I was thinking about something the other day. As you know, one of my favorite topics of discussion is online anonymity ( particularly in gaming. ) I'm actually quite nice and don't really do trash talk online, but I also don't like to get my real identity mixed up in a round of my favorite game. I'm still wired to view game as an escape activity. This view is no longer universal to be sure.
Well, an interesting thing happened with the PS4. Early rumors were making it sound like having your real name available at all times was going to be mandatory. A certain irritation set in among gamers of my persuasion ( and I quietly wrote off buying the system because of it. ) It seems that this wasn't quite right, though. Apparently the PS4 set up is going to be a lot more like Steam where you can integrate with Facebook and you can enter your real name, but you don't have to. I'm happy about this, certainly, but I can definitely understand why others might not be.
Downtown expressed a desire for non-anonymous gaming, and now that I've had time to chill out and get over myself I can understand his misgivings. So with that in mind I thought of an interesting compromise and I wanted to post it here.
What if an account was flagged as a "Real Name" account or an "Anonymous" account and Real Name users could set a "Match with anonymous users?" tickbox? It would be on by default, but a prompt after matches might occasionally say something like "Anonymous users annoying you? Press [triangle] to change your matchmaking options!" Something like PSN network is more than large enough for the semi-split to still maintain decent partnering options.
So I'd get what I wanted but Downtown ( and others ) could still get what they wanted. I really think this might be the perfect solution. I have my Mongolian horde of anonymous jerks and others can have their accountability-oriented spaces.
So what do you guys think?
EDIT: It's worth noting that, under what appears to be the direction the PS4 is taking ( I can't speak for XboxOne, ) that I get what I want and Downtown still has to deal with "RacistTrashTalker6969" and "CaptainMisogyny1337." You know, the folks who make defending anonymity difficult for people like me.
Well, an interesting thing happened with the PS4. Early rumors were making it sound like having your real name available at all times was going to be mandatory. A certain irritation set in among gamers of my persuasion ( and I quietly wrote off buying the system because of it. ) It seems that this wasn't quite right, though. Apparently the PS4 set up is going to be a lot more like Steam where you can integrate with Facebook and you can enter your real name, but you don't have to. I'm happy about this, certainly, but I can definitely understand why others might not be.
Downtown expressed a desire for non-anonymous gaming, and now that I've had time to chill out and get over myself I can understand his misgivings. So with that in mind I thought of an interesting compromise and I wanted to post it here.
What if an account was flagged as a "Real Name" account or an "Anonymous" account and Real Name users could set a "Match with anonymous users?" tickbox? It would be on by default, but a prompt after matches might occasionally say something like "Anonymous users annoying you? Press [triangle] to change your matchmaking options!" Something like PSN network is more than large enough for the semi-split to still maintain decent partnering options.
So I'd get what I wanted but Downtown ( and others ) could still get what they wanted. I really think this might be the perfect solution. I have my Mongolian horde of anonymous jerks and others can have their accountability-oriented spaces.
So what do you guys think?
EDIT: It's worth noting that, under what appears to be the direction the PS4 is taking ( I can't speak for XboxOne, ) that I get what I want and Downtown still has to deal with "RacistTrashTalker6969" and "CaptainMisogyny1337." You know, the folks who make defending anonymity difficult for people like me.