Blizzard To Require Real First and Last Names For Official Forums

You refuted the very argument... You Name is public record, so it is the last thing that is private. I can set up a bot to read all IPs and find your provider and then in turn find your name, it's not that hard. I don't find the argument that I don't want people to know my name as valid, at least with the reason given so far.

I also heard that people maybe worried about persecution because we are Christians and it would be easier for people to do so. To that I say, "MY NAME IS CHRISTOPHER WHITE, I AM A CHRISTIAN AND I LIVE AT 1314 14th Street Aurora, NE 68818!"

In the early church all Christians longed to be persecuted, it was considered a blessing to be tested and pained for Jesus.
 
I don't like it either. mostly, i don't want harassers to know what sex i am, there are too many griefers/stalkers, same reason i don't make my fb page public.
 
Goodwone said:
I don't like it either. mostly, i don't want harassers to know what sex i am, there are too many griefers/stalkers, same reason i don't make my fb page public.
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This is possibly the best example of why. Thanks Goodwone, shame it only applies to women
 
Goodwone said:
I don't like it either. mostly, i don't want harassers to know what sex i am, there are too many griefers/stalkers, same reason i don't make my fb page public.
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In this world of seriously disturbed creepazoids I don't think being cautious about your identity is a negative.

I don't want to be a fear monger but I counsel people with disturbing obsessions all the time and many of those stem from internet activity.

I for one have actually had my family's life threatened due to someone with an imbalanced anger at church. I barely slept every night and I had a baseball bat under my bed till they hauled the person off to prison.

We can all make bold proclamations about not being afraid - until it happens to us - and I was afraid.

Do I think RealID is something to be scared of? Not at all, cautious - absolutely.
 
At minimum Blizzard should at least respect the wishes of individuals who do not want to divulge their information.

Anonymity and its benefits have a valid place in a republic (arguably free) society. Unfortunately it's importance seems to be lost on the younger generation.

Either way, Blizzard has really pulled a "bait and switch" here because when you signup you are given a sense of anonymity with a username and then to say, "Sorry nope" is a really really bad idea. I'm not saying have a RealID is a bad idea, but rather switching your account and making it default "on" is plain stupid.
 
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Anonymity is an extremely important part of the internet.. I don't know if it's a "good" thing, but it's one of the main draws to internet video gaming. With this, we lose it. And now, when you apply for a job, they will search your name and see your posts on the Blizzard forums... and possibly think "hmm, do I really want someone who plays video games at my job when I could have someone who doesn't".

Trolls will STILL troll the forums, just with fake names. And now we are all forced to use our real ones, so the trolls have extremely easy access to that.
 
Mordos said:
You refuted the very argument... You Name is public record, so it is the last thing that is private.
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My name is public record, yes. Blizzard connecting it to my characters and the things I say/do in game is not. Until now, the random gamer had no way of finding out my name. Suppose I win a roll against someone who didn't think I should have. This person is legally crazy. He loses it, threatens me in-game, then goes to the forums (or probably armory soon) to link my character name with my real name, then goes and checks the public record to find my house.

I can set up a bot to read all IPs and find your provider and then in turn find your name, it's not that hard.
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I don't think you can legally do this, but I'll give the benefit of the doubt. I seriously doubt my provider will give you my name, considering the trouble I have to go through to prove who I am every time I call. EVEN IF all this is possible, it still doesn't change the fact that I don't want Blizzard making it easier for people.

I don't find the argument that I don't want people to know my name as valid, at least with the reason given so far.
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Again, you are confusing agreement with validity. My name is mine to do with what I wish. You can share my view or not, but just because you don't care about people knowing yours doesn't mean it's invalid for me to care about who knows mine.

I also heard that people maybe worried about persecution because we are Christians and it would be easier for people to do so. To that I say, "MY NAME IS CHRISTOPHER WHITE, I AM A CHRISTIAN AND I LIVE AT 1314 14th Street Aurora, NE 68818!"

In the early church all Christians longed to be persecuted, it was considered a blessing to be tested and pained for Jesus.
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This is not one of the things I'm worried about.

When persecution happened, they endured it, and considered it an honor to be able to be persecuted for Jesus. The Bible even says in James 1:2 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds..." But I seriously doubt they went to extra effort to obtain additional persecution. Living the Christian life brings it's own persecution as I can say from constant experience. I go on, actively living my Christian life, and I endure the persecution it brings, but I don't go out actively looking for persecution.
 
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Well there is those bots people have in their signatures that will tell you your ip what computer your using, what internet browser, EVERYTHING.
I think the battle here is not Real id i think its more along the lines of the amount of power hackers have now a days. The ability to find information at a click of a button. Having someone know my name doesnt scare me, its the fact that A they somehow can find me because of other tools or B steal my small amount of money!
 
I think that if you don't want someone to know your name that is your right. I don't so much mind if people know my name.. as evidenced by the fact that my name is in all my character's names and I link my website at the bottom of my signature. But, I can totally understand anyone who wants to keep their identity from public knowledge. That is privileged information in my book.

If you call AT&T and ask them "Does Bill Reed have an account with you?" they are not allowed to disclose that kind of information. Having your name published through the forums takes away that anonymity and the right for someone to not disclose that information. Whether you think it's stupid or not it is the right of the individual to choose to disclose that info or not.

Think of it a different way. I'm not 100% sure on this.. but I believe the age you have to be to use the forums is 13. Would anyone want every stranger out there in the internet to know your 13 year old daughters name and information? I don't have kids.. but I don't think I would! There are so many predators out there I think it makes sense if there are some people who don't want their identities to be public.

Another example... There have been many times in a PUG when people have found out that Ashley is a girl and they start making lewd sexual remarks directed at her. That is far more likely to happen to women whose real ids show up on the forums. I read a post earlier that said that kind of problem only applies to women... like the argument was somehow bad because of that. So then what do you do? Only show the Real IDs of men and let the women be anonymous? That isn't constitutional and would bring about law suits based on gender discrimination. Gender is a protected thing in the United States. Plus... everyone would know the anonymous people were women haha.
 
I don't really care if people know my name. I was in an arena team with some random people and they wanted to know my real name... And I had no problem with it. It was actually nice to be called by my real name lol. But at the same time my last name isn't really common... So there's only a few with the same last name lol. But it's not like they have your social security number.
 
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i agree with bill i personally dont see a problem with people knowing my name even though i have a rather unique first name... no one spells zackariah like well zackariah lol so if you search for me on facebook im the only one. That kinda bugs me but having friends know my real name like bill and tots and goodwone im perfectly fine with.. its these poor hunters that i own that im scurred of
 
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