Name changes

[Dahon]

When naming conflicts occur due to the consolidation, players are given priority based on a variety of factors such as character play time and if they have already had to rename their characters as part of the first character transfer program back in June. Please do keep in mind that this does not encompass all of the factors taken into consideration, but those are an example of the major ones.

 

Except I was player that had to change 7 of 8 of my names when I transferred back in June. Now that I've been established on Profecy of the Five, I have to change yet another name for some new comer. Glad I paid for the CE for early access.

[NightBlizzard]

I may be one of the few - but my names were untouched. I know names are really important to some people and I know my brother was upset when his name Zosimos was taken away - however he shook his head and went on a search for a new name, simple as that - he has been playing since launch - but hasn't let the name change affect his love for the character.

[Draekos]

Seems to be working pretty well. I've been subbed since launch and I kept all of my characters names that I actually play. I do also have a level 4 agent who did have change his name, but I havent touched that character since before the last transfer. Looks like BW did a great job with handling this. None of my active characters lost their name, but BW freed up a name I had locked up but wasnt using for another player. Works for me and someone else is happy as they got to keep their name on a character they actually play.

[Arlon_Nabarlly]

I'm pretty happy. I found of the 8 characters on my main server only one required a name change (a level 11 with a very common name that I made like a month ago). I lost a name I cared deeply about during manual merges and still wish I could get it back, but it is what it is. Edited September 18, 2012 by Arlon_Nabarlly

[sirBetamax]

I lost three names, and whilst frustrating (one of them used a name I use in all the games I play) I can deal with losing my level 25 and level 11. Losing my level 50 main on top of that is too much and has severely dented my desire to keep playing.

 

Been a non-stop subscriber from the start, was in early access, got the deluxe edition etc. I've been running a guild, and thus active, pretty much since day 1 as well, with the same level 50 character who got renamed.

 

Now I sunk a huge amount of time into that character, it's one of the few times I have ever put time into the endgame of an MMO. If whoever 'won' my name /played more than me then wow they played a lot, although maybe not...

 

As I understand it /played is character specific, now I purchased this game in no small part due to the whole BioWare storytelling angle. As such I have 4 level 50s and 3 others in progress. Naturally this means that my /played time for one character is hardly representative of how much I play.

 

Now maybe you will still say "derp the other person deserved it more, because they were like totally dedicated to that one character", but that's a bitter pill to swallow. I'll never know, but there is a good chance I lost that name entirely because I did what the devs suggested and rolled alts, rather than endlessly repeating the same content (which I did do anyway, just not enough apparently).

[Urael]

Got lucky! I only lost one name on my west cost toons but, I able to come up with a similar alternate.

 

It did take me an hour to reset all my user interfaces and preferences on 20 toons.

 

I was able to get back a Legacy name due to the nonuniqueness.

 

Still JG your team needs to be more clear on how you word things. That is the only thing I am not happy with.

 

[Moncrief]

It is a bummer to lose a game in an RPG. But, how do you really solve this issue?

 

If two (or more) players had the same name, same play hours on the character, and both created at the same time how would you decide who gets the name? What if one person had more total (between all characters) play time but the other had more play time on that single character? What if one person had the name since pre-release but only got the character to 50 then stopped and the other person joined a month ago and has played the character into end-game content?

 

It is impossible to make both parties happy.

[PlagaNerezza]

I lost three names, and whilst frustrating (one of them used a name I use in all the games I play) I can deal with losing my level 25 and level 11. Losing my level 50 main on top of that is too much and has severely dented my desire to keep playing.

 

Been a non-stop subscriber from the start, was in early access, got the deluxe edition etc. I've been running a guild, and thus active, pretty much since day 1 as well, with the same level 50 character who got renamed.

 

Now I sunk a huge amount of time into that character, it's one of the few times I have ever put time into the endgame of an MMO. If whoever 'won' my name /played more than me then wow they played a lot, although maybe not...

 

As I understand it /played is character specific, now I purchased this game in no small part due to the whole BioWare storytelling angle. As such I have 4 level 50s and 3 others in progress. Naturally this means that my /played time for one character is hardly representative of how much I play.

 

Now maybe you will still say "derp the other person deserved it more, because they were like totally dedicated to that one character", but that's a bitter pill to swallow. I'll never know, but there is a good chance I lost that name entirely because I did what the devs suggested and rolled alts, rather than endlessly repeating the same content (which I did do anyway, just not enough apparently).

 

Can you post more information on the 50 name you lost?

 

Try mirroring what the CS rep said was driving the change logic. Given what I read you'd have to have 2 50's who play a lot on a name to lose it. I'd be interested to see what numbers you have.

