Blizzard’s recent announcement of its new Real ID system, which forces users to go by their real names on the official Battle.net forums, has been met with controversy from fans. The Real ID system is currently optional within Blizzard games like World of Warcraft and StarCraft II.
“[We] will be carefully monitoring how people are using the service,” said Blizzard. “Real ID is a new and different concept for Blizzard gamers — and for us as well — and our goal is to create a social gaming service that players want to use.”
Currently, the requirement for Real ID is only planned for the Battle.net community forums. World of Warcraft will begin using Real ID with the Cataclysm expansion, while StarCraft II‘s forum will implement the feature later in July.
“It’s important to note that both enabling Real ID in game and posting on the official Blizzard forums are completely optional,” said the Blizzard rep. “Players can continue to read the forums anonymously regardless of whether they choose to post in them, and their gameplay experiences will not change if they choose not to use the Real ID communication features in game.”
Real ID will have parental controls to prevent children from disseminating their information. Accounts for games must be tied to a CD key and Blizzard says it will enforce use of actual names.
“We have multiple teams here who will be monitoring the forums and looking for inappropriate names,” the rep explained. “When the situation does arise, our community and customer service representatives will investigate and determine if any action is needed. In addition, our Terms of Use agreement requires that players provide us with accurate information, as certain aspects of the customer service we provide (for example, addressing forgotten-password issues) rely on identity verification — if a player uses a fake name, it would ultimately impact our ability to provide him or her with timely service.”
Source: Gamasutra
