I'd like to take some time to speak with all of you regarding our desire to make the Blizzard forums a better place for players to discuss our games. 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 required for posting on official Blizzard forums.
It's important to note that we still remain committed to improving our forums. Our efforts are driven 100% by the desire to find ways to make our community areas more welcoming for players and encourage more constructive conversations about our games. We will still move forward with new forum features such as conversation threading, the ability to rate posts up or down, improved search functionality, and more. However, when we launch the new StarCraft II forums that include these new features, you will be posting by your StarCraft II Battle.net character name + character code, not your real name. The upgraded World of Warcraft forums with these new features will launch close to the release of Cataclysm, and also will not require your real name.
I want to make sure it's clear that our plans for the forums are completely separate from our plans for the optional in-game Real ID system now live with World of Warcraft and launching soon with StarCraft II. We believe that the powerful communications functionality enabled by Real ID, such as cross-game and cross-realm chat, make Battle.net a great place for players to stay connected to real-life friends and family while playing Blizzard games. And of course, you'll still be able to keep your relationships at the anonymous, character level if you so choose when you communicate with other players in game. Over time, we will continue to evolve Real ID on Battle.net to add new and exciting functionality within our games for players who decide to use the feature.
In closing, I want to point out that our connection with our community has always been and will always be extremely important to us. We strongly believe that Every Voice Matters, ( <a href="http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/about/mission.html" target="_blank">http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/about/mission.html</a> ) and we feel fortunate to have a community that cares so passionately about our games. We will always appreciate the feedback and support of our players, which has been a key to Blizzard's success from the beginning.
Mike Morhaime CEO & Cofounder Blizzard Entertainment<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Glad to hear that!
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->we've decided <b><u>at this time</b></u> that real names will not be required for posting on official Blizzard forums.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The "at this time" makes me a little uncomfortable. I'd assume Mike Morhaime is a smart guy as he's the CEO of one of the most successful gaming developers of all time but if Mike was dumb enough to think this was a solid idea two days ago he may revisit the thought a year from now.
<!--quoteo(post=1777592:date=Jul 9 2010, 12:31 PM:name=SentrySteve)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (SentrySteve @ Jul 9 2010, 12:31 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1777592"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The "at this time" makes me a little uncomfortable. I'd assume Mike Morhaime is a smart guy as he's the CEO of one of the most successful gaming developers of all time but if Mike was dumb enough to think this was a solid idea two days ago he may revisit the thought a year from now.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yeah that bothers me too, but at the very least they've generated some serious publicity over this, and I don't think they'll be able to try to slip something under the rader in the future without getting a very energetic response.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Blizzard has reserved the right to “enhance or merge the personal information collected at a Blizzard site with data from third parties. Blizzard may also provide your personal information to other companies or organizations that offer products or services that may be of interest to you.â€'<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That's not nearly as bad as the realID forums though.
ShockehIf a packet drops on the web and nobody's near to see it...Join Date: 2002-11-19Member: 9336NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, Constellation
<!--quoteo(post=1777567:date=Jul 9 2010, 02:10 PM:name=lolfighter)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (lolfighter @ Jul 9 2010, 02:10 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1777567"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Yeah Shockwave, god forbid we should ever voice our disagreement with a policy we don't like. How DARE we give them the chance to rethink their stupid decisions?! How DARE we voice our displeasure?! We must be ###### MAD or something!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> lolfighter, never change. :)
<!--quoteo(post=0:date=:name=Thaldarin)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Thaldarin)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->How do you propose we clean up the UWE forums? Follow Blizzard?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I think the UWE forums are practically the Garden of Eden compared to most Internet forum. Tried IGN recently? Or *Shudder* GameFAQs? I find the easiest way to police a forum is make it clear that there's no tolerance for testing the boundaries. We all know via common sense (and if you don't, then I won't have to put up with it for long) when something has been taken too far, I'd merrily ban first and ask questions later when people intentionally try to test my patience to see how creative they can get with rules, it's not like there's an Internet human shortage.
That slight tangent aside, fair play to Blizzard for listening to popular/knee jerk lynch mob <delete to taste> opinion.
<!--quoteo(post=1777605:date=Jul 9 2010, 12:17 PM:name=Shockwave)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Shockwave @ Jul 9 2010, 12:17 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1777605"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->it's not like there's an Internet human shortage.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
There totally is! The NS2 Community is dying slowly! We must nurture and cultivate those who are left! You can't just ban them all! Then I'll have no one to talk to except this nice little doll on my monitor! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
X_StickmanNot good enough for a custom title.Join Date: 2003-04-15Member: 15533Members, Constellation
Anyone who even thinks their particular forum and/or community site needs to be cleaned up should go and check any Yahoo news story and read through the comments.
