Shards for Username change

[Duskwing472]

i asked about something in the other chat about the possibility to a name changing function for every year or so, and @BlueLatios brought up something interesting; I know more than a few people who are not comfortable showing their scroll usernames, because when they joined they had other likes and it doesn't fit them, or just other reasons.
I myself don't mind if others know who i am but really dislike what I'm named right now. Im wondering if a username changing function will ever be implemented?
I know multi-scrollers would abuse that but what if it's like once a year, or as blue said we could have to pay with shards to change our names.

Edited July 19, 2019 by Sacred_DuskRose
cleared up title better

[Nightwalkerkey]

I'd be cool with one if it cost 10,000 shards, and/or max once a year or maybe even once a scroll. I'm kind of at peace with my names but would be cool for others to feel better about theirs. It could get real confusing if people were allowed to change it often though. Already forum name changes confuse me lol

[Duskwing472]

Ooh, i forgot to mention. that's actually the exact price we talked about! 10k shards. As well as a once a year thing. 

Edited July 19, 2019 by Sacred_DuskRose

[Sazandora]

10k shards is WAY too much for something as simple as a name change. We can change our names freely here on the forums -- why on earth would you have to save up shards for years just to change your username?

If it has to have a shard cost, make it 500 or 1000 or something. It's completely pointless to impose a once a year limit on it, as you'd have to save up shards for at least 2-3 years just to be able to afford it.

[RealWilliamShakespeare]

I'm also of the mind that you shouldn't have to pay to change a name. A limit on name-changing - once a year or whatever - I'm fine with, because a thread a while ago discussed the potential dangers of frequent name changing. I just really think we should have the option.

[Stromboli]

10,000 shards with the current weekly cap and assuming no other methods of getting shards is introduced means it would be nearly two years between a user being able to afford this.

 

If you wanna charge shards to disincentivize changing names, why not have the price increase with every time you change your name? People who only want to change their name the once can do so with, idk, two or three months savings. Those who want to change their names eight times will find themselves having to save for years to be able to afford it again.

 

Or just make it a time locked action that anyone can only change their name every 12 months at most. But 10,000 shards is excessive.

[purplehaze]

I definitely think there should be a limit on user-name changes, but I think a once-a-year limit, or even a one-time-per-user limit would be preferable to this. That is just way too long to have to save up shards (meanwhile being unable to buy anything at all in the market, unless you want to wait even longer!).

[Sazandora]

I'm more in favor of a six month cooldown on name change, in case you make a typo while typing in your new username so you don't have to wait a whole year to fix it or pay an exorbitant amount of shards to do it.

[Cottoncat]

4 hours ago, Stromboli said:

If you wanna charge shards to disincentivize changing names, why not have the price increase with every time you change your name? People who only want to change their name the once can do so with, idk, two or three months savings. Those who want to change their names eight times will find themselves having to save for years to be able to afford it again.

 

That'd be effective, I like the sound of that! I also agree that 10,000 shards would be too much, and I personally probably wouldn't get a username change if/when I reached that number of shards.

A cooldown would work too.

[olympe]

Oh, let's just start with 100 shards. Second change costs 1000 shards. Third costs 10000. And so on.

(Also, just in case of typos: Don't finalize the change until 24 hours after it has been initiated eg. the new name has been typed.)

[Aalbiel]

10k shards? oO That's a little insane, and your yearly cap would be completely redundant.

 

I am much more in favour of either:

 

- the escalating price idea, with a cheap first change such as the scale olympe suggested

- no price at all (bc really, why should this cost shards) and a long cool-down (a year?)

- again, no price, and a 3 time cap on changing your scroll name. 3 times ever, then no more.

[Dohaerys]

39 minutes ago, Aalbiel said:

10k shards? oO That's a little insane, and your yearly cap would be completely redundant.

 

I am much more in favour of either:

 

- the escalating price idea, with a cheap first change such as the scale olympe suggested

- no price at all (bc really, why should this cost shards) and a long cool-down (a year?)

- again, no price, and a 3 time cap on changing your scroll name. 3 times ever, then no more.

