New Username System Creates More Problems Than It Tries To Solve - Canceling My Nitro

I knew I would have a tough time trying to claim the name I was seeking, but I was expecting to lose it to an older account with Nitro, not a younger account which might not even have Nitro. Even less so given that Discord had said the rollout would be based on account age.

This new username system does not solve the issue Discord says it is trying to solve for. By having this new naming system they are forcing users to add in random numbers, symbols, and characters to their desired usernames which leads to more confusing names that make it harder for them to remember and for other people to remember when shared with them.
I'll now have to remember that there is an _ in front instead of the descriminator that I chose using Nitro. _ might not be too bad in my case, but it will be worse for anyone else who comes along and now has to add numbers, letters, or the limited symbols available. Actually _ might even lead to some confusion on whether it is the symbol or the word spelled out, same for anyone who uses . At least with the descriminator, people would quickly learn there was specifically four numbers to also remember to pair with your name. Now it could be a variety of things.

Making the case and character change while keeping the discriminators would have been a better decision, and other account systems have adopted it for the good idea that it is, such as Blizzard and Xbox. Having to remember that there are four numbers in combination with your desired name isn't too hard and you could reroll them if desired. It was one of the things I liked about Discord when I first joined. Plus, later on with Nitro they introduced the feature where you could even customize them to more easily remembered or desired numbers which I then did.

Plus with this new system you introduce the problems other social media accounts have and more such as:

Name squatters
Stalkers
Resale markets
Black markets
Increased attacks to steal names (hacking, IRL threats, blackmail, etc)
Only so many simple combinations before you start having to rely on random numbers and characters (which becomes more difficult to remember)
Favoritism; Discord has been seen revoking some claimed names to give them to brands, celebs, and so on
Complications with people who honestly acquire a name that has been stolen or mistakenly released
And more

I've had Nitro since Jan 2017, and been on Discord since Oct 2015. But with the frustration this has given me I've canceled my Discord Nitro subscription. Sadly the effect will only be felt come Janurary since I do a yearly sub.

I've enjoyed the Nitro perks, but I can live without them and this has really put a sour taste in my mouth from the frustration.

I've created this feedback post since I saw it was recommended in the support case sent to another person, and to hopefully add to the growing number of complaints about how this system just creates more problems than it tries to solve. Hopefully Discord will see this and we'll regain discriminators sometime soon.

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Edit: People are already trying to buy 2015 accounts in order to get name reservations for when their own personal accounts qualify to take on the name. From a quick Google search I've even found multiple places selling them, with one selling them for $250 per 2015 account. I've also heard some places are now selling accounts with claimed "clean" usernames, apparently for as much as $1,000+. In my search, one website was advertising "Discord OG Usernames".
So the market based around usernames is definitely being established and seeing growth.

Edit 2: Yup, the "rare username" hunts are now ongoing. As some of you may have seen, people with "rare" or "clean" usernames have been reporting friend request spam, call spam, fishing attempts, and more. Still waiting to see if swatting and worse starts happening too. Hope it doesn't end up like the man who was swatted and died because a 17 year old wanted his Twitter handle @Tennassee
Additionally there are people buying usernames now for $5k+ for things like popular character names from certain shows and similar. A two letter username is running $10k. So this is going well.

Falcolmreynolds

2023年06月07日 03:10

You are, of course, correct, but Discord does not actually seem to care much about what their userbase wants anymore. I'd advise trying to find an alternative and start moving resources and groups over there before Discord gets even worse.

DigitalNikki

2023年06月07日 03:57

I've lost my username, and I'm unwilling to use anything else. I'll delete my account from 2016 before I use another username. We need to do more than just cancel nitro at this stage, we need to start deleting our accounts.

Sakura Wulf

2023年06月07日 05:59

This is ridiculous. THE OTHER USER USING MY USERNAME IS ME. LET ME CHANGE IT.

Person

2023年06月07日 06:35

Every name i have tried without using at least 2 numbers has been taken already. how is this any better than the previous system? had to put 4 numbers on my original name if i want that.

Arek

2023年06月07日 12:58

Can't get the unique username I use everywhere on internet since 2007. Cancelled my 4-year old Nitro in a minute. We are currently searching to move our communities out of Discord.

ikkelol

2023年06月08日 20:49

Back to teamspeak we go

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