Name Change Notification

[James]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Yeah, something like that is more the type of thing I'm leaning towards. Fewer opportunities to do it, but a system that is much easier to deal with from the members' perspective (and which removes a lot of useless busywork for Admins).

I think people should be able to change names, but as with anything, there are difficulties associated with that. But it's like anything else on OtakuBoards - people are free to make RPGs, but we require ratings and a certain level of quality. So with anything we do, there is always an emphasis on ensuring that it's done in a sensible way. Name changing will be no different really.[/font]

[2010DigitalBoy]

[COLOR=Purple]Thats all fine and swell, even if we do stick with the current system the matter at hand is [i]notification[/i] all these other things Im not concerned with. If there is anything I can do to help I am available.[/COLOR]

[James]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Of course. And as I've mentioned a few times now, notification will be far more prominent than it is now. No need to worry. ^_^[/font]

[sakurasuka]

[SIZE=1]I like the idea of only two or three times a year on specified days. That whould make most people happy.

Or you could have a specified one/two people who did name-changing only, rather than the two admins doing it. Then the 'name-changers' could regulate, and it'd be alot of weight off everyone else's shoulders.

Just an idea. It's kinda dumb, but I'm pretty much just thinking out loud.[/SIZE]

[2010DigitalBoy]

[QUOTE=sakurasuka][SIZE=1]I like the idea of only two or three times a year on specified days. That whould make most people happy.

Or you could have a specified one/two people who did name-changing only, rather than the two admins doing it. Then the 'name-changers' could regulate, and it'd be alot of weight off everyone else's shoulders.

Just an idea. It's kinda dumb, but I'm pretty much just thinking out loud.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]
[COLOR=Purple]
Hey, yeah! That would probably work well! If no one else, I'd hapilly do all the name changes! Anything to make me feel important here XD[/COLOR]

[Baron Samedi]

[size=1]Two or three allowable name changes a year is a good idea. Two or three name-change days a year is a bad idea. Not everyone can get online every day. Having a profile area [that also displays 'Changes Left'] where you can change your username is a better way to do it.[/size]

[Goodbye, Face]

[font=trebuchet ms]Well, I like Hevn's idea. If they miss the Name Change day, too bad, it's a privilege. And the day would be announced well in advance anyways so they can plan for it.

However, none of this matters to me, I'm sure if I changed my name someone would go hang him/herself or something.[/font]

[Baron Samedi]

[quote name='RiflesAtRecess][font=trebuchet ms']Well, I like Hevn's idea. If they miss the Name Change day, too bad, it's a privilege. And the day would be announced well in advance anyways so they can plan for it.[/font][/quote]
[size=1]That is an incredibly selfish way to view it, I'm afraid.[/size]

[Goodbye, Face]

[font=trebuchet ms]Yeah, possibly. But how often are most people going to change their name? I figure that if you plan on staying a while, you should at least pick a user name that suits you well enough that you'll like it for more than a year. This is just my opinion. And as stated, many forums don't even give members this opportunity.

Then again, I'm not really asking for a change, just out of what's been presented, I like Hevn's idea the best.[/font]

[Hevn]

Name Change... Day[B]s[/B]? ..Week? I dun really know. After your comments, I also thought of the problem that will arise considering Time Zones. We all hate it u_u

Maybe two or three succeeding days for name changes will suffice.

[James]

[QUOTE=RiflesAtRecess][font=trebuchet ms]Well, I like Hevn's idea. If they miss the Name Change day, too bad, it's a privilege. And the day would be announced well in advance anyways so they can plan for it.

However, none of this matters to me, I'm sure if I changed my name someone would go hang him/herself or something.[/font][/QUOTE]

[font=franklin gothic medium]There won't be a "name change day". In reality I don't think that would work at all. I can't really expect people to show up on a specific day in the year to change their name, lol.

