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Posts tagged forums
Blizzard backs down on the Real ID forum changes
0So after 2000+ post threads on the issue of Blizzard using people’s first and last names on their optional forums caused massive controversy, Blizzard announced today that they screwed up and will not use peoples first and last names on the forums afterall. They’re still going through with some other enhancements but it looks as if old fashioned opinions and service boycotting (through accounts cancellations) won the day for those strongly opposed to it.
Probably for the best.
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=25968987278&sid=1
Real name to be used on Battle.net forums
0
Battle.net
So Blizzard dropped quite the bombshell yesterday regarding it’s upcoming change in policy on how Real ID will be used on the official forums. Basically once they launch the new forums, any posts you make will display with your real first and last name on the thread.
Of course this stirred up quite the shit storm on the forums about privacy issues, how it’s illegal in some countries (I’m not making this up) and many other ad hominem rhetoric. There are some thoughts to be considered about potential employers Google searching for you and possibly discriminating against you for being a World of Warcraft player, possible racial discrimination based on ethnic names, women being harassed by creepy people, etc. While I don’t disagree these are legitimate issues, people seem to be missing or more likely the case; simply ignoring the fact that it’s completely optional to participate in the WoW forums and it is not required as part of the gaming experience. They’ve already confirmed parents can disable posting with parental controls and it’s not retroactive to old posts which would be the two major issues causing any type of breach of trust in privacy in my own beliefs. From here it’s just a matter of choosing whether to participate in Battle.net’s forums knowing your name will appear.
Now I don’t doubt that some people will not post on the forums anymore because of the above legitimate concerns but that’s their choice. Blizzard is being up front about their intentions and while some people enjoy their ability to troll the WoW forums while being anonymous, it’s not a god given right to be able to do so.