On PDNs.

[Erebus the Black]

Unless you didn't remember with which alt you made the account and so couldn't get a restoration mail, or forgot the old mail's name as happened to me several times.

[Alorael at Large]

You can just have the boards email you if you know the account, so you don't need to know which email you used. You do need to have access to that email account, but we can't fix that from our end anyway. There's no real way to tell the difference between an email that isn't yours and one that you forgot.

 

—Alorael, who would make exceptions for very, very obvious cases, including ones in which several mods remember the person using the forgotten email in question. But that's not the case here.

[Little Fyora]

I'm sorry Wonderbolt, but I don't see why people using special characters in their PDNs is worth making a big fuss over.

 

Why do you call this 'attention-seeking' behaviour ? Human beings are born attention-seekers. We all crave recognition, we want people to ooh and aah at us. That's why we wear good clothes (better, better, better than the rest of those around us). Using special characters in PDNs is similar; just see it as having a different hairstyle.

 

The crux of your post is that such PDNs are harder to read, and that it's difficult to keep track of who's who. I agree, but does this really merit a 'request' to all members to avoid using them ? I like stylish special characters. I just don't like it showing up as garbage in the post area (when you're quoted by someone). Now that does create some confusion, but that's all there is to it.

 

People won't recognize me if I use them ? Fine by me; that's your problem, and I deserve being ignored as I brought this upon myself.

[Alorael at Large]

Originally Posted By: Little Fyora

does this really merit a 'request' to all members to avoid using them ?

Is there something wrong with asking people to stop doing something you find annoying?

—Alorael, who still finds this baffling. Maybe the first post could have ruffled fewer feathers by being more obviously a polite request, but there's a weird kind of defensive entitlement to thinking that no one should even ask you to change what you're doing.

[Actaeon]

The only alternative I can see is a PM, since there are only a few people using special characters. However, it's sometimes nice to put something out in the open for discussion, otherwise people feel singled out and get offended.

[Little Fyora]

To clarify, I was only expressing my surprise by that question. And the surprise I was trying to express was that such a trifling thing as that (as considered to be, by me) could be so disturbing/irritating to another user that the person creates a big hullabaloo over it, asking everyone to stop doing it.

 

I should have realized that people don't think alike. But I don't think Future Wonderbolt has taken offense.

[Actaeon]

Sylae's more likely to take offense that you're addressing her by a temporary PDN, but I trust that she'll forgive you once she sees your member number and postcount.

[Tyranicus]

Originally Posted By: Actaeon

Sylae's more likely to take offense that you're addressing her by a temporary PDN, but I trust that she'll forgive you once she sees your member number and postcount.

Now that is really something no one can legitimately be offended over, and I highly doubt it would ever offend Sylae.

[Actaeon]

But perhaps she will be offended by my thinking she'll be offended. Or is that too meta?

[keira]

Originally Posted By: Actaeon

Sylae's more likely to take offense that you're addressing her by a temporary PDN, but I trust that she'll forgive you once she sees your member number and postcount.

I HOPE YOU DIE IN A PIT OF FLAMING KITTENS.

But seriously, the whole referring-to-me-as-Future-Wonderbolt thing does not bother me, I go by that on a lot of other sites, so yeah. It's not like my name or anything though.

[Nioca]

Originally Posted By: Future Wonderbolt

I HOPE YOU DIE IN A PIT OF FLAMING KITTENS.

You called?

Anyway, I don't really have a problem with odd PDNs, but that's because I tend to identify members through a combination of their avatar, signature, and/or (if applicable) custom title. I don't really use PDNs to identify much anymore.

[Sudanna]

I have no intention of ever changing my signature, but PDN and avatar change regularly.

[Student of Trinity]

Not that it has to matter to you at all, but this is an example: I have no idea who you are. I recognize your location, so I know I've been seeing your posts for years, and from your post count, I know I've seen a lot of them. But I'm still left knowing only that you're one of about a dozen people, and I have no idea which one.

 

So that's fine, I can still read and appreciate your posts individually. I just can't associate them with any particular longer term persona. I concede, to the point of insisting, that you are fully within your rights to change your PDN as often as you like. But if it were somehow entirely up to me, I'd rather be able to recognize you.

[Sudanna]

I certainly understand that. I imagine it was easier when I always spoke in third person.