News
Real ID Revoked 07.09.2010 by Nocturne
With the recent announcement that Real ID names would be used for Battle.net posters, there was a considerable outcry from Blizzard's online community. For those of you who do not know what "Real ID" is, it is a certain means of identification for one's battle.net account. This particular information uses your account's real first and last name - something that many try to avoid using while gaming. Anonymity is one of the few comforts that Blizzard's forums bring to its members - it prevents identification and repercussions that can bleed from the ethereal domain to what we call "real life." However, Blizzard felt that introducing such a change would prevent the rampant tomfoolery that we see across all of their forums.
From personal experience, forums can be harsh, intolerant, and lack any sort of moral conduct. Blizzard's forums are the epitome of such an experience. "Trolling" has become commonplace, and the lack of moderation acts as a catalyst for inconsiderate and often hurtful means of discussing a topic.
So why keep anonymity if it could potentially diminish the negative effects of the online community? Well, the answer is within privacy. Members prefer to have their private lives outside of what I like to call the ethereal domain. This allows one to both be attached and detached from the various aspects of their lives - especially one that can be potentially harmful to all aspects of one's life. By eliminating anonymity on forums, it eliminates a sense of security from such a "passionate" group of gamers. I would fear to think about the devastating force of flaming that could transition from the internet to your front door.
Fortunately, Blizzard just released a statement about revoking their decision to cast one's Real ID into the fray of gamers when posting on their forums. Here's what the CEO and Co-Founder, Mike Morhaime, had to say:
Neathera@Battle.net Forums (1)
I'd like to take some time to speak with all of you regarding our desire to make the Blizzard forums a better place for players to discuss our games. 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.
It's important to note that we still remain committed to improving our forums. Our efforts are driven 100% by the desire to find ways to make our community areas more welcoming for players and encourage more constructive conversations about our games. We will still move forward with new forum features such as conversation threading, the ability to rate posts up or down, improved search functionality, and more. However, when we launch the new StarCraft II forums that include these new features, you will be posting by your StarCraft II Battle.net character name + character code, not your real name. The upgraded World of Warcraft forums with these new features will launch close to the release of Cataclysm, and also will not require your real name.
I want to make sure it's clear that our plans for the forums are completely separate from our plans for the optional in-game Real ID system now live with World of Warcraft and launching soon with StarCraft II. We believe that the powerful communications functionality enabled by Real ID, such as cross-game and cross-realm chat, make Battle.net a great place for players to stay connected to real-life friends and family while playing Blizzard games. And of course, you'll still be able to keep your relationships at the anonymous, character level if you so choose when you communicate with other players in game. Over time, we will continue to evolve Real ID on Battle.net to add new and exciting functionality within our games for players who decide to use the feature.
In closing, I want to point out that our connection with our community has always been and will always be extremely important to us. We strongly believe that Every Voice Matters, ( Blizzard Mission Statement ) and we feel fortunate to have a community that cares so passionately about our games. We will always appreciate the feedback and support of our players, which has been a key to Blizzard's success from the beginning.
Mike Morhaime
CEO & Cofounder
Blizzard Entertainment
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07.10.2010
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| LOL, ya. | |
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07.10.2010
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| This sounds a lot like one of those "oh crap, who approved that?!?" situations. | |
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