One need only look at the quality of comments on a site like Hacker News to see that "real names" is not a requirement for quality and valuable discussion. No

One need only look at the quality of comments on a site like Hacker News to see that "real names" is not a requirement for quality and valuable discussion. No doubt, real names would be an effective aspect to quality content, but if the system of verification is flawed, it's meaningless.