Comments on: Another round of “real names will solve everything”, Blizzard edition

By: Mary

Mary — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:55:13 +0000

Here's a truly giant linkspam on the subject (via Courtney Stoker).

By: Neil

Neil — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 20:54:35 +0000

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?sid=1&topicId=25968987278

Blizzard has decided to back away from this change “at this time”. Cautiously optimistic cheer!

By: Apple

Apple — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 15:35:08 +0000

Well, since you linked both my posts on the subject, I doubt there’s much I can add here. :)

Thank you for the link. Here’s hoping Blizzard realises how RIDICULOUS they’re being.

By: Andrew Ducker

Andrew Ducker — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 10:47:38 +0000

Results of a thesis on women and gaming:
http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=80450&CultureCode=en

By: Meg

Meg — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:18:49 +0000

Richard Stallman proves that real names don’t stop trolls.

By: Metaneira

Metaneira — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 19:59:54 +0000

The real life name is especially intriguing (horrifyingly so) in conjunction with the other feature they’re implementing, up/down rating posts. This will help the community identify which posts are “worth reading”. So even if I choose to post with my real name (I am fortunate to have a first and last name in the top 30 or so most common names for my gender and nationality), I can be pretty sure that my post will get downvoted instantly just for being female.

Blizzard’s mission statement includes the tenet that “every voice matters”. Why are they making it so much harder for mine to be heard?

(Also thanks for the link last week! <3)

By: ptp

ptp — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 18:37:38 +0000

A blizzard employee posted his own name as a show of confidence and within a few minutes had his address, his Twitter, Photobucket, and Facebook accounts, names of children, and a slew of other personal information posted in the very same thread. I have heard alternating stories that he deleted either his Twitter or Facebook account (or both?) as a result. I highly doubt this is going to materialize as Blizzard imagined it.

By: Jayn

Jayn — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:36:37 +0000

I’m going with ‘stupid’–they’ll probably change their minds based on the feedback they’re getting eventually. This is standard operating procedure for Blizzard–bring in something new, cause a big uproar, say “It’ll be fine”, and eventually realise that their fanbase is right and tone things down.

I’ve been playing WoW for too long to believe this is anything other than a failure to think things through on their part. It would be out of character for them to behave differently.

By: Doctor Science

Doctor Science — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:16:02 +0000

Maybe I’m just excessively cynical. Maybe.

But I notice that women (who are much more likely to be harrassed, stalked, etc. online and off) will be more likely to turn away from WOW because of this than men are. Which means that WOW demographics will tip more strongly male. Advertizers (e.g. on TV) pay more for male eyeballs than female ones, and the most sought-after demographic on TV, at least, is “Male, 18-34″.

So maybe Blizzard is deliberately trying to repel women. They’ll have fewer players, but a more sought-after demographic may mean they more than make up for it in advertizing dollars.

Or they’re stupid. But they’d have to be *really* stupid.

By: Pewter

Pewter — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:57:54 +0000

While I completely understand that people can chose not to participate, and a part of me hopes that women (and other marginalised groups) will become more visible and have more power in mainstream gaming as a result. However I think that is naive of me, and completely misses the point that a lot of women will be even less likely to post due to the greater likelihood of harassment leaking into other parts of their lives.