Its too bad people will make their name be Billy Mays and spam the forums anyway.
If anything, I like This suggestion below.
"It's easy to change your Online ID. Just log into your account and change your name. Anyway, I must say that Blizzard is nuts and it's the dumbest idea I have ever heard. Without a doubt this will lead to legal issues down the road especially if someone goes out of their way to cause trouble to someone else using the Blizzard forums as a medium to hurt someone else by means of physically harm or defamation of character.
Blizzard, if you really want to know why your forums are trolled with many disrespectful people then you should go view some half decent website communities and their system. The problem with the Blizzard forums is that there is absolutely no warning system here. The moderation system here is not transparent. Nobody feels that Blizzard is here actively warning and banning trolls. Whenever someone gets banned or warned, nobody here knows. Make your warning system transparent and it will deter most disruptive behavior."
I think they might just get T-bagged into undoing the change by the community, and problem solved.
I've tried logging into my account and changing the name MULTIPLE times. It won't let me do it. Is there some invisible option for this?
They confirmed that posts made before the implementation of this real ID thing will NOT be affected.
Quote from Bashiok:
All posts here on the current World of Warcraft forums, or any of our classic Battle.net forums, will remain as-is. They won't (and can't) automatically switch to showing a real first and last name.
All posts in the future on the new forum systems will be an opt-in choice and ample warning will be given that you're posting with your real first and last name.
So don't scream your heads off that Blizzard is giving your names away.
I am not using the nickname "s3rius" and an avatar of a badass marine in a friggin power suit because it's close to reality but because it's cool.
I don't want to play games using my real name (which I find very mediocre tbh) and I don't want any random dude on the forums to be able to see my name.
I have NEVER made a post on the Blizz forums but just for the future I'm very happy that I named myself "Dr. Rabbit" (translated) as real name.
The only good things that stem from it: A very probable reduction of spam. But why not just display their nicknames. Let everyone choose a uniform nickname for ALL Blizzard games (at least all soon-to-be-released games) including the identifier.
DO NOT make me have to tell people my EMail or real name -.-
And just to throw it out there:
I want people to be civil to each other.
I want to kill all trolls.
I want to maim all flamers.
I want to kick idiots into their heads.
And I want to utterly destroy "Grimace".
I would LOVE to see the Blizz forums (and actually all forums) to be freed of random idiots that use the anonymity of the internet to annoy other people.
But that's also possible by linking the forum account to their Blizzard account WITHOUT releasing personal information about anybody.
On the internet I want to be known as s3rius, not as Julian -.-
It's not a big deal in the long run to be honest...your name really doesn't mean much.
However, I wouldn't mind being able to set a name. I understand this is to stop trolls, so why not make it a one time choice thing, like setting a name and BOOM done for good, can't change it?
I'd prefer people to know me as Seam than Logan Evans(GASP HE TOLD HIS NAME o.o), but it won't bother me in the end.
That said, I have a deep hate for the Blizzard forums due to every time I have ever asked for help for anything, something along these lines happends:
Me: So, I'm playing undead, but I'm having trouble against humans, any tips?
Jerk1: Lawl you have trouble as Undead? L2P
Jerk2: Humans are OP, don't even try
Jerk3: I agree, humans are OP
Thread is now a humans are OP qq thread*
or
Me: I'm a lock, and I have issues with rogues. I just can't seem to kill them, what should I do?
Rogue: LAWL A LOCK CAN'T BEAT A ROGUE
Rogue2: WHAT A BAD
Rogue3: Rofl
I'm just working out how I'm going to arrange for a situation where I win thousands of dollars from blizzard in a law suit. Children under 13 play the game. A child with a unique name claims to be stalked/sexually harassed... something along the lines.
Real IDs are made for real life.... someone who doesn't have one made that decision.
Stupid anti social shits... people are turning into robots...
Why cant we just play games ? ;(
First they are inventing some uber powerful anticheat softwares that are useless from hackers... They just ruin games. Now we got facebook, and shits like that in our games ? WTF...
You can play games... JUST DON'T POST ON THE GOD DAMN FORUMS. PROBLEM FIXED. DON'T USE FACEBOOK FIND FRIENDS. PROBLEM FIXED.
Facebook is fine for me, allows me to stay in touch with friends who I will never see again because I'm moving away to college. It's only antisocial if you substitute it for physical social interaction. User fault, not facebook.
Sorry, but I'm just really annoyed by this uproar. If you don't like it, don't post, it won't effect you one bit. Hopefully this will start bringing civility to the forums.
