Get rid of "formerly known as"

[gamerpatriot]

I guess I'll start with the disclaimer that I am cisgender, and that this is the opinion/suggestion of one random internet stranger.

I've noticed recently the implementation of saying a users previous ign if they changed it after they first joined the server, with a "formerly known as _______". I think, in theory, it's a cute feature that doesn't do much to hurt anyone. What's been bothering me has to do with the topic of deadnaming. If you don't know what that is, wikipedia has a pretty well written succinct explanation on it, which you can check out here.

The problem with the "formerly known as" feature is that it can potentially deadname a user, and that is a very, very bad thing mental health-wise for the user in question, to say the least. Since the vast majority of countries have legal obstacles to changing your gender identity (and even more have no course of action if you don't identify as male or female), something as small as changing your username can be a big boost of serotonin. If we want to be a server that accepts all, someone who may have recently transitioned soon after joining the server would probably not be happy to see the server deadnaming them.

In any case, if someone wants to let others know that they changed their username, that's what we have chat for. Again, this is just the suggestion of one random person on the internet.

 

[Big]

I agree with this.

Your point is valid. I have seen some cases of people changing their names in order to remain inconspicuous for a while. This feature completely removes this ability, and overall, seems unnecessary.

 

[Srentiln]

If anyone directly impacted in this way is available to do so, I (and I am sure the rest of staff) would greatly appreciate hearing your thoughts on this. I can see a potential for it being either a good or a bad change for people doing this (for example, removal shifts the "this is the same person" onto that person, making them have to say "I am/used to be name" instead of the message saying "they used to be name").

 

[Alphaesia]

This is actually vanilla behaviour.

I have seen some cases of people changing their names in order to remain inconspicuous for a while. This feature completely removes this ability, and overall, seems unnecessary.

Name changes aren't designed to let players avoid their previous identity. Querying players' past names has already been quick and easy from 3rd-party sites such as NameMC (and /whois as well), so the join message isn't removing any ability.

Anyone who already knows the person well is going to pick up on the name change somehow ("I haven't see X in a few days." "They changed their name to Y"), and anyone who doesn't know them wouldn't really care to call them by an older name.

If you want people to only call you by your new name, you could ask people in chat when you join that first time.

Of course, if someone is using your old name maliciously for whatever reason, you can come and speak to us.

 

[Dumbmutt]

I don't think looking at it in a literal sense is what he's going at. I'd argue it's more of a personal/mental standpoint rather than a objective standpoint from another player.

 

[gamerpatriot]

If someone wanted to see someone’s past name, for good or bad reasons, they could do that with /Whois. But Big brought up a good point, is that there are some scenarios where people change their username to lay low. Say you’re getting bullied on a server, and you decide to change your username, so the bullies can’t identify you. Having a big yellow sign that says “this person was formerly known as this person” kinda nullifies that.

I don’t necessarily think anyone would complain if the feature went away. The server survived for 10+ years without it, and I think it’ll survive for 10+ more without it.

 

[Alphaesia]

If you're getting bullied, (as well as telling us) you can /block them so they won't be able to see any of your chat messages nor your name in tab list or your player model.

The server survived for 10+ years without it, and I think it’ll survive for 10+ more without it.

There's plenty of features that definitely aren't mission critical but are nonetheless nice to have (e.g. parties).


That said, I could see why being more inconspicuous could be desirable in certain situations (though they would be very rare).

 

[AliBlossoms]

Hey! I’m just stepping in to share my thoughts as a transgender woman. I’m not saying that my thought/feelings about it would be the same as every other trans persons though.

f we want to be a server that accepts all, someone who may have recently transitioned soon after joining the server would probably not be happy to see the server deadnaming them.

Even though I don’t want to be deadnamed(and my old name was in one of my older usernames), I’m not worried about the "formerly known as _______" message. People can see it either way by searching me on namemc or using /whois. I don’t mind that was long as people don’t call me it.

I can see a potential for it being either a good or a bad change for people doing this (for example, removal shifts the "this is the same person" onto that person, making them have to say "I am/used to be name" instead of the message saying "they used to be name").

Sren made a good point, and what he described is pretty much how I feel about it. I view the “formerly known as” messages as a good thing, because it meant I didn’t have to reintroduce myself when I changed my name; the message did that for me! It saved me from having to have a potentially uncomfortable conversation.


However those are just my thoughts, and I’m only one person; so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[Srentiln]

Thanks for the feedback ali.

Speaking on my own personal thoughts, and I hope this doesn't get taken the wrong way, I tend to approach these situations with the taco bell dog in mind. A group of people not impacted by it took up the "that's racist" banner whereas mexican-americans who were interviewed about it liked the dog. While I will always be a proponent for making sure minr stays a safe and comfortable place for everyone, I want to be sure there is actually an issue before we start raising the alarm.

 

[UltraOmiga]

If you're getting bullied, (as well as telling us) you can /block them so they won't be able to see any of your chat messages nor your name in tab list or your player model.



There's plenty of features that definitely aren't mission critical but are nonetheless nice to have (e.g. parties).


That said, I could see why being more inconspicuous could be desirable in certain situations (though they would be very rare).

I wanted to come back but didn’t want people to know it was me and yet I was told this was a feature so I held off for longer.

 

[zer0701]

Just giving my 2 cents here.
I believe "formerly known as" to be desirable, as it does its intended purpose of letting others know who you are.
If you _don'twant people to know that and are looking for a sort of blank slate, like Omiga mentioned, maybe the admins could manually add an exception and remove that.
Alternately, there could be an opt-out of it in your forum settings, though one could argue that people who aren't very liked could use that to sneakily harass others (which is why something granted manually by administration could be preferred).

I said I was adding two cents and ended up with a whole dollar.

 

[UltraOmiga]

Just giving my 2 cents here.
I believe "formerly known as" to be desirable, as it does its intended purpose of letting others know who you are.
If you _don'twant people to know that and are looking for a sort of blank slate, like Omiga mentioned, maybe the admins could manually add an exception and remove that.
Alternately, there could be an opt-out of it in your forum settings, though one could argue that people who aren't very liked could use that to sneakily harass others (which is why something granted manually by administration could be preferred).

I said I was adding two cents and ended up with a whole dollar.

I love this idea! Having the option to be able to be incognito being granted by staff in order to not abuse it, mixed with the ease of access knowing those who don’t want to be incognito and just wanted a name change is a wonderful idea. Props to you zero