I really like the three alternatives here, 10k Shards does seem very excessive for something that doesn't even affect gameplay greatly

[Stormcaller]

Pay shards to change your name?  No, I don't think so.

[olympe]

6 hours ago, Stormcaller said:

Pay shards to change your name?  No, I don't think so.

Well, you won't have to change your name...

[Duskwing472]

I myself was thinking like 1000 to 3000 to change the name. I have about 3.4k right now, and i cannot see myself playing and getting max shards every week for the next year and a half. I love the game absolutely, but yes, 2 full years of commitment just so i can change my username is a bit much :')

[Haloclimb]

Yeah, scaling costs sounds like a good idea; 10k is an insane amount. I'd argue against only allowing one change or putting time limits on it; the price will be enough of a balance. Plus it would suck if you chose a name and then quickly realised you wanted something else, but then have to wait 6-12 months for no reason. Theres no need to punish people for wanting to change names!

[olympe]

6 hours ago, Haloclimb said:

Yeah, scaling costs sounds like a good idea; 10k is an insane amount. I'd argue against only allowing one change or putting time limits on it; the price will be enough of a balance. Plus it would suck if you chose a name and then quickly realised you wanted something else, but then have to wait 6-12 months for no reason. Theres no need to punish people for wanting to change names!

That's why I kinda suggested a 24 hour grace period... Although that's mostly meant for typos.

[TerraAnne]

On 7/19/2019 at 6:13 AM, RealWilliamShakespeare said:

I'm also of the mind that you shouldn't have to pay to change a name. A limit on name-changing - once a year or whatever - I'm fine with, because a thread a while ago discussed the potential dangers of frequent name changing. I just really think we should have the option.

I think its a good idea to have the option to name change but not frequently as that can cause trouble. Once a year though sounds really good for the amount of time and still allows people to change them. Like.. I think most people who want their name changed are probably people who have been on for longer than a year anyway so...

[olympe]

Well, with one name change per year - if that had been possible from the very beginning - I'd soon be able to change my name for the 10th time. Definitely not confusing. 

[Aalbiel]

12 hours ago, olympe said:

Well, with one name change per year - if that had been possible from the very beginning - I'd soon be able to change my name for the 10th time. Definitely not confusing. 

 

I think what hasn't been brought up in this thread yet, but is important and was in previous name change threads, is tracking name changes. To me, there should be:

 

- A link on your public scroll page that lists your previous usernames. That way, people can keep track, and also if they have had a bad experience (for instance, trading) with a certain user they can keep staying away from them and not be fooled by their new persona.

- NO redirect from your previous scroll name. So that people who are changing their name because they are being bullied (for instance, viewbombed) under their current username cannot be directly found. Their name change would still be in their list of previous usernames but their would be no way to directly find their new username for anyone directly targeting them. (I bring this up not as a hypothetical but because some people in previous threads have said this is happening to them and they desperately want to change their name for this reason).

 

 

Other than that, I do think assuming people have an attention span of 1 year is..... not overestimating their abilities xD It's not like you have to remember 10 name changes at once.

[Fuzzbucket]

As long as the scroll NUMBER shows, that covers it, no ? Though I would - like you - prefer to be able to see the actual name history.

[olympe]

I don't even know how to figure out my own scroll number, much less anyone else's. Plus, if you have a bad experience with a fellow player, what do you take note of - their scroll name or their account ID number?

[Fuzzbucket]

If we knew they could change their names - scroll number for sure. And the suggestion is that it be displayed on your public scroll page.

 

I can tell you where to find it if you want to know....

[olympe]

@Fuzzbucket I'll forget about it again in no time anyway, but thanks for the offer. The purple line in your signature applies to me, too, you know?

[Aalbiel]

I've been playing since 2008 and I had no idea there was such a thing as a scroll number oO So I think the scroll number would definitely have to be more obvious to be useful. But even then, it's a lot easier to remember a name than a number like 30165 (random example idek what the correct amount of digits is) if you're going to be familiar with all the scrolls you regularly interact with...