[Enshittification][DO NOT ADD] Discord Username System
Did you know? Discord is reworking/removing their partnership program (as it currently stands)
Hey there @everyone! Been about 2 months since I changed this post. And it's been a hot minute, but the username update has now been worked into Discord. No matter if we liked it or not. And people will now (forcefully) get used to it.
As a suprise, this idea has the MOST ever comments and votes recieved on a single post on the feedback platform EVER. The story around this event is the most interesting I have ever seen. And the gerne around it still hasn't ended either. We'll see where all of this goes.
On that note, I have been working on a little project regarding that, since Twitter, Discord, Reddit and Tiktok are heading all into the same route. Our own little enshittification.social! A mastodon instance for the enshittification of companies and they services they used to offfer. (Twitter, Unity, Discord, and so on)
Would you like to participate in an UNOFFCIAL poll? Click here!
(NOT affiliated with Discord in any way, shape or form)
We thank everyone for their votes, comments and joining our DIscord server and enshittification instance. The story of enshittification will never end and we can see that with the recent Unity Pricing changes.
I've recieved a press request through Discord, however I'm moving that to email, if any press wants to reach out about the update from someone willing to represent the entire discord community against this change, send an email here:
- press@stefanocoding.me
Need more information? Check NTTS's Video:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3LUtBVe3Jk
Want to talk with people about the update? Check this server:
- https://discord.gg/jpFhkeqGHS
An anonymous Discord Partner has spoken out about the reservations, check it out.
- Original post was deleted by reddit admins, link is now for archive.org
Hey, even game devs are struggeling getting their official name as verified servers:
- https://www.gamesradar.com/indie-studio-has-their-discord-username-stolen-out-from-under-them/
- https://twitter.com/rustylakecom/status/1659556388526338048
So what is it with this update?
So generally, this update has recieved a TON of backlash. And this feedback post has already recieved just about 13k upvotes at the time of writing AND a change.org petition with 13k people having signed it,
Fundementally this change to discord is going to cause more issue's for it's users then it could be worth. Among the comments, there are a few I'll display/mention.
One of the major issues that can be confirmed is the resale of Discord accounts. That is something that is unable to be denied and is going to be a major issue. Example here:
What discord has done absolutly wrong during this update:
Discord staff has been claiming double the names, one for their private account. Another for their staff account. Some of these usernames that are being claimed are so rare that people are speculating they are planning to sell it one day or another. The communication is absolute crap, they have not communicated how they where planning to do the roll-out and the way people are now claiming names left and right, from piewdiepie, markiplier and other names that should have been reserved. Then the way access get's rolled out? Verified bots where supposed to get access first, then supposedly brands, moving on to the staff and then the partnered and verified servers. Then the general population. But this has so far changed even more, starting with people from the moderator program, and suddenly the Hypesquad event team. And we still do not have enough information to know what the next bracket will be. There is no proper communication apart from Discord telling us to append our tag/discriminator to our usernames if we can't use it. Or you know just don't make usernames unique. The reddit has been stormed with people hating this update. And when people go to the support page, they're told to respond to feedback, or create it. We've all done this, but Discord still hasn't made an official statement. The entire update wasn't even properly announced like they do with everything else. Hidden behind their Birthday suprises. With the nitro trails providing people with 2 weeks of nitro to forget they signed up and pay an additional month. Normally, this would be tweeted and announced everywhere properly. People are moving away from Discord in an attempt to revolt, they're disbanding Nitro to put a dent somewhere in Discord's earnings. But that'll probably be recouped by investors. Discord claims to listen to feedback. But we've seen nothing of this yet. As a ton of people are saying, Discord is turning into Twitter, we don't want to see it happen. But with the 300 million active users on Discord, we're barely making a dent with this feedback post.
What are some good ways to fix this update?
The previous system worked perfectly, nothing to change about it. However using the display name system is a good idea. Maybe even supporting for official known people to get a username, or a checkmark to define "hey they are official" without the Twitter "pay for a blue tick" bs.
> BELOW ARE COMMENTS MADE BY THE COMMUNITY, NOT BY ME DIRECTLY <
Mikey's, Gen, Rain
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+1
14 -
+1
14 -
All the problems they listed is shit I've literally never had to deal with even once.
Literally who needs to remember the numbers all you have to do is copy paste.
Discord has mobile app, if you're going to add someone IRL just pull out your phone? I can't see the scenario where you wouldn't have your phone AND the other person you met wouldn't have their phone and you both were like "Damn I really wish I could add you on discord" being a thing that happened more than like twice in all of history. Also Email and phone numbers exist? Or just give them your Twitter or Instagram, tons of people have linktrees. They're really out here acting like the only way to communicate digitally is through Discord, there's SO MANY other ways to find someone again online that exist this is such a non issue I'm honestly insulted it's even listed as a main problem "many users" have had.I also actually like that people have to have the number to add you. So that not just any rando who knows your usual username tries to DM or friend you whenever. Making that aspect a little more difficult is good actually.
