What I think of Blizzard's new Real ID

Well, it sure does mean we'll be saving the cost of two copies of Starcraft, and it definitely ended any lingering temptation I might have to have resubscribed to WoW. So there's that.

Quick rundown: Starting pretty much immediately, all Friends (and Friends of Friends) on your battlenet account will see your real, legal identity. In addition, all Blizzard official fora will make posting IDs your real, legal identity. This is being done in the former case, allegedly, to help people "network", and in the latter case, for "accountability" for trolls.

This bullshit about "accountability" is just that: bullshit. Blizzard already has all your personal info, possibly including a credit card # to boot. If you troll on the fora, and are reported, there is nothing stopping them from using the banstick or (if necessary) closing your account even without that information in any event, but with it, they also can potentially keep you from making a new one. The only people this will be revealing your name to is other players.

Oh, there's some bullshit about how on the WoW fora, you can change which character name you post under to get away from being known as a troll, but the point is, you can't change the underlying login, so Blizzard can still banhammer away even if you manage to post 50 times under 50 different names before they review any player reporting of your trolling. So, again, the only people this is now revealing your name to is other players. And other players have no need to know your real, legal identity.

I would venture to guess that a lot of people will simply be driven away from both battlenet and the online fora by this decision. Some, like me—and I'm not completely averse to using my "real" name online (though I sure as hell refuse to use my legal first name, which I abhor and only use when forced to), but I want to do so under my terms, not someone else's—will simply cease to do business with Blizzard.

It's a bad idea. It's a bad, stupid idea that could lead to stalking, harassment (especially over now-highly-guessable gender), and simply bothering a whole lot of people. The first two are worrisome; the last is simply an annoyance, granted, but it's an annoyance I personally am choosing to live without.

ETA: And here's someone who breaks down why it's a bad idea. (via the news on today's Penny Arcade)