The rage of a terrified nerd.
Jul. 8th, 2010 12:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dejadrewA word to anyone who plays World of Warcraft or knows someone who does. Blizzard's official forums have always had a problem with trolling and flaming. Some bright spark at Blizzard has decided that the solution to the problem posed by John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory is to remove the veil of anonymity: they are going to require that everyone post under their real, full names.
Think about that: everyone who posts a question in the tech support forum. Everyone who posts a bug report. Everyone on a roleplaying forum organizing an event. Everyone chiming in on Customer Feedback. Is going to have to reveal their real, full, legal names.
In other words: Blizzard is "fighting" forum trolls by giving them the means to FOLLOW YOU OUT OF THE GODDAMN FORUM.
People who will be hurt by this change, or forced to leave the community and be silenced:
Female players with obviously female identified names, who will be opening themselves to potential harassment from sexist jerks.
Trans individuals whose legal names do not reflect their chosen gender, who will be opening themselves to potential harassment from transphobic jerks.
People with ethnically distinct names, (all the Goldsteins, Jamals, Abduls, Julios, and Yangs out there) who will be opening themselves to potential harassment from racist jerks.
ANYONE with a name unique enough to allow someone to track them down, either to another site like facebook, or to their physical address. (At one point this included me. For a while the top result for a google search of my name was a local newspaper article talking about my involvement in a hometown event. It was a small town, and was the only person with my last name in the phonebook at the time. It would have been very, very easy to find me if someone had been so inclined.) A really dedicated troll could work from a more common name by using bits of personal data gleaned from offhand remarks to narrow it down (mentioned they just attended a Jonathan Coulton concert: what city was JoCo performing in that weekend? And so on.)
Anyone "internet famous" (webcartoonists, YouTubers, bloggers, even real-world celebrities) who does not want their creepy fanbase following them around outside their own blog.
Anyone applying for a job who doesn't want the first thing an employer sees when googling their name to be their in-depth post on the proper way to roleplay a tauren plagueshifter.
Anyone who has had problems with stalking, abusive relationships, or rape in their pasts who is hiding from an abuser and doesn't want them to follow them into the forums.
People NOT harmed by this decision:
Straight white cisgendered men who are completely open to everyone they know about their gaming habits, have a secure job in a gaming related field, have absolutely no unpleasant/crazy exes or relatives or acquaintances, and also are named "John Smith."
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A good link roundup here.
Think about that: everyone who posts a question in the tech support forum. Everyone who posts a bug report. Everyone on a roleplaying forum organizing an event. Everyone chiming in on Customer Feedback. Is going to have to reveal their real, full, legal names.
In other words: Blizzard is "fighting" forum trolls by giving them the means to FOLLOW YOU OUT OF THE GODDAMN FORUM.
People who will be hurt by this change, or forced to leave the community and be silenced:
Female players with obviously female identified names, who will be opening themselves to potential harassment from sexist jerks.
Trans individuals whose legal names do not reflect their chosen gender, who will be opening themselves to potential harassment from transphobic jerks.
People with ethnically distinct names, (all the Goldsteins, Jamals, Abduls, Julios, and Yangs out there) who will be opening themselves to potential harassment from racist jerks.
ANYONE with a name unique enough to allow someone to track them down, either to another site like facebook, or to their physical address. (At one point this included me. For a while the top result for a google search of my name was a local newspaper article talking about my involvement in a hometown event. It was a small town, and was the only person with my last name in the phonebook at the time. It would have been very, very easy to find me if someone had been so inclined.) A really dedicated troll could work from a more common name by using bits of personal data gleaned from offhand remarks to narrow it down (mentioned they just attended a Jonathan Coulton concert: what city was JoCo performing in that weekend? And so on.)
Anyone "internet famous" (webcartoonists, YouTubers, bloggers, even real-world celebrities) who does not want their creepy fanbase following them around outside their own blog.
Anyone applying for a job who doesn't want the first thing an employer sees when googling their name to be their in-depth post on the proper way to roleplay a tauren plagueshifter.
Anyone who has had problems with stalking, abusive relationships, or rape in their pasts who is hiding from an abuser and doesn't want them to follow them into the forums.
People NOT harmed by this decision:
Straight white cisgendered men who are completely open to everyone they know about their gaming habits, have a secure job in a gaming related field, have absolutely no unpleasant/crazy exes or relatives or acquaintances, and also are named "John Smith."
***********************************
A good link roundup here.
