Change Username/Display Name?

[Mil]

Hey,

 

 

 

I know that Tip.It has been particularly fierce on the topic of changing usernames on the forums, and I have no idea why. However, with the name change ability coming to RuneScape and FunOrb in the near future, I was wondering if Tip.It will allow forum name changes? I am sure that many people will be changing their in-game names when the feature becomes available, and I'm sure they will want to do the same on the forums as well. I know that it could possibly cause confusion, but this could be overcome using a Custom Profile Field to display the old username.

 

 

 

By looking at the Member list, I can see there are a lot of inactive accounts. I know it may not be the best option, but an inactivity sweep of accounts which haven't logged in for 1-2 years would open up many more usernames for people to choose. Furthermore, if you feel that the ability to change usernames is going to be abused, then you could only allow name changes for a certain period of time. I don't see a major reason why not to allow name changes, at least for a certain period of time.

 

I have also seen some phpBB mods allowing the use of Display Names, but I doubt that Tip.It would incorporate this now.

 

 

 

Anywho, if name changes aren't going to become available, I think I'm going to create a new account to change my name for my own personal reasons.

[InkofDeath]

I know that Tip.It has been particularly fierce on the topic of changing usernames on the forums, and I have no idea why. However, with the name change ability coming to RuneScape and FunOrb in the near future, I was wondering if Tip.It will allow forum name changes? I am sure that many people will be changing their in-game names when the feature becomes available, and I'm sure they will want to do the same on the forums as well. I know that it could possibly cause confusion, but this could be overcome using a Custom Profile Field to display the old username.

 

I personally think name changes should be allowed at anytime, through our profile, to change our name freely once every 2 months. You have our IP's on our posts, and topics, so there's no reason why you can't identify us by those instead of by our names, or signature. Actually majority of mods do check the IP's for posts/topics when dealing with spam anyways correct? So there's not much of a difference.

 

 

 

By looking at the Member list, I can see there are a lot of inactive accounts. I know it may not be the best option, but an inactivity sweep of accounts which haven't logged in for 1-2 years would open up many more usernames for people to choose.

 

Deleting old accounts is never going to happen unless it's imperative to happen for extreme cases that will probably never exist while Tip.It is online. Those old accounts, even from just 1-2 years ago are people I know, and so do majority of the staff. As well those people have a lot of posts that they wouldn't want to see going away for nothing. They spent how long on these boards and in a day everything of theirs gets lost? Doesn't seem fair to them if they want to collect some of their posts or such.

 

 

 

And deleting accounts, is just no, lol.

 

 

 

Anywho, if name changes aren't going to become available, I think I'm going to create a new account to change my name for my own personal reasons.

 

That's what they tell you to do now, so have fun. :)

[obfuscator]

I realize that some users may want to change their name with mechscape coming out and new rsn changes but I really don't see why that has to transfer to forum name as well.

[Mil]

Deleting old accounts is never going to happen unless it's imperative to happen for extreme cases that will probably never exist while Tip.It is online. Those old accounts, even from just 1-2 years ago are people I know, and so do majority of the staff. As well those people have a lot of posts that they wouldn't want to see going away for nothing. They spent how long on these boards and in a day everything of theirs gets lost? Doesn't seem fair to them if they want to collect some of their posts or such.

 

 

 

And deleting accounts, is just no, lol.

 

 

 

I know what you mean, but there are a lot of accounts with o quotes, and I am sure they haven't logged in since their creation all those years ago. It was mostly an afterthought :)

 

 

 

That's what they tell you to do now, so have fun. :)

 

 

 

Yeah, I guess. But I have requested a deletion of my own account before and have been refused (I had my reason for deletion) :| I may as well make a new account, either when jagex releases name changes or later this week. But again, I'll have to make sure that everyone knows (Great Tip Pic private board), and move all my settings and so on. Sigh. Would be much easier if they just allowed name changes. I highly doubt it would be abused.

[tripsis]

I realize that some users may want to change their name with mechscape coming out and new rsn changes but I really don't see why that has to transfer to forum name as well.

 

I agree with this. We already have a spot for you to put your RSN in your profile where it's easily to see. Maybe the admins will even add an additional spot later for your MechScape name if the game is really popular.

