It seems that on battle.net, you'd soon have to. Now, I don't post on the battle.net forums, although I do plan to pick up Starcraft II. This issue, however, isn't really related to gaming, except that the competitive element provided could actually act as a catalyst for malicious behavior.
On the first page of the comments, someone quotes a very well-measured series of objections and concerns. I've wondered before what kind of effect this sort of system would have, and I'm honestly just pretty fascinated that Blizzard had the cojones to go ahead and actually do it.
Since we're all forum users here, what do you think?
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
It's an absolute deal-breaker for me. I'll never post on Battle.net again.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
Generally I don't conceal my identity.
Blizzard is being retarded. I know their current forums are positively trainwreckey but this solution is too radical.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: It's an absolute deal-breaker for me. I'll never post on Battle.net again.
lol
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
I agree with every point in the lengthy quoted post on the first page of that link.
SO not ok.
Posted by Juxtapose (Member # 8837) on :
I meant to mention it in the OP, but my initial reaction is the same. Blizzard hires a lot of really smart people though. It makes me wonder if they've thought of something I haven't.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary: Generally I don't conceal my identity.
Uh, in what way?
And can I please have your full name, postal address, and bank account numbers?
Posted by Juxtapose (Member # 8837) on :
Ooh, me too.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Hey, I asked first!
Posted by Juxtapose (Member # 8837) on :
Competition makes for healthy markets. Posted by Anthonie (Member # 884) on :
quote:Originally posted by Juxtapose: What if you had to use your real name on a forum?
What??!
Ten years ago, when I signed up for my first forum, I didn't realize there was an option to not use one's real name. Good thing that was the only forum I've ever joined!
(psst: my real name is T. Narongi)
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
I post on and off on Battle.net. Heck it was my suggestion that got the hunter's freezing trap graphic changed so that it didn't look the same as a mage's frost nova. I won't be posting on their forums anymore.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
I already post using my real name on one forum I frequent. One of these days, I'll get around to changing Hatrack and the others.
Honestly, it's not that big of a deal to me. It's up to the community management if they want to change how users identify themselves. I, as a community member, always have a choice about whether or not to be a member of a community that requires me to use my real name.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote:Originally posted by rivka:
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary: Generally I don't conceal my identity.
Uh, in what way?
And can I please have your full name, postal address, and bank account numbers?
This forum is an exception because it's chock-full of crazy people >:[
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
I resemble that remark!
Posted by Dr Strangelove (Member # 8331) on :
At first, I was thinking "Meh, no big deal" but after reading those comments I have to say, I'm convinced that it would be a bad idea for Blizzard to do that. Especially when it comes to minors and moderators. Though I'm curious, how would the enforce that? What would stop me from registering using someone else's name?
It seems like Blizzard is something of a special case though. Not necessarily exceptional, but at least extreme. A lot of the concerns voiced were specific to stuff that would happen in the game or would translate from the game to real life. Here, and for a lot of forums, it doesn't seem like that would be a danger. I can't imagine OSC discrimination being that big of a problem (though I could be wrong...).There would still be the issue of being held accountable for what you say online, but it seems like that is at least partially the point.
I for one am more than comfortable sharing my real name: Merkwürdigeliebe. Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
quote:What would stop me from registering using someone else's name?
It's tied to your online game account, which requires a valid credit card. So, sure, if you happen to have someone else's credit card lying around, no problem.
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
I haven't posted on Battle.net in a while, but I think my name there is "PhilMeyer", so I don't think it would be any problem at all for me.
Posted by TheBlueShadow (Member # 9718) on :
quote:It's tied to your online game account, which requires a valid credit card. So, sure, if you happen to have someone else's credit card lying around, no problem.
The thing is, Blizzard doesn't care who pays for the account. It's not the credit card name being shared. It's the original name that signed up for the account. That name can't be changed.
For instance when I first signed up for World of Warcraft the account was in my name but the bill payment was setup with my brother's card and his name. I was sixteen and didn't have a credit card. If we had created the account in his name as well as the bill payment it would be considered his account not mine even if I paid for it.
There's no way to change the account holder.
Posted by scholarette (Member # 11540) on :
I do use my real name on a forum and I do feel a bit constrained by that. I think before I post, what if a potential boss were reading this and there have been times I have chosen not to post questions or comments because of that. If I had been anonymous, I probably would have posted. Those things aren't exactly things I would be ashamed of, just things I don't know if I would want a potential boss knowing. I post under my first name in another place and figure that most of my friends in real life can figure out who I am.
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: It's an absolute deal-breaker for me. I'll never post on Battle.net again.
You know, I almost let that pass until I saw it was you that posted it.
I pretty much always show my real name on a forum; the reason I don't here is simply because there is no signature.
Posted by James Tiberius Kirk (Member # 2832) on :
quote:One World of Warcraft player, Jim Brand, contacted BBC News to say how disappointed he was over the change.
"I have been using the forums for over five years, reporting bugs and trying to be helpful. Now, to have the privilege to help people on the forums I have to reveal my real name; I'm dead against it," he said.
"I work in a charity and deal with governments officials. If they do a search and see I am a gamer, it could affect my employment prospects," he added.
