Blizzard, the company that owns World Of Warcraft or "WOW", has put a plan in place to convert gaming names to the real names of users on discussion boards.
I've used a discussion board on the internet a time or two and there are all sorts of people out there who are bothersome. And now there names will be known.
For the internet savvy, this means it's easier to seek revenge on flamers and trolls. These are the folks who would rather insult you, instigate an argument and generally create chaos when all you wanted was an answer to a question.
Can you imagine that "SoulslayerX47" is actually Joe Doe and a simple search online reveals that there may be only 10 Joe Doe's in the U.S.? A little more research via social networks and various internet address books and you could probably nail down exactly which one is your troll or flamer. I'll leave your mind to drum up all the revenge scenarios possible. Might feel good for a second, right?
Now look at this from another angle... No not the flamer's angle. What about from a parent's perspective. I have no idea how many pedophiles (potential,alleged or convicted) are playing this game, but they now know my child's name. Repeat the same process in the earlier paragraph and the pedophile can figure out where you live and thanks to certain map applications, can figure out how much gas it would take to get to you and back home.
Now for all intents and purposes, let's put those two scenarios together. There is a flamer that has been annoying you and your pals on a message board for a while. Insults have been thrown back and forth and the flamer says something to the effect of "Why don't you come do something about it?" knowing that you'll never find out where they live. The "real name" change up goes into effect so you go back to the message board and behold! SoulslayerX47's name is actually Joe Doe.
You look through past posts and see one where he said something obnoxious about representing... Arkansas. You check on facebook and see 5 Joe Doe's in Arkansas. A quick look at their profiles and one says "I pwn noobs in W.O.W." Bingo. There is your man. So you guys get there to scare the hell out of this guy and it's actually a 14 year old girl. Joe was short for Joelle and now you have to explain to the police, the court, the news media and your boss why you were there. Think it won't happen? Stranger things have.
After being bothered by flamers and sometimes being one myself, I think there should be a safety plan involved with this. Start the message board over. New post counts, new avatars and everything. This would allow everyone to start from scratch and give trolls and flamers the chance for redemption along with cooling the heels of those ready to exact payback.
Can't we all just get along? If only online?
'WOW' players angry over plan to use real names
*image from MSNBC.com/Blizzard
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