Blizzard scraps Real ID for its forums

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 9 July, 2010

"We will always appreciate the feedback."

After a week of angry online protests Blizzard Entertainment has scrapped its controversial plan to force gamers to use their real names when posting on its official forums.

Blizzard's decision means users of the US company's popular forums will continue to post anonymously.

"I'd like to take some time to speak with all of you regarding our desire to make the Blizzard forums a better place for players to discuss our games," CEO and co-founder Mike Morhaime said in a post on Blizzard's forum.

"We've been constantly monitoring the feedback you've given us, as well as internally discussing your concerns about the use of real names on our forums. As a result of those discussions, we've decided at this time that real names will not be required for posting on official Blizzard forums."

Blizzard planned to force players to use their Real ID – the real name associated with their Battle.net master account – when posting. Perhaps inevitably, the decision was met with a storm of protest when it was announced this week.

A Blizzard employee going by the handle Bashiok revealed his real name, Micah Whipple, on the forums in the course of the debate. WoW Riot responded by quickly finding and publishing Whipple's address, phone number, age, the names of his family, his Facebook page and lists of his favourite music and movies, to illustrate the privacy and identity theft issues raised by Blizzard's decision.

"It's important to note that we still remain committed to improving our forums," Morhaime continued. "Our efforts are driven 100 per cent by the desire to find ways to make our community areas more welcoming for players and encourage more constructive conversations about our games. We will still move forward with new forum features such as the ability to rate posts up or down, post highlighting based on rating, improved search functionality, and more.

"However, when we launch the new StarCraft II forums that include these new features, you will be posting by your StarCraft II Battle.net character name + character code, not your real name. The upgraded World of Warcraft forums with these new features will launch close to the release of Cataclysm, and also will not require your real name."

While critics will view the reversal as a victory, Morhaime was keen to remind gamers that Blizzard still intends to employ Real ID within its games and that the system will continue to evolve.

"I want to make sure it's clear that our plans for the forums are completely separate from our plans for the optional in-game Real ID system now live with World of Warcraft and launching soon with StarCraft II. We believe that the powerful communications functionality enabled by Real ID, such as cross-game and cross-realm chat, make Battle.net a great place for players to stay connected to real-life friends and family while playing Blizzard games. And of course, you'll still be able to keep your relationships at the anonymous, character level if you so choose when you communicate with other players in game. Over time, we will continue to evolve Real ID on Battle.net to add new and exciting functionality within our games for players who decide to use the feature.

"In closing, I want to point out that our connection with our community has always been and will always be extremely important to us. We strongly believe that Every Voice Matters, and we feel fortunate to have a community that cares so passionately about our games. We will always appreciate the feedback and support of our players, which has been a key to Blizzard's success from the beginning."

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (50) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Emmit_Assassin #1 2 years ago

    Bloody hell. A big company puts forward an absurd idea, takes note of the backlash, and decides to abandon it.
    Well done, Blizzard. Doing a u-turn isn't that hard is it?

  • Cider-X #2 2 years ago

    Greatest PR stunt this year...

  • freakzilla #3 2 years ago

    Well at least they listened... unlike Ubisoft. I just don't know what's going on with these multinational corporations these days.

  • Wyrm #4 2 years ago

    Kudos to Blizzard here.

  • Freek #5 2 years ago

    Unlike Ubisofts DRM this had actual real world privacy issues wich then lead into potential legal issues and that just makes you wonder why they ever got this past the idea stage in the first place.

  • NewbieZilla #6 2 years ago

    Come up with stupid idea.
    People get pissed off.
    Retract stupid idea.
    People think how wonderful an act they did.

    Er, they backtracked on a ridiculous idea. An idea that would have made lots of people stop going to the forums, for one thing. Other MMOs were advertising themselves as not going down the invasion of privacy path. Blizzard aren't backtracking out of the good of their hearts. They are changing because they want to keep the golden goose as stable as possible.

