Controversy Abound! Blizzard's RealID "Poses a Significant Problem" featured on BBC

**Jeremiah** · 07-07-2010

BBC News - World of Warcraft maker to end anonymous forum logins

BBC news has made developer Blizzard Entertainment the subject of frontpage news on their online website and syndicated news program.

The story follows the widespread controversy as a result of Blizzard's announcement that they will now be attaching players' real life first and last names to all of the forum posts they make on Blizzard and Battle.net message boards.

There has already been a fair bit of discussion, with an angry response from many gamers who are concerned with how what they post on a once semi-anonymous board will detrimentally effect their employment prospects. Since employers regularly do Google searches of the names of aspiring staff members, this raises great concern, as many managers may have second thoughts about hiring an employee who spends a great deal of their time playing an MMO and spending their time on an MMO forum.

The RealID system has already adversely affected the life of one gamer, who was harassed on his Facebook account when friends found his first and last name using the built in friends list. An add-on has already been released that allows for anyone to find the first and last name of any gamer, even if they don't accept your friend invite through RealID.

Bad move on Blizzard's part? Perhaps. An online game is a form of social networking, but arguably not the same kind of social networking as we see on Facebook, Myspace, or any other site. On those sites, we are looking to connect in the real world and display our real-world information, while WoW provided some sense of anonymity, bedded in the fact that we play and live in a fantasy world, where real life is partially suspended.

I could go into pages of arguments about the semantical arguments for and against the idea of social networking. We could discuss for hours the issues surrounding online anonymity. To what extent can we be, or should we be free to post without responsibility or identity on the internet? What should we be allowed to post? How ought we act on the internet? All questions that are discussed in texts both scholarly and sensational, and will not be covered here.

All things considered, Blizzard should reconsider the heavy and sudden implementation of the RealID system, as I can guarantee them that such a revolutionary idea will not be met with resounding and universal applause.

Blizzard has had a long history of raising the bar when it comes to innovation in videogames, but is RealID too far? Let us know what you think below.

Post Script:
If you're in America, I highly suggest you stay tuned-in to FOX news and affiliates, as I am sure there will be some highly hilarious, sensational stories covering the online safety of children on World of Warcraft, and how Blizzard is purposely endangering kids playing the game. Just wait, I called it.