Blattan Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 What? Names were first come, first serve. There were no reservations and no one paid extra to get into headstart to reserve names. CE buyers didn't get any extra consideration. That isn't quite true... Pre-ordering for early access was advertised/marketed as "Start early, and get the names you want!" (Some paraphrasing, but the big tag line over the pre-order picture did say early access would grant you names.) So, there will be some who pre-ordered for early access to get their names, under the idea that the names were their privilege for pre-ordering for early access. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leatherbeak Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 As much as I am a bit miffed at losing all my names and my legacy name I did go back and look at the marketing pre-launch. There is nothing there about names at all. There is start early and there is get a free gift or color stone etc... but no where could I find anything about names. That being said I did make sure I was there for the pre-launch, got in and grabbed my names fast so I had them. Would I like some compensation for losing them? Sure. I dont expect it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asbalana Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 I lost my two favorite names that I nailed day one in early access. Unfortunately the mergers (oops transfers) had to happen and that is one consequence of being unlucky and on the wrong server at the wrong time. There is nothing to do but move on if you still want to play. My wife did benefit. Her legacy name was messed up and there was no way to fix it. When the transfers came, she had to redo it and much to our surprise the name that she wanted the way she wanted it was available. So even though she lost her main's name, she got to fix the legacy name and is happy as a clam about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadBlue Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 (edited) Pre-ordering for early access was advertised/marketed as "Start early, and get the names you want!" (Some paraphrasing, but the big tag line over the pre-order picture did say early access would grant you names.) So, there will be some who pre-ordered for early access to get their names, under the idea that the names were their privilege for pre-ordering for early access. To be fair, you can't have early access without having a better chance of getting the names you want. So it's not like they added something that you normally wouldn't have in early access to a game. And you can be sure that BioWare didn't foresee having to merge servers 6 months after launch. Granted, there are a number of ways they could have handled name changes that would have been more fair or better, but they did things the way they did them, and we have to either adapt and get over it, or move on to something else. Edited July 19, 2012 by MadBlue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarleysRule Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 (edited) That isn't quite true... Pre-ordering for early access was advertised/marketed as "Start early, and get the names you want!" (Some paraphrasing, but the big tag line over the pre-order picture did say early access would grant you names.) So, there will be some who pre-ordered for early access to get their names, under the idea that the names were their privilege for pre-ordering for early access. The key there is no one paid EXTRA. The money you put down for preorder came off the final purchase price. Also, you were never promised you'd get the name you wanted even in early access. Edited July 19, 2012 by HarleysRule Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilpo Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 I still don't get it. Why is a name that important? You can spell it a little differently, add in apostrophes to get pretty much exactly the same effect, there's a few different options. No-one in their right minds would quit a game they enjoyed over losing a name, so if that isn't trolling then I'd genuinely like to know what kind of mind people who consider quitting over it ARE in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lundli Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Granted, there are a number of ways they could have handled name changes that would have been more fair or better, but they did things the way they did them, and we have to either adapt and get over it, or move on to something else. I doubt there's any "good" way to handle it, someone is going to be pissed off regardless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlyxDinas Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 An MMO thing happened in an MMO? Hold on, I'll go get the president. He'll take care of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muskaan Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 For RP-ers complaining about name changes-- Be a bigger RP-er and come up with a reason why you had to change your name. E.g. 1) You went into a witness protection program and had to switch names. Those Hutts want you real bad. (Smuggler) 2) You used to be called Darth Something. But now have unlocked some hidden secrets of the Dark Temple and are now called Darth SomethingElse. (Sith Warrior/Sorc/Assassin) 3) You have assumed a new identity since you are undercover. (Imperial Agent) Legacy changes-- You just discovered that you are the long lost son/daughter of so-and-so. ( Happens frequently in the SW universe. ) Hence you now have a new legacy. Use your imagination and move on. Be creative and have fun. That's what I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJWyler Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Yeah