[PlagaNerezza]

If you read closely, she wrote:

 

How does going from 3 accounts (both of hers and your one) being subscribed to 1 account (both of hers canceled) cancel each other out? I think that is the math Bioware is using to figure out what moves are good ideas.

 

Losing alt names to actual playing 50's with that name is fair IMO. I want to know how people are losing main character names. This model doesn't support that according to the CS who started this so maybe if people started listing some facts instead of ranting and raving about losing the name it would help solve the issue and possibly lead to them getting the name back, if its rightfully theirs.

[sirBetamax]

They should have just added surnames.

 

Allow us to alter the legacy name (as they have done), then add surnames ala Guild Wars 2 and whatnot. That way if your name is taken you just add a surname. If you like your Legacy as your surname just add that and choose to hide your legacy, use it as a title, or change it to something different.

[Trollokdamus]

my brother was upset when his name Zosimos was taken away - however he shook his head and went on a search for a new name, simple as that - he has been playing since launch - but hasn't let the name change affect his love for the character.

Well, some people can act like your brother, others can't. For them, character name is a major part of it, if not the most important one.

Repeating myself, if this would happen to me, it would be an instant "bye bye".

But although none of my names were taken away this time, i'm still very annoyed by the whole situation... yet another deed which shows Bioware attitude towards their game and playerbase.

As it should. The people complaining over a name, and then cancelling is just ricockulas. It's a fake name for a fake world.... lol...

So anything that doesn't have any value to you should by default have no value to everyone else? Good approach.

[PlagaNerezza]

Well, some people can act like your brother, others can't. For them, character name is a major part of it, if not the most important one.

Repeating myself, if this would happen to me, it would be an instant "bye bye".

But although none of my names were taken away this time, i'm still very annoyed by the whole situation... yet another deed which shows Bioware attitude towards their game and playerbase.

 

So anything that doesn't have any value to you should by default have no value to everyone else? Good approach.

 

And in this merge if it was a main character they should have kept that name. Those 50's should back up those claims that it was played enough to merit keeping the name over another player from another server who played that character as a main.

[Uluain]

This is a guess, because I don't really know, but I would surmise that the older character to have the name, regardless of whether on origin or destination server, kept the name. Since no one moved had a choice in the matter, this would be about the only fair way to handle it.

[sirBetamax]

Losing alt names to actual playing 50's with that name is fair IMO. I want to know how people are losing main character names. This model doesn't support that according to the CS who started this so maybe if people started listing some facts instead of ranting and raving about losing the name it would help solve the issue and possibly lead to them getting the name back, if its rightfully theirs.

 

Yeah I lost a main character name. From what I have read it's most likely because either a) they made it on day 1 of early access (I made mine on day 2 or 3) b) they had a larger /played on that character than me, which doesn't take into account total playtime over all characters.

 

I'll agree with others who have said that the lack of any transparency is really exacerbating this, after following this thread for a while I have gone from rage to mere frustration at the way it has been handled and implemented.

[PlagaNerezza]

They should have just added surnames.

 

Allow us to alter the legacy name (as they have done), then add surnames ala Guild Wars 2 and whatnot. That way if your name is taken you just add a surname. If you like your Legacy as your surname just add that and choose to hide your legacy, use it as a title, or change it to something different.

 

They should have done a lot of things differently. Including communicating things like this way differently.

[ProphetX]

When naming conflicts occur due to the consolidation, players are given priority based on a variety of factors such as character play time and if they have already had to rename their characters as part of the first character transfer program back in June. Please do keep in mind that this does not encompass all of the factors taken into consideration, but those are an example of the major ones.

 

So let me get this straight , I bought a collectors edition for $150 , I took the day off work , I was in the first wave of early acess to get the names I WANTED . I have been on Corellian Run since the first seconds it opened and I have to rename 4 of my charachters , charachters I care about ? This is complete and utter nonsense .

 

Are you trying to make people quit this game ? Seriously ? This fiasco will be the biggest disaster in the history of mmos

 

I have put up with alot from this disaster of an mmo been here since 2009 , done the same boring content for months . Watched all my friends quit , watched 3 guilds die and still kept playing .

 

This may be the straw that broke the camels back . I want a response or Im going to unsub .

Edited September 18, 2012 by ProphetX

[Muwarr]

And in this merge if it was a main character they should have kept that name. Those 50's should back up those claims that it was played enough to merit keeping the name over another player from another server who played that character as a main.

 

How can anyone back up their claim based on the vague description of the criteria given, especially when they say that there are other factors that have not been shared with us?