Rather, it will probably be a situation where you can change your name at any time. However, once you've changed it, you won't be able to change it again for another few months. Something like that strikes an ideal balance between allowing people to change names and avoiding confusion for everyone else.[/font]

[Sara]

[color=#333333][font=trebuchet ms]...Darn. I was really getting into the idea of having a Name Change Day, too. :)

Perhaps the 16th of each month could be an Unofficial Name Change Day... :whoops:[/font][/color]

[Semjaza]

I just really don't understand why this has to be a feature in the first place. I'm not entirely sure why it's allowed here at all aside from very particular circumstances. It's gotten to the point where members here just expect it and want it done all the time.
Every time it is done, regardless of what's in the signature, it's jarring and weird. Some people, once you get used to their new name, change it yet again. Personally, I think you should just decide on a name and stick with it for awhile... once or twice is okay, but there are people here going on five, six or more. Allowing it every few months would allow some people to do it three or four times a year... enough is enough, I say.

[James]

[font=franklin gothic medium]I think the biggest problem at the moment is notification. There are a few people who change names frequently (more than once a month), but generally people tend to stick with their name for a little while at least.

Right now, the previous name is listed in the user's profile. And although we can now say that we do carry that listing, the fact remains that people shouldn't have to enter profiles just to work out who is who. Signatures are okay, but we have no technology supporting it, so people can wipe out the message or edit it in any way they choose. Obviously that means people don't tend to keep it listed there for too long.

So I think the alternative is to make name changing easier (so that it requires no staff support) while simultaneously putting significant restrictions on it. One restriction would be that you could only change it a few times a year, the other being that your former username will automatically be listed somewhere more prominent (perhaps in the postbit).

That way we get to have the best of both worlds. People [i]can[/i] occasionally change their name (stressing the word "occasionally") and at the same time, none of us are confused because their former name is prominently listed (and we'll at least have time to get used to their new name).

I think that name changing is an important customization feature - even those who have only done it once or twice are probably glad that they didn't necessarily have to get stuck with the first name they chose.

If we had less users, this wouldn't be a problem, because Admins could easily just change a couple of names a month. But as we grow, I'm concerned that tasks like that will take up too much of their time, when I will be needing them to handle other things.

In addition to that, we didn't always allow name changing. The reason we opened it is because when people didn't like their name previously, they would simply register a new account.

The problem with that is far more of an issue than the problem with people being a bit confused over new names. One problem is that we obviously have an inactive account sitting there. Another problem is that the user who registers the new account now has none of their old posts attributed to their name - and that is probably more confusing than a regular name change. With a regular name change, your new name is active across your entire archive of posts. Under the old system, you might have three accounts spread across one user, two of them being inactive.

So there are a few reasons why I personally believe that we need to not only keep this feature, but make it absolutely ideal. The model that I'm intending to use will keep name changing significantly restricted (far moreso than now), while still providing more public notification about it.[/font]

[2010DigitalBoy]

[COLOR=Purple]The Perfect Idea by Tical

Okay, what say name changes are only allowed to happen once every four months. This will work as the people who actually go about changing their names do so even more often than that so this would be a great time interval. It's not like the whole sit would go about changing theor names evry 4 months, I mean, how many people change their names as it stands?

As for notification, how about replacing the member titles with former usernames? Or just put the under the member title.[/COLOR]

[Baron Samedi]

[QUOTE=Hug Monster][COLOR=Purple]The Perfect Idea by Tical

Okay, what say name changes are only allowed to happen once every four months. This will work as the people who actually go about changing their names do so even more often than that so this would be a great time interval. It's not like the whole sit would go about changing theor names evry 4 months, I mean, how many people change their names as it stands?

As for notification, how about replacing the member titles with former usernames? Or just put the under the member title.[/COLOR][/QUOTE][size=1]The Perfect [Stolen] Idea by Tical, lol. Have you read any of the other posts in this thread? The X months between changes, and the display of former title in the postbit have both already been suggested, lol.

I'm sure that there are [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=5277][COLOR=SlateGray]some people[/COLOR][/url] who are really glad that you have name changing facilities :p[/size]

[Raiyuu]

[color=DarkSlateBlue][font=Trebuchet MS]Include me in that. This is the forum I frequent most often; I really didn't want it to be the [b]only [/b]one on which my name wasn't Raiyuu.

Name-changing is a great feature of this site, and the fact that we are able to have it is indicative of the maturity of the population, I think. And the new system's sounding fantastic, James.

(But if I ever make use of it, someone swat me with a fan or something - I swore I'd stick with this one till the end...)
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