Question: Username changes?

[Steven]

People are on different time-zones to you so it might be during the day where the user is :)

They were not speaking in general, they were speaking directly to one person who does in fact live around the affected time zone (I think it would be 2 or 1 AM instead of 3 AM where they live) so it still holds completely true.

 

[Conception]

You have no idea how much it keeps a large site with constant activity up and running, do you?

Of course I do, otherwise I wouldn't of made the statement.

I don't think people should be not allowed to access PC, for people to pay for fancy features.

 

[Livewire]

Of course I do, otherwise I wouldn't of made the statement.

I don't think people should be not allowed to access PC, for people to pay for fancy features.

It's not like they're taking it away from you. I think you can live without PC for a few hours, I'm hoping. Accessing PC is privilege, not a given, for anybody.

It's a beneficial feature, and there are plenty of members, as well as staffers, who have agreed to this, Ben. The benefits far outweigh the negatives in this case. If there are any negatives at all.

 

[marcc5m]

Totally against this idea. Why would you pay for a username change on are much better things to spend money one a forum? There are much better things to spend money on. Some people don't even have enough money for food, yet people here want to spend money to get a name changed? Also, it isnt fair that people will have to stay off PC for a while just because some people want to pay for something as un-needed as that. What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.

 

[Gerri Shin]

I'm not adverse to the idea, especially if it clearly states that any revenue collecting in exchange for a username change is going toward improving the server. though along with this, if someone does donate for the regular tiers, they should automatically earn a credit for a name change.

 

[Regeneration]

If this is what can help us get a better server, then why not? XD I'm sure that many people would be willing to pay some cash to get a username change. Anything upto $5 is reasonable to me.

I'm a bit concerned about the duration of the server downtime though. My timezone will most probably be affected. :\ I'm serious, I can't live without PC even for an afternoon. >O

 

[Conception]

Accessing PC is privilege, not a given, for anybody.

Exactly my point, you'd be not letting any one access PC, for the privileged ( using that term, very loosely )people who pay to get a name change.

 

[The 100 Mega Shock]

dude it's only a short downtime on a Pokémon website.

 

[donavannj]

Exactly my point, you'd be not letting any one access PC, for the privileged ( using that term, very loosely )people who pay to get a name change.

It would also likely be occurring at the same time of day for those affected as a DBE-related downtime that usually occurs in mid-afternoon/early evening for US-based users does, which make up more than 50% of the population of this site by themselves, and that's still at a time where it's later in the evening for Western Europe, where much of the rest of PC's users come from. Letting people pay for name changes would go a long way to fix this issue, which hurts PC's wallet by eliminating time where ad revenue could be collected.

 

[Cherrim]

Honestly I don't think this will every fly considering how many name changes we'd actually have to make to let the name changes themselves pay for the dedicated database. That's a few extra hundred a month (I think--I'm not super well-versed in this part) and... since most people are only willing to pay about $5, and not every month, we just wouldn't come anywhere close. Even at $15 if the same people were gonna pay it, that's more of a one-time thing because most people won't be changing their name every other week or even every month.

And to clarify, a dedicated database wouldn't just make us able to do name changes--it would also speed up the forums considerably and probably reduce the strain on the database as it is now so no more double posting or DBEs bringing us down for hours on end every week. We wouldn't even be mentioning the idea if only people with money to spend on the forums could benefit from it.

u_u Regardless, there isn't really any debate in this thread. Please just answer whether or not you'd pay and what your price point would realistically be. We already know our options (as far as turning off the boards, doing the changes only in the wee hours for the majority of users, etc.) so all we're really curious about is what we could expect to get in upkeep funds if we were to go ahead with this.

 

[Belinda]

I'd definitely pay for a username change, but no more than $5 out of my pocket. A reasonable price would be nice after all.

 

[Chiar]

I'm pretty fond of my username but I'm sure many of people would like to change it or give it a title case to make the name look less messy.
The only thing I fear is maniacal name changing and causing username chaos. There could be a specific limit of time between changes to prevent this.

 

[Nick]

I've been thinking long and hard about changing my username, and I've decided that no matter what I change it to, it just won't be the same.

As much as I want to change my username, Patchisou Yutohru has been my go-to username for a really long time. Every time I change my username, it seems that I always go back. If I'm only going to go back to Patchisou Yutohru, I think I'll just keep it as is regardless. Throw in the fact that I don't really think my experience here will be much of the same if I take on a new identify, per se. I think I'm pretty much adapted to the fact that Patchisou Yutohru is me on PC. And I'm going to be honest, as much as I would like to change my username, I'd be paying with the means of getting a new name in mind; not "Well, this will help the server..." because, to be blunt, the server isn't much of a concern to me much these days. Yes, the downtime is a little inconvenient, but as The 100 Mega Shock said, it's just some downtime on a Pokemon forum. And I'm not really going to shell out double the money just to end up going back to a username I had in the first place. Because if my username change history stands true, that's what's going to happen with me. :/

Just wanted to toss that in there that I've decided that I wouldn't end up paying for a username change.

 

[Lumina]

Paying? To change your username? Ridiculous.

 

[AmethystDragon]

I, frankly, do not want to pay for this. I'd sure like it, but I don't really think it's worth paying for, thus I answered no in the poll.

 

[Archer]

That said, if the ability to pay for new usernames were to be enabled, it would be nice if we could overwrite certain taken, yet unused names. For instance, the only other name I would want has been taken by another member who never posted and only ever logged in once - 5-6 years ago.

Pruning of unused accounts to free up names? I'd love to see that done, personally.

If any of this is implemented in the end, I mean.

I do like the idea of cleaning up the unused accounts though

Can we get some staff feedback on this idea? I remember it being turned down in the past, but that was ~2 years ago, and it's completely different if people are paying for them.

 

[AtomicoExploda]

I think I can remember this being suggested before, but, as usual, staff disagree.

Anyway, I don't think it would be worth to pay for, but I know that a lot of people would still be willing to pay, so I think it should be implemented since it's best to still have the option to change one's name even if it is at a price. Also, there shouldn't be as much strain on the server because less people would pay for the change than getting it for free.

So yeah, I say do it since there's nothing to lose.

 

[Andrew1989]

To be frank, I wouldn't mind paying for a username change. If it were to help pay for a better server, then why not? Of course - I wouldn't agree if said price for a name change was ridiculously expensive.

 

[Shining Raichu]

I have no desire to change my username, but I vote yes. I think Pokecommunity is great and fundraising to make it even better would be awesome.

 

[Guy]

Can we get some staff feedback on this idea? I remember it being turned down in the past, but that was ~2 years ago, and it's completely different if people are paying for them.

Personally, I think if people are willing to pay for a username change and the name happens to be taken by an account that hasn't been active in x amount of years, then that account should be pruned. I believe it's only fair since they are actually going to be paying for the name.

Ultimately, I think this would be up to the admins to decide on.

That said, I actually think a prune in accounts should happen regardless. I know it doesn't affect the server on how many unused accounts we have, but for the sake of a more clean and organized forum, I would rather see accounts that have at least 0 posts and have not been active in perhaps 3 or more years be removed. But, this is another matter.