Change account name?

[kate]

I've purchased a pack of Player Edition licenses for my group and am trying to decide whether I want to ask them to return the license if/when they stop using it (by setting the email to mine and giving me the password).

This is a bit of a compromise between the "full ownership" and "GM ownership" models described in the FAQ, since I'm perfectly happy for them to keep using Realm Works in games other than mine, but would rather not see the license go to waste if they leave the group and then stop using Realm Works entirely.

If a player does "return" the license, would it be possible for a new player to change the account name, or is that stuck?

I can't find an option to change my account name anywhere in Realm Works (and might want to do that regardless of what happens with Player Edition since I had problems setting up my account and am not too fond of what I ended up with).

[Acenoid]

Maybe you should name the account after yourself ? E.g. Kate_p1..... kate_pn

Then it would be clear to the players, that you would like to keep the account.

Also you could offer an email address in "mail forwarding" mode the players email adress from one of your websites/free mailers you control. That way you could also keep "security" in place if the player just leaves your group, but they would receive all the relevant mails, while they are in your group.

EDIT: RW doesn't ask for an email confirmation after changing the email therefore the solution above is not fool proof. The player could just change the email. So you can only hope to get an account back if the person agrees as well.

[kate]

That would be a good idea if I were going for the full "GM ownership, loaned to players" model. But I'm not looking to loan accounts to players. I'm perfectly happy to give an activation key to my players and have them finish the campaign, join another group, and keep using the account I paid for in the new group. It's if they stop playing entirely, or join a group that doesn't use Realm Works, that I would like to ask them to sign over their account so I can pass it on to a new player.

I don't want the first player, who uses and enjoys RealmWorks, to be stuck with account kate_p1 in their new campaign. Nor do I want the new player to be stuck with whatever account name p1 came up with (eg BobLoblaw, rogue4life).

It seems like it's easy to gift an account, and easy if a bit risky to loan an account, but a pain to make a conditional gift, at least where account names are concerned.

[Exmortis]

I think once you give that to another player and they register it, its theirs, it does not matter who paid for it. It would be a nightmare for LWD or any company to try and track things to that granularity. Same idea as if you bought a gifted a game to someone on Steam, you cannot ungift it back.

Acenoid's idea is pretty slick and really your only alternative.

At the end of the day your gambling with $6 per person, even if one does leave, your out less then a Raunchy Ronald Rotgut happy meal.

[Acenoid]

Actually I noticed that my suggestion is not fool proof.... Realm works does not ask for email confirmation when changing the email (I just tested that). Sorry :&

[rob]

I'm sorry to say that account names are set in stone once created. That detail is spelled out during the account creation process, and there are no provisions in place for letting users change their account names. If you look at other services out there, do they allow you to change your account name? I'm not aware of any that do (although somebody probably does somewhere). That being said, if you truly had problems getting your account setup for some reason, and that's the reason you ended up with a name you dislike, contact support and we'll do our best to figure out something.

It's impossible to create a system that is perfect for everyone. That's just a reality of every piece of software in existence. We listened closely to the feedback we received on our forums over the past 18+ months about how this should be structured. We chose a solution that would make the most users happy, but it sounds like you're not in that group. Unfortunately, for a tiny team like ours, we have to focus our energies on the big features that the majority of users want, and we don't have a solution for what you're trying to achieve.

Maybe the best approach is to choose account names tied to your world instead of your name. That will personalize it in a way that won't really be readily transferable, but it will provide a modicum of separation from you personally. It seems like a potentially viable "middle ground" that would encourage players to return the license if they leave your game, but it would still be a reasonable account name for use in the realms of other GMs they might choose to play in.

Hope this helps!

[Parody]

Originally Posted by rob

If you look at other services out there, do they allow you to change your account name? I'm not aware of any that do (although somebody probably does somewhere).

I did a quick survey of "things I log into on occasion". (Some more occasional than others. :)

On many services account control name and user identity name are separate concepts. Here they're the same, so in the following the first answer is for "login name"/account control and the second is "screen name"/user identity. I've tried to pull up a mix of social, software, and other. I put some gaming ones up top that people here might know.

Gen Con: Yes, Yes. (The registration system, which has some provisions for controlling friend and family accounts.)
Paizo.com: Yes, Yes.
Roll20: Yes, Yes.
d20Pro: No, Yes.

Facebook: Yes (primary email) and Yes.
Twitter: Yes (@whatever) and Yes.
Google: Yes and no; Yes. The primary email of a Google Account created for a GMail address cannot be changed. The primary email of Google Accounts created with other email addresses can be changed.
Microsoft: Yes; Yes.
Yahoo!: No, but allows aliases that hide your primary ID; Yes.

