PC Gaming Died a little today

[Grimes]

Blizzard, one of the last beacons of truly great PC gaming announced today that they will incorporate their "Real ID" features into their forums. What is realID? Its a feature being added to Starcraft 2 where you can add friends via their real name. Which in the sense of adding friends to your in-game friends list really isn't that bad of a feature, but its not exactly something that is in serious need. If you have friends who play the same game, chances are you have at least one alternative option to contact them.

 

The big problem with this however is that the user forums will feature everyone's real name associated with each post. They are eliminating any sense of anonymity all in the name of stopping flame wars. Having my real name attached to each post would give me pause and reconsider what I'm posting, but having my name attached to each post would also have me reconsider joining in the first place.

 

Oh well, I knew something horrible was going to happen eventually once Activision and Blizzard merged. It was just a question of when.

[104th_Crunch]

Very interesting! I always thought something like this would be a big plus. Anonymity can make people post something negative they would never ever say face to face to someone in person.

 

What exactly is the negative here? In fact, I wish the net featured no anonymity!

[Pilotasso]

People are mostly negative in real life anyway. So they will have privacy negated on top of that. Forum rules do not change nature of humans.

[CyBerkut]

Very interesting! I always thought something like this would be a big plus. Anonymity can make people post something negative they would never ever say face to face to someone in person.

 

What exactly is the negative here? In fact, I wish the net featured no anonymity!

 

A combination of things come to mind...

 

1. The internet doesn't forget. Stuff gets archived and quoted (often times on some other system(s) under somebody else's control) and can show up years later in places you would never have expected.

 

2. Many people in the gaming communities are not of an age where they fully appreciate the consequences of their choices. In other words, they are young/immature and do/say immature things. Everyone here can judge for themselves, but I know I can think of some things back in my adolescence that I'm glad have not been preserved for worldwide consumption.

 

3. With the explosive growth of social networking on the internet has come the corresponding increase in net savvy employers, and net savvy political opponents, etc. How many college graduates have encountered problems getting job offers due to the party pictures they posted on a social networking site a year or three earlier?

 

4. I can say from experience that some people will behave differently on a keyboard even when their real identity is known and they are arguing with other people within their own county. I saw it many times back in the ol' BBS forums before the internet caught on at the consumer level.

 

Now, one could certainly argue that foolish people bring it upon themselves... but you're talking here about the potential for kids to have things following them around decades later.

 

Unlike the social networking sites, a set of gaming forums can be closely related to competition / (virtual) combat, which increases the probablility that little Johhny is going to write inflammatory things while he is all ticked off about losing his ship at the hands of the intended message recipient. Hopefully, he will outgrow his impulsiveness by gaining a better perspective... but that nasty heap of invective could keep hanging around years after that maturity has been reached.

 

For gaming forums, it is just unnecessary.

Edited July 7, 2010 by CyBerkut
Grammar correction

[Grimes]

I really doubt that displaying a real name will put a stop to flame wars. They will happen and continue to happen no matter what. Im just saddened it went to this level, its not like moderators are powerless to stop threads or issue warnings. It just seems to me that they are using a form of fear to prevent users to post.

 

For sure there are times where having your real name displayed can be a plus. Something like... Facebook. But when one creates an online nickname or persona they do so with the idea that they are creating an alternative character and personality from their own. I want my virtual characters to be separated from my real life. The big problem I have with it is its the wholesale display of your name to everyone with access to the internet. Furthermore I'm not sure how I feel about the recent drives to combine gaming with social media. Uncharted 2 had optional twitter updates (it automatically tweeted whenever you beat a level or unlocked an achievement), Starcraft 2 can interface with facebook and twitter, and all those terrible social games on facebook drive me up the wall. No! I will not assist you in your virtual farm, nor do I care about you getting a new tractor!

 

Games should remain independent of your real life. If you want to share and befriend people you met online in games, that should be your choice to put that information out there. It shouldn't be forced upon the users.

[asparagin]

I agree to what CyBerkut says. And I might add:

The fact that the Internet does not forget, is not only bad because someone might use that information, but also because while the character of a person might not change so much over time, other things change: knowledge, interests.. so what I posted in a forum couple of years ago isn't the present me anymore.

