Name change Discussion

[kittypuppet]

In light of a couple semi-recent bans and a recent post on the subreddit, I'm proposing a few questions to the staff:

 

What will you do when someone with a similar name to a staff member, who's never been on the servers before or even know of the people/server, joins?

 

Are they gonna get banned on the spot?

Are you going to tell them to change their name or leave?

How is that any fair to the person?

 

While the probability of it actually happening may be low, I am curious as to how this would be handled.

 

[c45y]

I imagine the same way troll alt accounts are currently handled. This is not exactly a new problem we are faced with here

[TornadoHorse]

I'd appreciate if alts were handled with some care at least, instead of just a straight ban immediately as the staff assumes it's something malicious. There have been accounts in the past like Rscrub (Rcub) and FatherSouth (MotherNorth) and they are fine. The initial novelty of changing names has blown over a bit now so we shouldn't have too many further incidents where players change names to anything malicious.

[WayneByNumbers]

Evidently there seems to be some confusion over this.  I think it would be better clarified sooner rather than later.

 

With easier name changes, username trolling will be (and has been) more common.  I think that the harassment rule applies more directly than the impersonation rule, really.  Staff members aren't the only ones with usernames, after all.

 

I suggest we interpret changing a username to obviously mimic/mock another player to be considered trolling/harassment unless that player gives explicit permission.  Staff members, because of their positions and responsibilities, wouldn't have the option to give that permission.  Inadvertent similarities would be handled on a case-by-case basis.

[schererererer]

I suggest we interpret changing a username to obviously mimic/mock another player to be considered trolling/harassment unless that player gives explicit permission.  Staff members, because of their positions and responsibilities, wouldn't have the option to give that permission.  Inadvertent similarities would be handled on a case-by-case basis.

This is a good accounting of how I view the topic. To expand a bit, if someone legitimately joins the servers with an absolutely coincidental name that closely resembles someone else's, I might ask them if they're willing to change it (in the particular case if it is easily confused with a mods' name) but would certainly not merely ban them out of the blue. This sort of fortuitous event has exceptionally low chances of happening though, so I wouldn't lose too much sleep worrying about it.

[XkinOEC]

So Scher, what your saying is that if Dumbo46(an actual minecraft account) joined our server, you would ask him to change his name despite him holding an account in minecraft longer than our very own Dumbo52, simply because we already have a Dumbo52 AND they are a member of staff?

 

What if they refused to comply? They would have every right to do so. Are we going to take action on them despite him wanting nothing more than to build with some fresh faces on a minecraft server he found from an ad we put out?

 

mrloudlyspell

mrloud

jchan

kjchance

schererpups

SmilerAi

Smiler22

SmilerRyan

Smiler

__Slide__

Slide11

redwall

redwall20

 

 

That's just a few, of the many similar names of premium paid minecraft accounts. 

[EeHee2000]

I think the line should be drawn at the point where a player has both a similar name to - and the same skin as - a specific staff member. Otherwise I think using common sense and not banning people that can't help the fact that they have a similar username is the right way to go. There really isn't a definitive way to determine what the policy on this should be, as I'd expect each case would be very context-sensitive. 
So yeah, it just comes down to the context and a little common sense. 

[TornadoHorse]

I think the line should be drawn at the point where a player has both a similar name to - and the same skin as - a specific staff member. Otherwise I think using common sense and not banning people that can't help the fact that they have a similar username is the right way to go. There really isn't a definitive way to determine what the policy on this should be, as I'd expect each case would be very context-sensitive. 

So yeah, it just comes down to the context and a little common sense. 

 

Definitely not. I could go around with the name Mrloud16 and be totally okay as long as I kept my own skin. However I do agree that it comes down to context and common sense. There doesn't need to be a rule about this as our current rules already cover them - harassment and staff impersonation. As long as the staff are reasonable about it then there should be no issue. This only becomes an issue when there is an unreasonable circumstance however I don't see a way to prevent that beforehand.

[Pyr0mrcow]

[new joiners with accounts older than staff's being extremely similar]

 

Definitely encourage them to change the name, but if all else fails, people can just /list to see who's really staff, and they'll get used to recognizing the minor differences over time. The main time any of this would result in a ban is if it's a preexisting player changing their name, because they know better and they don't really have a claim to the name like a new person might.

Edited February 22, 2015 by Pyr0mrcow

[kittypuppet]

I don't know, personally, if I went to a server who had a staff member with a similar name to mine, and I kept being asked to change my name, I'd just leave. I've had my name forever, I've gone by this name for years, why is it any fair for me to be made to change it?

[schererererer]

So Scher, what your saying is that if Dumbo46(an actual minecraft account) joined our server, you would ask him to change his name despite him holding an account in minecraft longer than our very own Dumbo52, simply because we already have a Dumbo52 AND they are a member of staff?

 

What if they refused to comply? They would have every right to do so. Are we going to take action on them despite [...]?"

 

[...] I might ask them if they're willing to change it (in the particular case if it is easily confused with a mods' name) but would certainly not merely ban them out of the blue. This sort of fortuitous event has exceptionally low chances of happening though, so I wouldn't lose too much sleep worrying about it.

Note the modifiers indicating a measured and deliberate response, and under only some conditions. The word "willing" also implies consent from the player, i.e. not coerced if they "refuse to comply". Once again, this is not a problem to brood over - no need to make mountains out of molehills. Naturally every instance gets looked at case-by-case, but the general case was requested explained.

