User aliases

[Kid.Lazer]

Does the forum have any way to view peoples' previous display names (similar to Steam)?

[Zando_]

No need for it, you can only change display names once every 6 months. It isn't an on-demand thing like Steam is. 

[Levent]

Nope and the reason is probably as dumb as having an 6 month cooldown to change usernames. Make that a year or two. 

[LogicalDrm]

Is there particular need for such? If you want to check something like that, previous names are visible in quotes and tags as those are static and represent the time of posting.

 

Which is among the reasons why we ask members to contact us directly if they wish to purge old posts.

[Kid.Lazer]

13 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

Is there particular need for such? If you want to check something like that, previous names are visible in quotes and tags as those are static and represent the time of posting.

 

Which is among the reasons why we ask members to contact us directly if they wish to purge old posts.

I unfortunately can't give you a specific example, but in one thread I stumbled upon recently, I noticed that someone said they changed their profile name and gender. It was a pretty drastic change too, so unless you knew the person very well, it would be impossible to tell who the person is (was?). I find it hard to believe I'm the only person here that would want to know how a person was addressed previously so you know who you're talking to/with, but maybe I'm an outlier?

 

Edit: found it:

 

[LogicalDrm]

1 hour ago, Kid.Lazer said:

I unfortunately can't give you a specific example, but in one thread I stumbled upon recently, I noticed that someone said they changed their profile name and gender. It was a pretty drastic change too, so unless you knew the person very well, it would be impossible to tell who the person is (was?). I find it hard to believe I'm the only person here that would want to know how a person was addressed previously so you know who you're talking to/with, but maybe I'm an outlier?

 

Edit: found it:

 

To me that's somewhere between nosy and curious. If you don't already know who it is, why do you care?

[tkitch]

3 hours ago, Kid.Lazer said:

I unfortunately can't give you a specific example, but in one thread I stumbled upon recently, I noticed that someone said they changed their profile name and gender. It was a pretty drastic change too, so unless you knew the person very well, it would be impossible to tell who the person is (was?). I find it hard to believe I'm the only person here that would want to know how a person was addressed previously so you know who you're talking to/with, but maybe I'm an outlier?

Is this supposed to be a problem in some way?
 

Why is it your business what someone else chooses to go by on a forum?

[IkeaGnome]

If only that particular one had context two posts up…

[Kid.Lazer]

16 hours ago, IkeaGnome said:

If only that particular one had context two posts up…

I guess that kind of proves my point though? Had they not explicitly stated "hey, I changed my name" no one would be the wiser. The assumption would be "huh, I guess FakeKGB left the forums."

 

Which then leads to this:

18 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

To me that's somewhere between nosy and curious. If you don't already know who it is, why do you care?

I suppose it does originally stem from curiosity, but then in a forum setting where there is a general comradery, I would want to know where people went (metaphorically speaking).

 

I guess it boils down to this: If the names are meaningless to a persons identity (LTT: where the names are made up and the reputation doesn't matter) why even bother allowing names to begin with? Just make everyone user#18726543 and be done with it?

[WhitetailAni]

6 hours ago, Kid.Lazer said:

I guess that kind of proves my point though? Had they not explicitly stated "hey, I changed my name" no one would be the wiser. The assumption would be "huh, I guess FakeKGB left the forums."

I mostly have, honestly. I stopped being here LONG before that name change - I honestly meant to do it awhile ago but I forgot. I occasionally post status updates and comment on MotF and that's it...

 

EDIT:
My time has come and gone mostly and I'm fine with that. I have great memories here though!

 

EDIT 2:
I made that post specifically because I didn't want people to be confused. The people who knew me here saw and so it served its purpose. Most people here will probably see some comments on posts and not even consider the username.

 

IMO, if you really do want to know what someone's old usernames were... you probably should remember them.