Guild Wars 2

Just to be clear. I’m generally agaist such solution, but the amount of hate, trolling and other generally bad behavior on this forums is jut beyond ridicuouls.

Force real world last and first names on forums, instead of nicknames. It probably won’t shut up come persons, but at least most of people will think twice before posting something stupid.

If this happen, good thing I don’t use facebook.

It won’t stop anyone. In South Korea, they have people’s social security numbers tied to their online identities and trolling is pretty horrible there.

Blizzard tried to enforce real name on forums, it got so bad that the President of Blizzard had to go on the forums and apologize for the decision.

Basically it will never happen, and even if it does, it won’t work.

iniside.4736:

Just to be clear. I’m generally agaist such solution, but the amount of hate, trolling and other generally bad behavior on this forums is jut beyond ridicuouls.

Force real world last and first names on forums, instead of nicknames. It probably won’t shut up come persons, but at least most of people will think twice before posting something stupid.

Just no, that is wrong, people would get in hate mail in real life, be pursued on social sites.

Xcom.1926:

It won’t stop anyone. In South Korea, they have people’s social security numbers tied to their online identities and trolling is pretty horrible there.

Blizzard tried to enforce real name on forums, it got so bad that the President of Blizzard had to go on the forums and apologize for the decision.

Basically it will never happen, and even if it does, it won’t work.

I’m 100% sure it will work better than what we have now.

Just no, that is wrong, people would get in hate mail in real life, be pursued on social sites.

Are you afraid of some random persons in internet ? You can always sue them.

I suggest rewarding good behavior in addition to punishing bad…that was at least he “good” people will benefit and the “bad” people will have something to strive for. For example: I would love the ability to have an image in my signature and this might be a way to implement that. Just a random thought.

Remember, any online system that can be abused will be abused.

While some can be coerced into acting nicely, and some can be enticed into acting nicely, there will always be people there who just won’t act nicely, regardless of any external influence. Some men just want to watch the world burn…

In the end, the choice to play nicely with one another boils down to being a personal choice.

Also, the cost-to-benefit of putting people’s RL names on the internet without their consent would be terrible.

Well this is my actual name, lol. Quite annoying really as I’m sure it wasn’t mentioned to me on registering that the name I picked would be on display everywhere in game and on the forums. But oh well.

No.

Do you have any idea how many players left WoW when the new management suggested RealID for the forums? (And never returned)

And how many players there had legitimate legal concerns about their real names being exposed (for serious reasons).

I wonder which celebrities play GW2, if any.

iniside.4736:

Are you afraid of some random persons in internet ? You can always sue them.

Right. Trials are expensive even if you may recoup your costs if you win and very time consuming and agravating. Few would want to spend their money and time on such an activity.

Aside from being a measure that proved to be completely useless, disclosing real user names publicly on a forum would probably create a legal mess because of the Privacy Policy (https://www.guildwars2.com/en/legal/arenanet-privacy-policy/). ANet would have to change it in order to be able to use real names however given how restrictive privacy related laws are in some countries, especially in European union (yes Germany I am looking at you) this is almost near to an impossible endeavor.

That being said I also have to say that I don’t understand where all these “forums full of hate/trolling” remarks come from because from all the forums I’ve visited (a large number I’d say) this one seems very decent and civilized. Yes there is negative criticism but that should be expected for a game of this type. The important thing is wherever that negative criticism is found most of the discussion is pretty on topic and well within bounds of civilized discussion.

Just make it so that a forum ban translates into a game ban.

I don’t care tbh. Having my name on here is not going to stop me from telling stupid people they’re stupid.

Well I wouldn’t have to manage my behavior if people would learn to manage their stupidity.

iniside.4736:

Force real world last and first names on forums, instead of nicknames.

uh-huh… sounds pretty creepy. Like we really want to be stalked. (example:)Hey buddie, I now know where you live, so youz better watch ur mouth. Fail idea. Or you get some crazy guy mad at you in WvW, looks up your name, digs for info on you, does all sorts of interesting things with your name over the internet for revenge. Hackers and spammers will know all about you now, even if you use a fake FB name, and will probably link that too. Just fail.

Arimahn.3568:

Just make it so that a forum ban translates into a game ban.

That’s the worst idea i’ve heard.
The forums are a platform for discussion – a user’s behavior on the forum can be and usually is completely different from his in-game behavior.

It’s like punishing one thing for another.

Also the real name idea comes at a close second.

It’s toxic , i would just perm forum ban all the people who cry everyday yet offer no input or solutions.

Harper.4173:

Arimahn.3568:

Just make it so that a forum ban translates into a game ban.

That’s the worst idea i’ve heard.
The forums are a platform for discussion – a user’s behavior on the forum can be and usually is completely different from his in-game behavior.

