- Messages
- 53,732
- OOC First Name
- Nick
- Blood Status
- Pure Blood
- Relationship Status
- Married
- Wand
- Curly Oak/Wenge 16" Essence of Feng-huang Tail Feather
- Age
- 1/1989
As suggested here, I am going to outline for you all the risks associated with giving away accounts for different charters, and why the staff are uneasy about it and advise caution when it occurs.
There are plenty of small reasons and nuisances for why accounts should not change owners. One of these is that warning history is attached to a member's account, so if an account with a high warning level is traded off to another user, the staff may never know and the history will effect the account in the future (any future infractions will count more severely against them, etc.).
Another small reason is that previous posts are also attached to the account. This is an annoying problem when considering a variety of OOC posts. Previous OOC posts would be applicable to the old owner, newer ones would apply to the new owner and the inconsistencies may confuse newer members (and probably me, as well).
However, both of those reasons lend themselves easily to the idea that we should just create a formal system for changing account ownership, run it for the site, and keep track of everything that way. The two larger reasons, however, diminish that idea.
There is currently an error in ZetaBoards where when you try to change an account's email address to the email of another account already registered on the board, an error appears which reads "Error: The email address you entered is already in use for another account." This error appears despite board settings allowing for multiple users registered to the same email address. This eventually means that the new owner of an account either has to use a new email for every account where they want to change the email (which is excessive), or they never change the email (allowing the old account owner to simply reset the password on a whim), or PMing an admin to have them change the email attached to the account in the Admin CP (effective, but causes more unneeded work).
The largest reason that changing the owner of an account isn't encouraged is that there have been, and will likely always be, disputes about who actually owns the account. Or misunderstandings about if an account is to be temporarily used by another person, or if it's being permanently handed over. In both of these situations, people only get upset and sometimes hurt then staff have to either mediate the conflict or turn a blind eye. Who has more rights to an account, though? The person who came up with the idea, spent time fleshing it out, and then felt like they had to give up the account, or the person who took up the account, changed the password and email, and is currently using it? It's a very tough call, and the decision wouldn't be made any easier with a formal system. Surely both users would have some claim to it, and resolving the dispute would be nothing but a headache for everybody involved.
In addition to the above reasons, I also feel that the ability to simply hand over an account to another person shows a distinct lack of dedication to one's characters. If you create an account, you should feel that you have the time to develop and role-play the character. Many people create an excessive amount of accounts, realize how much work they can be, then hand off the ones they don't use as much. If you have a good idea for a character, but know you don't have the time for them: don't create the account. Or give the idea to another person who does have room for another character instead of trying to use the character on your own at first.
There is also always the option of simply making an account inactive. Whether they're inactive for a week, a month, a year, or for the rest of the time HNZ is on the Internet, it is likely the best solution there is most of the time. In HNZ's past, accounts were often deleted when users no longer had the time to use them or they weren't logged in to after a certain number of months. People soon came to regret that their accounts were deleted as they found time for those characters again, or had new ideas for their plots. I feel that this trend of giving away one's "excess" characters will lead to the same results as deleting accounts did. People will come to regret giving away an account and desire to have it returned to them. The simplest solution is to have one's account made inactive, then to take it back whenever you feel like it.
Hopefully this makes sense to you all, and you can appreciate some of the points given in it.
While I do realize that sometimes it is just necessary for an account to change hands for other plots to continue (especially if a user is leaving), this is not always the case, and as this trend becomes more in vogue it is becoming even less frequently a necessary step.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this analysis, or additional points for consideration, I would encourage you to send me a personal message.
Thank you,
~Nick
There are plenty of small reasons and nuisances for why accounts should not change owners. One of these is that warning history is attached to a member's account, so if an account with a high warning level is traded off to another user, the staff may never know and the history will effect the account in the future (any future infractions will count more severely against them, etc.).
Another small reason is that previous posts are also attached to the account. This is an annoying problem when considering a variety of OOC posts. Previous OOC posts would be applicable to the old owner, newer ones would apply to the new owner and the inconsistencies may confuse newer members (and probably me, as well).
However, both of those reasons lend themselves easily to the idea that we should just create a formal system for changing account ownership, run it for the site, and keep track of everything that way. The two larger reasons, however, diminish that idea.
There is currently an error in ZetaBoards where when you try to change an account's email address to the email of another account already registered on the board, an error appears which reads "Error: The email address you entered is already in use for another account." This error appears despite board settings allowing for multiple users registered to the same email address. This eventually means that the new owner of an account either has to use a new email for every account where they want to change the email (which is excessive), or they never change the email (allowing the old account owner to simply reset the password on a whim), or PMing an admin to have them change the email attached to the account in the Admin CP (effective, but causes more unneeded work).
The largest reason that changing the owner of an account isn't encouraged is that there have been, and will likely always be, disputes about who actually owns the account. Or misunderstandings about if an account is to be temporarily used by another person, or if it's being permanently handed over. In both of these situations, people only get upset and sometimes hurt then staff have to either mediate the conflict or turn a blind eye. Who has more rights to an account, though? The person who came up with the idea, spent time fleshing it out, and then felt like they had to give up the account, or the person who took up the account, changed the password and email, and is currently using it? It's a very tough call, and the decision wouldn't be made any easier with a formal system. Surely both users would have some claim to it, and resolving the dispute would be nothing but a headache for everybody involved.
In addition to the above reasons, I also feel that the ability to simply hand over an account to another person shows a distinct lack of dedication to one's characters. If you create an account, you should feel that you have the time to develop and role-play the character. Many people create an excessive amount of accounts, realize how much work they can be, then hand off the ones they don't use as much. If you have a good idea for a character, but know you don't have the time for them: don't create the account. Or give the idea to another person who does have room for another character instead of trying to use the character on your own at first.
There is also always the option of simply making an account inactive. Whether they're inactive for a week, a month, a year, or for the rest of the time HNZ is on the Internet, it is likely the best solution there is most of the time. In HNZ's past, accounts were often deleted when users no longer had the time to use them or they weren't logged in to after a certain number of months. People soon came to regret that their accounts were deleted as they found time for those characters again, or had new ideas for their plots. I feel that this trend of giving away one's "excess" characters will lead to the same results as deleting accounts did. People will come to regret giving away an account and desire to have it returned to them. The simplest solution is to have one's account made inactive, then to take it back whenever you feel like it.
Hopefully this makes sense to you all, and you can appreciate some of the points given in it.
While I do realize that sometimes it is just necessary for an account to change hands for other plots to continue (especially if a user is leaving), this is not always the case, and as this trend becomes more in vogue it is becoming even less frequently a necessary step.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this analysis, or additional points for consideration, I would encourage you to send me a personal message.
Thank you,
~Nick