Question No name change, so alts? Page 3

Started by Massacre. December 10th, 2010 11:16 AM
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  • 78 replies

560cool.

An old timer?

Age 24
Male
Eastern Europe
Seen March 29th, 2021
Posted March 9th, 2021
2,002 posts
13.8 Years
Well, how about a single name change to be able to at least take out the numbers and the word "cool" from my username. Wait, that's my whole username...
I'm sorry if somebody else said this, but I saw the yearly idea, so I thought to be at least given a single change to switch out. It wouldn't cause the day counting, so there isn't anything to worry about.
Eh ? (:
Well, okay. I'm here just to chat with people. Don't really care about signatures and stuff.



professor plum

Age 31
he/him/his
louisiana
Seen 1 Hour Ago
Posted 1 Hour Ago
11,986 posts
17.9 Years
Well, how about a single name change to be able to at least take out the numbers and the word "cool" from my username. Wait, that's my whole username...
I'm sorry if somebody else said this, but I saw the yearly idea, so I thought to be at least given a single change to switch out. It wouldn't cause the day counting, so there isn't anything to worry about.
Eh ? (:
Again, it'd cause a lot of stress on the server. You're looking at a LOT of downtime here. However, if we ever had pruning . . .
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Nick

Seen 4 Weeks Ago
Posted July 28th, 2021
17,572 posts
18.6 Years
I'm just putting it out there, but I don't see much wrong with offering a username change once a year for everyone at the same time. One or two days of downtime doesn't seem like too much to deal with compared to the amount of users who would love for a chance to change their username.

Zeffy

g'day

Male
Seen December 1st, 2022
Posted January 30th, 2021
6,395 posts
14.1 Years
I'm sorry if I sounded harsh earlier, but its just that it kinda seemed rubbish seeing all you argue with your username being suckish. I wish there'd be someway to change my name as well, all I can think of is like a price if you won something in PC? But that'd probably take time and is probably not a good idea at all, but still it'd be kind of good if the person who gets a name change earns it.

Ho-Oh

used Sacred Fire!

Age 31
Female
QLD, Australia
Seen June 5th, 2022
Posted April 23rd, 2022
35,988 posts
17.5 Years
I'm just putting it out there, but I don't see much wrong with offering a username change once a year for everyone at the same time. One or two days of downtime doesn't seem like too much to deal with compared to the amount of users who would love for a chance to change their username.
I don't see why there should be downtime, tbh.

What if someone's PC anniversary is then and they want to get on, what if an important event is on in a section, what if important information is announced for something - aka B/W for example - release date and people really want to discuss it? I don't like the idea of downtime that isn't due to dbe's, etc, unless it was downtime to IMPROVE the forum aka make it work faster or something like that. I just see too many issues with picking a day for full downtime.

I think we should leave downtime to when there are server issues or otherwise. :x

Account transfers sounds muuuuch better without the hassle.

Captain Fabio

Age 33
London, UK
Seen November 4th, 2021
Posted November 2nd, 2021
12,193 posts
17.1 Years
Account transfers sounds muuuuch better without the hassle.
For some reason, I have a feeling that this will put more strain on the server.

My stance on the username changing policy is I don't care! XD Simple enough.
You signed up with a username and you stick with that username. Yes, you do change as a person if you have been here for long enough. Mine has been changed twice, but I don't care if it stayed as my original.
Not that many forums allow username changes like PC use to, so I am not surprised that it has put so much strain on the servers.

As for having an alt, I have one, but I haven't logged into it for a long time and it was only to save my name back when name changes were allowed. I don't really see the point in them. I know that is a bit ironic since I have one, but I don't really use it.

If you don't like your name, then I guess if it bothers you so much, just move completely to another account and start over. If you don't want to start over, then I guess you are stuck.

King Gumball

Haven't been here for ages...

Male
Sydney
Seen April 8th, 2013
Posted April 8th, 2013
2,178 posts
12.8 Years
For some reason, I have a feeling that this will put more strain on the server.

My stance on the username changing policy is I don't care! XD Simple enough.
You signed up with a username and you stick with that username. Yes, you do change as a person if you have been here for long enough. Mine has been changed twice, but I don't care if it stayed as my original.
Not that many forums allow username changes like PC use to, so I am not surprised that it has put so much strain on the servers.

As for having an alt, I have one, but I haven't logged into it for a long time and it was only to save my name back when name changes were allowed. I don't really see the point in them. I know that is a bit ironic since I have one, but I don't really use it.

