Forum name change [help/request for forum mod]

Keyan the Evan · September 2016

Hi, I am Keyan22 (the Evan guy) from the older forums and well, at first I wanted the name Keyan but it gave me an error message so I tried Keyan222 and that worked, but I am unable to change it to keyan22 again, I would like a forum moderator to explain if there's a limit to name changes or not, and if possible, to change my name to Keyan or back to Keyan22, Keyan is my actual name afterall.

I also like the new forums and whatnot, wish you could have custom pictures though, mine probably would be an Evan either way anyways.

AKradian · September 2016

OneLetter said:

1. You can only change your display name to something that isn't already taken. You'll get an error message if you try to change and it's taken. .
2. You can only change your display name once every 6 months. This is mainly to prevent abuse of the system.

Source

To find out whether a name is taken, go to the old forums advanced search page, and start typing the name you want in the "User Name" field. A drop-down will appear with all the registered users with names that start with whatever you typed.
Of course, with time, more and more people will register here that were never registered on the old forums, or people will change their names. To find out whether a name is actively in use on these forums, click on the envelope icon on the top right of your screen, select "new message", and type the name in the top box.

Doing the first option, I found out that there was a user named "Keyan" on the old forums. It looks like they never posted anything, but the name is still reserved for them if they ever join these forums. You'll have to pick something else, in six months when you can change your name again.

Fawn · September 2016

AKradian said:

It looks like they never posted anything, but the name is still reserved for them if they ever join these forums. You'll have to pick something else, in six months when you can change your name again.

Is the name really reserved? I thought it was first come first served (seeing as Fawn was available to me when I changed my username) I would have thought someone already had that username on the old forums. I've heard some conflicting views on this. Some are saying they have to hurry and register so their username won't be stolen, while others claim it's reserved.

Keyan the Evan · September 2016

AKradian said:

OneLetter said:

1. You can only change your display name to something that isn't already taken. You'll get an error message if you try to change and it's taken. .
2. You can only change your display name once every 6 months. This is mainly to prevent abuse of the system.
Source

To find out whether a name is taken, go to the old forums advanced search page, and start typing the name you want in the "User Name" field. A drop-down will appear with all the registered users with names that start with whatever you typed.
Of course, with time, more and more people will register here that were never registered on the old forums, or people will change their names. To find out whether a name is actively in use on these forums, click on the envelope icon on the top right of your screen, select "new message", and type the name in the top box.

Doing the first option, I found out that there was a user named "Keyan" on the old forums. It looks like they never posted anything, but the name is still reserved for them if they ever join these forums. You'll have to pick something else, in six months when you can change your name again.

That's pretty disappointing, I don't want Keyan222 as my name for 6 months, especially since I had keyan22 but changed to this from it as a test, I even looked for help beforehand and couldn't find out, hopefully I can ask a mod or something to change it back.

I hope they do a ID clear or something, I joined in like 2012 and that name was still taken by that one guy.

It's not fair for someone who never posted for 4+ years and counting to have my real life name as their name :c
I'm pretty sure they were inactive for over 6 actually, because the IGN Keyan was taken by some level 40 (back in 2010), and by 2015 they were still level 40, then the IGN wipe came and I was able to get it, could be a coincidence though.

AKradian · September 2016

Fawn said:

AKradian said:

It looks like they never posted anything, but the name is still reserved for them if they ever join these forums. You'll have to pick something else, in six months when you can change your name again.
Is the name really reserved? I thought it was first come first served (seeing as Fawn was available to me when I changed my username) I would have thought someone already had that username on the old forums. I've heard some conflicting views on this. Some are saying they have to hurry and register so their username won't be stolen, while others claim it's reserved.

In the original announcement of the new forums, KThxBaiNao did say we'd have to re-register, and he hoped nobody would steal someone else's name.
However, when the forums finally opened, we didn't need to register, and instantly had our old names as soon as we logged in. So it seems they figured out how to copy the accounts over (without join date or post count, just the ID and name).

You're right that there was a user named Fawn on the old forums. I don't know why you were allowed to take the name. But I can't see any other reason why Keyan can't use his name. There's nobody on these new forums (yet) with that name.

Keyan the Evan · September 2016

AKradian said:

Fawn said:

AKradian said:

It looks like they never posted anything, but the name is still reserved for them if they ever join these forums. You'll have to pick something else, in six months when you can change your name again.
Is the name really reserved? I thought it was first come first served (seeing as Fawn was available to me when I changed my username) I would have thought someone already had that username on the old forums. I've heard some conflicting views on this. Some are saying they have to hurry and register so their username won't be stolen, while others claim it's reserved.
In the original announcement of the new forums, KThxBaiNao did say we'd have to re-register, and he hoped nobody would steal someone else's name.
However, when the forums finally opened, we didn't need to register, and instantly had our old names as soon as we logged in. So it seems they figured out how to copy the accounts over (without join date or post count, just the ID and name).

You're right that there was a user named Fawn on the old forums. I don't know why you were allowed to take the name. But I can't see any other reason why Keyan can't use his name. There's nobody on these new forums (yet) with that name.

I changed Keyan22 -> Keyan222 because Keyan wasn't working at first, and since I couldn't find anything about why, I tested keyan222, which sadly worked, so I definitely can't now, wish there was a way to contact moderators for things like this

They ~~really~~ need to be more informative, I read FAQ, TOS, pretty much anything I could find and found nothing about this, i'm practically new to this new forum, how am I supposed to know?

AKradian · September 2016

Keyan222 said:
They ~~really~~ need to be more informative, I read FAQ, TOS, pretty much anything I could find and found nothing about this, i'm practically new to this new forum, how am I supposed to know?

You couldn't know. I guess it's the case of the abbreviated update notes, all over again.

That post from @OneLetter, that I quoted, was in response to someone with a similar problem to yours, who posted in the first day in the Tech Support forum. I just happened to see it.
I agree this sort of thing should be in the "Welcome to the New Forums" opening post, since lots of people want to change their names. The fact that the error message is "can't do it at this time" and not "name is taken" only contributes to the confusion.

Keyan the Evan · September 2016

AKradian said:

Keyan222 said:
They ~~really~~ need to be more informative, I read FAQ, TOS, pretty much anything I could find and found nothing about this, i'm practically new to this new forum, how am I supposed to know?
You couldn't know. I guess it's the case of the abbreviated update notes, all over again.

That post from @OneLetter, that I quoted, was in response to someone with a similar problem to yours, who posted in the first day in the Tech Support forum. I just happened to see it.
I agree this sort of thing should be in the "Welcome to the New Forums" opening post, since lots of people want to change their names. The fact that the error message is "can't do it at this time" and not "name is taken" only contributes to the confusion.

I thought of the msg as like "it's too busy right now" kinda thing, so after repeated attempts I tried another, guess i'm stuck like this for 6 months unless @OneLetter or @KThxBaiNao changes it, I don't even want to use this forum if I have "Keyan222" as my name, I fear someone is going to impersonate me too.

Lilyflower · October 2016

I'm srry to say this but u can only change the forum name once

I read it somewhere in the forum once u accept it there's no way to change it back.

Lilyflower · October 2016

But at least look forward for custom avatar .

Keyan the Evan · October 2016

Lilyflower said:
I'm srry to say this but u can only change the forum name once I read it somewhere in the forum once u accept it there's no way to change it back.

I got it changed to sometihng else, had to contact moderator though.

Forum name change [help/request for forum mod]

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