One of the most common requests since the PSN’s inception is the ability to change user names. Fans have been asking for this feature to be added in any of the updates since 2007 but Sony has always made excuses that it is nearly impossible for them to that. People outgrow their childhood handles, words take on new meanings over time, and sometimes your given name is “Jihad.” Jihad Khalid Al-Mofadda has been a PlayStation Network member for more than five years, with his first trophy earned in 2010. His PSN ID, iJihad, is directly taken from his given name. The name directly translates as “struggling or striving” (typically toward a goal that is noble and good). In recent years, the term has been associated with some terror groups. Despite his years of membership, Sony banned Al-Mofadda. This, of course, disables any use of online services. It also has locked him out from use of his purchased content offline. After Jihad Al-Mofadda’s situation took Reddit by storm and got a small signal boost from the media, Sony has stepped in to offer a solution. Unfortunately, Sony is still making him change the PSN ID, which is likely to reset trophy progress, wipe social connections, and essentially reset him to zero but with his purchased content. Jihad had this to say to the gaming community after the issue was somewhat resolved. “Good news (Technically only OK news). I just got of the phone from Playstation UK, they re-offered changing the name and apologised,” Al-Mofadda told me via email. “Also said I still cannot keep my actual name though. And they said their name changing system has many issues!(What a nice thing to hear!) I will loose all my friends, might be trophies also and any social appearance or interactions! I hope fellow Gamers don’t have to go to the media to get their service handled properly!” It seems that Sony is simply creating a new account for Al-Mofadda and transferring his licenses. After more than five years of play on that PSN ID, Al-Mofadda will have to start over with friends and trophy progress. My take on it?  It is very important how you treat your fans and people who have supported your products and all this just shows how Sony doesn’t really care about their fans as long as they are on the top of the leader boards. Anything and EVERYTHING is possible in this world yet Sony wouldn’t help this one gamer with his problem. Still forcing him to change his PSN ID is just plain horrible and shows that when it actually comes to freedom of speech, there is no such thing for them. Today it is the name Jihad, tomorrow it could be Mohammed or even my name is which is “ALI”. Sony should really give this guy dozens of free games for the next few years in my opinion for how they are treating him. I am actually quite disgusted by how Sony handled this situation and makes me dislike my PlayStation a little bit more.