Blizzard moving to real names for forum posts

[Ignis]

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.

http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=25626109041&sid=3000

It will certainly be interesting to find out that DarkkDeth SoulzBane is really Herbert Tunglestamp. :D

[Greyskye]

1. Or Fido.

"On the Internet, Nobody Knows You're a Dog"

[eShirl]

2. great news for stalkers

[Salviati]

3. I was just talking about reactiviating my account for the new expansion...

along with a few of my friends. This news has me reconsidering that, as well as reconsidering purchasing Starcraft II.

The thread in the WoW forums has got over 12,000 posts in in in the 12 or so hours since the announcement. If Blizzard doesn't back off of this it can only be read as a big "fuck you" to the playerbase.

Since I didn't have an active account, I can't pile on the thread, but had to make do with an email of complaint to [e-mail]...

Ahh well, at least there's Portal 2 to look forward to.

[Salviati]

12. Woot

I'm glad that Blizzard decided not to pull the trigger on this. I can think about resubscribing and get in on some of that SC2 beta action that's been waiting...

[Occulus]

4. Well. THAT'S a great idea.

NOT.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

5. This is a really, really BAD idea.

Apparently, people who share Real ID's can see each others friend lists. Including their Real IDs.

[Ignis]

7. The sad thing is that Blizzard has the revenue stream to approach this the right way.

But instead they pulled this crap. :thumbsdown:

[realisticphish]

6. Is Blizzard suicidal?

The people who represent the bulk of WOW players are extremely internet savvy, and there is no way I can see them being ok with this

[Ohio Joe]

8. Long long ago and far away...

I used to post on Blizzards forums very much (yeah... I'm ALE) but not in a long time. Nor, do I see a return, a shame.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

9. Blizzard Scraps Plans To Display Real Names In Forums

http://kotaku.com/5583405/blizzard-scraps-plans-to-display-real-names-in-forums

[realisticphish]

10. from the article

"many detractors going to extreme lengths to protest the changes, including posting the personal information of Blizzard staffers on Facebook and personal blogs, including the names and phone numbers of employees' friends and family."

Sometimes I hate the internet. Staffers' names? A valid, if still gray, protest. But friends and family? WTF

[Ignis]

11. Sanity, finally.