Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Big news for Battle.net users, and possible important implications for net privacy as a whole, via this posting from Blizzard:

anyone posting or replying to a post on official Blizzard forums will be doing so using their Real ID — that is, their real-life first and last name — with the option to also display the name of their primary in-game character alongside it. These changes will go into effect on all StarCraft II forums with the launch of the new community site prior to the July 27 release of the game, with the World of Warcraft site and forums following suit near the launch of Cataclysm. Certain classic forums, including the classic Battle.net forums, will remain unchanged.

More thoughts below.
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A whole bunch of news has emerged from the nameless tendrils of the Acti-Blizz games leviathan, as the company makes its public financials call. The biggest of these regards World Of Warcraft, which has basically stopped growing. No! But yes! Because it’s the same as it was back in 2008. Arguably this has something to do with all the trouble the game has had in China, where it has been suspended for the best part of a year. Also interesting is this story, which says that only 30% of new WoW players ever get past level 10.

Blizz-o-News continues below.
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A new post over on the official World Of Warcraft website reveals that an “opt in” for the forthcoming Starcraft II beta has been added to your beta profile settings page on Battle.net. Needless to say, that’s only there if you have a Battle.net account. The US beta will apparently come online before the rest of the world. Thanks to Pat for the tip.