    If you are impressed by Blizzard in this matter, you are far too easily impressed.

  • Eraysor #7 2 years ago

    It's possible to be pleased without being impressed though. I'm pleased.

  • Eyhren #8 2 years ago

    I think it's ridiculous how much people actually cared about this. Having experienced some of the unnecessary elitism of some of the wow forums myself, I would welcome a system such as this. My real name must be stored on thousands of web servers out there and I don't even use facebook.

    Regardless, I am still genuinely impressed with their reaction to the shitstorm. I know it seems like they're just trying to put a good spin on a mistake, but when you think about it, they really didn't have to listen to any of these complaints. Realistically, only a very small fraction of the vast wow population actively and regularly use the forums. It wouldn't have made the slightest little difference if they'd gone ahead and done it anyway.

  • Slipstream #9 2 years ago

    Bloody hell. A big company puts forward an absurd idea, takes note of the backlash, and decides to abandon it.
    Well done, Blizzard. Doing a u-turn isn't that hard is it?

    Haha, +1

    Although, I do believe that the forums need some sort of going over and a stricter policy because they are a state.
    The former method was not the way however because as you saw, the forum abusers let out a big yelp! of fear.

  • Raiten #10 2 years ago

    @Eyhren, ridiculous? i mean come on.. how could not the lil poor forum trolls not care about that, if their secret identities were suddenly exposed, everyone playing wow would know which tards to avoid while playing and whom to put on ignore etc.
    If it'd have passed, the amount of elitism/ranting/e-peen showoff etc. would've been drasticly reduced when they couldn't have hiden behind random nicks.
    We can't have that now can we?

    Besides that, should we be impressed by blizzards withdrawal of this idea? maybe, up to you how you feel about it. It's still non the less commendable, considering just about every other major company goes trough with their stupid ideas, there's outbreak or two by communities, they get ignored, some time passes and they give up with ranting about it.
    Edited by Raiten at 09/07/10 @ 22:24

  • Scopeh #11 2 years ago

    It aint over by a long shot. Blizzard realised that implementing this would effect the sales and subs of Starcraft 2 and Cataclysm, so they decided to delay this 'little idea' for now. Once Starcraft and Cataclysm have been released and Activisions pockets are full again. Real ID forums Names will return with Avengeance.

  • anomagnus #12 2 years ago

    A truly legendary out by a games company

    Carte blanche for the bullshit in those forums to continue.

  • Gurgeh #13 2 years ago

    Bear in mind your reallID is still available through the mod-making UI of Wow. There are hacked versions of Gearscore out there that will list it out, and you can bet there are other mods out there too.

  • Distributor #14 2 years ago

    Shame really. Im probably the only one who would have welcomed the idea.

  • Felwyn #15 2 years ago

    Shame, could have been a chance to improve internet from a perennial troll playground for bored kids to a real social network. I honestly can't understand what all the fuss was about you think you still have power over your identity? Do you walk on the streets always wearing a mask for fear someone recognize you...Oh noes you found out what my favorite movie is, how will I sleep tonight...

  • riceNpea #16 2 years ago

    i wasnt too bothered.

    my real name is Ishaggedyourmum2008.

    i use Colin when i go online

  • Phishfood #17 2 years ago

    A shame, I was interested to see how it would turn out.

  • Peter_LIAR_Molyneux #18 2 years ago

    Gotta love that every one of you lamenting Activision Blizzard's reversal here doesn't use their own real first and last name at EG. Why not guys/girls, nothing is stopping you from doing so here if it isn't a big deal. Or do you need some huge multinational corporation to tell you it is okay first?

  • Eisenstein #19 2 years ago

    @2: Blizzard also want to monitor your every conversation in game...even your whispers to other players...the Lich King is the least of our worries - it's control and monitoring all rolled into one!

