums again.

Hope you guys don't like posting on the official forums, or want to roll the lottery and assume you'll never apply to a company that thinks gaming is a bad habit.

I get enough haters from PvP without them being able to find me IRL.

[Lissa]

Why do I see a class action lawsuit coming Blizzard's way if this goes live? People are up in arms as it is with Google storing information and the privacy issues that entails.

[shoju]

Can you delete your old posts on the official forums? I want to wipe out any evidence that I was ever there if this goes live.

[TheDragoon]

Why do I see a class action lawsuit coming Blizzard's way if this goes live? People are up in arms as it is with Google storing information and the privacy issues that entails.

I don't see a class action lawsuit having any traction. They've already said this cannot (and will not) be retroactive. It will only be active for the new forums which are designed to handle this functionality. Also, they have said there will be plenty of warnings to people before they make their first post under those new rules, so hopefully people won't be stumbling into it without realizing what they're doing.

So it would basically come down to an optional service that you have to actively buy into before it would be used. I don't think there's any complaint about that (other than the fact that if you post there now but disagree with this approach then you will eventually no longer be able to post there).

[Sabra]

I am so glad that I never use the Blizz forums.

Lissa I don't know about class action suits, but I wonder about privacy issues for minors.

Sheesh. If I want to be socially networked with a bunch of idiots, I can just hop on Twitter.

[Crushar]

Why do I see a class action lawsuit coming Blizzard's way if this goes live? People are up in arms as it is with Google storing information and the privacy issues that entails.

I don't see a class action lawsuit having any traction. They've already said this cannot (and will not) be retroactive. It will only be active for the new forums which are designed to handle this functionality. Also, they have said there will be plenty of warnings to people before they make their first post under those new rules, so hopefully people won't be stumbling into it without realizing what they're doing.

So it would basically come down to an optional service that you have to actively buy into before it would be used. I don't think there's any complaint about that (other than the fact that if you post there now but disagree with this approach then you will eventually no longer be able to post there).

They have stated that they will not be changing posts retroactively but I still wonder what will happen with Armory. This has me concerned as my 14 year olds name is attached to one of the accounts. If that information will be out there then I will be deleting my accounts.

As to potential lawsuits I am not so sure that any type of suit is without merit. It will depend on how they implement notice so that there is an adequate warning. There is also a definite bias in the law against waver of negligence by contract. Would depend on industry standard for release of this type of information.

In a scenario where a stalker finds and injures someone based upon in game interaction and the new functionality. Where experts testify that the standard of care in internet security is to restrict this information. It is not certain in my mind that a dismissal of the action would be certain under the law in my State.

A better way to reduce the morass that is the blizzard forums would be to restrict blue responses and interaction. The proliferation of all that is bad certaintly seems connected to the desire to get a blizzard response.

[Lissa]

The reason I say class action is possible is due to Identity Theft possibilities. Giving out someone's real name is a big piece that can be used for identity theft, especially when you have a name that is somewhat unusual or unique (such as my last name as there are only 400 people in the US with my last name and the other 500 or so are still in Ireland).

If people can show that Blizzard's forum change leads to their identity being stolen, you bet this constitutes a class action lawsuit.

[Zyn]

The thread on the forums is already up to 12,000 replies - let alone the views. This is going to be one hell of a blunder if it goes live, methinks.

-Z

[Crusader]

I don't see the problem. I think people are too used to the internet being a place where they can anonymously flame away. If your name is displayed, what does that tell people? That you play a game? Only if you misbehave will this reflect badly on you. It's not as if they give away your address and all kinds of personal info. Your name probably is also available in the telephone book. The only new information this gives outsiders is that a certain person plays a game. If employers object to that, wow... I don't even want to work for jerks who don't want their employees to play games. But if that's the reason they deny an application, here you would get your ass sued.

Perhaps this is a step in the direction of a more honest, polite internet.

[Zyn]

I don't see the problem. I think people are too used to the internet being a place where they can anonymously flame away. If your name is displayed, what does that tell people? That you play a game? Only if you misbehave will this reflect badly on you. It's not as if they give away your address and all kinds of personal info. Your name probably is also available in the telephone book. The only new information this gives outsiders is that a certain person plays a game. If employers object to that, wow... I don't even want to work for jerks who don't want their employees to play games. But if that's the reason they deny an application, here you would get your ass sued.

Perhaps this is a step in the direction of a more honest, polite internet.

I would agree except for the fact that all it took was one Blue poster throwing his real name into the mix - 5 minutes later people had his address, educational history, parents names, phone number, age, etc.

In an age of electronic crime I really dont think this is Blizzard's most responsible idea.

-Z

[Crusader]

I don't see the problem. I think people are too used to the internet being a place where they can anonymously flame away. If your name is displayed, what does that tell people? That you play a game? Only if you misbehave will this reflect badly on you. It's not as if they give away your address and all kinds of personal info. Your name probably is also available in the telephone book. The only new information this gives outsiders is that a certain person plays a game. If employers object to that, wow... I don't even want to work for jerks who don't want their employees to play games. But if that's the reason they deny an application, here you would get your ass sued.

Perhaps this is a step in the direction of a more honest, polite internet.

I would agree except for the fact that all it took was one Blue poster throwing his real name into the mix - 5 minutes later people had his address, educational history, parents names, phone number, age, etc.

In an age of electronic crime I really dont think this is Blizzard's most responsible idea.

-Z

A name that was available in every Blizzard manual he contributed to.

In related news:

BEHOLD! THE THREAD OF A THOUSAND PAGES!
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread...1&pageNo=1

So much rage concentrated in one spot. The internet might explode.

[Treesh]

If your name is displayed, what does that tell people? That you play a game? Only if you misbehave will this reflect badly on you.

You tell that to the majority of the folks I used to work with. The fact that I game is worse to those people than if I went out and got drunk every night. Anyone else who mentioned playing any kind of video game got put in the same category. It was something unacceptable to them because they didn't understand that it's really not something shady and unsocial. They were more willing to accept the folks who ended up in jail than the folks who admitted they played any type of video game. Makes for a rather hostile work environment.

[Crusader]

If it makes you feel better, I hate your colleagues now.

[Jester]

I don't see the problem. I think people are too used to the internet being a place where they can anonymously flame away. If your name is displayed, what does that tell people? That you play a game? Only if you misbehave will this reflect badly on you. It's not as if they give away your address and all kinds of personal info.

To give only one example... there are gay guilds in World of Warcraft. I can only suppose they will simply cease to exist, or never use this service at all, because being outed to everyone within six degrees of Kevin Bacon, with their *real identity*, is a serious issue.

Some people really, really like their internet anonymity. Sure, it's a mixed blessing. But there are very real consequences to ending it that are not restricted to those who "misbehave."

-Jester

[--Pete]

Hi,

Some people really, really like their internet anonymity. Sure, it's a mixed blessing. But there are very real consequences to ending it that are not restricted to those who "misbehave."

It doesn't need to be complete anonymity. Many people on this board know my real name. A good few know my phone number and some even my address. I trust most Lurkers not to put my information on a FaceBook page or to Twitter it. I trust them not to pass that information on, but refer requests for it to me. Privacy is not binary. Somewhere between 'everybody knows who you are' and 'nobody knows who you are' there is a comfort zone for each of us. I want to be in control of that zone, not Blizzard.

--Pete

[LochnarITB]

I trust most Lurkers not to put my information on a FaceBook page or to Twitter it.

Oh crap! If only you had posted this 10 minutes earlier!

[Tal]

Here is all the reason I don't want my name attached to my WoW account <--NSFW language in the video in that link.