although I can't see how anyone's going to find these usernames if they aren't voting or posting, etc.

Honestly, they could vote on hundreds of SCPs before anyone noticed their name, votes aren't logged at all. And since self-upvoting is now acceptable and counts towards vote totals, staff don't have a reason to as thoroughly skim through (or often, even check) the actual vote makeup.

That aside, the possibility is that someone signs up with an official-sounding name and sends PMs to people directly, never commenting on the site and therefore never being noticed. And/or newer people might message them directly because sufficiently savvy newer people might indeed comb through their votes and contact "Site Admin SuperFriend" directly. Both these things have actually happened repeatedly (if rarely) over the years without official-sounding names, so it's not unrealistic to suggest.

That said, it still does seem like a long shot, so I dunno.

Also, everyone keep in mind that whatever we decide, enforcement will never be perfect. Admins (can) get a running tally of everyone who joins the site (I do), and we could go through to regularly identify iffy names, but that's never going to be consistent.

"What do you mean, my project is a license violation/not condoned or endorsed by staff? I asked an admin, they said it was totally okay!"

"I was told I had to immediately delete my article or I'd be banned."¹

I think we have to be proactive here. There's some pretty damaging ways it could blow up in our faces, and it's just not worth chancing it.

Unless someone becomes active on the site, we don't actively 'seek and destroy' them when they have a username we'd have previously not allowed. If we notice them voting, posting, etc., then I think we should feel free, but a lot of people join and never actually return.

Sure. Whatever staff think is best, and so far I don't see many objections.

I also don't object to a courtesy form letter, if others agree with Zyn on that too. I think every username like this is a problem waiting to happen, but I also think we over-moderate newbies to an excessive degree, so I'm willing to back off this on principle.

Unless someone becomes active on the site, we don't actively 'seek and destroy' them when they have a username we'd have previously not allowed. If we notice them voting, posting, etc., then I think we should feel free, but a lot of people join and never actually return.

Site Admin Zinos

Obviously that's an unacceptable name. They haven't posted yet, so it's not as easy to revoke them, and I'm low on time right now. Can someone send them a PM asking them to change their name?

(Edited this into the OP with more info, but edits are easily missed, so posting separately.)

EDIT: Or feel free to edit it directly, of course, since you're just as much of an admin as I am~

08/23 - Admin Sam (profile here). Troy revoked, I sent PM.

ETA: changed their username to iBelieve. I received a PM about it.

As upsetting receiving this is, I understand the error I've made. Thank you for bringing this up.

With the new join system, we can no longer deny people's apps who use names like "SCP-LOL", etc.

Currently, I think we'll need to deal with inappropriate usernames by revocation, and banning if they join again without changing their username.

If you see a user with an inappropriate user name, please flag them as abusive BEFORE reporting them. Remember you must flag them from a page on the SCP wiki, not their wikidot profile.

As before, I don't think we need to consider this a disciplinary issue. If they change their name appropriately, we let them back in, no harm, no foul, even if we had them banned. Does not count as a warning or a step in the disciplinary process or anything like that. A ban would just be to force them to deal with the issue.

Currently, the Join Page reads as follows RE: usernames:

Usernames:

• No usernames with "SCP" or "O5" or "Class D" or an SCP number. No usernames with a character or SCP that isn't yours. If you have a username like this, your account may be removed until you change it.
  • If you need to change your username: Go here and click on Edit next to your username. You can only change your username twice per account, so be careful.

Suggested Form Letters:

First Incident (Revoke):

Your SCP Foundation account was revoked because of: Having an inappropriate user name, "[NAME]". This name is not allowed because [REASON]. Please correct this mistake and rejoin. If you have any questions, please feel free to respond to this message, or ask another staff member in our [http://05command.wikidot.com/chat help chat (#site17)].

Second Incident (Temporary Ban):

Your SCP Foundation account was temporarily banned because of: Having an inappropriate user name, "[NAME]". This name is not allowed because [REASON]. If you correct this mistake, your account will be unbanned. After you've changed your name, please contact staff to ask them to unban your account. You may do so by responding to this message, or by joining our [http://05command.wikidot.com/chat help chat (#site17)].

EDIT: Made it so you can copy the form letters directly. Feel free to suggest tweaks.

If this becomes a major issue, we can start temp-banning up-front, and keep the rest of the process the same.

EDIT x2: If the username is unambiguously in error, and no admin is handy, there's no reason a moderator can't send a different PM to ask them to change. Suggested form letter for that:

Your SCP Foundation account has an inappropriate user name, "[NAME]". This name is not allowed because [REASON]. Please change this name, or your account may be revoked.

If you have any questions, please feel free to respond to this message, or ask another staff member in our [http://05command.wikidot.com/chat help chat (#site17)].

Be careful with this, though — judging ambiguously inappropriate usernames should have more outside input than obvious stuff like "D-1010101" and "TheRealKondraki". (I know I've misjudged a couple on my own, which is why I always ask others.)