Blizzard's Battle.net service allows you to friend others using your "Real ID," which is a fancy way of saying your actual, real name. You to have to agree to be Real ID friends with someone, so choose your friends carefully. But the company has added another wrinkle to staying anonymous online: to comment on Blizzard's official forums, you'll need to use your Real ID. That's right, for many of the sections on the forum, you'll no longer be given the option of commenting using an alias. This change will take place before the launch of StarCraft 2 on July 27.
Here's the explanation:
The official forums have always been a great place to discuss the latest info on our games, offer ideas and suggestions, and share experiences with other players—however, the forums have also earned a reputation as a place where flame wars, trolling, and other unpleasantness run wild. Removing the veil of anonymity typical to online dialogue will contribute to a more positive forum environment, promote constructive conversations, and connect the Blizzard community in ways they haven't been connected before. With this change, you'll see blue posters (i.e. Blizzard employees) posting by their real first and last names on our forums as well.
You'll also be able to rate posts up or down, with low-rated posts growing dimmer. Blizzard's community team will be able to step into high-rated posts to add even more value. The idea is to help the community enhance the level of discourse, and to force people to speak using their own voices attached to their real names. Perhaps users will think twice about posting a long, abusive screed.
The reaction to this news from the community has been overwhelmingly negative. "And what's to stop random people from reading, disliking your ideas, and trying to find out all your information based on your name just so they can stalk/harass you?" one gamer asked. "You're delusional if you think this is a good idea." Others think that forcing users to post with their real name will increase accountability. If nothing else, this is certainly a bold experiment.
