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.
The new B.Net forums plan on implementing a change in the way gamers post on it, by using their Real ID names (which for all intents and purposes are their real names, barring some overly cautious individuals) instead of their IGNs. This has caused an uproar with the Blizzard gamer community at large, with many people on both sides of the fence duking it out through fansites.
Now the reason I didn't post this in the Other Games section was because I feel this brings up a good point: internet anonymity.
If SRF suddenly required everyone to using their real names to post, would you still post? What is the value of your name, to you and to others? Would it effect how people respond to you? Will cultural biases rise as ethnic names pop up?
I don't give a shit about that. Why you must hide your name, do you have something to hide or whatsoever? I mean Blizzard doing it right IMO, cause there will be no "internet heroes" no more, and may be ppl will stop flame on each other and have some fun in games, cuz they can actually get found by name. Just my opinion
Noobs_Slayer wrote: cuz they can actually get found by name.
Isn't that exactly the reason not to do it? You can really do annoying stuff to people if you know their name -> address. Send a shit ton of real life spam, for example.
When I pug, raid, etc. I make it a point to call people by their aliases.
"Hey ShadowKnightofDoom93!"
I would also some sort of system like in korea where you need to provide your ID to make an account. Would count down on spammers (no more signing up for a trillion hotmail accounts) and botters (no duplicate accounts, ban = perm ban).
I think people should be able to do that if they want to. the real internet heroes could go by her real names and stuff.
then again, on all kinds of accounts I've made I used different names, because my real name sucks. F.J. Park, Yuki Park, Shiro Narusagawa, Faith d'Anges, Faith d'Angelles, good times, good times..
People could totally use a name like that to make an account, like I di for subscribing to Youtube, Hotmail, Hyves, Myspace, pr0nz.....
Good luck getting around multiple names in Mexico and spanish countries,you know how many Maria's, and luis there are. Or how many Kims there are in korea >.>
Last edited by Squirt on Tue Jul 06, 2010 9:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Noobs_Slayer wrote: cuz they can actually get found by name.
Isn't that exactly the reason not to do it? You can really do annoying stuff to people if you know their name -> address. Send a shit ton of real life spam, for example.
I Would stop posting and not log anymore as well. Real name on internet is dangerous,i don't want some random people to come kill me if i scam them on a game(i stopped online game but hypothesis).
SwordCloud wrote:I Would stop posting and not log anymore as well. Real name on internet is dangerous,i don't want some random people to come kill me if i scam them on a game(i stopped online game but hypothesis).
Noobs_Slayer wrote: cuz they can actually get found by name.
Isn't that exactly the reason not to do it? You can really do annoying stuff to people if you know their name -> address. Send a shit ton of real life spam, for example.
To those of you saying oh noes, people will get spammed, you do realise just how many people there are in the world that share your name, right? My god, harden up princesses.
While I don't necessarily agree completely with what they're doing, I won't stop being an active participant in Blizzard's community either.
This. + Finding people is a 'no no' on the internet. Think about the anons... And by the way to the person above me, do you know how many people share my IP address. 1 (Myself). If they have my name + IP address (software can use this to find the general area where I live) that's bad.
ZSZC Water - Pure Int S/S 3x ZSZC Fire - Pure Str Bow 4x ZSZC Fire - Pure Int Spear 4x
This. + Finding people is a 'no no' on the internet. Think about the anons... And by the way to the person above me, do you know how many people share my IP address. 1 (Myself). If they have my name + IP address (software can use this to find the general area where I live) that's bad.
Yeah, 'cept general run-of-the-mill people don't have access to that information, nor in the context, would they be able to. THis isn't your general vBulletin internet tough guy we're talking about here, we're talking custom forum software.
Real ID hasn't proved to be too much of a problem yet. I only add people I can actually trust in game.
Someone brought up many valid points though, let me see if I can find them and I'll quote them.
EDIT: I knew this would become a huge thread, and now I can take advantage of the fact that I made first page. Here is a quoted post from the WoW forums from someone who voices their concerns rationally and hits all the major topics. My original post here will follow the quoted text. Enjoy the read:
Q u o t e: I just got off the phone with Blizzard's Technical Support (nice gentleman who helped answer my questions by the way) so now I feel a bit more secure about making this post. Also the 30 minute hold time gave me a few moments to gather my thoughts so I can speak thoughtfully without fear or anger leaking through.
Before I voice my opinion I will state that I have a recorded converstion from a Blizzard employee saying that the posts made today and before the new Real ID system goes into place on these forums WILL NOT show our information. Only posts made after Real ID is put into the forums will have this information.
This new system is a horrible idea. There are already well over 80 pages of people stating their ideas on this subject so I doubt what I say will be heared but I will try to present my arguments against Real ID in the hopes that someone will listen.
1. UNIQUE NAMES: Some people (including my husband for one) have very unique names. The linking of a person's real name if you have a common name is less troublesome because that person would be hard to track with a name alone, but if you have a name that is very uncommon linking it to a public forum is very invasive to that person. It could lead to that person being harrassed or annoyed (I will not overreact and use the word stalked) while trying to interact with their hobby.
People play this game for relaxation on their off time. But, for example, if you had a unique name and applied for a job and the potential employer googled your name and found posts on a gaming forum they may not hire you because they have ill conceved notions about gamers. In this exaple the employer may be working off an unfair stereotype but it still would hinder that person getting a job. And FYI without a job that person wouldn't be able to have the money to play WoW. Just a thought Blizzard.
