Why do people have asterisks next to their names?

I was just scrolling down the homepage to notice that a few users have asterisks (*) next to their usernames, what exactly does this mean?

I believe this is the users that have hidden themselves from the online users page from registration or in the options page.

Lyrics said:

I believe this is the users that have hidden themselves from the online users page from registration or in the options page.

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Ah right, thanks for the help Lyrics!

I was wondering what that means too but now i know

its 2 hide @"lyrics" is right )))))))

Users with asterisks by their name have enabled the 'Hide me from the Who's Online list' option. New and non-upgraded members cannot see their username on the list. Upgraded users, however, have the ability to see all users that are online even if they choose to be hidden, therefore the asterisk is implemented so users can easily differentiate between hidden and non-hidden users.

I hate to be a pain the ass, but if you bothered using the search feature for its primary purpose, you would have quickly found your answer without having to waste any effort making a thread.

It means that we are special little snowflakes and we are above the lower-class fk members. s/o @lyrics