Blizzard Demands Your Real Name for Forums

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Status
Not open for further replies.
They'll lost a lot of people by doing this!!!! When today everything posted can be used by the police or your ex-wife ;-)
You do not want that your employer know that you participate in a forum and be able to track you here.
Did you think I'm using my real name in Facebook???? certainly not!
In fact, the persons will not use their real names, so, what is the added value?
The risks are far away too high compared to the added value for the users... but for the marketing companies (and pirates) yes!
 
NO WAY! And I bet it backfires on them. I am not afraid to use my real name, no big deal, and my kids are all grown up. BUT! If I was the father of say a 13 year old WOW player in this day and age, this would end his or her connection to Blizzard.
 
Ok. My name is Ernie. How hard was that. Case Closed. Stop your whinning will ya's. Don't play WoW then if you don't want someone to know that your an arse.
 
Really? How will they verify whether I am Joe Schmo or John Smith? Unless they are demanding a Credit Card or something, I can still make up a "real name". Further, I am never going to leave my CC# on file with a forum for identification verification purposes!

I might not want everyone knowing every single thing I write. For example, if I had to use my real name everywhere, I would NEVER post anything at a political website at all as it would automatically make me the enemy of 50% of the population! The quickest way to stifle communication is demand that everyone show an ID.
 
Oh yeah, My full name is Ernie MacDonald. All my god. Its the end of the world. They KNOW MY REAL NAME. BOOOHOOOO. lol. I find this stuff comical at best. PLEASE DON'T FIND ME GUYS. Hahahaha
 
[citation][nom]hellwig[/nom](...) the last thing I want is some Diablo-playing psychopath to hunt down my family because I looted the awesome shield before he could.[/citation]
For what it's worth - the situation you just described would be impossible in Diablo 3, since loot is now "relative to the observer" 😉...
 
[citation][nom]zorky9[/nom]Nobody would really do that if the game forum is used properly like sharing of ideas, troubleshooting help, etc.. not trashtalking, trolling, and bashing other players.[/citation]

You can't say nobody would do it. This article reports that a french gamer tracked down and murdered another gamer over an in-game knife fight.
 
There are always ways around set limits. The trollers will just get creative and spill hate in some other way.

plus, "my account got hacked" or "it was my little brother"........
 
[citation][nom]Christopher1[/nom]Apparently, you forget that some people are THREATENED when they post opinions that other people don't like. Personally, I've been threatened with death more than 10 times when talking about 'touchy' subjects on the internet.[/citation]

Yeah, but the people threatening you were hiding behind the anonymity of the internet. I don't think those people would troll forums for very long if they had to say who they were.

And I'm not saying that there's no place for anonymity; just that I think it leads to generally poor discourse. People are more thoughtful when they are "on record."
 
[citation][nom]Gulli[/nom]How will they know it's your real name?[/citation]

Paying by credit card? They probably already know your real name, possibly address and other data that is used for payment verification.
 
[citation][nom]amplexis[/nom]You can't say nobody would do it. This article reports that a french gamer tracked down and murdered another gamer over an in-game knife fight.[/citation]

... and did it without needing the "real name" data.
 
i dont see the problem here, if you piss off someone and they want you dead, there is not much you can do about that. Some people will use fake "real" names, most will use there real names, if someone gets hurt "they" will blame the video games, or there friends, or music, or drugs...... anything but the parents.
 
[citation][nom]amplexis[/nom]You can't say nobody would do it. This article reports that a french gamer tracked down and murdered another gamer over an in-game knife fight.[/citation]
If some freak wants to kill you, he/she will find a way, you just proved that. Did that game use alias? or real names?
 
Now we will know who all those celebrities are! Robin Williams and Ozzie, here I come!
 
this is a really bad idea. there's too much you can do w/ someone's real first and last name. if they want legit users, they should require a credit card number to become a forum member but still allow anonymous ids. there are sites like spokeo.com and others that quickly allows users to enter a name and find out precisely where one lives, their occupation etc. linkedin.com as well is an easy way to find out a persons' professional background. once you have a name and an idea of where that person lives (state or city), you can find out a lot of info about that person.

it's simply a very bad idea to do this. the cons definitely outweigh the pros imo.
 
I hardly think anyone with half a brain would actually post their real name in a forum whether they are there to troll or there to actually help & give advice. If forced to give a name I guess mine will be Fred Flintstone. Like someone else said how are they going to know if the name is real or not. This whole thing is just asking for trouble all it takes is one crazy person to get a hold of someones name & things can go bad very quickly.

-That is All-

Signed:
Fred Flintstone
 
How do they enfore the real name policy?

Like mgoblue3296 said, you can be anyone unless they are going to require ID to be send. But then, how many people are willing to join...
 
Take the anonymity out of the formula...

EDIT: Don't post images with profane language

...and you got a very quite WoW forum. This, like taking away oxygen from flame wars, is going to really change the dynamic of the forum... for the better!
 
[citation][nom]grieve[/nom]You guys are just scared everyone will know you play a female but are male...Im all for using the real names, Toms should do this as well.[/citation]
A company has no right to force me to give my full name just because I want to state an opinion on a topic in writing. Blizzard needs to get bent.
 
[citation][nom]wing2010[/nom]How do they enfore the real name policy?Like mgoblue3296 said, you can be anyone unless they are going to require ID to be send. But then, how many people are willing to join...[/citation]

Again, how do you pay for the service? Send them a check? Name and address are on the check. Pay by credit card? They have access to your billing name and address along with other account verification information.
 
[citation][nom]techguy378[/nom]A company has no right to force me to give my full name just because I want to state an opinion on a topic in writing. Blizzard needs to get bent.[/citation]

We all have rights and choices.
It is their forum, they have the right to run it as they please. Your choice is to not not do business with them.
 
[citation][nom]zorky9[/nom]Nobody would really do that if the game forum is used properly like sharing of ideas, troubleshooting help, etc.. not trashtalking, trolling, and bashing other players.[/citation]

And there would never be war if everyone just held hands, danced around a big oak tree and sang kumbayah. Won't ever see it happen though.

Ahh, Idealism... just when it thinks it has it all, Reality runs over and kicks it in the nuts and steals it all away.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom