name changes! it could be like an extremely high b00n cost to disincentivize doing it unseriously, possibly also with a time limit on when you can do it again

something like this would probably also need a new profile button showing "previous tags" to weed out trolls / impersonators / other bad faith name changing

the only option for a name change being a new account is really intimidating, even with my relatively small amount of progress. and even if i make an alt, this piece of my botb history is eternally linked to this name -- i feel like i can't escape it! >_<

I kind of like that there is one corner of the internet that is like that

i am for name changes, even if at the moment its a pain to execute, id like there to be at least an option.. previous names is a good idea

yes please, i won’t be a kid much longer

i dont have a strong opinion on name changes (anymore??) but i wld like to point out that several things on this website are designed around usernames being always the same, like profile links being the most obvious. (or should every old alias redirect to the new one?)
bandcamp-releases, youtube-uploads would obviously keep your old name, because theres no way to update them easily.
i also assume a feature like this would take months to get right (especially to avoid all the side effects it will bring with it)

name changes have historically been an oft-requested feature, and seemingly with a pretty pointed "no" answer in the past... possibly for some of the reasons kleeder mentioned - difficult to implement with the system as it is. I don't really know for sure, I just know it's come up a ton in my 5 years here. I'm not bringing this up to shoot down the request, just wanted to add a little context to this.

what if we just have a nickname thingy (smth i've thought of for awhile)
basically smth in settings, you can have a nickname thing like below your name(where this'll display idk yet), and your old one would still be there, just like, less significant (maybe in brackets or smth)

you would basically still have your old name (and the site would primarily refer to that), but have the option to show people what name you'd prefer to be called (and b4 you say "put it in bio"...not everyone does put a prefered name in bio, and so its less likely to assume some random person i find will have that.)

hopefully wouldn't break the site (significantly).

battle resluts, "botbrs online" (maybe?), and ...i guess anything that isnt a comment or entry post...? would still use the old name tho
resluts would break, plus those are a canon event

SRB2er's proposition seems to be the best middle ground. It lets people change they're preferred name without giving bad actors the chance to do devious things

furaffinity has this stupid name situation too and they recently implemented the aforementioned nickname feature à la discord

i'm of two minds on this:

1) if name changes were a thing when i had my first account, i couldve kept that going instead of making a new one. i wouldve been able to keep all of my history and points and whatnot and just continue onwards, sort of like how avatars arent permanent. id probably be lvl 25 like that matters at all or whatever. would also mean all badge progress would be unified, all posts and submissions and whatnot wouldve been on one page.

but... 2) i do like the idea that it's a clean slate at the same time. no past comments, no past Bad Choices, and for some it represents some sort of milestone i'd imagine. the melonadem of 2025 is certainly a different one from 2021 by a long shot but it's even a longer shot from 2014 or 2016 or 2018 or whatnot. in fact, one of the reasons i've made a m9m account back then was to try and make botb a little more Exciting because it was getting kinda grindy and mundane i suppose? i didnt know about making music for the fuck of it back then LOL so yeah

i'd say i'm in support though - having the feature for people to use would make sense, and for those who wish for a clean start can still make a new account and just not associate with the old one if they wish.


but, to say something against, it'd be technically challenging to implement i think:

1) with the current system, the id is your username, you'd maybe want to replace this with an uuid based system that randomly generates a random string of characters as an id. even so though people wld rather still have this display as barracks/profile/melonadem rather than barracks/profile/afc2-859f-32de or whatever, which would lead right back to the same problem if such a thing is implemented

2) if name changes require url changes, a lot of urls will suddenly become broken both inside and outside of botb. this isnt great naturally.

3) an username system might work best for botb - retain the same profile url, but change the display name. regardless how its implemented id argue to keep a non-public log of usernames. this can be made public by the user if they wish.

4) i'd definitely make this cost boons. i would argue having your first name change be free to fix typos, and if the name changes merely inspires what capitalization your name needs to use, then it should be a fraction of the cost if not free. i'd also slap a time limit for non-caps adjustment to be once every month, and i'd disallow renaming to existing profiles for obvious reasons.


i've had a section for potential abuse (as in, ppl registering innocuous accounts, leveling them up and then changing the nick to something recognizable that might not be as easy to spot as just making a new account witht hat name). i think a very simple solution for this particular instance is to just have admins review nickname changes. can either be a waitlist and you get approved or denied, or it happens but mods have a special view for recent name changes. either way they can take actions as needed and yeah!

big technical ask for a vanity feature