Steam account name change

[Disgustipated]

I know this isn't possible (atleast...yet), but I'd be more than willing to pay a fee of like 10$ to change my steam account name. Seeing as how my name is an old and long hotmail account I used back in 2003. :rolleyes:

Seriously, I am more than willing to make such a payment. I just don't want to be stuck buying all my games back which would ammount to about a 100$.

[L.o.D.]

Why would you need to buy them back?

[Disgustipated]

It was my understanding that in order to get a new account name I would have to make a new account and buy back the games listed under my current account.

Is that right?

[L.o.D.]

But is it really worth the hassle just to change a name that only you would ever see?
It's not worth it.

[Disgustipated]

I know. This is why I don't want to buy all my games again and ponder about how it would be nice to have a account name change service. Hence, me posting under the Suggestions/Ideas board.

I mean isn't this another way Steam could profit? There should be some heads turning over at Steam. :)

[Matt]

If you want to buy your games again all for the sake of having a new account name, then go for it. Do whatever floats your boat.

[Disgustipated]

This really seems to be the only solution, uh? I guess I'll tough it out.

Maybe it'll show up someday, though I doubt it. If it does I know I'll be happy about it.

[City Builder]

I'd like to change my account name as well. When I first signed up it was because of a game that I bought in the local store that required me to setup a steam account so I named the account some off the wall name that was related to the game in a way that I know, unfortunately, if I ever had to install steam on my alternate computers, I'd never actually remember what the name is (I know I should write it down somewhere but...). So I'd love to be able to actually change my username on my steam account.

I wait until the day they actually offer that. I'm sure if they took the proper precautions (maybe make people actually call in to verify it) they should be able to accomplish it.

[razvan252]

heres an idea: client falls for phisher's scam by giving his info, phisher changes password then pays 10$ to change the name of a 200+$ account, phisher gets himself a nice new account and client gets ♥♥♥♥♥. it would be a lot harder for valve to verify the original owner. i know you could do that with the steam id but i have no idea what my steam id is.

[Entro-P]

... or you can just change it here:

http://steamcommunity.com/id/<your-current-id-here>/edit

[Pegas]

that's just the profile name, not the one they sign into steam with.

that said, other people see and search for the profile name don't they? so what's the point?

[Phyxion]

I have to agree that I would like to see more abilities to change your profile, not only your profilename but like I asked before, also the ability to reset your profile. But it seems no one from Valve actually reads this since I still haven't got any reply.

[razvan252]

I have to agree that I would like to see more abilities to change your profile, not only your profilename but like I asked before, also the ability to reset your profile. But it seems no one from Valve actually reads this since I still haven't got any reply.

no offense but neither do you. what would stop me from "reseting" your profile if i get your acount and pw. what would stop my bro form doing that to mine? what would stop anyone that uses my pc?

[ReBoot]

I don't really get the point of changing the Steam account name. You don't have to tell it anyone. People can contact you by your Steam community name, server plugins do remember your SteamID. You're the only one who ever gets in touch with the Steam account name. So how does it matter?

[Tibo]

Why not ask something for free before saying you (so others) are willing to pay for a useless feature?
I'd like it too, as I'm in the same situation, but it's not really important imo

[MikeyChaos]

Yeah, I'd like to see this feature added in the future. I hate to bump threads but this would help profit Valve.

My account name is the same as my username for these forums. I used to like it in the beginning because it was my nickname(Mikey) combined with some random violence-associated word. However, I recently learned that scene kids enjoy taking their names and adding some random word like that(for example Daniel Destruction lol). A lot of people have asked me if I'm a scene kid because I used to have my profile name be the same thing.

Now I know I can change the profile name but the account name would still remain the same. A lot of people in college ask me what my account name is because they can't add me with the profile name.

[Numerous]

To sum up the thoughts of everyone who knows what they're talking about:
No.

[MikeyChaos]

To sum up the thoughts of everyone who knows what they're talking about:
No.

I'm not saying it's a top priority thing to add but I don't see how it would not be a good thing...:confused:

[Numerous]

I'm not saying it's a top priority thing to add but I don't see how it would not be a good thing...:confused:
And I'm saying, imagine what would happen if you could change your identity in the REAL world, while legally retaining all your possessions.
Basically, serverside bans would be nothing. It means that testing your hacks will cost you $10, and then all servers would allow you back. $10 and no matter how much you've aimbotted, you can go straight back on that server you were on, with a fresh new steam ID.
THAT, among other reasons, is why anyone who knows what they're talking about will say NO.

[ReBoot]

Yeah, I'd like to see this feature added in the future. I hate to bump threads but this would help profit Valve.

My account name is the same as my username for these forums. I used to like it in the beginning because it was my nickname(Mikey) combined with some random violence-associated word. However, I recently learned that scene kids enjoy taking their names and adding some random word like that(for example Daniel Destruction lol). A lot of people have asked me if I'm a scene kid because I used to have my profile name be the same thing.

Now I know I can change the profile name but the account name would still remain the same. A lot of people in college ask me what my account name is because they can't add me with the profile name.Why can't you add you with your profile name? It's not that hard.

[Hit in the Head]

I know this isn't possible (atleast...yet), but I'd be more than willing to pay a fee of like 10$ to change my steam account name. Seeing as how my name is an old and long hotmail account I used back in 2003. :rolleyes:

Seriously, I am more than willing to make such a payment. I just don't want to be stuck buying all my games back which would ammount to about a 100$.

I like this idea as well. I'd love to buy all of my games back, but I'm not rich. I'd pay $10 to change my account name.

[MikeyChaos]

And I'm saying, imagine what would happen if you could change your identity in the REAL world, while legally retaining all your possessions.
Basically, serverside bans would be nothing. It means that testing your hacks will cost you $10, and then all servers would allow you back. $10 and no matter how much you've aimbotted, you can go straight back on that server you were on, with a fresh new steam ID.
THAT, among other reasons, is why anyone who knows what they're talking about will say NO.

The Steam ID? You mean that number that every account has? I'm not talking about changing that, I'm talking about the account username that you log on with.

P.S. They should start banning by IP address and/or MAC address. This would work out a lot better. Besides, CS is cheap nowadays. People will make new accounts anyway.

[MikeyChaos]

Why can't you add you with your profile name? It's not that hard.

People can't add you by searching for your profile nickname.

[ReBoot]

P.S. They should start banning by IP address and/or MAC address. This would work out a lot better. Besides, CS is cheap nowadays. People will make new accounts anyway.Sorry, but this gotta be a joke. Getting a new IP address is a matter of less than 30 seconds. Getting a new MAC too. And FYI: MAC addresses are not exposed on the internet.

[Petchyy]

But...Nobody ever sees it?!

[PenPen]

*facepalm* just. change. your. nickname.

[QuicksilverFin]

Id pay 5 € to change mine..

[ReBoot]

You really take it serious.

[SourceSkyBoxer]

Hello i want to say about Steam Account Change becasue i have still problem with germany's dot domain. like <yourname> @ <domain> . "de"

Now i have problem with Valve Hammer Editor after Compiler error becasue VHE can not save currect director like thsi:

Normal does Valve Hammer Editor save:
./<yourname> @ <domain> . de/half-life/valve/maps/<yourname>.map

What does it happen? Compiler makes crazy to e-mail by Germany.
Why does compiler not save on currect map directory again to Steam Account Name directory
./<yourname> @ <domain> . de/<yourname> @ <domain>.map

Please support for GERMANY!

Becasue Valve Hammer Editor 3.4 has problem at sucking steam account. Why??

I have right. I am angry for Valve Software. I can not change my account name :(

[TempS]

i agree with the op...its amazing a feature so basic hasn't been implemented..

[SourceSkyBoxer]

i agree with the op...its amazing a feature so basic hasn't been implemented..
Oh no that is problem with implement? Okay. No problems.

Did you know about saving map on steam account? In Germany have people been still problems wiith Valve Hammer Editor since e-mail?

[Jepic Phail]

Much like OP here I created my Steam account way back when CS 1.6 came out. I believe Steam specifically asked for your email address and used it as your Steam user name. Just like OP, my user name is an old hotmail email address. I no longer use my hotmail account and it doesn't even exist anymore.

Some of you on this thread are apathetic toward people like OP and I, but you have to remember that back then Steam wasn't a big game distribution channel that it is now. People used Steam because it was the only way you could play CS 1.6 and get other HL mods like HL: DM, TFC, and DoD... I'm sure none us, the early adopters, knew Steam would be this big thing in the game industry and that we would have our entire game collections on Steam. Anyways, because we didn't realize at the time what Steam would become people like OP and I are stuck with old and poorly thought out user names. If I knew I would have all of my games on Steam, I would have been more careful. And I would have not used my throwaway email account (which I used for pr0n).

Anyways, it would be great if users had a chance to change their user name or at least have an option to use their current email addresses (dynamic user name).

:)

[Liu]

I've also asked for this before, I would love to have them just change my account name to something else or at least my current email address.

[HitLines]

Jepic Phail is spot on and thus I am also stuck with a login name that is bound to an abandoned email address. Now you are able to register with a without the email address being part of the login name but not in 1.6 days. I want this feature!

[Amander]

Question: What exactly is the point of changing your Steam account name? It's not like it's public. In fact, you can go by the community name all the time and the only two places you'll ever need your account name are a) when logging in (which happens only once anyway) and b) when asking the support. So why the heck is it important to change it?

[Pilotclan9404]

If you want to buy your games again all for the sake of having a new account name, then go for it. Do whatever floats your boat.

THATS NOT WHAT HES ASKING FOR...

[alphager]

Question: What exactly is the point of changing your Steam account name? It's not like it's public. In fact, you can go by the community name all the time and the only two places you'll ever need your account name are a) when logging in (which happens only once anyway) and b) when asking the support. So why the heck is it important to change it?