    What do you mean with "want"? Everyone who has ever logged a complaint about harrassment in WoW knows that they do indeed log every conversation and every movement/action in the game since at least Public Beta of WoW Classic.

  • reinhart_menken #20 2 years ago

    Don't understand how somebody working in the business of - basically - the Internet (the forum) could be so dumb to underestimate the power of real names on the Internet. There's dumb and there's idiotic/moronic and there's the inbred level.

    I understand the upside, but the downside is just too much (which, incidentally, the upside is a product of the downside).
    Edited by reinhart_menken at 10/07/10 @ 07:27

  • penhalion #21 2 years ago

    The amount of data games companies are trying to gather is absurd. We are playing your games not frakkin' selling our lives to you arseholes!

  • Spungles #22 2 years ago

    I bet if names were shown from day 1 nobody would have complained. People hate having perks taken away but rarely think of them if they aren't already there.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #23 2 years ago

    Pussies.

  • anomagnus #24 2 years ago

    In the more sober morning, i think i can articulate better my feelings on this.

    Its pretty much a disaster for Blizzard. Having taken a strong step, and come up with a bold idea to curtail a vocal minority, they've now been backed into a corner and wilted. Now, while i can take some heart in the fact a AAA games developer listened to its customers, its disappointing that after 5 years, this is the issue they've decided to act upon.

    I don't know how many of you have followed WoW, but 5 years ago, i remember watching the activity on the WoW forums, and being amazed. At the time, i was playing AO, and the biggest threads on the AO forums were smaller than even an average topic on the WoW boards. There were thousands of posters, and you'd be lucky if a topic you posted stayed on the front page for longer than an hour.

    I compare it to today, were even the Raids board, often one fo the most hotly debated boards can barely muster a 10 page response. Now, if the game had been dying, i'd understand the decline in forum activity, but thats hardly the case. We'll never know for sure, but i hardly think its a wild leap in logic to assume, that as the boards spiralled out of control, and trolling, griefing and insults became the norm, that people stopped using the forums.

    So, fast forward 5 years, and blizzard attempts something pretty radical, and the same people that have ruined the boards, have now scored a major 'victory'. If it can be called that. I'm amazed on two counts. One, the fake rage, and daily mail hysteria of privacy, which has become the 21st centuries modern religion. Two, the fact that anyone even cared.

    I won't even get into the first part, since most forumitess have no clue about privacy, and if they really cared and thought about it, they'd never post on line, anywhere, EVER. But the second is the most perplexing. When i played at the top end of the game, i barely used the WoW forums, except to bump my guilds recruitment post. If i wanted discussions on raids and tactics, i want to Tankspot. If i wanted discussions on Feral druids, i went to Elitest Jerks. Hell, if i wanted blue posts, i went to MMO champion. I'm not alone on this. This was and is the normal behaviour. Ironically, the only people who could seriously want to use the offical forums, were people who had a casual interest in the game, the same people that didn't want to use it due to a small, vocal and rude minority.

    There are no winners here, other than spoiled, petulent children who will now feel emboldened to up the ante in their abuse of others.

    This nerd storm in a tea cup makes me thankful i got out of WoW this year. Nothing will change in that game, which is a game paid for by many, and focused on a few.

    Edited by anomagnus at 10/07/10 @ 10:30

  • MightyMouse #25 2 years ago

    The idea that only trolls want some degree of privacy on the internet, is just trolling.

  • paulf #26 2 years ago

    Micah Whipple is his real name ? wow

  • anomagnus #27 2 years ago

    @MightyMouse

    I see you didnt bother to read the post at all. Well done on addressing the points you think its about.

    Its all moot now anyway, blizzard wilted. If it was was bad before on those forums, now it'll be the wildwest.

  • MightyMouse #28 2 years ago

    @anomagnus

    Shocking though it may be, I actually just disagree entirely with you.

