How to regain a name?

[Fasuil]

Hello Turbine Team,

many, many years ago I made a character on the german server Dorn, whose name was an original one, that I came up with. After the server switch to Devourer, that name was still mine. After I came back to DDO after a yearlong break and the character transfer to the US server Ghallanda this name was suddenly someone elses and my name showed a -1 suffix. Now more than 5 years have passed. From the start I put the name on my friendslist. My hope was to catch the player and talk to him or her. My hope was that I could come to an agreement with this player to regain the name of my character. Whoever choose that name can only have known it, from my original character and picked it afterwards. That player has not logged in for years, with that character, therefore I still don’t know who’s the player attached to the character. So, unfortunately I had never been able to talk to him/her. On one side I’m flattered, that they liked the name of my character so much, that they choose it for their character and copied it. But it bothers me, that the one doesn’t really make use of it…

It saddened me for some time now, because that name as personal meaning for me, as it was the name of my pen&paper character. This pen&paper character had been played by me for years, and it was an enormous (and emotional) story – which I won’t relate here, as it go beyond the scope of this letter.

But I digress. Here is my question: how long is a character (which has not been logged in for years, and is after all the years still lv 1) saved? Or rather, which options do I have to contact that player, without knowing who he or she is? Perhaps the player isn’t even on Ghallanda anymore. Is there a possibility of reclaiming that name for myself?

I would be more than pleased if I could read something positive regarding this subject. I’m not mentioning the name, because I don’t know if data protection plays into this, so I will hold it back till a developer/community manager gives permission to relate it. What I can say, is that it’s currently bound to a lvl 1 human female fighter. Maybe that helps?

Thank you kindly for your (hopefully positive) feedback.

[Dragavon]

Sorry to say, but you will probably never get your name.

A friend of mine is in the same situation, he got a -1 added to the name of his main character when we Europeans moved to US servers. We added the name to our friends list, but we have never seen the character online.

The player that has "your" name probably has no intention of ever playing DDO again, and you just have to live with the -1.

[SirValentine]

After I came back to DDO after a yearlong break and the character transfer to the US server Ghallanda this name was suddenly someone elses and my name showed a -1 suffix.

That's a sad consequence of the way they handled those server shutdowns in the past.

Here is my question: how long is a character (which has not been logged in for years, and is after all the years still lv 1) saved? Or rather, which options do I have to contact that player, without knowing who he or she is? Perhaps the player isn’t even on Ghallanda anymore. Is there a possibility of reclaiming that name for myself?

The policy on how long has been: forever.

I do hope you manage to get a hold of the player yourself and work out some deal that makes you both happy.

But I sure hope Turbine doesn't violate that other player's privacy by turning their information over to other players, or screw that person out of the name that they legitimately took for their character. They have just as much expectation to log back in after multi-year break and find their character there as anyone else does.

[Gauthaag]

Heh, i hope all those "merge the servers" callers read this and know now about possible consequences.

p.s. Everyone is unique snowflake, just like anyone else. If u think u found something unique and original, u re very likely wrong, especially in case of short combination of letters.

[Tscheuss]

Have you tried that same name on other servers? If nothing else, you could reserve it in case of a future server transfer, especially if Turbine handles name conflicts during transfers on DDO the same as they did for LotRO.

[Krelar]

Apparently my reading comprehension stinks today.

[FranOhmsford]

Especially when the one they choose is a band, a klingon, a board game, and a location in the forgotten realms which was featured in a popular videogame

Dorn was the name of the SERVER not the Character.

[moomooprincess]

That just means a player on Ghallanda had your name first. then your character was transferred there, hence your character name-1.

As has been stated, turbine never deletes characters even if the character has not been played in 8 years.

I can safely say I do not have that character on Ghallanda.

edit reading more of the thread, it was on the german server DORN? Maybe I do have the character name.

[JOTMON]

That just means a player on Ghallanda had your name first. then your character was transferred there, hence your character name-1.

As has been stated, turbine never deletes characters even if the character has not been played in 8 years.

I can safely say I do not have that character on Ghallanda.

edit reading more of the thread, it was on the german server DORN? Maybe I do have the character name.

^This,
Names never get deleted once created..
Which is why if they ever do a server merge they should instead.. start a new server from scratch and have players transfer to the new server so it becomes a server that starts with active player data and sheds the cesspool data lagpit of historical history.

as to who was first.. doesn't matter.... my understanding was that..Dorn players got the shaft..
the Dorn server was migrated to the existing Ghallanda server, so at the time of the migration if the name was ever created on Ghallanda regardless of whether it was 'first' or not the Dorn player got the -1

[In_Like_Flynn]

I think if you have a ~1 suffix on your name you also have a free rename token, and can change to another name at your discretion. I understand, though, waiting and hoping for the name you originally chose.

[Hobgoblin]

I think if you have a ~1 suffix on your name you also have a free rename token, and can change to another name at your discretion. I understand, though, waiting and hoping for the name you originally chose.

this is only good for a period of time though - i want to say 30 days?

[Holleyz]

Accounts should be saved for eternity but characters and character names should be deleted after 1 year of inactivity. This would either pressure people to log in and play or free up a whole lot of lag causing data being stored for an account that may never return to play.

[blerkington]

I don't think you will be able to get that name back, sorry. The approach to character naming we have here is a mixed blessing. In a way it's nice there's that uniqueness, but then we get situations like the OP's too.

