So who do YOU trust with your RealID?

[Chrystenise]

It's quite probable that I won't ever touch this feature, at all. I have AIM and Gmail for such communications.

[Israia]

Also note, one other thing was put out there during a Starcraft 2 question and answer session:

They won't allow more than 5 people in that chat, BUT, they LIKELY WILL be making a separate client entirely for chat related to Battle.net.

If they do this, I could perhaps be okay with it. I'd like it better if it was a protocol associated with Jabber so I could just integrate it into my normal IM friends list, but meh.

Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I like the idea less.

[Tiforis]

The people that I already trust with that information.

I don't see the big issue with this that other people do.

[Gryphonheart]

The people that I already trust with that information.

...

Yes, but do you trust who the people you trust trust?

For example, let's say the two of us meet at Feathermeet and become fast friends—close enough to want to become Real ID friends. We also meet another person at Feathermeet: Glompy. Now, Glompy is totally cool to me, and we become good friends as well, but behind my back he's a complete and utter douchebag to you. If you become Real ID friends with me, and I also become Real ID friends with Glompy, Glompy will be able to see your real name. Is that okay with you? For me, that kind of scenario isn't acceptable, and so I won't use Real ID unless that feature can be opted out of, or unless I'm using an intermediary B.net account as a privacy filter.

[Gryphonheart]

Also note, one other thing was put out there during a Starcraft 2 question and answer session:

They won't allow more than 5 people in that chat, BUT, they LIKELY WILL be making a separate client entirely for chat related to Battle.net.

If they do this, I could perhaps be okay with it. I'd like it better if it was a protocol associated with Jabber so I could just integrate it into my normal IM friends list, but meh.

Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I like the idea less.

Yeah, the old B.net used to have some sort of protocol that allowed 3rd party clients to be created, such as B.net Messenger plugin for Miranda IM. However, much (if not all) of the functionality was eventually disabled due to spam bots.

Hopefully Blizzard will re-enable 3rd party client connections in the new B.net.

[Tiforis]

The people that I already trust with that information.

...

Yes, but do you trust who the people you trust trust?

For example, let's say the two of us meet at Feathermeet and become fast friends—close enough to want to become Real ID friends. We also meet another person at Feathermeet: Glompy. Now, Glompy is totally cool to me, and we become good friends as well, but behind my back he's a complete and utter douchebag to you. If you become Real ID friends with me, and I also become Real ID friends with Glompy, Glompy will be able to see your real name. Is that okay with you? For me, that kind of scenario isn't acceptable, and so I won't use Real ID unless that feature can be opted out of, or unless I'm using an intermediary B.net account as a privacy filter.

Considering that I would give my RealID to mayyyyyyybe two people? Yes I do.

I think you're worrying far too much about this when there will certainly be a way to opt out of it.

[Yva]

Not keen, won't participate. There's times I want to hide on an alt and be left the fuck alone. Don't see it as a horrible terrible thing? As long as it's not mandatory I'm fine with it.

[Ceil]

You'd think if they're going to yoink features so similar to the Steam chat client, they'd also yoink the nice functionality and design of it. >_> It seems to me like this should be a highly customizable feature and certainly not linked to ALL YOUR CHARACTERS, your real name or your b.net email address...and aren't we told NOT to share our b.net email addresses? I could have sworn that was one of the avoiding keylogging tips.

Also, I imagine the real name thing probably came about as 'acceptable' because of Facebook, but it's certainly an oversight. When I meet random people on the internet, I'll friend them in WoW or share my Steam nick, but I won't give them my full name for Facebook - that takes weeks or months or years. I believe enough people feel the same way as a lot of us here seem to that I could see this being something reworked. The idea behind a client like this is cool - the implementation could certainly use some work.

[Delion]

I like the idea. I think its not meant for a "friendslist" function so much as "Man what is my best friend Joe playing right now, SC2, okay I will join him".

There's various ways to ignore people or say you're busy and I wouldn't be surprised if you could 'go invisible' like a lot of chat clients have. You can only be friends with someone if you both accept the invitation. I understand why a lot of people are a bit worried about it, but its exactly what I've been looking for since WoW came out, and I couldn't play Hordeside without feeling alone.

It hasn't even come out yet. We don't know what it will look like or how many extra functionalities it will have. Until then, there's no point stressing over it - you can always just not use it.

I'm worried about the integration with Facebook - I don't trust Facebook at all. But I'm sure that won't be mandatory, so I'm not gonna use it.

[Bellesta]

I'm personally fond of the idea, but I'll be limited in who I use it with. Likely gonna just keep it to RL friends, since most of us play on all different servers.