Bnet forums to be Real Name Only - Page 56

On July 07 2010 08:01 Liquid`NonY wrote:

It has been available for years. All the top players' names have been known for years. Anyone who has participated in WCG has had their name published. Same with TSL. Hell, teamliquid.net has a database with that info. And beyond players, the names of commentators, news writers, fan site staff, Blizzard employees, etc are known. The addresses and real names of all the progamers in Korea are known.

People harass Bashiok now because they're assholes who are mad for reasons that they can't even explain, not because they couldn't harass Bashiok before.

If you don't think people should be harassed for publicly stating an opinion, then encourage the victims of harassment to report incidents to law enforcement. That shit isn't legal.

On July 07 2010 08:26 whoopadeedoo wrote:
To anyone who thinks you can't find information about someone just by searching their real name:
Please post your real name.

On July 07 2010 08:30 MuTT wrote:
There is no rest for the wicked I see... No matter i will crush your weak mind! The point isn't people making fun of the names!!!! its about the power of cross referencing to obtain more sensitive information such as phone number, family members, and address. If you don't think this is a big deal tell me your phone number and service carrier so i can spam you with my email! I will show you like how they showed Bashiok!

On July 07 2010 08:13 Fen wrote:


Yeah its been posted, and its also been discovered that the person whos information was made public isnt actually Bashiok.

Some poor guy has been getting bombarded with prank calls and texts thanks to a stupid decision by blizzard. This is their fault, and I hope they make some formal apology to that guy.

For certain forums, anyone posting or replying to a post will be doing so using their Real ID -- that is, their full first and last name -- with the option to also display the name of their primary in-game character. See discussion regarding Real ID below.

On July 07 2010 08:32 iCCup.Diamond wrote:


Lol you are sooooooooo far from "crushing my weak mind".

Ok all Blizzard is showing is your name. So here you go: Patrick F Soulliere II.

Do your worst.

On July 07 2010 08:30 MuTT wrote:
There is no rest for the wicked I see... No matter i will crush your weak mind! The point isn't people making fun of the names!!!! its about the power of cross referencing to obtain more sensitive information such as phone number, family members, and address. If you don't think this is a big deal tell me your phone number and service carrier so i can spam you with my email! I will show you like how they showed Bashiok!

On July 07 2010 08:20 Fen wrote:


1. I did not send anything or phone anything

2. Yes this is blizzards fault. A high profile person put out the challenge to see what people could do with a name. That high profile person is at fault for the resulting problems to an innocent person.

3. Being a spokesperson for Blizzard, that high profile person represents the company. And the company is accountable for his actions. Thus Blizzard ARE at fault.

On July 07 2010 08:32 iCCup.Diamond wrote:

Do your worst.

I just got off the phone with Blizzard's Technical Support (nice gentleman who helped answer my questions by the way) so now I feel a bit more secure about making this post. Also the 30 minute hold time gave me a few moments to gather my thoughts so I can speak thoughtfully without fear or anger leaking through.

Before I voice my opinion I will state that I have a recorded converstion from a Blizzard employee saying that the posts made today and before the new Real ID system goes into place on these forums WILL NOT show our information. Only posts made after Real ID is put into the forums will have this information.

This new system is a horrible idea. There are already well over 80 pages of people stating their ideas on this subject so I doubt what I say will be heared but I will try to present my arguments against Real ID in the hopes that someone will listen.

1. UNIQUE NAMES: Some people (including my husband for one) have very unique names. The linking of a person's real name if you have a common name is less troublesome because that person would be hard to track with a name alone, but if you have a name that is very uncommon linking it to a public forum is very invasive to that person. It could lead to that person being harrassed or annoyed (I will not overreact and use the word stalked) while trying to interact with their hobby.

People play this game for relaxation on their off time. But, for example, if you had a unique name and applied for a job and the potential employer googled your name and found posts on a gaming forum they may not hire you because they have ill conceved notions about gamers. In this exaple the employer may be working off an unfair stereotype but it still would hinder that person getting a job. And FYI without a job that person wouldn't be able to have the money to play WoW. Just a thought Blizzard.


