Each place you go may require your name, and that's fine. Not many people here object to telling people their name. Here's the issue. If you read any of the thread you'd understand this.

When you do that in real life each discrete packet of information or interaction is mostly separate. My friends know my name, but someone else who knows my name cannot listen to the conversations I had at the bar with those friends. My work knows my name, but others who know my name can't search through all my HR forms. The restaurant I just went to asked for my name on my reservation, but someone else can't search the restaurants books to find out when I was there.

On the Internet, you can. These information sources are usually (and especially in the case of the Blizzard forums) public and therefore your name becomes a sort of decrypter ring. The more your name or any piece of personally identifiable information becomes attached to your transactions online, the easier it is for people to piece together larger and larger amounts of who you are.

There are numerous harms that can come of that. Some are annoyances and minor, some are slightly more abusive, and some are extremely abusive. People aren't saying that sharing names = being murdered for BM. It's a possibility, but it's not likely. Some people just are not comfortable with the loss of privacy that's being needlessly put on users of the forum.

+1

Most of my thoughts on this subject put in text so I wouldn't have to. Thanks ;>

shalamadoooo

78 Posts

July 08 2010 02:50 GMT

#2203

On July 08 2010 11:48 Spidermonkey wrote:

Show nested quote +

HAHAHAHA

:D Let me rephrase it- you don't have to be a flagrant douchebag.

cucumber

United States116 Posts

July 08 2010 02:58 GMT

#2204

Does anyone know if, after this change (if it happens) the SC2 forums will be subject to Google search, or will they robots.txt it? I honestly don't know the answer to this.

J0k3

Sweden40 Posts

July 08 2010 03:10 GMT

#2205

I have no problems at all with this and I dont see why anyone else does.

baller

527 Posts

July 08 2010 03:12 GMT

#2206

On July 08 2010 12:10 J0k3 wrote:
I have no problems at all with this and I dont see why anyone else does.

i agree, andrew

more ppl to come to TL

Kennigit

Canada19447 Posts

July 08 2010 03:13 GMT

#2207

Great insight guys.

SonuvBob

Aiur21552 Posts

July 08 2010 03:15 GMT

#2208

Hi 5 Tyler!

cucumber

United States116 Posts

July 08 2010 03:15 GMT

#2209

I can tell you why people have problems with this. I've been online since the 1980s. In the early 1990s someone got my real name and distributed it to some people who didn't like me. They didn't like me for completely trivial, teenage reasons. Not substantive ones.

My family got our magazine subscriptions cut off. We had our gas cut off. We had all sorts of everything cut off.

Because of some vindictive hormone-charged teenager morons.

If people want to protect their identity they can do that and still have a good forum. It just requires a different solution and a little more expense. A lot of people who play Blizzard games are normal and well-adjusted. Some are not. And those who are not can have freakish power given today's internet.