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<blockquote data-quote="El Mahdi" data-source="post: 4590050" data-attributes="member: 59506">I understand, and agree to a point, but in todays world, anonymity is protection against some very real threats.&nbsp; However, it is an abuse when people hide behind that anonymity and say or do things that they wouldn't if their name was known.&nbsp; In a perfect society, people would do what is right, simply because it's right.&nbsp; But, we don't live in a perfect society.&nbsp; Everyone has probably been guilty of this at one time or another.&nbsp; God knows I have also.&nbsp;Knowing someones real name can open a person up to some very real problems, anything from harrasment to full identity theft.&nbsp; It's almost like our modern day is starting to mirror medieval fantasy, where knowing a creatures true name can give you power over them.&nbsp; For example, I don't mind stating in my profile section that I'm retired USAF, even though there are those who may want to single me out for verbal harrasment because of my background (although that has never happened to me here at ENWorld).&nbsp; If it did though, I can handle it.&nbsp; But if those same people had my real name, and linked it to where I live or a phone number, then my family could become a target of that harrasment, or worse.&nbsp; That's something I'm not willing to open myself up to.&nbsp;But you're absolutely right, people do abuse this anonymity.&nbsp; Fortunately, the forum rules provide a level of accountability, without which people would go completely off the leash.&nbsp; But people will take those rules to their limit, and then bend the hell out of them, all because they are anonymous.&nbsp;But, pseudonyms are just too cool.<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f60e.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":cool:" title="Cool&nbsp; &nbsp; :cool:"&nbsp; data-smilie="6"data-shortname=":cool:" />&nbsp; One of the things I enjoy most about ENWorld (and other forums) is the vast range of interesting names and the creativity behind them (and sometimes the humor behind them).&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Anyways, back to the OP, I think there are a lot of good reasons listed so far on this thread, and all of them are probably true to one extent or another.&nbsp; For me personally, I don't distrust game designers or think they are somehow scum.&nbsp; However, I don't take any game designers ideas, or any systems rules, as gospel either.&nbsp; They're people just like the rest of us.&nbsp; If I feel anything about designers, it's a certain amount of respect for the talent they have (even the ones who've made things I don't necessarily like) and probably a fair amount of envy that they make a living (more or less<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink&nbsp; &nbsp; ;)"&nbsp; data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />) doing something I find so much fun.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="El Mahdi, post: 4590050, member: 59506"] I understand, and agree to a point, but in todays world, anonymity is protection against some very real threats. However, it is an abuse when people hide behind that anonymity and say or do things that they wouldn't if their name was known. In a perfect society, people would do what is right, simply because it's right. But, we don't live in a perfect society. Everyone has probably been guilty of this at one time or another. God knows I have also. Knowing someones real name can open a person up to some very real problems, anything from harrasment to full identity theft. It's almost like our modern day is starting to mirror medieval fantasy, where knowing a creatures true name can give you power over them. For example, I don't mind stating in my profile section that I'm retired USAF, even though there are those who may want to single me out for verbal harrasment because of my background (although that has never happened to me here at ENWorld). If it did though, I can handle it. But if those same people had my real name, and linked it to where I live or a phone number, then my family could become a target of that harrasment, or worse. That's something I'm not willing to open myself up to. But you're absolutely right, people do abuse this anonymity. Fortunately, the forum rules provide a level of accountability, without which people would go completely off the leash. But people will take those rules to their limit, and then bend the hell out of them, all because they are anonymous. But, pseudonyms are just too cool.:cool: One of the things I enjoy most about ENWorld (and other forums) is the vast range of interesting names and the creativity behind them (and sometimes the humor behind them). Anyways, back to the OP, I think there are a lot of good reasons listed so far on this thread, and all of them are probably true to one extent or another. For me personally, I don't distrust game designers or think they are somehow scum. However, I don't take any game designers ideas, or any systems rules, as gospel either. They're people just like the rest of us. If I feel anything about designers, it's a certain amount of respect for the talent they have (even the ones who've made things I don't necessarily like) and probably a fair amount of envy that they make a living (more or less;)) doing something I find so much fun. [/QUOTE]

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