Screwed over by Bioware!

[dayhak]

I can actually sympathize with the OP a bit. I purchased the game before I had even played in beta, just because I was so excited for a Star Wars MMO game (Yes I played galaxies, but quit shortly after the disaster of NGE)

 

I was pretty angry when I lost one of my name's during that period, as I had my actual, real full name... First name was my real name and legacy name was my last name... I thought it was really exciting to have a toon that looked a lot like me and had my actual name... So yeah, I thought it was really dumb that through no fault of my own, that name was taken away from me (Server transfers opened while I was at work, so by the time I had access to a computer to switch servers my name had already been taken)

 

This could have been handled a lot better, like a lot of things could have been handled better... What I will say is this to the OP... It was a long long time ago dude... Time to let go... The loss of my name has not in any way effected my enjoyment of the game nor should it have effected yours. Was it annoying? Yes! Was it a deal breaker? Well if it was than you are far to invested in this game and need to get outside for a bit...

[Gronkaarr]

Doom

Maverick

Titan

Rampage

LOL

[SithKoriandr]

I found your names to be quite uninspiring and copycat retreads from Marvel and DC Comics. The bit actors in the Star Wars films have more creative names than those.

 

You should replace those with two other character names that fit your style....Milk and Toast.

 

While the OP may have known of Bane, I can imagine a lot of players never having heard of Bane. He's not one of the widely known bat villains. Even after his first aweful appearance in Batman & Robin.

 

Darth Bane was also obviously good enough to be used in some EU book, that I know I've never read. And before now had never even heard of a Darth Bane, so he couldn't be that popular.

[Blackavaar]

Translation: I picked some of the most commonly used names in online games and lost them when they did server transfers and I'm still mad about it.

 

Sorry, bud. Still nothing they can do to fix it now. Once a game is launched changing the naming system in any significant way is pretty impossible. You can create add-ons, like the Legacy System but the changing the very way the game handles the core naming system is out of the question.

 

Suggestion: Try to be original with your names.

 

And if you think changing the system would stop people from making ridiculous names, try STO some time. They have the Global naming system where there can be a hundred characters of the same name because they are associated with a Global name that is unique. That doesn't stop people from making characters called Captain Poopfart or Admiral Pewpewpew or other ridiculous names like that. People will do what they will do and as long as they're paying the developers aren't going to stop them.

 

[Darth_Halford]

I'd like to just throw out an observation.

 

Hoodling is automatically assuming that he made the characters on his server, before the other person on that server, made theirs.

 

It is entirely possible that whoever owns those characters was also a pre-order guy who did exactly what he did and may have even gotten it sooner and was actually able to level those characters up...

 

But it's easier to just assume the "me first" mentality that obviously he's the one that deserves those names and not the person who doesn't have to move from one server to another and may value their character names just as much as he does.

[Darth_Halford]

I can actually sympathize with the OP a bit. I purchased the game before I had even played in beta, just because I was so excited for a Star Wars MMO game (Yes I played galaxies, but quit shortly after the disaster of NGE)

 

I was pretty angry when I lost one of my name's during that period, as I had my actual, real full name... First name was my real name and legacy name was my last name... I thought it was really exciting to have a toon that looked a lot like me and had my actual name... So yeah, I thought it was really dumb that through no fault of my own, that name was taken away from me (Server transfers opened while I was at work, so by the time I had access to a computer to switch servers my name had already been taken)

 

This could have been handled a lot better, like a lot of things could have been handled better... What I will say is this to the OP... It was a long long time ago dude... Time to let go... The loss of my name has not in any way effected my enjoyment of the game nor should it have effected yours. Was it annoying? Yes! Was it a deal breaker? Well if it was than you are far to invested in this game and need to get outside for a bit...

 

Everybod who got "screwed" says that they could have "handled it better"

 

I would really like to know how this could have been improved, cause I don't see a win-win scenario in this anywhere.

[Eillack]

During the Canderous Ordo > Jedi Covenant I had to rename 1 toon...I went "Oh, whatever" and actually went on with life...and the funny part...I was mega lazy when I made that Sent. so I used random name generator, so no losses all around.. Edited March 2, 2013 by Eillack

[Tsillah]

During the Canderous Ordo > Jedi Covenant I had to rename 1 toon...I went "Oh, whatever" and actually went on with life...and the funny part...I was mega lazy when I made that Sent. so I used rnadom name generator, so no losses all around..