I created my Steam-account way back when Steam was first released (A long long time ago in a galaxy far away...). Back then your account-name had to be your email-address. We were forced to use Steam to play Half-Life online, because WOL (Wsomething Sierra Online), the old matchmaking system, was turned off.

Fast-Forward to today, almost seven years later.

Steam is no longer just a way to play Half-Life online, it is a content distribution system. Many email providers went bankrupt in the last seven years. We all matured a bit (some of us married and had kids). Yet we still have to use that old email adress to log in. It's untidy.

[Amander]

Still what is the point? Ok, you have a former email address as your account name but what? How does that matter?

[L.o.D.]

alphager, even if it is an invalid email address, it's now JUST a username to log into the account.
It has no use elsewhere other than the steam community page.

[Rebseh]

Ah, good old cs forcing me to use my old old email as a login.
When people try to find me through my nick, they can never find me and I hate telling them my old email. They are generally thought up by silly young people and not something you want to carry around with you forever!
I support this idea and am boggled by the people who seem to not want it. It can only help.

[Stryk]

The only reason I can see why someone would be so insistent on changing the name is that they are now living with someone that can see it.

Like someone started dating a girl gamer and his user name was TinyPeePee or something. Or an old girlfriend / wife's name. That would be worse.

[TempS]

heres an idea: client falls for phisher's scam by giving his info, phisher changes password then pays 10$ to change the name of a 200+$ account, phisher gets himself a nice new account and client gets ♥♥♥♥♥. it would be a lot harder for valve to verify the original owner. i know you could do that with the steam id but i have no idea what my steam id is.

I really like the idea of being able to change account names, but I would agree this idea makes the proposition worrisome. I'm sure Steam could work out a way to avoid this situation...

[Amander]

Well, the account name change could only be allowed with a verified email address. This way, the phisher gets your pink hearts because the user can keep track of all changes done to the account and undo them easily.

[HoLyCoW]

This really should be implemented by now... I don't understand why Valve does not allow this... even for a small fee. It's as simple a change in a database.

As for me, the reason I don't like my account name is because if I want people to find me, I don't want to have to give them a URL to get to my profile to add me. If I just give them my account name (or post it on my blog/facebook/twitter/etc.), it would be a whole lot shorter to do so.

Although, because of Valve's old restrictions on account names (i.e. email addresses), many people are stuck with account names of email addresses that are no longer valid. In addition to this, it is now a privacy issue as my account name includes part of my real name.

When I signed up for Steam, I was NOT told that people would need this account name in order to find me, thus I never thought the information would be public (which is what lead me to include part of my real name). However, now that it is clear that it would be to my benefit to publicize my account name, however, now this means that 1)I have to give up my right to anonymity on the internet, and 2)that I have to make my personal information public in order to allow me to connect with other players more easily.

Plain and simple, this just sucks.

[edit]
To prevent phishing scams and such, Valve can sell authenticators (http://us.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100000822) like Blizzard does for WoW. I would definitely buy one.

[Amander]

You don't have to give people the full URL, your community name is enough.

[HoLyCoW]

You don't have to give people the full URL, your community name is enough.

But even that is a hassle... they have to open the community page, then copy and paste my community name, then click on add me as a friend.

Why couldn't they just add me as a friend through the "+ Add a Friend..." button? It just doesn't make sense.

If that were the case, why not just get rid of the "+Add a Friend..." button and make everyone swap community names?

[Amander]

The "Add a friend" button should be change to allow searching for community names.

[HoLyCoW]

The "Add a friend" button should be change to allow searching for community names.

That would be nice.... yes, I would certainly be happy with that. That being said however, it's still not the current case and until that happens, it would be great to be able to change my account name.

(Actually, I think I really like the idea of Valve selling authenticators.)

[Amander]

An authentificator might actually cause problems by people believing that they're totally safe with them which they're actually not.

[Yob]

I think there are issues with support and security if they would allow for a account name change.

[mrbign]

It would be nice to be able to do it. Maybe Steam isn't built in a way that makes it possible but that's not the point - it'd be nice to be able to do it and it's a bit rigid to not allow it. This is a suggestion forum after all.

To those asking what difference it makes - obviously it makes a difference to these people because they want it changed. I call myself TJ and so do my friends but if my name was Thomas Pussinboots Jefferson then I might want to change that despite it making no functional difference to anyone but me. My apologies in advance for any Thomas Pussinboots Jefferson out there. :)

[L1ON]

To those asking what difference it makes - obviously it makes a difference to these people because they want it changed.

Aye, it makes a difference to me as well. Early Steam adopters shouldn't be punished in this way.

I think there are issues with support and security if they would allow for a account name change.

There's always a solution to such problems. The verification methods could be made as complex as necessary. You can already change your account name for some of Steam's competitors.

[Amander]

punishedAren't you exaggerating? Just a little bit? Or a much more bigger bit?

[L1ON]

Aren't you exaggerating? Just a little bit? Or a much more bigger bit?

Nope!

[Amander]

Nope!Then explain the harm created by you having an old email address as the Steam account name.

[L1ON]

Then explain the harm created by you having an old email address as the Steam account name.

Let's face it, no one truly wants to have to log into their favorite gaming platform, where they might have spent 100s of dollars with, let's say, TeenageNickname@AbandonedEmail.com and see it in the top right of the software at all times. Mine isn't quite that bad, but I know others that have it worse.

Meanwhile, my friends who joined Steam 5 years later than me log in with things like FirstnameLastname or GamerTag. The primary harm is psychological: it's a consistent inconvenience and annoyance to the people that have already spoken out here.

Additionally, some might say it is a security risk being able to change the login name, but it could also be considered a security risk not being able to change it: if someone unscrupulous manages to discover your account name, then they are already halfway into breaking into your account forever after.

I don't think anyone is saying you should be able to change your account name every 5 minutes, but it's almost always better to have options than to lack them. As I already said, they could implement any variety of verification methods to reduce the risks of allowing this. And they could even make it a paid procedure as has been suggested.

[theirman]

EXACTLY the same issue here. Glad I found an active topic on this.
Same thing happened here. Registered in september 2003 with my, now abandoned (gmail ftw), @hotmail.com. It has been sitting on the right upper corner for years and I'm sick of it. I just want to change it to my current steamcommunity profile.

Did any of you already tried steam support? I might give it a try.

[Amander]

Try it and report the results.

[razvan252]

Additionally, some might say it is a security risk being able to change the login name, but it could also be considered a security risk not being able to change it: if someone unscrupulous manages to discover your account name, then they are already halfway into breaking into your account forever after.


The account name itself gives no vital information whatsoever. They cannot break into your account unless you give them the password or keyloggers but that's pretty rare. Think about it, if you give someone your email does that mean they quickly go and try to hijack it? However, if someone by a long shot somehow would manage to hijack my account and paid 5$ or whatever to change the name of my 350+$ account than i would be pretty pissed at valve. Then i would probably need to recover it by the steam ID but i have no idea what that is. So how would i know which account is mine? It would be more or less forever lost to some dumb kid that thinks cheating on vac servers is l33t.

Once and for all
THE DISADVANTAGES ARE FAR HIGHER THAN THE ADVANTAGES
please stop asking for it.

[L1ON]

However, if someone by a long shot somehow would manage to hijack my account and paid 5$ or whatever to change the name of my 350+$ account than i would be pretty jarateed at valve. Then i would probably need to recover it by the steam ID but i have no idea what that is. So how would i know which account is mine? It would be more or less forever lost to some dumb kid that thinks cheating on vac servers is l33t.

The change would be logged on Valve's servers just like every purchase is logged and every Steam Community comment is logged and every time someone gets decapitated by an Eyelander in Team Fortress 2 is logged. Support would be able to access this information and, therefore, in the event of an account hijack + name change the recovery process would be exactly the same as it is now.

[razvan252]

Ok then the scenario changes.

My account name is changed without my approval and i ask support to give it back, how would it go, something like: my account name USED TO BE blah blah and it was hijacked/changed the name. This would make vague information and a lot more work from valve's part.

BUT STILL

They manage to give it back and its not enough it was vac banned, but the little bastard also changed the name to h4ck3r43vah or something. Now i would have to pay to change it back OR make valve change it for free to what it was(and again anyone could request this, even the hijackers). But what would they gain from this? Absolutely nothing. Money and time completely wasted for them, and thats not what corporations want. Its simply not practical.

[iHero]

I would like to be able to change my account name because I, like many others, joined steam on day one. I used an email which I can't even remember. I always have to look it up and since I use Steam on multiple and different computers (school, work [on break >.>], home, cafe's, etc.).

As for friends, mostly everyone I add is new to steam and doesn't use the community which means I have to give them the old email which I have to look up or eventually try to remember (and yes, the thing is complicated like: name##randomword###word@hotmail.com, [I was a teenager]).

It's just a hassle when I compare it to something which should be more complicated such as my online bank account which allows me to change my account name. I'm a very organized person so this always bothers me, especially since my library keeps growing month after month and this is the least i've ever asked of from the service. Like many others I'd also be willing to pay a small fee to make this change. As a dedicated user i'd truly appreciate some help with this.

[DevinTheZombie]

I'd like this feature too, maybe a 1 time or paid name change type ordeal that requires confirmation, and it takes 1 week for it to take full effect.

EG: Security.

I get hacked
Account name changed from rawr to google.

I can still login to rawr for exactly 1 week, but it's just like logging in with google.

After 1 week, rawr is no longer the login name and you must login with google.

[Azyriel]

I wish they had this future as well. So /signed.

[razvan252]

*unsubscribing from thread*

[velkkor]

Still what is the point? Ok, you have a former email address as your account name but what? How does that matter?

