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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: Real ID or Real bad IDea?
by Zach Yonzon 
Jul 7th 2010 at 8:00AM
Sure enough, when Patch 3.3.5 was implemented, I had a lot of fun hooking up with my real friends on other servers, and it was truly awesome to be able to chat with them even if we weren't on the same faction or even realm. Of course, after a while, it became clear that there was just no way to turn it off -- I always knew what my real friends were up to, from running dungeons to putting up auctions on an alt or griefing lowbies on a character previously unknown to me. This also meant it was impossible for me to jump onto a low-level alt on some low-population server for some mucking around without their knowing. Not that my friends were ever going to intrude or anything, but there just wasn't any real personal time with my Real ID status always being broadcast.
Yesterday, it got even stranger. Blizzard suddenly announced that the new forums would display everyone's real first and last names if they chose to post on them. For some reason, Mark Zuckerberg's idea of opt-in privacy is becoming the norm. The Facebook founder has said that when people share more, the world becomes more open and connected. It's a maverick notion, and people always have the option to keep mum on things, after all. In many ways, it works for social media. And there's the rub.
It has become apparent to me that Blizzard's big plan for Real ID is for it to become some form of social media, and Real ID statuses work in the same way as tweets or Facebook status messages. Blizzard defends its stance on yesterday's announcement by stating that removing anonymity from the forums will eliminate trolling. That argument definitely has merit, and Blizzard stresses that it's always the player's option to post, hearkening to Zuckerberg's argument that it's the user's option to "share," anyway. You don't have to if you don't want to.
It's definitely a bold direction on Blizzard's part, and it will shape their gaming environment for years to come. Whether it's a step in the right direction or not, only time will tell. What do you think? Real names aren't such a big deal, right? I mean, don't most folks have Facebook or (once upon a time) MySpace? This is just kind of like that, right? Or is it? Why don't we get an official tally and settle this like civilized people ...
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Account Security
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 27)
shkss Jul 7th 2010 9:09AM
@Liam O'Connor I'm not agreeing with the Facebook thing or anything. I realize outside of the game that this pretty trivial. I'm agreeing that it's a good but bad idea. I don't really like people to know my real name unless I know them. It just feels too personal.
My main concern is the point I made in my post. "Also, using real names won't always stop trolls. I mean, only my real ID friends know my real name. If I chose to post something along the lines of "NERF LOL WTF" a thousand times, to the readers I'd just be another guy." There is no way of finding some one called John Smith's character in WoW. So what does he have to fear by trolling?
And it's not the constructive criticism I'm talking about. I'm talking about the people who roll a low level character and then just go to the forum and abuse posters. A lot of that happens, usually when someone cannot formulate a counter argument. But like I said, if someone's going to do that why should they be discouraged that they have a name someone can't possibly trace?
Lisha Jul 7th 2010 10:22AM
@ Liam O'Conner
" The difference with Facebook is that they were going to give your information to third parties automatically and without your consent unless you opted out."
Have you read Battlenet's new Terms of Use?
look at #16:
"DISCLOSURES; THIRD PARTY FEATURES.
Massive.
Blizzard's Games and the Service may incorporate technology of Massive Incorporated ("Massive"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation ("Microsoft"), that enables in-game advertising, and the display of other similar in-game objects, which are downloaded temporarily to your personal computer and replaced during online game play. As part of this process, Massive may collect some information about the game and the advertisements delivered to you, as well as standard information that is sent when your personal computer or game console connects to the Internet including your Internet protocol (IP) address. Massive will use this information to transmit and measure in-game advertising, as well as to improve the products and services of Massive and its affiliates. None of the information collected by Massive will be used to identify you. For additional details regarding Massive's in-game advertising practices, please see Massive's In-Game Advertising privacy statement at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=122085&clcid=0x409. The trademarks and copyrighted material contained in all in-game advertising are the property of the respective owners. Portions of the Service are © 2008 Massive Incorporated. All rights reserved. "
Liam O'Connor Jul 7th 2010 10:42AM
@Lisha: Firstly, yes. It's generally a habit of mine to read any contract or terms I agree to. I even re-read them after every patch.