 

That's called being lucky.

 

Of my original 8 characters I had to change names on 6 of them and change the legacy name on the first round. Then on the second round of merges I had to change some again.

 

What I don't get in this is that there didn't seem to be any eye for seniority as in who got the name first but being merged onto an existing server meant that whoever was on that server already got first dibs basically.

 

That is something they could've handled better.

 

All MMOs suffer from server closures. This should've been the expectation. Companies just overhype themselves out of reality and that to me is the biggest mistake Bioware made in all of this: They had unrealistic expectations for this game from the beginning. If they had had more of a sense of reality before the hammer hit and woke them up, a lot of things could've been prevented right from the start. I've seen server merges in other games and there the person with the oldest toon got to keep the name. That is much fairer in the whole point of early start where the biggest advantage people choose to go for is the chance of getting the names you like. All in all it just seems to me BW never considered what would be needed if things went south because they they convinced themselves this game would be the biggest game ever and nothing could go wrong. So when it did, it took em months to admit it and then they were panicking over what to do. Now this was my impression, but that's what it looked like and the server merges, though necessary could've been more considerate to people who played from the start to claim their names. They didn't do that here.

 

Now I did get pissed off at the time and I did quit SWTOR for a few months but not just because of this. There was much more that made SWTOR just not fun to play for me anymore. I came back 3-4 months later and the game has improved significantly so that's all good, but I do sometimes still wish I could've kept some of my old names.

 

To be fair I was mostly ticked off because I couldn't keep my legacy name at first and then they made it so legacy names were no longer unique. That really got to me. It was like anything that made my toons unique was just taken away. Again they underestimated the consequences of such choices, because they didn't see the realities out there.

 

Sure they talk about metrics and see people's behaviour but these numbers don't explain what people's motivations are. I think in that respect it was better what GW2 did (although I really don't like that game for the most part), where characters are unique across all servers. That way, server merges never cause conflicts, nor server transfers.

 

It pays to look outside of the walls of your own little fantasy world from time to time. Now, I don't mean that as harsh as it may sound, but my main gripe with BW is just that. They put on pink sunglasses and everything looked rosy to them. The population had to be cut down to half before they were willing to accept they were wrong about it. Interestingly it wasn't so much the bugs and all that, that made people leave, bu the way everything was handled. I dare say they have gotten better at this but as far as the game losing so many players and having to go f2p in part, that cannot just be blamed on the market trends. It was the feeling a lot of people had that BW didn't take their players seriously. Not really.

 

So when it comes to things like this, character names and such, a developer needs to realise the emotional impact this has on a good part of the players. I am not saying a majority because I don't know how many, but it was a big discussion on the forums and in game at the time, so people did feel unpleasantly surprised by how things went.

 

But as I say also, the game has improved quite a bit and I enjoy it a lot now for months again and I do agree with people who say it is in the past now and it's time to get over it. I recognise the OP's feelings as I felt them myself, but I also want to say to him that this is water under the bridge. It's something that happened more than half a year ago and it cannot be reversed as such. That's the reality.

[Brackiss]

Double post Edited March 2, 2013 by Brackiss
double post

[Brackiss]

While the OP may have known of Bane, I can imagine a lot of players never having heard of Bane. He's not one of the widely known bat villains. Even after his first aweful appearance in Batman & Robin.

 

Darth Bane was also obviously good enough to be used in some EU book, that I know I've never read. And before now had never even heard of a Darth Bane, so he couldn't be that popular.

 

You're obviously not a SW fan beyond the movies. Darth Bane implemented the "Rule of Two", meaning there would only be a Master and an Apprentice to rule at one time.

 

As for the OP, you're whining is growing tiresome so please **** and let it go. You ignored the rules and are butthurt about a name you lost, a name that isn't legal to use mind you.

 

You're unoriginal names aren't epic and never will be. Try using your head, you know that lump 3 feet above your *****, and come up with something original for once in your life.

[Darth_Halford]

What I don't get in this is that there didn't seem to be any eye for seniority as in who got the name first but being merged onto an existing server meant that whoever was on that server already got first dibs basically.

For what it's worth, there is no indication that characters are timestamped for when they are created.

 

This also doesn't REALLY adress the problem for one of two reasons.

A) it is entirely possible that those other characters were created before yours and you still would have had to change your names.

B) It actually makes more unhappy customers. Even if "Seniority" is employed the bulk of transferring players would not be able to save all of their characters. So now you still have upset customers, but now you have players who don't have to transfer and have to change their names to accomadate somebody else.

