Goodbye World of Warcraft

[Logan Darklighter]

Here is someone who writes and says it SO much better than I possibly can. ---
Shades of Grey - An Open Letter to Blizzard

We loved the fantasy, we loved putting our
words out there for you to hear, but now we can’t do it unless we want
to expose our real first and last names to the world. Sure, it may help
your internet troll problem — but in doing so you are silencing the
voices of thousands of players who just want to offer the player base
help, advice and creativity. Some people may be okay with putting their
real names out there for all to see. Some people, however — many of my
friends even — aren’t.

You’ve heard from parents expressing
concern that their child’s name would be exposed. You’ve heard from
women that live in constant wariness of predators that could easily
track them down if they had that first and last name. You’ve heard from
military personnel that are concerned with the safety of both themselves
and their families should their real names be somewhere easily found.
You’ve heard from members of the GLBT population who are still in the
closet out there in the real world, but free to express themselves under
the blanket of anonymous fantasy that you’ve provided.

“It’s optional,” you say. “Optional to post
on the forums.”

What you have created is a community. A
beautiful community full of amazing people and yes, jerks here and
there. These people have grown to know each other under that safe
blanket of anonymity, where they can simply be whoever they want to be
without having to worry about whether or not their next door neighbor
will find out anything unsavory about them. Where they aren’t judged on
how they look, how they dress, how they speak, what they drive, what
they wear. Where they are just voices sharing thoughts and ideas, and
ears hearing thoughts and ideas in return.

And you are taking that community away.

“It’s optional,” you say. “Optional to post
on the forums.”

You gave us a playground that over 11.5
million people love to play in. We felt comfortable and safe there. We
aren’t feeling so safe anymore. You’re not only killing the voices of
trolls, you’re killing the voices of thousands of players who simply
don’t feel comfortable sharing their names.

Seriously - go read the rest.
EDIT: And here's ANOTHER extremely comprehensive look at why this is a monumentally bad idea. Very well written.