'Nitro' as a banned word in usernames

NitroxDragon

Making a post since it was recommended by Support.


I wasn't expecting any hurdles with the username change, but apparently 'nitro' is a banned word.
I didn't see any notice of this change with the new username system. Apparently this was a username rule instated to combat spam some time ago, but is now a problem with people that have had a username before then with this username refresh.


My accounts have been fairly consistent across platforms...

...so this change "taking effect now" is frustrating. The username choice screen mentioning that this is for "friends to find you easily". My friends will now have to hear me say "I'm nitroxdragon on Discord, but the i is a 1".
This was not a problem when I joined in 2016. It's a problem now because the rule is now being applied with the name claiming.
I am of the belief that, if this is spam prevention, people will get around it in similar fashion. And if this "isn't a problem" because the display name is what people see, then why do display names not have the same scam prevention scrutiny? Someone on Reddit mentioned that they were already approached by Riot Games fake spam accounts, so why not ban those words too for scam prevention? Because that would be silly for any username with the word Riot, of course, which proves the point for my case.

The response I received from Discord, after being quoted back the Username article to read, was as follows:

We are working to help protect users from phishing schemes on the platform. We currently do not allow "Discord" or other Discord-affiliated languages (like "Nitro") to be used in usernames. If you are trying to add one of these terms to your username, you will not be able to, which is why the “username invalid” message is appearing for you or the username cannot contain *Name*.
 
If you already have a disallowed term in your username, you will not be able to update any profile settings until you edit your username to remove it. While you will not get in trouble for having a username with “Discord” or "Nitro" in it, we strongly encourage you to update your username to something else. You can do this by accessing your User Settings and updating your username under "My Account."
 

I understand my account and similar accounts are a fringe case, but to summarize:

1. if this is a phishing scam prevention then why attack the less visible username instead of the display name? I don't want it banned there either but it doesn't make sense for the username to be under scrutiny, Discord doesn't own the word 'nitro'.

2. this will hamper my ability to share my username, which is the core reason for the change in the first place

31

Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • fyuc
    • Edited

    I really hope Discord sees this. Nitro is a *real* word, btw. Hope people start to cancel their nitro, it's the only way they'll listen.

    9
  • Pisscorp Co.

    I feel so sorry for you, this is really unfortunate. 

    Unless you are an influencer/youtuber/their employee, you just get no say in this and I'm certain they do not care in the slightest and won't make an exception for you.

    I'm not saying this to be mean, it's just how it is :( it sucks because that is clearly your username..

    6
  • DigitalNikki
    • Edited

    The username choice screen mentioning that this is for "friends to find you easily".

    That parts makes me laugh it's so bad. Any username I can chose in the new system I will be ashamed of and will never tell it to anyone. Yup sure makes it easier for people to add me when I will never tell them my username, and will either be deleting my account or leaving all servers.

    1
  • FireStriker

    This is just silly, Nitro is a common username or addition to a username. I hope they reverse it cause its just stupid. Everyone understands the reasoning for not calling ourselves "Discord" but "Nitro" was in use before Discord coined the term "Discord Nitro"

    Good Luck NitroxDragon, Heres hoping they let you keep your name

    0
  • anitrok

    This is really sad, happened the same with me. Having 1s or 0s instead of I or O in the username isn't really accessible at all.

    0
  • CorruptNitro

    Having the same problem, sent tickets trying to see if they can fix it. They’ve fixed this issue for me before (2020) but now they suddenly can’t which doesn’t make any sense.

    0
  • NitroMehmet

    That's really annoying. I use discord since 2016 with same nickname, I can't get my username in new username system. I use same nickname all across socials and as steam, epic, microsoft etc.. since 2013. I created 2 support tickets but no luck at all. Guess I'll continue to use my existing username#0000 as it goes and I'll cancel my nitro subscripton since that's all I can do 🤷

    0
  • nitro361

    Bruh! My name is nitro361 since 2012 or so. Won’t change it duh. I am going with nitro361#0361 u fools.

    0
  • ModMyNitro

    Same here cant use my username i use everywhere.

    0
  • nitro2k01

    Me three. I've used the same username for over 20 years (!) on various online communities and offered to provide documentation of this, but support just told me to go vote for this suggestion. 

    1

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