It’s like punishing one thing for another.

Also the real name idea comes at a close second.

From the Forum Code of Conduct:

‘ArenaNet reserves the right to suspend or terminate your access to these forums and/or to the game itself at any time for reasons that include, but are not necessarily limited to, your failure to abide by this Code of Conduct.’

Negative criticism <> “hate”. You can use the report button to deal with any actual violations of forum etiquette.

I use my real name but lets face it my name could be Engelbert Humperdinck for all you know. Whats next, sending a scan or photo of our passports to ANet for verification of our names?

Harper.4173:

Arimahn.3568:

Just make it so that a forum ban translates into a game ban.

That’s the worst idea i’ve heard.
The forums are a platform for discussion – a user’s behavior on the forum can be and usually is completely different from his in-game behavior.

It’s like punishing one thing for another.

Also the real name idea comes at a close second.

Someone who is prone to grammatically atrocious rageposts probably doesn’t behave much differently in the game. Just like a kid that is prone to throwing a tantrum will do so at home as well as in school.

Besides, it’s not about punishment (Although I like the idea, personally), it’s about having stronger incentives to make good posts or at least not post like a chimp.

Don’t like this idea at all myself. There are too many crazy people out there to want to hand out my real name over the Internet. While someone named John Smith is safe enough, a number of people have names that are unique enough to be found if someone wants to dig for it. It just sounds like something that could easily be abused for only minor rewards. Good moderation is a better way to handle forum problems.

iniside.4736:

Are you afraid of some random persons in internet ? You can always sue them.

It’s not about suing someone. It’s about protecting yourself from people who could potentially find you in real life. If someone has your name, that’s half the battle. All they have to do now is Google you (or white pages, etc.) and they’ve got your address. The next step is to physically go to your home, learn your habits, and the next thing you know, you’re a headline.

I know for my name, (yes, I somewhat researched it) there are only 42 in the whole of the US. There’s only 8 of my husband’s name. I don’t want either of us to be paraded in the forums for some nut job to be able to find us.

So the answer is Yes. I am afraid of some random persons on the internet.

I think a better solution for all the hate and discontent is to start giving the worst of the trolls bans. …And I don’t mean lousy 3-day bans. I mean a week, a month, or permanent, depending on their offense (or number of offenses) and if they get to the “permanent” stage, ban them in-game as well. If they’re THAT bad, they’re probably that bad inside the game as well.

How could you force people to do this? If Anet asks me for my real name, well, it’s John Smith. Oh, your name is John Smith, too? What a coincidence.

Molch.2078:

How could you force people to do this? If Anet asks me for my real name, well, it’s John Smith. Oh, your name is John Smith, too? What a coincidence.

That would make things interesting, all the forum users being named John Smith. Might conceivably cause some problems with remembering which John Smith is a forum troll though. ^^

Firstly I’m not convinced this would work at all. I’ve worked customer service for years and I’ve seen adults behaving worse in person than I’ve ever seen on this forum. The fact that someone can (and will) be held accountable for their actions doesn’t always make a difference in how they act.

Secondly there are a lot of reasons it’s a bad idea. There are many people with very good reasons not to want their real name on the internet. People who don’t want certain people from their past to find them for example (which can sometimes literally be a matter of life and death) or people whose career might be affected – someone found out a US politician also plays WoW and her opponents tried to turn it against her by claiming it somehow made her a terrible person who could not be trusted in government.

There’s also a risk of things going wrong if people can’t find you using your real name. For example if someone knew my real name and decided to argue with me on Facebook, or in real life, they wouldn’t find me. They’d find some random woman with the same name and end up harassing them over something they know nothing about. (Not because I keep my name secret, but I got married 2 years ago and changed it so there’s not many hits related to me and they’re all quite far down.)

People are already held accountable within the GW2 community. You have to use the same name every time you post on the forum and it’s the same one you’re identified by in-game so your actions in one can and do impact how people treat you in the other. There’s no need to take it out into the wider world.

hell no I have a family- I am not handing my info to people on the internet

iniside.4736:

Just to be clear. I’m generally agaist such solution, but the amount of hate, trolling and other generally bad behavior on this forums is jut beyond ridicuouls.

Force real world last and first names on forums, instead of nicknames. It probably won’t shut up come persons, but at least most of people will think twice before posting something stupid.

It’s a bad move, believe it or not they’re are some people out their that would track you down and either kill you in the extreme cases or leave you bleeding on a street because you did something in game they hate you for. This has happend on various occassions where a player is able to track you easily.

Plus assuming you can’t track them through Anet you can just visit twitter and any other social network to find and begin to troll them.

