diff --git a/pystorm/bolt.py b/pystorm/bolt.py
index 4e60879..c6a1538 100644
--- a/pystorm/bolt.py
+++ b/pystorm/bolt.py
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ class Bolt(Component):
         pass
 
     def emit(self, tup, stream=None, anchors=None, direct_task=None,
-             need_task_ids=True):
+             need_task_ids=False):
         """Emit a new Tuple to a stream.
 
         :param tup: the Tuple payload to send to Storm, should contain only
@@ -146,13 +146,13 @@ class Bolt(Component):
         :param direct_task: the task to send the Tuple to.
         :type direct_task: int
         :param need_task_ids: indicate whether or not you'd like the task IDs
-                              the Tuple was emitted (default: ``True``).
+                              the Tuple was emitted (default: ``False``).
         :type need_task_ids: bool
 
-        :returns: a ``list`` of task IDs that the Tuple was sent to. Note that
-                  when specifying direct_task, this will be equal to
-                  ``[direct_task]``. If you specify ``need_task_ids=False``,
-                  this function will return ``None``.
+        :returns: ``None``, unless ``need_task_ids=True``, in which case it will
+                  be a ``list`` of task IDs that the Tuple was sent to if. Note
+                  that when specifying direct_task, this will be equal to
+                  ``[direct_task]``.
         """
         if anchors is None:
             anchors = self._current_tups if self.auto_anchor else []
diff --git a/pystorm/component.py b/pystorm/component.py
index e4b3764..757767f 100644
--- a/pystorm/component.py
+++ b/pystorm/component.py
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ class Component(object):
                            'level': level})
 
     def emit(self, tup, tup_id=None, stream=None, anchors=None,
-             direct_task=None, need_task_ids=True):
+             direct_task=None, need_task_ids=False):
         """Emit a new Tuple to a stream.
 
         :param tup: the Tuple payload to send to Storm, should contain only
@@ -385,13 +385,13 @@ class Component(object):
         :param direct_task: the task to send the Tuple to.
         :type direct_task: int
         :param need_task_ids: indicate whether or not you'd like the task IDs
-                              the Tuple was emitted (default: ``True``).
+                              the Tuple was emitted (default: ``False``).
         :type need_task_ids: bool
 
-        :returns: a ``list`` of task IDs that the Tuple was sent to. Note that
-                  when specifying direct_task, this will be equal to
-                  ``[direct_task]``. If you specify ``need_task_ids=False``,
-                  this function will return ``None``.
+        :returns: ``None``, unless ``need_task_ids=True``, in which case it will
+                  be a ``list`` of task IDs that the Tuple was sent to if. Note
+                  that when specifying direct_task, this will be equal to
+                  ``[direct_task]``.
         """
         if not isinstance(tup, (list, tuple)):
             raise TypeError('All Tuples must be either lists or tuples, '
diff --git a/pystorm/spout.py b/pystorm/spout.py
index 5290c9a..cc21903 100644
--- a/pystorm/spout.py
+++ b/pystorm/spout.py
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ class Spout(Component):
         raise NotImplementedError()
 
     def emit(self, tup, tup_id=None, stream=None, direct_task=None,
-             need_task_ids=True):
+             need_task_ids=False):
         """Emit a spout Tuple message.
 
         :param tup: the Tuple to send to Storm, should contain only
@@ -70,14 +70,13 @@ class Spout(Component):
                             direct emit.
         :type direct_task: int
         :param need_task_ids: indicate whether or not you'd like the task IDs
-                              the Tuple was emitted (default:
-                              ``True``).
+                              the Tuple was emitted (default: ``False``).
         :type need_task_ids: bool
 
