Discord: Old names are history, everyone must choose a new one

The communication service Discord, originally focused on gaming, has long since arrived in the mainstream and can be found in almost every conceivable area of network life. Now the messenger is taking a step that is long overdue, because the names are being changed.

Because Discord has announced that the previous four-digit or numeric distinguishing features will be abolished. Because user names are currently structured according to the pattern “Name#1234”, in the future there should only be unique nicknames. However, nothing or not much will change on the individual servers, as there will still be display names there.

in one blog post Stanislav Vishnevskiy explains why the decision was made to make this change: “When Jason and I first developed Discord in 2015, there were only a handful of us working on the product and I was personally in charge of the design and the Responsible for programming our username and identity systems.”
Discord’s old (left) and new naming system

A lot has changed since then, also because Discord’s popularity has really exploded. “The point of these changes is that we want to make it easier for you and all new users coming to Discord to connect and hang out with friends,” writes Vishnevskiy. The co-founder says that while the previous names were unique to Discord, the current changes align them with many other platforms. But: “To put it bluntly, that’s the point.”

More and more problems with old names

Vishnevskiy explains that the discriminator names cause headaches and many users do not even know where they come from and what they are suitable for. The easiest way to compare the new system to Twitter is that every user has a unique @username and a freely selectable display name. The latter also allows special characters, emoji and the like.

The disadvantage of the changeover: Each individual user has to make a change. This is staggered, with Discord veterans getting priority. That means: the longer you’ve been a member, the faster you’ll get a chance. This means that these users have more choices when it comes to @names. The old nicks are not switched off immediately, but are linked to the new nomenclature – so that you can be found by previous Discord friends.

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Summary