the problem with 'looking through the usernames and finding the right one to pm' is that unless they know someone/their char, they would have to click through all the usernames to find the right one. that's the point i'm trying to make here. there are plenty of people who are jumping into new-for-them fandoms or people getting into new fandoms completely and they don't know all the people who play all the characters. so they can go to the taken list and see 'oh, there's a X', but if they don't know all the x usernames, they're going to have to click through all the usernames on the comm profile. and as the comm grows, that's going to be more and more of a pain in the ass.

this is the problem. this is not a good solution. this is not helping anyone. the usernames are still tied to the comm, so there really is no 'privacy' here if that's what in-game players are complaining about. this is just more work for people that is completely unnecessary.

and, tbh, i really don't think the mods got asked to remove the usernames. i think they just didn't realize they'd have them removed on the code they took and now they don't want to change it to something simpler. that seems more likely than people whining about privacy that can't actually be maintained since that username is tied to the game. the only way they can hide it is for the mods to hide who's in the comm, which would take away any ability that any potential players had to even do so much as hunt through those usernames.