Gaming News - G4TV: G4 Users Almost Universally Against Blizzard's New Forum Policy -

In the next few weeks, starting with StarCraft II and rolling into other games, you'll no longer be able to post anonymously on Blizzard Entertainment's message boards. Your real name will soon become associated with your nickname, at least on the boards. The announced change has users in an uproar, including G4tv.com readers. Here's why they're (mostly) against the anonymity decision.



"First thing I thought of wasn't female players being targeted, or trolling. The first thing I thought of was that guy who got stabbed over a video game dispute or the people who end up with creepy internet stalkers that were their "friends" online who show up on their doorstep." -- tehblessed

"The bad thing about this change is that a lot of the people that have made the blizzard forums great have sad they will be not be posting under the new system. To add insult to injury a large number of trolls say they will just make spoof accounts and keep trolling even with this system in place. So this will not solve the problem just make these forums ghost towns." -- Flagge

"I guess you can thank trolls and cyberbullies for ruining anonyminity for everyone. Have you seen those boards tho? people threatening murder and violence over a disagreement with a new patch or something else as meaningless happen all the time on those boards... and people will be not near as likely to say such crap when their name is next to the post, I promise ya that, because now they are legally liable for it. But perhaps it should only be visible by moderators?" -- Zrow89

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"I can no longer play WoW and look for a job at the same time due to HR managers looking you up on Google before even looking at your applications. RealID providing full names and battle.net requiring email addresses will also allow 4channers to dox and find your info for identity theft and lolz. If you gank a noob on WoW, he can look you up on the website and do a little research and call your house (because most of us have our facebook filled with personal info that can be leaked)." -- krypto74

"There is nothing to applaud here. The pros are limited and the cons are numerous. Privacy issues, identity theft, harrassment, account theft through social engineering--these are just the first and most obvious problems with identifying yourself online. Exposing your users to this much risk in an effort to curb trolling is irresponsible at best." -- TheGreatPuma

"As a female player, I try to keep my gender hidden to cut down on harassment. It can be pretty brutal, and I really don't like the whole full name thing. It's pretty creepy to get facebook friend invites from creepers who find out you're a girl playing a 'man's game'. Now I'm afraid they won't just be spamming my facebook, but my doorstep too." -- polyestersunshine

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