Mike Morhaime: Real names will not be required on official Blizzard forums
by Adam Holisky 
Jul 9th 2010 at 12:56PM
In a move that is sure to generate just as much discussion as the initial decision itself, Mike Morhaime, co-founder and CEO of Blizzard Entertainment, has released a statement that says "real names will not be required for posting on official Blizzard forums."
Morhaime says that Blizzard has been "constantly monitoring the feedback" given by the community and that they are "driven 100% by the desire to find ways to make our community areas more welcoming for players and encourage more constructive conversations about our games."
The other upgrades to the forums will still apply, such as rating posts up or down and conversation threading.
This will, no doubt, make many members of the community quite happy.
The full statement (updated) after the break.
Morhaime says that Blizzard has been "constantly monitoring the feedback" given by the community and that they are "driven 100% by the desire to find ways to make our community areas more welcoming for players and encourage more constructive conversations about our games."
The other upgrades to the forums will still apply, such as rating posts up or down and conversation threading.
This will, no doubt, make many members of the community quite happy.
The full statement (updated) after the break.
Mike MorhaimeHello everyone,
I'd like to take some time to speak with all of you regarding our desire to make the Blizzard forums a better place for players to discuss our games. We've been constantly monitoring the feedback you've given us, as well as internally discussing your concerns about the use of real names on our forums. As a result of those discussions, we've decided at this time that real names will not be required for posting on official Blizzard forums.
It's important to note that we still remain committed to improving our forums. Our efforts are driven 100% by the desire to find ways to make our community areas more welcoming for players and encourage more constructive conversations about our games.We will still move forward with new forum features such as conversation threading, the ability to rate posts up or down, improved search functionality, and more. We will still move forward with new forum features such as the ability to rate posts up or down, post highlighting based on rating, improved search functionality, and more. However, when we launch the new StarCraft II forums that include these new features, you will be posting by your StarCraft II Battle.net character name + character code, not your real name. The upgraded World of Warcraft forums with these new features will launch close to the release of Cataclysm, and also will not require your real name.
I want to make sure it's clear that our plans for the forums are completely separate from our plans for the optional in-game Real ID system now live with World of Warcraft and launching soon with StarCraft II. We believe that the powerful communications functionality enabled by Real ID, such as cross-game and cross-realm chat, make Battle.net a great place for players to stay connected to real-life friends and family while playing Blizzard games. And of course, you'll still be able to keep your relationships at the anonymous, character level if you so choose when you communicate with other players in game. Over time, we will continue to evolve Real ID on Battle.net to add new and exciting functionality within our games for players who decide to use the feature.
In closing, I want to point out that our connection with our community has always been and will always be extremely important to us. We strongly believe that Every Voice Matters, ( http://u
Mike Morhaime
CEO & Cofounder
Blizzard Entertainment
//ed - Post edited to update the list of new forum features that will be implemented.
I'd like to take some time to speak with all of you regarding our desire to make the Blizzard forums a better place for players to discuss our games. We've been constantly monitoring the feedback you've given us, as well as internally discussing your concerns about the use of real names on our forums. As a result of those discussions, we've decided at this time that real names will not be required for posting on official Blizzard forums.
It's important to note that we still remain committed to improving our forums. Our efforts are driven 100% by the desire to find ways to make our community areas more welcoming for players and encourage more constructive conversations about our games.
I want to make sure it's clear that our plans for the forums are completely separate from our plans for the optional in-game Real ID system now live with World of Warcraft and launching soon with StarCraft II. We believe that the powerful communications functionality enabled by Real ID, such as cross-game and cross-realm chat, make Battle.net a great place for players to stay connected to real-life friends and family while playing Blizzard games. And of course, you'll still be able to keep your relationships at the anonymous, character level if you so choose when you communicate with other players in game. Over time, we will continue to evolve Real ID on Battle.net to add new and exciting functionality within our games for players who decide to use the feature.
In closing, I want to point out that our connection with our community has always been and will always be extremely important to us. We strongly believe that Every Voice Matters, ( http://u
Mike Morhaime
CEO & Cofounder
Blizzard Entertainment
//ed - Post edited to update the list of new forum features that will be implemented.
Filed under: News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 28)
Azizrael Jul 9th 2010 12:58PM
See? You can all calm down now.
Ken Jul 9th 2010 1:10PM
yes we can calm down -now- but if it weren't for the adamant and visceral responses from the community, i don't believe we would've gotten such a result. the wow community earned this victory.
Mr Angry Jul 9th 2010 1:11PM
But I want to be angry about something, is there nothing from this new announcement that I can rage at?
He did say 'at this time', so I guess I could blow my top over this. I need some help here, I'm struggling to rage over this!!!!!!
kasapina Jul 9th 2010 1:11PM
The cake is a lie.
Jokes aside, glad to know that I will be playing Cataclysm.
kingoomieiii Jul 9th 2010 1:15PM
I know, right? The response was insane. It only took 50,000 posts in the US (close to 10x the size of ANY other thread, and it's been up half a week) and 14,000 posts from Europe to get them to realize how ridiculously unpopular the change was.
Man, you crazy folks were worked up over NOTHING.