Secondly, how is that related to anything? Blizzard using Massive to advertise to me in their games and telling me about it beforehand is a far cry from Facebook opening up your privacy settings and passing along your information to third parties without telling you about it and even going so far as to go out of their way to keep you from knowing about it and stopping it.
A more similar scenario would be if Blizzard suddenly gave all your private data to GameStop/EB Games for research purposes without informing you about it first.
Lisha Jul 7th 2010 11:18AM
Simply trying to state that we have agreed to a third party, something many people did not read when they accepted.
godess_raven Jul 7th 2010 12:42PM
@ Liam
When I use user names I don't pick very original ones, my birthday is not in May. You just proved that people will take the time to look others up. Granted for you it was making a point.
Yes I can be stalked in many ways, though I never put my personal information out intentionally it is there. When I google my name and see that my personal information is out there because of voter registration it is a bit surprising and unsettling. I do not give my name to random people I don't know in real life. So while I would normal find myself not interesting enough to be searched, I am a woman who plays wow, enough reason for many I have encountered in wow who have done just that to others.
And in a time where Blizz is having an increase in account hacking, I also don't think this is the brightest idea they have had.
If it wasn't for the Support forums that they prefer to be used and in some cases have said is the only spot for your problem I would just ignore that the forums existed and go on with my business. Hard to do that when it isn't much of an opt-in or out choice at that point.
MDrules Jul 7th 2010 1:03PM
@Liam O'Connor
I completely agree with you. Look at all the WoW insider article writers. Their real name is posted on every article. They publicly write their opinions of WoW (which are not always well received). I can guarantee that you would NOT be able to find who I am where I live my phone number just by my name. Also, why would you want to? I don't see how people can say it's illegal for Blizzard to post your name, when they are telling you up front that they are going to do it and you choose to. When you play you hit I agree with all the terms and conditions, there is no, I agree to only some of if. Thats like knowing that Blizzard is going to charge you $15/mo and then telling your bank hey I didn't authorize that. Yeah, I know they said they were gonna do it, but I don't accept that part of the agreement.
Arjunas Jul 7th 2010 2:16PM
Even as someone who deeply cares about personal security (I don't have a Facebook or MySpace because I like keeping my information private) I can still see both sides to this whole issue... I am arguing with myself! Here is a piece of my inner dialog:
Pro: "Ok, this system WILL reduce trolling / flaming / racism. PennyArcade had it right: normal person + anonymity + audience = fuckwad. And so, with anonymity removed, many normal people will cease to act like fuckwads."
Con: "I truly doubt that this will stop all fuckwadery on the forums."
Pro: "Yes, Fuckwads will still exist, and probably in far more numbers than Blizzard estimates, but there WILL be a huge drop in their population. And isn't ending the mass amount of hatred people spew out on the forums is a good thing?"
Con: "Yes, I agree that killing off the hatred spewing Fuckwads is a good thing. But, is reducing the Fuckwad population to endangered status actually worth the loss of your privacy? Aren't there better ways of holding them accountable?"
Pro: "Name some ways."
Con: "Well you could, for example, supply a list of all of their characters on Armory - thus removing the ability to post on level 1 alts. Or making an account wide pseudonym? Or removing the ability for trial accounts to post? Do I really need to alert the world that "Hey, Johnny Franco plays Kromdar the Orc Warrior!" to kill of some Fuckwads? Seems like a steep price to me."
Pro: "Ok, let me stop you there. Yes, the RealID system runs off of your real name. But is your first and last name truly that important? For instance, what information can you glean about me? Not my bank account, not my credit cards. When I was looking for a job I gave my full name out to anyone who asked. I call up restaurants all the time for delivery or carry out and give my full name when asked. I rarely scrutinize who I tell my name too when out in public, and they not only know my name but what I look like, the area I live in, as well as other things."
Con: "Yah but.."
Pro: "Let me finish. And... and the reason I don't care is because I am one of a thousand people that Walmart cashier will see during that day. Even if I came up and purchased cat food and condoms I truly doubt the cashier is going to care enough to look me up online - even with my full name and zip code blinking at them on their checkout screen. I am not important enough... yet. So for me, the average person, I am still "technically" anonymous simply because I am a single person in a huge crowd."
