Screwed over by Bioware!

[Hoodling]

No, you didn't have to move. You CHOSE to move. Try to justify it anyway you want, but in the end you did have to option to stay where you were, and keep your names.

 

Do the facts get in the way of your attempt to play the victim?

 

Don't even start me on this crap again. There was no choice. We didn't even know there was gonna be a second transfer where there would be rules that would make me able to potentially keep my name if I stayed on the original server. The only thing we knew at the time was that everyone was leaving Bao-Dur. So I could stay on a dead server or join the rest of the population and keep playing the game like it was an MMO. Seriously, you gotta take the timeline into consideration here. The smart move at the time was to move as fast as you possibly could, to try to snag whatever was left of awesome names and maybe even get to keep some of your original ones. If this is all you have to point out then I've got nothing further to say on the matter. You consider it a choice? Fine. I don't.

[Darth_Halford]

Don't even start me on this crap again. There was no choice. We didn't even know there was gonna be a second transfer where there would be rules that would make me able to potentially keep my name if I stayed on the original server. The only thing we knew at the time was that everyone was leaving Bao-Dur. So I could stay on a dead server or join the rest of the population and keep playing the game like it was an MMO. Seriously, you gotta take the timeline into consideration here. The smart move at the time was to move as fast as you possibly could, to try to snag whatever was left of awesome names and maybe even get to keep some of your original ones. If this is all you have to point out then I've got nothing further to say on the matter. You consider it a choice? Fine. I don't.

 

Could you have stayed on the origin server? Yes, therefore it was a matter of choice.

[Hoodling]

I don't know how you come to that conclusion. Somebody else had the name on the first server, and that's how you lost the name. Now you expand that process of funneling several servers into just one place. When you yourself say that these names are so extremely popular that you had to do early access to gain them, how is it that with almost a hundred servers condensed to around five or so you would expect to keep them?

 

Ok, I'll try to explain this just one last time since you're very close now. Example: Reaper. Yes, someone else had the name on Nightmare Lands. I had it on Bao-Dur. There was no priority system in place at the time that said that if I was an active subscriber and level 50 (and I dunno how many other rules Bioware used to decide who got to keep their names during the second merge) I'd get to keep it over someone who had less "point" or whatever, for not being level 50, not being active, not subscribing... whatever. The reason I'm "upset" is the fact that there wasn't such a system in place. So, when I was forced to move off the tombstone/ghost-town called Bao-Dur, I lost the name Reaper. At the time, nobody knew there would be a second merge, with all new rules saying that if you were active, level 50, subscribing and on and on... you'd get to keep your name! If I had KNOWN about that, I would probably have stayed on Bao-Dur for an extra month or two doing dailies by myself just to get the chance to keep my original names. Instead, I got to keep the names I picked once I got onto Nightmare Lands.

[Hoodling]

Here is what you said, emphasis mine:

 

 

 

I hear that you like your names, and good for you! But many people do NOT consider them awesome. As evidenced by this thread. Please don't claim that nobody is going to tell you the names are not awesome. Dozens of people have told you that.

 

There are some 1.2 million people named Maria in the US alone, btw, and I am not aware of any named Reaper. What was that about? Comparing a real name (with an initial) to a game character name isn't very meaningful.

 

As evident in this thread? I don't care what anybody thinks about the names. Didn't you hear? The fact is, they're popular and coveted and that's why they're always taken. Also the very reason I wanted them in the first place. This thread isn't about whether or not the names are to your liking. It's about the fact that Bioware screwed me out of them as they did with tons of people who were on low-pop servers.

[TheBBP]

As evident in this thread? I don't care what anybody thinks about the names. Didn't you hear? The fact is, they're popular and coveted and that's why they're always taken. Also the very reason I wanted them in the first place. This thread isn't about whether or not the names are to your liking. It's about the fact that Bioware screwed me out of them as they did with tons of people who were on low-pop servers.

 

It's called a sacrifice, willing or not. The servers were hurting bad and something needed to be done. They made a hard choice and had to anger a lot of people by pulling mergers, but it needed to be done. You are no more important than anyone else here who has chosen to deal with it and move on.

 

If you are that hurt about it, vote with your wallet and leave.

[Hoodling]

It's called a sacrifice, willing or not. The servers were hurting bad and something needed to be done. They made a hard choice and had to anger a lot of people by pulling mergers, but it needed to be done. You are no more important than anyone else here who has chosen to deal with it and move on.

 

If you are that hurt about it, vote with your wallet and leave.

 

I haven't claimed even once that I'm more important than anyone else who lost their names. Infact, I've made a point out of it so many times through this thread already that I don't understand how you could possibly get that idea.

 

I agree that Bioware had to do something, but they rushed it. They could have waiting an extra month or two until they had the priority system in place. They could have at least told us about it so that people such as myself who give a damn about their names could have made the INFORMED DECISION to stay on their original server a while longer in order to at least have a chance at getting to keep their original names.