  • virokka #29 2 years ago

    Blizzards problem there was getting a guy with a name like Micah Whipple to reveal his name - IS there no one called John Smith working there

  • ChaK #30 2 years ago

    funny how they coverered the whole "but your friend's friends will still see your RealID" with mess.

    That's still a shame, and they just act to cover that. I mean why should an 'internet friend' or even his friend, whom I have no darn idea who he might be, know my realID?

  • sneetch #31 2 years ago

    @MightyMouse
    Shocking though it may be, I actually just disagree entirely with you.

    I disagree with him too. The idea that forcing people to post with their real names would be a miracle cure that would somehow magically transform the forums is ridiculous. Anomagnus's off-hand dismissal of any fears or concerns people had as "fake rage, and daily mail hysteria of privacy" (which is trolling) just highlights the negatives of posting on the internet in general, I've no doubt he'd be willing to post that under his real name because he genuinely believes his position to be true, he himself is proof that this change would not have had the desired effect.

    I was very involved on the WoW forums when the game launched, debating the problems with the game, suggesting features giving feedback on bugs but I rarely do now, not because of trolls or because it wasn't friendly (and it was full of trolls from the start) but because I simply no longer felt the need.

    I've played the game for 5 years and I'm quite content with the changes they make and the features they add. They've improved the game in every area since launch and for the better. The reason I think that people post less on those boards is not because of some make believe fear of trolls and griefers that people like anomagnus have invented it's because there is now a wealth of information and resources off the boards, especially for things like raid information (like TankSpot). After all, why would you post "how do we kill the Lich King?" on the raid forums when you can not only go there and get all the information on how in one space but also watch videos of some guild killing him?

  • Kremlik Verified Co-Founder, Crash To Desktop #32 2 years ago

    Just to point out that the main reason/excuse they gave was to stop trolling, as I said before there are and is better ways of doing such things without allowing personal data to be used the 'character name + character code' they are 'continuing to use' should have been that option in the first place.

    While I'll agree with Anom about the 'nerd storm' being a bit OTT and slightly hypritical considering those 'raging' about the issue probly already have a facebook page with 2000 'friends' all seeing their full data already, there were genuine consers with employment not only finiding a job or also to continue having a job.

    As farfeched as it seems, because of the trolls and 'elite' in WoW, those that are gernally a good social player get lumped in with them so to most employers 'playing WoW = your lazy and a d**k' which isn't true in many many cases. Not only that RealID would have wreaked any form of RP outside of the game itself (and proper RP and 'community' stuff it quite big still) and techical support would be lost for those not wanting to 'opt in' to the RealID system at all.

    The 'character name + character code' system will definitly stop the level 1 alt troll, but 'true' trolls weren't effected and wouldn't have been so by the change anyway and a lot of media (mainly the comics) picked up on that and a LOT of people realised the 'reason' for the change was BS in the end, main fact really is that saying it was a 'nerd rage' and 'QQs win again' in most cases may be true but theres a good chuck of the playerbase with honest conserns with the system, which sadly many forget theres actally a playerbase behond the 'winey kids' because most of the time those 'kids' drown us out.
    Edited by Kremlik at 10/07/10 @ 13:43

  • SpaceMonkey77 #33 2 years ago

    I think all that money is going to their head, so I'm glad they are scrapping this. Blizzard, if you want people to behave on your forums, all you have to do is offer incentives per month for them to behave.

    eg. Offer free months of WoW subs or other kinds of content, for forum users who behave themselves, and get their points across without turning into flaming trolls of the balrog. Run a monthly raffle for all forums users, where the best behaved receive exclusive content rewards. That's all it takes to keep forum folk in check, plus we all know you can afford it, ActiBlizzard.

  • Spekingur #34 2 years ago

    @Soulwind: They are going to create a massively intelligent AI that can listen in on group chats and whispers and understand what is going on. And then play against humans accordingly. Now THAT right there would be the most awesome thing to play against in a MMO.