[unce]

I don't think changing a name to be similar to another player should be seen as impersonation of staff. Most name changes are made to joke around with the  name of the account not to impersonate staff. I think that as long as the player isn't using the name to trick people into thinking that they are a moderator OR they are using the account as a tool for serious harassment, the name should be allowed. Most players don't know the names of all the staff anyway. If they need to contact a moderator, /list or /modlist will provide the full account name of all staff online. There were several active troll accounts made in the past with similar names to others, why is it a problem now? It looks like yall are just looking for something else to get worked up about.

[Cyotie911]

If a nick was changed with the intention of looking similar to another players name WITHOUT the players consent, this will be considered an attempt to troll and will be considered harassment. This will more or less remain at the discretion of the player who's name it mimics. All name changes from players to a name similar to a staff member will be considered impersonation of a staff member REGARDLESS of a player trying to use it to trick other members or not. The name change itself was changed with the intention of harassing, and mimicing, and that will not be tolerated.

Name changes themselves will warrant a ban on that particular account until such time when that account name can be changed to something else. Accounts that are further used to troll with actual in game impersonation of a staff member will warrant a ban that will extend to other accounts that a player uses (like a normal ban entails).

[tobylane]

Most name changes are made to joke around with the  name of the account not to impersonate staff.

 

How would you draw the line between the two? It's a fuzzy line where the admins lose out heavily if they get it wrong.

[Cyotie911]

How would you draw the line between the two? It's a fuzzy line where the admins lose out heavily if they get it wrong.

If we get a complaint from a player whose name has been mimicked by another player it's obviously not a joke to them and therefore will be considered harassment

[kittypuppet]

If we get a complaint from a player whose name has been mimicked by another player it's obviously not a joke to them and therefore will be considered harassment

 

I'm assuming if the player being accused of imitating is new to the server (as in, just joined and someone's complaining because they have a similar name to them), it wouldn't be considered harassment?

 

I can see how that could go wrong, because anyone can hop on a proxy and an alt and feign innocence, but I'm also assuming this is a case by case thing, no?

[WayneByNumbers]

I can see how that could go wrong, because anyone can hop on a proxy and an alt and feign innocence, but I'm also assuming this is a case by case thing, no?

 

Assuming?  Scher has said it verbatim twice...

 

I think everyone can agree on the bottom line.  Changing names can be fun, and we should let it be fun.  Unless it's ruining the fun for someone else, only then does it even become a "case."

[tobylane]

If we get a complaint from a player whose name has been mimicked by another player it's obviously not a joke to them and therefore will be considered harassment

 

Unce's problem, if I understand him right, is that it is assumed staff don't give permission. That the staff member doesn't need to say anything for a complaint to be made from them.

[Pyr0mrcow]

Well, it's possible to check whether an account had previous names or not, and what the previous names were, simply by entering the player's UUID into this URL where mine is:

[Previous name checker]

[uUID checker]

That should help clear up at least some cases.

If a name change is done by a known player on the server, then we know that they know that choosing a name similar to another player is something that's undesirable, and they should avoid doing so; it might be for comedic purposes, but there are plenty of people out there who can't take a joke, so they know that it's asking for trouble.

If someone actually pays for an extra account for the purpose of having a similar name, acts like a seperate player, goes behind a proxy and doesn't try to impersonate the person whose name they're similar to...then there wouldn't actually be a problem, so it'd be kind of an irrelevant subject. For application purposes, as far as anyone knows, they'd be a new player that happens to have a coincidental name, and we already have those. It'd also be really weird for anyone to go that far just to have a similar name.

Edited February 26, 2015 by Pyr0mrcow

[jchance]

Lets just cut to the point of this thread-   There has only been one ban for a name change close to a staff member and I made it.

 

Before that regular player changed his name to 1 letter different from a staff member, he talked to the staff member and told him he was going to do it.   That staff member told him that he would get banned for it.  The staff member also talked to me about it and I told him the same thing- when a regular deliberately changes his name to something close to a staff member then it is obvious they are trying to either troll the staff member or confuse players.

 

The player went ahead and made the name change anyway, then joined the servers.   They were warned before joining the servers that they would be banned.   They did it anyway and got banned.   This is not a shocker for anyone, including the player who was banned.

 

There is a lot of "oh yeah well what if" in this thread trying to poke around this ban.   Honestly, its tiring.  I will make it simple for everyone:

 

If you're a regular and you change your name to be something extremely close to a staff member expect to be banned.  I don't care what you say your intent is- it is going to be interpreted as trolling or impersonating staff for the "ayy lmao."

 

If you're some joe-blow off the street and just happen to have a similar name through pure luck (so rare I can't even believe this thread is dragging out) then we'll handle it on a case-by-case basis, with a lean toward doing nothing as long as they are not pretending to be staff.

 

I think those two lines are pretty clear and easy to understand for everyone.

[Magnyus]

If you're some joe-blow off the street and just happen to have a similar name through pure luck (so rare I can't even believe this thread is dragging out) then we'll handle it on a case-by-case basis, with a lean toward doing nothing as long as they are not pretending to be staff.

 

This.

[Jauris]

Lets just cut to the point of this thread-   There has only been one ban for a name change close to a staff member 

 

2 bans, actually.