Question: No name change, so alts?

[Nick]

Despite that, I still don't think it's a good idea. Account transfers would work just as well, and those things ARE important to some people (people have their own reasons to be on), plus as I mentioned, we should be concentrating on things to improve PC, or downtimes that we can't help. Do we really want to create more downtime for PC? Because really, if the downtime issue wasn't that bad, then name changes would still occur. The fact that one name change hurts PC should be reason enough. Allowing one whole day, or two, to do it, could eventually be harmful to PC and could prove to be a longer downtime, or even worse, something else could go wrong and PC could have future issues. I don't think we should be playing with fire here and instead go with something like account transfers which aren't likely to hurt PC.

Nobody's saying that account transfers wouldn't work.

But really, one or two days of downtime isn't that long. One or two days of downtime isn't that much out of 365. It isn't like it'll take a month to do it. Just a day or two - maybe even less. Even though admins had already discussed everything they could do to eventually lead to their decision, I'm still not exactly sold. Yes, usernames are a minor thing compared to other things, but if the majority of users would like a username change, I really don't see what the big deal is with setting aside one day to handle them. Besides, it isn't like if this happened admins would suddenly post "lol btw guys, no pc for tomorrow!!!! n___n" No. It'd probably be a month or so in advanced. That's what it was last time.

I think you're misunderstanding how the server could be hurt. It isn't like you can spend an entire day doing all this, and then a problem comes up do to it with the server a week later. It's only going to affect it while it's happening. I don't see how it would eventually be harmful to PC. It worked once, what makes you so keen on it being potentially disastrous this time around?

 

[Ho-Oh]

Nobody's saying that account transfers wouldn't work.

But really, one or two days of downtime isn't that long. One or two days of downtime isn't that much out of 365. It isn't like it'll take a month to do it. Just a day or two - maybe even less. Even though admins had already discussed everything they could do to eventually lead to their decision, I'm still not exactly sold. Yes, usernames are a minor thing compared to other things, but if the majority of users would like a username change, I really don't see what the big deal is with setting aside one day to handle them. Besides, it isn't like if this happened admins would suddenly post "lol btw guys, no pc for tomorrow!!!! n___n" No. It'd probably be a month or so in advanced. That's what it was last time.

I think you're misunderstanding how the server could be hurt. It isn't like you can spend an entire day doing all this, and then a problem comes up do to it with the server a week later. It's only going to affect it while it's happening. I don't see how it would eventually be harmful to PC. It worked once, what makes you so keen on it being potentially disastrous this time around?

Well if you two really think it'll work and won't hurt PC, then go ahead, though I don't think it'll have positive consequences down the line. D: Otherwise, why else WERE name changes stopped? If it only caused downtime for a little while, then why stop it and instead just deal with the short term consequences of PC being slow? If it's set at once a year it'll eventually be brought down to four months again, like how it went from 6 months to four months.

...And still, are people in different usergroups going to be able to change their usernames sooner? Like reduce supporters to 6 months instead of a year? I just... don't see this going well, that's all.

 

[Kip]

My thoughts: We need a system that makes people think about name changes, doesn't put strain on the servers, reduces the workload for admins and doesn't become a 'fashion'.

Well, how about we do this the way Facebook does it? Facebook has put a limit on the total amount of username changes you're allowed. That way you only change it if you're really sure, because once you change it you can't change it again.

So how about this: You can only change your username once (maybe twice). That way, users will be able to get rid of their crappy n00bish name (we've all done it - mine was Sam.UK2005 for ages and I grew to hate it) but also think very carefully about what they want to change it to. That way, it's less likely they would want to change it again.

PC was quite unique in offering username changes - I haven't known any other VB-based forum to do it (if there are then there are very few). I reckon it's good if we just limit to one change per user, it may solve a lot of issues.

 

[Miss Doronjo]

My thoughts: We need a system that makes people think about name changes, doesn't put strain on the servers, reduces the workload for admins and doesn't become a 'fashion'.

Well, how about we do this the way Facebook does it? Facebook has put a limit on the total amount of username changes you're allowed. That way you only change it if you're really sure, because once you change it you can't change it again.

So how about this: You can only change your username once (maybe twice). That way, users will be able to get rid of their crappy n00bish name (we've all done it - mine was Sam.UK2005 for ages and I grew to hate it) but also think very carefully about what they want to change it to. That way, it's less likely they would want to change it again.

PC was quite unique in offering username changes - I haven't known any other VB-based forum to do it (if there are then there are very few). I reckon it's good if we just limit to one change per user, it may solve a lot of issues.

I would think that people would think very carefully in their name change anyway, if hypothetically speaking, the suggestion above was approved. Like say, if your username was "N" and you want to change it to "P". You won't be able to change it again for another year.

