As the help scroll currently states; 'you may now request for an inactive shortname to be put back on sale'. As far as I'm aware, the shortname page has always stated that if your shortname is inactive for 90 days it may be resold.
I understand some of the things I bring up may already be in practise, but it's not actually written in words anywhere on the shortname page or the wiki, and I believe it should be.
There is always confusion over fact and fiction on xat - the page also states that a user is only entitled one shortname, whilst we all know there are avid collectors of shortnames and they never seem to have a problem - I therefore believe this is an important topic for discussion to clear up any confusion and establish a fair system.
As somebody who doesn't have the time to be consistently active on xat, and can sometimes go months without visiting due to a busy work life, I'd like the reassurance that if I cannot get online for a few months that my shortname will not be taken. I paid for this shortname, I have used it for 5 years or more now, and I would not expect a paid feature to be taken from me soley because I am busy in the real world. You don't go to a furniture store and buy a dining table, go on vacation for 3 months and return to see your dining table has been given away because you didn't sit at it for 3 months.
Whilst I can understand if a shortname has not been in use for years, other users may desire it and I can see the benefit of reselling it - taking a users shortname after 3 months when they may have paid up to or more than 30,000 xats for it, without any warning, seems a little unjust.
What happens to the users account when the shortname is taken, do they lose the entire account, ID, powers included?
What happens if a user returns to xat after unforseen circumstances to find their shortname has been removed, are they entitled to a refund?
What if the shortname belonged to a long term user, say somebody who had been on the site for 6-8 years? What if the new user starts posing as the previous one - why do volunteers/xat staff get this protection but regular long term users don't?
I believe the inactive period should be increased from 3 months to a year, or at least 9 months, and xat should send out a warning email to users BEFORE the shortname can go back up for sale, something along the lines of: 'Ryan - Your account has been inactive for 9 months and your shortname will soon be back up for sale; to prevent this, login at xat.com/login'
I don't think there should ever be a situation where a shortname is removed without a 30 day warning period.
Please discuss.
(also omg my first forum thread in forever how cute)