 

 

 

From a completely non-staff-related point of view, I really hate the idea of changing usernames. If all of the people that I recognize on Tip.it suddenly started changing their names, I would get so confused :? And yes, I know that people COULD put something like "Previously ____" in their signature, but there is no guarantee that they will and I'd still like to remember their name without having to glance down and read who they previously were (or constantly check IP addresses).

 

 

 

You always have the option to create another account if you really want to change your name. You will lose your old post count and join date, but those things don't really matter do they? ;)

[InkofDeath]

From a completely non-staff-related point of view, I really hate the idea of changing usernames. If all of the people that I recognize on Tip.it suddenly started changing their names, I would get so confused :?

 

 

 

See what's wrong with this is that you don't have the desire to change your name. Yet, when other people do have this desire. Look at it this way, a person wants to change their name, but because a few people would get confused, they can't change their name. How fair is that to the individual, just because others will get confused? It's the users fault that other people aren't as great friends as they thought and can't keep track of the person individually. I'm pretty sure there's a higher desire to change their own name compared to how many would get confused, or the hassle it may be for some people.

 

 

 

Also, majority of people will not change their name completely. For example, I would only get rid of the last three numbers in my name, because I have grown to dislike them. Others would either get rid of the numbers, fix their name from grammar mistakes, or add something to it they've wanted to. There would only be a few who would change their name completely however. A lot fewer than those that would keep their name and just 'touch' it up a bit. Why? How many people have made a reputation with their name? Why would they confuse others and potentially lose the reputation they have (and it does happen when you change your name, look at businesses, clans, or anything with names) with a full name change? They wouldn't. They would just fix their name a bit in some way or another.

 

 

 

I'm not saying there won't be people who do change their name completely, but majority of those people will be under 1000 posts. I'm just going to bet that majority of us have more 'friends' on here that have over 1000 posts than with those below 1000 posts. I'm pretty sure there may be 1 or 2 people out of the people I know on here that would change their name completely and have over 1000 posts. Still as a majority who do change their name it won't be a big deal anyways.

 

 

 

There's four methods to tell if someone who is, well maybe five if you know them better, if they change their name completely, which again won't be a lot.. They are the avatar, signature, RSN, blogs, and the way in which they post. I'm pretty sure people's avatars don't change twice per month on average, and people's signatures only change to replace either an old graphic, or to replace a stat signature. Both in my experience would take a month or two on average for it to actually change, unless forced by some other means. Their blog, if they have one, is a good indicator. Most Tip.It regulars, who still play the game have a blog. If you're friends with them, all you need to do is check the blog. For off-topic users however, majority hardly ever get a new signature or avatar on a monthly basis, so there's the best indicator right there.

 

 

 

As well there's also the reason why we suggested a limit on how many times you can change your name within a certain period of time. This would help those who can't keep track of what they're friends are doing by allowing them to get familiar with people who do change thier name. Twice per 3 three months, or once every seven weeks is a lot of time to familiarize yourself with people's new names. From a non-staff perspective that's still going to be enough to get to know who is who. When you combine this with the above information, you'll find that losing track of people or being confused is not going to be an issue, or as big of one as you may think it is. From a staff perspective however, you still have posting history, IP address on posts or topics, so it's even easier if you really need to find out whose who.

 

 

 

Take a look at CoD, or vALVE games. They allow your name to be changed on a whim. How many players enjoy this flexibility they have with their name? Almost every single one that learns there's such a capability. They enjoy it, and there's no harm coming from it. In my opinion I just think too many of us are scared and conditioned to thinking name changes on the fly is bad. Whether it's because of old forum software, or whatever from the early days of forum software, I don't know. But there's this large degree of negativity around name changes, and I hardly find anyone giving a justified or valid reasoning behind it. Just my thoughts though.

