Blizzard Cancels Plan For Forum Real ID Requirement
Activision-Blizzard
Blizzard has decided to cancel the plans to require players to post under their real names. A decision that has been most likely influenced by the overwhelming negative feedback from fans and the targeting of a moderator.
Nethaera, a member of the Blizzard staff, posted that the changes have been reversed. Blizzard made it clear that their intentions were “pure” and this change was for the sake of making the forums a better place for players to interact, but many fans are thinking otherwise. Monitoring the feedback that the fans have given and discussing the issues with the use of real names on the forums, they decided that real names will not be required for posting on the official Blizzard forums.
Blizzard originally announced on Tuesday that they were going to make forum members post under their Real ID (first and last name on a users Battle.net account). This was followed by some intense negative feedback. To try and alleviate the tension and aversion, one of Blizzard’s employee’s posted their own full name. Within 30 minutes, his phone number, email address, Facebook page, address, family members, and friends phone numbers were posted for the world to see. This was not an act of malice, on the part of Blizzard forum members, but rather a way to prove to Blizzard that the Real ID decision is one that could lead to the stalking and harassment of many forum members, whether they are trolls or not.
Although Blizzard is canceling the decision to require members of the official Blizzard forum to post under their real name, they are still planning on implementing the comment threading, a voting system and the improved search functionality. Many fans are rejoicing, because this means that they can troll without consequence. Also, it was a poor decision by Blizzard to begin with. To force their members to post under their real name is something that would result in uproar and is something that was not agreed to under the Terms of Service. You basically had the choice of either complying to Blizzards Real ID decision or not posting on the forums.
Read the official post regarding real names in forums on the official Blizzard forums.
