Lamby said:

... if you hide yourself, explain why should you still have the privilege of seeing what others, who aren't hidden, are doing?

why shouldn't i? because the cloak option exists, and it's there for anyone and everyone to use it, those people who choose to be cloaked should be cloaked, and those who choose not to be cloaked should not be cloaked. it seems perfectly clear and simple to me: the user controls their own visibility - period. end of story. what is so difficult to understand about that?

Besides it's been said so many times, why does anyone need to hide on a games site?

no-one needs to. but they might want to. because, for example, they're not in the mood to chat, and so don't want to be accountable to someone who, if they see that person online, will expect them to chat and be all civil and nicey-nice.

that's really what it comes down to: accountability and a sense of obligation. a person might find themselves able to pop in quick and move on their games at a time at which they told another player they wouldn't be around, and so want to do that without feeling obligated to account for their presence here, or to chat when they don't have the inclination or the time.

it's an option to maintain a certain level of privacy. if you hate and resent privacy as it seems so many people on this site do, then don't seek it out. but you have no right to begrudge it to those who don't hate it.