Is there a way to do so? I'd now rather have a less 'it's me' username than the one I have. Not thinking when I made my account back in the day, I didn't realize any one who searched names could find posts via google xD Not that I post anything I'd want hidden but just the point of it all. I'd feel better being under some crazy cool name than the current one.

No, you'd have to make a new account.

A new profile? Eggggggggghhhhhhhhhh..... no.

I'd rather not. xD I'll just stay with the tried and true then. Thanks for the reply. Appreciated.

You bring up a good point.
When us unsuspecting newbies first log on,how are we to know how stupid our usernames can be.

Not saying yours is,but in general.
Just wishing I could be just kdog,you know?
Is there another kdog on here I don't know about and haven't run across yet?

@Moderators

i am surprised that user aliases cannot be changed.

surely a simple SQL UPDATE command can be used to alter the existing alias to the new one as long as the new alias is unique ?

i am sure the user's record can be referenced via its ID and EMAIL fields or even the IP_ADDRESS field if there is one.

Does the SQL DB have a unique ID field ?

I can see where they wouldn't want to let people switch the names due to the social interactions that take place and "stalking" that could happen.

However, it would be nice if they could somehow open it up to people given a set of "hoops to jump through" to prevent people from doing it on a whim. Perhaps a waiting period in addition to an "application" to fill out and have considered by the admins.

I have no doubt they are capable of changing the names but choose not to for very good reasons. I can imagine people who would change their name every other week or so and use the name change to do less than honorable things, pick fights, stalk others, many things that aren't at all related to a few who would like to just change their names one time due to personal growth or other reasons. I can't fault them for not making that an option. It's much easier and more consistent to say "no name changes" and keeps people from getting up in arms about "well you let so and so change their name...". It would be a major headache.

If it's very important to you to change the name, you can contact a mod or admin and speak with them and they would most likely walk you through creating a new account and "cancelling" your old one (can't have two accounts, not allowed for additional obvious reasons). You have to make the choice of keeping the account you have built and making a new account and "starting over". Although it's not an ideal situation, it's one that keeps things equivalent for all.

On a related note, I have two relatives on ATS who use my computer/internet service for their accounts. I was asked about them by a mod due to the same IP address being used. Of course after I told them who it was and why, they were fine with that. It's good to know they actually check those things though because it could get rather complicated if they didn't.

dont worry .. if you have nothing to hide .. your okay !
i have my name and my yrs of birth in mine
thats pretty much personal .. but its who i am
i prefer to have my real name then hidding behind an anonymous nick
that could make people think i have something to hide

I have an sugestion: there should be an option to change username, BUT - only once!
For example, first you'd register, and then you'd have wait for some time (I don't know, lets say 6 months), and after that you could change your username, but you should only have one chance, so you would be pretty careful what nickname to finaly choose.

I can see the reasons why this option is not available.

Take this into account. I Quote you, your name shows up in the quote I just did. You change your user name.
People browse thread later and become confused, because I am quoting a user that does not exist anymore.

The only way they could fix this problem is quote a user id number and have php sort out a sql query when it builds the thread page.

But why do this when its just going to be confusing for moderators, to keep a eye on people causing trouble.