Blizzard’s Real ID FAQ is a bit vague on this subject, so I tested it out with two lovely volunteers, to see whether a friend of a friend would be able to see my character info.

Basically, I wanted to see what they could see, so I knew exactly what information was visible about me.

The answer: People on your friends’ friends lists can only see your real name, they cannot see your character details, location, etc.


What you see when you look at a friend’s list of friends


Example: I’m friends with Mr K. I got him to add Mr J to his friends (but I am not friends with Mr J). The I right-clicked on Mr K in my list, and selected View Friends. It shows a list of real names only, not the associated character names or that person’s status – just that he exists.

It’s basically like Facebook. I can go check out my sister’s friends list, but all I can see is their names. Unless I recognise some of those names, it’s a pretty meaningless list. It’s the same here with Real ID – if Mr J doesn’t recognise my real name because he doesn’t know me, then my name in that list is meaningless. If he does know me, then he can say “oh, I know her, I’ll add her!”

Of course, I still think there should be a way that you can toggle real names on and off, or nominate a nickname or alias. Some people will enjoy the real name feature – handy for connecting with people that you know IRL, but I think overwhelmingly it would be more useful to operate under aliases (and it would make a lot of people feel more secure). I personally don’t mind, but I completely agree that it’s a bit unfair for the people who don’t want their real names and their avatars linked up.

Here’s hoping they add a toggle feature in the near future.

For now though – it’s pretty cool – nice work, Blizz!



Possibly Related Posts: