realID: so does this mean goodbye?

By now, everyone on the internet has heard of the RealID forum changes and the subsequent massive outrage that rose up from the community. Just from skimming the original announcement post on the forums, you could see that the vast majority of players think this is the worst idea in the history of Worst Ideas, ever. Blizzard has done quite a few things in-game that I didn't agree with, but I've kept subscribing because in the end, whatever little annoyance I had was far outweighed by my enjoyment of the game itself. I got over it. However, these new RealID changes are a dealbreaker for me. I realized that, however much I enjoy this game, just can't support the direction it's going.



My stay time in Azeroth began in October of 2005. At this point in my life, I had just started college and was making friends with other students in my co-ed dorm (after four years in an all-girl school, this was quite a change, to say the least). A few of my new friends kept talking about this game that they really seemed to enjoy. From they way they described it, it seemed really fun; the second that I showed a shred of interest they told me about the 14-day trial. I installed the game, made my little undead mage, Adenine, and carefully began to explore. I thought that I would just stop playing after the trial expired, but of course things didn't turn out that way. I loved this game. I loved the places, I loved playing and bonding with my new friends, I loved learning new things about my class and discovering hidden places in the world. I loved PvP. I loved meeting new people, and I loved my new guild, who were so helpful and kind to this nooblet mage who had yet to understand how talents worked. I loved the things that I was able to achieve in-game, by myself (leveling to 60!) or with others (downing Onyxia and Ragnaros). So I stayed on.

I stayed with the game when Burning Crusade hit. I lined up at the video game store for the midnight release just so I could hurry home and install the game. By the time I had finished installing at 3 o'clock in the morning, I was too tired to join the rest of my guild in Outlands just yet, but I made a little blood elf priest, Illythia, and went to bed, excited at the idea at playing her the next day.

And it was exciting! She was the first real alt that I rolled, one who eventually became my main - though that was not until after I had leveled Adenine to 70, grinded my way to a netherdrake, and gone through the heartache of splitting from my first guild. Perhaps it shouldn't have hurt that much, leaving my guild, but somehow it did. Months and months of logging in every day, chatting with them in gchat, and shooting the breeze in vent can do that. But still, I stayed on, and focused on leveling Illythia, and when things got a little too awkward on my home server I went on to another server and did something I never thought I'd do before - rolled a night elf (/gasp). I stayed on and finally got to see some raiding on my priest in another wonderful guild. I stayed even after that guild transferred.

I stayed on when Wrath of the Lich King was released. In the months before this, I had participated in the beta test, kept a sharp eye out for any news related to the expansion, and even attended Blizzcon. My devotion to this game was going strong. I started playing more, did more research about my classes (three of them now), read the forums when it got slow at work, wrote out lists of gear that I hoped to acquire someday. WoW was my escape when I was stressed out. It was how I stayed in touch with many people that I couldn't see as often as I liked, including my boyfriend.

Perhaps my interest in the game may have been a little over-the-top, but I didn't care. I was having fun! I was there when they announced the plans for Cataclysm at Blizzcon. I spent much more money than I should have on t-shirts and souvenirs. I leveled three characters to 80 and tried to deck them out in purples. When RealID went live in-game, I relished in the fact that I could finally play my druid on Dragonmaw and still talk to my friends on Destromath. And now that I've graduated, I was excited at the fact that I now had more time to spare for playing.

I still haven't accomplished everything that I wanted to on all my characters. Achievements, gear, raiding, freaking Cataclysm - there's still so much content that I wanted to see and explore and experience.

But as of yesterday, I have canceled my subscription after almost five years of playing. I loved this game - I still love this game. No other has held my attention and loyalty for this long. I still have many fond memories that are attached to it; I've even gone so far as to add some people that I have met through WoW on Facebook, but that was on my own terms and because I was at a level where I felt comfortable enough to do so. I chose to show them my real name.

With the Real ID forum changes, it's no longer in my hands - it's now forced on everyone who needs to make a post. As a woman with a fairly unique name (I googled myself and although I've locked down my Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter, I still show up in other results, as well as on pipl and spokeo, two sites I did not provide information to), I fear it won't be too hard for people with malicious intent to track me down. I don't think I'm being paranoid here. This is a valid concern, and when one in twelve women in the U.S. experience stalking in their lives, it's perfectly reasonable to not want to have my real name attached to my gaming life, in a public forum where women are not necessarily made to feel welcome.

One solution to keep one's real name private that supporters of RealID suggest is to simply not post on the forums at all. This is a ridiculous "solution", since the forums are still more efficient at solving problems than contacting customer support through phone or email. Besides, use of the forums is included with the subscription fee - it's unfair to ask paying customers to choose between posting with their real name for all to see, or not posting at all. When it's put this way, it doesn't seem like much of an option.

Judging from Activision's past offenses, I fear that the RealID-on-Forums ship has already sailed. I'm not sure what else we can do to stop this from happening, but I do know that, even if it's just a drop in the bucket, my money speaks louder than any forum post I could have ever written. Canceling my subscription was, seriously, pretty damn hard for me to do, but I feel that I cannot afford to even implicitly show my support for this ill-informed decision. This game means so much to me, but if I have to choose between my personal security and WoW, then I'm afraid I have to leave.

My account expires in September. That gives me plenty of time to sort out my characters' personal affairs and get a few good last achievements in before I'm gone for good. If Activision moves away from this nonsense, then I can safely bet that I'll willingly run back and resubscribe. But if not, well...

It's been real.