Feature to change Forum Name or Scroll Name

[Predat0rs]

I know I and many others have made posts about this before, but how about an actual topic?

I'd like to officially propose the suggestion of a feature to change our Forum or Scroll name.

 

 

I for one am deeply, deeply unsatisfied with my choice of names. I was a young, dumb kid back in '10 and chose something(s) I'd later regret. My forum name is something a 12 year child would choose, except it would be more like 1DFan4Ever or BelieberFan4Ever haha No offense to 1D/JB fans... even though I hate them both with a passion. Also, my scroll name is a bit crap. Gah. It's frustrating having a crap alias ANYWHERE on the internet.

[olympe]

I'm not for this. With forum names, you get to actually know who's who. If that name gets changed later on, you'll never know if the person you're writing with is who they seem to be.

 

Imagine someone coming up with the name Sock_Puppet_Strangler to impersonate the mod with the name SockPuppet_Strangler. Said person might even use SPS's avatar to make the scam more believable. I'm pretty sure that a lot of people would fall for it.

 

I must admit that I'm not sure whether the issue would be the same with scroll names, though. After all, there's nearly no interaction possible between scrolls unless you use some other way to communicate.

[jarakal]

Yes. Yes please

Edited October 6, 2015 by jarakal

[Predat0rs]

I'm not for this. With forum names, you get to actually know who's who. If that name gets changed later on, you'll never know if the person you're writing with is who they seem to be.

 

Imagine someone coming up with the name Sock_Puppet_Strangler to impersonate the mod with the name SockPuppet_Strangler. Said person might even use SPS's avatar to make the scam more believable. I'm pretty sure that a lot of people would fall for it.

 

I must admit that I'm not sure whether the issue would be the same with scroll names, though. After all, there's nearly no interaction possible between scrolls unless you use some other way to communicate.

That's a good point and I can definitely see that side of the coin.

 

I want my name to be slightly different. I want to keep the "predator" part, but change the rest to "The Predator Queen."

 

However, I know that a majority of the changes by others would probably be dramatic and completely different, and learning their new aliases and who they were before could become confusing.

[Nicola]

+1 from me. I might never use it, but I'd like the option to be available.

[Dorchadas]

Talk to a mod. Maybe one of the global ones can change it for you. There are problems with making this available without mod privileges but on a one on one basis you should be able to get it adjusted.

[Predat0rs]

Talk to a mod. Maybe one of the global ones can change it for you. There are problems with making this available without mod privileges but on a one on one basis you should be able to get it adjusted.

I believe you can only bother a Mod about a name change is if you have a REALLY good reason.

 

That's why I made this topic, so we all can discuss a possibility of this becoming a thing ^^

Or not. Whatever floats peoples' boats

Edited October 6, 2015 by predatorfan4ever

[xeyla]

I'd like this feature, only because I'd like to change my name from xeyla to Xeyla. I forgot to capitalize the "x" when I first made my forum & scroll accounts.

 

Eidt:

I just found this feature on another adoptable site I use, and here are the rules for using it:

 

And while on the members profile page, there is this link you can click to see their previous names they had:

 

But, I do not know how long the history of names stays for.

Edited October 6, 2015 by xeyla

[Tehya Faye]

Overall I'm pretty okay with forum/scroll name changes. I know what it's like to be stuck with a name you no longer care for, and being able to fix that up would be nice. Honestly my old name is at least 10% of the reason why I stuck with this account even after remembering my old account information. So yeah, full support for this, especially for scroll names.

[AGYK]

I don't see any real reason against this, so I'll casually toss in my support. I predict this being closed, though - my guess is that the forum software doesn't actually support name-changing and that the mods have to edit the user database directly for such a name change.

[Cupup889]

Whoa, just asked a question about this a day or so ago, and now a thread pops up?! Cool.

 

I support this one hundred and ten percent!

 

I'd LOVE to change my forum (and possibly even scroll?!) name.

 

However, I do see olympe's point , maybe something could be arranged to prevent any impostures?

And the part about getting to know everyone, well for that, I'm not too sure. Maybe they could just change the name a little? So everyone can tell it's still them?

