I've already seen people from this forum trash talk on the user profile page of another site when the person here had used their in game name here. For some people displaying their in game name would be a real problem.

I would bet on this being an attempt at preventing sock puppetry or increasing accountability thinking people won't risk their in game reputations. Which I also think would be silly, since moderation alone should be handling problem posts/posters and if it isn't they need to have a look at their moderation itself.

I suppose one could choose to not use the forums anymore if they don't display anything if you don't link one, if it's a problem and you can't use a mule. But what real tangible benefit is forcing the use this feature anyway?

I'll be concerned myself if they displayed all my character names or otherwise prevent me from using a mule as my linked character. I was always under the impression this sort of thing would be optional if only for privacy reasons. I've been cyberstalked before so Ive been made a bit paranoid of connecting any of my screen names even when no real life info is attached. That person got information about me god knows how so I figure the fewer connections the better @.@

My current understanding of what I read in the announcement is just one character linked and displayed, so a mule should work.