Posting some ones real name in a forum is just asking for trouble. I'm pretty sure you will be able to find out where some one lives nowadays with just their name. Heck check out this webpage, http://www.123people.com. The reason why people create nick names is to keep their identity anonymous so that freaks on the internet can not stalk them or find out where they live (Yes some people are so stupid on the internet that they can accidentally release important information about themselves OR others). I can see something serious happening from this and i hope that Blizzard changes their mind before they implement this.
If they are planning to cut down on trolling and offensive behaviour then they should do what Aegis posted, which is actively, immedietly, and openly punish those who cause problems. Suspend them from the forum (and display for how long). Also allow people to flag forums or posts so that moderators can respond quicker to offensive behavious.
Posting some ones real name in a forum is just asking for trouble. I'm pretty sure you will be able to find out where some one lives nowadays with just their name. Heck check out this webpage, http://www.123people.com. The reason why people create nick names is to keep their identity anonymous so that freaks on the internet can not stalk them or find out where they live (Yes some people are so stupid on the internet that they can accidentally release important information about themselves OR others). I can see something serious happening from this and i hope that Blizzard changes their mind before they implement this.
If they are planning to cut down on trolling and offensive behaviour then they should do what Aegis posted, which is actively, immedietly, and openly punish those who cause problems. Suspend them from the forum (and display for how long). Also allow people to flag forums or posts so that moderators can respond quicker to offensive behaviour.
Some of you should probably acknowledge the distinction between sharing someone's personal information without their permission (privacy) and requiring you to sign your forum posts with your real name (anonymity.) This isn't retroactive and any time you make a forum post you'd have to check a disclaimer agreeing to share your real name. So please stop talking about how this is an intrusion of privacy. Anonymity and privacy are NOT the same things.
Also, there's no way in hell Blizzard is going to be liable for someone stalking you. They didn't share your name, YOU did by posting on their forums. They're no more liable than they would be if you made a post on the current forums and signed it with your real name.
I'm not defending their decision as a good one (actually I think it's hilariously bad and just shows how desperate they are to figure out how to dredge the cesspool that is battle.net forums) but man a lot of you are greatly confusing the issues.
There will always be trolls, even if they take these kinds of ridiculous mesures.
About the gender (female) problems: This is very true, I hadn't even thought about it...
It also brings another problem: People's with different origins will also be victim of discrimination (racism). If they bring out the "Like" / "Dislike" system, I wouldn't be suprised that the post's cridibility would be affected by the poster's origins.
fictive example:
"Umm that was a good read.............wait .. Posted by Mohammad Rahimi???"
"Fuck arabs, hate those guys, wasn,t that much helpful anyways -> "click dislike" -> important post gets faded away...........
I know it's not really on topic, but what bothers me the most is that they are spending manhours (yeah I know it's not the same team, but still) on useless stuff like facebook implementation. Starcraft 2 is coming out in less than 3 weeks and we haven't even tested the promised corrections to the bnet that left in a shitty state when phase 1 ended.
Some of you should probably acknowledge the distinction between sharing someone's personal information without their permission (privacy) and requiring you to sign your forum posts with your real name (anonymity.) This isn't retroactive and any time you make a forum post you'd have to check a disclaimer agreeing to share your real name. So please stop talking about how this is an intrusion of privacy. Anonymity and privacy are NOT the same things.
Also, there's no way in hell Blizzard is going to be liable for someone stalking you. They didn't share your name, YOU did by posting on their forums. They're no more liable than they would be if you made a post on the current forums and signed it with your real name.
what if someone needs technical information, and I want to help him but I won't because I don't want my name to be exposed to so many strangers?
also how is it not an intrusion of privacy when someone can easily right click his friend's real ID, go into "see friends" and then see my name ? He can then go on his friend's facebook and check me out on his friend's friends list ? Let's say we both have the same friend, but we don't like eachothers. Don't you think he could check my picture and then insult me on my physic ? (which isnt a problem or the case, it's simply an example) (ie: LOL YOU'RE A ING FAT ASS!!!!!!! etc).
I'm sorry but unless they start putting out more privacy options, they're gonna start having lawsuits problems, just like facebook did.
also how is it not an intrusion of privacy when someone can easily right click his friend's real ID, go into "see friends" and then see my name ? He can then go on his friend's facebook and check me out on his friend's friends list ? Let's say we both have the same friend, but we don't like eachothers. Don't you think he could check my picture and then insult me on my physic ? (which isnt a problem or the case, it's simply an example) (ie: LOL YOU'RE A ING FAT ASS!!!!!!! etc).