Con: "Ok, but there are still dedicated people who can sniff out people in a crowd. I have never been stalked, but I could see how this system (Like Facebook or Twitter) is pretty much a digital Bloodhound for stalkers. There are people who may deem you important, not because your a millionaire... yet, but because your an ex, or because your a girl, or because you have an ethnic name. Do you really want people who are looking for you to have an easy way to find you?"
Pro: "But I can still be found by dedicated people. All the stories I hear tell of angry ex's that hack email accounts or look over Facebook until they find the person. My internet pseudonym can be tracked back to something personal and used to identify me. No amount of security can stop a dedicated individual, they will find ways to subvert it."
Con: "But do you really want to help your stalker or assailant? Your home alarm system isn't difficult to disable for a skilled thief, but do you really need to go post the exact schematics to your alarm system on the internet for any thief to see? Why help them find you? An jaded ex may take the time to match your pseudonym to your real name, but an ex guildy probably wouldn't. But now, said guildy doesn't have to do all the hard work of matching your pseudonym - you did it for them."
Pro: "But now your just being paranoid and we're back to the catfood and condoms! Why would someone do that? As you said, only a dedicated individual would care enough to find you - and an ex guildy is not going to be dedicated enough to do that."
Con: "But it will be easier now. Before it took a lot of time to find you, time only a dedicated person would invest - as you said. But now if your real name is publically available on the forums that ex guildy doesn't have to put in as much time to find your real name. And thus, the bar of entry into stalking you is lowered drastically."
Pro: "I still don't think I am that important."
Con: "Ok, then lets look at people who are important. We can all assume that Olivia Munn of G4's Attack of the Show has played World of Warcraft at some point or plays it now. She is important and thus would not be able to post on the forums simply because people will spam her in game. She doesn't want or need 1000 whispers of "Hey, talk about on AoTS tomorrow!" or "You're hot, show me your rack!" while she's raiding Deathwing. But, in the realm of MMO's she is far better suited than you or I to post on the forums regarding game changes and such because she is a reporter (kinda) in the game industry."
Pro: "Ok, true. But she doesn't have to put which character / realm she belongs too when she posts so your point is moot."
Con: "Not if she posts on her own realm's forum. Then we have the "Olivia plays on Darkshire! Lets go find her!" mobs racing around causing havoc because she asked if anyone was selling Fish Feasts on the forum."
Pro: "These are pretty isolated examples, I don't think that they matter too much. You can pull "What if's" out of a bag over and over and it doesn't discredit that this is a good system."
Con: "But Olivia, and anyone else in her position, is still a person. And why are we adopting a system that will hurt the fun these persons have in World of Warcraft?"
Pro: "To kill the Fuckwads who kill the fun for people in the forums."
Con: "Yah but..."
Me: "And that's all the time we have slotted for my insane schizophrenic arguing today. Tune in next time to hear my mind ramble on and on about some other random topic..."
Liam O'Connor Jul 7th 2010 2:25PM
@Godess_raven: Oh, it's definitely you. You spelt "godess" wrong, you see. So you are the only one (only three pages of results).
The problem is that you are right, your birthday isn't in May. The error here is that I'm used to putting the day first, not the month.
So 5th December. I won't put the year; I'm not trying to make that much of a point.
I noticed that you didn't deny a liking of Hello Kitty. ;)
Also, you might want to take down the some old blog posts (and accompanying profile photo) if you are that worried about it.
It's not hard to do with a unique username and knowing that you like Warcraft.
Hoggersbud Jul 7th 2010 2:57PM
>I completely agree with you. Look at all the WoW insider article writers. Their real name is posted on every article. They publicly write their opinions of WoW (which are not always well received). I can guarantee that you would NOT be able to find who I am where I live my phone number just by my name.<
That's you. Others are not the same. Also note how many of us choose not to be WoW Insider article writers. Some of us have reasons for it. Some of us may not, but we can choose to do so.
>Also, why would you want to?
Do you really need to know what people could do with that information?
