If Blizzard has its way, trolls can no longer stay anonymous when posting in the official forums. (And no, I’m not talking about those lanky trolls preparing to take back Echo Isles.)

Blizzard announced on Tuesday that the World of Warcraft forums will be using the Real ID system. This means players have to use their real-life first and last name to make a public post. The change is intended to go live just before the Cataclysm expansion hits.

“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,” explained Blizzard Poster Vaneras.

“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.”

Despite the willingness of Blizzard employees to undergo the same name-revealing change, fan reaction has been overwhelmingly cautious, if not alarmed. Online privacy is at the top of their concerns and many feel that Blizzard has given them an ultimatum: never post again in the forums or reveal your name to the rest of the WoW community.

The Real ID system has already been implemented in the last Patch 3.3.5 and allows “cross-game, cross-server and cross-faction” communication among Battle.net users. The extension to the game’s forums was unexpected and has initiated a flood of discussions.

Those embarrassed with their previous posts shouldn’t worry. Blizzard has reassured that the Real ID system will not be implemented retroactively. Defenders of the change also insist that the new forums is optional (technically it is because of a planned opt-in waiver prior to signing up to the new forums), but with the technical support pages requiring this as well, the optional bit may be debatable.

Update 1: As was pointed out by one of our readers, rage has blown through the roof with thousands of World of Warcraft players admitting to canceling their game subscriptions and pre-orders for the upcoming Cataclysm expansion. Even a related franchise, the real-time strategy game StarCraft II set to launch this month, is apparently suffering a backlash with irate players dropping pre-orders in protest of the Real ID change.

The official post thread has reached a 2,200 page count in just three days with more than 40,000 comments logged in. Most of these pointed initially to disappointment over the “breach in confidence” from Blizzard but has morphed into calls for boycotts of Blizzard franchise games (WoW, StarCraft and Diablo) as well as sign-up drives to plead higher-ups like Bobby Kotick, president and CEO of Activision Blizzard and Michael Morheim, CEO of Blizzard Entertainment to reconsider the shift to Real ID.

With little signs that a reversal will occur, an anonymous blogger has dug up and posted personal information on Blizzard employees to show how the Real ID system can be abused by stalkers and other nut-jobs who get a hold of the real names of forum posters.

Update 2: Yielding to player demands, Blizzard has scrapped plans to implement the Real ID system to its forums. Blizzard CEO Michael Morheim himself announced the reversal on Friday, adding that other forum features will still push through. These include “the ability to rate posts up or down, post highlighting based on rating, improved search functionality, and more.”

The changes will also be released just before the launch of the Cataclysm expansion.