Mutak Jul 9th 2010 1:15PM
You can still be rage-y - after all, RealID still exists and it's a short slippery slope from that to concentration camps and gas chambers.
Elmouth Jul 9th 2010 1:16PM
If it weren't for all the "uncalm" people, RealID would have happened.
See making a stand does work sometimes.
In this case, I can do nothing but commend the CEO for listening to the community, its what being a MMO is all about afterall.
Good job Mr. Morhaime.
Wolftech Jul 9th 2010 1:18PM
If it wasn't for the vocal concerns of the community, then they wouldn't have backpedaled on this. Let this be a lesson in real life.
Marolas Jul 9th 2010 1:19PM
TL;DR version:
The community wins.
(Hallelujah!)
kabshiel Jul 9th 2010 1:26PM
I'm disappointed. I don't know how it would have turned out, but I think it was a worthwhile experiment. It's too bad they chickened out.
eyeball2452 Jul 9th 2010 1:30PM
So, they're going back to status quo or are they going to tie every poster to their battle.net account? I'm still not clear what the plan is.
All I saw was that they're adding forum features that have been available in free php forums for years because they insist on reinventing the wheel.
Can we just get a list of bullet points because none of the CMs and execs is doing an overly good job explaining what's going on. They're using PR language to hide things, which is not helping the system.
Big thumbs up on eliminating the Real-ID system, but that doesn't mean they can't eliminate some of the anonymity.
ben9.smith Jul 9th 2010 1:40PM
@Mutak
I'm sorry, but how is this in anyway related to racial descrimination and predjudice?
Knob Jul 9th 2010 1:39PM
I hope Blizzard can use this fiasco as ammunition against future Activision meddling in its affairs.
NecDW4 Jul 9th 2010 1:52PM
I'm with Kabshiel on this one. I'd have loved to see what direction the forums took (lack of level 1 flame alts, personal accountability on stupid crap) if you had to worry about your personal reputation.
The whole "ZOMG they gunna steel mah identiteez" just reeks of conspiracy theory paranoid BS. People so worried about stalkers and whatnot dont come off as any more intelligent than Rusty Shackelford.
I CAN see the unwanted attention towards the female players being an issue, but then, you would not be able to hide behind an anonymous profile in order to do it either.
Dreyja Jul 9th 2010 1:55PM
For me, the forums was the least of my worries. Real ID has got a ton of problems they've not said "boo" about.
Why they couldn't build in a tad more security, and an "invisible," option makes zero sense to me. How could they not have seen this coming?
Knob Jul 9th 2010 1:56PM
NecDW4, you need to stop thinking of stuff on the internet as "not real" and that those stories about stalking using the internet, identity theft, etc as something that happens elsewhere far away. Just because you cannot fathom yourself doing those things doesn't mean there aren't others who can't. This really was a big deal, in terms of stepping stones for future policies from this as well as other companies, and it isn't all tin-foil hat conspiracy bullshit.
Angrycelt Jul 9th 2010 2:00PM
I'd wager that Blizzard's retraction WASN'T based on your 'OMFG This GAAMe SUX NOW IMMA QUIT' comments, folks.
Most likely it was a combination of sheer numbers and well-written arguments about potential repercussions and harassment that they hadn't fully considered that changed their minds. It wasn't your threats to quit, hunt down the Blues, or grief as never before.
Yeah the community won, but it was despite the nutjobs (who necessitate identifying the asshole trolls for who they are) not because of you.
Moeru Jul 9th 2010 2:16PM
People are saying that the 50k posts is what made them change their mind. I don't think 40k posts all saying they're quitting the game and that Blizz is stoopid and that this is worst event since the invention of Communism.
What made them change their mind is the overall response, as well as the 10k posts from people with real concerns, constructive criticism and generally positive responses, even if they don't agree with the system that was going to be implemented.
I don't think we should automatically feel that complaining in a negative matter will get stuff we want. We wouldn't be any better than a child doing a temper tantrum then. I think we need to applaud Blizzard for doing so well with the situation, despite the extremely negative feedback that's been rampant throughout the community.
I'm slightly ashamed of how quickly some people became afraid of this, despite it being totally optional and you can even turn it off. Maybe you don't remember but Blizzard already has a program running on your computer that's collecting what programs are running while you play WoW. Can it be used against us? Maybe. But it doesn't mean we need to freak out about it.
(I'd like to point out the numbers above were in no way accurate. Just based on what was said, and making a point. But the overall estimation is accurate, in my mind.)
Josin Jul 9th 2010 2:16PM
Come, sons of Blizz-ard, KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!
Hoggersbud Jul 9th 2010 2:20PM
>I'm slightly ashamed of how quickly some people became afraid of this, despite it being totally optional and you can even turn it off.
It was not totally optional and there was no direct way to turn it off.
Totally optional would be "I can choose, without consequence to enable or disable this" but guess what?
The only optional part was posting to the forums. I could choose not to do that, but where does that leave me? In a position where I could not reach Blizzard directly in a public venue unless I wanted to expose myself to harassment and intimidation by revealing my real name. I'm quite glad to reject that choice being forced upon me.