I found this forum while I was searching how to do this as well. In my case, as with others, originally you had to specify your email address for your login. My email at the time has my full name in it.

Fast forward to today when I was going to have someone add me to their friends. Someone who I didn't necessarily want or need to have my full first and last name. When searching for me by my profile name it said the ID could not be found. They had to search by my email address.

[Manawydan]

Its simply not practical.

When I signed up for Steam, I had to use an e-mail address. Unfortunately, the domain that the e-mail address is on ( as it was the e-mail address I used at the time ) belongs to my now ex-partner.

I really don't enjoy logging on with an e-mail address that reminds me of an old relationship. So, yes, there is sometimes a need for it.

It's just a string stored in a database at the end of the day. Allow people to change their Account Name.

[Teh_Guy]

If this ever came to light, hijacks would get harder to pin as they could simply change the username to whatever they felt like changing it to, and support would have a harder time backtracking through the mess

[theirman]

Contacted Steam Support about this some weeks ago.
The response:
Hello,

A staff member has replied to your question:

Hello, Thank you for contacting Steam Support. Steam account names cannot be changed. You are welcome to change your alias (Nickname/friends name) at any time - your Steam account name is not displayed to other users. To change the name displayed within the game, do the following: Click the Steam menu and choose Settings. Your display name can be changed on the Friends tab. The name you choose here will be displayed in-game. You can also do this while in-game. Press SHIFT+TAB to bring up the Steam overlay, and select "View All Friends" in the lower-left. From here, click the arrow next to your friends name, and choose "Set Friends Name". Please let us know if you have any further questions.

tl;dr: No, you can't and we won't change it for you.

[Amander]

I found this forum while I was searching how to do this as well. In my case, as with others, originally you had to specify your email address for your login. My email at the time has my full name in it.

Fast forward to today when I was going to have someone add me to their friends. Someone who I didn't necessarily want or need to have my full first and last name. When searching for me by my profile name it said the ID could not be found. They had to search by my email address.I suggest you to sort out that ID problem then. Might tell me your community ID so I can search for you and tell you the result?

[Scared]

You could always set your own custom URL and link them to that directly.

eg. www.steamcommunity.com/id/scared

[Deviation]

My account name is awful. I'm embarrassed I was ever that stupid, even at age 15.

I would pay money to be able to change my account name. It's one more small aggravation in my life every time I log into steam.

[Rekkit]

Also willing to pay money to change account name. My immature 13 year old self chose something really dumb.

[Docnoq]

I've contacted Valve several times over the past few years hoping that one day they would allow me to change my account name. I really, really hate having to give someone my childish hotmail email address if they want to add me as a friend. Every time, Valve has said no.

The thing that irritates me the most about this is any early adopter to the Steam service was not allowed to pick a user name. I have been using Steam since September 2003. And when Valve started allowing people to create accounts with user names as opposed to email addresses, the early adopters were not given any option to choose a user name.

I would be fine if they granted everyone that had their user name automatically assigned from their email address one permanent name change, but it seems they will not. Here's to hoping though.

[Amander]

Dude, why don't you just give them your community name/URL?

[razvan252]

It's just a string stored in a database at the end of the day.

So is the amount of money i have in my bank account, my phone number, ID and everything else.

[Scobbus]

Perhaps your SteramID is a hash of your Steam Username? and this is the reason for why it cant be done.

I would be all for changing my account name. and i wouldn't care about scams etc.... if you fall for a scam like that you obviously need to learn a hard lesson in life.


I would like to see a securID token or something too. Seeing now steam saves your CC Info.

[Scobbus]

Ok then the scenario changes.

My account name is changed without my approval and i ask support to give it back, how would it go, something like: my account name USED TO BE blah blah and it was hijacked/changed the name. This would make vague information and a lot more work from valve's part.



When i lost my password once. Steam asked me to provide the last 4 digits of my credit card. they verified that the card was used to buy games. and reset it for me.

Took about 2 days to go from request to resolution. i didn't use steam for about 2 or 3 years back in the 'useless' days. but now it is the only platform i use to buy games, who wants CD's and DVD's these days.

[stryker-raven]

Perhaps your SteramID is a hash of your Steam Username? and this is the reason for why it cant be done.


That would be true if they didn't start out with 5-6 digit steam id's and work upwards.

[rsabin]

Sorry for bump this one, but I hate to type an nonexistent email to log in my account.
Please, let people change old account names.

[Amy]

Sorry for bump this one, but I hate to type an nonexistent email to log in my account.
Please, let people change old account names.

I don't understand the last sentence but if your account is tie to a email that don't exist anymore, if its an hotmail one, try recreate, if its not working then contact support!

[Grimhound]

Some people have Steam account names that they regret. Considering a Steam account these days is a lifetime investment unless you're rich, I think there should be some way to change the account name. Should require some serious restrictions and account proofs, though.

[>X2<]

Mine is 22 characters long, I wouldn't mind shortening it.

[Syldan]

I can understand for 'long names', 'hard to remember', but regretable namesisn't justifiable. It is only a login name, not a public name... but yeah I would have changed it if I had used a stupid name for my login.

[leveller]

Had a thought about this the other day. When Steam started (and certainly as more people join), some may have started up jokey or random account names which ties in with someones maturity. Years later we're all getting older and more mature and maybe finding that our account names need to grow with us.

I'll give a bad example: random account name "I_love_SMURFS"

This is fine for someone who is young, but give it 10 years that is likely to grate on the users nerves eventually.

Just a thought.

[Rebseh]

You shouldn't be allowed to use email addresses as login. All who still use one should be asked for a new name.

[occamsrzr]

Sorry for bump this one, but I hate to type an nonexistent email to log in my account.
Please, let people change old account names.

Agreed. My login is the email address from an old ISP. Can't just "recreate" the account.

Not sure if steam still allows you to create usernames that are actually email address, but I created my account the day steam was release. Literally.

That's a long time ago. And many things have changed since then.

I REALLY want to change my login to at least my new email address, or if thats not possible, an actual login name.

Trying to remember the password you used for an email account created nearly a decade ago (as it was the same pw used for my login) is a pain in the ♥♥♥.

[real4xor]

Some people have Steam account names that they regret. Considering a Steam account these days is a lifetime investment unless you're rich, I think there should be some way to change the account name. Should require some serious restrictions and account proofs, though.

Agreed on that.

You could for instance hope you didn`t change paypal accounts or anything. And a small payment would suffice.
That would at least be a single link to a proven identity.
I don`t know many people that can hack both hotmail and paypal accounts.

Although there would also be a few additional privacy details you`d have to consent to...

For ISP accounts, it would be lovely if you could use your ISP for identity proof. But that`s something for the future, and not bound to Steam alone.

[Candyman7]

I throughly agree with a lot of issues presented here:

1) My account name is my primary email address which which is long.

2) I have to censor screenshots that I take of Steam for whatever reason.

3) I have noticed that same problem that the german poster had one the first page. When I save a map with a new name in Hammer, under my account it saves it directly inside the steamapps with the map named after my account name.

The only way around this is to put the FULL path of the file and the filename inside quotes then click save. This is annoying as hell as I keep many different revisions of whatever map I am working on.

Could you at least fix this problem Valve by NOT using a dialog box control that has barely changed since Worldcraft 1.0? (Which I have used before :P) Using a standard system dialog for whatever OS should fix that stupid problem.

I would pay $50 as I have bought a stupid amount of stuff in the last 6 years on Steam.

[Teh_Guy]

The only time the Steam username is ever needed/seen is to log in and to add people to your friends list (through the friends list of course)

[Geniva]

iTunes lets people change their account names. Why aren't they out of business from hijacked accounts yet?

[L.o.D.]

How many people have an itunes account?

[derkim]

maybe it is a compromise to allow to login with a confirmed email address?

I would like to change my account name as well, I accept the fact that Valve don't want to make that possible.
But maybe the login with email address were a compromise. For me it is, because I have problems to notice me my account name :blush:

[nlr]

I would like this feature implemented as when I was younger, I made a stupid name and I would like to change it. Can someone help me?

[watts]

All my current login names for any website, or game, or what have you, are very similar if not the same (Isn't it nice and convenient?). Except for my steam login, which uses my now old old old hotmail address from when I was a young teenager.

It would feel nice to have my steam login match alongside all my other logins.

Ya know? Yes, you do.

What are the risks of this? I don't know. Do you?

lol?

[dalponis]

I agree with what most people are talking about here.

Since I started using Steam during its inception, I am trodden with an account name I didn't even want to begin with. Once I heard they removed the force between account = e-mail, I was thrilled. I figured they would at least help out the people who started with Steam from the beginning, nope.

What gets under my nails is this inane babbling about how "account names cannot be changed". If the people who say this knew anything about databases: anything in any database can be changed.

Valve has yet to create a script to update the tables and manually updating the tables would take too long. If manual changes didn't, they would have done it. The reason is: Database Normalization (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_normalization). The first normal form? "Forget about it," says a Valve database designer.

So the real reason why we can't change our account names is, bad database design. It would be too much work for Valve to fix this, or do manual changes, to help such a small minority, so they don't care. They'll just keep saying "account name changes cannot be done", since it's cheaper.

[Amander]

Guys, I still don't get the use of changing your account name. You're the only person who's ever going to know it (maybe except some support dude, but I bet they don't tell everyone how stupid your name is).

[dalponis]

Well, people that want to add me to their friends list, need my account name. It's happened too many times:

"Hey, Dalponis! What's your steam account name so I can get you on friends! "Dalponis" doesn't work!"

I then have to give out my crappy account name, or direct them to my steam account homepage http://steamcommunity.com/id/dalponis/home. If I try to give them a URL, they just say, "I'm right here, just give me your account name so I can type in."*I'm aware I can give out my e-mail address on my steam account, which is a thing I'd rather not do.*

Besides, many of us don't like being presented with an e-mail address we used long ago such as hotsexybawls@hotmale.com; It's just frustrating - since it should be easy to change.