[Shaman]

Well, it doesn't affect me, because I have never used their forums. Played Diablo2 a lot back then.

[EtherealN]

It just seems to me that they are using a form of fear to prevent users to post.

 

Fear? I don't see the "fear" involved in using your real name on the internet. Basically, if you are doing anything where using your real name would be a problem, you probably shouldn't be doing it.

 

And people thinking that they are anonymous on the internet is an actual problem. I've not been forced to do so here on this forum, but on a forum I administered a good while back I did end up contacting ISP's at times to ask them to remind the user that they are not anonymous and will be held accountable. In my experience of being admininstrator and moderator of various commersial forums since the early 2000's, this actually has an effect.

 

Sure, it doesn't affect everyone - most specifically the people that don't even realize that what they're doing is obnoxcious, trolling or whatever. But it will give the pranksters serious food for thought.

 

In my opinion this is very much a culture thing. Go anywhere outside of the internet and try conducting all your social interactions under a nickname. It just isn't done - we are either in a situation where no name is required (like asking a police officer for assistance out on town or jumping into a taxi), or we're in a situation where we give our name. Why is this so difficult with the internet?

 

All of that said: I'm not sure forcing this is effective enough in it's stated goal to be worth the cost of change, even if I may agree with the general idea.

 

Oh, and yes, I am aware that it is slightly hypocritical of me to say that and not have my real name plastered, but it's never been requested and no-one was ever interested so it would just clutter up space. I am no stranger to having my name "out there" since I am sometimes liable to be stopped by random people who know me from stuff I've done in media before (less now though since it was years ago), and aside from sometimes getting bothered by random people on the pub it's really was no issue to have my name and even face out there. I mean, I've gotten bothered by random people on the pub anyway that had no clue about who I was and just thought I looked nice and friendly (obviously beer goggles, since I'm neither. :D ), so that's no different. :P

Edited July 7, 2010 by EtherealN

[Lucas_From_Hell]

I don't give a sh*t about it, I've always used my real name in pretty much all forums I've been in, so I don't see the problem.

 

Just think a bit: if the fact people know your name (I still don't get what will it change for some, but anyway...) makes you do less things, then you're likely to be doing things you shouldn't be doing.

 

I think it'll be better, people will think twice before hitting "Reply" :)

[asparagin]

I've always used my real name in pretty much all forums I've been in

 

so.. your family name is.. "From Hell" ? :D

[winz]

Its a feature being added to Starcraft 2 where you can add friends via their real name. Which in the sense of adding friends to your in-game friends list really isn't that bad of a feature, but its not exactly something that is in serious need.

The main idea behind realID is to unite the huge playerbase blizzard games have under a single social network. Mainly to allow players to communicate with their friends no matter which blizzard game they play (WoW, SC2, D3).

This I'm a huge fan of, because I'm really looking forward to chatting with my guild budies while I play SC2. Yes, you can use a dedicated messaging program, but alt-tabing out and in game is anything but comfortable.

 

Tbh, I don't see anything bad aboud your name beeing displayed on the forums. Ofc, some people will behave like idiots no matter what. I don't think your name is as unique that a simple google search of your name would reveal everything about you. Tbh, I think you are much easier identified by using a unique forum nick, than by real name.

 

Oh well, I knew something horrible was going to happen eventually once Activision and Blizzard merged. It was just a question of when.

I don't think this is horrible. Blizzard releasing games sequels like activision and ea does would be horrible, but that isn't happening.

And merging with activision was one of the best things that could happen to Blizzard, as long as they keep game development management separation.

[Lucas_From_Hell]

so.. your family name is.. "From Hell" ? :D

 

:megalol:

 

OK, 1 x 0 :thumbup:

 

For convenience (as it was the first and only nickname I picked for online aviation gaming) I use it for aviation-related forums and online action, just in case I find someone I know.

 

But the first name (by which everyone calls me, as you can guess) remains the same :)

 

The rest is Ferrari (Italian) dos Santos (Portuguese).

