The Real ID system remains optional within Blizzard's current games like World of Warcraft and StarCraft II. Players can take advantage of it by adding friends by their Battle.net-associated email account, rather than their public user name.

The system is only planned as a requirement on the Battle.net community forums. StarCraft II's forum will begin using Real ID later this month, and World of Warcraft's will begin as the Cataclysm expansion pack's release approaches.

"It's important to note that both enabling Real ID in game and posting on the official Blizzard forums are completely optional," the Blizzard rep said. "Players can continue to read the forums anonymously regardless of whether they choose to post in them, and their gameplay experiences will not change if they choose not to use the Real ID communication features in game."

He also says players can enable parental controls to keep their children from using the Real ID system, or to disable their forum posting capabilities.

Players can actually register any name they wish when signing up for their Real ID -- but an account for a given game must be tied to a unique CD key for that game, and Blizzard says it plans to attempt to enforce the use of legitimate names.