I agree. Lying is never, ever a good idea; even these so-called "white lies" to prevent hurt feelings. This is because, sooner or later, the truth gets out and then you have the double ouch of "wow, not only did she skip off tonight's raid, but she lied about her mom being sick." It takes a long time to rebuild the trust lost from lies, and many online friendships and acquaintances (including guildies) are probably not strong enough to withstand that. If they were already that strong, you'd probably have no qualms about adding them. See the problem?

Now, I'm not saying be blunt and rude, and I'm certainly not saying don't worry about their feelings. There's absolutely nothing wrong with a polite and breezy, "Sorry, but I'm only friending people I know IRL." Adding a little joke like "that way I know whose butt to kick if they abuse it!" couldn't hurt ;)

I know a certain person who likes her privacy and is only RID-friending people she knows won't harass her and bury her in whispers every time she OMGLOGSIN. Personally, I'm only friending people I really trust in-game, which includes 99% of people I've met or know IRL. I've gotten RID snubbed. I've had to RID snub people. I've been tempted to un-RID people who won't stop spamming me with status updates. "I just picked my nose!" Great! No one cares.

If they get offended or mopey that you just happen to not know them IRL... well, did you really want to keep them around anyway? Most reasonable people will understand that it's not personal... just proximity.

Lying is often a good idea. Do you tell your friends their outfits look terrible if they do? Probably not.

Zanathos, you missed the point by a mile.

@ kasapina

I think Zanathos got the Drama Mamas' point pretty well, actually. These are both minor lies that are intended to spare your friends' feelings.

Yeah, its never good to lie. Besides what's wrong with only keeping your RID list to only RL friends? That's what the system was designed for. Just use the regular friends list for your Online buddies.

I don't understand why some people are having trouble with that concept. If I wanted all of Azeroth to know my real name I would have used it for my main.