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Real I.D. is a system [[Blizzard]] has been working to install through [[Battle.net]], over all of their new games. It provides players with one centralized account through which they can connect to all of Blizzard's games. Real ID is feature-rich and is something that Blizzard clearly spent a lot of time and effort creating. Despite those facts, it's been greeted with a lot of player discord and dislike, since many Blizzard gamers wish to retain some amount of anonymity during their online play and forum activity.
Blizzard's attempt, in July 2010, to compel mandatory real name posting on their forums resulted in an enormous outburst of fan protest, forcing Blizzard to drop their plans for the feature just two days after announcing it. [<ref> {{cite web | url = http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzard-buckles-on-real-id/]| title = Blizzard buckles on Real ID | accessdate = 2010-08-10}}</ref>
* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/categories/category/real-id/ All Diablo news related to Real ID].
A new messaging system tied to Real ID came to WoW on June 22, 2010. It was more feature-rich than the existing WoW friend system, allowing players to speak with others players on different realms, and will allow that with friends playing Starcraft II and other future Battle.net games.
Unfortunately, in the view of many players, it does this with your real name account, something most WoW players have set up since they have a credit card for billing on their WoW account. Early editorials on this new Facebook integration were fairly full of displeasure,[<ref> {{cite web | url = http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/real-id-on-b.net-no-privacy-controls/] | title = Real ID on B.net = No Privacy Controls}}</ref> and Diablo fans continued to view these developments with trepidation.
==Real ID and the Battle.net Forums==
While the real name aspect of things in World of Warcraft had stirred up some controversy, the public outcry really began on July 7, 2010, when Blizzard announced plans to require Real ID for anyone who wished to post on the Battle.net forums for WoW, SC2, tech support, and other games going forward.[<ref> {{cite web | url = http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/real-id-comes-to-the-b.net-forums/] [| title = Real ID Comes to the B.net Forums}}</ref> <ref> {{cite web | url = http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=25626109041]| title = Blizzard Requires Real Names}}</ref>
::'''Battle.net Update: Upcoming Changes to the Forums
==Blizzard Pushes Back==
Blizzard was unwilling to give in without a fight, and had all of their community managers out on the front lines of their forums, falling on their swords left and right. One of the best explanations given was by Wryxian, one of their WoW CMs from Europe.[<ref> {{cite web | url = http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=13816838128&sid=1&pageNo=203#4053]| title = Wryxian defends Real Names}}</ref>
::We have been planning this change for a very long time. During this time, we have thought ahead about the scope and impact of this change and predicted that many people would no longer wish to post in the forums after this change goes live. We are fine with that, because we want to change these forums dramatically in a positive and more constructive direction.
::There’s a lot of scare-mongering going on about the change, but there seems a need to make something very clear. The forums have always been an optional extra—something you can choose to participate in if you wish to. With our Real ID changes for the forums, this is still the case. The only difference will be, if you do choose to participate in the forums, then you will do so by using your real name. But only after you’ve been warned and accepted this in advance.
Belying Blizzard's publicly unified front, (unsourced) rumors began to swirl that Real ID was very unpopular internally. [<ref> {{cite web | url = http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/rumour-blizzard-realid-unpopular-internally/]| title = Rumor: Real ID Unpopular Internally}}</ref>
==''Et tu, Brute?''==
All this was just in the day after the Real ID forum announcement. When all of Blizzard's arguments failed to make a dent, and the Electronic Freedom Federation joined in[<ref> {{cite web | url = http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/eff-criticise-blizzards-real-id/] | title = EFF criticizes Real ID}}</ref> the condemnation, things looked grim for Real ID. When the most influential gaming site, [http://www.penny-arcade.com Penny Arcade] joined in, fans hoped that the end was nigh.
[[File:Realid-penny-arcade1.jpg|thumb|400px|[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/7/9/ Penny Arcade] weighs in on Real ID.]]
Below is a quote from the Penny Arcade news post, with their comic on the subject to the right:[<ref> {{cite web | url = http://www.penny-arcade.com/2010/7/9/]| title = Penny Arcade on Real ID}}</ref>
::The RealID thing is a bad idea that won’t work. If it were merely a bad idea, or merely wouldn’t work, maybe there’d be something in it. Accountability is crucial -- [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/ you might recall our theory on the subject] -- and a fixed persona makes the laws of a microculture enforceable. But the idea that this persona must bear your actual name to lend it value (for you, or for others) is ludicrous.
==Blizzard Capitulates==
On the morning of July 9, 2010, two days after issuing the original announcement, Blizzard announced that they were bowing to the wishes of their public, and removing the mandatory requirement[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzard-buckles-on-real-id/] of using Real Names on their forums in the future, while keeping their plans to incorporate all of the other planned social upgrades. A partial quote from [[Mike Morhaime]]'s announcement: [<ref> {{cite web | url = http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=25968987278&sid=1]| title = Mike Morhaime rolls back Real Names requirement}}</ref>
::It's important to note that we still remain committed to improving our forums. Our efforts are driven 100% by the desire to find ways to make our community areas more welcoming for players and encourage more constructive conversations about our games. We will still move forward with new forum features such as the ability to rate posts up or down, post highlighting based on rating, improved search functionality, and more. However, 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. 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.