And many others have already brought up the significant issue of this change bringing a huge increase in impersonators, account selling, hacking, etc. Especially when you roll out updates in waves to users, having a FCFS basis for usernames is going to leave A LOT of people with shitty usernames like "XxShadowEdgelord256392491xX" because "ShadowEdgelord" was taken and the person who owns that account with that username is just squatting on it to sell. I know I'll be mega pissed if I have to put any numbers or symbols in my username because some dick just happened to get it first and is now trying to sell it back to me for $5k.
0 -
+1, i cancelled my nitro sub because of this
15 -
The use of discriminator tags is a GOOD thing and solves a massive amount of problems, removing them and using the simpler and dumber system of old dead and stupid apps is not an improvement.
The fact that I can will no longer be able to change my account name after this update is rolled out means that you're also cutting out one of the key reasons for me to subscribe to Nitro, and why I am not going to renew my subscription after this change goes through.
20 -
Why does Discord think???? "Hi my name is KingForKings#Numbers is difficult to remember"????
This is stupid. ON PC, people on Steam say hey I liked your playstyle and let us add each other. Also here is my name. Then the person on the other hand will copy and paste and done.
NO ONE cares about @nameTwoNumbers !!!! Do NOT think people will forget who the people's names suddenly. Good people can simply be added to the discord friend list or a note be added. The chance someone with the same name comes up with the same voice is zero. Who is on a public discord which is also stormed by randoms? This dont happen at all. You guys have freaking Discord ID system for account counting and banning users on the discord's end. This is the friend or USER ID not the name#numbers. Leave the freaking #numbers or outright remove it but keep names. Add the internal ID system so that the already useless, with nitro changeable name#numbers (of which the numbers don't make sense) can be removed while using the ID system to make impersonation impossible.If you want to make impersonation impossible then leave your fingers from allowing only-unique-names and add the Discord ID below the name which will be friend code like steam uses.
By forcing UNIQUE names, black market name selling services from Counter Strike key sites will jump on the new market and YOU DISCORD will destroy your legacy as being the ONE service which did the one or two things better than the competition.
TL DR
Use the internal Discord USER IDAllow duplicate names since no console player shares names but PC gamers who do use copy and paste
Black market for names will grow rapidly.
17 -
They'll surely have plans to reverse the change when there's a massive cut in their revenue, and they can no longer pay the bills.
If the reason they are switching is what I suspect, they cannot back off no matter what. I mean the EU's Digital Markets Act, which requires interoperability between inter-personal communication services provided by different operators. None of the proposed interoperable protocols have discriminators, and Discord is likely preparing for that.
-13 -
+1
This change is so awful. Drastically hits security and user customization in so many ways. Already cancelled my Nitro and will not be returning it any time soon.
13 -
@Erkin Alp
if that's the case, why would that go unsaid in their announcements? That would be a load more understandable than "people didn't understand discriminators" with weak padding
20 -
+1 will cancel my nitro if this goes through.
12 -
+1
Usernames are a horrible idea. Absolutely horrible. I can already picture all the impersonation. All the old toxic friends taking the usernames of people they harassed to make it look like they're terrible people...or maybe something like transphobes impersonating trans people to make them look like pedos or something...you don't need to be psychic to know that'd happen. I'd also rather just be called Bru and four numbers than something like bruuuuuuu because my name was taken.
13 -
+1
Such a horrible idea, and the supposed reasons given by Discord in the announcement just straight up don't make any sense. The alleged problems that they mention users having are bizarre, and I have never personally experienced any of them, nor have I ever heard of anyone else running into them. Ironically, changing to this new system would in fact *introduce* these listed problems, not fix them - which of course, you can't fix a problem that doesn't exist in the first place.Personally, I believe the current Discord username system is in fact actively better than any other website or service I've ever used. They admit that they want to change it primarily just to be more similar to other websites... but why?? Why remove an important feature just for the sake of being more similar to other platforms? Not to sound like an 80's drug PSA, but "everyone else is doing it!" is not a valid reason to intentionally change your platform for the worse.
Why they wouldn't want to continue having a unique feature that most people agree is better is beyond me.
14 -
At this point, I would be surprised that Discord goes ahead with this. They know people are mad, they know that they're losing money. And they know that this is going to be the straw that breaks that camel's back for some folks. People who have Nitro who are going to get the new username system early have already tried sniping them through the API and Discord shut that down. They know this is going to happen again and again, only time will tell if they decide to backpedal on this grave mistake.
14 -
@Bass44 Oh, I won't be surprised when they do. This is clearly a situation of "business execs so out of touch with their userbase that they would suggest this because they're imagining dollar signs while they chase after the allure of just being a social media clone". How often do you see those kinds of windbags admit they're wrong?
12 -
seriously, crazy absolutely terrible bad idea. the only possible reason i can think of to make this change is just to make people pay to change their username. id love to have my cynicism proven wrong but come on be real it's not something that will improve anyone's user experience and for sure make many people's worse. The issues with the established system can be resolved in many ways that won't be comically bad.
