literature

Paid Name Changes

Deviation Actions

Daily Deviation

Daily Deviation

December 20, 2011
Paid Name Changes by =virgino0owhore
It's as suggester says; this is a common suggestion, but it's a well worded and thought out appeal--at the very least it sets a standard for how suggestions should be made. Also suggested by =TheMasterNeko.

deviantART Related / deviantART Suggestions / Written Suggestions
Featured by namenotrequired
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Literature Text

Dear deviantArt Staff,

I've been virgino0owhore for nine years. While I understand I can just create a new account if I want a new name, I feel that this is a waste. I would have to move every piece of work over to this new account, re-favorite over 3,000 favorites and rewatch my current watch list. It's simply not worth it all because of 14 letters. 

Not to mention, I lead a club against name wasting, making getting a new account hypocritical. It seems more practical to allow members to pay to change their name. This prevents the wasting of names that can't be removed because they have history on them. It also gives deviantArt a new revenue source. 

Naturally you couldn't choose a taken name but, the act of paying for a name change is common in internet society and amongst gaming communities as well. The price varies but is usually around 15 U.S. dollars, and whatever that may translate into. 

How would a user change his/her name?
:bulletgreen: They could access the name change feature through their user settings, or even the deviantArt store features, much the same way one purchased points. Once accessed, they would have to choose a new name through a text box, and using the same technology the site has set up for choosing a new account, the name would be verified as available or unavailable. Once a new name has been determined, they would be prompted with a payment method choice. 

What if they wanted to revert back to the old name?
:bulletgreen: They would have a 30 day grace period with the first name change. The old name would be locked and if they decided they wanted to revert back to their old name in this time they could easily do so by pressing a button. There would be no refund, and this is something they should be notified of prior to completing the transaction. 
:bulletgreen: Any further usage of the name change function would not grant the 30 day revert grace period. It would be a permanent change, unless they paid for the name to be reverted. 

How many name changes could a deviant have?
:bulletgreen: Each member would be given a maximum of five name changes, available upon accessing the premium membership feature only. 

Would the name change on all posts/comments/etc?
:bulletgreen: Yes. Much like the avatar changes on all posts when updated, so would the name. Any post ever from you would show under your new name.

What happens to the old name?
:bulletgreen: The old name would be locked for 30 days and unavailable for use. This is needed for the grace period to be allowed for first time name changers. During this lock out period, any attempt to access the old name would revert in a redirect to the new name. 
IE: virgino0owhore.deviantart.com would redirect to vo0ow.deviantart.com

How would they tell the difference if someone took the old name?
:bulletgreen: Firstly, your page is still your page and their page is still theirs. Confusion may happen, it's a risk with these sorts of things, but when they click on your name or avatar they will be able to see you are not the same person.
:bulletgreen: Secondly, anyone on your watch list would be sent a notification of your name change. It would read along the lines of:
virgino0owhore has deviantly changed their name to vo0ow!
:bulletgreen: During the thirty day grace period, your name would show a question mark as it's symbol. Example: ?vo0ow

What if someone took the old name of a user, and uploaded their artwork to pose as them?
:bulletgreen: The users deviations would be uploaded in a shorter time frame than the actual deviation. This is a dead give away of it being a false and thieving account. This should be reported to deviantArt right away. The user will be punished appropriately. 

What if the user didn't want their old name available for reuse?
:bulletgreen: When accessing the name changing feature, a bullet option would be on the form used to make the change asking if you wish for the name to be retired or not. The default of this function would be set to no, but should you pick yes it will go into an archive list of names and the page itself would redirect to your new name. If you choose to archive the old name it may end up becoming unavailable to even you, so be sure you are certain of this option upon choosing it.

Paid Name Changes are Voluntary
:bulletgreen: When a name change is bought, they would be prompted with an "Are you sure?" box that had a cancel, or yes button to press. It would inform them in a more legal manner, that it is their choice to change their name and the risks they are taking. IE: Possibly losing the name if someone else chooses it, having to pay to get the old one back if it is still available, people being confused with the name change. 