The steam forums after an update seem positively intellectual in comparison.
It's good to see they're yanking this from the forums. Personally I'd have preferred if they had removed it from the "global friends" thingy too (since there, too, there is no need for real names), but at least that feature is entirely optional, so I can simply avoid using it. Turns out complaining about things you dislike to the people you pay money to actually DOES help, even if you have to listen to people like Shockwave call you a popular knee-jerk lynch mob.
edit: <!--quoteo(post=1777551:date=Jul 9 2010, 06:12 AM:name=lolfighter)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (lolfighter @ Jul 9 2010, 06:12 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1777551"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Edit 2: And don't miss <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/93492/But-my-name-really-is-Deathblood-Blackaxe#3171416" target="_blank">this</a> either. I got the link off Penny Arcade, but I want to make sure you see it.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
A good read, esp. the part about girls. I am a guy who played WoW with his gf/wife, and people treated us both like crap. It's like the majority of guys in WoW are lonely and insecure and everything they do re: females is fueled by jealousy and spite. I guess I shouldn't state this like it's some big surprise or anything...
I think they were just testing the waters. In my previous post I positioned myself as a champion of it and that isn't entirely accurate. In specific about "the only good reason for wanting anonyminity is if you're protesting your government..." Protests of any sort, especially in certain parts of the world, will net you in jail or worse and what I meant to convey was that having the "right" to anonimity, just like the right of the "freedom of the press" really bothers me. Why in Gods name should the Press be able to do anything they want, and if we retaliate in any way, we get the blame? I refer to incidents here where members of the press have harrassed people to provoke an emotional response and when that response comes and the camera man is punched, the other guy is charged whereas the camera man should at the very least be charged with harrassment. In the same court, I think the Press should be able to do nearly anything they can to uncover the truth of something, such as the true intentions of their Government.
The same goes for Anonymity. It is all fine and dandy in theory, until someone comes along and takes this concept, craps all over it, and then defends it as their right. It is just plain wrong. For example, I've seen people role-play as a troll and he of course defends himself with "I'm just role-playing here. In reality I'm a nice guy." If someone was a smacktard on the internet but the nicest guy ever in real-life, would you still want to know him at all? I don't think I would.
Anyways, its all a double edged sword and I really just hate that fact. I really do think they are testing the waters though, waiting for the Internet to be okay with the next logical "OMGZ WEB 3.0" step, which is complete social integration with every web-system in existence of course. It is going to happen, whether you like it or not. Thanks Facebook, MySpace, Twitter. Thanks for all the fish.
Let us come together and make our own internetzzz.
Dalin, I sincerely doubt that anyone who was bothered about anonymity was a troll... in my limited experience, the trolls I've met really don't care if you know who they are :p
As for an internet where it's all real names? I doubt that'll ever happen fully. In social networks? Maybe. Games? I'd say it's unlikely. Games and social networking perform different roles in most people's lives and so they've moulded to fit the function they perform.
Rights to anonymity tend to not be absolute from the beginning. Example: I'm walking past the post office here in town when someone snaps a picture of it. He then uploads it to his website with the words "hey look what a nice post office." I come across his site and notice that I'm in that picture so I ask him to remove it. He refuses. In this case he is well within his right as we were in a public space and it is obvious that I am not the main subject of the picture. These are danish laws, your mileage may differ.
Furthermore, rights to anonymity tend to be revokable once you start breaking the law. If I do anything illegal through an online game where my personal information is held in confidentiality by the service provider (for instance, my full name and home address, more than enough information to establish my identity, is stored in my Battle.net billing info), a subpoena can compel them to release this information so that I can be prosecuted.
In the end, we're used to having a certain right to anonymity. Arbitrarily taking it away angers us. Pointing at the guy over there and saying "well he abuses it, so we're taking it away from you" doesn't cut it. Any time you give people rights or privileges, <i>someone</i> will abuse it. That does not constitute grounds for removing all rights and privileges wholesale.
As for trolls, I've never met anyone I've known to be a complete ###### online in real life, so I can't comment on what they're like. I can say, however, that "the nicest guys" in real life have never turned out to be total ###### online. I believe that internet behaviour reflects on real life behaviour, and that it's not possible to be a total ###### online without that shining through in your real life as well.
