The MMO Notebook

Archive for July 8th, 2010

The internet has exploded with the news out of Blizzard that their forums will begin using a system called Real ID. What this means is that anyone who posts on the official forums will do so with their real names. Posters will not be able to hide behind their character names any longer. The massive thread on the WoW forums about this subject is monumental.

Naturally, people are up in arms over this for a variety of reasons. The biggest reason is player privacy. If another player does not like what you did in-game, or did not agree with what you said in a forum post, they are now armed with your real name and the potential for harassment is greatly increased.

My biggest worry is for female players. We all know what female players go through with the crude remarks, verbal sexual abuse, and general idiotic in-game stalking. Now imagine those idiots having that woman’s real name. In theory, the potential of some crazy love-struck guy could track her down in real life is very possible.

I am not sure what Blizzard’s real motivations are for this change. Are they tired of the official forums being a repository of the lowest common denominator? Do they think a more civil discourse will ensue once people are required to use their real name? I don’t know, but it sure is going to be fun to watch the outcome of this one. The Real ID system gets turned on just before the upcoming Cataclysm expansion.

As a side note, parents can opt their children out of using RealID. You can find instructions on how to do that right here.

Every now and then I post a nostalgic screenshot from my gaming days of old. Here’s one from 1999 in the South Karana zone.