> I don't see how people can say it's illegal for Blizzard to post your name, when they are telling you up front that they are going to do it and you choose to. When you play you hit I agree with all the terms and conditions, there is no, I agree to only some of if. Thats like knowing that Blizzard is going to charge you $15/mo and then telling your bank hey I didn't authorize that. Yeah, I know they said they were gonna do it, but I don't accept that part of the agreement. <
Actually, the people can say it's illegal if their local laws prohibit Blizzard from doing it. I don't know if it's actually the case in this particular instance, I haven't studied the laws of every applicable entity, but it is pretty common for portions of contracts and agreements to be null and void. There are some things you can't sign away. The TOS even acknowledges this in one the clause.
Now in this case, I don't know if such protections apply to me, or anybody else but I'll gladly encourage my legislators to implement them, and if they don't, then I'll refuse consent to this further agreement with Blizzard, as is my right. I also have the right to say what I feel about it, don't I?
Or do you think just because some people can agree with something, that I, or anybody else should be forced to do so, or even to simply abide in silence?
Mingus Jul 7th 2010 8:08AM
While yes, displaying real first and last name will limit and discourage trolling, the majority of posters are not posting to troll. This is a major privacy reveal that I really am not comfortable with. There's is a limited number of people in my own guild who know my real first name, and even fewer who know my last name. My personal information should not be on display for the world to see, which is why my Facebook is set to show certain info only to my friends. If the forums had the option to restrict what would be displayed, then I would not be so concerned.
sonia Jul 7th 2010 10:03AM
since I know facebook posts my name I gave it a fake one that I share with people I like. It does not share my login or email address.
thegatherer Jul 7th 2010 8:09AM
I agree that having a single name to post under would decrease trolling on the forums. However, that is not the reason it is a bad idea.
If someone were to have their name plastered on every post they make after the coming change, it will alert account hijackers to a name that goes with a character, potentially linking that name to an account. Further leading to the ability of the hackers/hijackers/gold sellers to potentially steal your credit card/debit card.
Sure then it's identity theft, and in the FBI's hands, but they will look at the amount of accounts being hijacked and dismiss it out right; its not worth their time with limited funds to go after every single account hijacker.
Simply put, I don't think the benefits of using a person's real name for forum posts outweighs the potential harmful effects that may come of it.
Nighthavk Jul 7th 2010 8:09AM
Bashiok revealed his real name, and this is what the internet users have found out about him:
And these all information came from legit Googling. Real ID, is a very bad idea.
wojtek Jul 7th 2010 12:15PM
This post summs it up pretty well.
Stormsurge Jul 7th 2010 8:15AM
Yeah, that is very scary. The last thing I want is for me to post a question on their forums only to have some random person call me up wanting to discuss it.
crschmidt Jul 7th 2010 8:16AM
That's not him. Lakeport, CA is a 9 hour drive from the Blizzard offices. He already said that it was not him.
Presumably, he's unlisted, because he's had his real name out there for the past 5 years. (He's been listed in the Credits since the original WoW.) Unfortunately, the side effect is that this poor stiff got fucked by Bashiok revealing that name in a place that forum posters were watching avidly.
If the guy has stopped answering his phone because of calls, well: Grats, Blizzard Forum Users! You have won the dickheads of the year award. :p
Michelle Jul 7th 2010 8:20AM
I'd think you'd recognize that reposting what you suspect to be a Blizzard employee's information to be a very bad idea too.
There is zero justification for that in my book.
Dickheads indeed.
Nighthavk Jul 7th 2010 8:25AM
It's a necessary evil, Michelle. After all, this is exactly what's going to happen to devs and forum dwellers as well.
Their privacies are going to be breached as well. They should first know that it's not going to be nice for them, so that they opt out of it. That they talk to their supervisors they're not happy with their work title under these conditions.
This is, I'm afraid, the best we can do -the speed up the process of privacy breaching that will happen if the Real ID plans go through. After all, if they do get through, this is what will happen to them.
Hal Jul 7th 2010 8:36AM
As I see it, the problem that "employee" experienced was the combination of angry jerks trying to make a point and being singled-out. If nobody was anonymous, that sort of behavior would be frowned upon. It would even be better if Blizzard actively policed the posting of personal information, given the sorts of shenanigans that can ensue.
krusty_burger Jul 7th 2010 12:29PM
why has wow.com not removed this post yet? whether or not it's actually Bashiok's, it is somebody's personal information.