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"Battle.net Update: Upcoming Changes to Forums" makes me think Blizzard itself is jumping the shark:

Recently, we introduced our new Real ID feature - http://www.battle.net/realid/ , a new way to stay connected with your friends on the new Battle.net. Today, we wanted to give you a heads up about our plans for Real ID on our official forums, discuss the design philosophy behind the changes we’re making, and give you a first look at some of the new features we’re adding to the forums to help improve the quality of conversations and make the forums an even more enjoyable place for players to visit.

The first and most significant change is that in the near future, anyone posting or replying to a post on official Blizzard forums will be doing so using their Real ID -- that is, their real-life first and last name -- with the option to also display the name of their primary in-game character alongside it. These changes will go into effect on all StarCraft II forums with the launch of the new community site prior to the July 27 release of the game, with the World of Warcraft site and forums following suit near the launch of Cataclysm. Certain classic forums, including the classic Battle.net forums, will remain unchanged.

The official forums have always been a great place to discuss the latest info on our games, offer ideas and suggestions, and share experiences with other players -- however, the forums have also earned a reputation as a place where flame wars, trolling, and other unpleasantness run wild. Removing the veil of anonymity typical to online dialogue will contribute to a more positive forum environment, promote constructive conversations, and connect the Blizzard community in ways they haven’t been connected before. With this change, you’ll see blue posters (i.e. Blizzard employees) posting by their real first and last names on our forums as well.

This change has been greeted with what may be fairly described as near universal disapproval. It is undeniable that trolls run rampant on the World of Warcraft forums, but this seems to be a ham handed attempt to fix what forum moderation did not.

My perspective on this may be a little unique. As one of probably a few people with a unique name on this planet (I seriously think the combination of my first and last name is mine and mine alone), I find this especially troubling. While my identify here is not a secret, it is somewhat obfuscated. Removing that anonymity may be great for Blizzard on their forums, but offering me the choice of not posting or uniquely identifying myself is no choice at all. Meanwhile, all the John Smiths on the planet will snicker and continue to troll.

This may be an awesome time to setup a non-Blizzard forum for players to migrate to . . .