..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. This brief excerpt from a post by Blizzard has caused upheaval and "Big Brother" comments from gamers that have enjoyed years of anonymity in the game developer's public fora.
A blog entry, posted this morning, on the Battle.net forum goes into some detail and while the company calls this statement a "heads up", it really means it is warning gamers that their time of having the world believe they really are a Troll is over. The reason cited for this fairly significant change in etiquette, Blizzard claims, is "..to create a new and different kind of online gaming environment -- one that's highly social, and which provides an ideal place for gamers to form long-lasting, meaningful relationships. All of our design decisions surrounding Real ID -- including these forum changes -- have been made with this goal in mind."
The game-maker has decided that the best way to achieve the lofty goals, defined above, is to launch a system labelled Real ID. This setup will require members to post entries under their real first and last names. The developer has stated that the change will start with StarCraft 2 forums and will be implemented by July 27th, the game's launch date. Following that change, the World of Warcraft site and forums will join the Real ID scheme near the launch of Cataclysm. The company goes on to state, "The classic Battle.net forums, including those for Diablo II and Warcraft III, will be moving to a new legacy forum section with the release of the StarCraft II community site and at that time will also transition to using Real ID for posting."
The Real ID system will allow members to rate (Like) entries posted by others and interact with (Poke) other users. The purpose of this exercise will be to realise Blizzard's vision of a social-gaming community while helping gamers "..form long-lasting, meaningful relationships" (Chat).
As you might imagine, gamer reaction was swift and merciless; rushing to post, before they have to reveal their real names, gamers eloquently described the situation by unequivocally stating "..like someone who likes Facebook came up with it..". Other posters decided to provide examples of why this may be a half-baked idea, "Awesome, so now when a chick I'm interested in decides to google me, she'll find my closet-gamer habit." The same poster chose to provide more plausible examples such as a potential employer trying to find out more about their future employee. The above (smart-assy) comment in this news story for example, would be impossible if the user in question had identified themselves using their real first and last names.
Blizzard gamers are continuing to provide lists of, very real and serious, reasons that begin to make this idea seem like it was hatched during some marketing manager's bathroom break (No.2). These include, but are not limited to, providing spammer fodder, identifying in-game women for abuse, providing a starting point for identity theft, the high emotional engagement that gaming provides and the privacy of minors.
One current Battle.net member, talking to the BBC, mentioned a test carried out by a Blizzard employee which was intended to put people's minds at ease but which drastically backfired. Within minutes of this employee's name appearing on the forums, users had discovered his telephone number, home address and photographs of him. With some cases of gamer aggression having already spilled out onto the real world, it is evident that Blizzard will have to work hard to convince gamers that it is safe to post their real names in such a public place.
Even though we still are not aware of Blizzard's full plans for Real ID, it is a well-known fact that MMORPG gamers, in particular, use gaming as a means to escape the real world and whether you and I condone this escape or not, Blizzard has become the company that it is out of this simple human need for respite. Denying gamers that simplest of features could prove catastrophic or bring gaming to a "different" place, either way most current members of the Blizzard community are unlikely to take this without a fight, so stay tuned for updates.
We part with one gamer's simple statement "This is EXACTLY what I wanted. . .another facebook."