 

[560cool.]

Yeah, I kinda agree with Kip and Miss Doronjo. I know a lot of people on FB who had no idea of the limiting in name-changes, and they're stuck with stupid names like Bond 007. It really sucks for them, not to mention how nobody knows who they are.

Kinda the same as PC, but change the identity issue to the noobish one.

 

[HeyMikey]

I thought I'd just throw this out there;

Somehow, Smogon's forums which are also run on vBulletin have incorporated into the User CP an area which allows self-service name changes one time only (I think it used to be two times, but that was reduced). Smogon is a pretty big forum too, but they don't seem to have problems with lag or downtime when people change their names with this feature. Would something like this be possible for PC? I don't really see how it would effect here any differently to Smogon since as far as I know, they are both similarly sized forums.

 

[560cool.]

I don't have a Smogon account, so I don't know how that would work, but I like the idea.
Instead of a person to manually change a name, how about making some sort of server operation ? Like when you click it, the whole server does the name-change.
I'm not sure how much server strain would that cause, but it still sounds alright...

 

[Ivysaur]

It would be virtually the same except it wouldn't be an admin doing it, but each individual person instead. The process would stay the same.

And if the database can be potentially harmed, I think the best thing to do is look for other solutions that don't require touching it at all. Okay, we played with fire once and we didn't get burnt, we just had to rest our hands for a couple of days... what if something does go wrong next time? I don't care whether we do it once a year, or if every member is allowed one name change during their forum life. The risk is there regardless. And if all of us were to have a name change, then it would be 200k name changes. Not a small number, isn't it?

Moving all the info from account a to account b gets the same job done and isn't potentially harmful. I can't see the downside.

 

[King Gumball]

I kinda agree with both arguments between Hiiro /Patchisou and Forever... Forever has a strong point about special events, but then again only 1 or 2 days is very short, and even if your B'day was on PC at that time, I think you would have some forewarning before hand so maybe you can have an early B'Day here.

And I don't want PC to be damaged, because in the days where everyone can change their name, I am sure there will be about 80k+ users taking advantage of the name change and changing their names while they can. So I have no idea what the risks may be, but there would certainly be some even if they are very slight.

But also if the transfer option falls into action, then I change my name say three times over three years, I don't want my account transferred three times and only have links to all my old posts in my old accounts.

So IDK, I am fine with account transfers but a set couple of days for name changes sounds really tempting too, although I would feel a little uneasy with what it may possibly do to PC down the road (especially since PC is still growing) Maybe we should test out the set name change days in the very near future and see what happens, and if it causes problems resort to the transfer method... (if we do test the name change method again then sooner is better, before this site grows too much)

 

[Purple Materia]

Personally, I like the idea of allowing PC a day or two to complete the name changes. I'm sure everyone could fire up their DS/Wii and entertain themselves for a day. If it's happened before without any problems, then why won't it work now?

 

[Melody]

I'm not sold on the entire "transfer" idea personally.

How about instead of doing Yearly cycles of name changes, and allowing one per year on a certain date, that we do it SLOWLY. For instance, Steve does backups every so often correct? During these 'backups' PC tends to be down/slow anyways, so perhaps allowing a task to run to change the names after backing up would work. Backup -> Change names in bulk -> Restore/repair backup if database failed.


It'd be something like this:
User requests name change and gets stuck on Name Change Queue. Basically it's a waiting list and you can change the name you've requested a time or two, while you're waiting, but once it's changed, you're stuck with that name for the usual time period. The thing is that the name changes be spaced out during PC maintenance cycles, when the forum would be down/slow anyways. Naturally being on a waiting list would mean that your name won't change immediately, it only gets changed when they get to it on the list. This would really discourage people from just getting capricious name changes...and kinda make you think about it while you wait.

We could easily set up some sort of request plug-in for the User CP that lets you make your request, view/modify/cancel your pending request, tell you where in the queue you are and when the next maintenance cycle occurs. Cycles can occur as frequently or as rarely as Staff sees fit, to handle the volume of name changes and balance the stress and load on the server. During this time, the board can be switched off, preferably during an off-peak hour of traffic so that name changes can be done in bulk. Then when the name is changed, the plug-in detects that and erases the name from the list.

The plugin itself could possibly be able to store a name change request at any time and only put you on the official queue if it's been 4/6 months or a year since your last name change. (Depending on what time length the staff decides is appropriate). This way if you WANT a name, you can request it early and get the username first...if you requested it first. Requested usernames could easily be placed on the list of names you can't register until the admins can change the name once your request lands on the official queue, and restrictions can be placed so that, once you're on the queue and are scheduled to have your name changed on the next downtime cycle, you can't change your requested new name.