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RUMOUR: PlayStation ID Change Hopefully Happening Before PSX 2018?

JP

Member
I'm putting this as a rumour because its hardly confirmed but and I'm sure we've already heard that the ID is unfortunately the actual account key which does make it far more difficult and risky than if it was only a name that was changing, but...

Hopefully...

Maybe...

I'm clearly paraphrasing here a touch.
Greg Miller (Kinda' Funny Games): Let's star at the top of the list...
Shawn Layden (President & CEO of SIEA) : OK, go ahead.
Greg Miller: ...when...will we be able...to change...our PlayStation Network names?
Shawn Layden: The elves back at the North Pole have been working on that for quite some time..
Greg Miller: I've noticed that over many PSXs I've talked to people and they're a;ways working in it very hard.
Shawn Layden: ..it's a large piece of work and it's more complex than I think we...let me put it this way, I hope we'll see events occur that you don't have to ask me that question next PSX.

PlayStation Presents - PSX 2017 Opening Celebration - Timestamp 2:12 23s
 

amdb00mer

Member
Licenses tied to the account name/PSN ID and not the associated real name/email address?? That would explain one reason why they have not had the feature. Changing the PSN ID would be like transferring all licenses and content to another user in a sense. Hopefully, they find a way to get it done.
 

nowhat

Member
Licenses tied to the account name/PSN ID and not the associated real name/email address?? That would explain one reason why they have not had the feature.
Having the PSN username as primary key would be an obvious reason why this change would be so hard to implement, but as it is such a fundamentally wrong way to approach database design, surely even Sony is not that incompetent?

Then again, who knows. I think it's one of the great paradoxes in life. First-party Sony studios employ some frighteningly talented programmers, yet I wouldn't trust Sony themselves to program their way out of a paper bag. Which is why I wouldn't also trust Sony to implement BC to PS3 correctly, if it were technically possible (but because Cell/Jaguar cores on PS4, there's no way it'll happen no matter what).
 

amdb00mer

Member
Having the PSN username as primary key would be an obvious reason why this change would be so hard to implement, but as it is such a fundamentally wrong way to approach database design, surely even Sony is not that incompetent?

Then again, who knows. I think it's one of the great paradoxes in life. First-party Sony studios employ some frighteningly talented programmers, yet I wouldn't trust Sony themselves to program their way out of a paper bag. Which is why I wouldn't also trust Sony to implement BC to PS3 correctly, if it were technically possible (but because Cell/Jaguar cores on PS4, there's no way it'll happen no matter what).

I hear ya. I honestly think Sony didn't really think about users wanting to change their PSN ID. Seriously, they probably thought "Ah, no need to allow change, most users will probably just create a new account/ID on the same PS3". Not realizing if they ever did want to change it that having all license tied to said PSN ID would be an issue.
 

JP

Member
Licenses tied to the account name/PSN ID and not the associated real name/email address?? That would explain one reason why they have not had the feature. Changing the PSN ID would be like transferring all licenses and content to another user in a sense. Hopefully, they find a way to get it done.
They did mention this some time ago and I think it's probably pretty scary to them to have to deal with that stuff on the sort of scale that we're talking about the issues that could stem from things going wrong.

It reminds somewhat of backwards compatibility as a service, Microsoft were just far more capable and/or forward thinking in terms of this stuff back when these things started in part, I'm sure, due to their background in Windows and using software layers.

It is unfortunate but due to the foundations laid years ago somethings are just not going to be as simple, as effective as safe for Sony to do as it is for Microsoft.

Usernames have never really been an issue for me but I can understand why it is for some and I'd always rather have the option that not have it.
 

Alx

Member
Licenses tied to the account name/PSN ID and not the associated real name/email address?? That would explain one reason why they have not had the feature. Changing the PSN ID would be like transferring all licenses and content to another user in a sense. Hopefully, they find a way to get it done.

I don't have a large experience with databases, but it doesn't seem complex to add a "display name" column that is not the account key, and could be changed to a different value. You would still have your original account name used as a key, but nobody would ever see it, even yourself.
There's probably more to it, but as it is I don't really get the issue.
 