[Mr.Duck]

You can add people based on Account name (unchangeable) or email address. Ever thought about changing your Steam's contact email address? hmmmmm?

[dalponis]

You can add people based on Account name (unchangeable) or email address. Ever thought about changing your Steam's contact email address? hmmmmm?
Hmmmmm, I think so. I guess I should do that from now on, hmmmmm?

Nevertheless, hotsexybawls@hotmale.com is a horrible name. Too bad I was forced in using my old e-mail address.

[Mr.Duck]

No one see's your name but you. So who cares? Now change your email address so that when people want to add you, you don't get embarrassed. I can't make it any simpler than that.



"Hey, Dalponis! What's your steam account name so I can get you on friends! "Dalponis" doesn't work!"

I then have to give out my crappy account name

^^^ No you don't.

[dalponis]

No one see's your name but you. So who cares?
I care, so what's your point?

^^^ No you don't.
*I'm aware I can give out my e-mail address on my steam account, which is a thing I'd rather not do.*
You missed something there.

---

I can understand why some people don't think this is needed. What I don't understand is how some of those people feel that nobody should care.

[Amander]

Well, people that want to add me to their friends list, need my account name. It's happened too many times:

"Hey, Dalponis! What's your steam account name so I can get you on friends! "Dalponis" doesn't work!"

I then have to give out my crappy account name, or direct them to my steam account homepage http://steamcommunity.com/id/dalponis/home. If I try to give them a URL, they just say, "I'm right here, just give me your account name so I can type in."*I'm aware I can give out my e-mail address on my steam account, which is a thing I'd rather not do.*

Besides, many of us don't like being presented with an e-mail address we used long ago such as hotsexybawls@hotmale.com; It's just frustrating - since it should be easy to change.Then just don't give out your account name. It's quite a well-known fact that the community ID is enough to add someone and if your buddy is unable to do so, you could teach him, it doesn't take long.

[Mr.Duck]

I care, so what's your point?

You are awkward and will have to live forever with the same name so you might as well just get used to it at this point. Either that or live forever with your regret lol. I would go for the last option :D

[dalponis]

That's all well and good, but doesn't get rid of the fact I hate seeing my old account name in the top right whenever I launch Steam.

And adding contacts is still easiest by them just adding your account name.

I've heard about too many hacked accounts. I will not give out my email address used for Steam to anyone.

More or less, I gather this thread is just the people that want this feature added, telling Steam. I join them.

live forever with your regret lol.
Lol, I might have too. But who knows, maybe Steam will actually start the process of normalizing the data, or hell, denormalizing it further to allow account name changes.

[Mr.Duck]

Giving out your email is at worst going to increase spam in you inbox and in practice make no difference. Giving out your account name is more likely going to result in a hacked account.

[Shifty Pete]

I would like to be able to do this, seeing as most of us made our account when we were like 10 years old or something, so the account name is stupid.

[FluXulF]

EXACTLY the same issue here. Glad I found an active topic on this.
Same thing happened here. Registered in september 2003 with my, now abandoned (gmail ftw), @hotmail.com. It has been sitting on the right upper corner for years and I'm sick of it. I just want to change it to my current steamcommunity profile.

Same story... 2003... abandoned Hotmail account (Gmail FTW ;))... etc.

Been suggesting this over the years in various threads, also under a different forum account name. Same stupid people asking the same stupid question every time: "Why do you want to change it? You're the only one who can see it." etc. Well obviously I DO want to change it, so what's it to you? I could ask an equally stupid question: "Why bother commenting in a thread about something you're not interested in?" And don't give me the fear-of-account-hijacking line. If every other company with the possibility of creating accounts on the net can do it without compromising security, so can Steam/Valve. I suspect what another poster suggested before me, that it's horrible database implementation, this can also be seen in how some games have slightly different names and icons/images (or lack thereof) in the various lists (Store, Library, Wishlist etc.)

Here's to hoping Valve/Steam one day will reward us early adopters who were forced to use an email address as account name.

[dalponis]

Here's to hoping Valve/Steam one day will reward us early adopters who were forced to use an email address as account name.
*wipes a tear from his eye*

Well said.

[Mr.Duck]

Everyone knows that being cutting edge or an early adopter of anything will have it's downsides. This is just one example.

[dalponis]

Everyone knows that being cutting edge or an early adopter of anything will have it's downsides. This is just one example.

Yeah, I know. So you'd think they'd reward us for supporting them from the very beginning right?

[Mr.Duck]

I don't see how or why.

[dalponis]

That's too bad. It's okay though. I understand you don't care for this feature; you've been noted on this several times.

Thank you for your input.

[Omniblast]

I too would love this feature.
Valve should have just said to put in your username instead of e-mail address. Who knew that in the future we wouldn't be able to change it now. It was 10+ years ago.

At that time we also probably didn't want to lose our previous purchases i.e. CS 1.6, etc. We were young, naive, obnoxious, rude, and callous people. We've grown up since then. Now with Achievements tied to everything, weapons unlockables, pre-order bonuses, it's all tied to the account. We don't want to lose that. That's all our hard work/money put to our use, and we should be allowed to change our login account name.

I'm willing to pay $100 to change it. PM me valve. Let's talk.

[real4xor]

:D they should do it as a one time new years surprise.

Everyone that wants their name changed, can do it once in the first week... or something. xD

[dalponis]

Lol, good idea, real4xor.

[dalponis]

So, anyone else want this feature?

[babbar]

i want to keep my name just all in capitals lol

[DarkAlf]

I too am an early steam adopter stuck with an old hotmail-address. I would also like to be able to change it to something more convenient.

[jefreestyles]

I would love to be able to change my SteamID name. I signed up way way back when I didn't know any better. My old handle is terrible and I've been trying to move away from it for years now. Companies not willing to let users change their "MAIN ID" is a problem with a lot of services that I signed up for. It's such a hassle using the "Forgot your login info" feature.

For example, I just installed Steam on my MacBook Pro and I couldn't login for 5 minutes. Then I said, wth, I'll try the "Forgot your login info" - Retrieve A Lost Account button. And lo and behold, I wasn't using the right ID.

Anyways, it would be an awesome thing to provide for the users a way to change this "Account name" that users sign into Steam with. But I'm guessing it's so low on their list of priorities, that it's probably not mentioned anywhere in any of their project plans.

I can dream though.

[T80]

I rebought a few of my games and just abandoned the rest when I changed accounts because of the my old user name.

And yes steam I would have paid $10 for a name change.

[dalponis]

So, Valve, any word on this?

[CruelSirwaffles]

I think this would be a great for both Valve and its community. I would also like an option to buy a name change.

[ICantShoot]

I think this would be a great for both Valve and its community. I would also like an option to buy a name change.

That's the most idiotic thing ever, buying a username. How would you pick it? propably all the ones you want are already taken anyway. I also picked some odd login name but that doesn't bother me at all, because no one else will ever see it as you don't need to give it out to friends anymore so they can add you to their friends.

Hello i want to say about Steam Account Change becasue i have still problem with germany's dot domain. like <yourname> @ <domain> . "de"

Now i have problem with Valve Hammer Editor after Compiler error becasue VHE can not save currect director like thsi:

Normal does Valve Hammer Editor save:
./<yourname> @ <domain> . de/half-life/valve/maps/<yourname>.map

What does it happen? Compiler makes crazy to e-mail by Germany.
Why does compiler not save on currect map directory again to Steam Account Name directory
./<yourname> @ <domain> . de/<yourname> @ <domain>.map

Please support for GERMANY!

Becasue Valve Hammer Editor 3.4 has problem at sucking steam account. Why??

I have right. I am angry for Valve Software. I can not change my account name :(

PS: this is not due to you being german but your account being so old that the e-mail was used as login name. This is why Valve fixes this on their future games and steam games alltogether, that they go into common folder common instead of the account one. However, this does not fix the issue with older games.

[dalponis]

As much as I want this feature, I always get a weird feeling when one post users come in this thread and say they'll pay to change an account name.

Call me weird but I call it creepy.

[Macol]

Let's think about this from a business perspective. People are claiming here they will pay $10, so they will probably pay $20. $20 for a few keystrokes in response to a support ticket, and bam, you have $20 of profit that goes to Valve. This profit is not split with publishers, developers, etc. They just need to set up a program that allows support staff to change names efficiently. I'm not that much of a IT guy to know if this is feasible, only that it seems to make good business sense to me.

As far as the hacker issue: account security is the user's responsibility. If a hacker has you VAC banned, too bad. Same should apply here, if a hacker steals your account and changes the name, the $20 fee to change it back may help the user learn a lesson about security.

So, tl;dr: Sounds good to me. And its optional, so if you think it is a stupid idea, don't use it.

[Panzer667]

I would pay for this. Valve would (probably) know all past names for every account so hacking would not be a problem.

I was really suprised you couldnt do this already when i tried to do it a year or so ago.

[L.o.D.]

How would that prevent hacking???
There's no difference between using the old email addy way to using a specific name in regards to hacking or hijacking.

[Panzer667]

How would that prevent hacking???
There's no difference between using the old email addy way to using a specific name in regards to hacking or hijacking.

In this thread we are talking about the feature to be able to change your account name.

I was not talking about hacking/hijacking in general, but about how hacking would not be a problem with this specific feature because valve would (probably) know all past names of your account.

So even if the hacker changed your name, email etc. you could still get it back if you knew one of the past names and could prove it was/is yours.

[L.o.D.]

