RealID, it’ll be with us in the EU within days, so time to think about whether it’s good, bad or simply “a something”.
So, firstly, the low down from Blizzard
Everyone read and digested? Good.
I must use it
There’s no requirement to use RealID, seriously, you don’t have to use it, if you don’t like what it does then don’t bloody well use it.
Real names
It shows your real name to people you have connected with using RealID (or more accurately the name you have registered your battlenet account under).This isn’t a problem for me generally but I can see it will be a problem for some people, with the wider sharing of names this is going to be a deal breaker for some.
Sharing account details
The two people connecting must share their battlenet email addresses to make the connection, once connected this information isn’t displayed anywhere.
“If you are using Real ID, your mutual Real ID friends, as well as their Real ID friends, will be able to see your first and last name (the name registered to the Battle.net account). You will also be able to see the first and last name of your Real ID friends and their Real ID friends. Your Battle.net account name (your email address) is not displayed to other players through the Real ID friends list. In addition, players with Real ID relationships will be able to view each other’s online status, Rich Presence information, and Broadcast messages, and will be able to see which character and game their Real ID friends are playing across supported Blizzard games.”This I’m not entirely convinced about and the language is vague towards the end (at least to my rules lawyer mind).
Removing friends
Right click, click, done.
Let’s build an example
We have the following players A, B, C & D
A & B become friends
B & C become friends
C & D become friends
Real Name
A can see B & C
B can see A, C & D
C can see A, B & D
D can see C & B
B & C become RealID friends
BattleNet account name (email address)
Not shown through the system
A & B become RealID friends
This I think is vague, I suspect that they’re referring only to direct relationships, if that’s true then
A can see B
B can see A & C
C can see B & D
D can see C
Online status, “Rich Presence Information”, Broadcast messages
If however it follows the same rules as for your real name then those rules apply.
All your toons across all games on that battlenet account are shared with your friends.No opt outs, so that toon you keep for slacking, it’s now visable. That banking toon you’ve been owning the AH with… visible.
The million dollar question
Will I use it, probably, maybe, while there are people on WoW who know my real name and there are others who can guess from looking through Facebook and put two and two together it’s not something I’ve pushed out there. I don’t like the friend of a friend information sharing, and if that includes online status etc etc I like it less.