that's right. Screwed over. I eagerly pre-ordered the ridiculously overpriced Collector's Edition and dived with enthusiasm into the early access period, claiming the names I wanted for my characters. Now I'm being forced into server transfers and, ultimately, name changes as a reward. Thanks, BioWare. I feel for you - I was fortunate enough to have destination servers where my character names were still available - several of which I have used for years ... since Pen and Paper D&D days and Wizardry ... back in the 70's and 80's. Out of curiosity, how do you know that the players/accounts that already had your names had not also bought the CE ... played from Early Access (or even beta tested previously) ... and have not once stopped paying for their subscription at any point in time? BJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlimsPicken Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 I'm sorry but these whining threads are getting comical. It happen to many folks - including myself. Yeah, legacy too. Big deal ! - spend a day, think of a new name and use that. Ultimately, your character looks the same and plays the same. Now you are on a more populated server. Rather than complain about the change, use it to your advantage. Have some fun with the change. If you can't do that, then maybe console games are best for you. No name changes there. Just saying. The only upside has been being able to level my alts through pvp again while I await my sub to end. Having populated servers is nice, but it doesnt excuse their bad planning and execution of a very sensitive subject. People feel cheated because they preordered and expensive CE edition, took time off work to do early access and reserve names, etc. and then promptly had those names and legacy taken away when the poor planning on Biowares part regarding server numbers and populations forced server merges. So, yeah Im sure people spent a day, thought up names, and all that, and continue to play for the time remaining, but the situation was handled so foolishly that Bioware deserves to lose massive amounts of subs for their folly. Broken promises lead to broken stock prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uziforyou Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 I'm sorry but these whining threads are getting comical. It happen to many folks - including myself. Yeah, legacy too. Big deal ! - spend a day, think of a new name and use that. Ultimately, your character looks the same and plays the same. Now you are on a more populated server. Rather than complain about the change, use it to your advantage. Have some fun with the change. If you can't do that, then maybe console games are best for you. No name changes there. Just saying. This. If it's truly a game breaker for you that you had to change some character names (as did I) then this game isn't for you. Move on and leave SWTOR to those who still enjoy it and quit clogging the forums with issues that are frankly silly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holden_Dissent Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 It's a bit different for some people. Some players get really attached to their characters' names. As an RPer, I wrote over 150 pages for my Shadow and now her name is different. Not sure what that means, but 'FIND -> REPLACE ALL" BOOYAH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sindorin Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 You know that thing on the box that says "Online experience subject to change"? Yeah, this is what it meant. Please be realistic, and compromise. Even as consumers we have to recognize all of us want to be "insert witty name", the Jedi Destroyer Legacy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NirPurphict Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 It's a bit different for some people. Some players get really attached to their characters' names. As an RPer, I wrote over 150 pages for my Shadow and now her name is different. Dorks, meet your god. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vnunes Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 I too lost a couple of names. Thankfully, I was able to transfer to The Fatman where I already had a couple of characters. At least my main name was saved. But I would have to either delete the lv 21 smuggler I created with that name or wait for some kind of name change service. I guess a lv 21 toon is no big deal though. It sucks having to come up with new names now. Everything is taken. You have to be really creative or simply choose some random combination and hope you get attached to it. I'm not that upset about losing some of my names, but It is an annoyance. I get really attached to my characters names. They have meaning and purpose. And sometimes a theme. Having to choose something random or really different from your original intention is not cool =/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sindorin Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 The real moral of the story is to not pick obvious names, and choose names that are specifically made up and are not colloquial to other names that have significance in RL. For example leet, or pwnzor, or Death, etc; are obvious ones that are almost always going to be taken. Adding special characters like an apostrophe in the middle of a name can often times make the difference. In the end, if you have a unique name it is almost always never taken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saurakk Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 I can "sympathize" with anyone who felt strongly about a name and lost it, but do not feel it is enough to stop playing a game you enjoy. If a name change makes someone leave, realistically they were not