[Knockerz]

So let me get this straight , I bought a collectors edition for $150 , I took the day off work , I was in the first wave of early acess to get the names I WANTED . I have been on Corellian Run since the first seconds it opened and I have to rename 4 of my charachters , charachters I care about ? This is complete and utter nonsense .

 

Are you trying to make people quit this game ? Seriously ? This fiasco will be the biggest disaster in the history of mmos

 

I have put up with alot from this disaster of an mmo been here since 2009 , done the same boring content for months .

 

This may be the straw that broke the camels back .

 

It's already the biggest disaster in the history of mmos. A budget over 200 million and the game appears to not sold more copies than GW2, which had a fraction of swtor's budget. I think BW expects a miracle with f2p. I also bought the CE. The only saving grace was that I return my second copy of CE.

Edited September 18, 2012 by Knockerz

[PlagaNerezza]

Yeah I lost a main character name. From what I have read it's most likely because either a) they made it on day 1 of early access (I made mine on day 2 or 3) b) they had a larger /played on that character than me, which doesn't take into account total playtime over all characters.

 

I'll agree with others who have said that the lack of any transparency is really exacerbating this, after following this thread for a while I have gone from rage to mere frustration at the way it has been handled and implemented.

 

When naming conflicts occur due to the consolidation, players are given priority based on a variety of factors such as character play time and if they have already had to rename their characters as part of the first character transfer program back in June. Please do keep in mind that this does not encompass all of the factors taken into consideration, but those are an example of the major ones.

 

I agree with posters like you asking what the variables are that lost me my main 50. You should bug report your name change ingame. If you lost a main something is wrong with the formula.

[ProphetX]

It's already the biggest disaster in the history of mmos. A budget over 200 million and the game appears to not sold more copies than GW2, which had a fraction of swtor's budget. I think BW expects a miracle with f2p. I also bought the CE. The only saving grace was that I return my second copy of CE.

 

So over this game , ONLY EA treats paying customers this way . I haven't bought an EA sports game in 10 years .

 

After this I will NEVER buy a EA product again .

[Mevan]

The possible explanations are simple.

1) You're lying, and your sole intention is to flame Bioware, as evidenced by your insults and profanity.

OR

2) Whoever else had your name somehow played even more than you did. Maybe he lives in his parents' basement and plays 20 hours a day. Add him to your friends list and find out.

 

1) Or I'm pissed off? Not to hard to understand why. But it's cute to see Bioware still has its fanboys.

2) And unlikely, I'm online every day. Had very few lessons each week while in college and now that I'm done I only have a 2 hour job in the evenings, aside from that I'm on most of the time, since day one. Seems pretty clear to me (and, looking through the posts, a lot of others) that Bioware has royally screwed up. Sad thing is, I can't say I'm surprised. They just keep proving that they simply cannot run this game to anywhere that isn't the ground.

[PlagaNerezza]

How can anyone back up their claim based on the vague description of the criteria given, especially when they say that there are other factors that have not been shared with us?

 

Most people don't share the 3 variables we know, because I suspect many of them are alts with parked names that are not played often. It also makes using the thread to help the real people who may be being impacted by a bug or a formula issue from getting helped.

 

Posts about lost names should include:

 

/played time

was the character already subject to a name change during the last move

Approximate date of creation

[AlixMV]

Okay, so the Guild Name changes threads are also being shutdown and re-directed to this one, so here's my question:

 

How was it determined who got to keep the Guild Name?

 

I lost two of my Guild Names. I tried renaming the one I have immediate control over back to the original name and got told it was unavailable. How can I tell if this is valid or not? How can I tell if I lost my Guild Name to an inactive Guild which may have been stranded on one of the original Origin servers and no one's logged into them since June, or an active one?

 

The name breaking decision on player names has been elaborated, but what about Guilds?

[PlagaNerezza]

1) Or I'm pissed off? Not to hard to understand why. But it's cute to see Bioware still has its fanboys.

2) And unlikely, I'm online every day. Had very few lessons each week while in college and now that I'm done I only have a 2 hour job in the evenings, aside from that I'm on most of the time, since day one. Seems pretty clear to me (and, looking through the posts, a lot of others) that Bioware has royally screwed up. Sad thing is, I can't say I'm surprised. They just keep proving that they simply cannot run this game to anywhere that isn't the ground.

 

Why don't you tell us the 3 variables on the lost toons.

 

/played time

was the character already subject to a name change during the last move

Approximate date of creation

 

You have 31 alts according to your footer. What ones did you lose?

[Moncrief]

So over this game , ONLY EA treats paying customers this way . I haven't bought an EA sports game in 10 years .

 

After this I will NEVER buy a EA product again .

 

ProphetX,

 

What would your solution be if the person sharing your name had a similar play/create history?