In some other games the naming convention is name@handle. Your handle is the unique part, so your character's name can be something already in use by another player. The handle is not normally visible as part of the character's name unless someone inspects it.

Other advantages of this system are that it's easy to recognise alts of the same person in game (from the same account) and you can recognise people from the forums in-game too. That last one's a bit of a double-edged sword for some people though.

The downside is that the servers are absolutely infested with characters named after favourite fantasy heroes, but I guess people do that in DDO anyway by using varied spellings. I wonder if it would be worthwhile for DDO to consider moving to system like this.

Thanks.

[NaturalHazard]

So, unfortunately I had never been able to talk to him/her. On one side I’m flattered, that they liked the name of my character so much, that they choose it for their character and copied it. But it bothers me, that the one doesn’t really make use of it…

.

Your absolutely certain that, that's how it happened? The player saw your character and copied your characters name? There could be no other way it could of happened?

[Gauthaag]

Accounts should be saved for eternity but characters and character names should be deleted after 1 year of inactivity. This would either pressure people to log in and play or free up a whole lot of lag causing data being stored for an account that may never return to play.

oh, now i got it - all those data files i have on my hard drives are causing lag - i should delete them all, and be lag free

[Tscheuss]

oh, now i got it - all those data files i have on my hard drives are causing lag - i should delete them all, and be lag free

You didn't know? The fastest way to eliminate lag is to uninstall DDO.

[MistaMagic]

You didn't know? The fastest way to eliminate lag is to uninstall DDO.

Or Divorce her

[SirValentine]

Accounts should be saved for eternity but characters and character names should be deleted after 1 year of inactivity.

What would be the point of keeping someone's account if you deleted their characters?

And 1 year is way too short for anything. You realize some people might have work requirements exceeding that? Maybe that keep them in unfriendly foreign lands with no internet access for more than a year at a time?

Force-renaming characters that hadn't logged in multiple years would be annoying, but straight-up deleting characters, ever, would seal Turbine's fate as really not even pretending to care about their customers.

[Chilldude]

But I sure hope Turbine doesn't... or screw that person out of the name that they legitimately took for their character. They have just as much expectation to log back in after multi-year break and find their character there as anyone else does.

No they don't. Chances are that player will never log in again. Even if by some odd chance that player ever did log in again, they will most likely run around for a few minutes and log out never to log in again. Further still, that particular character is likely but one of several characters that player has. Therefore the chances that player will ever care about their name being changed are extremely minute.

Right now there is an active player that would like that name. Active players tend to support the game financially. There is certainly more chance of an active player supporting the game financially than a player that hasn't logged in for years and most likely will never log in again. Therefore there is an active player that would definitely be made very happy with the name change vs. an inactive player that most likely would never even know about the name change.

Obviously you saying, "They have just as much expectation to log back in after multi-year break", and me saying, "No they don't.", are both opinions. However, your opinion results in one player definitely being unhappy, and a very slight chance of a former player being happy. While my opinion results in one player definitely being happy, and a very slight chance of a former player ever caring in the slightest. If they player ever did return, I think most people would understand that if you haven't even so much as logged in for years, you don't have a very strong claim to ownership of a character name. In fact, the player, should they ever return, might be overjoyed by having a free name change.

Furthermore, the name change was forced upon OP by means of a server merge. They just as legitimately chose that name as the player on Gland. Further still, a player can pay hundreds of dollars for a guild ship, spend years leveling the guild, and unless they've never appointed a single officer, after a few months absence their entire guild is handed over to another player to do with as they wish.

As an aside, I like the way World of Warcraft handles such instances. If you really want a name that is taken, you can submit a ticket and they will check how long it's been since that character has been played and what level that character is. If it's been months since that character has been played and it's a very low level they will give you the name. If it's a high level character then it needs to be longer, like years. Either way, names can't be horded away forever.

[acdcrocks]

No they don't. Chances are that player will never log in again. Even if by some odd chance that player ever did log in again, they will most likely run around for a few minutes and log out never to log in again. Further still, that particular character is likely but one of several characters that player has. Therefore the chances that player will ever care about their name being changed are extremely minute.

Right now there is an active player that would like that name. Active players tend to support the game financially. There is certainly more chance of an active player supporting the game financially than a player that hasn't logged in for years and most likely will never log in again. Therefore there is an active player that would definitely be made very happy with the name change vs. an inactive player that most likely would never even know about the name change.

Obviously you saying, "They have just as much expectation to log back in after multi-year break", and me saying, "No they don't.", are both opinions. However, your opinion results in one player definitely being unhappy, and a very slight chance of a former player being happy. While my opinion results in one player definitely being happy, and a very slight chance of a former player ever caring in the slightest. If they player ever did return, I think most people would understand that if you haven't even so much as logged in for years, you don't have a very strong claim to ownership of a character name. In fact, the player, should they ever return, might be overjoyed by having a free name change.

Furthermore, the name change was forced upon OP by means of a server merge. They just as legitimately chose that name as the player on Gland. Further still, a player can pay hundreds of dollars for a guild ship, spend years leveling the guild, and unless they've never appointed a single officer, after a few months absence their entire guild is handed over to another player to do with as they wish.

As an aside, I like the way World of Warcraft handles such instances. If you really want a name that is taken, you can submit a ticket and they will check how long it's been since that character has been played and what level that character is. If it's been months since that character has been played and it's a very low level they will give you the name. If it's a high level character then it needs to be longer, like years. Either way, names can't be horded away forever.

i definately agree with this