July 10, 2010 by Alexei M
Blizzard, the firm behind ‘World of Warcraft’ have sparked controversy recently, following an announcement that online gamers who use their service would have to sign in and play using their real names. The decision was made as a result of some heated online debates and flame wars, which prompted the game manufacturer to crack down on anonymity.
However, the announcement created a massive outcry from regular gamers, who feared that the very nature of the emotive Warcraft game meant that anonymous gaming was the only safe option for playing. Blizzard’s recent decision created concerns that using real names and IDs would lead to difficulties from emotional gamers.
Just three days following Blizzard’s announcement, the firm has backed down as a result of their gamers criticisms. It is thought that Blizzard grew concerned that their online users would leave the game, should it be mandatory for people to use their real identities. There have been reports of gamers’ identities being discovered, and people harassing them in ‘real’ life as a result.
Over the course of two days, Blizzard received 50,000 comments from people, most of which were asking for the company to change their plans to make identity verification mandatory.
Blizzard have gone ahead with the ‘Real ID’ software which provides a way of authenticating the identity of users. However, the application will not be used simply to enable users to post comments and vote for other comments to be rated, as opposed to making it mandatory for people to play under their own names.
A spokesperson for Blizzard commented: “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 needed for posting on official Blizzard forums.”
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