Grats on pointing out something that has absolutely nothing to do with this thread. The in-game implementation of Real ID may have privacy holes but that's totally irrelevant to requiring people to sign forum posts with their real name.
<<Quote from RileyStarcraft:>>
The hell does that have to do with anything I said?
<</quote>>
I beleive you've said
Quote from from RileyStarcraft::
They didn't share your name, YOU did by posting on their forums.
I was simply stating that it doesn't encourage smart posters. I do agree it wasn't really refering to the main point of your previous post, even though I beleive removing anonymity over the internet is a privacy concern.
Quote from from RileyStarcraft::
Grats on pointing out something that has absolutely nothing to do with this thread. The in-game implementation of Real ID may have privacy holes but that's totally irrelevant to requiring people to sign forum posts with their real name.
Calm down, I thought we were discussing real ID in all it's implementation. I apologize if I offended by voicing my opinion on the core subject. Here have a valium.........
I agree with s3rius, though I am not personally disturbed by this. Because I just won't post on the forums.
Though I would have liked to keep the opportunity to do so. Sadly, my particular combination of first name / last name is largely unique in the world (insofar as I am the only person who comes up from a google search of it) and is recognizable to some. In some ways that means I'm used to recognition, but I shouldn't have to deal with that because I'd like to post on a gaming forum. That's one reason why I picked up the hobby in the first place.
All that aside, I just find it somewhat disturbing that Blizzard is concerning itself beyond making excellent games. Now they are trying to revolutionize forum communications? Why?
When I first read the blue post, my stomach turned. I guess the time bomb was always ticking. Perhaps to some people this isn't a big deal at all but to me, it's the message that Blizzard is now sending. It's about respect for your end users and their privacy. Control over my privacy should not be determined by a company, especially one that is profitting from its end users. I'm paying this company for its product and my privacy should be under my control, this isn't the government or the police. The internet can be used in such evil ways. It's never clear who could be sitting on the other side of the monitor and I don't think this is an unrealistic paranoia to have.
To all of you that are saying 'simple, just don't use the forums!' well it's true, I won't use them, but that's not even the point. It's that Blizzard has now extended its power to do something immoral. It's the fact that they've gone too far once and I don't believe it will stop there. I don't know if it's Activision pulling the strings here, that's just speculation, but power moves such as this seem to come from companies that grow too powerful. Ones that have such a customer following they can do no wrong in their eyes, regardless of the consequences to the end user.
What baffles me is that there are reasonable solutions to trolling without having to resort to such extreme measures. People that blame trolls are misdirecting the blame, which lies in how Blizzard moderate their forums. With proper commitment to forum moderation, trollers could be eliminated efficiently without the need for breaching any privacy. It's clear they've opted for the easy way out that absolves them of having to commit any extra resources to forum moderation with very little consideration to the end user, the users that made the company as filthy rich as it is today. I hope Blizzard will reconsider this absurd decision but I find little reason to believe they will. I've always enjoyed the quality of game and the philosophy of Blizzards design team, but for the first time I feel my loyalty wavering.
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@PrivateTickles: Go
ROFL.
BLizzard...
Money=Money=Money=Money
In a sense yes. Sure they'll save lots of moderation time.
I've tried logging into my account and changing the name MULTIPLE times. It won't let me do it. Is there some invisible option for this?
It's set in stone the first time you create an account. It makes sense actually.
They confirmed that posts made before the implementation of this real ID thing will NOT be affected.
So don't scream your heads off that Blizzard is giving your names away.
Blizzard wants Bnet to be the next facebook. What a bunch of tools haha.
tl;dr:
I agree with all complaints.
I am not using the nickname "s3rius" and an avatar of a badass marine in a friggin power suit because it's close to reality but because it's cool.
I don't want to play games using my real name (which I find very mediocre tbh) and I don't want any random dude on the forums to be able to see my name.
I have NEVER made a post on the Blizz forums but just for the future I'm very happy that I named myself "Dr. Rabbit" (translated) as real name.
The only good things that stem from it: A very probable reduction of spam. But why not just display their nicknames. Let everyone choose a uniform nickname for ALL Blizzard games (at least all soon-to-be-released games) including the identifier.
DO NOT make me have to tell people my EMail or real name -.-
And just to throw it out there:
I want people to be civil to each other.
I want to kill all trolls.
I want to maim all flamers.
I want to kick idiots into their heads.
And I want to utterly destroy "Grimace".