going to be around for any length of time anyway. Subtract or add a letter, add a special character, and its basically the same. As for the title though, your pre-order, CE, and early access in meaningless. Makes you no more, and no less important than anyone else who has bought the game and is playing in regards to keeping a name. For all you know, the person on the server you were moved to that had your name was also a pre-order, early access, CE player. You were no more and no less "screwed over" than anyone else who was moved. Some were lucky to be on the destination server first, some of us were not. Not a huge deal in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibdabs Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 (edited) I'm sorry but these whining threads are getting comical. It happen to many folks - including myself. Yeah, legacy too. Big deal ! - spend a day, think of a new name and use that. Ultimately, your character looks the same and plays the same. Now you are on a more populated server. Yep,they must lead really pampered lives if all it takes to get them stamping their feet in a tantrum is having to call some on-screen pixels a different name. Oh, THE TRAGEDY! I had to rename two or three of my characters - big whoop, I couldn't have cared less. Man up for god's sake. Edited July 19, 2012 by Dibdabs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dipstik Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 The problem is with the people tat stayed on their server to keep their name being forced onto a server in which they will lose their name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sindorin Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 The problem is with the people tat stayed on their server to keep their name being forced onto a server in which they will lose their name. Either way they shouldn't be so attached to something as a name. It's in the grand scheme of things, not that important. It's more ego than anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthTHC Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Yeah that's right. Screwed over. I eagerly pre-ordered the ridiculously overpriced Collector's Edition and dived with enthusiasm into the early access period, claiming the names I wanted for my characters. Now I'm being forced into server transfers and, ultimately, name changes as a reward. Thanks, BioWare. Yuuuup. I pre-ordered as soon as it became available and logged in the minute early access started just to get my names. Unique ones too. Ones I have never run into anywhere in my 12+ years of MMO gaming. Stupid of me to reserve them on only one server. Very, very stupid. A mistake I will not soon repeat. But I'm not angry with BioWare over losing my names upon transfer. I'm angry with myself for not having the foresight to reserve my names on all the servers I should have at the time. I'm also just a bit irked at the joker who hijacked my names. Did I mention that until SWTOR I had never seen them used anywhere, ever, by anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dipstik Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Either way they shouldn't be so attached to something as a name. It's in the grand scheme of things, not that important. It's more ego than anything else. why isn't one allowed top have ego when talking about a role playing game? what is the point in playuing a character if you have no pride in said character? we can deconstruct all this into how much of a character is in a name, then get caught up in semiotics pertaining to identity etc. but the point it, this is how people feel, and for whatever eason they feel that way, it would be in biowares best interest to try and appease them, since it is costing them subs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlimsPicken Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Either way they shouldn't be so attached to something as a name. It's in the grand scheme of things, not that important. It's more ego than anything else. Ok. Your name is now turdburger. good thing what others call you isnt important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aedales Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Wow... people on the forums make me laugh! Ok everyone, lets see where this goes: (1) People cried out for server transfers / mergers because of low pop servers (2) Bioware gave that option going from specific servers to specific servers (3) The process of transfer, was simple and quick (Like 1 to 2 minutes) (4) People get upset about character / legacy name loss Ok, the issue is this: NO game company will ever make all of its players happy. I have played a TON of MMOs and this is true for ALL of them. This is the problem that happens when you demand something... be careful what you wish for remember? I am a pre-order player too, I was there on day 1 of early access. I also had to change a few of my characters names. What did I get out of the deal? I got a huge server population so myself and my guildies can enjoy things like pvp with no wait times (well, very little wait times). Any smart MMO company would not tie names to accounts across all servers.. I'm sorry, that is stupid. You would end up getting so many people playing that eventually the only thing you can name your character is omgthereisnonameicanthinkofunlessithasthismanyletters! You guys also have to remember that you are not the ONLY people who had early access and lost their names. Threaten bioware with unsubbing all you want, that is just how life goes.. it is not fair. If you wish to leave the game, please do so... no one is stopping you! But umm.... can I haz all your stuff!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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