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The RealID Fiasco

Blizzard has set us up the Bomb

Blizzard dropped a bomb on July 6th, 2010 stating real names would be used in the upcoming new forums.
The stated reason is to "clean up the forums." On the battle.net forum where this information debuted, US CM Nethaera posted:
"The official forums have always been a great place to discuss the latest info on our games, offer ideas and suggestions, and share experiences with other players -- however, the forums have also earned a reputation as a place where flame wars, trolling, and other unpleasantness run wild. Removing the veil of anonymity typical to online dialogue will contribute to a more positive forum environment, promote constructive conversations, and connect the Blizzard community in ways they haven’t been connected before."
What this led to was a "megathread" where thousands of customers posted their displeasure of this proposed upcoming change. Several people were confused as to the real reasons Blizzard wanted to implement such a dangerous method of moderating the new forums. Especially as there were many alternate solutions - such as heavier penalties for abusive language etc, hiring more moderators, using a Global ID to eliminate level 1 forum trolls - seem as though they'd be better suited to fixing the problem & without the privacy concerns inherent to sharing the legal names of the posters.

Making a Stand: Mass Concern

The proposed RealID changes inevitably created a vast array of emotions from confusion, hysteria, fear, and even hatred within the community. Within hours a dangerous website appeared that promoted open harrassment of Blizzard employees by using their personal information against them. In this website's eyes if our personal information was up for grabs then it was okay to harrass the Blizzard employees. This website also began spreading rumors that certain addons were revealing personal information to other addon users. Although it should be noted that Deadly Boss Mods addon did reveal such information but has been quickly patched to not do so. Although this website was created to make a point it was a badly staged one.

Others within the community fought back with a mass cancellation rebellion. If Blizzard was not to respect their privacy than they would show their displeasure by closing their wallets. This was a quiet but powerful protest that directly affected Blizzard. Many others alike in the WoW Ladies community got in contact with Blizzard employess that were also against the upcoming changes. A list of emails and written letters were compliled together stating personal feelings, private situations, and boycotting of Blizzard products in the hopes to show why they are against the changes. This massive effort was then forwarded and/or mailed to the hands of the allied Blizzard employees as arsenal against the real name change.

The End Game

On July 9th, 2010 a forum post by Mike Morhaime, co-founder and CEO of Blizzard Entertainment, has released a statement that says "real names will not be required for posting on official Blizzard forums."


BBCNews - Blizzard backs down over gamers using real names

Personally I think this has come as a sharp wake-up call for many of us. As a community we came together and spoke our voices in a unite stand against a potentially dangerous situation.  Let's hope we don't have to do it again.



Related Links  - A big thank you to the WoW Ladies community for providing this list!


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