No Refunds
:bulletgreen: There should be a no refund policy associated with it, something they would have to accept before completing the transaction. Only if there were proven technical difficulties would it even be considered. Meaning, the site charged them but the conversion was not made in the time frame alloted for the transition, the name they were given was not what they chose and they can prove it, etc. Typos are not a reason for a refund. 

Please take this suggestion into consideration.

Rachel A. Osborn
No longer wishing to be virgino0owhore
Thank you so much for all of the support and favorites! Your comments are being considered and will be applied to the document. I'm in the process of getting the opinions of coders so that the proposal can be geared towards the reality of the situation.

I'm honored that this got a Daily Deviation, and I feel it's a small victory for the community being heard.

Only deviantART.com and CO have the right to use any parts of this document for redistribution. That being policy. No credit is needed if dA does decide to use it. The ability to change the username is more than welcome in itself.

Addressing Comments I Wont Use:
:bulletgreen: $15 is a lot! I wouldn't pay $15, maybe 10, or 5 even.
Understandable, completely. Some don't think $15 is worth it, and believe me I understand. The price, however, does justify the work that will be put into the actual change itself. From a coding standpoint, there is more than just flipping a switch. The time spent to change the name as is (with the current database) would take days. Yes. You read me right, days. For this to be worth their time they would need to restructure the database to make it a more efficient process. For this to be accomplished they need to justify the cost versus the need. For now, that cost is $15 per person who is interested in this at all. If we're going to go by the number of favorites, thats 6285$ US that they could earn off the bat. From one coder's point of view, that number right now isn't enough for the initial change + maintenance costs.

:bulletgreen::bulletgreen: I guess we should just give up then!
Hardly! Change doesn't happen with out hard work and motivation. If you believe in this change and stand by it, support it like anything else. Treat it as a bill you're trying to get passed and share it with those you feel would benefit. If we can get the numbers up, then we might stand a chance at seeing this passed. It takes the help of everyone.

Current Support in $'s
540 favs * $15 US = $8,100 US


I will update more as I address the situations, this is considered a Live Document until the proposal is accepted.
Idea Contributors
~pawelabrams ~queen382 `DoItForTheLulz *WolfPearl `priteeboy *MonaParvin ~elmenora ~SailorKnightWing *MutilatedMasquerades ~aspirin111 *ThraxzGirl `SanguineEpitaph =bag-chan


Other Name Related Deviations:
New Account, Same dA - A Migration Suggestion New account, Same dA - A Migration Suggestion


I recently created a new account semi-reluctantly knowing that dA does not currently support account migration; Not even the ability to change your User Name. Now the reason for my new account is very well defined. - I needed to change my User Name (for "professional" purposes). This is a VERY COMMON reason for creating a new account. That aside, let's get into my suggestion(s).

Since creating my new account I have hardly used it because I know that I am going to have to re-:+fav: the better pieces of art on dA (1000s of deviations); Not to mention that I'm gonna have to re-organize all my coll
About changing names So you want to change your name?
... it's all virtual, my friend!


What if...?
When the facility of changing one's name doesn't exist, only workarounds can be used. These include, for instance, create another account. Unfortunately the latter has a lot of downsides, among which losing all the faves and page views. Also moving one's deviation from one account to another is proved to be a pain in the neck to say the least. There are others of course.


But how?
One possible implementation exists, which is really simple for the staff to feature. Most of all it doesn't have the downsides of renaming accounts. First off, technical: renam



Groups about Names
:iconinactivelikeme-club: :iconadopt-a-group:
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SirEdigarious's avatar

Even small websites allow name changes. Heck, toy house gives you one free name change a month and they don’t even have a search bar!


pity that da makes you pay for features that are industry standard on every other social media website out there.