Blizzard Forums (WoW, SC, Diablo) now to post your real name beside your post

[JonSimonzi]

Don't really care. I generally use my real name as a forum handle anyway. Have here for years, have at other forums as well.

 

[rumbl3]

I used to love to hang out on the wow forums when i played wow. It was like this nice little added bonus to playing the game.

Now that will be all gone.Trolling will be killed in one swift blow imo. But maybe there tired of the forum being flooded to death with bs post. I mean hell i would be at work and at the time i worke din the office. The wow forum moved faster then any forum out there. New post non stop.

So it was almost like a chat room but filled with 75% trolls lol.

Not sure but i think a good percentage of general,off topic and server forums are great like jerry springer it keeps people playing to be apart of the drama it helped keep me glued at times when wow was feeling boring the forums made it a bit spicer.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm. But also posting real people's names i've seen way to many times like lineage 2 for instance when the two guys set the one on fire they lived in the same area. Then another man russian i believe was stomped to death over clan grudge.

That's just a little taste. I'm not saying people will go hog wild but i just don't feel this is a good idea. Your opening a can of stalker psycho worms for a select few to possibly make tracking down there "enemy" easier. I mean hell social engineering i've done myself in times of needing to know info lol i'll admit. This will make it make things a little easier for someone. Giving them a piece of the puzzle that will open more pieces. Allowing you to scan the web and find more info to then narrow down where this person is.

Werid crazy people out there. So in the end i say get rid of it. Keep the old ways. Even tho i don't play anymore. I think it will kill some of the games spirit.

 

[ps2cho]

Was waiting for this thread to come out.

I personally will NOT be purchasing SC2. This has to be Activisions doing. What whacko thought this would be a good idea needs to be fired LMAO. What a joke. Their sales will PLUMBET far far far. That is a gamble I'd love to take a bet on.

 

[Slayn]

You think SC2 is not going to sell well?


....... Really???

 

[Jawsome]

I like the idea, probably because I rarely posted on the WoW forums though. I would read them often, and I was annoyed at the sheer volume of elitist dbags and trolls that would post there.

 

[ps2cho]

You think SC2 is not going to sell well?


....... Really???

Oh it will sell well, but I think you would surprised at how many people won't buy the game based on this RealID BS.

Activision is really kicking themselves in the *** with this.

 

[mstersmith]

1 law suit that is all it will take. I can see it now, we didnt know this was a bad idea how could we know out of 11 million people a few whack jobs were in the mix?

 

[cornbread]

People keep referring to how this will eliminate the "trolls". Sure, it will help with that, but like I said earlier, doesn't ol' fashion moderation work as well? Again, look at this site, we have our occasional trolls and they are dealt with swiftly and our names are not required.

Blizz let the trolls get out of hand, no one else. It was their forum to moderate and they dropped the ball miserably. I took a stroll over there last night and it has changed a lot since the years I have played. Hell if I had the power over there I would start swinging the ban hammer, Blizz is afraid of upsetting the customer base and afraid they may lose a dollar or two.

As for the poll, I'm curious how many underage people voted "yes". Perceptions change with age, that's a fact. I see a lot of kids posting on the WoW forums saying they "don't care, blah blah blah, because the game is in their parents name"...go figure.

 

[Tsnowflake]

lol SC2 is still going to sell as much as it was before. The only thing that will change is people will simply stop using the official blizzard forums. Someone should monitor the influx of new accounts registered at sites like team liquid and other third party star craft forums.

 

[LawyerLynn]

The reasons have been hashed and rehashed in many places, bottom line, its a dumb idea to think that gamers think of their "community" as an alternative version of Facebook.

 

[Hardin]

I don't like this idea. The best way to crackdown on trolling is to just moderate better. Activision probably has no say in this though. Activision didn't buy Blizzard they merged with Blizzard's parent company Vivendi games but Blizzard still has full control over their games. http://web.archive.org/web/20071204200054/http://www.blizzard.com/press/activision-faq.shtml

 

[LawyerLynn]

How much easier will this be and how much more often will it happen and just watch the litigation:
I fear this type of thing as an unintended consequence of the idea.

ulien Barreaux, 20, told police he wanted to see his rival player "wiped out" after his character in the game Counter-Strike died in a virtual knife fight.

A court in Cambrai, northern France, heard how Barreaux plotted revenge for seven months after the online "killing" last November.

He then located the victim, named only as Mikhael, several miles from his home.

When the man answered the door, he plunged a kitchen knife into his chest, missing his heart by less than an inch, a police officer told the court.

He added: "Barreaux was arrested within the hour and told us he had wanted to see his rival wiped out for killing off his character."

