Battle.net forums to use real ID only

[Jmac]

Maul, unfortunately, you are demonstrating ignorance about the implications of online reputation.

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/tomofv

Profile pic:
http://i47.tinypic.com/dwrhbd.jpg

E-mail address:
http://sclegacy.com/forums/showthread.php?p=72175

Maul's mother vacuum cleaning (on Youtube):
http://www.youtube.com/user/tomofv#p/a/u/1/zIPQacl6uzM

Maul's age, opinions and interests (on Digg):
http://digg.com/users/tomofv
i.e. Maul visits 4chan

Maul's city of residence in 2006:
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum...91#post7298491

Duplicated information in Maul's SC:L account profile:
http://sclegacy.com/forums/member.php?u=1113

I think people should be afforded the option to choose what they disclose (i.e. their full name) to other users, even if they are required to register a unique, legitimate profile with an organization.

I've participated in a member-moderated online community where people were accountable for the quality of their posts and interactions, and it worked rather well. However, forcing people (especially minors) to disclose their name publicly in order to participate in online conversations seems like a mistake to me. Full name disclosure isn't a prerequisite to having courteous interactions online.

*Moderators* Feel free to delete this post and its links.

[Blazur]

but this gets rid of trolls

It may eliminate trolls from the forum, but it won't necessarily prevent them from viewing the forums unless registration/signon becomes compulsory even for that.

Another thought is this could be a mechanism hackers can use to harvest email addresses to trick WoW players into losing their accounts. Just sniff the web/facebook for RealIDs to try and get an email address, craft an email with a fake WoW link on it prompting people to sign on, when in reality it's submitting their account information to hackers.

[Twilice]

I'm suprised blizzard didn't even think about this.
(now I will get starcraft 2, but this might severely reduce the chances of getting an account on the new blizzard forums which I was looking forward to actaully)

[mgcemir]

Maul, unfortunately, you are demonstrating ignorance about the implications of online reputation.

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/tomofv

Profile pic:
http://i47.tinypic.com/dwrhbd.jpg

E-mail address:
http://sclegacy.com/forums/showthread.php?p=72175

Maul's mother vacuum cleaning (on Youtube):
http://www.youtube.com/user/tomofv#p/a/u/1/zIPQacl6uzM

Maul's age, opinions and interests (on Digg):
http://digg.com/users/tomofv
i.e. Maul visits 4chan

Maul's city of residence in 2006:
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum...91#post7298491

I think people should be afforded the option to choose what they disclose (i.e. their full name) to other users, even if they are required to register a unique, legitimate profile with an organization.

I've participated in a member-moderated online community where people were accountable for the quality of their posts and interactions, and it worked rather well. However, forcing people (especially minors) to disclose their name publicly in order to participate in online conversations seems like a mistake to me. Full name disclosure isn't a prerequisite to having courteous interactions online.

*Moderators* Feel free to delete this post and it's links.

pwned. well not really but i see stalker potential. i say rush for blink !

[Maul]

Maul, unfortunately, you are demonstrating ignorance about the implications of online reputation.

How am I being ignorant when I've willingly given up my Facebook details for educational purposes? I'm simply not terrified of people knowing a thing or two about me, as in real life, most people already do.

[silencbank]

I'm not afraid of being trolled on the forum, I'm afraid of what those people can actually do.

And what can they do that someone else that has no idea who you are can do? Bad things can happen to you or anyone anytime at all. Do you really think that one website on the internet that displays your name if you choose to use it will dramatically increase your chances of something happening?

There has been countless things that try to phish WoW accounts from people. I used to play all the time, and played it since it began. And with all of the information Blizzard has put out saying EXACTLY what their emails would look like then that is the person's fault for not being educated at the risks. If Blizzard did not constantly remind players exactly the way that Blizzard reps would respond to them this would be a concern but it is not.

Yeah I agree with Jmac that there are other ways to get rid of spammers, flamers and trolls. But Blizzard just decided to do it differently. Instead of having people constantly staring at the forums and threads, deleting stupid posts, and all that; the moderators can actually contribute to the conversation. They can answer serious questions instead of having to delete over 9000 threads a day of spamming and trolling, thus getting us the answers that we want faster. It is not the best idea, but it solves the solution that Blizzard wanted solved.

Oh and Gifted, you must make your wall of text. We demand it.

[mikill]

I hate facebook and thus will never have an account. But this is not fair to release your name to millions of people.

[Jmac]

How am I being ignorant when I've willingly given up my Facebook details for educational purposes? I'm simply not terrified of people knowing a thing or two about me, as in real life, most people already do.

I chose the word ignorant, because I doubt that you are aware of the extent to which human resources personnel use online resources for background checks.

If I'm seeking a mature and professional, albeit young employee, do you think I'd be impressed to see that you were -17 repped for a comment you made on a TED talk or that you frequent 4chan? Chances are that's not the impression you are trying to give to a potential employer.

Human resources personnel are just regular people who are responsible for screening a tremendous volume of candidates down into a small handful of potential hires. Like it or not, all it takes is an impression to move your resumé from the 'good' pile into the circular filing bin.

For all I know, you could be well-versed in online reputation management... However, I assumed that based upon your willingness to disclose your name online in association with a number of disparate accounts that you are not an online branding maven.

Finally, bear in mind that I'm no online sleuth, but just a regular person with access to Google. Since your interests in this topic were educational, I hope that myself and others have been able to help you see that online identities are difficult to segregate and that every action you take online leaves traces that can be followed and linked. Therefore, anyone (be it a stalker or potential employers) can follow the trail you leave, even years later. To wrap things up, I'm not one of these paranoid lunatics who thinks that the internet is full of nothing but computer viruses and pedophiles... but everything you say or do online can (and *might*) be used against you. Be advised.

[Norfindel]

WTF? Who's behind such decisions? This doesn't make any sense.

I don't want to give my real name to any stranger, nor i want to be possible to track what i do online by searching my real name.

I won't write a single word in their forums if this is implemented. Something like this was necessary for Facebook, but for the forum of a game doesn't makes any sense.

[newcomplex]

The forum crew should be really happy and behind Blizzard every bit though.

It means more new members for our forum .