With the launch of our new Battle.net, we’ll be making some changes to how players and Blizzard posters are represented on our official forums. Click here to read about our plans for integrating Real ID into our official forums, learn about the design philosophy behind the changes we’re making, and find out about some other upcoming features designed to make the forums a more enjoyable place to visit.

Ashelia has written a great article for Hellmode explaining why this is crazy talk: Why Real ID is a Really Bad Idea | Hellmode

All Blizzard is effectively doing is giving those who fall between the cracks and margins more fodder to mess with people who do continue to use their services. A lot more fodder. Real life names, addresses, and downright terrifying fodder.

Additionally, by using a full name, players are tied to their real life persona and unable to separate themselves from their online one. In this system, it becomes linked forever in search engines. This means potential employers could find out if a player was a World of Warcraft fan and even the characters they have with a simple search. As cool of a story as it would make to be fired because your boss is staunch Horde and you’re Alliance (or more likely, because you play video games and your employer frowns upon MMORPGs in general), realistically there are aspects of one’s private life that don’t look good during an interview process. My boss doesn’t need to necessarily know if I have three level 80s, or if my arena team is about to get Gladiator using a cheap team composition.

There’s other issues, too. Women might find it harsher with new avenues of harassment opened. Transgendered people could be inadvertently outted when someone sees Sally, the friendly Paladin chick, posting under the name Steve. Someone could have a distinctive name and be disregarded solely because their name sounded like a person of a certain background, race, religion, or otherwise. And if someone’s a minor–or even major–celebrity, having their name exposed could be damaging. From Felicia Day to Mila Kunis, I doubt they’d like their alternative identity exposed simply because they decided to post a suggestion on the WoW forums or report a bug to support.

Go read the full article … and join me in hoping that they come to their senses at Blizzard.

Edit: And if that doesn’t convince you, try this round-up from Lum: RealID: Scare-Mongering From A Lot Of People With Funny Names on Broken Toys.

And Another Edit: BBC News – World of Warcraft maker to end anonymous forum logins

Mr Brand said that one Blizzard employee posted his real name on the forums, saying that there was no risk to users, and the experiment went drastically wrong.

“Within five minutes, users had got hold of his telephone number, home address, photographs of him and a ton of other information,” said Mr Brand.

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

However, the issue has resulted in this great song by EmberIsolte with an amusing video by Raven Sylphe Machinima Productions:

You can hear more songs by EmberIsolte on YouTube – EmberIsolte’s Channel.

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

You can find out more about this fine organisation on their website.

The Save the Murlocs Foundation aims to preserve and protect these majestic creatures. Through numerous awareness and outreach programs, we work to outlaw Murloc cruelty, help rebuild villages, protest part harvesting, and find homes for poor orphaned baby Murlocs.

Remember, you CAN make a difference. Spread the word and support the cause!

Save The Murlocs

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

Take a look:

Pandarens appeared in Warcraft 3 as a hero class for a sort of side/secret level. They are the work of Samwise Didier, one of the main artistic directors at Blizzard. It was loved so much that it earned a place in Warcraft lore, although the class caused some problems in China. The original Pandaren Brewmaster was designed as a panda samurai who did drunken boxing. This was a whole big lump of insult to China where the panda holds a mythical status: having one dressed in Japanese style who gets drunk and fights wasn’t necessarily seen as a good thing. I presume that’s why this Pandaren is a monk.

Some of the community guesses as to what he might be:

• 5th Anniversary Pet ala Baby Blizzard Bear last year
• 100 Pet achievement reward
• Special Real World Event
• Brewfest Reward
• Chinese Relaunch Pet

I remember them from playing WC3 back in the old days so they have a special place in my heart. I hope it is obtainable by all players!

Posted by Sweenster on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

However, the members of the Horde are about to change with a new addition. Some of the non-undead members of the Horde might need things explaining so they don’t attack our new allies.

Pay close attention now.

Gnome

Gnomes are little things and members of the Alliance and they are scum and need to die. The only time you should hug a gnome is when you’re trying to squeeze it to death.

Goblin

Goblins are awesome and they are our new friends. They say things like “Yo” which means “Hello there”. They are, however, small like gnomes but they are not gnomes. Gnomes are evil, goblins are good. Do not get the two mixed up.

To get around the difference, think of goblins as small orcs, both are green!

A small complication

This is a green gnome, also known as a leper gnome or “sick gnome”. These are not your friend but they are green and small.

In Conclusion

• Gnome – Small and annoying, must be killed
• Leper Gnome – Small and green but not your friend
• Goblin – Small and green, they’re your friend, they are *not* sick gnomes

Any questions?

Posted by Talthinar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

Broken Toys analyzes the pre-launch cock-ups:
When World Of Warcraft Fails, It Fails HARD

Did I miss anything? Because when an MMO failure is so large even Prokofy Neva notices from deep within the SL bunker, you know it’s kinda a big deal.

Wow-Insider posts details of a serious power leveler:
Nymh of EU Drek’thar first to level 80

Nymh’s Armory displays her (him?) as an SL/SL Warlock, which I’ve been told is an exceptionally good grinding spec, especially when coupled with a healer. Judging by her buffs in the full screenshot, it looks like she just may have had a pocket healer on the journey to 80.

