Curse

Qing Guang · Jul 07, 2010, 05:10 PM // 17:10

Y'know, I think I've really been underappreciating ArenaNet lately, what with my whole "hail Blizzard lords of customer service" deal. And I was partly justified - for the past year I'd found Blizz to be a wonderfully friendly company. Whoops.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...12374700&sid=1

Here's the official statement, bolded for TL;DR:

Quote:

Battle.net Update: Upcoming Changes to the Forums

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. The classic Battle.net forums, including those for Diablo II and Warcraft III, will be moving to a new legacy forum section with the release of the StarCraft II community site and at that time will also transition to using Real ID for posting.

The official forums have always been a great place to discuss the latest info on our games, offer ideas and suggestions, and share experiences with other players -- however, the forums have also earned a reputation as a place where flame wars, trolling, and other unpleasantness run wild. Removing the veil of anonymity typical to online dialogue will contribute to a more positive forum environment, promote constructive conversations, and connect the Blizzard community in ways they haven’t been connected before. With this change, you’ll see blue posters (i.e. Blizzard employees) posting by their real first and last names on our forums as well.
[snip]
With the launch of the new Battle.net, it’s important to us to create a new and different kind of online gaming environment -- one that’s highly social, and which provides an ideal place for gamers to form long-lasting, meaningful relationships. All of our design decisions surrounding Real ID -- including these forum changes -- have been made with this goal in mind.

We’ve given a great deal of consideration to the design of Real ID as a company, as gamers, and as enthusiastic users of the various online-gaming, communication, and social-networking services that have become available in recent years. As these services have become more and more popular, gamers have become part of an increasingly connected and intimate global community – friendships are much more easily forged across long distances, and at conventions like PAX or our own BlizzCon, we’ve seen first-hand how gamers who may have never actually met in person have formed meaningful real-life relationships across borders and oceans. As the way gamers interact with one another continues to evolve, our goal is to ensure Battle.net is equipped to handle the ever-changing social-gaming experience for years to come.

For more info on Real ID, check out our Real ID page and FAQ located at http://www.battle.net/realid/ . We look forward to answering your questions about these upcoming forum changes in the thread below.

So yeah. The thread on the US WoW forum alone got an unprecedented 1,000+ pages.

Thanks, ANet, for not being that colossally stupid.

*heads off to watch the GW2 site*

Abedeus · Jul 07, 2010, 05:54 PM // 17:54

Guess what happens when someone using that.

NNNNOOOOTHING!! Trollz be trollz.

Neo Nugget · Jul 07, 2010, 06:40 PM // 18:40

I think guru should start having posters post using their real names. After all, it's only a name, right? Right? Guys......?

mage767 · Jul 07, 2010, 07:31 PM // 19:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abedeus

Guess what happens when someone using that.

NNNNOOOOTHING!! Trollz be trollz.

My real name is Vekk Sharkteeth, and I will rock the Starcraft 2 universe in 3 weeks.

Kumu Honua · Jul 08, 2010, 03:50 AM // 03:50

Real name? I wonder how many "Bob Smith"'s there will be trolling away.

What a useless gesture. They don't verify anything. I'm gonna go sign up with the name Chuck Norris. Can't wait to see "Real ID"....

Sir Skullcrasher · Jul 08, 2010, 04:05 AM // 04:05

Hi my realID name will be the following.... in no particular order

Ricky Bobby
Slim Shady
Chuck Norris
Brock Lesnar
Stone Cold Steve Austin
LeBrick James
Kobe Bryant
Al Gore
Bill Clinton
Bill Gates
Al Davis (Go Raiders!!)

and few others lol

FoxBat · Jul 08, 2010, 04:23 AM // 04:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qing Guang

Thanks, ANet, for not being that colossally stupid.

While this move is colosally stupid, it's funny you should mention Anet when they don't even have forums.

Qing Guang · Jul 08, 2010, 05:47 AM // 05:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by FoxBat

While this move is colosally stupid, it's funny you should mention Anet when they don't even have forums.

No, but it's clear from the various Blizzard posts that they have larger plans for RealID... many people are inferring that it may soon become mandatory in-game as well.

The main point is that while ANet may be guilty of lying to us on occasion ("no, we can't restore your hacked account", "oh, your account got hacked because of fansites/stupidity/keyloggers, not us" "oh, the GW2 beta will be by the end of the year"), they've never been so monumentally stupid as to violate player privacy (or, for that matter, blithely continue with a plan when 85% of the affected playerbase HATES IT).

