Blizzard's Real-ID system and the OcUK forums

I don't care, everyone knows my real name anyway ^_^

Plus, I don't play ass games like WoW :p
 
But what if you want the new hotness that everyones playing but, to get in, you have to have a verified photo with your name and ni number, all free for anyone to pervuse.
 
Thiassi said:
Not really. It's an option to post there about those things. Most people don't. Just look at the amount of posts compared to the actual user base.

Everything about transfers, etc can be found in the FAQ or, if it's a real problem, you open a ticket.

Simple. Personally, I've never posted on their forums and never will. See no point.
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If a character has been stuck in transfer or armory had not been updating correctly for the past week you can not find a solution for that in the FAQ, sometimes you need help to fix it. Most times if you ask a GM about technical/account/suggestions/billing stuff they will ask you to post on the forums, email or call them. Forums being the one where you are most likely to get the fastest answer.

Hey, maybe it would help tickets queues if people stopped flooding the system with things that GM's are not supposed to fix?

Having technical issues?
- Please keep in mind that GMs are not able to provide in depth technical answers.
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But you are right. Let's go to other forums where they can offer no assistance with the system rather than go to the official one for help :rolleyes:
 
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Hello everyone,

I'd like to take some time to speak with all of you regarding our desire to make the Blizzard forums a better place for players to discuss our games. We've been constantly monitoring the feedback you've given us, as well as internally discussing your concerns about the use of real names on our forums. As a result of those discussions, we've decided at this time that real names will not be required for posting on official Blizzard forums.

It's important to note that we still remain committed to improving our forums. Our efforts are driven 100% by the desire to find ways to make our community areas more welcoming for players and encourage more constructive conversations about our games. We will still move forward with new forum features such as conversation threading, the ability to rate posts up or down, improved search functionality, and more. However, when we launch the new StarCraft II forums that include these new features, you will be posting by your StarCraft II Battle.net character name + character code, not your real name. The upgraded World of Warcraft forums with these new features will launch close to the release of Cataclysm, and also will not require your real name.

I want to make sure it's clear that our plans for the forums are completely separate from our plans for the optional in-game Real ID system now live with World of Warcraft and launching soon with StarCraft II. We believe that the powerful communications functionality enabled by Real ID, such as cross-game and cross-realm chat, make Battle.net a great place for players to stay connected to real-life friends and family while playing Blizzard games. And of course, you'll still be able to keep your relationships at the anonymous, character level if you so choose when you communicate with other players in game. Over time, we will continue to evolve Real ID on Battle.net to add new and exciting functionality within our games for players who decide to use the feature.

In closing, I want to point out that our connection with our community has always been and will always be extremely important to us. We strongly believe that Every Voice Matters, ( http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/about/mission.html ) and we feel fortunate to have a community that cares so passionately about our games. We will always appreciate the feedback and support of our players, which has been a key to Blizzard's success from the beginning.

Mike Morhaime
CEO & Cofounder
Blizzard Entertainment
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Anyone seen http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8806623.stm?

Blizzard backs down over gamers using real names said:
By Maggie Shiels
Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley


Following a barrage of criticism, World of Warcraft publisher Blizzard has backed down on the need for gamers to use their real names on its forums.

The firm's about-face comes three days after saying it would introduce the feature as part of its Real ID product.

Blizzard said the intention was to cut down on "flame wars" and heated online arguments started to cause trouble.

Within 24 hours of announcing the plan, Blizzard received more than 1,000 comments, mostly critical.

Hours before the change of heart, there were around 50,000 comments stretching over some 2,500 pages.

"We've been constantly monitoring the feedback you've given us, as well as internally discussing your concerns about the use of real names on our forums," Mike Mourhaime, founder and chief executive of Blizzard wrote in an open letter on the company's forum page.

"As a result of those discussions, we've decided at this time that real names will not be needed for posting on official Blizzard forums."

REAL ID will still go ahead without the real names requirement and allow users to vote comments on the forum for World of Warcraft and Starcraft II up or down with low-rated posts slowly disappearing.

'Huge triumph'

The move has been described as a common sense one by those that cover the industry.

"Blizzard, like many firms, has been trying to figure out how to deal with the hateful flames that anonymous persons post by their thousands but getting gamers to use real identities wasn't the solution," said Dean Takahashi, lead writer with GamesBeat.com, an offshoot of the news website VentureBeat.

"There is something to be said for being able to post anonymous comments especially when you want to say something truthfully but can't because you are worried about it say affecting your employment position or because of the backlash you might get," he told BBC News.

The Centre for Democracy and Technology called it a "huge triumph for gamers" given concern that the new policy could lead to identity theft, stalking, real-life harassment and encroach on privacy.

"Once again we have seen how a motivated group of users can take back their privacy by using the power of the internet to share a common concern, amplify the message and demand corporate action," said Sean Brooks, programme associate for the Centre.

Those very users who hit out at the move to end anonymity were just as quick to applaud Blizzard for its volte face.

Comments on the company's forum page ranged from "thanks for listening to us. We really appreciated the U-turn on Real ID forums" to simply "win".
One player who goes by the moniker Zwip, Ragnaros was more prosaic in their assessment of the publisher's move and wrote "elitism is the fall of man, To proclaim that you are a scrub is the realisation of true skill, for forever you are improving".
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