2. COMMON NAMES: For those on the other side of the fence having a fairly common name can also lead to harrassment in a different way. You could be mistaken for someone else entirely and that can lead to confusion not only on the forums themselves but also outside of them.

The last thing I need is someone tracking me down via a google search of my fairly common name, getting my WoW info because I asked a question on a forum about a game I paly for fun, and contacting my character in game, or on the forums to yell at me about alamony payments when I dont have a ex-husband.


3. GENDER: As a female this one bothers me a lot. Not only do I not want to be petitioned by random people for cyberlovin while I am playing a game, but more importantly I do not want to be a target offline. Most males my not understand the fear women have in today's world about this but it is a real and genuine threat that does, sadly, happen. Women are stalked, hurt, even killed every day and we are taught from a young age to be careful and cautious when dealing with the unknown (aka strangers and the internet). It is a terrible reality about our society and I wish it wasn't so but fact is it happens.

I have been occasionaly harrassed while in game for cyberlovin (can not use the real words they use due to being banned on the forums if I do) and I have reported it when it does and Blizzard has never done a thing about it (repeat violations in some cases and their toons are still in the game with no reprocussions). I can't imagine what would happen if more of these perverts knew I was an actual girl. I shudder the think about it.

4. MINORS: Similar to the gender issue. There are minors that play this game and giving out their information to the general public is a bad idea. Even people who are 'adults' aka 18, 19, 20 can still be very impressionable and giving out their real names to the world wide web can only lead to trouble.

5. IDENTITY THIEFT: I know you can't steal a persons ID with ONLY their name but hainvg someone's full name is a great place to start.

6. WoW CRAZIES: Most people who paly this game are what would be classified as 'casuals'. But some people take this game way to seriously. I have been shocked and even fealful of a few of the players I have come across and giving them the ability to track me down and potentally harm me because I beat them in a duel frightens me.

7. INTERNET CRAZIES: Even worse these are the stalkers and child molesters that pray on people on the internet. I dont want then to have access to my full name!

8. SPAMMERS: Giving the internet as a whole your information can lead to spamming and flooding of your e-mail.facebook, exc even more then it is already. Gold sellers are going to have a hayday with this one.

If your name was Jerry Sienfled and you had a wow forum post I bet you ever single variation of your name at most popular e-mail hosters is going to be flooded with fake Blizzard emails. JerrySiefeld@hotmail, @gmail, @yahoo, exc. and now the gold sellers and hackers will have a way to customize those fake mails to your real name! Dear Jerry, We at Blizzard are please to announce you are in the beta! Please visit our fakelink to get your account hacked.

9. SAFETY OF BLIZZARD: Just like giving out a real name to fellow players is a bad idea, giving out the names of all your forum moderators is just as bad or worse! Your poilcy now is to have your phone representatives only use their first names for thier own safety (remember I recorded the conversation) and now you are going to change that! You could have an employee tracked down this way and come to serious harm. Not safe or smart.

So what can you do instead of using a person's full name? How aobut only being allowed to post on one toon? You have to pick a toon and that is that. Or using a set handle? Set up Real ID with this and I would use it in game as well.

And for all the people who say the forums are optional I will remind you that I pay the same subscripion fee that you do and so limiting what I can do with it doesn't seem like the most fair solution. I feel I should be able to use the forums to get information and to share ideas. I agree the trolls are a pain but there has to be a better more secure way then this.

-Quira

On July 07 2010 01:19 Valar_Omega wrote:
Not a fan of having my real self connected to even post I make

On July 07 2010 08:34 Bibdy wrote:


http://www.myspace.com/diamondback2

I WILL DESTROY ALL OF MICHIGAN STATE TO DESTROY YOU!

That is gonna be a lot of prank pizza orders.