Information on PSN ID Name Changing & Your PSNProfiles Account

[BlindMango]

Update (May 24, 2019) The day has finally come - Profile merging is now up and running! If you changed your name anytime since the name change beta late last year you now have the ability to merge together both profiles again.

 

If you are about to change your name on PSN now it's advised to do the following:

1. Type your current/original name into the box on the website homepage (Or make sure your profile has been updated since May 20th to sync your Account ID).
2. Change your name on PSN.
3. Type your new name into the box on the website homepage and it should be a seamless transfer.
4. If you didn't perform steps 1 - 3 in order, then when trying to access your new name you will get a message which says "A name change was processed for username recently. 24 hours must pass before attempting again" and the site may temporarily interpret the old name as the new name and show no trophies. You need to wait 24 hours at this point. After 24 hours type your new name into the box.
5. If after waiting 24 hours and you update your profile again, if it says "Aww, no trophies here" on your profile page then you need to earn a new trophy in any game, sync it to PSN, then type your new name into the box on the website homepage again and it will update.

 

If your profile has been split up for months and you want to merge it now, do the following:

1. Type your new name into the box on the website homepage and wait for it to say "Profile Updated"
2. Then type your old name into the box on the website homepage and wait for it to say "Error: This user was merged due to a PSN name change"
3. Now revisit your new name and everything should be merged together.
4. You may have to log in again, this time using your new username and password you used for your old name

 

 

A few things to note after your account is merged/a name change is made:

• If you have the trophy card for your old name in your forum signature, you will have to manually replace it with your new name's trophy card.
• If you've made any guides on the site, they won't be transferred to your new name quite yet until another site update is applied for guides.
• You will have to rebuild your trophy cabinet.

 

Starting today if you decide to change your name, simply typing the new name into the box on the homepage will seamlessly pull everything from the old account to the new one instantly. If the old account has not been updated in a while on the site, then the name of that account may have to be typed into the box again to pull things like viewcount, custom banner images, etc...

 

Feel free to make a new post here in this thread if you have questions or bugs to report!

 

 

Open this box for previous post and update history on this topic:

Spoiler

Update (May 23, 2019):

Okay, we're now ready to start applying name changes/merging duplicate profiles. It's worked well in testing and tomorrow I'll test it on some profiles here.

 

If you're willing to be a guinea pig, reply with your old name and new name.

 

Also if anyone has changed their name (or knows someone that has) and doesn't have a profile for the new name on the site, PM me (Sly Ripper) the names as an added test.

 

Update (May 2, 2019):

Forum accounts are linked with PSN account IDs now, if you try to sign up with a name change it'll just pull up your existing account. You can use your old name to log into it.

 

I have some DB changes to do tomorrow so updating will be off for an hour or so. I don't have much to add but progress is good, obviously slower than first expected but when member/profile deletion/merging is involved I'd rather not mess it up.

 

Update (April 26, 2019):

All Account ID's that are necessary for the site update have been scanned and everything is almost ready to start merging information from the old names to the new ones. The full process may potentially take a few more days to make sure everything transitions smoothly.

 

Information on your forum account if you've changed your name: The forum account merging process started a few days ago, which means if you've changed your PSN ID over the past week or two, it likely would have created a new temporary forum account as well. The new forum account should now have been deleted and you may have to log into this website using the old PSN name/email for the next few days until everything on the main site is merged as well. Then everything will be back to normal and you'll be able to log in like you always have using the new PSN ID.

 

Update (April 18, 2019):

We're still grabbing account IDs for existing members and some cheater reports.

 

Forums accounts created by changing your name will now be merged with the older account and deleted. When logging in you'll need to use your old PSN name for now. This will take a few more days as I don't want to spam requests to Sony.

 

Pretty soon we'll start handling duplicate profiles created by changing your name and merge them, and deal with the name changes then.

 

 

Original Post:

As most of you know, name changing has now officially launched on PSN. We will now be finishing up a lot of things in the background here on PSNProfiles to accurately reflect the new changes. It will take about a week (Edit: 6 weeks! ), however everything should be transitioned over properly at that point.

 

For an instant & seamless profile transition here on PSNProfiles, we don't recommend changing your name for about a week! 

 

If you change your name at the moment though, be aware the following effects will temporarily take place on your profile:

• Your trophies will carry over to the new name fine.
• Your forum profile will not carry over.
• Your premium membership will not carry over.
• Guides you've written will not carry over and still be tied to your previous profile.
• Profile view count will not be carried over
• Trophy cabinet will not carry over.
• You may not be able to use your email for the new name because it's still attached to the old one, which will be fixed!

 

After the site is updated, it should retroactively link your old name and new name together (Including all information tied to it such as premium status, guides, etc) and seamlessly merge everything together. After that site update rolls out in the coming days, name changes will be seamless and instant on the site once your profile is updated from that point on.