Showing a past name isn't exactly proving that you own the account. What if they know the other names?
Besat way to prove ownership is to show proof of purchase, just like most other services etc.
Names really mean nothing.

being able to change your account name would have zero effect on hacking/hijacking.

[Panzer667]

Showing a past name isn't exactly proving that you own the account. What if they know the other names?

"So even if the hacker changed your name, email etc. you could still get it back if you knew one of the past names and could prove it was/is yours."

Besat way to prove ownership is to show proof of purchase, just like most other services etc.
Names really mean nothing.

Yes, thats how you "prove its yours" like i said. Did not think i had to write how to do it because its so obvious. My bad.

being able to change your account name would have zero effect on hacking/hijacking.

"I was not talking about hacking/hijacking in general, but about how hacking would not be a problem with this specific feature".

I pretty much said that this feature would have zero effect on hacking/hijacking. To break it down even further. This feature would not make it easier to hack/hijack your account nor make it harder to get back if it was hacked/hijacked so it would "not be a problem".

Some people in this thread said that hackers would take advantage of this feature and all i said is, they wont.

[L.o.D.]

Since there would be zero effect on hacking/hijacking, then why even bother bringing it up in the first place like it would have?

It was kinda pointless wasn't it?

As for the past names being proof, think again. It won't be good enough to prove you own an account.

Look at it this way. A friend uses your account & learns the past names. He could "prove" it was his & steal it from you. Since, according to you, it is a way to prove ownership, if this was used.
Then you would have to try & reclaim it back.

See the problem with that yet?

[Panzer667]

Im starting to think that you dont read my posts at all. Or at least dont understand any of them even after i tried to explain in the the simplest of terms. I could answer every "point" you make with a quote from my older posts.

Try to read the post of the guy you are arguing with, its not that hard.

[dalponis]

So, Valve... Any word on this?

[dalponis]

I don't see how this isn't technically possible.

I'm more than willing to help fix this Steam, if you wanted my help.

[meekle]

i would also be willing to pay $10 for a name change.. as my username is kind of dumb.

[max2]

Just like all the other stuff people ask on this forum I do not think this will ever happen to. Even if it was a paid feature.

To bad though because steam would make a lot of money off of a feature like this.

[Ezremikus]

A feature that allows you to change your steam account name for lets say 10$ could be nice and it could make steam earn quite a lot of money from it.

But still if this was found usefull and needed it would get implemented to steam long time ago.

[joshjosh0028]

+1 I would really like this, as my username was made in my teen days, when i wasn't exactly at the peak of maturity.

[SuperCake]

I really do not see why you need to change the name on your account. You can change your public name, and that's all that matters. You never see the "private" name unless your signing in or at the corner of Steam, and no one else can see it either.

Also, letting the Steam account name be changeable would make it easier for account thieves.

And, if you dislike your account name now, all the better. Its probably something un-related to your public name and harder to guess. Its better security.

[Dragonhill]

For some of us that use the valve tools a poor or bad user name renders them useless. The @ symbol seams to be creating an issues with some compile tools. So the ability to change the user name "hench the file path name" would correct this.

this validates the need for a name change ability

~D

[dalponis]

I really do not see why you need to change the name on your account. You can change your public name, and that's all that matters. You never see the "private" name unless your signing in or at the corner of Steam, and no one else can see it either.

We want to change it, becuase we see it, and we don't like it.

Also, letting the Steam account name be changeable would make it easier for account thieves.
No, it will not. We're talking about a database here. Everything can be changed, and everything can be back traced. There is no harm to account security at all.

And, if you dislike your account name now, all the better. Its probably something un-related to your public name and harder to guess. Its better security.
No, it's not.

[derangedtaco]

I would also like to see an account name change service implemented

[veryhumid]

I know this isn't possible (atleast...yet), but I'd be more than willing to pay a fee of like 10$ to change my steam account name. Seeing as how my name is an old and long hotmail account I used back in 2003. :rolleyes:

Seriously, I am more than willing to make such a payment. I just don't want to be stuck buying all my games back which would ammount to about a 100$.

I would really like this. Makes it easier to log in, tell friends who you are. I also have an old school ID and would like to change it. I would gladly pay a bit, Microsoft does this.

[dalponis]

Yeah, some of us would like this feature.

So, any word on this Valve?

[B33 ENN]

If Valve did this and charged, they'd no doubt get slagged-off on the forums by people saying they shouldn't have to pay for such a basic feature.

[Friendliest]

If you want to buy your games again all for the sake of having a new account name, then go for it. Do whatever floats your boat.

yeah, maybe you guys can get paid for running the forums one day.

helpful mod is helpful!

(aren't they always?) :rolleyes:

[MrKishi]

Hm... Feels like Valve doesn't really check this forum.

+1 (forced) email login.

[ICantShoot]

Hm... Feels like Valve doesn't really check this forum.

+1 (forced) email login.

They say they read these, question is, how often and what threads/sections.

Forced email login is like going back in time to Steam early days.

[MercenaryGit]

Would be great, since i stole my account of my brother. ;p

[TheSynth]

I would like to be able to change my account name as well.

Since I have been a member since Steam's release I am stuck using an e-mail address as an account name. I don't even have access to that e-mail anymore because it was deactivated. It'd be nice to have an account name that's shorter and easier to type in.

[Keith483]

+1 to this. Took me forever to remember the email I used years ago.

[MystikIncarnate]

They say they read these, question is, how often and what threads/sections.

Forced email login is like going back in time to Steam early days.

This is it. It feels like I'm being punished for being one of the first to sign up for steam by being forced to use a long, unnecessary email address for my sign-on.

Honestly, there's no reason for it; it should be simple enough to change it, and yet it's impossible.

[SuPerNoVi]

This is it. It feels like I'm being punished for being one of the first to sign up for steam by being forced to use a long, unnecessary email address for my sign-on.

Honestly, there's no reason for it; it should be simple enough to change it, and yet it's impossible.

Completely agree. As a long time user of Steam I was forced to use an email address for sign up. Then they changed it so you could have a unique name.

Now I no longer use said email address but am forced to keep it in my life due to Steam. This is the only reason I can't just forget the bloody email address.

It's pretty absurd that they wont help you in special circumstances (I've tried) either.

[SuPerNoVi]

I can even provide the code


UPDATE tbl_customers SET AccountName = "NewNameHere" WHERE AccountName = "OldNameHere"


Come on Valve pull your finger out on this one.

[MystikIncarnate]

I can even provide the code


UPDATE tbl_customers SET AccountName = "NewNameHere" WHERE AccountName = "OldNameHere"


Come on Valve pull your finger out on this one.

I love the SQL.

I'd suggest we could probably use some SQL injection with the account pages to accomplish the change, but that would be near-enough to hacking, which could get your account banned, then you'd have to re-sign up and buy your games again... hey wait.

[muh]

I've been waiting for an account name almost 7 years now.
I still have an account with a long email that is no longer available and sometimes hard to remember.

still haven't lost hope, come on steam, make it happen already! :P

[Radeax]

I read all 11 pages.

I don't want to give out my old e-mail address so people can add me.
That e-mail is long gone and makes it's inconvenient when having to type out a whole e-mail address just to add me as a friend.

I don't want to give out my new e-mail address so people can add me.
Same reason as the second part above.

I don't want to give out a community profile url thing so people can add me.
It's even more inconvenient. Also, I didn't know that those existed until I went here from searching for this topic on google, and most likely the majority of steam users don't either. They just play =P

Make a 1-time change for account names with "@" in their name.
Easier to hack? You can make user names not using your e-mail now...
Easier for hackers to get away with your account?
Am I missing something? Can't you just retrieve your account info with your contact e-mail?

Make sense?

[spur]

I'm going to add my support for this.

[Cimlite]

I'm also in the exact same position.

My account name is an email so old that the service that provided it does not even exist any more. It annoys me a great deal having to enter that each time I login on Steam.

I do see that this would be another thing for Vavle to give support for (there's always those that mess up the simplest of things) but if this thread is anything to go by, there's quite a demand for this feature.

Please Vavle.

[MrBrotato]

I would really love to see the ability to change my login ID (not the profile page url or display name). I too am stuck with an oddball name from an eternity ago and I never remember it when I format or use a new computer to login to Steam.

[max2]

I would love for this to happen too but to actually believe it ever will you are kidding yourself. You know it and I know it.

[PowerfulGiraffe]

no offense but neither do you. what would stop me from "reseting" your profile if i get your acount and pw. what would stop my bro form doing that to mine? what would stop anyone that uses my pc?Well, I'd say ten bucks is what is gonna stop them from doing that. Plus you shouldn't be giving your brother your steam password, or even let him use your PC if that worries you. Set a PC login password and don't let random people use your Steam and you won't have any problems.

[vivi the mage]

I'd also like to change my account name ... signed up day 1, and I hate using my old hotmail account!

[T@F]

The only way around it would be to make a new account and support moves all you're games to that account.

But i doubt they would do that,if changing you're e-mail name imposable from the orig account.
They know by proof with you're old account having the e-mail address as the log in name.
They could also get more proof from you just to make sure it is you're account.

but i guess valve won't do it anyway.

[miller4]

I would like to be able to change my account name as well.

Since I have been a member since Steam's release I am stuck using an e-mail address as an account name. I don't even have access to that e-mail anymore because it was deactivated. It'd be nice to have an account name that's shorter and easier to type in.

I have the exactly same problem. Fortunately I was able to change my contact email.

[msa]

same goes for me.
my account-name is an old email address of mine. its still active, but i would like to change it to my new primary email address (or a regular name instead of an email)

[amnesiasoft]

This has been explained multiple times before: Other systems in Steam were constructed with the expectation that your username never changes. It's not happening, they know people want it, so stop asking.

[Anslem]

If you want to buy your games again all for the sake of having a new account name, then go for it. Do whatever floats your boat.

