I don't think the pseud usage we're discussing is abusive. I do think that it's something that can easily become so, and it would be very hard to explain the difference other than as a like us/not like us issue.

As many people have said, I don't mind pseuds if they're either created and used for a specific joke (Clovis, the Ferrets), or if they're alternate logins that can be easily linked up (e.g., Xanderella/Cindy). But when a login is clearly a pseud and it's not clear who for, I can see why people get twitchy.

I wish I had a solution to offer. I don't. It would be nice if pseuds put who they were in their userinfo so anyone who was curious could check, but I don't think that should be a requirement. And if there was sockpuppet havoc someday, we could always invoke the "demon-like behavior" clause of our TOS, while still letting the ferrets and the lurkers frolic.

Two more things:

I'm fine with things like the ferrets or zombies posting as ferrets or zombies, especially since it's generally pretty clear who the actual person behind it is.

This may be a skimming-related issue, or a not-being-in-all-the-threads issue, or just me being oblivious, but I have no idea who types for any of the pseuds except Clovis. I assume the ferrets are victor-or-thessaly, because they're the ones who have ferrets, but I wouldn't put money on that.

I'd mentioned my "lurkers support" idea a few days back, and figured since I mentioned it ahead of time, there would be no "we're being played" issue. I must have mentioned it in Spoilers.

I'm sure you said this, but honestly? I remember the "lurkers support" conversation. I don't especially remember who said what. Even if I did, I couldn't have guaranteed that the Lurkers ID was you and not someone else who read the post and thought it was a cute idea.

I've been reading this discussion going, hmmmm... and ahhh...and, well, I had to change my psued about a year ago...and I had to do it without making an announcement on the board...not for board reasons, but for personal reasons. So, I totally get where Cindy is coming from here. While her personal reasons for not wanting to be "Cindy" and my personal reasons for changing from "vw bug" to "Elphaba" are very different, they were still personal reasons...ones that had basically nothing to do with the board.

I at first wasn't going to post, because I ususally just lurk in bureaucracy, but since I have some personal experience with doing this on this board, I thought I'd poke my head in.

People didn't seem to have a problem when I did this a year ago. I felt badly, because there was no way I could let everyone on the board know of my name change. I tried to let as many people know through backchannel, but it was very important that I seemed like a new member of the board, and I was somewhat treated as such. So, I couldn't put it in my tagline or anything.

Shit happens. People need to do things differently in their lives. If that includes changing their psued so they can stay a part of the Buffistas on a different level, and they're not doing it for problem-causing reasons, I don't see why this is such a big deal. I guess I felt the need to post, because now I'm all wow-I-wonder-if-I-caused-this-big-of-a-fuss-when- I-did-this-oh-but-yeah-it's-not-all-about-me-ish. I mean, I get why it may seem a little unfair to people not in the know, but honestly, if the person's not causing trouble...

And, see, VW, that's exactly why it's so hard to make up Principles about this stuff. If someone has RL reasons for needing to change their login without an announcement, it's ridiculous and petty to say they can't.

It's all case-by-case. Cindy posting as the lurkers didn't bother me, and neither did your name change. But I can so easily imagine a circumstance in which a name change or second login *would* be worrysome.

Yeah, that's true. 'Cause I had no problem with your change, and I didn't know about it personally. And 'cause there obviously is room for abuse.

But anyway, right now I think we're pretty much okay with where we are and where things stand right now, yes? We're just talking, hashing it out, and there isn't action we need to take?

A post in GWW from a new-ish person made me think:

Ought "-ma" be in the FAQ? Like health-ma, job-ma, Wonderfalls-ma? We all request it rather frequently, so maybe an explanation is in order.

Deb's explanation is succinct and rather good, here: deborah grabien "The Great Write Way" Mar 13, 2004 12:43:13 pm PST

I assume the ferrets are victor-or-thessaly, because they're the ones who have ferrets, but I wouldn't put money on that.

For the record--Thessaly is the ferrets, I'm the remote-controleld robot zombies. Both are intended for humour's sake only.

I always thought the robots were MM, huh, color me stupid.

So did I, ND. I have no idea why, though. (I try not to think too hard about that kind of thing, because then when I'm wrong I feel really stupid.)

For the record: Don't care about pseudonyms that aren't being used maliciously, though they do occasionally make me feel a little foolish for not knowing who they are. Am not at all interested in defining "maliciously." Think the daily deathmatch announcements are on-topic for Press.

I think it should be noted here that Cindy only posted as "Lurkers" as anything other than lurkers after someone brought up their discomfort for the sockpuppet psueds. And, as I think she said, she posted subsequently as "Lurkers" because that's what she happened to be logged in as.

Granted, as someone who just changed from one psued to another (that includes my real first name, fyi), I'm expresssing some solidarity here, I think.

Oh, and since I'm in here, the deathmatch announcements drive me batshit. I try to just deal with it and skip though.