19 votes

All Discord users will need to choose new username

9 comments

  1. [3]
    NaraVara
    Link
    Not knowing how the underlying code works, I don't understand how this is "technical debt" over the long term. Unless they view the 4-digits as unduly restrictive for having more than some number...

    Not knowing how the underlying code works, I don't understand how this is "technical debt" over the long term. Unless they view the 4-digits as unduly restrictive for having more than some number of users.

    I get the feeling Discord is trying to shift from being a service for people to be in specific communities to being a more pan-community social network. This is a little upsetting and seems to be scope creep beyond what I like using it for, as basically a chat room.

    10 votes
    1. Eabryt
      Link Parent
      Add a 5th digit?

      Unless they view the 4-digits as unduly restrictive for having more than some number of users.

      Add a 5th digit?

      5 votes
    2. [2]
      Comment removed by site admin
      Link Parent
      1. Protected
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        [edit: maybe not] (there will be collisions - in fact, for many words, all 10 thousand usernames are taken!) I feel a bit sorry for people who have chosen to pay for Nitro for years in order to...

        It will be a bit confusing when 90% of my friends and most of the ~200 DM windows I have on the client change to completely different names though [edit: maybe not] (there will be collisions - in fact, for many words, all 10 thousand usernames are taken!)

        I feel a bit sorry for people who have chosen to pay for Nitro for years in order to ensure their discriminator of choice remained theirs. Their announcement is evasive about this, but this is something a lot of people spent real money on (not me, thankfully). I wonder if they will account for that sort of thing when resolving username collisions - and for activity too - or if it's strictly based on antiquity and any older user than I can take my username or that of any newer user if they choose to do so.

        6 votes
  2. AugustusFerdinand
    Link
    Reports of other people grabbing the discord names of various popular people/influencers/celebrities before said people can do so in 3... 2... 1...

    Reports of other people grabbing the discord names of various popular people/influencers/celebrities before said people can do so in 3... 2... 1...

    9 votes
  3. [4]
    stu2b50
    Link
    I feel like people are making a bit too much of a big deal about this. From the blogpost, this name you’ll have to choose is almost never displayed or used anywhere except sending friend requests....

    I feel like people are making a bit too much of a big deal about this. From the blogpost, this name you’ll have to choose is almost never displayed or used anywhere except sending friend requests. In fact you can just pick @username-1111, where 1111 is your old discord discriminator. Probably won’t, because they’re correct in that that many numbers makes it annoying to relay to other people. But you could, and it’d be functionally the same as before.

    Just see it not as picking a username but picking a unique ID for your friend request inbox.

    6 votes
    1. [3]
      Protected
      Link Parent
      Don't forget DMs. You can't set a display name for DMs, can you?

      Don't forget DMs. You can't set a display name for DMs, can you?

      1 vote
      1. [2]
        stu2b50
        Link Parent
        It sounds like from the discord announcement that the DMs would be listed under your display name. From the UI screenshot, your profile lists both with your display name first. “Friends will...

        It sounds like from the discord announcement that the DMs would be listed under your display name. From the UI screenshot, your profile lists both with your display name first.

        A non-unique Display Name that can include just about anything (as long as it adheres to our Community Guidelines), including special characters, spaces, emojis and non-Latin characters. Your new Display Name will be how you primarily appear and will be your most prominent form of identity. Think of this as your main name. You will be able to change your Display Name whenever you want, even minute to minute.

        By default, your new Display Name will be your old username without the discriminator, so your friends continue to recognize you. So if you used to be “PhiBi#8936”, your new default Display Name will be “PhiBi”. Here’s an example:

        “Friends will continue to recognize you” implies to me that everywhere the name before the #1233 occurs, the new display name will be.

        4 votes
        1. Protected
          Link Parent
          That's a relief, thanks for pointing that out.

          That's a relief, thanks for pointing that out.

          1 vote