Able To See Old Usernames

[TwistedSorrowzz]

  It's come to my attention that some people are confused about to why people have changed their username.
And I have experienced something with a friend where they had no clue who I was, Lmao.

So I have an idea.
It's quite simple but I think it will do good to everyone.
So when you change your username, You can't view your old ones, So maybe there could be an option in game to see what your friends old usernames where. This could even be put onto the forums.
It may take a bit of time to code and such but I think it'll come in handy for people who have friends who have changed their usernames.

What are your opinions on this?

[barghosts]

i'm not sure about how it'll work adding it in-game but it would be nice where everyone has a little spot on the profiles of what their former usernames were so people that knew them before the name change would know who they're talking to.
and believe me when i say i've had quite a few of my friends ask me who i was and why i was in their friends list, so this would indeed be a great feature

[Reaper]

I think this is a great idea. It would make things less confusing for people. I honestly wouldn't want people unfriending me because they forgot who I originally was, so I think this would be a great idea.

[Edolicious]

While this seems like a good idea, I think there would be a few things to take into consideration too.

There's more likely than not going to be players who change their usernames many(many, many) times, which might add up to become an endless list of usernames they had previously been, which could clutter things up a bit.

Maybe this feature would be a temporary thing on user's accounts? Such as, maybe after a month or so, the "Formerly ____" line disappears. Or, to make things easier, it only shows the most recent few users they had before the current one?

All in all, I think this would be a helpful little gem to add!

[Kastilla]

I find this fairly useless. For one, perhaps the person is on a clean slate and doesn't want their old username on their profile. And, much like when we used to change the display name, you can just insert it into your signature, bio, etc. Naturally, I'm sure we can tell who's who; unless they don't want us to know. Guess what I am trying to hint at is privacy, they may change their username to get out of a phase they had or what-have-you. I may come across as blunt, but I really don't have much of an opinion on this other than saying it's unnecessary.

[AshesRemain]

I'm rather mixed on this myself. It could be useful for some aspects but in the long run, I think it's just easier for people to just let friends know in-game when they've changed their name. Plus, not a ton of people check the forums anyway so they would still be clueless as to name changing.

[TwistedSorrowzz]

I find this fairly useless. For one, perhaps the person is on a clean slate and doesn't want their old username on their profile. And, much like when we used to change the display name, you can just insert it into your signature, bio, etc. Naturally, I'm sure we can tell who's who; unless they don't want us to know. Guess what I am trying to hint at is privacy, they may change their username to get out of a phase they had or what-have-you. I may come across as blunt, but I really don't have much of an opinion on this other than saying it's unnecessary.

  I get where you're coming from, But what if this isn't the situation?
Myself and many other people I know have had people not knowing them because of the username change. Yes, You could tell people before you change it, But maybe they hardly get online. Like Edolicious said, Even if the "Formerly ____" does go away after a few months, It would still be helpful to have. [/quote] [/size][/color]

I'm rather mixed on this myself. It could be useful for some aspects but in the long run, I think it's just easier for people to just let friends know in-game when they've changed their name. Plus, not a ton of people check the forums anyway so they would still be clueless as to name changing.

  I know not many people go onto the forums. But I think many people would still gain from it, Since as I said, Some people may not get online everyday or so to tell them that you've changed your username.
Overall I do agree with everyone's opinion, But I think it might be a nice little thing to add, so not as many people are confused.

[Edolicious]

Kastilla does bring up a point I didn't even think about, so instead of just automatically showing your old user(s) it could be an optional add-on to your profile, perhaps.

[Morgra]

I like the idea of this but only as an optional add-on, as Edo and Kastilla brought up. As you said Joji, there are some users who don't mind people knowing their previous usernames but there are others who would rather have people not know who they used to be. They could want a fresh start and use the new "Full Account Reset" function on their profile. What I like about this new username change feature is that it discourages people from making multiple accounts. If someone wants to start over, they can! They can remove all of their old friends, characters and change their username with ease. That's a little off topic with this discussion but I think it also proves that there are going to be people wanting to start from scratch. And, in light of that, an optional "Formerly known as: ______" to your profile may be nice for some people and could possibly be considered being added into profiles.