Even better, allow the user to customize the number within a range, 1 through 9999 for example. This is how platforms like Discord currently handle their usernames and it works extremely well from my experience. Okay… the day after i post this Discord announces that they’re switching to pretty much the exact same system Roblox currently uses… 
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Having a certain time between name changes would surely be more beneficial and lower the time Usernames are changed
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but what’s preventing the same people taking good usernames now to also take those?
Good take. The way I see it is that whoever you are theres always going to be somebody with a cooler name than you, and theres always going to be someone with a name you want. Not all the names are taken since there is always something new and cool coming out.
I know a guy named Minecraft who started in 2012. Nobody had that name before 2012 because Minecraft didn’t exist. Now its a cool name nobody would have though of before the game came out- he just claimed it first.
Edit: i misinterpreted what you were saying. Thats my big gripe with this idea too. Somebody is going to botsnipe all the names within 10 minutes just for fun. There is no way around that.
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You can still get good usernames, for example I easily got OnlyTwentyCha_acters for an alt that I used to test the limited prank on. I got no items though. But it is hard to get clean usernames with minimal numbers/characters. You gotta get lucky I guess…
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Yeah, I wished after like 10 years of inactivity usernames would be recycled in some way.
I wish I could be SpeedySanik instead of SpeedySanikJr
Sadly seems like it’s never going to happen due to how Roblox is set up and the lack of care/need. Especially with display names being a thing.
Not EVERY username. I managed to score a 9-letter one, and just when I thought every word in the dictionary was already taken.
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No, this is going to cause more impersonation. This will not work as it is intended to.
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How?
There wouldn’t be as much impersonation, how?
I believe old usernames should just expire after 90 days, similar to how they do so on groups.
As for usernames of old users from accounts that haven’t been active for years, theres not much roblox can do, maybe adopt Discord’s discriminator system (but properly implement it so there cant only be 9999 Garys’). It still creates a few issues with “verified” users but surely verified, high-profile, and older (still active) accounts get priority
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You can still easily get 5 letter usernames.
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Idea: if a username is changed, open up the old one. They aren’t using it anymore. Or do what discord used to do, and have the randomized tag at the end that is hidden, until you open their profile. The latter is better long term, but the former is perfect short term. We also have UserIds, so that can be used to help. Display names have helped a bit, but don’t fix the issue.
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Boo-hoo…
It’s still entirely possible to get a clean, recognizable looking username on Roblox. You just need to be creative, accept that certain things will be long gone (CheetaSpeed for example) and work around it. Think of a thing a bit more niche than one of the most well-known animals. Like a videogame or movie character. Still taken? Don’t resort to numbers, add some pizzazz, try something unique and different.
How would you even “recycle” usernames? Ban the account? Uncool. Replace it with a default username? Would they have to pay 1k robux to get a new one? Discriminators? How does this solve the issue of needing a unique, recognizable username? Might as well just add 4 numbers to your username.
Get a shitty username and use display names, or try harder. My name is not the greatest, but I got it.
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I don’t understand why we need an unique username as far as we got an unique id …
I think that could be cool to make every username unlocked but lock verified users username !
Have a nice day !
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I guess it made sense to have unique usernames at first, as searching by Id would be awful, but once you get to a stage where you’re adding an id code to the end anyway it seems pointless.
My username wasn’t my first choice (obviously I’m so cool), so I went with something ridiculous that no-one else could possibly have… Then tried that approach a few times before getting Wigglyaa. (Really didn’t want numbers).
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Roblox’s population is mostly kids. They would definitely not remember what their favorite YouTuber’s “tag” is. A kid would most likely see “omg my favorite youtuber is in the game” and could potentially get scammed by the impersonator.
Do the same thing they do to users whenever a celebrity event or sponsorship happens, change their username. Obviously Roblox wouldn’t recycle usernames of people who are actively using the platform or well-known users. Most people who have these “good” names are people who played the game in the late 2000s early 2010s for maybe a few years and then ultimately stopped playing. That username is just another name that was taken and is just stuck to that one specific user forever because there is no way to recycle it.
A good proposal is one that @woot3 had made years ago:
What’s worse is banned accounts still take usernames. I would much rather have my new account (after an incident with roblox moderation) to be “Chaos_Geo” instead of “Chaos_GeoAlt”. In addition, this means if someone else randomly decided “My account will be Chaos_Geo”, they can’t, because my banned main account takes that username.
Now, this could get confusing because Devforum exists, but then why not just delete accounts on the Devforum that are deleted on Roblox? It’s not that hard, as Roblox already has an HTTP request that can tell you if a user is banned
Terminated accounts need to retain their usernames for a least a bit of time, as the owner can appeal and under the slim chance they were false banned, they may be unterminated.
Additionally, terminated accounts show as inactive on old friend lists allowing you to see old friends who may have gotten terminated
True, and I was somewhat thinking of retaining usernames for a short time and that someone might bring it up (although I did not include it in my post). This would also help with impersonation since, say, a famous youtuber who was false banned for whatever reason would not be able to be impersonated. Maybe larger creators (like star creators or Roblox verified users) would keep their username long enough for people to forget about them if they were banned.
You are right about the friends list, although Roblox could store their username with the UserId (so that the friends list can still show the correct account and username and/or display name) However, I do not know how the friends list works, and I’m not a Roblox engineer so…
It is important to note that you cannot view the pages of banned accounts, and since the user page URL references UserId and not username, users getting to the wrong page (as the result of the friends list) should not be a problem.
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Roblox removes names like Gucci and gives them to brands because names like Gucci are trademarked. You haven’t trademarked whatever name you want, and you aren’t collaborating with Roblox, so I don’t understand why you guys think you have a right to the generic name you want.
When you make a Roblox account, you own it, and everything on it (well, technically you don’t, but Roblox gives you it, so to keep it simple, let’s just say you own it). Why is anyone else entitled to it? Would you like it if things in your house that went unused for a certain amount of time disappeared? I wouldn’t
But, let’s theoretically say your idea is implemented. In the current Roblox climate, any rare names that get released from an inactive account will be sniped in minutes, maybe even seconds. There’s a reason why all the “good names” were taken up to 17 years ago: because they’re most likely generic as all hell and a thousand people have had the same idea.
Let’s discuss impersonation. You addressed that saying that well-known users should keep their usernames? But now, who constitutes as “well-known?” Obviously, large devs, but what about minor “celebrities” like WoodReviewer or well-known accounts like Bob? What about the usernames of potentially terminated controversial users like jaredvaldez or MisterObvious, which I’m sure certain Roblox users would kill to obtain and abuse? So many usernames of terminated accounts will be floating around. Want to pretend to be an infamous pedophile? Well, if you are quick enough, you can, at least in your ideal reality. Like it or not, having terminated accounts keep their usernames is a pretty huge shield against impersonation of Bad actors. As you can see, so many aspects to consider. I’m sure you’ll have a rebuttal, and I’m sure it can be shot down easily. So hit me with your best.
The simple fact is that this issue has been addressed. Since 2018 (the original date this post was… posted), Roblox introduced display names! So now you can have any name you want (within reason). This was the best and simplest solution.
If this seems like a long post, think about being a Roblox engineer, having to discuss every single thing that could go right or wrong and the implement all this. Hellish, right?
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