I would LOVE to see the Blizz forums (and actually all forums) to be freed of random idiots that use the anonymity of the internet to annoy other people.
But that's also possible by linking the forum account to their Blizzard account WITHOUT releasing personal information about anybody.
On the internet I want to be known as s3rius, not as Julian -.-
BTW: That's my #600 post :]
It's not a big deal in the long run to be honest...your name really doesn't mean much.
However, I wouldn't mind being able to set a name. I understand this is to stop trolls, so why not make it a one time choice thing, like setting a name and BOOM done for good, can't change it?
I'd prefer people to know me as Seam than Logan Evans(GASP HE TOLD HIS NAME o.o), but it won't bother me in the end.
That said, I have a deep hate for the Blizzard forums due to every time I have ever asked for help for anything, something along these lines happends:
Me: So, I'm playing undead, but I'm having trouble against humans, any tips? Jerk1: Lawl you have trouble as Undead? L2P Jerk2: Humans are OP, don't even try Jerk3: I agree, humans are OP
or
Me: I'm a lock, and I have issues with rogues. I just can't seem to kill them, what should I do? Rogue: LAWL A LOCK CAN'T BEAT A ROGUE Rogue2: WHAT A BAD Rogue3: Rofl
So yeah.
I'm just working out how I'm going to arrange for a situation where I win thousands of dollars from blizzard in a law suit. Children under 13 play the game. A child with a unique name claims to be stalked/sexually harassed... something along the lines.
Real IDs are made for real life.... someone who doesn't have one made that decision.
You can play games... JUST DON'T POST ON THE GOD DAMN FORUMS. PROBLEM FIXED. DON'T USE FACEBOOK FIND FRIENDS. PROBLEM FIXED.
Facebook is fine for me, allows me to stay in touch with friends who I will never see again because I'm moving away to college. It's only antisocial if you substitute it for physical social interaction. User fault, not facebook.
Sorry, but I'm just really annoyed by this uproar. If you don't like it, don't post, it won't effect you one bit. Hopefully this will start bringing civility to the forums.
@TheSecretArts: Go
Posting some ones real name in a forum is just asking for trouble. I'm pretty sure you will be able to find out where some one lives nowadays with just their name. Heck check out this webpage, http://www.123people.com. The reason why people create nick names is to keep their identity anonymous so that freaks on the internet can not stalk them or find out where they live (Yes some people are so stupid on the internet that they can accidentally release important information about themselves OR others). I can see something serious happening from this and i hope that Blizzard changes their mind before they implement this.
If they are planning to cut down on trolling and offensive behaviour then they should do what Aegis posted, which is actively, immedietly, and openly punish those who cause problems. Suspend them from the forum (and display for how long). Also allow people to flag forums or posts so that moderators can respond quicker to offensive behavious.
@TheSecretArts: Go
Posting some ones real name in a forum is just asking for trouble. I'm pretty sure you will be able to find out where some one lives nowadays with just their name. Heck check out this webpage, http://www.123people.com. The reason why people create nick names is to keep their identity anonymous so that freaks on the internet can not stalk them or find out where they live (Yes some people are so stupid on the internet that they can accidentally release important information about themselves OR others). I can see something serious happening from this and i hope that Blizzard changes their mind before they implement this.
If they are planning to cut down on trolling and offensive behaviour then they should do what Aegis posted, which is actively, immedietly, and openly punish those who cause problems. Suspend them from the forum (and display for how long). Also allow people to flag forums or posts so that moderators can respond quicker to offensive behaviour.
@Dumorah: Go
Sorry internet messed up.... DONT BAN MEE!!
@TheSecretArts: Go
I can stop posting on their forum, but it just sadly mean they lost a losing war (against troll) It just mean good news for other community like us.
Or we dont really understand their implication for this ? They wanted million of new battlenet account created next month to show their investor ?
Edit: @Dumorah: Go
Blizz could have a chance to fight troll if they do ban case like you :P
Some of you should probably acknowledge the distinction between sharing someone's personal information without their permission (privacy) and requiring you to sign your forum posts with your real name (anonymity.) This isn't retroactive and any time you make a forum post you'd have to check a disclaimer agreeing to share your real name. So please stop talking about how this is an intrusion of privacy. Anonymity and privacy are NOT the same things.
Also, there's no way in hell Blizzard is going to be liable for someone stalking you. They didn't share your name, YOU did by posting on their forums. They're no more liable than they would be if you made a post on the current forums and signed it with your real name.