I am not saying it would happen but it’s entirely possible. Also, using real life names has a profound legal issues perticularly when players start (and rightly so) fighting aginste any such acts on the part of a company. The real world, and the internet should always be kept seperated, which is why I hate most social networking.

Wow this thread is very toxic indeed.I think the op is helping in creating more chaos than civility on forums.

iniside.4736:

Just to be clear. I’m generally agaist such solution, but the amount of hate, trolling and other generally bad behavior on this forums is jut beyond ridicuouls.

Force real world last and first names on forums, instead of nicknames. It probably won’t shut up come persons, but at least most of people will think twice before posting something stupid.

Hahahahaha. Hahahaha…. Bwhahaha! Woooo!

/wipetear

Oh wait… You’re serious.

Not going to happen. A certain game company starting with “B” found out why the hard way.

Azure Prower.8701:

iniside.4736:

Just to be clear. I’m generally agaist such solution, but the amount of hate, trolling and other generally bad behavior on this forums is jut beyond ridicuouls.

Force real world last and first names on forums, instead of nicknames. It probably won’t shut up come persons, but at least most of people will think twice before posting something stupid.

Hahahahaha. Hahahaha…. Bwhahaha! Woooo!

/wipetear

Oh wait… You’re serious.

Not going to happen. A certain game company starting with “B” found out why the hard way.

The op doesn’t know he is encouraging more trolls,name calling and personal attacks with his method.

Yea it is bit scary. I didn’t realize that after creating gw2dungeons.net my personal details would be all over the Internet.

@OP: Sure, great idea, because no-one on the internet was ever able to use a false identity.

I’m with Arimahn, just link forum/game bans. The infraction system gives people plenty of warning and time to decide if they want to lose time in game so they can be rude to someone who doesn’t share their opinion.

Naracion.6597:

I suggest rewarding good behavior in addition to punishing bad…that was at least he “good” people will benefit and the “bad” people will have something to strive for. For example: I would love the ability to have an image in my signature and this might be a way to implement that. Just a random thought.

This. I used to manage forums for a game company. When I came on board the trolling and negativity was out of control. Some users were pure trolls, while others were just following the bad behavior of others. I implemented a system where staff would basically give points to every post that was constructive and helpful. It could be anything from feedback to suggestion, answering a player helping player with a thorough answer, or posting a guide or walk through. Even negative feedback could get positive points from staff as long as it was well thought out, respectful, and constructive.

When someone posted something constructive a staff member would comment in the thread praising the post (public praise). Once users acquired a certain amount of points, we would put a star in their signature.

On the flip side, the nonconstructive posts violating the rules would be removed, and the user would get negative points and a personal message explaining exactly why the post was removed. Temporary bans were implemented for repeat offenders.

It took a while, but after a few months the trolls moved on and the forums were a much happier place.

After I left the company, they went to a social media linked style forum where instead of a user name, your real name and picture were next to every post. Needless to say a wonderful community tanked very quickly and never rebuilt after that. Even the good constructive user wouldn’t use the system.

Here’s a better thought; who cares?
We’re all online playing a video game. If someone gets mad at you, good, laugh at them.

If you’re getting offended on GW2 forums then you need to get up and get some perspective. Hell, even the opinions of people “IRL” shouldn’t mean that much to you, much less some random on the internet.

It would not work and would cause more problems than it would ever hope to solve.

iniside.4736:

Just to be clear. I’m generally agaist such solution, but the amount of hate, trolling and other generally bad behavior on this forums is jut beyond ridicuouls.

Force real world last and first names on forums, instead of nicknames. It probably won’t shut up come persons, but at least most of people will think twice before posting something stupid.

Then you will have the “trolls” and jerks collecting the names of people they disagree with or just plain don’t like and taking that harassment to the real world. Trust me, I watched it in a roleplaying community – people got their phone numbers, addresses, facebook pages and everything else published for having opinions or playing in ways the “troll” didn’t like and once that stuff is online, it’s hard to get it taken down. Do you really want some guy who doesn’t care about you as a person having all your RL details?

It’ll punish far more of the good folks than the “trolls”.

how about doing that same thing for those people who insist on the “nothing’s wrong” mantra at every turn? so we can see if they truly work for a publisher or one of those biased “review” companies that give 9/10 on everything just for dollars.

Before someone makes a suggestion for the forum, they should take a few minutes and try to think of unintended consequences of their suggestion. In this case, I would think one consequence would be that anyone with any type of privacy concern would stop posting. This would leave the people who don’t. Those people tend to be naive (the ones who don’t think a stalker would ever come after them) confirmed trolls or stalkers themselves.

It also makes threats more vivid and concerning. If some angry/crazy person says to me, “I know where you live Astral Projections and I’m coming to your house” it’s not as immediate a threat as someone saying “I know where you live [real life name] and I’m coming to your house”.

