Subscribers who change the names and avatars

mike65

Does anyone else think this sort of thing is a bit, well underhand? It gives certain posters the opportunity to do a quick "phone box twirl", sneak into threads cause a bit of low level mischief and then swap back to their old selves.

Is there a protocol? Should we say

Insect Overlord

Yeah, that doesn't really happen. Name changes can only be done by admins at specific times of the day. It's not something that can be screwed around with that easily. And anyway, stupid posts still link back to the same profile, whatever name is on it.

Beruthiel

mike65 wrote: »

Does anyone else think this sort of thing is a bit, well underhand? It gives certain posters the opportunity to do a quick "phone box twirl", sneak into threads cause a bit of low level mischief and then swap back to their old selves.

Is it mischief that is reportable or just a bit of fun?
Linkeh?

Oryx

That doesn't make sense. If they change back, then the original name and avatar will show beside any offending posts.

My name is URL

If you go on to someone's profile you can view a history of the usernames they have had. So if a poster is acting the maggot it's not too hard to check if they are incognito.

tbh

My name is URL wrote: »

If you go on to someone's profile you can view a history of the usernames they have had. So if a poster is acting the maggot it's not too hard to check if they are incognito.

not always - think it can be turned off.

My name is URL

tbh wrote: »

not always - think it can be turned off.

Oh, I didn't know that.. Is there an option for it?, I can't see it

tbh

My name is URL wrote: »

Oh, I didn't know that.. Is there an option for it?, I can't see it

dunno! I've not been able to find it either - all I know is that sometimes, the old nick is there, and other times it isn't. could possibly be down to the method used to change it I guess...

pickarooney

This makes no sense. As Oryx says if someone changes back to their original name then the posts they made under the psudonym will appear under that name also.

Is this actually a problem or was it a badly-thought out hypothesis? Are you actually someone else who has made 65,000 posts just so he could change his name to mike65 with an invisible space?

_blank_

tbh wrote: »

dunno! I've not been able to find it either - all I know is that sometimes, the old nick is there, and other times it isn't. could possibly be down to the method used to change it I guess...

it's up to the admin doing the change.

If they feel like adding to the "previous nicks" field they will, otherwise they don't and it doesn't appear.

Insect Overlord

Des wrote: »

it's up to the admin doing the change.

If they feel like adding to the "previous nicks" field they will, otherwise they don't and it doesn't appear.

+1

Source here, for mods.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=69991821&postcount=62

mike65

Oryx wrote: »

That doesn't make sense. If they change back, then the original name and avatar will show beside any offending posts.

/slaps head off desk

biko

*Goes through Bubbles mike65s old posts*

mike65

Actually I can think of a circumstance where changing names/avatar could work if one was trolling - a very fast moving thread where the offence is quickly 5-10 pages back and so gets forgotton in the rush. The offending poster can then switch back and stay off the thread for a while and no one makes the link unless someone happens to go back through a thread.

Overheal

Yeah but it's not as if the system is automated. Either way some people have the right to do just that. I've seen a fair few bonafide re-reges that seem to do it only because they acted like an ass on their old account. Not even circumventing a ban or anything, they just wanted a fresh start. Though maybe they were trying to scrub infractions, didn't think about that. All the same, I notice people seem to be a bit more civil after a name/account change.

Tallon

mike65 wrote: »

Does anyone else think this sort of thing is a bit, well underhand?

Nope, not me!

As mentioned, it's not like the end-user can change it themselves to cause mischief, it's something the Admins have to approve

OPENROAD

Free Names and Avatar changes for all imo

Surely your old posts will still be easily identfiable?

Mike

TheZohanS

I think the bigger problem is a poster deciding to retire their account with one or two forum bans and then opening a new account. There was a prime example of this in Helpdesk recently when a poster asked for their account to be closed as it was her "sisters" old account and she was going to open a new one.

LoLth

it is a bigger problem but it is covered under the rules for re-regging to circumvent a forum ban. The mods are pretty good at picking up on user styles and recognising the same user again posting under a different account and the admins have tools to help us identify the similarities between accounts. Enough similarities and its a trip to prison for a conversation. mistakes do happen and once the conversation is held we have no problem lifting the ban but the system is actually quite accurate. It gets even more accurate if users report posts to bring these users to the mods attention.

Mr. Presentable

I change my avatar frequently - keep it fresh, as it were. I changed my username about a year ago - just grew out of the old one

I can't think of anyone changing ID back and forth for mischief, except maybe 6th and Sabotage, but I think that was more a change of posting style experiment.

Where is 6th these days anyhow? He used to be all over this place like a warm rash, bless him.

stovelid

I change my avatar quite a bit. Never really thought about it too deeply. I just get bored of them.