Real ID- Unmasking Us?

The hot topic of today seems to be Real ID. Some people love it while others hate it. The latest news has been the addition to adding the Real ID to forum posting. Is Blizzard crossing a line here? Why is it such a big deal to share to the world who we are? My fantasy is being taken away, they are unmasking the characters... To an extent. I don't really want to know that 'Gabriel' the Paladin is really 'Dick Smith'. Especially on the forums, I do not want to know these peoples real names.

I have gotten over the Real ID part in game and actually use it with a few people. I wouldn't add just anybody though. It can be handy but I still don't like the fact that it uses real names. I really do not know what Blizzard is doing. Are they trying to scare people off?

People seem to be against using real names in the forums. How many people are going to post up there now? I think we will be seeing people use other forums in the future and not the official forums. It will chase off people. Is this something you want to see? Boy that guy is a dumb ass, he called me a nub, let me google his name... Hey it could happen, what is preventing it?

I think privacy is being invaded, a boundary crossed. I hope to see Blizzard take another look at this and change it to user handles. I think this also needs to be used with caution- never in any game I've played (MMO) have you ever had to share account information with the world to use certain aspects.

I'm not going to drone on and on about it today because everyone and their brother is talking about it. I did want share my thoughts on it though. Is this something that bothers you? Do you think you will use the forums after this? I really would love to know why Blizzard thinks this is a good idea. I'm just boggled.

I do have some interesting questions though... Thinking of posting on the general forums looking for a guild, will you still now? I'll let my husband do that if he wants to badly enough. I doubt he does. How about your child posting a question on the forums with your name on the account. What if you didn't know about the changes because you don't play? Not your name on the account, but your child's? Do you really want their name on the net?

It's not going to cause me to quit personally. In the end it probably won't bother me that much. I don't like the idea of so much reality being thrown into my fantasy though. It makes me a sad panda.

For the official information on the forum changes you can read the original post here. Also Massively has a great post covering a lot of bases on this topic such as:

'The game's first casualty has already been made public -- Community Manager Bashlok. Within minutes, posters found his wife's name, his children, where his children go to school, his house, his projected income, his Facebook, etc. The official response to this has been that posting any of this information will result in a ban. Yes, that's right, a whole ban. The fact that people can easily track you down isn't a huge worry because posting said information will result in a ban from an internet forum.' Interesting! Read more here.