Name Entitlement

[Buggss]

I recently had some toons moved from Ghallanda and hit something of an issue which is a bit of a pain.

No matter how I tried I couldn't rename my character to be even close to my old name. It seemed every combination or spelling was taken so I started adding random spellings as friends to speed up the process to check if they were already taken.

After 20-30 variations almost all showed up as lvl 1 characters with no pictures suggesting very old toons that have never been used.

I think it's about time something was done so that any unused characters still at lvl 1 at 1 or 2 years old are given the -1 add-on that moved characters get to free up some names. We all know they're never coming back and if they did a name isn't something that's going to put them off playing again. It's getting very difficult to create any combination of letters that produce a pronouncible name that isn't already taken and something needs doing about it.

[Kirachan]

I only started a year ago, and I have found a lot of suitable names still available. And I only go for very short ones. The longer they get the more choices should be still open.

Of course, if your old name was a popular one, then you will have trouble, since a lot of people go for the alternate spelling thing.
I just don't see why that is a reason to start renaming older, currently inactive characters. The player might still be active, just not playing that particular char a lot, or he might come back to the game. You cannot know that.
Personally I would be very annoyed, if I found out that my character was changed after a longer absence, without my consent.
I also don't see the entitlement part. It's just how turbine made the game. Characters are not deleted for inactivity, so ergo no names can be freed up, unless a char is deleted voluntarily. It's not like people go around: "I'll never play again, but I will keep all my character, so that nobody can has my great names *evil laughter*"

[Buggss]

I only started a year ago, and I have found a lot of suitable names still available. And I only go for very short ones. The longer they get the more choices should be still open.

Of course, if your old name was a popular one, then you will have trouble, since a lot of people go for the alternate spelling thing.
I just don't see why that is a reason to start renaming older, currently inactive characters. The player might still be active, just not playing that particular char a lot, or he might come back to the game. You cannot know that.
Personally I would be very annoyed, if I found out that my character was changed after a longer absence, without my consent.
I also don't see the entitlement part. It's just how turbine made the game. Characters are not deleted for inactivity, so ergo no names can be freed up, unless a char is deleted voluntarily. It's not like people go around: "I'll never play again, but I will keep all my character, so that nobody can has my great names *evil laughter*"

Then you really haven't been playing long, please read the whole post before answering as I've already answered some of your points before you made them.

I've not even mentioned deletion, merely the adding of a -1 to the name if and only if the toons reaches an amount of inactive time that almost guarantees the player won't ever return. As for keeping names on purpose I happen to know that does indeed happen quite a lot but only as a minority, again showing your naivity in the matter.

As for the entitlement, it's merely a title for the thread explaining what it's about, not any claim on any names.

If you've managed to choose names then grats to you, however I prefer at least some sense in my names and as I've said I spent a long time looking for someone and everything was taken.

[bryanmeerkat]

What name where you looking for and on what server , bet I could find an open one with a very similair sound that is free within 2 minutes . ( ok at work at the moment so cant really test the theory )
Ive never not been able to find a name that sounds a lot like what I want . ( to be fair though I have never wanted to be called gandalf , harry potter or that antipopular dark elf fella )

On saying that I do think if someone leaves the game for over a year there names should be freed up and leave the charachter in tact but just in a state of needing a rename .
I remember having this argument with someone who said that if they left and after a year they thought about coming back not having their old name would make them change their mind . Which to be fair is utter drivel .( the guy hasnt left , wasnt planning on leaving and also admitted that if he did leave it wouldnt put him off returning personally but that it might someone )
Anyone that would concider this an issue needs to look for help . ( go on neg rep me i dare yah )

[Kirachan]

Yeah, I know it's not about deleting. Still, if that happened to one of my chars I would be furious non the less. The -1 is very ugly in my eyes.
And at what point would you set the time the player would never return?
For example, I stopped playing Guild Wars over a year ago (or was that more like 2, not sure). But I would certainly go back for a quest or two sometimes, since I still have rl friend playing.
They'd have to make the window very wide, and even then there would still be occasional angry returner.

I just don't like the idea of changing the rules on the people affected. They assume their chars will still be there unchanged, anytime they decide to come back.