So amazingly helpful. I'll be sure to petition Valve on the behalf of lazy volunteer moderators everywhere. To keep them just that, voluntary :)

[wer5318]

my id is 1400$ but i don't like a id..
change is goooooooooooooood

[Matthew94]

I support this endeavor.

[Soaked]

This really seems to be the only solution, uh? I guess I'll tough it out.

Maybe it'll show up someday, though I doubt it. If it does I know I'll be happy about it.

I know how ya feel, I'm in the same situation. I have to remember a very old name I came up with when I was much younger. :p


So amazingly helpful. I'll be sure to petition Valve on the behalf of lazy volunteer moderators everywhere. To keep them just that, voluntary :)
I was thinking the same thing. ;)

[Zedo Mann]

Change your Profile URL and display name and nobody ever has to see the name but you. It doesn't seem like a login name would be that important to people as long as you could remember it.

[roller246]

Change your Profile URL and display name and nobody ever has to see the name but you. It doesn't seem like a login name would be that important to people as long as you could remember it.

It's not only about "seeing" the name.

My account name dates back to the time (2003) where you couldn't choose your account name, but your email address automatically became your account name.

Unfortunately, this email address (and thus the account name) is VERY long, and from time to time Steam forces you to enter your account name. So it's VERY annoying, and this is the main reason I would like to be able to change my account name...

It would even be enough if I would have an alternative account name I could use for login (or if the login would be possible with the community name). But nada... :mad:

[PLaStrOL]

+1 - i support this change as well. Come on Valve, it's been 10 years and we still haven't seen this feature.

Blizzard has it, and so should you!

I would pay a reasonable fee for this, just to make things clear. For those of you saying it should be free, well yeah everyone likes a free lunch but Valve has to make money here with minimal server maintenance and possibility for abuse.

I'm all for a paid-name change Valve! Make it happen!

[Firebreak]

I started this thread a while ago regarding older steam accounts that were created when you were forced to use your email address as your account name. I'm still convinced that there are laws that require a company to change your PII (Personally Identifiable Information) should you request it to be updated. (Yes, email addresses are legally considered PII)

However, I'm not going to chase that one any further. This is the thread if you're interested to have a read:

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1297217

[Sagenth]

Uhh you can. You open a steam ticket and they do it. My account name used to be sagendie; now sagenth.

I was around in 2002 or so however I changed it all in 2006 so that is when it shows me having joined steam. I had to provide visual proof that I owned the games on the account. I took a picture of my cs 1.5 disk case.

They might have stopped doing it, but as far as i know they would have no reason to stop. Open a support ticket and ask, at the time I was flipping mad about it so maybe that helped?

[Firebreak]

Uhh you can. You open a steam ticket and they do it. My account name used to be sagendie; now sagenth.

I was around in 2002 or so however I changed it all in 2006 so that is when it shows me having joined steam. I had to provide visual proof that I owned the games on the account. I took a picture of my cs 1.5 disk case.

They might have stopped doing it, but as far as i know they would have no reason to stop. Open a support ticket and ask, at the time I was flipping mad about it so maybe that helped?

I have opened 3 tickets over the last few years about this. They won't do it.

[Sagenth]

Crappy deal. I remember the "official" policy being the exact same back then too. All I had for games were valve games though.

I tore into them about the fact they couldn't let me transfer the games that I F**£!$ bought with MY OWN MONEY to whereever I wanted. That all I wanted to do was change my account name and because they were lazy bum holes I couldn't do it. blah blah blah more cursing and swearing.. more personal attacks at steam.. blah blah blah. the next week I had a new account.

[Matt]

the next week I had a new account.

That's not an account name change...

[Sagenth]

True but it was the same effect.. and is also clearly stated as not something they do.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=1558-QYAX-1965
Read merged

[PLaStrOL]

It's funny that you were able to get it changed by yelling at them.

I told them i was pretty upset for basically the same reasons, and they would NOT, repeat NOT give me a new account OR change my username (i told them i was aware they couldn't change my username and i was requesting a new account with a games transfer).

Valve support really does suck, honestly every time i've asked for help with something the answer has been 'no'. The only time they really care about customer service is when one of your games didn't download, and then if you have an invoice from visa they'll fix it for you.

I didn't get a Duke key with my Borderlands (i bought all 4 DLC with it, not seeing the GOTY edition). So i actually spent MORE money than what i would have paid, and Valve still wouldn't give me a key. I emailed Gearbox. Guess what? They sent me my Duke key. It's an early-access pass in case you're wondering, NOT a free duke game. Any one of us Duke fans should want to (and rightfully so) get our grubby little paws on it before everyone else does! Still, Valve was less than helpful there, and it's quite possible that i'll be buying a box copy of Duke instead of downloading it on Steam now.

[leonardopds]

Much like OP here I created my Steam account way back when CS 1.6 came out. I believe Steam specifically asked for your email address and used it as your Steam user name. Just like OP, my user name is an old hotmail email address. I no longer use my hotmail account and it doesn't even exist anymore.

Some of you on this thread are apathetic toward people like OP and I, but you have to remember that back then Steam wasn't a big game distribution channel that it is now. People used Steam because it was the only way you could play CS 1.6 and get other HL mods like HL: DM, TFC, and DoD... I'm sure none us, the early adopters, knew Steam would be this big thing in the game industry and that we would have our entire game collections on Steam. Anyways, because we didn't realize at the time what Steam would become people like OP and I are stuck with old and poorly thought out user names. If I knew I would have all of my games on Steam, I would have been more careful. And I would have not used my throwaway email account (which I used for pr0n).

Anyways, it would be great if users had a chance to change their user name or at least have an option to use their current email addresses (dynamic user name).

:)

^ This

If such feature was implemented (I know it's almost impossible, which is a shame), then Valve could do it in way that members would only be allowed to change their username once in a year period (for example).

[Rat Army]

I actually just attempted to do this and upon realizing that this feature is gone I searched it and ended up here. That's right I said gone, as in used to be there. You used to be able to do this.

I as well only got Steam for CS:S and originally my account name was my contact E-mail. If you folks who play CS:S remember there was a point when if you were viewing the player list in CS:S to friend someone it would list all player in the game but use their account name and not their gamer-tag. So you ended up having to ask everyone what their account name was if you wanted to friend them.

Because of this I changed my account name to match my gamer-tag of the time so people could friend me easier. Now in CS:S the player list uses your gamer-tag to identify you for friend requesting.

I've changed my gamer-tag a few times like many players and just for OCD purposes I'd like my gamer-tag to match my account name. I see no reason why they would even bother to remove such a simple feature.

As far as paying for it. NO! This is not Xbox where any level of customization cost money. However the limited number of name changes within a given time frame idea is a good one.

[Matt]

I actually just attempted to do this and upon realizing that this feature is gone I searched it and ended up here. That's right I said gone, as in used to be there. You used to be able to do this.

There has never been a way to change your Steam account name.

Only your Friends/Community name can be changed.

[Rat Army]

Not to tell off a volunteer but that's wrong. My account name is no longer my contact E-mail. My community/friends name is different than the name that I have under "Account Name" on the log in screen. A long while back you were able to change your account name. You are no longer able too. I have changed my account name. It WAS possible. If I remember correctly it was somewhere under the settings and the function was specifically labeled. "Change Account Name," or at least something to that extent.

[DoctorWeeTodd]

I understand, I have a friend who bought some games under a somewhat embarrassing and offensive name. She could make a new account or change her display name but she has games under the account and looking up her display name still brings up her account name.

[thenightisdark]

Your SteamID and Steam Account Name can not be changed, even by Steam Support staff members.

Lame. Bump for a log in id change option in the future.


If you change names, but do not transfer (like a name change in the real world, wouldnt it be nice if a legal name change removed your debt. Your debt follows you even if you name change) the account name, you wouldnt break this

Per the Steam Subscriber Agreement, Steam game subscriptions / CD keys are nontransferable and cannot be reset / moved between Steam accounts.

Just name change, dont transfer.

[Sagenth]

I still support the idea of being able to change your account name. I am sure given enough time this thread will catch their eye.

thenightisdark, that is some creative use of parentheses.

[Hlupy]

oh man, what can be so hard on implementing an account name change!? i love valve for what they i doing for the pc gaming scene, but i really don't understand why they are not able/willing to give us this option... if i could at least gift all my steam games to a different account... hey, valve listen to your fans and make them happy ;)

[Rat Army]

oh man, what can be so hard on implementing an account name change!? i love valve for what they i doing for the pc gaming scene, but i really don't understand why they are not able/willing to give us this option... if i could at least gift all my steam games to a different account... hey, valve listen to your fans and make them happy ;)

I agree that they shouldn't have taken away the ability to change our account names but I will have to disagree with the ability to gift games that were not purchased as gifts.

I to would like to be able to give my old games away to another user who would like to own the game. However the risk of having an account hacked and them stealing all your games is to high. Hackers seem to do this with relative ease just to use your account to hack games without getting their own games banned. I'm can only assume that the amount of hacked accounts would rise if they would be able to steal your games as well.

[Nobuga]

Please implement this Valve.

[l4d3]

Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve. Please implement this Valve.

[xXxAc3W1ngxXx]

Id like this feature myself.

[Gone'Postal]

Just adding my vote again for this.

[derangedtaco]

I want to see this.

[Lp3WNicK]

what if somebody knows my account name then what should i do?

[Legacy-ZA]

Hello folks, just to say, I myself, would also like to see Steam / Valve implement this feature. Being able to change my Account Username will remove that psychological needle out of my brain.

