3 réponses à ce sujet

[RinpocheSchnozberry]

Please notice the question mark.  I'm not making false announcements!

WoW's forums are soon going to use your real first and last name.  Kind of sucks, right?  I'm curious what the
BioWare forumites think of the system and what you would think of seeing something like that here.

Myself, I think it sucks.  It's bad enough when you beat a crazy weenie in a duel in WoW and they keep wanting a rematch, or you get gear they wanted and they **** and moan about it.  Now they could much more easily track you across Facebook or the net or such.  A chick in my old raid (back when I played) actually quit WoW and MySpace (it was that long ago) because one of our raidmates liked her (totally innocuous) picture so much he wouldn't shut the hell up.  He put together a couple idle comments and managed to call her out of the blue.  I know, cool story, bro.

I would not want to see this happen here.  :crying:

[Stanley Woo]

I find it a little ironic that people are opposing this idea as a potential invasion of privacy while describing how one easy or difficult it would be to find you if they learn of your real name or surname.

[David Gaider]

I think it's an interesting idea.

For one, I think some people underestimate the social effect that occurs when people believe they have anonymity. Even the suggestion that people might not be completely anonymous is going to change how they act-- without a doubt, in my mind.

Will it actually stop forum trolling and other unpleasantness? I doubt it. Like measures to combat piracy, it probably won't stop the truly committed from finding a way around these obstacles. It might make them rarer, however, and thus allow moderators a better chance at dealing with them. And that, combined with the social aspect, makes such a change an intriguing possibility. 

As for the "invasion of privacy" aspect, I'm not so sure about that. Some people are acting as if they have a right to anonymity as well as a right to post on a private gaming forum, when in fact neither of those rights exist. I wouldn't agree to private information being revealed without one's consent, but all such a forum needs to do is require such consent in order for you to post there. You don't want to give that consent? Then you're free to go elsewhere, aren't you? The idea that Blizzard is required to allow a WoW player to post on their forums and take the good with the bad no matter what exists only in the minds of the entitled, and really has nothing to do with the game. Forums (like this one) exist as a convenient means for fans of a game to get together and communicate with each other and (potentially) with the developers, nothing more.

Would we ever do that here? I have no idea-- but I imagine we and a great number of other companies will be watching what develops with interest. At the very least I have no doubt there will be a great furore as the sacred cows of internet warriors everywhere get threatened.

[David Gaider]

OnionXI wrote...
The trolling angle is pretty much the face value of this Real-ID change. With Blizzard's recent deal with facebook and stated goals to take Real-ID even further I think a lot of players are worried about how much of their privacy will be at stake down the line. As for trolling, will it stop? Probably to some degree but so will almost all other posting judging by the response to this so far. Even forum MVPs (particularly helpful posters) have said they will not post on the new forums. It's killing the patient to cure the disease if this was their only goal behind the decision.

I'm sure many people will say they'll never post again-- you can pretty much count on internet folk to be overly dramatic as a rule. Will they actually do so? Perhaps many will. Perhaps many others will be more inclined to post on such a forum once it is no longer riddled with unpleasant trolls and people who post their every angry thought without thinking. The assumption that a forum without those specific people posting there has no value is quite the big assumption, I think.

I can't really comment on the Facebook thing, as I don't know anything about it. I'd wonder how much of that is just a rumor, however. Certainly you'll have people conjuring worst-case scenarios left and right, when the truth (as it usually is) generally lies somewhere in the middle and is much more boring.

First, in order to post on the forums you need an active account with a subscription. While the subscription doesn't entitle you to post it does, in part, pay for the upkeep of the forums - so it's not like a free service like these forums.

That's like saying that the money BioWare makes off of the games we sell goes towards supporting these forums, isn't it? Or, by extension, that the money made from those games goes towards supporting our salaries. While I'm certain one could draw such a connection by way of "I'm a customer and thus I pay for everything you do", I don't think you can make any direct connection beyond that. Blizzard pays for those forums because they feel they provide value to their fans. If they didn't feel that way they wouldn't have the forums, period. Perhaps they're getting close to feeling that way now? Who knows?

The other point I would make is that when customers seek technical or customer support in game they are often sent to the forums to seek additional assistance from Blizzard there. With Blizzard's new forums a person would not have access to this support if they refuse to publicly divulge their full name.

That is a good point. One would assume they have other means of providing technical support, but if they don't then that seems like a lot to ask.