[bryanmeerkat]

Yeah, I know it's not about deleting. Still, if that happened to one of my chars I would be furious non the less. The -1 is very ugly in my eyes.
And at what point would you set the time the player would never return?
For example, I stopped playing Guild Wars over a year ago (or was that more like 2, not sure). But I would certainly go back for a quest or two sometimes, since I still have rl friend playing.
They'd have to make the window very wide, and even then there would still be occasional angry returner.

I just don't like the idea of changing the rules on the people affected. They assume their chars will still be there unchanged, anytime they decide to come back.

It would be a lot easier to put a rename tag on the charachter and unlock the name , what about it exactly would make you furious ? Its the name on a charachter you havent used for a year . If noone has taken your name you can have your old name back , if not you just have to make a new name .

Omfgbbqtheystolemyname Iusedtobecalleddrizzt for example could replace drizzt

[Buggss]

...( go on neg rep me i dare yah )

For disagreeing with me? Why would I neg rep you for that?

Anyway I'm still convinced that if the character's still lvl 1 after 1 or 2 years that toon is never going to be used.

[bryanmeerkat]

For disagreeing with me? Why would I neg rep you for that?

Anyway I'm still convinced that if the character's still lvl 1 after 1 or 2 years that toon is never going to be used.

Its usually very high on the list of reasons to neg rep someone

[flynnjsw]

Again, the devs have said no, repeatedly. While you may think you are entitled to the name, obviously Turbine disagrees with you. I kind of like the idea that if I take an extended break for whatever reason my character names will be the same.

[shores11]

For disagreeing with me? Why would I neg rep you for that?

Anyway I'm still convinced that if the character's still lvl 1 after 1 or 2 years that toon is never going to be used.

Because people neg rep all the time for having an alternate opinion.

[katana_one]

If you've managed to choose names then grats to you, however I prefer at least some sense in my names and as I've said I spent a long time looking for someone and everything was taken.

Perhaps you're being too picky? All of my characters have names that I'm quite happy with - they all are suitably fantasy-sounding names that are not simply weird alternate spellings of other fantasy names (one is simply funny, which is what I was going for). Granted, I didn't get my first choice of names on all of them (or second, or third, or eighth), but in the end it was worth the effort to find something that wasn't taken.

[wetlandsnj]

I know people that have started characters then have had some real life issues that have delayed them playing for a long time. These people should not have their names changed because other people can't think of a different name or changed servers. I have created my characters and would not like to be forced to change their names because I have not played them in so much time. I have no problem finding names to use for my characters (have many alts). Sometimes I do not get the one I want but that just forces me to come up with a better more orginal one. You people are also saying, why not change the name of the orginal character it is only a name, why don't you take that advice, it is only a name pick another one, be creative.

[Buggss]

Again, the devs have said no, repeatedly. While you may think you are entitled to the name, obviously Turbine disagrees with you. I kind of like the idea that if I take an extended break for whatever reason my character names will be the same.

/sigh... AGAIN I claim no entitlement, simply that it seems a big waste and I'm not talking about any sort of extended break, I'm talking about 2+ years and characters that are still sitting at lvl one. These are almost certainly people who tried the game, quickly found they didn't like it and will never come back. It seems such a small thing and with the conditions I've mentioned again there would be very little to no fallout over it.

Because people neg rep all the time for having an alternate opinion.

Yeah I understand others do, I've been on the receiving end more times that I care to recall but just because others do it doesn't mean I will.

[Buggss]

I know people that have started characters then have had some real life issues that have delayed them playing for a long time. These people should not have their names changed because other people can't think of a different name or changed servers. I have created my characters and would not like to be forced to change their names because I have not played them in so much time. I have no problem finding names to use for my characters (have many alts). Sometimes I do not get the one I want but that just forces me to come up with a better more orginal one. You people are also saying, why not change the name of the orginal character it is only a name, why don't you take that advice, it is only a name pick another one, be creative.

/big sigh Once again I'm not, NOT talking about used characters, merely those unused for years which are still lvl 1.

I hope I don't have the repeat that again...

[Buggss]

Perhaps you're being too picky? All of my characters have names that I'm quite happy with - they all are suitably fantasy-sounding names that are not simply weird alternate spellings of other fantasy names (one is simply funny, which is what I was going for). Granted, I didn't get my first choice of names on all of them (or second, or third, or eighth), but in the end it was worth the effort to find something that wasn't taken.

