[chconline]

http://aphnetworks.c...-use-real-names

Quote

From DailyTech: Internet trolling charitably could be referred to as a pop culture phenomena. People online seem often to develop proclivities for trying to get under each others' skin and in the most extreme cases a troll is born.

But trolls days of lurking around internet message boards may be limited -- at least if Activision Blizzard can help it. The company, which makes the best-selling World of Warcraft and Starcraft franchise has announced that it will be forcing players to use their real names on online message boards.

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, will be the first game to enact the new rules when it releases on July 27. Those changes will quickly be rolled out to other games -- likely including World of Warcraft, the world's most popular paid MMORPG, with over 11.5 million subscribers.

The company is offering players the option of putting their in-game handle next to their real world name. However, it will not currently force players to do this. It says that players choosing to do so will be helping to create a more positive environment.

It says the changes in general should cut down on trolling and nasty behavior in the forums.

I personally don't see this as much of a success. Especially if it can't be enforced (Ie., it's probably illegal in some jurisdictions), most sane users probably won't choose this option without some kind of incentives. Those who want to troll will continue to do so, and those who don't won't help anything. It's good in theory, but implementation from this angle seems to be a bit off to the side.

[redeemed]

Wow. I would most definitely not stay as a member of a community if this happened (so don't get any ideas for APH implementation, chc ). Why? I don't want anyone to be able to Google my name and find the 500-odd (or how ever many) posts that I've made on a website.

Not that I have anything to hide; it's just none of people's business. What if I post some opinion that a prospective employer disagrees with? I understand Blizzard want to crack down hard on trolls, but they should have a certain "troll-post" limit for trolls, and then they're banned. Like people are allowed 5 or so provocative posts before being banned. That will do wonders, instead of "OMG TROLL ALERT LET'S DISPLAY EVERYONE'S NAME LULZ XD", haha.

This post has been edited by redeemed: 08 July 2010 - 03:46 PM

[prestonyuen]

^Agreed +1

[shc-boomer]

To be honest, I don't think this will help one bit. People will just make fake identities with the first and last names. Having a persons name does not stop trolling, the only way to stop it is the banhammerz. Unfortunately with the banhammer comes over banning people, a good example of this would be FacePunch/=.

[chconline]

Banning people like mad will restrict their free speech eh?

I think Blizzard can PROBABLY enforce this with their accounts tied to their credit card, and that has to be their "real" name. The problem is that there's a lot of 15 year old kids with their parent's credit card, you get the idea. I don't exactly know what their implementation is since I don't play any of their games or participate in any of their forums.

[shc-boomer]

chconline, on 09 July 2010 - 09:04 AM, said:

Banning people like mad will restrict their free speech eh?

I think Blizzard can PROBABLY enforce this with their accounts tied to their credit card, and that has to be their "real" name. The problem is that there's a lot of 15 year old kids with their parent's credit card, you get the idea. I don't exactly know what their implementation is since I don't play any of their games or participate in any of their forums.

Not to mention all the gold farmers that probably make up more than 50% of the population of WOW. Of course, they would never be on the forums, so that would be the least of their concern. What about stolen credit cards though, I've heard many people use stolen credit cards to play WOW. The second part is what about SCII, do they plan to charge people to play online? Else there is no need for said credit card, unless they force you to have one to sign up on a forum.

[TL6MT]

I don't think the names really make a difference other than cause more problems like identity theft.

[chconline]

Identity theft problem as in people using other people's names, or as a result of stolen credit cards?

[prestonyuen]

I don't think identity theft would be the issue here because someone could simply use a fake name, although fake names would have a chance of being the same name as another real person, unless someone actually steals someone else's credit card. The real issue here, in my opinion, would be the problems between users (i.e. arguments/disputes).

[shift]

Old news, but relevant to the thread.

http://kotaku.com/55...names-in-forums

[shc-boomer]

Well there you go, no changes means less complaining. Unfortunately, the trolls are still trolling.

[TL6MT]

Quote

Following an overwhelmingly negative response from fans, Blizzard has decided not to implement the planned forum changes that would require players to post using their real names.

In a post by Blizzard staffer Nethaera on behalf of Blizzard CEO and president Mike Morhaime, the controversial changes have been reversed.

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.

Blizzard originally revealed its decision on Tuesday, after which the forums exploded with negative fan response. The response spilled out onto the internet at large, with many detractors going to extreme lengths to protest the changes, including posting the personal information of Blizzard staffers on Facebook and personal blogs, including the names and phone numbers of employees' friends and family.

Blizzard will still be going forward with other planned changes to the forums, including comment threading, a voting system that will allow users to downgrade or upgrade comments, and improved search functionality.

The post also notes that the Real ID system used in-game to help players communicate with one another will remain in place, and this decision will not affect plans in that area.

It bears noting that Morhaime's message does say "at this time," which is language echoed in a statement given us by Blizzard PR on the matter. Could the issue rear it's ugly head again? Perhaps, but for now, your identities are safe with Blizzard.

Gaming is SRSLY IMPORTANT STUFF YO - as the chc will say.

[chconline]

Hey, WoW players are serious about their games, yo.

[RandomHawk]

IMHO, Real ID is one gate way for stalking and harassed by others and Sariel is right the worst case for this you and your family may be killed (just being sarcastic) for leaking your personal info. Bear in mind that the players are also prone to making enemies as they are to making friends. It's in fact easier for them to make enemies than friends in such online games. All they have to do is to kill the other online player(it's a prerequisite to getting a stronger and richer character) and hey, u've made a new enemy! Its fine with me if there’s a option where they can strict the privacy control on user’s information whether users choose to post name or make a screen name. Besides screen are used to put a barrier to maintaining a separation between private life, public life, and work life.

[chconline]

Fair enough, I agree that some people actually takes gaming really seriously as demonstrated above -- one more step probably isn't too far fetched and out of the question.

Welcome to APH btw

[TL6MT]

Now that you talk about it RandomHawk - the funny thing is this will very well happen in real life. Imagine the headlines - "LA Citizen Beat Outside Home By Angry Gamer"