It’s not the name. It’s the content. The countdown has begun.
Well that’s a whole 'nother ballgame. I haven’t noticed the new one’s posts.
Before anyone takes evan stone, they might want to check it out first.
ETA, just to stick my two cents in. If someone signs up with a name that’s very similar to a current users name, I don’t think they should be forced to change it. If it’s brought to their attention and they want to change it, that’s different (and we’ve had that happen before as I recall). Now, if they purposely signed up with a name to deliberately be confusing, that’s different.
I say we make them fight in THUNDER DOME!
(Bold added.)
I got that impression too. The first time I noticed our new guest even seven, which was just a few days ago, was in a thread wherein our new guest jumped in to post some snarky (I thought) remarks to some posts by even sven.
As some others in THIS thread have already opined, the countdown may already be in progress.
While I agree that it is unfortunate when people automatically disagree with a post because they don’t like they poster, I think it’s far too simplistic to say that we shouldn’t take who is posting into account when we evaluate what they say. Otherwise, why have names at all - our posts could all be from “anonymous”.
Realistically, if Ambivalid posts something about body-building or the ADA, I’m likely to trust what he says, because I know who he is and that he has good reason to speak with authority. If even sven posts something about how foreigners in Mali are perceived, I’m likely to believe her. Obviously, one can also think of legitimate reasons why a post might be discounted when the poster’s history is known.
In that context, it’s just a courtesy to be sure that your name isn’t easily mistaken for someone else’s, and it will support higher quality discourse for everyone.
Not to mention that, even apart from wider board history, keeping track of posts within a discussion is important. Discussions aren’t, and shouldn’t be, devoid of context. Often what somebody said two posts ago is actually relevant to their current post, and most people participating in the discussion are going to have a hard time taking you seriously if you’re responding to a response while acting like it’s completely detached from the context of the thread. This isn’t discrimination, taking context into account is necessary for productive discourse.
We’re working with the newest poster to get them a name that works for them and also for us.
Odd seven?
Even Steven? Hey, is their name Steven?
Seriously, is this a real problem? I’ve seen it happen on many boards, but it’s never seemed to cause a fuss in actual usage. If someone named tapa came in here, I’d just have to deal. I think otherwise you’re stuck with rejecting Even Seven, then Even Steven, Ever Sven, maybe Eve Stevens… 
Exception: at the mod level, a name like SevenSwordS might be off-limits if the board knew it was someone intentionally aping an existing name to mislead.
Yeah, it is a problem. The longevity of this board, and the personalities of (especially) the longer term posters makes it an issue when such similar names are posting. This place is pretty much a community (albeit a virtual one) and over time we come to associate names with demeanours and idiosyncracies. Because we can’t put a name to a face, we put a name to a ‘virtual’ person.
Therefore, having almost identical names makes us do a double-take, and perhaps react either (prematurely) positively OR negatively to the post/er.
Seems impractical to me, but as you wish.
I would like to change my name to Even sevn
And as it is we often end up with misattributions about who said what in response to whom even with clearly distinct names and posting patterns and proper quoting. So the names are a relatively small element.
OTOH yes, if someone debuted under the username “JRDeluded” and went straight to countering my posts, that would be moderately annoying. But moderate annoyance is the natural condition of modern life, I have observed.
Bagsies evan swan.
Exactly, though sven does have an unique style that is often noticeable, at least on certain topics.
Boo.
In theory that’s fine. But it’s confusing in practice. I’ll have to remember that Aaaa isn’t really Aaaaa. That’s too much work for an old fart.
Wait. . .which one are you?
In general, I don’t see an issue with similar usernames, but in this instance, I’m having a hard time believing someone sat down at the computer and thought to themselves that even seven was a good handle. It seems pretty obvious to me that it was meant to be confused for even sven.
Ya know.
If some new poster named Billlfish678 came along and made me look like a stupid, ill-informed jerk I’d be kinda mad about it.