-        :returns: a ``list`` of task IDs that the Tuple was sent to. Note that
-                  when specifying direct_task, this will be equal to
-                  ``[direct_task]``. If you specify ``need_task_ids=False``,
-                  this function will return ``None``.
+        :returns: ``None``, unless ``need_task_ids=True``, in which case it will
+                  be a ``list`` of task IDs that the Tuple was sent to if. Note
+                  that when specifying direct_task, this will be equal to
+                  ``[direct_task]``.
         """
         return super(Spout, self).emit(tup, tup_id=tup_id, stream=stream,
                                        direct_task=direct_task,

diff --git a/test/pystorm/test_bolt.py b/test/pystorm/test_bolt.py
index 277ac1a..24cb868 100644
--- a/test/pystorm/test_bolt.py
+++ b/test/pystorm/test_bolt.py
@@ -110,7 +110,8 @@ class BoltTests(unittest.TestCase):
         send_message_mock.assert_called_with(self.bolt, {'command': 'emit',
                                                          'anchors': [],
                                                          'tuple': [1, 2, 3],
-                                                         'task': 'other_bolt'})
+                                                         'task': 'other_bolt',
+                                                         'need_task_ids': False})
 
     @patch.object(Bolt, 'send_message', autospec=True)
     def test_ack_id(self, send_message_mock):
diff --git a/test/pystorm/test_spout.py b/test/pystorm/test_spout.py
index 2b4e1a9..a3d7a15 100644
--- a/test/pystorm/test_spout.py
+++ b/test/pystorm/test_spout.py
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@ class SpoutTests(unittest.TestCase):
         self.spout.emit([1, 2, 3], direct_task='other_spout')
         send_message_mock.assert_called_with(self.spout, {'command': 'emit',
                                                           'tuple': [1, 2, 3],
-                                                          'task': 'other_spout'})
+                                                          'task': 'other_spout',
+                                                          'need_task_ids': False})
         # Reliable emit
         self.spout.emit([1, 2, 3], tup_id='foo', need_task_ids=False)
         send_message_mock.assert_called_with(self.spout, {'command': 'emit',
@@ -62,7 +63,8 @@ class SpoutTests(unittest.TestCase):
         send_message_mock.assert_called_with(self.spout, {'command': 'emit',
                                                           'tuple': [1, 2, 3],
                                                           'task': 'other_spout',
-                                                          'id': 'foo'})
+                                                          'id': 'foo',
+                                                          'need_task_ids': False})
 
     @patch.object(Spout, 'read_command', autospec=True,
                   return_value={'command': 'ack', 'id': 1234})

need_task_ids should default to False
We currently default to True for backward compatibility reasons, but I would venture to guess that vast majority of users do not care about the IDs of the tasks that their emitted tuples went to.  Disabling is a nice free speedup, but if we made it disabled by default, we would be cutting out extra work for most users.
test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BoltTests::test_emit_direct test/pystorm/test_spout.py::SpoutTests::test_emit
test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BoltTests::test_ack_id test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BoltTests::test_ack_tuple test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BoltTests::test_auto_ack_off test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BoltTests::test_auto_ack_on test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BoltTests::test_auto_anchor_off test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BoltTests::test_auto_anchor_on test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BoltTests::test_auto_anchor_override test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BoltTests::test_auto_fail_off test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BoltTests::test_auto_fail_on test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BoltTests::test_emit_basic test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BoltTests::test_emit_stream_anchors test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BoltTests::test_fail_id test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BoltTests::test_fail_tuple test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BoltTests::test_heartbeat_response test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BoltTests::test_process_tick test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BoltTests::test_read_tuple test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BoltTests::test_read_tuple_named_fields test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BoltTests::test_run test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BoltTests::test_setup_component test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BatchingBoltTests::test_auto_ack_off test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BatchingBoltTests::test_auto_ack_on test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BatchingBoltTests::test_auto_fail_off test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BatchingBoltTests::test_auto_fail_on test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BatchingBoltTests::test_auto_fail_partial test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BatchingBoltTests::test_batching test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BatchingBoltTests::test_group_key test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BatchingBoltTests::test_heartbeat_response test/pystorm/test_bolt.py::BatchingBoltTests::test_process_tick test/pystorm/test_spout.py::SpoutTests::test_ack test/pystorm/test_spout.py::SpoutTests::test_fail test/pystorm/test_spout.py::SpoutTests::test_next_tuple