Blizzard decides privacy isn't important. Internet explodes.
I do believe this may win as the stupidest move made by an MMO company, ever. Or at least this year. Today on battle.net it was announced that their Real ID concept (you can friend people and see each others actual name in game and across games) to the boards. And I quote: "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". (See Battle.net post here.)
Well, gee, nothing could possibly go wrong with that. (Sarcasm over 9,000, WoW board explosion of "Do not want!" over 10,000.)
Apparently Blizzard does not want anyone who might have a problem with their real name appearing on the boards to play their game. Yes, the boards are voluntary...except that some of the tech support is there, so they're not, exactly. There's also some question of whether add-ons may provide a way for people to get other people's Real ID. So if you've got an obviously female name, an ethnic name, a very unusual name, or just don't like the idea of random internet people having your name... WoW and Starcraft just might not be the games for you.
I'm still hoping they'll change their mind. The change won't actually take place until the new Starcraft game launches and Cataclysm goes live for WoW (though the possible add-on security leak is a current issue). If this goes through, I'm out. I had fun, but I'm not giving money to a company that doesn't seem to grasp the very real potential for terrible problems here, up to and including people getting killed.
*goes off to play Champions, instead*
Well, gee, nothing could possibly go wrong with that. (Sarcasm over 9,000, WoW board explosion of "Do not want!" over 10,000.)
Apparently Blizzard does not want anyone who might have a problem with their real name appearing on the boards to play their game. Yes, the boards are voluntary...except that some of the tech support is there, so they're not, exactly. There's also some question of whether add-ons may provide a way for people to get other people's Real ID. So if you've got an obviously female name, an ethnic name, a very unusual name, or just don't like the idea of random internet people having your name... WoW and Starcraft just might not be the games for you.
I'm still hoping they'll change their mind. The change won't actually take place until the new Starcraft game launches and Cataclysm goes live for WoW (though the possible add-on security leak is a current issue). If this goes through, I'm out. I had fun, but I'm not giving money to a company that doesn't seem to grasp the very real potential for terrible problems here, up to and including people getting killed.
*goes off to play Champions, instead*