Blizzard on worsening Real ID backlash: “No comment”

[Ares]

Blizzard on worsening Real ID backlash: “No comment”

July 9th, 2010 @ 09:51
By Patrick Garratt

Blizzard has declined to comment on a growing backlash to its decision to implement a Real ID system on its forums, with multiple blogs posting personal information about Activision employees and their families in an effort to prove a point.

“No comment,” is the only official response available on the matter from Blizzard at the moment, but we were promised the company is “aware” of developments and we would be kept abreast of any internal movement throughout the day.

Overnight, bloggers posted personal information about Bobby Kotick, his wife and children in an apparent attempt to show how easy it is to gain details on addresses, hobbies, phone numbers and the like when in possession of someone’s real name.

A Blizzard forum mod, who posted his real name on the company’s forums to lead by example, has now had a large amount of personal data posted live, including his address, telephone numbers, school history, employment history, family details and more.

Pushing forward

Blizzard said on Tuesday that it would start posting Blizzard forum members’ real names alongside their messages on the StarCraft II forum when the RTS releases on July 27.

The World of Warcraft forums will adopt the same policy when Cataclysm launches later this year.
Explaining the reasoning behind the move, community manager Nethaera said, “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.”

Following a violent reaction to the news on the Blizzard forums, the company said yesterday that it “will be carefully monitoring how people are using the service,” and that “Real ID is a new and different concept for Blizzard gamers – and for us as well – and our goal is to create a social gaming service that players want to use.”

While the official announcement thread on the issue is now approaching 1,600 comments, Blizzard has now confirmed that both the Diablo II and WarCraft III forums will also move to Real ID when the StarCraft II’s released.

Source: VG247

 

[Matt34]

There is entirely too much trolling on the WOW forums but this isn't the right approach to the problem either.

 

[Ares]

Update

Blizzard just did a 180 today, Mike Morhaime posted this in the Battle.net forums

Hello 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 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://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/about/mission.html ) and we feel fortunate to have a community that cares so passionately about our games. We will always appreciate the feedback and support of our players, which has been a key to Blizzard's success from the beginning.

Mike Morhaime
CEO & Cofounder
Blizzard Entertainment