Massive Gamer interview J. Allen Brack:
Wrath of the Lich King: Exclusive Launch Interview

Only hours removed from the largest scale MMOG expansion launch in history, Wrath of the Lich King Production Director J. Allen Brack spoke to Massive Gamer about the latest addition to the World of Warcraft family, how it’s been received, their preparation for it and the issues they’ve run into along the way.

PvPOnline considers the nightmare of losing computer access:
Sentencing

MTV Multiplayer step in to help out the n00bs:
13 ‘Lich King’ Tips For ‘World of Warcraft’ Newcomers

You’re not that far behind. The game has been adjusted to allow new players to level faster. Quests now give more experience points, and the experience points needed to go from level to level has been reduced. To boot, characters can now obtain mounts at level 30 instead of level 40, making questing easier and faster.

Word of Warcraft start updating their documentation:
WoW -> Info -> Basics -> Public Transportation

Fly the skies of Azeroth! World of Warcraft features an advanced flying transportation network. Players can unlock flying routes, then buy tickets to ride flying mounts over long distances to reduce walking time. Players can travel on four types of air mounts and in Goblin Zeppelins (more on that later).

Ctrl+Alt+Del shows the expansion from a different perspective:
End Guy Blues

Now stop reading and get playing!

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

Take a look:

• MUST-PLAY Game of the season is the Murloc RPG: Stranglethorn Fever!
• There’s nothing fishy about Hard Rock: Blizzard’s I am Murloc music video.
• Murlocs haven’t been added as a player race but you CAN make one in Spore: Step-by-step instructions.
• Or you could amaze friends and family with your very own Murloc knitted hat – one size fits all.
• It will amaze them almost as much as your Murloc ring tone.
• You’d rather see one than be one? Blizzard are a step ahead of you. September 30th is the launch date to buy your very own: Talking Murloc Plush Toy.
• And for those who worry about the effects on game-play if we humanize NPCs:
  Dark Legacy’s A Day in the Life. Obviously this doesn’t apply to Murlocs.

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

When I thought about achievements in WoW, I was hoping for a medal that would show to people: “I achieved that!” Currently I know very little about the level 70 standing next to me bar his title and a few details. I can see if he does much PvP, I can see if he does Arena and what rank he is, I can see who he ground rep for and if I look at his epics I can tell what raids he has been in.

That is about it though, for all I know the player could have been created a few weeks ago and power-leveled, he could be from the start of the game. I don’t know; that is the problem.

Now imagine for a second if you could see information such as “Downed Onyxia” or “Opened the gates of Ahn’Qiraj”. This would be something completely individual, I could see who this player was. I could see how long a player has been around, what he achieved and what he skipped. This could start conversations, cause crowds in cities, allow people to feel jealous of another player even though they had better kit.

There are bad points to this though, as have been seen in other games such as Guild Wars. People ended up simply grinding for titles, the equivalent system in GW, just so they had them. The game became focused around this endeavor and boring. It also caused people to require certain titles for entry into groups leaving those without titles to feel left out. It almost caused segregation of people who played to enjoy and people who played to have everything in the game. That could happen in WoW if achievements have an effect on the character.

The Kokatu write-up has an image which shows points for the achievements a la Xbox Live again, but as we all know – in WoW points mean prizes. If they make certain kit only available to people who grind achievements you will end up with yet another class of players who are overpowered down to having more time than someone else.

This could work if the rewards didn’t give a player advantages, but more token rewards, new mounts, new pets, reusable fireworks. Yes I know, I stole those from the WoW TCG rewards, but that system works, it gives people an incentive without it being used to advance their characters.

To give an overall impression, Blizzard need to think how to manage achievements if they intend to use them. They could work and give a whole new reason to play for those who are bored, but they must also ensure that by completing achievements people don’t get any tangible boost by having more time than the next guy. Though you could say, that having more time than the next guy sums up what makes MMO an MMO.

Posted by Sweenster on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

Pacific Epoch reports:

Chengdu’s Shuangliu county has arrested two virtual item and currency traders, surnamed Li and Zhang, focused on tapping out The9’s (Nasdaq: NCTY) licensed MMORPG World of Warcraft (WoW), reports Chengdu Evening News. Police arrested the pair after Li reported Zhang for unfair revenue distribution. Going into business last August, the gold miners accumulated more than 20 employees with 20 computers to generate RMB 1.6 million in seven months of dealing.

Virtually Blind comments:

What happens next is up to the Chinese authorities, but we can bet the pair are hoping for just a game ban.

I’m not sure they’ve actually understood the issue here: it’s not about the game. Unfair revenue distribution doesn’t seem to come up outside of this particular news article, so I’m not sure what Li was complaining about. But Li accused Zhang and then got arrested himself, which I would guess wasn’t part of the initial plan.

Hopefully further reports will be clearer on the detail but it seems a fair bet that the issue is undeclared profits or similar. The money involved (US $230,000) is enough cash to make any government take notice.

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

Wondering what not to do today? Don’t mess around with Customer Service! Auryk posts an in-depth breakdown of a petition gone wrong ending in a reminder not to attempt to defraud your GMs.

Wondering what’s to come for tomorrow? WoW Insider reports that Wrath of the Lich King is in alpha and that initial invites have gone out for testing.

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.