I don’t think you fully appreciate the benefits of anonymity. The day we lose it will create the foundation required for someone in power to abuse everyone’s private information.

You trust everyone with your private information? What if the very people who have to protect you from malicious use of this information betrays your trust? Who will protect you then?

You should check out blizzards real id to see how well that worked.

Especially the part about the angry fans finding the name/address/children/wife/phone numbers/schools and more of the bliz dev who posted his real name on forums.

Mel.8769:

This. I used to manage forums for a game company. When I came on board the trolling and negativity was out of control. Some users were pure trolls, while others were just following the bad behavior of others. I implemented a system where staff would basically give points to every post that was constructive and helpful. It could be anything from feedback to suggestion, answering a player helping player with a thorough answer, or posting a guide or walk through. Even negative feedback could get positive points from staff as long as it was well thought out, respectful, and constructive.

When someone posted something constructive a staff member would comment in the thread praising the post (public praise). Once users acquired a certain amount of points, we would put a star in their signature.

On the flip side, the nonconstructive posts violating the rules would be removed, and the user would get negative points and a personal message explaining exactly why the post was removed. Temporary bans were implemented for repeat offenders.

It took a while, but after a few months the trolls moved on and the forums were a much happier place.

After I left the company, they went to a social media linked style forum where instead of a user name, your real name and picture were next to every post. Needless to say a wonderful community tanked very quickly and never rebuilt after that. Even the good constructive user wouldn’t use the system.

Excellent post, I give you a star

There’s also the fact that this game has a 12+ age rating (or the regional equivalent) and I’m not sure of the legality of forcing kids and teenagers to use their real name online. I doubt it’s something Anet would want to get involved in.

Arimahn.3568:

Harper.4173:

Arimahn.3568:

Just make it so that a forum ban translates into a game ban.

That’s the worst idea i’ve heard.
The forums are a platform for discussion – a user’s behavior on the forum can be and usually is completely different from his in-game behavior.

It’s like punishing one thing for another.

Also the real name idea comes at a close second.

Someone who is prone to grammatically atrocious rageposts probably doesn’t behave much differently in the game. Just like a kid that is prone to throwing a tantrum will do so at home as well as in school.

Besides, it’s not about punishment (Although I like the idea, personally), it’s about having stronger incentives to make good posts or at least not post like a chimp.

That’s not entirely true. That is YOUR supposition.
The forums are one thing, the game is another. They are separate entities and should be treated as such.
If someone does in-game offences they should be banned in game, same if they do forum offences.
One does not equal the other – why would you ban someone in game for something they said in a totally different context to a different group of people.
By your logic we should also monitor each person’s facebook for appropriate behavior and when people step out of line ban their accounts.

A very active player on the forum might be deaf-mute in game – I’ve known quite a lot of players like that.

And given GW2’s Trading post ( as opposed to GW1’s Spam Kamadan to trade) a players can play for days on end without uttering one typed out word to another soul in GW2.
I’ve done this on many occasions.

Now as far as using real names and why it is a terrible idea.
People would stop using the forums. I do not want my personal information on the internet within the reach of not only every 12 year old out there who has an account but literally EVERY living soul on the internet.

If you think people would agree and like this kind of system just read through the usernames above. Do you see many ( or any) " Firstname+Last name" structures?

People are now free to use this if they want – do you see them doing it ? no. Why? because who would want to?

If you want to murder the forums as a place for discussion and just end up with a minority of a few dozen ( maybe a hundred or more ) players that keep posting then – this seems the way to go.

The solution is a “gag” system – where if break certain rules ( cannot maintain a civil tone, insult others) you’re unable to post on the forums for a determined period of time.
It’s a " time out ". Eventually people will be tired of not being heard at all so they’ll decide to either communicate in a civil way or stop posting. Which cleans up the forum quite fast.

I think gw2 forums is as civil as they get if you compare to many others. They’re pretty quick on catching swearing etc so I don’t know what you’re on about kinda. Trolling is technically not against rules depending on how you do it as well.

Xcom.1926:

It won’t stop anyone. In South Korea, they have people’s social security numbers tied to their online identities and trolling is pretty horrible there.

Blizzard tried to enforce real name on forums, it got so bad that the President of Blizzard had to go on the forums and apologize for the decision.

Basically it will never happen, and even if it does, it won’t work.

I remember when Blizzard was going to implement that, never seen a company move so fast to backtrack out of something.

Folk.2093:

Well I wouldn’t have to manage my behavior if people would learn to manage their stupidity.

So much this.

How can ya’ll be so serious at the OP its clearly a troll post . For the record however I’m John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt