Blizzard Official Forums Will Demand Use of Real Names

Blizzard takes a brave step in countering the troubles of anonymity in the Internet (trolling, spamming, etc) by requiring users of their official forums to include their real names along with their in-game character names on it. This change is expected to take effect with the release of StarCraft II on July 27.

The company makes use of their new account management system called Real ID. All of Blizzard’s users are required to input their real name with it, which will be displayed in the forum, as well as among friends during gameplay.

The ruling has become a topic of debate in net privacy. Although it could make users think twice about making flaming remarks on the threads, it would also put their real identity at risk toward other problems like cyber bullying or phishing.

Source: Rock Paper Shotgun, via CrunchGear

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