Toe-Knee

Member
I don't have a large experience with databases, but it doesn't seem complex to add a "display name" column that is not the account key, and could be changed to a different value. You would still have your original account name used as a key, but nobody would ever see it, even yourself.
There's probably more to it, but as it is I don't really get the issue.


This already exists on Japanese accounts.
 

BANGS

Banned
I still don't get why this is a big deal on either side... but especially on the consumer side...
 

Spy

Member
I still don't get why this is a big deal on either side... but especially on the consumer side...
PSN has been around for almost 11 years now. It's not unreasonable to imagine a 21 year old regretting a username he made when he was 10.
 

BANGS

Banned
Adults embrace their childhood. It can't be anything TOO embarassing, or else it would be banned... It's really not a big deal...
 

autoduelist

Member
Having the PSN username as primary key would be an obvious reason why this change would be so hard to implement, but as it is such a fundamentally wrong way to approach database design, surely even Sony is not that incompetent?

Then again, who knows. I think it's one of the great paradoxes in life. First-party Sony studios employ some frighteningly talented programmers, yet I wouldn't trust Sony themselves to program their way out of a paper bag. Which is why I wouldn't also trust Sony to implement BC to PS3 correctly, if it were technically possible (but because Cell/Jaguar cores on PS4, there's no way it'll happen no matter what).

It doesn't even need to have been a primary key for it to be a massive issue. Even if their database was designed perfectly, the fact is, it's a legacy system that spans many different platforms -- software on PS3s, Vitas, PS4s, PC, and mobile devices all are referencing the existing system, displaying the current name.

That includes everything:
-leaderboards on PS3 games
-your account on the webstore
-how your friendslist displays on the vita
-how messaging works on mobile


ANY of that [and far, far more] can break if you make major changes, even if the database is correctly designed. It's literally over a decade worth of dependent systems and programs [and in game menus, etc] all built on top of each other.

It's no small task. This is basically what I do for a living [redesigning/fixing a mishmash of legacy systems]... it can be a nightmare no matter how well designed when you have that many disparate years old systems [possibly badly documented, possibly nobody there that has ever even looked at the code, etc] all trying to communicate.

It also creates policy issues. You can't just have people switching usernames left and right, because that becomes a policing nightmare [stalking/harassment, etc].
 

Big Blue

Member
I don't have a large experience with databases, but it doesn't seem complex to add a "display name" column that is not the account key, and could be changed to a different value. You would still have your original account name used as a key, but nobody would ever see it, even yourself.
There's probably more to it, but as it is I don't really get the issue.

I do have experience with relational databases and the sheer stupidity of tying licenses to strings with any type of name is moronic. The names of clients, cities, OSes, devices etc. even dates, all have a specific ID number.
 
I do have experience with relational databases and the sheer stupidity of tying licenses to strings with any type of name is moronic. The names of clients, cities, OSes, devices etc. even dates, all have a specific ID number.

Psn in terms of its structure is broken in many areas which is why I honestly think you won't see a proper psn upgrade until ps5....1 central account with the ability to change names....regions...and request refunds easily would be the best 3 things they could do.
 

TimFL

Member
Create a display name feature (similar to how they have real names integrated, like Steam display names) and push out an updated SDK where games can tap into said system.

No need to update old systems (PS3 and co) and new/existing games can use the new SDK to show the display name instead of your account name.
That way they don't have to mess with any potential primary key entries in their backend.
 

womfalcs3

Banned
I don't think when Sony launched PSN to compete with Live they thought about these issues. I mean, we had an HTML page from the 90s for the PS Store when the PS3 launched, if your region was one of the lucky ones.
 

autoduelist

Member
I do have experience with relational databases and the sheer stupidity of tying licenses to strings with any type of name is moronic. The names of clients, cities, OSes, devices etc. even dates, all have a specific ID number.

Which is why I doubt they did that. But as I posted above, even if everything in the account database is well designed, it would still be a large mountain of work to fix when you have 11 years of legacy code on multiple platforms using it.
 
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