    Also, if you think WoW forums are bad just you wait for the release of Starcraft 2. And then, Diablo 3. Man, Diablo 3 forums are going to be hell. (har har)

  • darkmorgado #35 2 years ago

    Blizzard also want to monitor your every conversation in game...even your whispers to other players

    They already do. They are required by law to hold these records; they also need to hold the information in order to deal with player complaints about harassment etc.

    If you think that ANY company doesn't hold this information already, then you're an idiot.

  • Kami #36 2 years ago

    You just has to see the blogs that exposed just how devestating it can be to have even so much as a name up on the internet, the kind of information that can be gotten. Of course, this is true of the internet by and large but the issue here wasn't merely that it's amazingly easy to dig up information on people - it's how goldsellers and hackers in World of Warcraft could potentially exploit this to their own ends. These people make WoW a pain in the ass as it is, without the added worry that the forums could potentially end up a no-go zone.

    The problem is that Blizzard don't always ask for CD-Keys, for most of us this isn't too bad as I have my boxes but if you can skip the formalities and just say "D'oh, I lost my key" and provide them basic information, then boom. They're in. And Blizzard themselves would end up doing the hacking work for them - this is an extreme scenario of course but it was one demonstrated on the forums and was utterly shameful in every regard.

    There's also the issue of stopping trolling - most of us here have our real names in our profiles and, by and large, it doesn't stop us trolling (I am trying to cut down!). Just exposing someones identity doesn't stop them being a troll - this is what they are, what they do, what they will continue to do and BLizzard would never have been able to cut down the forum suspensions and bans just by this alone.

    This was a clusterfuck of an idea, a complete U-Turn, and a sad day for Blizzard Entertainment as a whole. In no way was RealID on the forums a sensible, logical, sane or idealist proposal - it was a totally lunatic concept that was being proposed very badly indeed, and the fact that so many users and bloggers in twenty-four hours exposed just how weak and exposed security is at Blizzard meant that retracting it was the only step they could take. It's such a shame as the beta is amazing, the new ideas for Cataclysm are stunning and the forum moderators are, by and large, really nice people who are taking all the flak for a stupid idea that was doomed to failure.

    In closing, what a cock-up...

  • Scottie #37 2 years ago

    Score 1 for anonymity!

  • Acrid #38 2 years ago

    If Bobby Kotick had been involved he would have charged you to not use your real name

  • Guildenstern #39 2 years ago

    Over this whole debacle I haven't seen one post from someone with history of contributing useful information to the forums and community building who would be for this change. Just sad little trolls with zero posts outside of the same thread, gloating about how everyone will be exposed to real-life stalking and violence. Pretty telling I'd say.

  • Grayvern #40 2 years ago

    Blizzard being unwilling/ unable to enforce a code of conduct on their forums is no excuse to allow the invasion of users privacy.

    And maybe it does somewhat protect trolls. But consider it from the other side it protects everyone else from trolls who are the type of people who are most likely to have no quibbles about invading peoples privacy to score points on forums.

    I'm shocked they considered it and I'm safer than most given the generic nature of my real name.
    Edited by Grayvern at 10/07/10 @ 23:28

  • Kami #41 2 years ago

    Okay, to clarify, even though I have run guilds - I have generally avoided the official WoW forums like the plague. It's not that they're clunky, buggy, ugly and obscenely outdated in terms of code - it's that there's no reason for me to BE part of the community spirit. The posts I have made have been guild events, sorting out one guild misdemeanour and some beta testing feedback. Other than that, I wouldn't use them. I gather my forces in-game, not on the forums, because it's a much more natural dynamic and truth be told, also less likely some tosser will hijack your post and teabag it into the middle of next week.

