Will I ever be able to change my name?

[BottlesOf]

As some of you have probably realized, we no longer have the option to change our names on 2+2, and I was just wondering if anyone knows why. Were people abusing this feature? My current name "Johnny Boom Boom" was only meant as a temporary change, but it seems I cannot return to "BottlesOf." I privately discussed the issue with Mat, who was very nice but said there was really nothing he could do.

I'm just wondering if anyone else would want to see that feature back, or if anyone knows why it was removed.

[Thythe]

It was removed because of the troll Gregorio who changed his name several times daily and then would bump up or reprint old as hell topics. You'd think Mat would still have the power to change it back, though...

[MicroBob]

i am VERY glad that this feature was taken away.
gregorio (and a few others) changing names was a real pain.

i agree that mat should be able to let you change back though....or you can use an alternate e-mail address and re-register as Bottles_of or Bottles-of or whatever.

but i really don't think you should. i like johnnyboomboom better anyway.

[Alobar]

wow, I didn't know that! Its a good policy tho, cept you should be able to change your name every so often, like once a month or something. You'd also think mat would have the ability to allow you to change it back....that sucks

[Vehn]

List one positive (to the forum) feature of being able to change your name.

[BottlesOf]

I could change my name back to BottlesOf. I may be the only one who finds this a compelling reason [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Alobar]

[ QUOTE ]
List one positive (to the forum) feature of being able to change your name.

[/ QUOTE ]

so someone like bottles could get his name back [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Bump-en-Stein]

[ QUOTE ]
I could change my name back to BottlesOf. I may be the only one who finds this a compelling reason [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

How about: *Bottles Of_21*

[MicroBob]

while we're on the topic.
what the hell does 'bottlesof' mean anyway?

perhaps i will be more inclined to root for you to get your name back.

[Franchise (TTT)]

I hope the mods don't hold it against me, but here's some constructive criticism of the current situation.

I think this forum's moderation policy could use a slight overhaul. The whole "invisible power" thing does not seem to be as effective as it could be, as it gives the impression that these forums are not actively moderated (which I know they are). I think there should be at least one thread stickied to the top of each forum by a moderator to give the impression that "we are watching you".

The moderators should be much more communicative of what is and is not allowed, and make examples of people to be banned. Take the person's post, quote it, make it sticky, post an explanation underneath, and leave it up there for a week in the General (or every) forum. Put sticky messages with peoples' names in the titles who are doing things that deserve a public warning. Instill a little fear, but also, very importantly, provide some transparency into how the moderation is working.

Disabling feature after feature when people abuse it is just asinine, since the worst abuses will always come from the ability to post, which cannot be taken away from the members as a whole. It really just attacks the symptoms of the diseases rather than the root: a few problem child users.

Don't want affiliate sites in sigs? Warn people publicly. Ban people publicly.
Don't want people abusing the name change? Warn people publicly. Ban people publicly.

You can't get around it. You'll always have something to police... why make the forum a less enjoyable place to be by disabling our features?