After listening to fan feedback, Blizzard has decided it will not require Battle.net members to display his or her real names while posting on the forums.

"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," CEO Mike Morhaime said in a statement. "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."

Earlier this week, Blizzard announced it would be changing its forum policy by requiring forum posters to display the full, real name associated with their Real ID accounts. This is no longer happening.

"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," he added. "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."

Morhaime added that Blizzard's forum plans remain separate from the current, optional Real ID system now being used in World of Warcraft.

"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," he explained. "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."

http://pc.ign.com/articles/110/1104995p1.html

Good job Blizzard, WoW is a game not a social networking site.

That's certainly a relief.

This was one of the silliest ideas Blizzard has thought up in awhile.

Who could have POSSIBLY thought this was going to be a popular idea?  Or hell, even a good idea?  I cannot really think of any good reason to do this, but I am glad they decided against it.   Hmm, I guess it is possible this would allow all your posts (from WoW to SC2, to Diablo 3) to be linked perhaps?  An account name is good enough for that tho....

Blizzard who?  Are they the World of Warcraft makers?

(sorry, had to laugh at the stupidity of this thread's title)

Lmao.

The title is taken from the BBC article on the subject.  People who aren't gamers, which will be most of the BBC's audience, are more likely to have heard of WoW than know who makes it.

It might make sense on a general news site, but on a hard core gamers site it just makes you look really *really* stupid.

Despite what people may thing, you don't have to directly copy the title of an article for a thread title.

maybe that will scare off the trolls for a bit...

Smart move I could only imagine how dead their forums would have became. Though that might have been good for finding actual useful information. A lot of people like myself would never post on a site using real names for security reasons.