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No, everything does not, go, ., unless you have mistaken Barbelith for the Finsbury Garage. Keep your examples pertinent for maximum impact.
Now, onto the matter at hand. Well, there's precedent, says the board historian. Long names have now been prevented through technical application. Howwwwever:
1) There was a technical reason for that - long enough names without spaces knackered the frames. This is also why moderators go around every so often dealing with posts containing dozens of words strung together without spacing to indicate high emotion - they break the field. Punctuation marks for names don't do that.
2) If we need to track down somebody's previous actions - for example, to discover if they have the behaviour patterns of a troll - then we can ask Tom. In the absence of the "view posters' recent posts" function, which was _withdrawn_ precisely to prevent its abuse by trolls, that's the best we can do - which I think is actually not a terrible thing, as it means we only do this when it is necessary and are not encouraged to do it simply to settle scores. The collective memory of Barbelith is often just as useful - see the dead babies, or rather don't.
3) Having said which, there *are* problems associated with using a single punctuation mark as a name - mainly, it will make punctuation confusing and interfere with people's ability to respond comprehensively, or indeed to remember who you are. You also risk people thinking you are Modzero.
I don't think that's an argument for control, though. I think Barbelith should manage by exception, generally. If people want to have silly names, they are largely, within the technical capabilities of the board, free to do so, as long as they are not "passing off". |
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