On changing username ("purge" old users)

When I registered to Steamgifts, I tried to choose the username Flicker, but it was taken. When I turned 1 year here, I tried to change it again, to no avail... I've always used flicker as a nickname on the internet, but I use coezo when it's taken as an alternative, as explained here (kind of a long text). As you can see, this user has registered 3 years ago, and has been last seen 3 years ago as well, have never done any GA, or won any GA, and has 11 GA entries. So we can safely assume this user is totally inactive.

I've opened a ticket to ask if SG handle inactive users in any way, or if it's possible to claim an inactive user name. At this time, there's no policy to handle that, so I'm making a suggestion.

If a user has been inactive for a period of time (1 year?), and their name is claimed by another user, they would have their name changed to their Steam user ID. In the case of numbers only, letter "u" (user) + their ID (e.g. u123456789). That is so the records (GAs, wins, entries, posts etc) wouldn't be screwed up.

Maybe it's extra work for support, and it can open up the possibility of abuse attempt... Maybe it can be a hidden thing (with no "button" to request it), and it'll be granted based on a case-to-case analysis (like my case here). :P

Anyway, people, feel free to improve the suggestion if you want. :)

PS: On a side note, while searching the forums, I found this topic, and decided to start the process myself, adding the user as well, but not sure if he'll accept me or be willing to help me with this. :P

I'll be adding other solid contributions to the suggestion here:

• The inactive time period until a username is available for claim could be proportional to the user level.