Following on from what Magicblack said on Footy's farewell thread, i think the ability to delete names should be scrapped.

It is pointless and only leads to the forums looking messy, and if a user decides to return, they may not be able to get the same name (at worst, loosing it to someone malicious).

Sure, after a year or so of inactivity, a member could recieve an automated email reminder, and if they dont start using the account it would be deleted automatically, thus preventing the system being overloaded with unused accounts.

I Agree. I deleted a name on Poolsharks once... (cant remember why exactly) and someone created the exact same name,so ppl thought it was me! Luckily it was someone i knew playing a joke and they kindly deleted it again. As Spinner pointed out tho, it could be re-created by someone malicious who could cause havoc! So yes, id say think twice before deleting too.

If your name means that much to you spinner then dont delete it... Then surprise surprise noone can have it after you have recreated yourself as a different person???

I think the main point is that it makes the forum look terrible. Great thread spinner thanks for elaborating

the forum wouldnt look messy if people werent making stupid threads about pointless crap.

ouch...
spinner for all our sakes don't reply and have a big argument, just pretend you don't see it!

what like he doesnt see other peoples points of view?

bunz, I've organised massages for us, meet me in joes massage parlour on 43rd street, on the house
don't worry, it's not on of Those massage parlours!

I think Spinner has a point here. It does make the forums look untidy at times, and a person could recreate your name, and that would be unkind, obviously.

The e-mail things a good idea too.

Didn't see what

Dont worry, i'd never delete my account, and definitely wouldnt create another one!

Its plain to see Nick's snowed under at the moment, but i have no doubt he'll be taking this on board.

Didn't know it snowed in thailand

People delete usernames for various reasons, when a name is deleted the system deletes their name from their forum posts but not the posts.
Why not change the system so that when someone deletes a username their posts and the name stay intact, then when you click on the author of the post it say's no such player.

Sounds like a great idea that does Eve....would deffiniately make more sense

Ah, but what happens if someone else registers the same name!

This would lead to a lot of confusion.

Easier to simply not be able to delete an account if it has been used within a year.

After all, if you're really leaving, it doesn't matter if the account is there since nothing will happen and after a year it will be gone. And if you're still playing, you wont want to delete it will you!

If someone else registers the name the sign up date will be after the post date, therefore it would be blatently obvious that the account holder and author of the said post have a different identity.

Or change the Member bit on the old posts 2 IP logged so people know its not the same person and that they are old posts

Edited at 00:11 Fri 4/08/06 (BST)

But what if its the same user decided to re-create?

Remember most people playing from home via dialup or broadband have dynamically assigned IP addresses so they change each time they log on.

Basically it comes down to the fact that there's no point in deleting a username. If you dont want to play, just dont! After a year it will be gone anyway...

But some people like the challenge of re-createing their names, so they can start from scratch again and do all their ranks again.

Therefore how about on the old posts where it says

spinner - Member

Change that to Deleted User but still keep their name, then if they have re-created they will be able 2 click the name see the new sign up date and be able 2 figure it out themselves

That probably makes absolutely no sense 2 u all but it does 2 me

Edited at 09:50 Fri 4/08/06 (BST)

Wouldn't it be simpler to add a "reset stats" option?

It could even be broken down, so people could reset thier rank for a challenge, but keep thier tourney wins etc.

Good point about changing the "Member" to "Deleted User" though, this would be sensible no matter which way it goes.

Nice one

Yes it wud possibly be easier 2 add a reset stats option, didnt think of that one

Yay one of my ideas someone actually agree's with thank you Spinner glad u understood it. Would make the forum look tidier and also let people know that they have deleted the name even if it has been re-created by another person