 

I hate this name my younger self cursed me with. Like, I despise it.

 

If anything, I'd just change the names to something like CupCup, or something involving a cup, so everyone knew it was me. ( Why did I go with Cup in my username, omg. )

 

Again, support all the way, a few loop holes would need filled, however.

Edited October 6, 2015 by Cupup889

[Kiti]

I believe you can only bother a Mod about a name change is if you have a REALLY good reason.

 

That's why I made this topic, so we all can discuss a possibility of this becoming a thing ^^

Or not. Whatever floats peoples' boats

hm nope. I made a new account to get away from a online stalker/abuser and they wouldn't change my forum name or my Scroll name (5 years of cb holidays, which...got hacked probably by said person I'm avoiding. /can't get in anymore to burn or even prove ownership.) So I made a new scroll and username. (talked to mods, it's fine since I don't techically have more than 1) It's no big deal really.

[ShorahNagi]

I'm not for this. With forum names, you get to actually know who's who. If that name gets changed later on, you'll never know if the person you're writing with is who they seem to be.

 

Imagine someone coming up with the name Sock_Puppet_Strangler to impersonate the mod with the name SockPuppet_Strangler. Said person might even use SPS's avatar to make the scam more believable. I'm pretty sure that a lot of people would fall for it.

 

I must admit that I'm not sure whether the issue would be the same with scroll names, though. After all, there's nearly no interaction possible between scrolls unless you use some other way to communicate.

This happens every once in awhile on the site I mod for (indeed, someone did just that with my username and avatar - used special characters to the point where unless you looked REALLY close, the user names were identical [indeed, I think they impersonated at least half the Mod team before we found the main and zapped them]) Though impersonation is always a threat - be it someone makes a new account, or changes their current name.

 

Of course,in the case of those who change their user names - it also displays their old username for 2 weeks on their page (and Mods and Admins can see all old user names regardless) and has a 6 month cool-down time (it also requires a fee).

 

~*~

 

That aside, part of me supports an option like this - while another part of me does not support it.

 

The Support Part knows that we've all made stupid choices with user names that we've come to regret (luckily for me, all the accounts that had names like that for me are long gone...only one remains and that's only because I've come to love my spelling error username) - and it would be nice to be able to change.

 

The part that is against however knows how much work can go into adding a feature like this, and knows all the potential drama that can come about (especially if someone takes an old name that was freed up). In addition - it also raises the question of what becomes of the 'old' username;

 

It is then freed up for someone else to use *bringing out the hwole impersonation deal*?

Is it gone forever so that no one else can ever use it?

How will players know if someone changes their username - will the old one still remain

 

Perhaps, and this is just a suggestion to this idea - maybe make it a 'paid' feature (sort of like how one can pay to remove ads from the site) and have it have a 'cool down period' (ex. you can only change your name once a year). This would help prevent abuse - while still allowing players to change their name if they really feel the need to.

 

[Eclipseheart]

Definitely support

[cyradis4]

I'd be ok with a name-change feature, but to keep it from being abused, I think you need to set strict limits on it. Specifically: You can only change your forum name once a year, say. Or some longer interval. That way, people will really think hard before making the change. AND there needs to be some way to view past names and when they were changed.

 

Or perhaps instead of "one a year" or one every other year, you can get 2 name changes.... period. And they have to be at least 6 months apart, and others can still see past names and dates.

 

The other concern, of course, is scammers being able to hide behind changing names.... Hence why the long time breaks and the few changes permitted.

 

Cheers!

C4.

[HeatherMarie]

I *hesitantly* support, but I'm very mindful of the ways that this can be abused. Restrictions, like a long 'cooldown' or only being able to change once or twice, is a must for something like this, I think.

[Esko]

I'm nuteral.

I can see why this would be desired, but as a roleplay owner, I can see how it could be abused.

 

I do like Chicken Smoothie, yes, but people often change their usernames like crazy and it often made me go crazy.

 

Like C4 said, there should be strict limitations to avoid everybody and their dogs loosing their marbles.