Yol · Jul 08, 2010, 08:46 AM // 08:46

Just one more reason for me not to get into WoW or blizzard games. I would avoid like the plague any forum site that required me to post under my full name, and I'm far from being one of those flaming trolls that blizzard seems to think internet anonymity turns everyone into. At a time when identity theft is on the rise, this is beyond stupidity...

Even mainstream news providers are picking up on this http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/10543100.stm

Smarty · Jul 08, 2010, 09:09 AM // 09:09

I admit I like the idea of lack of anonymity where (theoretical) prevention of trolling is concerned, but there are some serious nutcases out there in internet land and I certainly wouldn't want any of them getting hold of my rl info tyvm! Blizzard has lost the plot on this one methinks.

Qing Guang · Jul 08, 2010, 05:05 PM // 17:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yol

Just one more reason for me not to get into WoW or blizzard games. I would avoid like the plague any forum site that required me to post under my full name, and I'm far from being one of those flaming trolls that blizzard seems to think internet anonymity turns everyone into. At a time when identity theft is on the rise, this is beyond stupidity...

Even mainstream news providers are picking up on this http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/10543100.stm

Yeah. Seriously, I encourage everyone to refuse to purchase any Blizzard products (not that I believe most of you would) unless they sort this matter out. I'm personally waiting to see how far they take this; if it goes any further, you can expect to see me here (and around Tyria) much more frequently.

Got banned on the official WoW forums for speaking my mind, la de da.

Faer · Jul 08, 2010, 05:56 PM // 17:56

Kotick has a hard-on for subscription fees and social networking. Everything Activision Blizzard does from now on will be focused around those two key systems.

**cosyfiep** · Jul 08, 2010, 06:12 PM // 18:12

So now there will be tons of people with the same name playing???? (I have never played wow or any other game than gw so I have no idea). I do know that there are tons of people in the world with the same name (heck went to school with 2 of them ---and it was a tiny school)...I can only see this as causing even more problems than it solves!
Woe to the person with a very common name (sorry john, dave and lisa)......

and yes will boycott them if the need arises.

nologic · Jul 08, 2010, 06:21 PM // 18:21

WoWs forum discussions usually escalates to bad behaviour
its easier for Blizzard to deal with it and yes there still will be trolls.

Privacy is bullshit most stuff are public information in most countries.
I can go down to police station gather information on each person since its yeah public info.

Qing Guang · Jul 08, 2010, 06:40 PM // 18:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by nologic

WoWs forum discussions usually escalates to bad behaviour
its easier for Blizzard to deal with it and yes there still will be trolls.

Privacy is bullshit most stuff are public information in most countries.
I can go down to police station gather information on each person since its yeah public info.

But you can't just look in the phone book and find contact information for, say, Dyonaris the Warlock.

With RealID, that person who refuted your argument on the forums now has a trackable, real name. So does that guild recruiter who didn't accept your application. And in all likelihood, soon that chick with the hot voice in Vent will too.

It's a huge safety and security issue, and I'm ashamed that I spent so long defending such a callous, mercenary company.

Pyrokar · Jul 08, 2010, 08:48 PM // 20:48

My brother always said that the thing that will kill WoW is Blizzard itself. I doubt people will stop playing because of this, though. I have a feeling more bad news will come. Apparently Activision wants to incorporate a whole "social gaming service" with Battle.net into Blizzards games.

If this happens in-game, I'll feel bad for all the Blood Elf females.

Shayne Hawke · Jul 09, 2010, 02:23 AM // 02:23

I spend my time in virtual worlds to get a break from what's going on in real life. I know whose products I'm not going to be buying anymore.

I will bite myself in the ass for this though if Activision ever decides to make a decent sequel to Battlezone 2.

Nilator · Jul 09, 2010, 03:14 AM // 03:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shayne Hawke

I spend my time in virtual worlds to get a break from what's going on in real life. I know whose products I'm not going to be buying anymore.

I will bite myself in the ass for this though if Activision ever decides to make a decent sequel to Battlezone 2.

*GASP* <3 battlezone 2.

But on topic, yeah, that's a pretty terrible idea.
Hell, I almost put in for a different name on my name tag at work so customers didn't know my real name.

Sir Skullcrasher · Jul 09, 2010, 03:45 AM // 03:45

I'll get Starcraft 2. As for joining the online community, probably pass on that. But like Qing said, if they make it mandatory to have real name for in-game accounts than I'll probably uninstall right away.

zelgadissan · Jul 10, 2010, 01:08 AM // 01:08

They changed their mind.

http://www.wow.com/2010/07/09/mike-m...fficial-forum/