Barreaux was jailed for two years for causing grievous bodily harm, and ordered to undergo psychiatric tests and anger management therapy.

Judge Alexiane Potel told him: "You are a menace to society. I am frankly terrified of the disproportionate reaction you could have if someone looked at you the wrong way in the street."

May 27, 2010 - www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[Slayn]

Yeah they say it will get rid of trolls... the thing is, this is going to deter the CASUAL trolls only, the stupid little kids. The real trolls/griefers wont care. In fact this will only give them MORE to abuse. So basically at this point the only people left will be the innocet and the hardcore internet weirdos to prey on them.

I think Blizz/Activision is doing this to cut down on the free forums they provide. I bet traffic drops in half once you have to post your real name up.

 

[LawyerLynn]

Blizzard might want to consider this article as they think about potential liability issues:

http://asnowstormbyanyothername.blogspot.com/

 

[Redstone]

Yeah they say it will get rid of trolls... the thing is, this is going to deter the CASUAL trolls only, the stupid little kids. The real trolls/griefers wont care. In fact this will only give them MORE to abuse. So basically at this point the only people left will be the innocet and the hardcore internet weirdos to prey on them.

I think Blizz/Activision is doing this to cut down on the free forums they provide. I bet traffic drops in half once you have to post your real name up.

I disagree. It would cut way back on both casual and hardcore trolls. Not only that, it will cut back on posting all together. Of course it will not get rid of all trolls, they are inevitable. But if you look at 99% of posts in forums on the internet...that might be the best idea ever!

 

[deathman20]

Im not part of the game anymore (just did beta way back) though this is wrong.

Exposing a persons real name might not affect anything because once again its just another name linked to a name that could cause a huge security risk. Not only do u know the character on the account, but the actually account holders name.

IMO is asking for way more trouble and very well could see some sort of a lawsuit over exposure if people start getting identity thefts.

 

[WonderingSoul]

Look at OC Forums. We have a very strict forum but is 99% clean of trolls and rude posters.

If they want the forums to be better, get better moderation. It's not like they don't have the resources (what 11 million players?) to find mature responsible users to moderate their forums so they don't have to alienate a lot of their customers.

I find a first name and last initial would be more appropriate and less intrusive to the community. Nothing is wrong with "John S." it is formal and isn't alienating anyone.

 

[Tsnowflake]

If they want the forums to be better, get better moderation. It's not like they don't have the resources (what 11 million players?) to find mature responsible users to moderate their forums so they don't have to alienate a lot of their customers.

These companies are all about minimizing costs and maximizing profits. They see forum moderation as a corner they can cut to avoid paying out more salaries. Since this new change is likely to substantially deter posting, there is probably going to be even less moderating that will need to be done. Its not like here where the Senior Members and Mods are here for the love of the hobby, which consequently is what makes OCF so great.

I don't think they are really alienating their customers. SC2 and WoW will continue to succeed and thrive both as games and financially (and D3 in the future.) The only thing they are doing is pushing their players towards a non blizzard sanctioned forum to chat on. Something I'm sure a lot of the people who are into these games do anyways (Guild forums/Enthusiast Forums/Clan Forums etc...)

 

[Redstone]

These companies are all about minimizing costs and maximizing profits. They see forum moderation as a corner they can cut to avoid paying out more salaries. Since this new change is likely to substantially deter posting, there is probably going to be even less moderating that will need to be done.

I don't think they are really alienating their customers. SC2 and WoW will continue to succeed and thrive both as games and financially (and D3 in the future.) The only thing they are doing is pushing their players towards a non blizzard sanctioned forum to chat on. Something I'm sure a lot of the people who are into these games do anyways (Guild forums/Enthusiast Forums/Clan Forums etc...)

This is exactly what they are hoping to acheive. I bet they wished they never had created furoms in the first place. There are countless third party WoW forums already. Let them deal with the headaches. What I dont understand is why don't they just close all forums but technical or account question forums and forget the real id. Jeez i am glad I dont play wow anymore. To many people take that game way to seriously.

EDIT: but then again i was one of them back in the day

 

[Rinne]

I think the case of Blizzard Employee Micah Whipple says it all:

After telling his real name on the wow forums to show that it actually isn't a bad idea at all, he already had to delete his facebook account, and loads of his personal data has been released online.

I think as well it is a really dumb idea, and while I could say I don't care because I never played WoW and never registered on any of blizzards forums, I do indeed care. I have a very common name in my area, there even lives one other person with the exact same full name (First Name & Last Name) ~2km away from here. Now I never use such forums and don't use my real name online, but what if that other guy nearby uses it, does some bullc*** and I get the problems?