Edited March 2, 2013 by Darth_Halford

[Eillack]

That's called being lucky.

 

[snip]

 

 

Nope.

 

With the exclusion of the 1 toon I mentioned, it's called I was being original. When I make characters, I tend ot not use ones I did in other games, or use names that have been used. I make up brand new, actually "unique" names that I still cannot pronouce because I made then so far from the norms of plain and simple.

Edited March 2, 2013 by Eillack

[WiggsMagee]

Managed to keep my Pvtmeatshield commandon name since BETA... soooo happy about that

[AndasKastor]

While I sympathize with the OP as he depended on a tier 1 or tier 2 support person. It is pretty clear that he had a number of doubts on whether it would work.

 

Especially since he had tried to recreate 'Bane' on his original server once he had moved the original and got the invalid name response.

 

Personally I would be mad at myself - not at Bioware. Take responsibility for your actions. Everybody is a victim these days...

[Malastare]

I was sharing this with my wife and she totally missed the point.

 

She thought the names were awesome, commenting: "But where's Turbo, Nitro and Ice?"

 

And she has an amazingly good point. With this bag of cheese in your loading screen, you pretty much have to start up the American Gladiators guild. Heck, I'd even front you the 5000 credits to set it up. See... if you embrace the cheese --own the cheese-- and tag these guys as icons of 90's faux-cool, then they would actually approach being Epic.

 

(My wife is great)

[Vandicus]

What I don't get in this is that there didn't seem to be any eye for seniority as in who got the name first but being merged onto an existing server meant that whoever was on that server already got first dibs basically.

 

If you are referring to the merges(2nd event) rather than the optional server transfers, there was no first dibs system since everyone was moving to new servers, even if the server name was the same. A good number of people complained that this wasn't the case way back when.

[Brackiss]

I was sharing this with my wife and she totally missed the point.

 

She thought the names were awesome, commenting: "But where's Turbo, Nitro and Ice?"

 

And she has an amazingly good point. With this bag of cheese in your loading screen, you pretty much have to start up the American Gladiators guild. Heck, I'd even front you the 5000 credits to set it up. See... if you embrace the cheese --own the cheese-- and tag these guys as icons of 90's faux-cool, then they would actually approach being Epic.

 

(My wife is great)

 

That's hilarious! Kudos to your wife.

[PurpleLynx]

Bane is also a major God from Forgotten Realms. Being that that is the active world for Wizards of the Coast D&D game, allowing its use could lead to a suit against EA/Bioware. Its copyrighted. Therefore can't be used. Kinda common in just about every game I've played, you can't use copyrighted names. While they might not catch it right away, they sure as hell can, and do, change the name when they do catch it. I understand the frustration, I really do, names are everything, and I will delete a character if the name I choose was changed to something I cant stand. But I try very hard to stay away from copyrights, especially from sue-happy companies like WOTC and Palladium Books.

[Drudenfusz]

Tastes are different, and even though I don't think the names OP liked are cool or anything like that, I still understand that BioWare didn't handled that well. But now it's too late anyway.

[Hoodling]

Everybod who got "screwed" says that they could have "handled it better"

 

I would really like to know how this could have been improved, cause I don't see a win-win scenario in this anywhere.

 

They could have simply set up new servers and given everyone a fair chance. First come, first serve. It's that simple.

[jarjarloves]

They could have simply set up new servers and given everyone a fair chance. First come, first serve. It's that simple.

 

if I work 18 hours a day to support my family how do I have a fair chance vs someone who is on unemployment and sits at home playing this game 24/7?

 

how is that fair?

 

also how do you know it wasn't first come first serve? Perhaps no one had your name on the destination server and some one transfered before you and got it?

Edited March 2, 2013 by jarjarloves

[Hoodling]

You're obviously not a SW fan beyond the movies. Darth Bane implemented the "Rule of Two", meaning there would only be a Master and an Apprentice to rule at one time.

 

As for the OP, you're whining is growing tiresome so please **** and let it go. You ignored the rules and are butthurt about a name you lost, a name that isn't legal to use mind you.

 

You're unoriginal names aren't epic and never will be. Try using your head, you know that lump 3 feet above your *****, and come up with something original for once in your life.

 

Replies like this is what makes forums all worth it. Unimportant blips on the interweb making assumptions about who you are, questioning your intelligence and telling you what to do with your life. Priceless stupidity.

