The Internet is well known as a breeding ground for unimaginable shit-storms, but I say in all truthfulness that I do not think I have ever, in all my years on the Internet (and they are considerable), seen a storm of the magnitude that this RealID decision has raised. Ever.

I am not an active World of Warcraft player. When I was, I never posted to the forums. I do not plan on playing Diablo 3 or StarCraft II. I made these decisions long before RealID, so it’s safe to say that I have no horse in this race. At least, not directly.

From an academic point of view, this is a multi-layered situation. The most obvious layer is the one that concerns privacy, and seems to be the focal point of a good portion of those opposed to Blizzard’s application of RealID. The second  layer is the “Facebookification” of WoW and probably all other Blizzard products going forward. The third layer is Blizzard’s stance on the controversy. The fourth layer as I see it deals with the future of WoW.  The last layer is the implications that RealID has for other MMOs.

As stated, I have nothing to lose or gain by taking a position on this subject, and thus far I haven’t weighed in on either side, but as a blogger who writes on topics within this sphere, the situation has grown to the point where it’s no longer a choice, but an obligation to write about it.

At first, I didn’t see the harm. Most people I follow on Twitter have used their real names in their profiles, and humanity has lived with the White Pages for decades before the Internet. Intercepting mail, or even just social engineering is more then enough to get information from people if one wanted to get it. But then people started to express their concerns by offering real-life testimony about how they had been dealing with stalkers, harassment and racism in real life, or even through the game without their real names being posted to public forums. A few people might be an edge case (although no less serious), but the sheer volume of people posting experiences and concerns makes it the rule, and not the exception, as far as I’m concerned. It’s gotten to the point where these concerns are impossible to ignore or overlook.

Yet ignore them Blizzard has. Blizzard (no doubt with Activision’s gentle prodding) have seen fit to build their own “social network” around their millions of players. They’ve gone and set themselves – and the community – on that path…without consulting the very community they’re trying to connect. It’s understandable that in today’s tech climate that a wholly owned social graph stands to impart tremendous benefits upon it’s controller, but didn’t we just go through several months of battling Facebook over it’s opening of it’s own graph? It’s baffling that Blizzard would even consider making the bold move that RealID represents in the wake of such high-profile concerns about the practices of the very system they’re attempting to replicate. This is the company that pioneered the shrewd tactic of “…when it’s done” to allow them to release quality products that put other’s to shame, yet they are now stumbling around in one of the worst PR moves in the history of gaming. It’s far, far more damaging, IMO, then all of the bad MMO launches of the past decade combined.

What’s even more confusing is Blizzard’s insistence to go forward with RealID despite the villagers at their gates. Such hubris! Maybe they’re emboldened by their subscriber numbers into thinking that the current opposition is merely a punctuation mark on their balance sheets, or that the impending release of Cataclysm will mesmerize the restless to file back into the game as they have in the so willingly for past expansions. It is curious that RealID is emerging during the much sought-after Cataclysm beta. At any rate, the only other example of a company being so out of touch with the implications that I can think of is, of course, Facebook.

It remains to be seen what lasting effect this has on WoW players. Certainly, there are those who will simply not visit the official forums, and who could care less about having their real names out there (despite the promise that there are/will be add-ons which can dredge up this info in-game). They’ll soldier on, paying Blizzard to continue business as usual. I am curious to know if this will be enough to actually drive players away from WoW, and Blizzard’s upcoming products as well? Is this the fabled “WoW Killer”? Will RealID do what legions of other MMOs could not?

The good news is that this is turning out to be such a massive clusterfuck that I think we can guarantee that we won’t be seeking this kind of move from other devs/pubs. If RealID doesn’t sink WoW (and really, who honestly thinks that it will?), it will be strictly due to those who remain loyal to the brand, and also on sheer subscribership alone. No other MMO has the cache or the numbers to even attempt to pull a stunt like this. If Lord of the Rings Online or Fallen Earth wanted to throw a user’s personal information to the public without giving those users a say in the matter, they would vanish overnight. It seems that being the 800 pound gorilla also makes you incredibly prone to making rock-stupid decisions when you can afford to play a percentage game. Other titles don’t have that luxury (remember Turbine’s “offer wall” and rapid retraction?).

Even though I don’t have a stake in this discussion, I side with those who are opposed to RealID. Some people are going to be opposed for opposition’s sake, but it’s been virtually impossible to avoid the mountainous volume of posts by people with legitimate concerns born out of real life experiences. That Blizzard seems to be ignoring the fact that they’re potentially putting their player’s lives at risk is utterly mystifying. I really do hope that people actually quit WoW over this; complaining is one thing, but doing something about it – hitting them in the wallet – is another. I do take comfort in knowing that Blizzard is actually doing the industry a service here, by taking the PR bullet and showing other dev/pubs the folly in thinking you’re too big to take on – i.e. be careful what you wish for. It’s just rather bittersweet that after years and years of other games trying to get a slice of WoW’s pie, that it’s Blizzard itself doing the most damage to it’s flagship product – and their own image.