I'm not defending their decision as a good one (actually I think it's hilariously bad and just shows how desperate they are to figure out how to dredge the cesspool that is battle.net forums) but man a lot of you are greatly confusing the issues.
There will always be trolls, even if they take these kinds of ridiculous mesures. About the gender (female) problems: This is very true, I hadn't even thought about it...
It also brings another problem: People's with different origins will also be victim of discrimination (racism). If they bring out the "Like" / "Dislike" system, I wouldn't be suprised that the post's cridibility would be affected by the poster's origins.
fictive example:
"Umm that was a good read.............wait .. Posted by Mohammad Rahimi???" "Fuck arabs, hate those guys, wasn,t that much helpful anyways -> "click dislike" -> important post gets faded away...........
I know it's not really on topic, but what bothers me the most is that they are spending manhours (yeah I know it's not the same team, but still) on useless stuff like facebook implementation. Starcraft 2 is coming out in less than 3 weeks and we haven't even tested the promised corrections to the bnet that left in a shitty state when phase 1 ended.
PS: To remove bias concerns, I'm a white kid
what if someone needs technical information, and I want to help him but I won't because I don't want my name to be exposed to so many strangers?
also how is it not an intrusion of privacy when someone can easily right click his friend's real ID, go into "see friends" and then see my name ? He can then go on his friend's facebook and check me out on his friend's friends list ? Let's say we both have the same friend, but we don't like eachothers. Don't you think he could check my picture and then insult me on my physic ? (which isnt a problem or the case, it's simply an example) (ie: LOL YOU'RE A ING FAT ASS!!!!!!! etc).
I'm sorry but unless they start putting out more privacy options, they're gonna start having lawsuits problems, just like facebook did.
The hell does that have to do with anything I said?
Grats on pointing out something that has absolutely nothing to do with this thread. The in-game implementation of Real ID may have privacy holes but that's totally irrelevant to requiring people to sign forum posts with their real name.
@RileyStarcraft:
<<Quote from RileyStarcraft:>>
The hell does that have to do with anything I said? <</quote>>I beleive you've said
I was simply stating that it doesn't encourage smart posters. I do agree it wasn't really refering to the main point of your previous post, even though I beleive removing anonymity over the internet is a privacy concern.
Calm down, I thought we were discussing real ID in all it's implementation. I apologize if I offended by voicing my opinion on the core subject. Here have a valium.........
@s3rius:
I agree with s3rius, though I am not personally disturbed by this. Because I just won't post on the forums.
Though I would have liked to keep the opportunity to do so. Sadly, my particular combination of first name / last name is largely unique in the world (insofar as I am the only person who comes up from a google search of it) and is recognizable to some. In some ways that means I'm used to recognition, but I shouldn't have to deal with that because I'd like to post on a gaming forum. That's one reason why I picked up the hobby in the first place.
All that aside, I just find it somewhat disturbing that Blizzard is concerning itself beyond making excellent games. Now they are trying to revolutionize forum communications? Why?
When I first read the blue post, my stomach turned. I guess the time bomb was always ticking. Perhaps to some people this isn't a big deal at all but to me, it's the message that Blizzard is now sending. It's about respect for your end users and their privacy. Control over my privacy should not be determined by a company, especially one that is profitting from its end users. I'm paying this company for its product and my privacy should be under my control, this isn't the government or the police. The internet can be used in such evil ways. It's never clear who could be sitting on the other side of the monitor and I don't think this is an unrealistic paranoia to have.
To all of you that are saying 'simple, just don't use the forums!' well it's true, I won't use them, but that's not even the point. It's that Blizzard has now extended its power to do something immoral. It's the fact that they've gone too far once and I don't believe it will stop there. I don't know if it's Activision pulling the strings here, that's just speculation, but power moves such as this seem to come from companies that grow too powerful. Ones that have such a customer following they can do no wrong in their eyes, regardless of the consequences to the end user.
What baffles me is that there are reasonable solutions to trolling without having to resort to such extreme measures. People that blame trolls are misdirecting the blame, which lies in how Blizzard moderate their forums. With proper commitment to forum moderation, trollers could be eliminated efficiently without the need for breaching any privacy. It's clear they've opted for the easy way out that absolves them of having to commit any extra resources to forum moderation with very little consideration to the end user, the users that made the company as filthy rich as it is today. I hope Blizzard will reconsider this absurd decision but I find little reason to believe they will. I've always enjoyed the quality of game and the philosophy of Blizzards design team, but for the first time I feel my loyalty wavering.