[Hoodling]

Bane is also a major God from Forgotten Realms. Being that that is the active world for Wizards of the Coast D&D game, allowing its use could lead to a suit against EA/Bioware. Its copyrighted. Therefore can't be used. Kinda common in just about every game I've played, you can't use copyrighted names. While they might not catch it right away, they sure as hell can, and do, change the name when they do catch it. I understand the frustration, I really do, names are everything, and I will delete a character if the name I choose was changed to something I cant stand. But I try very hard to stay away from copyrights, especially from sue-happy companies like WOTC and Palladium Books.

 

The fact that I was able to make the character with the name says it all. I even rerolled the character after patch 1.2 because I had made several human characters, and I would rather level up a different race to get a new legacy unlock. So even some time after patch 1.2, people could still name their characters Bane. It wasn't until the launch of the latest Batman movie that the name suddenly got added to the prohibited list. So what if someone makes a movie next year with the name of one of your own charcters? Must Bioware then add that name to the prohibited list and ask you to rename your character? It all starting to get a bit ridiculous. If someone owns the copyright on the word Bane, what about Reaper, or Grace, or Titan? Nvidia just launched a new series of graphics cards named Titan. Did they own that word? Where does it stop?

 

It makes me wonder sometimes, just how many words in the dictionary are copyright protected? And how many word-combinations? Why does it even matter what we call our characters in a silly gameworld anyway? Even if my character was named Superman, it's not like I would be earning money off the brandname or anything. Would DC seriously sue some random guy on the other side of the planet for having a character named Superman? I could buy some random.com and make a forum just to call myself Superman on that forum. Would DC sue me over that? It's crazy. I could understand that since this is a SW game, they'd put in rules about not allowing names like Skywalker, but if you're going to disallow every word in the dictionary because someone copyrighted that word, then we'd be left with names looking like encryption keys. I'd seriously like someone to explain it to me why MMO's bother adding all these restrictions. Fear of litigation? That's ridiculous!

[Darth_Halford]

They could have simply set up new servers and given everyone a fair chance. First come, first serve. It's that simple.

 

That doesn't solve a damned thing. That doesn't create fewer upset customers, it simply changes who is upset and who is "okay".

 

You're not really interested in conflict resolution. Your focus is solely on self.

[Darth_Halford]

The fact that I was able to make the character with the name says it all. I even rerolled the character after patch 1.2 because I had made several human characters, and I would rather level up a different race to get a new legacy unlock. So even some time after patch 1.2, people could still name their characters Bane. It wasn't until the launch of the latest Batman movie that the name suddenly got added to the prohibited list. So what if someone makes a movie next year with the name of one of your own charcters? Must Bioware then add that name to the prohibited list and ask you to rename your character? It all starting to get a bit ridiculous. If someone owns the copyright on the word Bane, what about Reaper, or Grace, or Titan? Nvidia just launched a new series of graphics cards named Titan. Did they own that word? Where does it stop?

 

It makes me wonder sometimes, just how many words in the dictionary are copyright protected? And how many word-combinations? Why does it even matter what we call our characters in a silly gameworld anyway? Even if my character was named Superman, it's not like I would be earning money off the brandname or anything. Would DC seriously sue some random guy on the other side of the planet for having a character named Superman? I could buy some random.com and make a forum just to call myself Superman on that forum. Would DC sue me over that? It's crazy. I could understand that since this is a SW game, they'd put in rules about not allowing names like Skywalker, but if you're going to disallow every word in the dictionary because someone copyrighted that word, then we'd be left with names looking like encryption keys. I'd seriously like someone to explain it to me why MMO's bother adding all these restrictions. Fear of litigation? That's ridiculous!

 

A) If you made a truely original name the chances of another source of media creating the same name is incredibly slim

 

B) Batman film or not, it's certainly not an original name. Even without the film it would still be against policy.

 

C) It's far from rediculous. It's par the course for the genre and you (apparently) being a veteran to MMO's would know that this isn't just EA's policy or some draconian measure to persecute you.

 

D) So long as your not using the dictionary to create your character it doesn't matter how many of them are protected. And why, in a Star Wars RPG, would you ever want to do something like that?

 

E) DC and Marvel both sued City of Heroes about characters named and made to resemble theirs.

 

F) there's a certain level of immersion that gets broken by these kinds of shenanigans. If it were me, any name that was not "real" or was derived from another source would be against policy.