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Blizzard Announces More Privacy Options For Real ID
Last week, Blizzard backed down on their decision to force gamers to use their real first and last names on Blizzard forums. It was a major win for outspoken fans who had rallied against the policy all week, but on our recent episode of Respec Radio, Game Informer editor-in-chief Andy McNamara said it wasn't quite enough. Even with the forum change, the current system allows friends of friends on your Real ID list in-game to view your real name.
Today, Blizzard announced that this too will be changing.
In an e-mail FAQ about the Real ID system sent out today, Blizzard reiterated that the original logic behind friends of friends being able to see your name was to help populate your Real ID friends list faster. However, to fix the privacy concerns this issue raises, Blizzard says they will be introducing an option to opt out of appearing to friends of friends. Blizzard says this will be available in StarCraft II shortly after it launches and in World of Warcraft at the same time.
They also went into further detail on the Facebook functionality that will be available for Real ID when StarCraft II ships. Essentially, if you choose to do so, they game will allow you to send Real ID invites to anyone on your Facebook friends list who has a Battle.net account linked up with their Facebook account. Blizzard also plans to eventually add in the option for you to broadcast your activities in its games on Facebook. They also clarified that they do not share any of your personal information with Facebook even if you connect your Battle.net account to your Facebook profile.
Blizzard revealed the new plans for the StarCraft II forums. Now when you first launch the game, you'll create a character name of your choice, and then you'll be assigned a three-digit character code. These will provide your identification on the StarCraft II forums rather than your real ID.
These are some fairly positive improvements that should help squash any remaining fears about privacy issues in Blizzard games. That said, Blizzard also provided some warnings. " As always, we recommend that you get your UI add-ons through reliable sources," they said, for fear that rogue UI add-ons for World of Warcraft could potentially steal your real ID info. As usual, they also suggested using a Battle.net authenticator or mobile authenticator app to help ensure that your account is not hacked, though, " Aside from your friends’ first and last names, no other personal information is shared through the in-game Real ID system."
It's been a tough few weeks of rolling out new features and then backtracking on them, but it seems like Blizzard finally has their Real ID program on a path that almost everyone can be comfortable with. What do you think?
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