Identity Verification in MMOs: the Pros and Cons

Identity Verification in MMOs: the Pros and Cons By Yuliya Geikhman Yuliya Geikhman has a degree in teaching, but would rather teach others about the wonders of MMOs. She (yes, she is really a female gamer and not a guy pretending) has a life and a husband, but spends much of it glued to Atlantica Online (and other ftp MMOs).

Recently, Blizzard announced that along with a new expansion pack, World of Warcraft forums will require users to display their full names. Fans were outraged. Blizzard was quickly forced to rethink this move, and finally cancel the idea.

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WoW is not the first MMO to use identity verification. In China, where internet addiction is considered a legitimate disorder, some MMOs require users to register their real names and government issued ID numbers when signing up. The Chinese MMO King of the World has a webcam gender verification system in place. Over on this side of the world, the new social MMO 3DChat uses reliable sources such as Paypal to verify age and gender, which is then easily accessible by other players.

Using a webcam is not the best way to gauge gender though... Source

Is identity verification a good idea, or unnecessary intrusion into our privacy? Maybe looking at the pros and cons can help us decide.

PRO: It's no secret that many of the female characters on MMOs are really guys. Gender verification would put a stop on the guesswork. It would also stop people from disbelieving players when they say they really are girls (when it comes to online gaming, you're "Male until proven female.")

Sorry, that's really a guy. Because everyone knows girls don't play games. (/end sarcasm).

CON: Being able to tell the real girls from the posers might expose female gamers to harassment. As a girl gamer, I can vouch that I have had to lie and say that I'm a guy to get guys to leave me alone. Gender verification would make that impossible. In fact, it would encourage men to flirt and be suggestive around girls, since there would be no risk of the girl turning out to be a man.

...They do exist! Source