[Darth_Halford]

Ok, I'll try to explain this just one last time since you're very close now. Example: Reaper. Yes, someone else had the name on Nightmare Lands. I had it on Bao-Dur. There was no priority system in place at the time that said that if I was an active subscriber and level 50 (and I dunno how many other rules Bioware used to decide who got to keep their names during the second merge) I'd get to keep it over someone who had less "point" or whatever, for not being level 50, not being active, not subscribing... whatever. The reason I'm "upset" is the fact that there wasn't such a system in place. So, when I was forced to move off the tombstone/ghost-town called Bao-Dur, I lost the name Reaper. At the time, nobody knew there would be a second merge, with all new rules saying that if you were active, level 50, subscribing and on and on... you'd get to keep your name! If I had KNOWN about that, I would probably have stayed on Bao-Dur for an extra month or two doing dailies by myself just to get the chance to keep my original names. Instead, I got to keep the names I picked once I got onto Nightmare Lands.

 

Or if any player on that destination server already had the name you'd still have lost out.I'm also not exactly familiar with the process on that second merge but I understand the bottom line, which is the people who don't have to move to a different server don't have to change their names, the same as the first transfer. If these names are as popular as you make it seem, it would seem likely to be the same effect.

[DizzyrupTor]

Personally I prefer having an original name than being another clone of Reaper, ******, Monster ect ect ect.

 

Besides those names are downright boring in games these days. Originality has it's perks

[Ratajack]

Don't even start me on this crap again. There was no choice. We didn't even know there was gonna be a second transfer where there would be rules that would make me able to potentially keep my name if I stayed on the original server. The only thing we knew at the time was that everyone was leaving Bao-Dur. So I could stay on a dead server or join the rest of the population and keep playing the game like it was an MMO. Seriously, you gotta take the timeline into consideration here. The smart move at the time was to move as fast as you possibly could, to try to snag whatever was left of awesome names and maybe even get to keep some of your original ones. If this is all you have to point out then I've got nothing further to say on the matter. You consider it a choice? Fine. I don't.

 

All I see is that you admit that you KNEW you had a choice and you CHOSE the option that you KNEW would force you to change your names. I know all about the timeline. I know all about the servers. I made the same choice. The difference is that my names were apparently not "epic" so I got to keep mine.

Edited March 3, 2013 by Ratajack

[Darth_Halford]

I haven't claimed even once that I'm more important than anyone else who lost their names. Infact, I've made a point out of it so many times through this thread already that I don't understand how you could possibly get that idea.

 

I agree that Bioware had to do something, but they rushed it. They could have waiting an extra month or two until they had the priority system in place. They could have at least told us about it so that people such as myself who give a damn about their names could have made the INFORMED DECISION to stay on their original server a while longer in order to at least have a chance at getting to keep their original names.

That informed decision wouldn't have changed anything. Only one person at the end of the day gets to keep their name.

 

If you would have lost your name in the first transfer you're almost guaranteed to have lost in the second transfer as well.

[Terin]

I agree 100% with the OP. It's complete and utter BS that we, the original players who chose to make the biggest contribution to support this game, got completely screwed over when it comes to names.

 

I have only two names I care anything about. Terin, which holds a deeply sentimental value to me, and Tristam, which I just really like. Yet, those names are now taken, by players who don't even log on, and may not even play the game whatsoever.

 

Something needs to be done.

[Vinzer]

My name doesn't make me awesome. I make my name awesome.

[UniverseSong]

My name doesn't make me awesome. I make my name awesome.

 

Are you batman ?

[Vinzer]

Are you batman ?

 

Shhh!

[Hoodling]

All I see is that you admit that you KNEW you had a choice and you CHOSE the option that you KNEW would force you to change your names. I know all about the timeline. I know all about the servers. I made the same choice. The difference is that my names were apparently not "epic" so I got to keep mine.

 

Glad for ya. Or sad. Depending on whether or not you were hoping you'd get to rename. I'm sure some people did. But come on, there was no informed decision made there. Had I known... Had they told me that I could have a chance to keep my names, even if we're talking about a snowball's chance in hell I still would have stayed on Bao-Dur. After they realized how badly they screwed the pooch, they finally put in the effort of making a priority system for the second transfer. But, by that time, it was too late for most of us from the low-pop servers.

[Darth_Halford]

I agree 100% with the OP. It's complete and utter BS that we, the original players who chose to make the biggest contribution to support this game, got completely screwed over when it comes to names.

 

I have only two names I care anything about. Terin, which holds a deeply sentimental value to me, and Tristam, which I just really like. Yet, those names are now taken, by players who don't even log on, and may not even play the game whatsoever.

 

Something needs to be done.

Not to be self-righteous or anything but who the hell do you really think you are, and how much *** do you really expect the rest of us to kiss before we can get a shot?

 

You don't think that maybe some of the rest of us that got over it were also early adopters? That maybe there was someone else who values their name just as much or possibly even more than you do, and therefore has just as much of a right to it as you do, even though they aren't asking to have a golden calf named after them in their honor?

 

The only benefits that you get as an early adopter is early access, and that's all you deserve. You pay the same as the rest of us after the initial release, so you get the same treatment.