 

And yet I'm posting the very same way :)

 

I've tried Google'ing it just to see what happens, and as it turns out there are 6 results - one of them isn't me, one relates to a school transfer, one is from the recruitment page of an old IL-2 squadron, one is from an IQ test and the last one is a friend's LastFM page.

 

No one cares about me... :P

[CyBerkut]

A question come to mind. How are they going to handle this for individuals who are minors? Protecting children from online predators has been an increasing concern in recent years. I don't know all the details, but it sounds like Blizzard may be opening up a real can of worms.

[winz]

What's the differnce for the 'online predator' if your, victims, online 'nick' is a real name or a made up nickname (not to mention that most minors use nicks like suss16...)? I hope that additional informations like age, adress, phone are hidden from other users, if not, then it's a big fail for blizzard.

On the other side, I don't think online predators are very fond on exposing their real name.

[GGTharos]

Hidden from users, sure.

Hidden from their huge data-mining for marketing deals, no :)

[winz]

They have those information for several years... it's not really a secret. I have the same type of information filled on this forums as well. Not to mention lockon-online store...

Soo, time for me to start wearing tinfoil hat :D

[GGTharos]

I think the bigger problem is bosses/coworkers/others tracking your activities which should really have been private.

[CyBerkut]

I think the bigger problem is bosses/coworkers/others tracking your activities which should really have been private.

 

I would agree that is a biggie.

 

Of course, the simple thing to do for those who don't want their real name out there, is provide a different name for the "real name". [Assuming they aren't extracting the info from credit card payment info, which would be a stupendous mistake on Blizzard's part].

[Grimes]

I think the bigger problem is bosses/coworkers/others tracking your activities which should really have been private.

 

One of the many comments I read on the subject matter was questioning who will be the first person fired because a boss found out an employee has 3 level 80 characters. I'm sure most employers frown upon gaming in some capacity or another. Heh, I'd have to argue that some games would look way better on a resume than others, but then again its all personal preference.

 

 

I don't think this is horrible. Blizzard releasing games sequels like activision and ea does would be horrible, but that isn't happening.

And merging with activision was one of the best things that could happen to Blizzard, as long as they keep game development management separation.

 

Read this

 

http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=128252

[GGTharos]

Never mind getting fired; what about insta-prejudice because you're obviously 'not a serious person'. Know what I mean?

 

One of the many comments I read on the subject matter was questioning who will be the first person fired because a boss found out an employee has 3 level 80 characters. I'm sure most employers frown upon gaming in some capacity or another. Heh, I'd have to argue that some games would look way better on a resume than others, but then again its all personal preference.

[winz]

I think the bigger problem is bosses/coworkers/others tracking your activities which should really have been private.

I partly agree with this, but on the other hand, no-one forces you to write on official forums. And using not-real name is not advisable, because you have no chance of recovering your account if it get stolen. (Blizzard requires a scan of an ID with name same as is the account name holder, before giving it back to the holder)

 

Read this

 

http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/view...opic_id=128252

I know pretty much all about it, but I don't see anything malicious on the Blizzard part, yes Activision with it ceo is somewhere on the level of EA (pretty deep). In the end, the aim of every company is to make money, if Blizzard can make exceptional games in the process, and not throw out one mindless sequel after another, as we see is general practice nowadays, then what's the problem?

 

The main problem of Blizzard, allways, was dependance on their next product salebreaking sucess. Can you imagine what would've happened with blizzard if WoW was a failure? And it could be, nobody thought about the idea of bringing mmorpg to the casual gamers field, noone known if it would really work. What if it wouldn't?

What if W3, after all those lenghty years of development, with all the changes it undergo in the development process, would be a failure?

Blizzard was allways lacking a backup financial partner in the background.

[Grimes]

Blizzard decided to cancel the RealID plans for the forums based on the user feedback.

Community -1

Blactivioazzard - 0

[nscode]

Kind'a related:

 

Interpol looks to social networking

 

International police agency Interpol has urged Internet users to help track down hundreds of fugitives wanted for murder, rape, child sexual abuse and other serious crimes.

 

 

...

 

 

'It is more likely that someone will recognise one these fugitives from a social networking site or a chatroom than spotting them walking down the street,' Cox said.

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/Technology/2010/07/06/Interpol_looks_to_social_networking_481265.html