 

 

For more information about changing your PSN ID on PSN itself, take a look at this link

 

Edited May 27, 2019 by BlindMango
Members can now merge their profiles! Directions have been added

[Masamune]

Cool, I didn't know that feature was already out. & they made the first time free too, that was a pretty big surprise.  I'm quite happy with my current account name though, so I doubt I'll be changing it anytime soon. But I wonder how many of my friends are going to change it & I'll think they're a complete stranger? ?

 

Now the only problem is thousands of gamers racing to see who gets the hundreds of PSN names that haven't been taken yet. 

[Froopy the Temmie]

Whelp.  I'm gonna just hop right into this.  Done did it.

 

I am now the_great_temmie.

 

I've dreamed of this day for so long.

 

Edit:

 

I imagine this is going to be happening a bit.  I put this here in case it helps anyone.

 

Edited April 11, 2019 by Temmie

[Undead Wolf]

Awesome. So in about a week, I'll have a look at the options available to me when it comes to possible name changes just so the site is ready in case I do go through with it. Too bad Sony doesn't free up all the names from inactive accounts so we have more options.

[AJ_Radio]

People are jumping up and down over a name change in excitement, and I’m just standing here shrugging my shoulders. 

 

I’m going to stick with what I have. 

 

The one factor that I want to see and something I feel is very necessary is the ability to see the old name that somebody had before they changed over to their new name. 

 

Because I don’t want to have a bunch of people change their names and then I don’t know who the hell they are. This happened on a MMO I used to play and everybody was freaking the fuck out because nobody knew who this guy was. 

 

Eventually the developers caved in and they programmed a little piece of code where you can see their old name as you hovered over their new name in this game. But eventually after so many name changes I couldn’t recognize some of my friends and I deleted them.  

[Froopy the Temmie]

4 minutes ago, Spaz said:

But eventually after so many name changes I couldn’t recognize some of my friends and I deleted them.  

 

That's why my new name is similar to my old one.  That way my friends wouldn't be as confused.

 

I get your issue though.  On a grand scale, this would probably make it confusing for some.  If it came down to it, you could just send your friends a message.  You also have the option to show your old name for 30 days in your profile.

[AJ_Radio]

Just now, Temmie said:

 

That's why my new name is similar to my old one.  That way my friends wouldn't be as confused.

 

I get your issue though.  On a grand scale, this would probably make it confusing for some.  If it came down to it, you could just send your friends a message.  You also have the option to show your old name for 30 days in your profile.

 

That’s exactly how it works on the MMO I played. 

 

Not that I really care beyond some people I talk to every now and then. Probably will delete a bunch of friends off my list since I added some of them from boosting online trophies.

[Froopy the Temmie]

Just now, Spaz said:

Probably will delete a bunch of friends off my list since I added some of them from boosting online trophies.

 

That's for the best.  I haven't gleaned a friend from boosting yet that stuck around.  Except for @MMDE who then finished Sonic 2 because it not being complete bothered him.   

[Mog]

12 minutes ago, Undead Wolf said:

Awesome. So in about a week, I'll have a look at the options available to me when it comes to possible name changes just so the site is ready in case I do go through with it. Too bad Sony doesn't free up all the names from inactive accounts so we have more options.

 

On their FAQ it's mentioned that you can revert back to your old ID to potentially fix any issues encountered, so i believe "saving" the old ID is good for people who do end up running into some issues with their games.

[Mixtract]

6 minutes ago, Temmie said:

 

That's why my new name is similar to my old one.  That way my friends wouldn't be as confused.

 

I get your issue though.  On a grand scale, this would probably make it confusing for some.  If it came down to it, you could just send your friends a message.  You also have the option to show your old name for 30 days in your profile.

 

Some people (if they choose to when changing their id) will have their old id next to the new one for a month which would help their friends know

[Cave Johnson]

8 minutes ago, Undead Wolf said:

Too bad Sony doesn't free up all the names from inactive accounts so we have more options.

 

Exactly this. I'd like to remove the second underscore from my name, but that'll never happen due to an inactive account... That motherfucker stole my name nearly eight years ago and I'm still not over it lol.

[AJ_Radio]

In a year's time a number of people I follow and check their trophy lists occasionally will have broken URL links because they changed their name.

[Undead Wolf]

27 minutes ago, Ren said:

On their FAQ it's mentioned that you can revert back to your old ID to potentially fix any issues encountered, so i believe "saving" the old ID is good for people who do end up running into some issues with their games.

 

Oh, I agree that it's a good idea to have it so you can always revert back to your old username just in case you run into issues. I was just talking about accounts that people haven't logged in for ages. Most of the "good" names were taken 10+ years ago, so anybody creating an account/new username these days will often find that their first preference is already taken, so they'll be forced to add underscores, dashes, or numbers onto the end. I believe the terms of service gives Sony the right to delete accounts that haven't been used for two years, so I'm just wondering why they don't do that so others can take these names.