--j_k
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by James Tiberius Kirk:
quote:One World of Warcraft player, Jim Brand, contacted BBC News to say how disappointed he was over the change.
"I have been using the forums for over five years, reporting bugs and trying to be helpful. Now, to have the privilege to help people on the forums I have to reveal my real name; I'm dead against it," he said.
"I work in a charity and deal with governments officials. If they do a search and see I am a gamer, it could affect my employment prospects," he added.
--j_k
Oh for crying out loud, that's almost an Onion article.
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
quote:In addition, individual topics will be threaded by context, meaning replies to specific posts will be grouped together, making it easier for players to keep track of multiple conversations within a thread.
I've always wished that Hatrack was done this way, with actual threaded conversations, instead of all posts in the same topic in order "as posted." It's not like it's a new idea, or hard to execute after all.
And I have to say that I'll never post on Battle.net either. But then again, I never have.
Posted by Geraine (Member # 9913) on :
I am totally against it. I've been playing Wow since the day it was released. Heck, I played The Lost Vikings back in the day when Blizzard released that game.
I'm dead against this change, and I think Blizzard will realize how big of a mistake it is before it goes live.
Blizzard thinks this will help with trolls. What it is really going to do is empower them. If you get into a heated argument or suggest something a troll doesn't like, they are going to have your first and last name. They can hop on facebook and cause trouble for you. They could really do any number of things.
You have to be 13 in order to post in Blizzards forums. Posting a 13 year old's first and last name is just an invitation for predators.
I am sure Blizzard has the right to do it, however if they do not provide a way to block your name from being shown I am sure there is going to be a lawsuit sooner or later related to a cyber bullying case.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
Not really, they absolutely can set up legal language that gives them the right to set the conditions for your posting.
Posted by Liz B (Member # 8238) on :
I teach school. And although I am pretty circumspect about what I post anywhere, just in case--I really don't want my darling and nosy students in my personal business. I don't buy liquor in the town where I work. I don't post under my real name.
The end.
Posted by theamazeeaz (Member # 6970) on :
quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade:
quote:Originally posted by James Tiberius Kirk:
quote:One World of Warcraft player, Jim Brand, contacted BBC News to say how disappointed he was over the change.
"I have been using the forums for over five years, reporting bugs and trying to be helpful. Now, to have the privilege to help people on the forums I have to reveal my real name; I'm dead against it," he said.
"I work in a charity and deal with governments officials. If they do a search and see I am a gamer, it could affect my employment prospects," he added.
--j_k
Oh for crying out loud, that's almost an Onion article.
And now it's in the news that you are gamer.
Posted by theamazeeaz (Member # 6970) on :
quote:Originally posted by Nighthawk:
quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: It's an absolute deal-breaker for me. I'll never post on Battle.net again.
You know, I almost let that pass until I saw it was you that posted it.
I pretty much always show my real name on a forum; the reason I don't here is simply because there is no signature.
I love that there are no signatures here.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
If anything on the internet aside from a purchase or legitimate service required my real name I would choose not to interact with it. E-mail accounts, myspace and anything like them all have psuedonyms to protect my personal information, the "rules of the internet" that I learned long before I had regular access seem to be hard-wired. Its not difficult to find many people through Google, I even found my fathers cellphone home phone and address not to mention his wifes name and the name of atleast one of her children all without using a pay service. Its because of this that you cant exactly "find" me the same way, even old friends who have my full name, nicknames, age, and location would require the knowledge to go through someone that I have never lost contact with and only one has done exactly that. Removing anonymity from the internet only opens doors for cyber-bullying and whatever you would like to call the current form of digital grifters.
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
I think I'm going to change my real name to be "Forum Administrator".
Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
Part of me thinks this has Activision stink all over it. When "features" are hauled into place that seem keyed not to the player's convenience but to facilitate targetted marketing and information gathering (up to and including to the player's inconvenience), I suspect a spreadsheet-souled suit at play.
Posted by CaySedai (Member # 6459) on :
So I was telling my WoW-addicted 16-year-old daughter about this thread, mentioning the gamer who was quoted in the BBC article, and she said that a moderator posted his own name in the general forum. Within a couple of hours, other people were posting that mod's phone number, address and whatever else they could come up with. That thread has been deleted.
BTW: the current privacy policy states: Blizzard will also ask you to enter a user name and a password. We would ask that you do not use your real name, the name of another person, or a name protected by copyright or trademark as a user name.
Update: found this illustration of how easy it can be to find someone through the Internet. (this may be what my daughter was referring to - it's not a whole thread or a mod, just a person who posted his real name)
[ July 08, 2010, 01:50 AM: Message edited by: CaySedai ]
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
From the Harvard Law article you linked,
quote:The South Korean market must make a ton of profits for Blizzard and unlike Google they don’t have revenue coming in from other sources.
*eye twitches*
There are over 11,000,000 WOW subscribers who pay $10-$15 a month. WOW is responsible for over half of Activision Blizzard's revenue. Star Craft 2 has been a huge investment and it's expected to pay big, but the idea that Blizzard needs Star Craft 2's Korean revenue to stay afloat is something I'd expect a kid in kindergarten to say.