For the haters and people that generally would like to reply with a useless contributing answer, please read this:

Reason's for changing an account name:

* Maybe some people would like to change their account names because they are inappropriate. 7+ is a long time and some of us have children that play computer games. How would you like it, if your 5 year old child should read "hahahwtfpwnyoura**b*tch" for a username because the father / mother was a little crazy in their teen years and lacked a little foresight? Why do we want to re-spend money on a new account, when we already have the games on one account? It's just so much simpler, to change the damn username.

* Some folks have that very annoying, early signup issue, where they had to provide their e-mail addresses to create their steam account. For perfectionists and meticulous people that organize their usernames and passwords in certain ways to remember them with ease, think Bank site Accounts, Battle net accounts, <insert accounts of the many more out there, here> If you don't care about organizing your usernames and passwords, then please, take an express train to another thread, we don't need your input and trolling here.


Too be honest, there are countless other reasons, the point is, we would like to have this feature, if there are loads of other companies that can do this Steam / Valve, so can you! Listen to your customers, don't sink as low as certain world governments that don't listen to their people, we are paying customers and we are asking for a solution.


If it is about money, some of us here are willing to pay for the inconvenience this has caused on your behalf. Why should this option be so painful? You will make customers happy and make money out of it! From a business perspective, if you can't even see that this could be additional income to Steam / Valve, then fire the person that can't see common logic for what it is. It will mostly be pure profit, except for any database changes that have to be made and possible security implementations (See a solution below) but seriously, that is what the money we will provide Steam / Valve with, will be for!


Security reasons? LOL, are you kidding me!?

We can already change and verify e-mail addresses while logged into our steam account. Is it really so hard to implement an account name change? It will work the same way. Here is an example of how to be extra careful. Before the name change actually takes place, you click on "Change Account name" an e-mail can be send to YOUR e-mail box, creating a unique number that you have to insert before you can change the Account Name. Simply insert the unique number that has been sent to you, this is to confirm that you are indeed the correct owner of the said account. After the change has been verified, steam can prompt you to restart and you have to log in with your new account details.

Anyways, all in all, we really do hope, that you will, Steam / Valve consider this with more insight and enthusiasm. Remember; look after a customer and he will surely, look after you. Good service is key, to retain customers.

Keep well, cheers.

[Legacy-ZA]

*bump* Just for good measure :)

[LaZz0r]

I would also like to see this idea take off, even if Valve charges money for it. It is so AWFUL to see that username you don't like, and I'm not referring that it's not cosmetically good looking, but the psychological impact can be very profound. Every time I see my username, I feel like creating a new account, but I'm not that rich to re-purchase all of my 39 game titles I've bought over a period of almost 2 years.

I've went through all pages in this topic and I understand all the people that are wanting their usernames changed, although I don't understand why other are so against this suggestion, maybe you had a respectable age and a mature mind when you created your accounts.

I'm so looking forward seeing this feature implemented, even if the requirements are very strict.

I'm sorry for bumping this, but I had to post regarding this!

[DeX2611]

Haven't read 14 pages but as long as it's linked to your Steam ID I can't see why this wouldn't be possible.

[Abby Normal]

I too would like to change my account name. It doesn't make sense to not allow this. :confused:

Please make it so, valve. :D

[Pr3DaToR™]

I'm up for this too!

[dalponis]

Bump!

[Soilbreeder]

I support this, but I think there should be a fee or a limit (like once a year). Changing forum and Support account names would be cool too.

[sam14694]

I would also like too see this implemented.

[jacek2144]

Request To Close This thread...

This function has been removed from steam years ago... Because hackers using this function can hack your account name.... You really wanna give hackers possiblity to change name of your steam account... ?

[Legacy-ZA]

Request To Close This thread...

This function has been removed from steam years ago... Because hackers using this function can hack your account name.... You really wanna give hackers possiblity to change name of your steam account... ?

Please read the whole thread before replying with some idiotic answer. If what you say is correct, I wonder why there are not hundred's of millions of people, not bankrupt by now. We respectfully ask, that you troll somewhere else.

[Dalek22]

It would be a bad idea since Valve would have to keep updating usernames and make sure its up to date etc.

[warpandas]

For great justice.

Do the decent thing and at least let users who have been through the transition of Steam and Steam ID to change their user name. Honestly, having to remember an unused 11 year old e-mail address to play on Steam is a bit silly and wasted brain storage. =(

[Achillion]

For great justice.

Do the decent thing and at least let users who have been through the transition of Steam and Steam ID to change their user name. Honestly, having to remember an unused 11 year old e-mail address to play on Steam is a bit silly and wasted brain storage. =(

This is exactly the situation I'm in. I made a Steam account back in 2003 on an email account I don't use any more which was based on an old, silly online alias/nickname. Back then, you didn't have an account name and as soon as they implemented account names, I was automatically assigned that email address as a login.

I'd love to be able to use my actual name or something like that to login instead of an ancient email address.

[meman887]

This is exactly the situation I'm in. I made a Steam account back in 2003 on an email account I don't use any more which was based on an old, silly online alias/nickname. Back then, you didn't have an account name and as soon as they implemented account names, I was automatically assigned that email address as a login.

I'd love to be able to use my actual name or something like that to login instead of an ancient email address.

Did you consider to contact Steam? As they might be able to change it for you from an email address to an actual psychical nickname.

Chances are probably extremely slim but if it does happen, expect the change to only happen once.

As for nicknames I can't see them letting people change these at all for legal reasons except for in extreme circumstances at best.

[E71]

Well said Legacy-ZA, I couldn't agree with you more.

I signed up to Steam when they first launched and in the years that followed, they haven't done ONE GOOD DEED to make me want to stay and continue buying games.

Instead they just ignore our requests and concerns despite the fact that we're paying customers.

We're not asking them to climb Mount Everest... we just want our usernames changed and assuming they haven't done something silly like use our account names as primary keys in their database, it's most likely a small change.

Finally, to those complaining about security problems involved with our proposal, you need to fully elaborate (and get technical if necessary) otherwise we're going to assume you don't know what you're talking about.

[Nikolas Dudecek]

Would an option to show/hide your user account name not help?

-> Hide
-> Show

Out of sight, out of mind!

[Maledict21]

Would an option to show/hide your user account name not help?

-> Hide
-> Show

Out of sight, out of mind!

I've actually outlined a trick that will let you hide your account name from the main Steam window. You can find it near the bottom of the first post in this thread.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1863496

[zAce]

At least make those accounts who had to use their e-mail addresses to sign up to change their account name.

I hate my account name so much, and I wish I could change it. :(

[VA1N]

I don't know if I'd pay to change mine, but if given the chance I would make a new one to replace my existing one.

[UnicornPow3r]

Make it happen for crying out loud! I still have the old email as a username and it's 35 CHARACTERS LONG! I had a huuuge email back then when has been left to rot for the last 10 years or something. Just let me change it to something simple as "unicornpow3r" please..

[skyerxd]

well i recently discoverd one steam account that i had in 2004 (long time ago..) i would like to chage the name but it seems is impossible.

[JPL]

My steam account name is my ex-wife's handle... long story. Sad memories every single time I log in.

[SwaggerShot]

Would be nice, I made this account years ago and I hate it now. But I already have a good amount of games.

[Talizorah]

I am a girl, and I've been using Steam for many years. I'm a big gamer and pre-order every major title. The amount of money spent on my primary Steam account is well over $2000.

I have been dealing with a stalker in real life and online for the last five years. He's always creating new e-mail addresses to contact me under, used to call my number constantly until I had it changed. I've actually gone to my county recorder's office to have my address changed on public records to a PO Box just because I don't want this creep discovering my address. He lives in a different state and it has been difficult for me to take legal action against him.

This guy knows my Steam ID#. Because he knows it, he is able to track what games I am playing and where I am going on Steam. No matter how often I changed my display name or profile ID, he would always find me, because he knows the number. My account is private, but all it takes is a quick Google search of my Steam ID# to discover what servers I am playing on thanks to gametracker. His e-mails always mention my Steam account (changing alias etc.).

I finally caved in and registered an entirely new account and bought the games that I play most on it just to get away from this crazy stalker. So far it has worked, but it really upsets me that Steam will not simply give me the option to have my Steam ID#/login changed on my old/primary account.

Another reason I want my Steam login changed is that these days, I have a rather popular Let's Play account and stream games. My Steam login on my primary account is my real name. The last thing I want is -more- stalkers, since I've done so much to get away from the one that I have and establish a new identity online away from his constant harassment (when people ask my first name, I tell them it is something else). So, I always have to be careful not to stream any window that might show my Steam login when I am on that account.

I am really frustrated because a large part of why I have to deal with all this stress is because Steam ties ID# to community. If it wasn't so easy for this guy to obsessively keep track of my account and where it goes thanks to Google, I probably wouldn't be dealing with him still...

[iZach]

I am a girl, and I've been using Steam for many years. I'm a big gamer and pre-order every major title. The amount of money spent on my primary Steam account is well over $2000.

I have been dealing with a stalker in real life and online for the last five years. He's always creating new e-mail addresses to contact me under, used to call my number constantly until I had it changed. I've actually gone to my county recorder's office to have my address changed on public records to a PO Box just because I don't want this creep discovering my address. He lives in a different state and it has been difficult for me to take legal action against him.

This guy knows my Steam ID#. Because he knows it, he is able to track what games I am playing and where I am going on Steam. No matter how often I changed my display name or profile ID, he would always find me, because he knows the number. My account is private, but all it takes is a quick Google search of my Steam ID# to discover what servers I am playing on thanks to gametracker. His e-mails always mention my Steam account (changing alias etc.).

I finally caved in and registered an entirely new account and bought the games that I play most on it just to get away from this crazy stalker. So far it has worked, but it really upsets me that Steam will not simply give me the option to have my Steam ID#/login changed on my old/primary account.