 

 

 

 

 

You will lose your old post count and join date, but those things don't really matter do they? ;)

 

They don't matter separately, but when you put them together, and compare them to each other, they tend to show a lot of things. Hey, you posted it. : P

[Mil]

If there are enough people who are not bothered and wouldn't mind username's to be changed (it's more of a privilege than a burden to users) than I do not see why not. Yes, you say Admins and Mods may get confused, but if only one username change was allowed, for example, in a month, then I'm sure that's enough time for people to get used to the new username, and who that person previously was. Furthermore, if only 3 username changes were allowed as a maximum for all users, then I highly doubt that many people will abuse the system. I'm sure there is probably already a phpbb modification that already does it, if not, I'm sure someone can make one fairly easily.

 

If we had a forum-wide poll on new features being discussed to be implemented into the forum, then it would be much easier to see the general feeling towards them.

[dsavi]

If you would like to make a MOD for phpBB that does that, you are certainly welcome. (I know for a fact that there is not a MOD that does that) Whether it will be used on TIF or not I can't say.

[Gamerr]

From a completely non-staff-related point of view, I really hate the idea of changing usernames. If all of the people that I recognize on Tip.it suddenly started changing their names, I would get so confused :? And yes, I know that people COULD put something like "Previously ____" in their signature, but there is no guarantee that they will and I'd still like to remember their name without having to glance down and read who they previously were (or constantly check IP addresses).

 

 

 

I agree, a seperate place to add in your MechScape name is enough, and as far RSN's are concerned they have technically no relation to your forum name, unless you choose so. It would cause a lot of confusion if people changed RSN's and we'd allow them to change their forum names too, because you never know people might confuse you with somebody else and stuff like that.

 

 

 

 

 

You will lose your old post count and join date, but those things don't really matter do they? ;)

 

 

 

We might as well remove them. :thumbsup:

 

Note: Joking eh :mrgreen:

[PoorLepRecon]

For me, changing my name is more of a grammar correction. All I want is the first letter in my capitalized, but I can't make this simple change. I'm sure quite a few people have something in their name that bothers them, or something that they thought was cool back when they created the account, but have grown out of it. I agree with tripsis in that if people change their name, it can get confusing as to who each person is, but I think that people should still have the option to change it.

[InkofDeath]

I agree, a seperate place to add in your MechScape name is enough, and as far RSN's are concerned they have technically no relation to your forum name, unless you choose so. It would cause a lot of confusion if people changed RSN's and we'd allow them to change their forum names too, because you never know people might confuse you with somebody else and stuff like that.

 

 

 

So ignoring my post to this 'problem', I'm going to say that we're not children and aren't going to be so confused.

 

 

 

phpbb doesn't have it's own built-in ability to change the name in the users profile? That's quite disappointing.

[tripsis]

If you would like to make a MOD for phpBB that does that, you are certainly welcome. (I know for a fact that there is not a MOD that does that) Whether it will be used on TIF or not I can't say.

 

I think you can already do it with phpBB without a MOD. In the Admin Control Panel under Board Features, there's an option for "Allow Username Changes."

[Mil]

If you would like to make a MOD for phpBB that does that, you are certainly welcome. (I know for a fact that there is not a MOD that does that) Whether it will be used on TIF or not I can't say.

 

I think you can already do it with phpBB without a MOD. In the Admin Control Panel under Board Features, there's an option for "Allow Username Changes."

 

 

 

Yeah, there is, but to limit username changes and that sort of thing would require a Modification. But I'm sure if it was wanted then someone with the required knowledge could be found.

[MageUK]

It's not happening any time soon simply due to the confusion and extra legwork it causes for staff to keep track of users. Yes we can track you by IPs, but if we know a troublesome user already we shouldn't need to go into that depth when reviewing posts, our moderators already deal with a lot of rubbish and they don't need another hurdle to jump over when doing their job.

 

 

 

Perhaps if/when Display Names come to phpBB natively, it will be considered.

[Sam]

It's not happening any time soon simply due to the confusion and extra legwork it causes for staff to keep track of users. Yes we can track you by IPs, but if we know a troublesome user already we shouldn't need to go into that depth when reviewing posts, our moderators already deal with a lot of rubbish and they don't need another hurdle to jump over when doing their job.

 

 

 

Perhaps if/when Display Names come to phpBB natively, it will be considered.

 

 

 

 

 

I agree with you, Mr - Pure - Mage guy