Yeah granted there're something close to an infinite number of possible letter combinations but I'm not the kind of person happy to call a toon Ryugityflop just to get a toon made.

I have a touch more imagination than that and any PnPer will probably feel the same way as it helps you "play" the character if you feel you've put some effort into it.

[MalkavianX]

Soooo, if I have a character on my account that I use for deep storage. (say he's got a boatload of those tickets for the easter egg hunt as an example) and he has a name you want. You're saying that my characters name should be changed because he hasn't logged on in a year? Ya, that sounds fair. O wait.... no it doesn't. My character, my name.

Now, your point about characters that are completely dormant for something like 2 years I could possibly see. But how about instead of someone down at turbine just throwing random numbers/letter on the inactive names, they do this: Email the person with the inactive character that has been inactive for 2 or more years (to be fair). Inform them that they're doing a server clean up and characters that have been inactive for 2 or more years are subject to deletion if the email is not responded to within 1 month. (again, a month to be fair. Some people travel for business a lot or maybe they're saving up for a new comp because their kid decided to take a whiz on the old one, etc.)

But to be 100% honest with you, this will never, ever, EVER happen. Something like this might be nice, but they'll never do it. Just be happy I 'm not in charge of the tech department down at turbine. If it was up to me to reduce server storage load, I would be real mean about it. I would back-up all the character data there is. Then delete every single one of them "by accident". Then I would inform the general public that there was a server malfunction and that they're characters will all be recovered "if they can", but you have to send an email requesting it. As a bonus I would even say, to make up for the inconvenience, here's a bonus 1000 tp's. I'd be willing to bet that at least 50% minimum of those characters would be gone forever.

[Crann]

Again, the devs have said no, repeatedly. While you may think you are entitled to the name, obviously Turbine disagrees with you. I kind of like the idea that if I take an extended break for whatever reason my character names will be the same.

Exactly this.

For every 100 Merlin's and Legolas's that logged in once, created a character, and logged off and never back in there are a few players that for whatever reasons need to take extended breaks.

Whether it be military deployments, financial hardships, or other personal reasons, they should never be at risk of losing their names for any reason, let alone so that another player can get that uber cool, unoriginal name.

[Lord_Legolas]

Neg rep for just disagreeing is bull...

Anyway... I wish Turbine would have included the use of last names long time ago - when we asked... But then again that would have to be incorperated into LFMs and a bunch of other stuff But then there'd be thousands upon thousands of drizzt's LOL

Sooner or later Turbine will have to address this issue... Better to do it now, then to find out later that till will be 'extremely hard' and expensive to do...

[katana_one]

Yeah granted there're something close to an infinite number of possible letter combinations but I'm not the kind of person happy to call a toon Ryugityflop just to get a toon made.

Ok, did you read my post? None of my characters are random letter combinations. They are all legit names. I found them. You can find some too. Something tells me you're not trying hard enough, or you're being way too picky.

I have a touch more imagination than that and any PnPer will probably feel the same way as it helps you "play" the character if you feel you've put some effort into it.

Yeah, long time PnP player here. I sympathize with you, but only to a certain point.

I, too, am often disappointed when I don't get the first name on my list for a new character. But I find another one. I put in the effort. I spent probably an hour once to name a character that I only made to try out a new class (with no intention of playing her to cap).

Good names are still out there if you're willing to look for them.

[Shaamis]

/big sigh Once again I'm not, NOT talking about used characters, merely those unused for years which are still lvl 1.

I hope I don't have the repeat that again...

My quick answer to your request from the Devs is sure, lets free up some good names that are being held captive by characters created, then forgotten.

My longer answer is, it's probably not going to happen. I'll explain.

Over two years ago, i made the EXACT same argument. I even went so far as to a lengthy process on how it could be done with the least amount of impact to characters on accounts that were still being played.

I received 0% feedback from any Devs, even though i got a ton of ?Signeds throughout the thread, and I even coerced the naysayers in that thread (old and deleted by now I'm sure.)

The Devs will probably do what they typically do for any "suggestions" from teh Forums:

1) discuss behind closed doors offline in a weekly meeting
2) decide how this will become a revenue generator or a resource drain, and whether it will increase or decrease subscriptions/playerbase
3) act on it, ignore it, or put it in "development" for a future release.

Our voices on the forum DO matter, its just more of a watching grass grow type of thing........

Keep raising these issues