"The press," insofar as they can be summed up like that, can be out of line. Freedom of the press is important, but that freedom isn't absolute either. The problem is that the press are hard to touch because if you try to make them accountable, whose spin on this will people hear about in the press? That's right, that of the press. So your attempts to prosecute that cameraman for harrassment may be laudable, but all the public hears about in the press is how you're a stalinist. It's a difficult problem to solve, but if you try to remove freedom of the press wholesale you'll actually prove them right. I guess you could always start <a href="http://tabloid-watch.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">a blog</a> instead or something.
<!--quoteo(post=1777706:date=Jul 10 2010, 09:52 PM:name=Geminosity)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Geminosity @ Jul 10 2010, 09:52 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1777706"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Dalin, I sincerely doubt that anyone who was bothered about anonymity was a troll... in my limited experience, the trolls I've met really don't care if you know who they are :p<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> You think those level 1 alts in the WoW forums are posting on an alt because they prefer the name compared to their main? I don't think so.
QuaunautThe longest seven days in history...Join Date: 2003-03-21Member: 14759Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
edited July 2010
<!--quoteo(post=1777564:date=Jul 9 2010, 06:56 AM:name=Shockwave)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Shockwave @ Jul 9 2010, 06:56 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1777564"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->You come to the UWE forum, you follow the UWE rules. You go to the Blizzard forum, you follow the Blizzard rules. In all honesty, if you don't like it, don't post there, it's that simple. The Internet is not a democracy, they're providing a service that you pay for, but nobody is making you pay for it or use it in that manner. But whilst you keep your subscription active, you condone the activity.
And it might just mean their forums will stop being the laughing stock of a cesspool they generally are.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Part of the reason they went against it was so many people were unsubscribe. They had so many unsubscribing that the phone queue was beyond full for it, and the unsubscribe page was getting constant errors and dying from how many folks were accessing it.
Also, if you think that real names would solve anything at all, you're completely, utterly wrong. The only people Real Names would hurt are the ones who actually make good posts. The trolls would have their job done for them by that point.
Actually trying to moderate the ###### forums usually does a good job. More transparency instead of just delete delete delete would help too. If someone sees 4 or 5 locked posts on the same topic, well ######, maybe they won't post about that topic.
<!--quoteo(post=1777756:date=Jul 10 2010, 11:22 AM:name=steppin'razor)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (steppin'razor @ Jul 10 2010, 11:22 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1777756"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->You think those level 1 alts in the WoW forums are posting on an alt because they prefer the name compared to their main? I don't think so.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You think those level 1 alts give a flying ###### if you know who they are? Half the time it's 'cause they couldn't be bothered to find their server. Other times, it's 'cause they are going by their Online persona, or wanted to form one with that name but didn't want a character with that name. Strawberry, one of the forum's best people, is like this: He posts from a level 6 gnome female mage, but he's been acknowledged repeatedly by Blizzard as being one of their favorites.
<!--quoteo(post=1777605:date=Jul 9 2010, 09:17 PM:name=Shockwave)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Shockwave @ Jul 9 2010, 09:17 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1777605"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->... I find the easiest way to police a forum is make it clear that there's no tolerance for testing the boundaries. ...<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Thank goodness for all of us having the same boundaries ;)
Other than that, this whole real life discussion does not hovar with me at all. Hence I actually prefer Shockwaves approach.
<!--quoteo(post=1777932:date=Jul 12 2010, 01:54 PM:name=Thansal)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Thansal @ Jul 12 2010, 01:54 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1777932"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->after, iirc, making a post that consisted of the word post, 4000 times.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
so how 'bout that cataclysm? enjoying it so far. Just level 81 though. Did one dungeon, wasn't as hard as I expected. what happened to needing cc? we just aoe tanked like usual. Maybe the cc comes later. Did wipe once though, and the mobs do seem to have more abilities that actually hurt now...
I was in the beta and thought I'd be in for this expansion too, but now I don't feel any urge to play. Oh well, money saved. I can always buy it later if I feel like it.
<!--quoteo(post=1814285:date=Dec 8 2010, 12:14 AM:name=lolfighter)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (lolfighter @ Dec 8 2010, 12:14 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1814285"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I was in the beta and thought I'd be in for this expansion too, but now I don't feel any urge to play. Oh well, money saved. I can always buy it later if I feel like it.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
probably a good bet - seems like more of the same, though isn't it always?
Indeed. Also, even leaving out statements like "our heart has always been with the Horde," the Horde bias is pretty strong this time around. To say NOTHING of the neglect of the worgen. After having kept an eye on both goblins and worgen during the beta, it is painfully obvious that the worgen were included because it was un-feasible to give the horde a new race without giving the alliance one. They added playable goblins because they WANTED to. They added playable worgen because they HAD to. And it really shows.