Adobe: Yes; Yes.
eBay: Yes. You lose your feedback if you change your user ID.
Steam: Yes, Yes.
Collectorz: Yes; Yes. They sell database software for things like book collections; their software comes with free cloud syncing if you want it.
vBulletin Installs: No, but can be added or concepts separated via mods. (Admins can change usernames already, but by default users can't do it themselves.)
phpBB Installs: No, but can be added or concepts separated via mods.

Originally Posted by rob

Maybe the best approach is to choose account names tied to your world instead of your name.

kate: without any new features, I think the best approach is to consider player account purchases a permanent gift or make the players pay for them. Then you don't have to worry about it.

With new features there's adding the ability to change the account name and/or separating the concepts of login and screen name. For the ownership issues there's guest users (like the virtual tabletops), admin accounts that can change info of subsidiary accounts, or even giving the Player version away for free. All things you could float in the Requests forum.

There's also the eventual web client, which was planned to be free for players anyway. Depending on your situation, time might solve this issue for you. :)

[AEIOU]

Once we have the marketplace, I want to be able to associate good content with names and I want to be able to associate garbage with names. Especially if I am paying for that garbage.

I'm opposed to name changes, but may I'm missing something. Are there any really good reasons to be able to change your username?

[Parody]

Originally Posted by AEIOU

I'm opposed to name changes, but may I'm missing something. Are there any really good reasons to be able to change your username?

Yes, especially while account control and identity are tied together.

For many reasons people can change and no longer like or want the name that is on an account they now control. Maybe it's because you were given an existing account with a name you think is stupid (as in kate's example). Maybe it's because you've become wiser and no longer think that l33t name is cool. Maybe it's because you no longer want to be known by that name due to real-life issues. (I've seen accounts named "ABCandXYZ" become "ABC" or "XYZ" or even "JKL" on more than one occasion. Usually tragic ones. :(

Would you rather let people no longer happy with their identity+login name for whatever reason change to something they can live with and keep at least some of the goodwill they've otherwise acquired from their creations or force them to create new accounts and return to neutral? Don't forget that currently they'd have to repurchase Realm Works and any content their old account owned if they want a new login+identity.

Outside of Realm Works, the main one I can think of is changing email addresses. My sister used to change hers once a year or so, and a lot of services use email as their access control. Things she couldn't move to new email addresses she abandoned, leaving people wondering what happened to her.

Personally I'd like people to use their real names more often for things they create and things they say. I'd rather you all think of me as Mike or Michael, not Parody. I'd rather know you all as your names instead of "string of vowels" or "no longer a dead horse". But since you can't separate screen names and identity easily, I've done the best I can by putting my name in my signature and in my signature at every forum site I frequent regularly despite most of them using login names that cannot be changed as your main identity.

I also accept that most people don't believe as I do, and that some situations require more anonymity, and that forum software usually doesn't help you separate account control and identity, and that in the grand scheme of things the stuff we talk about on Internet forums is not all that important. Ah, well.

[rob]

Alright, I was woefully incomplete in my statement regarding changing the account name, and I'm apparently also woefully out-of-date with my information regarding account names. Early last year, I looked at a number of significant services to see what they were doing, including a number of those on your list, and I don't remember any of the ones I looked at allowing the account name to change at that time, unless the account was actually tied to the email address (which is a problem for use, as outlined below). So it seems policies may have changed.

To get into the gory details, we have two main problems with account names. First of all, based on feedback from users, quite a few are in situations where multiple members of the same household share the same email address and need to have completely distinct user accounts. These are often family members that play in games run by parents/siblings/spouses/etc. Many of the services cited above tie their accounts uniquely to an email address, so the "name" is nothing but a display value. We don't have that luxury if we want to use the same email address across multiple accounts. So things get more interesting (read: messy).

The biggest issue, though, is exactly what @AEIOU cited above. If users can change their account names, then the content market becomes highly suspect. Garbage can be released under a myriad of different names. However, this issue extends beyond the content market. Jerks can remain anonymous behind account names and change their "identity" in order to get into games after gaining a reputation for being a jerk under a previous name. By allowing identities to be changed, we make it easy for jerks/trolls/asshats/whatever to ply their art and make the entire community less enjoyable for everyone else. That's something I do NOT have any desire to do. The best way to solve it is with accountability, and the best way to do that is by not providing a revolving door of fake identities for these folks to hide behind. Users get one identity and their reputation is earned, either good or bad.

When looking at these drawbacks, there needs to be an offsetting, positive justification for allowing account names to be changed. So, to repeat what @AEIOU asked above, are there any really good reasons to be able to change an account name?