2. COMMON NAMES: For those on the other side of the fence having a fairly common name can also lead to harrassment in a different way. You could be mistaken for someone else entirely and that can lead to confusion not only on the forums themselves but also outside of them.
The last thing I need is someone tracking me down via a google search of my fairly common name, getting my WoW info because I asked a question on a forum about a game I paly for fun, and contacting my character in game, or on the forums to yell at me about alamony payments when I dont have a ex-husband.
3. GENDER: As a female this one bothers me a lot. Not only do I not want to be petitioned by random people for cyberlovin while I am playing a game, but more importantly I do not want to be a target offline. Most males my not understand the fear women have in today's world about this but it is a real and genuine threat that does, sadly, happen. Women are stalked, hurt, even killed every day and we are taught from a young age to be careful and cautious when dealing with the unknown (aka strangers and the internet). It is a terrible reality about our society and I wish it wasn't so but fact is it happens.
I have been occasionaly harrassed while in game for cyberlovin (can not use the real words they use due to being banned on the forums if I do) and I have reported it when it does and Blizzard has never done a thing about it (repeat violations in some cases and their toons are still in the game with no reprocussions). I can't imagine what would happen if more of these perverts knew I was an actual girl. I shudder the think about it.
4. MINORS: Similar to the gender issue. There are minors that play this game and giving out their information to the general public is a bad idea. Even people who are 'adults' aka 18, 19, 20 can still be very impressionable and giving out their real names to the world wide web can only lead to trouble.
5. IDENTITY THIEFT: I know you can't steal a persons ID with ONLY their name but hainvg someone's full name is a great place to start.
6. WoW CRAZIES: Most people who paly this game are what would be classified as 'casuals'. But some people take this game way to seriously. I have been shocked and even fealful of a few of the players I have come across and giving them the ability to track me down and potentally harm me because I beat them in a duel frightens me.
7. INTERNET CRAZIES: Even worse these are the stalkers and child molesters that pray on people on the internet. I dont want then to have access to my full name!
8. SPAMMERS: Giving the internet as a whole your information can lead to spamming and flooding of your e-mail.facebook, exc even more then it is already. Gold sellers are going to have a hayday with this one.
If your name was Jerry Sienfled and you had a wow forum post I bet you ever single variation of your name at most popular e-mail hosters is going to be flooded with fake Blizzard emails. JerrySiefeld@hotmail, @gmail, @yahoo, exc. and now the gold sellers and hackers will have a way to customize those fake mails to your real name! Dear Jerry, We at Blizzard are please to announce you are in the beta! Please visit our fakelink to get your account hacked.
9. SAFETY OF BLIZZARD: Just like giving out a real name to fellow players is a bad idea, giving out the names of all your forum moderators is just as bad or worse! Your poilcy now is to have your phone representatives only use their first names for thier own safety (remember I recorded the conversation) and now you are going to change that! You could have an employee tracked down this way and come to serious harm. Not safe or smart.
So what can you do instead of using a person's full name? How aobut only being allowed to post on one toon? You have to pick a toon and that is that. Or using a set handle? Set up Real ID with this and I would use it in game as well.
And for all the people who say the forums are optional I will remind you that I pay the same subscripion fee that you do and so limiting what I can do with it doesn't seem like the most fair solution. I feel I should be able to use the forums to get information and to share ideas. I agree the trolls are a pain but there has to be a better more secure way then this.
-Quira
Probably one of the best posts. Worth the quote and reiteration.
Here is my original post:
Awesome, so now when a chick I'm interested in decides to google me, she'll find my closet-gamer habit. Then there are potential employers. . .
Thanks! That's awesome!
No more hiding it from real life.
For the record, I would have deleted my facebook MONTHS ago if it wasn't of such high importance for marketing shows and upcoming promo/event stuff with my band.
This is EXACTLY what I wanted. . .another facebook.
Q u o t e:
Lol... you cannot track someone down by name alone.
EDIT: On that note. . .if you do enough digging of COURSE you can find all the info you need on someone just based on their first and last name initially.
It's not hard, and if you're too lazy to do it yourself, there are internet services that will do it for a small fee. Not ONLY finding your address, telephone numbers, email addresses but also known former residences and people you keep close contact with. See also: http://www.********.com It's cheap, easy, and available for any creeper to use to whatever end they see fit.
I will be using SC2 and D3(when it comes out) under an assumed name and you should too!
This. + Finding people is a 'no no' on the internet. Think about the anons... And by the way to the person above me, do you know how many people share my IP address. 1 (Myself). If they have my name + IP address (software can use this to find the general area where I live) that's bad.
Yeah, 'cept general run-of-the-mill people don't have access to that information, nor in the context, would they be able to. THis isn't your general vBulletin internet tough guy we're talking about here, we're talking custom forum software.
Anyone who is tech-savvy, with enough resources could get the IP address, especially if your name is given. An IP address alone isn't enough to find someone, as it just displays town (from what I know) but with a full name, things like whitepages, peoplepages, etc. can easily be used to find a person, and perhaps harass them. I have a battle.net account, and although I never use it, I am just advocating against this idea.
ZSZC Water - Pure Int S/S 3x ZSZC Fire - Pure Str Bow 4x ZSZC Fire - Pure Int Spear 4x
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