Comments
Yup. Here's the info:
<a href="http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=25968837163&sid=3000" target="_blank">http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topic...63&sid=3000</a>
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Hello everyone,
I'd like to take some time to speak with all of you regarding our desire to make the Blizzard forums a better place for players to discuss our games. 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 required for posting on official Blizzard forums.
It's important to note that we still remain committed to improving our forums. Our efforts are driven 100% by the desire to find ways to make our community areas more welcoming for players and encourage more constructive conversations about our games. We will still move forward with new forum features such as conversation threading, the ability to rate posts up or down, improved search functionality, and more. However, when we launch the new StarCraft II forums that include these new features, you will be posting by your StarCraft II Battle.net character name + character code, not your real name. The upgraded World of Warcraft forums with these new features will launch close to the release of Cataclysm, and also will not require your real name.
I want to make sure it's clear that our plans for the forums are completely separate from our plans for the optional in-game Real ID system now live with World of Warcraft and launching soon with StarCraft II. We believe that the powerful communications functionality enabled by Real ID, such as cross-game and cross-realm chat, make Battle.net a great place for players to stay connected to real-life friends and family while playing Blizzard games. And of course, you'll still be able to keep your relationships at the anonymous, character level if you so choose when you communicate with other players in game. Over time, we will continue to evolve Real ID on Battle.net to add new and exciting functionality within our games for players who decide to use the feature.
In closing, I want to point out that our connection with our community has always been and will always be extremely important to us. We strongly believe that Every Voice Matters, ( <a href="http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/about/mission.html" target="_blank">http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/about/mission.html</a> ) and we feel fortunate to have a community that cares so passionately about our games. We will always appreciate the feedback and support of our players, which has been a key to Blizzard's success from the beginning.
Mike Morhaime
CEO & Cofounder
Blizzard Entertainment<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Glad to hear that!
The "at this time" makes me a little uncomfortable. I'd assume Mike Morhaime is a smart guy as he's the CEO of one of the most successful gaming developers of all time but if Mike was dumb enough to think this was a solid idea two days ago he may revisit the thought a year from now.
Yeah that bothers me too, but at the very least they've generated some serious publicity over this, and I don't think they'll be able to try to slip something under the rader in the future without getting a very energetic response.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Blizzard has reserved the right to “enhance or merge the personal information collected at a Blizzard site with data from third parties. Blizzard may also provide your personal information to other companies or organizations that offer products or services that may be of interest to you.â€'<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That's not nearly as bad as the realID forums though.
lolfighter, never change. :)
<!--quoteo(post=0:date=:name=Thaldarin)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Thaldarin)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->How do you propose we clean up the UWE forums? Follow Blizzard?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I think the UWE forums are practically the Garden of Eden compared to most Internet forum. Tried IGN recently? Or *Shudder* GameFAQs? I find the easiest way to police a forum is make it clear that there's no tolerance for testing the boundaries. We all know via common sense (and if you don't, then I won't have to put up with it for long) when something has been taken too far, I'd merrily ban first and ask questions later when people intentionally try to test my patience to see how creative they can get with rules, it's not like there's an Internet human shortage.
That slight tangent aside, fair play to Blizzard for listening to popular/knee jerk lynch mob <delete to taste> opinion.
There totally is! The NS2 Community is dying slowly! We must nurture and cultivate those who are left! You can't just ban them all! Then I'll have no one to talk to except this nice little doll on my monitor! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
/snark
The steam forums after an update seem positively intellectual in comparison.
edit:
<!--quoteo(post=1777551:date=Jul 9 2010, 06:12 AM:name=lolfighter)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (lolfighter @ Jul 9 2010, 06:12 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1777551"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Edit 2: And don't miss <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/93492/But-my-name-really-is-Deathblood-Blackaxe#3171416" target="_blank">this</a> either. I got the link off Penny Arcade, but I want to make sure you see it.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
A good read, esp. the part about girls. I am a guy who played WoW with his gf/wife, and people treated us both like crap. It's like the majority of guys in WoW are lonely and insecure and everything they do re: females is fueled by jealousy and spite. I guess I shouldn't state this like it's some big surprise or anything...
In my previous post I positioned myself as a champion of it and that isn't entirely accurate. In specific about "the only good reason for wanting anonyminity is if you're protesting your government..." Protests of any sort, especially in certain parts of the world, will net you in jail or worse and what I meant to convey was that having the "right" to anonimity, just like the right of the "freedom of the press" really bothers me. Why in Gods name should the Press be able to do anything they want, and if we retaliate in any way, we get the blame? I refer to incidents here where members of the press have harrassed people to provoke an emotional response and when that response comes and the camera man is punched, the other guy is charged whereas the camera man should at the very least be charged with harrassment. In the same court, I think the Press should be able to do nearly anything they can to uncover the truth of something, such as the true intentions of their Government.