    Forums are fine if there's a reason to visit them - but this is an MMO, and WoW is by and large stable and runs smoothly and like clockwork. So no need to visit the tech support forums. Generally you can get away with one guild post and by and large your in-game guildies and friends will keep it indefinitely bumped, so no need to keep harping on the realm forum unless there's a very serious problem. Class/Profession/Cataclysm forums? To be fair, if I want to hear people whine like that I'll spend the weekend in fucking Paris.

    By and large, the WoW forums are a completely moot point. MMO-Champion has a blue poster tracker for most of us to keep up-to-date on the latest goings on. Guilds have their own networking sites and means. Even wow.com goes in-depth with many things from classes to lore to upcoming changes. There's nothing you can get on the WoW forums that can't be gotten elsewhere, and gotten cleaner and better to boot.

    So the issue isn't so much the RealID. It was a badly executed and poorly thought-out concept, but I do understand what Blizzard are trying to do. They want us to visit the forums, the likes of me who for the countless years and hours we've pushed into this game do everything in our power to avoid the forums. They want us all to contribute and socialise there and make posts and have a laugh - and whilst this is an admirable and indeed welcome goal to strive for, this isn't fixed so easily or so recklessly.

    The thing is, there is nothing whatsoever on the official wow-europe forums that isn't available elsewhere in a cleaner, easier-to-read format. The RealID system may show their intentions, but until there's a reason to actually genuinely use their horrible forums I just won't. I'll continue to do what I have always done - all my social networking is done in-game and via a private Ventrilo server, all my Blue Post news comes from MMO-Champion and if I want in-depth analysis on something, I'll read wow.com.

    Until Blizzard come up with a better solution, why stray away from what works into something that just doesn't?

  • Amblin #42 2 years ago

    Well not unexpected but it's not going to go away.

    I had a discussion with my little bro yesterday to explain I think Kotick (activision) will drive this through and combine it with battle.net to make a social gaming network for activision/blizzard. Then they'll charge you for it. Right now everyone is worried about privacy, tomorrow it'll be paying to play. Watch this space, Kotick is not to be underestimated. he wants your money!

    Soon as SC2 and D3 are out. Battle.net will be used to host acti games like MW3 etc. with mmo bolt-ons. Then link in RealID as the social glue. Thow in the standard fare of avatar gear, digital download etc and you have a base of users of potentially 50-100 million. Then charge for access just like MS do. 4 dollars a month for premium access.

    All the whining about privacy will be forgotten soon enough. Realid will be adopted by the majority of players. Actiblizz will simply sit back and in 6 months to year, realid's will be standard on the forums and you'll be paying for it.

    Well you will if Kotick is as smart a businessman as he claims. If not Acti should give me a job as i'll make it happen for a big wedge of cash. =)
    Edited by Amblin at 11/07/10 @ 12:18

  • Lobosolitario #43 2 years ago

    Does nobody else think this was a smokescreen?
    Edited by Lobosolitario at 11/07/10 @ 16:38

  • yoomazir #44 2 years ago

    phewwwww, for a second I was afarid about that "real ID" thing. Now I can go back to the Bliz forums and troll like no tomorrow.

  • Zomeguy #45 2 years ago

    The bug that allowed WOW addons to get your RealID was hot fixed on July 10th.

  • kangarootoo #46 2 years ago

    As I expected. It was a ridiculous idea.


    And still, after all this time, there are people who keep suggesting the only people who care about their anonymity on the internet are people looking to cause trouble. This point of view is neither true, nor intelligent.

  • hypersp #47 2 years ago

    The fact is even without Real id's, if someone wanted to find you, they can. Real Id's just make it easier. A good example...

    Link


  • kangarootoo #48 2 years ago

    @hypersp

    It took him 6 months?!?

    I think that is the least dedicated lunatic I've ever heard of. Or maybe he had to save up the train fare first or something.

  • hypersp #49 2 years ago

    @kangarootoo

    I'm thinking he was just lazy, or had the pre killing jitters.

  • ignatiusjreilly #50 2 years ago

    He should have been running with the knife. Always run with the knife.