13 -
+1
There is no reason to do this change. If admin want it so badly, add display names separately than handles, which can stay the same. If this change happens it's likely I and many others will cancel Nitro and stop using Discord as our one-size-fits-all for communication and hosting our information and social circles. This change is alienating to the userbase, will create a more toxic community, and will result in more external financing around Discord (aka username selling, account hacking, etc.). This isn't the first time Discord has introduced a feature I don't agree with, but it's the first time it's made me seriously question my use of the application. If anyone for this company cares about the wants of the users, you will reconsider this change. OPTIONAL display names are great. Taking away the discriminator system is shooting your platform in the foot.
16 -
+1 I agree with you all! If Discord is gonna not do that, will be terribly changed and many everyone will move to another app alternative.
That is why, discord please stop changing this now! Forever/stay discriminator system and 4 digits are better!
Or you could just change 4 digits to 5 digits and solved the problem!
13 -
This change is just so tone-deaf and silly... Wasted effort that only creates a lot more problems and solves nothing...
If they were so concerned about finding friends - how about simply updating your UI???
I canceled my sub16 -
+1, cancelled my nitro
14 -
+1, cancelling my nitro of 6-7 years.
14 -
commenting again to say WAY TO GO ALL! Discord decided to for some godforsaken reason release a WEBTOON, which i'm sure has been a FANTASTIC use of their money when they've been notorious lately for poor updates and lacking support. Keep those votes and comments coming, and cancel those subs!
You've literally paid them - to not pay their employees and have new support staff to handle the tickets that people are often saying go unanswered - but to buy a CARTOON. why. why. why.
15 -
@Falcolmreynolds un fucking real. I don't even- that's just- wow.
0 -
+1 Not a damn penny more until they announce backtracking.
12 -
This might be the single worst idea I've ever heard, why in the world would you do this. No one asked for it, no one wants it. PLEASE do NOT add this feature.
12 -
+1
11 -
I happen to speak English, a language that uses the Latin alphabet with out diacritics. I do get that for historical reasons the backbone of the internet makes it technically challenging to avoid language discrimination. However, Discord is talking about taking a step backwards and imposing language discrimination for no good reason. Quite frankly I find it offensive that they refer to the letters of other writting systems as "special characters"
13 -
This used to be different, it had mentioned the discriminator that you can change in this panel.
Right now, you can still change it as well.
Nowhere is the discriminator mentioned something that you can change or listed in the Nitro features, as much as it's still very well a feature.
However, when cancelling your Nitro subscription, look what you see:
Oh, would you look at that, it mentions tags (discriminators).
It seems that they are really failing horribly with this transition, and it's definitely going as smooth as it possibly can go. They surely know what they are doing, clearly.
I had to re-sub to get the screenshot for this, but don't worry, I have since then cancelled again for the second time now.
I put it in the cancellation reason again why this update is complete shit.
I linked them to this thread as well.
I recommend doing that to help with the visibility of this thread here.
20 -
I don't see the benefit of this change justifying the risk and the effort put into it. I'm probably gonna be in the first wave of the rollout as not only is my account from 2015, it's also been a nitro subscribing account since 2017. I still think this is a bad idea despite probably getting the least screwed by this. I really wish this had been announced way earlier than when it was planned to be rolled out so this feedback could've come sooner.
People give me QR codes, slips of paper, or enter their account names in my phone when I meet them irl for their various other social media accounts that use the system you want to use. The reason is because they're forced to take unusual usernames like John-Smith_1_2_3_4 (which in practical experience has actually been far worse than this). If I invite someone to discord after the removal of the discriminator, they won't be "JohnSmith#9128" when they tell me their username. They're gonna just give me a slip of paper, or enter the account name in my phone. So you've unsolved a problem that other platforms have and will incur tech debt from that. Unironically, discord has been the least hassle because I use a plain alphanumeric name and discriminator and it is no struggle to add anyone else who does the same.
In essence the technical debt is with the methods of adding a friend. If I could give someone a QR code (look at snapchat's for example), or a link (which can use user ID), this issue would be fairly easily solved. Or, a friend search system like Steam has. Presently, Discord is just integrating a new problem from existing platforms, to failing to fix an old problem, and massively inconveniencing the entire userbase, developers, and anyone else who uses Discord.
I sincerely hope the slow rollout is a gambit to convince whoever signed off on this decision that the loss of profits is not worth looking like every other social media platform and inheriting their issues while not fixing any of Discord's issues. If you are looking to innovate, start solving your problems first before taking on the problems of every other platform.
19 -
The four digit code username is really iconic in my opinion, and removing it just feels like a really large change. it shouldnt be brought out in such a small time, but it should be slow and steady. For now, i would like to see the username feature added as a backup in case you dont remember your username, or adding it as just another way in which you can identify your account alongside the four digit code method. As many others have mentioned, namesniping and impersonation will be very prevalent, and can cause a lot of chaos. Thus, adding it as just a backup method to add someone as a friend / verifying your account would be the smart move.
15 -
+1
This is one of the ideas of all time.10
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