The same goes for Anonymity. It is all fine and dandy in theory, until someone comes along and takes this concept, craps all over it, and then defends it as their right. It is just plain wrong. For example, I've seen people role-play as a troll and he of course defends himself with "I'm just role-playing here. In reality I'm a nice guy." If someone was a smacktard on the internet but the nicest guy ever in real-life, would you still want to know him at all? I don't think I would.
Anyways, its all a double edged sword and I really just hate that fact. I really do think they are testing the waters though, waiting for the Internet to be okay with the next logical "OMGZ WEB 3.0" step, which is complete social integration with every web-system in existence of course. It is going to happen, whether you like it or not. Thanks Facebook, MySpace, Twitter. Thanks for all the fish.
Let us come together and make our own internetzzz.
As for an internet where it's all real names? I doubt that'll ever happen fully. In social networks? Maybe. Games? I'd say it's unlikely. Games and social networking perform different roles in most people's lives and so they've moulded to fit the function they perform.
Furthermore, rights to anonymity tend to be revokable once you start breaking the law. If I do anything illegal through an online game where my personal information is held in confidentiality by the service provider (for instance, my full name and home address, more than enough information to establish my identity, is stored in my Battle.net billing info), a subpoena can compel them to release this information so that I can be prosecuted.
In the end, we're used to having a certain right to anonymity. Arbitrarily taking it away angers us. Pointing at the guy over there and saying "well he abuses it, so we're taking it away from you" doesn't cut it. Any time you give people rights or privileges, <i>someone</i> will abuse it. That does not constitute grounds for removing all rights and privileges wholesale.
As for trolls, I've never met anyone I've known to be a complete ###### online in real life, so I can't comment on what they're like. I can say, however, that "the nicest guys" in real life have never turned out to be total ###### online. I believe that internet behaviour reflects on real life behaviour, and that it's not possible to be a total ###### online without that shining through in your real life as well.
"The press," insofar as they can be summed up like that, can be out of line. Freedom of the press is important, but that freedom isn't absolute either. The problem is that the press are hard to touch because if you try to make them accountable, whose spin on this will people hear about in the press? That's right, that of the press. So your attempts to prosecute that cameraman for harrassment may be laudable, but all the public hears about in the press is how you're a stalinist. It's a difficult problem to solve, but if you try to remove freedom of the press wholesale you'll actually prove them right. I guess you could always start <a href="http://tabloid-watch.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">a blog</a> instead or something.
You think those level 1 alts in the WoW forums are posting on an alt because they prefer the name compared to their main? I don't think so.
And it might just mean their forums will stop being the laughing stock of a cesspool they generally are.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Part of the reason they went against it was so many people were unsubscribe. They had so many unsubscribing that the phone queue was beyond full for it, and the unsubscribe page was getting constant errors and dying from how many folks were accessing it.
Also, if you think that real names would solve anything at all, you're completely, utterly wrong. The only people Real Names would hurt are the ones who actually make good posts. The trolls would have their job done for them by that point.
Actually trying to moderate the ###### forums usually does a good job. More transparency instead of just delete delete delete would help too. If someone sees 4 or 5 locked posts on the same topic, well ######, maybe they won't post about that topic.
<!--quoteo(post=1777756:date=Jul 10 2010, 11:22 AM:name=steppin'razor)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (steppin'razor @ Jul 10 2010, 11:22 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1777756"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->You think those level 1 alts in the WoW forums are posting on an alt because they prefer the name compared to their main? I don't think so.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You think those level 1 alts give a flying ###### if you know who they are? Half the time it's 'cause they couldn't be bothered to find their server. Other times, it's 'cause they are going by their Online persona, or wanted to form one with that name but didn't want a character with that name. Strawberry, one of the forum's best people, is like this: He posts from a level 6 gnome female mage, but he's been acknowledged repeatedly by Blizzard as being one of their favorites.
1. Nice.
2. Negative post count is awesome. I want it.
Thank goodness for all of us having the same boundaries ;)
Other than that, this whole real life discussion does not hovar with me at all. Hence I actually prefer Shockwaves approach.
<a href="http://www.natural-selection.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=70702&st=0" target="_blank">http://www.natural-selection.org/forums/in...=70702&st=0</a>
yep and -4000
probably a good bet - seems like more of the same, though isn't it always?