09-09-2011, 01:24 PM
I have to say that I am very disappointed in the decision that has been reached. The poll on use of initials was 50/50 so really saying a clear majority agreed with you is incorrect!
I don't accept the argument of user security. When a user registers they should provide their full name, e-mail address, PNUM etc so I don't really see how you could be confused with a legitimate user and one which is not. I registered on the board within the first day so I am not sure how the registration process is now, but the easy way to stop this problem is simply to make it that each registration requires manual approval before they can post. This is hardly much extra work considering there are only 60 users and hardly any new in the past week.
You say you have received a few private messages about the issue, well this just goes to prove the point that some people don't want to express their opinions in public when they can be identified. Surely you can see the affects of forcing people to use real and complete names, if you remembered the old board you would know just how much activity has suffered because of this policy.
I also ask why now? Many of us used initials on the old board for 4 years and now suddenly we are being asked to change. For many of us our usernames date back even further to 2003. Why should we change them now after using them in some cases for around 8 years.
You say " Having a topic to map ambiguous usernames to their users, as a method of identifying posters, is confusing and an unnecessary use of our time to administer. With this method you get neither anonymity nor clarity, and therefore it has little or no merit whatsoever"
Really? It takes a lot of time to look up a list of around 10 people with initials? I know who everyone with initials are on here and have known for a long time. The way you are talking you would think we had 1000's of users here!
I find this policy lazy and badly thought out and ultimately the only consequence of it will be to adversely affect user participation, which is very sad.
You seem to have made your decision though, which is fine. I will have to accept it! Sadly though I don't think I can post here anymore, so can I please request that my username is deleted from the database if possible.
Happy posting!
I don't accept the argument of user security. When a user registers they should provide their full name, e-mail address, PNUM etc so I don't really see how you could be confused with a legitimate user and one which is not. I registered on the board within the first day so I am not sure how the registration process is now, but the easy way to stop this problem is simply to make it that each registration requires manual approval before they can post. This is hardly much extra work considering there are only 60 users and hardly any new in the past week.
You say you have received a few private messages about the issue, well this just goes to prove the point that some people don't want to express their opinions in public when they can be identified. Surely you can see the affects of forcing people to use real and complete names, if you remembered the old board you would know just how much activity has suffered because of this policy.
I also ask why now? Many of us used initials on the old board for 4 years and now suddenly we are being asked to change. For many of us our usernames date back even further to 2003. Why should we change them now after using them in some cases for around 8 years.
You say " Having a topic to map ambiguous usernames to their users, as a method of identifying posters, is confusing and an unnecessary use of our time to administer. With this method you get neither anonymity nor clarity, and therefore it has little or no merit whatsoever"
Really? It takes a lot of time to look up a list of around 10 people with initials? I know who everyone with initials are on here and have known for a long time. The way you are talking you would think we had 1000's of users here!
I find this policy lazy and badly thought out and ultimately the only consequence of it will be to adversely affect user participation, which is very sad.
You seem to have made your decision though, which is fine. I will have to accept it! Sadly though I don't think I can post here anymore, so can I please request that my username is deleted from the database if possible.
Happy posting!