A Blizzard of Protest Over Privacy

From The Economist

Fans of online games are used to battling for their lives in virtual worlds. But, as Activision Blizzard, a big producer of such games, has just discovered to its cost, they seem to be just as willing to fight for a cause that has significant real-world implications. After being bombarded with protests from users, the company recently announced it was reversing a decision to make people use their real names when posting comments to its game forums.

The episode is a considerable embarrassment for Activision Blizzard, which had previously argued that its proposed policy was needed to cut down on “trolling”—game-speak for the posting of offensive comments online. Like many online communities (including online newspapers’ comment forums), those associated with the company’s games, which include the hugely popular World of Warcraft, are prone to this unpleasant behaviour. Activision Blizzard’s bosses were betting that by forcing players to use their true identities in its forums—while letting them continue to use make-believe monikers in game play—they could make “trolls” behave themselves.

Instead the move infuriated almost everyone. “Possibly the worst idea in the history of bad ideas,” raged one player on Battle.net, an online forum associated with World of Warcraft that was deluged with many thousands of complaints about the proposed policy. Another called the game company’s plan an “epic fail”, while several more decried it as “a violation of trust.”

To Read More…