To what effect would changing my folding nickname have on my status, team, etc.?
From a stats perspective there is no such thing really as a change ... if you start using a new stanford username (and/or team #) in your clients, then it is the same as a new user. Existing points that have been credited will stay with whatever username and team # was used when the wu's were completed and uploaded. If you enter a name/team# that already exists, then you are donating points to that id!
The reason i suggest keeping it simple is that i have known folders who made a typo when setting up a client on a borg (eg a friends rig who agreed to fold for them) and didn't notice till hundreds of thousands of points later that they screwed up either the username, or worse, the team # when they were editing the client.cfg. I have made the same mistake a few times but i have caught the error after a few wu's.
There is no checking at stanford, and no way for them to really check either that your rig is using the right name/number. For example, i can decide to donate points to anyone I want just by changing the name in the client before the wu completes & uploads (stopping the client of course to make the name/number change). And if i enter a name/team # combo that doesn't currently exist in stanford stats, then i have just created a new user.
If you were to pick a new name to fold under at hcf, your old id would stay in the stats and your new id would start from 0. Then you could pass yourself!
h34r: