Blizzard learns super important lesson about using real names
Earlier this week, Blizzard introduced their new RealID feature. This optional feature allows players of World of Warcraft, Starcraft II (and presumably Diablo III when it comes out) to link their real names to their character names, then list each other on their friends lists. It is meant to provide more depth and engagement for players of Blizzard games, and allow real life friends who game together to see each other in-game.
Okay, so nice idea.
Then Blizzard decided that in order to post on their forums from now on, you would have to use your RealID, i.e. your real first and last name, to do so. And the entire Blizzard universe blew up.
Many, many people have already posted about why this is an absurdly bad idea on many fronts. Peter Cohen and I also talked about it at length on the latest iGame Radio podcast as well. It’s a bad idea for female gamers, for minorities, for parents, for people who want to keep their jobs. It’s a bad idea for gamers who simply want their game life and their real life separate.
Well, over 15,000 European and 50,000 American posts later, and Blizzard has finally realized it’s error. They have rescinded their decision (in record time).
“We’ve been constantly monitoring the feedback you’ve given us,” stated a Blizzard spokesperson in the forums, “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 required for posting on official Blizzard forums.”
One can speculate over many different reasons for the decision to change this. But the bottom line is that any company, when they try something new, will not really know what the response of their customers is going to be until they actually hear back from their customers. This is precisely the way a game company should operate. Blizzard tried something new. They got an immediate and overwhelming negative reaction to it. They chose to accept their customer’s response as a good indication that the decision was a bad one and withdrew it.
Case closed.
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