 

24 minutes ago, Cave_Johnson_ said:

Exactly this. I'd like to remove the second underscore from my name, but that'll never happen due to an inactive account... That motherfucker stole my name nearly eight years ago and I'm still not over it lol.

 

I had the exact same issue when I created my account. I tried a couple of different combinations, but they were already taken, so I had to add the whole "_N7" part of my username which definitely isn't ideal. I just looked at the username I want and the guy has two games on his profile with the last trophy earned in 2009. God. Damn. It. 

[fantasywarfare71]

After years, upon years they've finally made name changes!!!???? they could atleast fix the trophy glitch.  (I've wanted to change it for awhile but now I don't care) I have no plans on changing my name. Sony needs to make more 

adjustments to its features before I even think about changing my name( nice concept.) That is all I have to say.

Edited April 11, 2019 by fantasywarfare71

[QQQ_AX]

Does anybody know if you can free up names if you change the name?

I saw really bad news on the Sony announcement where the names "are yours forever" or something. But that may be false.

Maybe after 30 days the name gets freed up?

I want to change my ID to another ID I own. I would change the old ID, free it up, then change my new account to the old name. You can do that on Xbox.

That better be possible or this whole feature is useless to me.

Edited April 11, 2019 by QQQ_AX

[BlindMango]

1 minute ago, QQQ_AX said:

Does anybody know if you can free up names if you change the name?

I saw really bad news on the Sony announcement where the names "are yours forever" or something. But that may be false.

Maybe after 30 days the name gets freed up?

I want to change my ID to another ID I own. I would change the old ID, free it up, then change my new account to the old name. You can do that on Xbox.

That better be possible or this whole feature is useless to me.

 

It appears as though it's always tied to you and you're always allowed to revert to any past name, which is quite odd.

 

During the name change beta last year Sony seemed to make it appear as the old name would be allowed to be taken by someone else after 6 months, but that doesn't seem to be the case now 

[QQQ_AX]

1 minute ago, BlindMango said:

 

It appears as though it's always tied to you and you're always allowed to revert to any past name, which is quite odd.

 

During the name change beta last year Sony seemed to make it appear as the old name would be allowed to be taken by someone else after 6 months, but that doesn't seem to be the case now 

 

I've already seen a few complaints on this that mirror mine, so there is some demand and it might change if the news is bad currently...

 

What makes you think the 6 months thing doesn't exist anymore? And where did it say that?

[BlindMango]

Just now, QQQ_AX said:

What makes you think the 6 months thing doesn't exist anymore? And where did it say that?

 

If I remember right it wasn't posted anywhere officially but Sly was telling me the system made it appear as though it would be that way during the beta last year - but anything could change from a beta, so there's that  

[HusKy]

Are auto-updates for non-premium members coming back any time soon?

Edited April 11, 2019 by HusKy

[Cave Johnson]

4 hours ago, Undead Wolf said:

I had the exact same issue when I created my account. I tried a couple of different combinations, but they were already taken, so I had to add the whole "_N7" part of my username which definitely isn't ideal. I just looked at the username I want and the guy has two games on his profile with the last trophy earned in 2009. God. Damn. It. 

 

Damn, that's 10 years ago (depending on the month) by now. I really don't think these people would miss their accounts if they were gone. I guess it's possible that they just didn't connect to the internet for 8-10 years, but that seems highly unlikely. It would be nice if inactive accounts had their names taken out of the system somehow — allowing others to use them. Then, if/when they come back they'd have to pick a new name. 

[waltdisneypixar]

Hi
How can i use my email with my new id here?

How to delete this account and signing up with new id and my email??.

 

[Infected Elite]

originally was going to change mine to BulletClubKO but eh. it's just a name. I like mine as it is now as well... so I'll keep it as Legacyjko09 

 

 

[pinkrobot_pb]

3 hours ago, QQQ_AX said:

What makes you think the 6 months thing doesn't exist anymore? And where did it say that?

It's in the FAQ they put up about the name changes. I can not be arsed to look up the link. But basically all your old usernames remain tied to your profile forever and you can revert back to them at any point at no cost.

 

Edit: It was not very hard to find, it's even in the blog post: click
 

Relevant excerpt here for convenience:

Q: Can I revert back to my old ID?

You can as long as the old ID doesn’t violate the Terms of Service. You can revert back to any of your previous IDs by contacting PlayStation Support.
Q. Do I have to pay to revert back to an old ID?

No, reverting back is free.
Q: What happens to my old online ID? Can someone else take it?

No, your old online ID is only available to you.

So I don't know where the 6 months thing came from, but all evidence points to that not being a thing in the actual implementation of the name changes.

Edited April 11, 2019 by pinkrobot_pb
sauce

[Ojama_Country]

So if i change my name today, then my PSNP stuff will only be fucked for a week before unfucking itself? Guess there's no harm in changing it today then

[ManiaWP]

What about being banned from leaderboards. If you change your name will you appear again?