What Blizzard, Real ID and the power of users teach us

Technologizer made a good analysis of Blizzards trial and failure to require Real ID log-ins for its online Forums. In short:

1. Anonymous doesn’t always mean “troll”

“Teachers may want to escape from their students during leisure time, government officials might not want to be stigmatized as avid World of Warcraft players and some people just aren’t comfortable being identified online.”

2. The forums are important, warts and all

“The problem is that Battle.net forums serve as a kind of instant customer service, where people can reach out to the community and to Blizzard itself.  Changing the conditions on which that service is offered made people feel cheated.”

3. Incentive works better than force

“Wouldn’t a reward system … translate nicely to game built entirely on collecting loot?”

4. Don’t test an angry mob

“To prove a point, Blizzard forum moderator Bashiok revealed himself … outraged gamers immediately got to digging up as much embarrassing or otherwise personal information on him that they could … this incident showed an ugly side to the Battle.net community that Blizzard was wise to pacify.”

Thanks to Jared Newman at Technologizer for a splendid analysis.

Real ID did not turn out to be an alternative for Blizzard. Nicknames are on the other hand not an ultimate option in other rooms. The rife idea about anonymity online have changed a lot and its meaning have decreased since the breakthrough of Facebook. What does real ID and nicknames mean for online culture and communication? How will we consider our online identities in ten years? During what daily circumstances online are nick names preferable?