For several years since 2018, the Megaserver was the main center of operations for Flairwars. During this early era, Discord nicknames were required to be the same as one’s Reddit username. Although each year during the holiday season, users were allowed to temporarily select their own custom nicknames as a sort-of present from the Moderators. However, since then, the tides have turned with the Megaserver becoming a free-for-all of nicknames with a lack of moderation with respect to the determined set of rules for nicknames. In the interim from this change to the present day was a call from myself as a former Flairwars Moderator and longtime Yellow leader to set the stage for a revival for Flairwars. Part of this revival requires effective infrastructure in order for it to be successful with one key component of this infrastructure being the reversion of nicknames to their previous form. Last week, there was a poll in #revisions-voting discussing the future of nicknames and a large majority of voters agreed with reverting nicknames. However, the fact that the Moderators decided against doing so is incredibly disappointing and played a role in my recent leaving of the Megaserver. This post will make the case for Reddit usernames on the Megaserver because we are an inherently Reddit-based community, the difficulties in ascertaining someone’s identity, and its necessity for the revival of Flairwars.

The fact of the matter is that the foundation of Flairwars is Reddit itself and the connection to Reddit must be made apparent. To begin with, Flairwars’s primary source of new users, accounting for well over a majority of our active users, is Reddit. Whether it be from r/wowthissubexists or otherwise, we need Reddit to maintain our community. There is no reliable source of new users besides Reddit and it has been clear that the degradation of Flairwars over the last few years can be attributed, at least in part, to the fact that Reddit-side recruiting efforts have not regularly continued since 2019. We are fundamentally Reddit-based and this relationship ought to be secured by having our Reddit usernames readily accessible, and to do otherwise would be a disservice to ourselves.

Furthermore, by not requiring reverting to the previous system, it is especially difficult to know the identity of a user. Since 2021, there has been a noticeable absence in the Moderators’ responsibility to maintain the nicknames of Discord users. No matter if the Moderators’ recent announcement that they are going to fix this concern by “cracking down” when it is not always going to be possible to do so. Especially since the Moderators are still planning on executing my revival plan, it is going to be mightily difficult (if the revival is successful) to explain to each and every new user the nickname rule. As well, it may be a strong turn-off unless such a reverting of the nickname rule is already in place. In reverting nicknames, it will also become much easier to moderate the Megaserver. Either way, with the introduction of color servers in 2019, it is more difficult to know who is who when there are dozens of users who only make themselves known on the color servers who seek to avoid the Megaserver as much as possible. By reverting to the old system, this would not be a problem as it is impossible to mistake who is who by a mere glance of the eyes. Though, some of you may argue that this is not a problem and there is no reason to be concerned with such but there is a strong annoyance to our current situation. From personal experience writing an article for the Yellow newspaper, I had to DM many people in order to correctly identify their Reddit usernames. Especially as Flairwars is hoped to become more active and complex with the revival, this occurrence will become more of a norm than once in a while encounter. Therefore, we must revert to the previous system of nicknames in order to easily recognize other users within Flairwars.

In regards to the revival of Flairwars, a necessity that I have developed in my plans is an emphasis on infrastructure. If anyone has heard and listened to my long, drawn-out rants on the state of Flairwars, you would know how important this concept is whether you have heard it by this name or not. In my thoughts, infrastructure refers to the preexisting frameworks in Flairwars that helps new users transition from a curious visitor to a well-acquainted member of Flairwars, or even an inactive member to an active consumer. These frameworks can be anything from guides to easily accessible events. As well, under this definition, Reddit usernames as Discord nicknames are a vital component to such infrastructure as it allows for an easy transition for such curious visitors. It only takes a few, specially-placed bricks to be removed before the whole wall collapses, and though it may not seem like it, we need to revert to the previous system of nicknames for the sake of the revival.

At the end of it all, I know many of you reading this will dislike my thoughts and I know that an even greater number will not take the time to read this. Either way, those who dislike my thoughts would seek to think that it disturbs the self-expression on the Megaserver. You are correct in this assumption; however, it is necessary for the reasons I have previously discussed. Nonetheless, if you want a change in taste, you are freely allowed to change your usernames at the discretion of the Flairwars Moderators. As well, the original conception for nicknames in the old system was that for the holiday season, users were allowed to temporarily change their usernames for a short time. For the Moderators, if you think that changing usernames will be too difficult or too time-consuming, use the Minimods for once. For the better part of two years, they have been virtually useless, being paid for doing nothing. Hell, I’ll do it myself if you want me to. Though, after everything, the choice of the Moderators to not revert the nickname rule despite the overwhelming support for such a change was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. The Moderators have already been very difficult in communications during this time of hopeful revival and not going through with the change disillusioned me. So, to those who are still reading, send me a funny meme and please voice support for reverting to the old nickname system because we are a Reddit community at-heart, the difficulties in determining someone’s identity, and the simple fact that we need vital infrastructure for such a large-scale Flairwars revival.

TL;DR

Revert nicknames to the old system because we’re a Reddit community, easier to see who is who, and it’s necessary for FW revival.