The announcement came from the World of WarCraft developer yesterday on its official forum. The Real ID features are set to kick in on all StarCraft II forums first prior to the release of the game on July 27 and followed by WoW forums around the as-yet-unannounced release date of the Cataclysm expansion.
"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," Blizzard stated.
The Blizzard post immediately generated an epic thread (56 pages and counting) of posts full of shock and fury. One poster, Whlplshr, echoed the sentiments of many others when he stated: "Wow. Even as someone who hates the fact that these forums are a joke and overrun with trolls and morons.. I can't stress enough how terrible a solution this is. I don't want my real name out there. I'm sure that many people who are not trolls and just want to have civil conversation will also not want their real name out there."
But the developer is standing firm, stating it was not a decision it made lightly. "With the launch of the new Battle.net, it's important to us to create a new and different kind of online gaming environment -- one that's highly social, and which provides an ideal place for gamers to form long-lasting, meaningful relationships. All of our design decisions surrounding Real ID -- including these forum changes -- have been made with this goal in mind."
Sharkey says: Giving a normal, well-balanced individual a web forum, a controversial topic, and anonymity is, in a surprisingly high number of cases, like giving Dr. Jekyll a potion and watching him transform into Mr. Hyde. The whole purpose of forums has, in many cases, been rendered moot by trolls. Any solution is imperfect, whether it be making forums private or requiring real names. Without the shield of anonymity, will forum posters be more thoughtful? Less likely to insult and start flame wars? Will trolls become a thing of the past? On the flip side, how much of a concern is security? How many popular forum posters that are already contributing strong, intelligent comments will turn away because they simply don't want their true names revealed, for whatever reason? I give Blizzard a ton of credit for taking such a bold step and look forward to seeing how it impacts the developer's forums. Your thoughts?
