#0 - July 7, 2010, 6:10 p.m.
http://us.battle.net/realid/index.html
First, it’s listed as a “completely voluntary and optional level of identity”. For your name to appear to someone else both of you must agree to become RealID friends. Your first and last name will be visible to your RealID friends as well as their ReaID friends. However, the FAQ states that your email address is not displayed. So if you add a friend to your friends list in WoW and the two of you are not RealID friends then your name will not appear nor will you see theirs. I’m cool with that.
Regarding the Forums:
Q u o t e:
Your Battle.net account name (email address) is never displayed to RealID friends, either in-game or on the forums.
That’s a good sign! However…
Q u o t e:
Beginning in mid-July, players who post on official Blizzard forums will be doing so using their Real ID -- that is, the real-life first and last name associated with their Battle.net account. In addition, players also will have the option to display the name of their primary in-game character (plus related in-game information such as guild and realm) alongside their real name. You’ll also begin seeing blue posters (i.e. Blizzard employees) posting by their real first and last names on our forums as well.
So, whether we opt into RealID or not our REAL NAMES show up on the forums!
This is where it’s getting dicey. Yes, it’s nice to see the real names of the Blue Posters because we want to see more of them! We love it when a Blue posts to our threads! But at the same time I don’t want my real name out there for the entire world to see for the sake of identity theft. I like keeping my private information private and identifying me by my toon / in-game character is sufficient for other players/posters to label me an intelligent writer or a flaming jerk of a troll, whichever the forum reader’s opinion.
Q u o t e:
Certain classic forums, including the classic Battle.net forums, will remain unchanged.
Does this refer to already-established forum threads or forums on www.battle.net as opposed to www.worldofwarcraft.com?
I would love to hear from a Blue confirming our real names on the forums and, possibly, the availability of a choice to opt out of the RealID program completely.