[DragonNighthowler]

I'd be ok with a name-change feature, but to keep it from being abused, I think you need to set strict limits on it. Specifically: You can only change your forum name once a year, say. Or some longer interval. That way, people will really think hard before making the change. AND there needs to be some way to view past names and when they were changed.

 

Or perhaps instead of "one a year" or one every other year, you can get 2 name changes.... period. And they have to be at least 6 months apart, and others can still see past names and dates.

 

The other concern, of course, is scammers being able to hide behind changing names.... Hence why the long time breaks and the few changes permitted.

 

Cheers!

C4.

I like this idea, and I deffinitely like Cyradis4's suggestion. I was thinking something along the lines, of stablishing a limit of once a year or something like that, but I also like the idea of being able to see, maybe in account, past names.

 

Support. I'd love to be able to change my name too. I was very young when I chose the name, and now I think its too long, uncomfortable and a bit childish. I chose it because in fantasy I love two things, werewolves and dragons, and I'm a night owl. It has significance, and I haven't stopped loving those two fantasy critters, nor have I stopped being a night owl, but I did want to change it to the more simple DNH.

[olympe]

I think I'd be okay with rare name changes, like maybe 2 overall or 1 a year. However, as a measure to prevent impersonation, I'd like to have this feature only with mod-approval. So, if I wanted to change my name to Olympe, I'd need mod approval (and would probably get it). However, if I wanted to change my name to TJ09 with a blank space behind, I'd probably not get said mod approval and thus would be unable to change my name as desired - and with good reason.

[Pixxelation]

Definitely support, but agree that restrictions are necessary to eliminate potential for abuse. It'd be nice if a similar feature were rolled out on-site as well.

[Dorchadas]

I think there's a couple ways to go about this.

1: Mod approval

Pros:

Next to impossible to impersonate someone

Easily filtered

Is run by humans instead of machines

Cons:

Mods may get flooded with requests

Harder to name switch

Takes longer

 

2: Annual limit

Pros:

Less mod hassle (debateably)

Faster

Cons:

Easier to impersonate/do inappropriate names

Is run by machines

 

3: Overall limit

Pros:

Puts more weight into name changing

Can't be overused

Cons:

Can become permanently something you hate if hacked or just changing when drunk or something

Run by machine

 

Possible additions:

Adding previous name next to new name for about a month (For example "Dorchadas" would be "Zaixl [formerly Dorchadas]")

Paid fee to reduce requests

Combining multiple options

[Fuzzbucket]

I would not MIND it limited to ONE change - BUT - I do think that - like ebay - if it were to happen, you should be able to see all the player's previous names, so that you KNOW if the person you want to trade with is actually the same person who scammed you 6 months ago.

 

I'm on another forum where a member who was banned for scamming (and MONEY was involved) has returned repeatedly under other names, trying to do it some more. Banned every time (AFAIK _- I still watch for her...) - but it was a total PIA keeping up with her. And that was even someone setting up new accounts with new names. If we could have seen all her old names just like that...

 

We need to know who each other is, like.

Edited October 7, 2015 by fuzzbucket

[HeatherMarie]

I would not MIND it limited to ONE change - BUT - I do think that - like ebay - if it were to happen, you should be able to see all the player's previous names, so that you KNOW if the person you want to trade with is actually the same person who scammed you 6 months ago.

Definitely support this!

[DragonKing1337]

I'll support, I made this username when I was still in school and immature. I really don't want to be represented by it, makes me seem arrogant (I'm not arrogant )

[Jenneta]

I like the idea, even though I wouldn't change my username (Jenneta is what I have been using for three years to identify myself on the internet, and the only place I don't use it is tumblr, so to get rid of it is a big no), but I think it would be nice...But definitely with limitations. I don't remember it much on Chicken Smoothie when I was on there years ago (I didn't even remember it being on there until someone mentioned it), but it's on Bulbagarden and (to me, anyways) it can get confusing figuring out who's who without a notice in a signature or anything. It would be cool for the people who want to change their usernames, but yeah, definitely with of restrictions. Someone said mod approval, and I agree with that tenfold.