Privacy and the Virtual World (of Warcraft)

I came across a rather interesting article by Noah Nelson of Youth Radio (via someone on Twitter) where he discusses the recent proposed forum changes by Blizzard, the company behind World of Warcraft. It seems that Blizzard intended to require that everyone posting to their forums use their real name to do so. The change was proposed as a way to transform their often crass message boards into a more friendly place, with Blizzard assuming that someone forced to post a message using their real name would be less inclined to verbally attack other players. I found this alarming for two main reasons.

First and most importantly, this is a violation of privacy. Those who play World of Warcraft (and most other MMOs) are doing so to escape the real world and join a new one, if only for a few hours each week. As a former WoW player, the idea that my real name would be tied to my character for all to see is nothing short of a violation of my personal privacy. Imagine a potential employer checking the forums to see how much I participate and forming a negative opinion of me not based on my job performance but on his own prejudices regarding gamers. Were this new rule to have gone into place, and were I still playing WoW, I would have simply stopped posting to their forums. In the end, I believe that Blizzard would lose more than they would gain.

Second, it's simply a lazy way to moderate a forum. Most times, hiring human beings, or "deputizing" trusted forum members, and granting them the power to moderate the conversations is the best way to keep a sense of order and respect among the members. Automation is not always the answer. In fact, automation can turn your customers against you and cost you a great deal more than it would have cost to hire a few people to maintain your forums.

When me2oh.com was first designed, the goal that its members would be able to create profiles that consisted of Second Life and first life information was paramount. However, equally important was the need to protect the privacy of our members. This is why no public fields on our user profiles are mandatory. If there is one thing that is certain about Second Life residents, they may want the option to tie their Second Life avatars to their real life selves, but they want it to be just that: an option. This is why our members may provide as little or as much personal information as they choose, and I'm happy with the way it all came together.

I was also happy to read that the WoW players revolted and Blizzard changed their mind. They will not require their members to use their real names when posting to their forums. It seems that I'm not alone in regarding this sort of action as both unwarranted and unfriendly to a community of users who are simply looking to find a little escape from the real world.