Hey guys,
From time to time a member asks us to delete the account. This happens very rarely, but it happens.
And for most members that ask for the account to be deleted this is just an impulse decision after they've been part of a flamed thread or the staff took an action that they didn't like. We don't like to deleting accounts, this is why we've added the Deactivate Account feature. But some members, for one reason or another want the account deleted. I could just argue with them but it's like talking with a wall, so in the end I just delete the account and their username is randomized. As you've noticed the posts don't get removed because it would affect the thread discussion, but because the account is gone you cannot easily find the former member posts.
Again, it's not our decision to delete the account and we don't want to do this, but with 50.000 members it will happen.
For banned members, the staff can see a strikethrough the member name, however regular members cannot see it. This is how the forum is setup and we got tired of changing it after each update. We didn't directly ban a member for months, we usually send a Warning - this is why we've update the forum rules and Warning system to be more user friendly -
Feedback - We've Updated Our Forum Rules and Warning System.
Would it be possible to differentiate between Deleted Member 123 and Removed Member 123. The first indicating that the member was deleted on own request (right to be forgotten) and Removed Member 123 indicating that the member was removed because of forum rules violation?
When you see
Deleted Member [random numbers] it means
the account is deleted, and unlike the regular members, you cannot click on the username. Also a deleted member has no badges with the posts (Level, Verified, Content Creator etc). We don't delete accounts unless explicitly asked to do so, so if you see "Deleted Member" it means that the member requested the account to be deleted.
For banned members we don't change the name or delete the account because some members, after 1 or 2 years send us an email that asks to remove the ban. A few emails back and forward, and if we decide that he deserves a second chance we will remove the ban. This is why we don't delete or rename the account. Like I've said above we could add again the strikethrough the username to let the other members know that the user is banned, but it happens so rarely that I don't know if it even matters.