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Changing your PSN name. It's time Sony. (IGN)

Moral of the story - make your username consist of your name. Same with email address. It's the only name you won't regret.

I learnt that lesson 14 years ago after many emails consisting of solidsnakesdavidh, tokkan, finalfantasyforever etc
 
I feel for you people. Though, not sure I agree with the name change thing. I would stress that Sony probably needs to put a large disclaimer that you are unable to change your account after creation. That, and people need to think before making permanent retarded names like MrTeaBags15. You made your bed, sleep in it.
When people bring home their shiny new toys they want to use it. They don't want to spend time coming up with a good name that they'll like for years to come. It's perfectly normal to want to change something you did years ago.
 
It'd be a quick way to generate income for them. Not sure what the holdup is.

But if they don't allow name changes that's cool with me. I love the idea of Klepek being stuck with the psn name he came up with by looking around his room and deciding to use the name of a monster from a Godzilla movie.
 
It would probably just be easier to giveout API's and mandate developers to use an alias system for future titles. PSN backend is supposedly mess and with stuff like that core changes break things, fast. I'm sure Sony would love to take your money but the false equivalencies aren't helping.
 
Isn't this possible on Jap psn?

You can change the name you show but no the ID
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He did. It was something alone the lines of the way the database was initially design, and that it will be a heavy takes for their engineers

Here's the qoute:



http://www.ign.com/videos/2013/11/12/ps4-sony-on-wii-u-changing-your-psn-name


Funny it was an IGN interview, where he said this.

This makes me think that the actual PSN name is a primary key within the database instead of some unseen ID# or something like that, which would understandably make it hard to update that value since that name would likely be spread across multiple databases.

But really, the ability to actually change your PSN name is something that is long overdue.
 
I'd also like to be able to change the birth date attached to the account. I made it in conjunction with my dad and it's on his birth date. Customer support can change it for you, but if you were under 18 when the account was created (which I was) you can't for some reason. Makes no sense.
 
Reason why i created probably around 4-5 accounts in the PS3 days. But i lost a couple of trophies, digital purchases etc. I guess the PS3 as many said is the problem and the way its database work.

I like mine now "FunkybyNature" but i understand people who want to change it and the funny thing, Sony would make good money from it. But i wont abandon the account that i have now, i've got way too many digital purchases on it, and i want to keep my trophies now and all my history.
 
One of the few benefits of owning a PS3 day one was getting your pick of the litter.

Surprised Sony hasn't implemented something as there seems to be a demand and it is something you can generate revenue from (at least going by the Microsoft model).
 
I'm glad I don't have to wait for this. My PSN name = my GAF name = my real name. They should add the feature though.
 
Even if they don't want to mess with their DB, they could implement a system where a new PSN id is created, then everything from old id is transferred to the new id (licences, trophies, subscriptions etc), and finally the now empty original ID is deleted.

You name this function "rename" (even if it's not a rename) but everything is tranparent to the user.
 
One of the few benefits of owning a PS3 day one was getting your pick of the litter.

Surprised Sony hasn't implemented something as there seems to be a demand and it is something you can generate revenue from (at least going by the Microsoft model).

I didn't even have a PS3 when I created my ID :D!!
 
One of the few benefits of owning a PS3 day one was getting your pick of the litter.

Surprised Sony hasn't implemented something as there seems to be a demand and it is something you can generate revenue from (at least going by the Microsoft model).

Yea I got exactly what I wanted. That doesn't mean there shouldn't be an option though. I liked some stupid ass shit when I was 18.

Even if they don't want to mess with their DB, they could implement a system where a new PSN id is created, then everything from old id is transferred to the new id (licences, trophies, subscriptions etc), and finally the now empty original ID is deleted.

You name this function "rename" (even if it's not a rename) but everything is tranparent to the user.

What happens to leaderboards for all of those old games though? Is your system going to regcognize that you made a name change and display your score? How about friends list? I don't think Sony planned everything out very well.
 
Yes, this needs to happen. I wouldn't even have a problem if they implemented a system like XBL where you have to pay a nominal fee to change it.
 
One of the few benefits of owning a PS3 day one was getting your pick of the litter.

Surprised Sony hasn't implemented something as there seems to be a demand and it is something you can generate revenue from (at least going by the Microsoft model).

I picked my name day one and it's still stupid. I was 16 at the time
 
What happens to leaderboards for all of those old games though? Is your system going to regcognize that you made a name change and display your score? How about friends list? I don't think Sony planned everything out very well.

I don't think friend would be a huge hurdle, as you simply change one key in the relation. Leaderboards could be a problem tho, especially if they are hosted by third parties servers
 
Moral of the story - make your username consist of your name. Same with email address. It's the only name you won't regret.

I learnt that lesson 14 years ago after many emails consisting of solidsnakesdavidh, tokkan, finalfantasyforever etc
Yep, I chose to use my real name for PSN back in 2006, properly capitalized with no numbers attached to it, and I doubt I'll ever grow out of it.
 
Thankfully I used up my awful one on Xbox Live and by the time I got a PS3 I had enough sense to make a not so awful user name. My gamertag must never be uttered aloud these days.
 
Honestly, assuming the current username is the unique key (it sounds like it is), just

1. Create a brand new "Username Display" field.
2. Copy all current usernames to the new field.

Then we can change our usernames at will, and the current username will always be your unique key. Also, most importantly, this won't break the database as it is now.


The problem must be way more complicated but I can't imagine what it could be.
 
Last I checked they weren't making $10 for name changes. Who's giving who the lessons?

Choose wisely! I was kidding, relax. Letting everyone change their name would be a nice feature but good luck coming up with something simple that isn't taken these days.
 
I'm reasonably* sure Sony can, and do change people's names on PSN. They charge for it as I understand, but it can be done for example, in cases of harassment, it's just not a public feature or setting.

source : my friend who called them to do it.

*because it was ages ago, and also UK, where we get treated differently in terms of support.

Either way, yes it would be good as a setting. It would also be bad because of what happens with Steam. Everyone changes their names all the time, and you have no idea who they are. The profile page shows the last few names they used which can help.
 
And leave our +7 year old accounts with 1000s of euro's worth of content and trophies just behind? What a ridiculous response.

You don't lose any content you've purchased since you can keep your old account on your system. I've already done this myself. I use my original account to download ps+ games and older digital purchases, and then switch to my new account to play them. You will lose trophies though, which I personally don't care for, but I understand the attachment and enjoyment people get from them.
 
Just as people with dumb usernames regret their decisions, I'm sure Sony also regrets theirs.

The difference being people picked their dumb usernames after 30 seconds of thought when they were a teenager. Sony has a team of software engineers that spent months developing this...

Granted, if they are actually using the username as the primary key maybe they did hire teenagers that spent 30 seconds to come up with the database schema.
 
The difference being people picked their dumb usernames after 30 seconds of thought when they were a teenager. Sony has a team of software engineers that spent months developing this...

Granted, if they are actually using the username as the primary key maybe they did hire teenagers that spent 30 seconds to come up with the database schema.

"This PSN will never take off, just get it out the door!"
 
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