*eye twitches again*
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
Sorry to double post but Blizzard is completely restructuring the talent system. Now starting at level 10, you will get an talent point every other level, and new abilities on the levels you don't get talent points. Meaning by the time you reach 85 you will have about 41 talent points. Every single talent tree will be shrunk down to 38-42 possible points. No talent will exceed 3 points.
They felt with so many points there was too much fluff and fat and so everybody focused on DPS talents rather than building your character the way you want.
I didn't see that coming at all.
Posted by erosomniac (Member # 6834) on :
I've been using Quora a lot recently, which requires users to go by either their real name or a nickname so commonly associated with their real name as to make no difference. I'm positive it contributes to the extremely high-quality interactions I've had there.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
*designs games*
oh snap i sure hope nobody figures out i play games
Posted by Raymond Arnold (Member # 11712) on :
This post was pretty eye opening for me. I thought this was a bad idea before, for hypothetical reasons. Now I am absolutely convinced this is a terrible idea.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
In other news, doesn't matter to me Posted by xtownaga (Member # 7187) on :
I did a google search on my name and according to the white pages, I am the only person in the US with my name. I am trying to get published as a writer, so my name will be out there (hence my public facebook account and writing blog that I never update also under my name) but it is a bit disturbing to see how easy it is to find me. More disturbing is seeing pics of my daughter publically out there (none were posted by me). Searching my daughter's name, there are a bunch of different people coming up, so that's good at least.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
i'm an NBA football star
Posted by AvidReader (Member # 6007) on :
I've got a couple lawyers with my name, but my wedding pics also come up on the first page. I actually feel a little weird about that. My maiden name gets video of a radio DJ and a super creepy looking site called 123people. Not liking them much, either.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
I can't be found anywhere I've been. Apparently some athlete who shares my name was murdered, and somebody who committed murder shares my name. If I'm anywhere I'm buried under both of them.
Posted by Raymond Arnold (Member # 11712) on :
My resume/portfolio site is the very first thing that comes up when you google my name. Which is mostly a good thing.
Posted by Geraine (Member # 9913) on :
I am very happy Blizzard cancelled the plans to use your real name. I am fine with the REAL ID using my name in blizzard games with people that I approve of. I have to actually add the person to my RealID friend list so I am ok with that.
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
quote:In essence, the ESRB hit "reply all" and forgot to knock everyone down to BCC status, which would have kept all of the recipients hidden. Instead, their privacy concerns became reality.
Oops.
Posted by Juxtapose (Member # 8837) on :
quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: I can't be found anywhere I've been. Apparently some athlete who shares my name was murdered, and somebody who committed murder shares my name. If I'm anywhere I'm buried under both of them.
You watch your back, dude. Just in case.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:In essence, the ESRB hit "reply all" and forgot to knock everyone down to BCC status, which would have kept all of the recipients hidden. Instead, their privacy concerns became reality.
Oops.
You just can't make this stuff up. *sigh*
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
I once Googled my name and discovered I had won an award I didn't know about. That was pleasant.
But there's a neurologist out there with my name and it's mostly her things that come up.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
"When Netflix, for example, released 100 million purportedly anonymous records revealing how almost 500,000 users had rated movies from 1999 to 2005, researchers were able to identify people in the database by name with a high degree of accuracy if they knew even only a little bit about their movie-watching preferences, obtained from public data posted on other ratings sites."
There are less than 8billion people on Earth, which means it takes only 33 pieces of information to separate an individual out of the crowd. I doubt that there are many WWWusers who have posted fewer than 33 tidbits per pseudonym, so even an individual's multiple pen-names can be easily linked. Heck, word usage patterns alone can be used to trace authorship.
"Alessandro Acquisti, a scholar at Carnegie Mellon University, studies the behavioral economics of privacy — that is, the conscious and unconscious mental trade-offs we make in deciding whether to reveal or conceal information, balancing the benefits of sharing with the dangers of disclosure. He is conducting experiments about the decay time and the relative weight of good and bad information — in other words, whether people discount positive information about you more quickly and heavily than they discount negative information about you. His research group’s preliminary results suggest that if rumors spread about something good you did 10 years ago, like winning a prize, they will be discounted; but if rumors spread about something bad that you did 10 years ago, like driving drunk, that information has staying power. Research in behavioral psychology confirms that people pay more attention to bad rather than good information..."
"Facts don’t necessarily have the power to change our minds. In fact, quite the opposite. In a series of studies in 2005 and 2006, researchers at the University of Michigan found that when misinformed people, particularly political partisans, were exposed to corrected facts in news stories, they rarely changed their minds. In fact, they often became even more strongly set in their beliefs. Facts, they found, were not curing misinformation. Like an underpowered antibiotic, facts could actually make misinformation even stronger."
Posted by Unmaker (Member # 1641) on :
This is my real name. I stopped using Satan a while back, heh. I still have a soft spot for Tezcatlipoca, though. That was a nice sobriquet.
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
![[The Wave]](graemlins/thewave.gif)
![[Evil Laugh]](graemlins/evillaugh.gif)