Help:Account requirement

Changes made by Fandom starting in 2020 make Message Walls incompatible with not having an account, which prevents talking to anyone that doesn't have one. It came down to a choice between the following:
 * 1) Allowing everyone to edit even if they don't have an account, but everyone has to use the old-style User talk pages.
 * 2) Using Message Walls to communicate only with people that have an account.

An account keeps the IP address hidden of the computer, phone or tablet you're editing from, making it safer for you. In addition, Message Walls, the Discussions area and article comments are all built on the same code, making using the Message Wall preferable for consistency between the three areas.

It would be possible to allow anonymous editing and still use Message Walls. Anyone without an account might be able to reply to messages for registered users, but not to receive a separate message that is left for them, as Message Walls for IP addresses do not exist any more.

When a block is set, it is customary to give the person a chance to respond. If they do not have an account, this can only be done through the User talk page for their IP address. If the Message Wall is active, attempting to go to the User talk page for an IP address diverts it over to the Message Wall, and a message like the following is displayed:
 * User account "123.45.67.89" is not registered.

This means anonymous users cannot be communicated with, and this can be lead to situations where they may feel they are being unfairly blocked without explanation (provided a detailed explanation has not been entered into the Block Reason field at the time of the block).

As a result of the above factors, an account is required to edit on the Wiki and the Message Wall is in use.