There were amazing scenes on the forums of the popular online game, World of Warcraft this week. Blizzard, the owners had announced a plan to
improve the experience of users of the forums by enforcing that all participants must use their real names. The announcement read as follows –
removing the veil of anonymity typical to online dialogue will contribute to a more positive forum environment, promote constructive conversations, and connect the Blizzard community in ways they haven’t been connected before.
Furthermore the games company explained that they believed that it would reduce the flame wars, trolling and unpleasantness that was often found there. Unfortunately they severly underestimated the mood of their users and the announcement was met with almost universal condemnation. Within 24 hours almost 1000 replies were made, virtually each one condeming Blizzard for the move. One of the few people who did not object posted his real name and address as an experiment to demonstrate there were no privacy issues, a move which spectacularly backfired. Within twenty minutes of Sikketh from Thunderlord posting his real name on the board, a forum user had tracked down his name, address and phone numbers and had rung him up on his work phone line. Needless to say that this did nothing to quell the privacy fears of the gamers reading the thread.
A spokesman from a popular security blog which promotes anonymous surfing was critical of Blizzards move.
In an age were the risks to our personal privacy grow larger from the amount of personal information we leave online this is an incredible move by one of the Worlds biggest game companies. There is a concensus of advice that we should reduce the amount of personal details we leave online, especially for our children and the more vulnerable in our society. For a gaming company to promote the opposite just so it can make its forums friendlier is frankly incredible.
There was however a happy ending to this particular story, as Blizzard clearly shocked by the response to their announcement issued a retraction later. The move illustrates the growing concern of users about the security of their data and connections. Many internet users are increasingly adopting advanced measures such as usinganonymous software in order to maintain their privacy online.