OPINION: Real ID FAIL

Continuing with their brazen roll-out of their new Real ID system which has already polarized a vast majority of the Warcraft community, Blizzard have in the past few hours announced plans to further extend their attempt at a social network to the official forums.

Yes, come shortly before the release of Cataclysm, all posts to their new forum system will be signed with your real name. Oh, but it comes with the option to display your main characters’ name alongside it, so, you know, that’s something.

The soon to be infamous Blue-Post, below:

The first and most significant change is that in the near future, anyone posting or replying to a post on official Blizzard forums will be doing so using their Real ID — that is, their real-life first and last name — with the option to also display the name of their primary in-game character alongside it. These changes will go into effect on all StarCraft II forums with the launch of the new community site prior to the July 27 release of the game, with the World of Warcraft site and forums following suit near the launch of Cataclysm. Certain classic forums, including the classic Battle.net forums, will remain unchanged.

For those not in the know, the latest patch implemented to World of Warcraft saw the release of Real ID – an attempt at Blizzard creating an in-game social network and homogenizing friend lists across all of their games and servers via players exchanging Battle.Net associated e-mail addresses. The caveat – your name, your full name will be displayed on the other players’ friends list. The other caveat – if your friend has any other in-game friends that they’ve added through this system, then they’ll – yes, other people who you haven’t authorized to see your name – will be able to see your full name in a “friends-of-friends” list, to which Blizzard justify with it “allows people to be able to quickly send Real ID friend requests to others they may know.”

Another touted beneficial feature of Real ID is that once you’ve added someone and they’ve accepted, they will always be able to see where you are, what you’re doing and what character you’re on. No more will you be able to sneak about, seek solace or take a break on a lowly alt without those people knowing; not unless that alt is on another account which you effectively haven’t linked to anyone else’s through this system. Sure you can broadcast a status message to your friends, but isn’t that why we’ve got Twitter and Facebook? And being able to speak to friends cross-games – is that really going to improve your game? I mean, it’s not like it’s a Vent voice-based chat system, so unless you’re parked in Dalaran for any amount of time, I can’t see anyone typing into party or raid chat saying “soz, was chatting to my mate in SC2” when you should have been dpsing or healing. You would be swiftly vote kicked, booted from raid and or possibly gkicked for not having your head in the game, so I personally don’t see the appeal or practicality past it being a handy way of getting hold of people.

Some have taken this news as a sign that Blizzard is about to face its own cataclysm with some gamers taking the change in forum policy as the last straw and quitting the game in defiance. Even the most casual of gamers can see how this is a blatant breach of privacy wrapped up in terms and conditions and clauses that were fundamentally not there when we first signed up, but would have to accept now if we wanted to continue playing.

Blizzard have assured that all past posts to the forum will not be retroactively converted to this new system, and that all posts in the future on the new forum systems will be an opt-in choice and ample warning will be given that you’re posting with your real first and last name.

All very well said, but that’s not really the point now, is it? What really doesn’t make sense, but may be traced to Blizzard and Activision merger, is why they would even think of this as a good idea, and why effectively they’d shoot themselves in the foot and quash social interaction on the forums – something which they themselves they take pride in – with the removal of anonymity.

The only possible upshot that I can see, is that this could very well spell the death of the Internet forum troll forever; but at the expense of alienating the existing user-base?

Honestly, I’m stunned and I know that I for one will not be posting on the forum (not that I do, mind) come this change.

While Real ID is not so much of an issue in-game considering that you must first give consent, the peer-pressure associated with it is enormous. Obviously this isn’t something that you do with people you meet in PUG’s (Pick Up Groups, random players you meet for the uninitiated), but the friends you’ve made over the years might feel hurt or be persistent and try to wear you down to add them. Granted the argument can be made that if they do that, they’re not friends at all, but still, it’s an unnecessary drama that is, well, unnecessary.

Then that seems to be the fundamental issue with Real ID – it’s unnecessary. In concept, it sounded promising. In execution, it’s a bloated system with far too many pitfalls and stigmas attached for it to be even remotely useful; and again, to extend it to the forum is both absurd and mind boggling.

Many, if not all, love the game, as the moment they enter their log-in details, select their characters and click “Enter World”, they are that character. They can leave the real world worries behind and immerse themselves in a virtual world devoid of the mundane. It is a second life, and that escapism is so welcome and often at times so needed to de-stress, relax and let go – but now to enter that world and be known by your real name? Hear that? That’s the sound of many a sigh and thousands of /headdesks the world over.

Sure, a couple of my guildies know my real first name, but they only ever call me by avatar name when speaking openly in guild-chat and or over Vent. Even then, privately, they know me so well by my WoW name, that it becomes force of habit. They don’t see the need in it, and I’m just glad that my guild (to which I’m an officer of now after some recent changes, so I fully expect a couple of “gz”’s in the comments below) aren’t one of those adopting this Real ID feature as part of their application process. Showing your Core Hound Pups, fine, but the latter is just a ridiculous, disgusting policy that is a clear abuse of the “bring the player” mentality.

Honestly, I don’t know whether this is just punishment for all of us who do behave and act accordingly all because of some players who love to ninja be unsociable and like to hide behind a name and flame and insult away on the forums; and who basically delight in spoiling the experience for the rest of us.

Can you imagine the naming and shaming that conceivably could, no, WILL happen if trolls just want to be trolls and find you on the forums and then spams your real name in trade-chat? Because I guarantee that it WILL happen.

It’s unbelievable.