If you don't like your name, then I guess if it bothers you so much, just move completely to another account and start over. If you don't want to start over, then I guess you are stuck.
But how will that put more strain on the server? The suggestion is that all your info is to just be moved to your new account. It isn't like your username is changing on every post, album, thread, PM, VM, Blog etc. I don't see how that could strain the server :/ New people join every day with new information added, this will be very similar I guess. And we will be moving to a new account too. Just our old info will be moved across as well.
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Guy

just a guy

Age 31
Male
Florida
Seen March 26th, 2016
Posted January 22nd, 2014
7,127 posts
14.7 Years
I don't see why there should be downtime, tbh.

What if someone's PC anniversary is then and they want to get on, what if an important event is on in a section, what if important information is announced for something - aka B/W for example - release date and people really want to discuss it? I don't like the idea of downtime that isn't due to dbe's, etc, unless it was downtime to IMPROVE the forum aka make it work faster or something like that. I just see too many issues with picking a day for full downtime.

I think we should leave downtime to when there are server issues or otherwise. :x

Account transfers sounds muuuuch better without the hassle.
The once-a-year name change system idea has popped into my head a few times before. I always thought it was a good idea, even for the price of PC being down for a couple of days, but I know the admins wouldn't pass for it. 'Tis why the "transfer" idea seems like the next best thing where it can please anyone who decides to make a switch for a new user name.

However, PC anniversaries events, all those sorts of things are pretty minor if you ask me. I mean, even if you miss one anniversary, it's not going to kill you; you will survive. Not to mention that PC anniversaries aren't even as popular as they used to be anyway. As far as events go, for those who host them can always extend the time frame due to down time. Aaaand, I'm pretty sure admins wouldn't decide to take PC down right around the time of big news release such as B&W release.

Honestly, choosing at least two days for downtime wouldn't be that hard. It was easily chosen for this year in February and it worked out just fine. Like I said though, the admins probably wouldn't pass for this idea, but things like someone's anniversary or a forum event that could be extended in time wouldn't stop them from doing it.

Ho-Oh

used Sacred Fire!

Age 31
Female
QLD, Australia
Seen June 5th, 2022
Posted April 23rd, 2022
35,988 posts
17.5 Years

The once-a-year name change system idea has popped into my head a few times before. I always thought it was a good idea, even for the price of PC being down for a couple of days, but I know the admins wouldn't pass for it. 'Tis why the "transfer" idea seems like the next best thing where it can please anyone who decides to make a switch for a new user name.

However, PC anniversaries events, all those sorts of things are pretty minor if you ask me. I mean, even if you miss one anniversary, it's not going to kill you; you will survive. Not to mention that PC anniversaries aren't even as popular as they used to be anyway. As far as events go, for those who host them can always extend the time frame due to down time. Aaaand, I'm pretty sure admins wouldn't decide to take PC down right around the time of big news release such as B&W release.

Honestly, choosing at least two days for downtime wouldn't be that hard. It was easily chosen for this year in February and it worked out just fine. Like I said though, the admins probably wouldn't pass for this idea, but things like someone's anniversary or a forum event that could be extended in time wouldn't stop them from doing it.
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.

Nick

Seen 4 Weeks Ago
Posted July 28th, 2021
17,572 posts
18.6 Years


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

used Sacred Fire!

Age 31
Female
QLD, Australia
Seen June 5th, 2022
Posted April 23rd, 2022
35,988 posts
17.5 Years
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

FireFox | 綿毛火狐

Age 31
Male
UK
Seen 1 Week Ago
Posted October 16th, 2022
894 posts
15.3 Years
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

Gaiden

Age 30
Male
Toronto, Ontario
Seen August 20th, 2015
Posted September 4th, 2013
4,473 posts
12.6 Years
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.

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560cool.

An old timer?

Age 24
Male
Eastern Europe
Seen March 29th, 2021
Posted March 9th, 2021
2,002 posts
13.8 Years
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.
Well, okay. I'm here just to chat with people. Don't really care about signatures and stuff.



Male
England
Seen July 20th, 2011
Posted December 23rd, 2010
52 posts
13 Years
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.

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560cool.

An old timer?

Age 24
Male
Eastern Europe
Seen March 29th, 2021
Posted March 9th, 2021
2,002 posts
13.8 Years
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...
Well, okay. I'm here just to chat with people. Don't really care about signatures and stuff.



Ivysaur

Grass dinosaur extraordinaire

Age 32
He/him
Madrid, Europe
Seen 2 Days Ago
Posted April 5th, 2023
21,076 posts
16.2 Years
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

Haven't been here for ages...

Male
Sydney
Seen April 8th, 2013
Posted April 8th, 2013
2,178 posts
12.8 Years
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)
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Purple Materia

Shape the future!

Age 28
Male
Seen April 12th, 2014
Posted August 20th, 2013
783 posts
12.7 Years
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?

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Melody

Banned

Female
Cuddling those close to me
Seen March 4th, 2018
Posted March 2nd, 2018
6,459 posts
18.6 Years
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.