Blizzard Recants RealID Implementation Plans... for Now

It’s nearly four thirty in the morning here in the Philippines, and I woke up all of a sudden because of a bad dream about a dragon swallowing me whole after promising not to because I helped it grow into the dragon it was today. I remember this gist of my dream because I decided to write it down on pen and paper just to see what it would remind me of when I was fully awake.

Two things there. First, my dreams have this bad tendency of being subconsciously based on my fears. Second, when the dreams are messed up, they’re really messed up, leaving me crying uncontrollably upon waking.

In a nutshell, I was planning to post something on my personal blog for once talking about my dream, but after checking my feed reader, it seems my subconscious fears have been allayed… somewhat.

You see, Blizzard has recanted (I love that word… recant) on its earlier decision to make people posting on their forums use their first and last names based on feedback from the gaming public. Normally, this would be the end of it, but I was reading the post on the forums, and I noticed that they added three words that I really dislike: “…at this time…”

For those of you who require an explanation, the phrase “at this time” allows for the possibility of RealID getting added into the game in a similar fashion at a later date, or in a different incarnation altogether. I dislike that possibility immensely and feel that, should they wish to implement something new and potentially problematic like this, they should poll their populace before thinking of doing something similar.

That said, while I am pleased with the current outcome, I will remain cautious regarding how Activision Blizzard handles their business from hereon out.

Now for some links!

Drew of The Beast Within puts a rather good commentary on the recanting here.

Scott Jennings of Broken Toys also has a wonderful post!

WoW.com’s report, and the subsequent comment storm, here.

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