Another reason I want my Steam login changed is that these days, I have a rather popular Let's Play account and stream games. My Steam login on my primary account is my real name. The last thing I want is -more- stalkers, since I've done so much to get away from the one that I have and establish a new identity online away from his constant harassment (when people ask my first name, I tell them it is something else). So, I always have to be careful not to stream any window that might show my Steam login when I am on that account.

I am really frustrated because a large part of why I have to deal with all this stress is because Steam ties ID# to community. If it wasn't so easy for this guy to obsessively keep track of my account and where it goes thanks to Google, I probably wouldn't be dealing with him still...You could, you know, contact the police about your stalker.

[Vitruviux]

At least make those accounts who had to use their e-mail addresses to sign up to change their account name.

I hate my account name so much, and I wish I could change it. :(

Agreed, IMO Steam login should be done with an email/password, not a username/password.

And your username should be changeable any time you want.

[Electronic Punk]

You say it doesn't matter and you never see it after login, but its there in the top right every time I login.

I have a really early Steam account (and forum account for that matter) and would love ot be able to change it.

[iZach]

I really want to change my account name. Please Valve, give us the option to do so. I'd even be willing to pay $10 or so to change my account name. Every time I see my account name, I feel like making a new account. I think about how horrible my Steam account name is all the time when I'm on Steam and even when not on Steam I think about it sometimes. It's like an OCD. I can't stand it. My account name is based after a person, Napoleon Bonaparte, who started wars that killed millions of people. Besides not liking it for that reason, I don't like the name period. I used to use Napoleon for lots of things, but that was years ago. I have around $1000 worth of games on Steam, so I don't want to make a new account. I keep buying more games too, so the more I buy the harder it is to say "Ok, I'm going to make a new account with a better account name because Valve won't let me change it."

Please, please, please Valve, implement this feature. It's clear that it's wanted by many.:)

[ThePatosai]

I don't think it will be, because if your account is ever hacked, your hacker could change your account name and it would make retrieving it more difficult.

[Godfrey13]

Why does everybody think they would get hacked if name changes became an option? It would just be like every other online account were it sends you a confirmation e-mail to ensure you are the one doing it. It's wouldn't as simple as "I changed the name so now he can't get his account back :p" it would be more like "Ok, so now I got his password, let's hope he uses the same password for his e-mail so I can hack into that as well and accept the confirmation 'cause otherwise, this is gonna take awhile. Oh, I gotta change the confirmation e-mail as well, and then I gotta act like I AM him so all his buddies won't report abuse to steam and get the account blocked, but he'll probably tell his buddies anyway so I... uhg, I'll just buy the games :eek:"

[iZach]

People have been suggesting this for years and Valve still hasn't done this. I've almost lost hope that this'll ever see the light of day.

[damaged]

People have been suggesting this for years and Valve still hasn't done this. I've almost lost hope that this'll ever see the light of day.

That hope isn't just lost, it's been shot, doused in gas, set alight, put out with lemon juice, eviscerated, drawn, hung, quartered, buried, disinterred, and fed to hyenas, yet people still post asking for it. :o

[iZach]

That hope isn't just lost, it's been shot, doused in gas, set alight, put out with lemon juice, eviscerated, drawn, hung, quartered, buried, disinterred, and fed to hyenas, yet people still post asking for it. :oHarsh lol. Well, at least Valve hasn't said it'll never happen. Gotta keep some hope I guess.:) I kinda feel like making a new account because the possibility seems very low, but I have around $1000+ worth of games, so not sure if I will.

[SweetCC]

You could, you know, contact the police about your stalker.

He lives in a different state and it has been difficult for me to take legal action against him.

I also agree with the ability to change account name. Fee or not.

[iZach]

SnipeI guess I didn't fully read Talizorah's post. Sucks if that's true.

Now, back to the topic... Keep up the fight guys!:) Even if Valve doesn't give a crap about what many in their Steam community want, we can still make our voices heard.

[Napoleon1853]

Valve should allow Steam account name changes. Many people have waited years for this and it still hasn't happened. Wake up Valve. Many people want this. I'd even be fine with it costing some $ just so it gives them some motivation to make it happen.

[ajburges]

Put me down in favor of account name changes.

When I first made my account circa 2004 with HL2 I mistyped my standard account name. I still use that name, and would like to correct my steam account name. I would even be willing to pay a small ($5 MAX) fee for this.

The idea that a hacker could steal an account by name changing is laughable. A simple history feature would allow you to track an account by a previous name. The bigger worry is malicious users depleting the name-space. That can be addressed via the small fee and/or a name change per period restriction (say once a year).

Steam often conveys a lack of caring about hot/sore topic issues for users adding a name changing feature would be an excellent way to counter this.

[toughbananas974]

I would really like to see this implemented as well.

[Dodge34]

Seeing the number of pages in this subject, I can clearly tell everyone this will never ever happen, that would have been done if they add any plans of adding this feature already, I'm tired of my actual login name which is based on a game that I play still but I want to change it but I don't think it will ever happen, Valve doesn't even care and I would be really surprised if they even look in this forum at all.

[Nincompooped]

I'm really hoping this is implemented one day. I know it's a "lost cause", but when services like Xbox Live offer you the ability to change your account name it gives me hope that Valve will, eventually, give us the option as well. I too would be willing to pay a small fee to do it, because honestly I hate that I can see this old account name (an old handle) I came up ages and ages ago and don't use anymore for anything.

[toughbananas974]

You could, you know, contact the police about your stalker.

She said he lives in a different state so it's difficult to take legal action.

[toughbananas974]

Steam get your stuff together! A lot of users want to see this implemented, get it done! :mad:

[Dodge34]

There's maybe another pretty damn good reason to not providing this, to prevent people using cheats that would just change their account name so they can join back the same game and harassing people there.

[PwrUsr]

This is such a huge request, and most people seem to be absolutely willing to even PAY for it, so I don't see why it still hasn't been implemented. Seriously Valve, get off your freaken asses and listen to your customers. There's even money to be made, but apparently even that's not incentive enough. Sigh.

[LastxShot]

I support this suggestion as well. I am always for options pertaining to the ability to changing certain information of our profile.

[thematrix606]

I also use my hotmail from when steam went online... would love to change it (as I don't even use that hotmail account, and wish to have not connection to ti!)

+1

[flashn00b]

It might prove to be a security vulnerability. If your account gets hacked, the name can be changed to screw you over.

[marshall.place]

I also have an old account with an email attached as the username. That email now is invalid and seems a little silly to not give people that adopted the platform early on a chance to change to a regular username. I too would be willing to pay a processing fee, repurchasing games is not an options as I have a few hundred dollars worth of titles.

[SuperTine]

I know this isn't possible (atleast...yet), but I'd be more than willing to pay a fee of like 10$ to change my steam account name. Seeing as how my name is an old and long hotmail account I used back in 2003. :rolleyes:

Seriously, I am more than willing to make such a payment. I just don't want to be stuck buying all my games back which would ammount to about a 100$.

I am doubtful they will do this but maybe in a change of policy they will one day allow it..hopefully for free. maybe give one name change once or something like that.

[toughbananas974]

It might prove to be a security vulnerability. If your account gets hacked, the name can be changed to screw you over.

There's a simple solution to that: email confirmation. As long as you aren't using the same password for your email address and Steam account you will be fine!

[JMSNorthern]

Also put me down as signing on for wanting this feature. I don't see why it can't be done here (and yes I've read the arguments against here, but I agree with the counter-arguments to that that are also here).

It would also be best to limit this to a paid feature like on Xbox Live and perhaps just usable like once per year (or less) or something like that, or maybe just once, with a more thorough reasoning of why + higher price for the next time, this can also help prevent people from stalking you you have out of your life, combined with -BEING ABLE TO HIDE YOUR FRIENDS FROM BEING PUBLIC-, seriously, I don't see why that feature isn't implemented or Valve isn't hammered more about the privacy issues on that, considering how Facebook has been scrutinized (and since thankfully implemented that feature).

Anyway, again, if none of this is deemed feasible (for changing the user name), at the least then, Valve could just do a simple fix as previously suggested, make it so people can add others via their Steam community name so only the account holder and Valve need know the original Steam ID name.

The only possible downfall I see to this is saying, well, people change their community name/aliases all the time, the Valve servers would forever be updating themselves/be inaccurate because of many duplicates.

Well there's simple answers to this too:

1. Make it so the user has the option if they want to check a box to let people add them on Steam via their community name, but if they do this, they will be locked into that community name/alias for at least 6 months/a year, whatever time period, before they can change it again, to prevent the find a user server database from constantly being updated with things like that

2. Even make that a paid service if they want. Just something like
Want the ability to have people add you by your Steam Community name rather than Steam ID?

Okay, but pay $5-$10 to do so and it gets locked in for 6 months to a year before you can change it (and maybe if you DO decide to change it, then pay another $5 to $10, or, drop the ability for others to add you by your community name and go back to the way things were previously, so you can change your aliases all the time again if you want but be unable to let people be able to add you to their friends list by anything other than your Steam ID/friending you from in-game/off your community page once again)

3. As far as duplicates in the list go, well, yeah, that will happen in a search, no way to get around that. I don't see it as a big deal. It's all on the account holder anyway, if they choose a common PITA name to find, people might not add them, but a solution is to make their profile public/tell people what their avatar looks like, so at least people/friends they let know to add them can find something with which to identify their "KillerGuy69" account from all the others, and if they don't bother to do that, well, that'll make things tough for them/no reason why they can't later/who cares, it doesn't break the service.

Just some of my thoughts (apologies if everything I mentioned after first saying "let us add friends by community name" has been said before, long thread, I read a few but not every page).

//

(Edited a few times for spelling/clarity)

[Cyberz]

I would definitely want to change my login name. Somehow back in the day I wrote my email as my login.... I really hate it.
Come on Valve, make this happen.