[Terin]

Also, yeah, BioWare right screwed you, OP. I'm shocked how poor the Customer Service has been overall, but that actually seems as though it could be putting them at a legal fault. Not 100% sure, as digital law is still fairly uncharted territory, but either way, it would be wise of them to quickly resolve this issue and grant your name back, unless they want to seem possible legal actions taken in their future.

[Mestalam]

so let me get this straight you are mad cuz you lost your name and called bio to cry about it and they said too bad?

[Hoodling]

Also, yeah, BioWare right screwed you, OP. I'm shocked how poor the Customer Service has been overall, but that actually seems as though it could be putting them at a legal fault. Not 100% sure, as digital law is still fairly uncharted territory, but either way, it would be wise of them to quickly resolve this issue and grant your name back, unless they want to seem possible legal actions taken in their future.

 

I've been discussing similar topics with my friends in the past. With all the time and money we invest into our accounts and playing these games, there should be some kind of basic protection for the players. I've never even heard of a company taking such insane liberties with their users' accounts as Bioware did.

 

I mentioned earlier that one of the things Bioware could have done is to set up a new server and let everyone get a second chance at the "first come, first serve" policy, but instead they chose to completely shaft us. I've only ever asked for a fair chance here. Nothing else. Between all the nerdrage in this post, it's a miracle that someone still manages to come in here and understand the issue at hand.

[Terin]

Not to be self-righteous or anything but who the hell do you really think you are, and how much *** do you really expect the rest of us to kiss before we can get a shot?

 

You don't think that maybe some of the rest of us that got over it were also early adopters? That maybe there was someone else who values their name just as much or possibly even more than you do, and therefore has just as much of a right to it as you do, even though they aren't asking to have a golden calf named after them in their honor?

 

The only benefits that you get as an early adopter is early access, and that's all you deserve. You pay the same as the rest of us after the initial release, so you get the same treatment.

 

As the OP said, the biggest reason that Early-access is such a priority in MMO's is to reserve names. By pre-ordering a game, you're taking a huge leap of faith, and scoring your favorite name is kind of the reward. Because of these forced server-merges, they basically ripped that reward away completely, and in fact, they pretty much punished everyone who wasn't lucky enough to be on one of a few select servers.

 

Now, if that person who took the name "Terin" is of similar circumstances -- they like the name, they pre-ordered, all that jazz -- then yes, they deserve the name. Thing is, as I've said, they haven't logged-in in months, that I'm aware of (they're actually on my friend's list, specifically so I could try to communicate with them if they ever logged-in), and so it's clear what happened; they "bookmarked" the name with a character they've never played before, and have since quit playing the game.

 

I don't know why you're so hostile, but it seems misdirected. Either that, or maybe you misunderstood me, in which case I apologize.

[Hoodling]

so let me get this straight you are mad cuz you lost your name and called bio to cry about it and they said too bad?

 

WOW... seriously. You really must have read this whole thread to come up with that one. I mean, you didn't miss a thing. You're done here so you can move along now.

[Ratajack]

Glad for ya. Or sad. Depending on whether or not you were hoping you'd get to rename. I'm sure some people did. But come on, there was no informed decision made there. Had I known... Had they told me that I could have a chance to keep my names, even if we're talking about a snowball's chance in hell I still would have stayed on Bao-Dur. After they realized how badly they screwed the pooch, they finally put in the effort of making a priority system for the second transfer. But, by that time, it was too late for most of us from the low-pop servers.

 

We all made informed decisions. At the time of the original server transfers, we had all the information we needed to make the decision as to whether or not to remain on our original server. Everyone could have checked the destination server to see if their name was available. We were all notified when server transfers became available, and we were all informed that eventually everyone would be transferred off the origin servers.

 

I'm not going to go into whether or not EA/BW held information back from us, or even if they knew there would eventually be a second server merger at all. We can speculate all we want, but that is all it would be-speculation.

 

With the initial server transfers, the person on the destination server got to keep the name if there was a conflict. This is the same as any server transfer in any other game I've played. The reason for the "priority system" with the second server merger is that NO ONE remained on their server. All the servers were replaced with higher capacity severs, even if the new ones had the some of the same names. Everyone got transferred to a new server, therefore no one already had any given name on the destination server. Thus, EA/BW had to set some rules for how naming conflicts would be resolved since no one had the name first on the destination server.

[Darth_Halford]

That's the dumbest thing I've heard out of you yet. There's no better way to support a game than to pre-order it and keep an active subscription. Why on Bigfoot's green Earth shouldn't devotion be rewarded?

 

Because you got the reward when you bought it. You invested in the game early and you got rewarded with access to the game early. Pre-ordering a game doesn't net the company any more money than a regular post-launch purchase of the same item. Why should you continue to be rewarded for something that happened a year and a half ago that didn't even make Bioware any additional money?

 

The reason why devotion shouldn't be rewarded in the way you're looking for is because devotion is an emotional abstract and thus cannot be measured on any kind of a rubric by which rewards can be appropriately doled out.

 

Yes you bought the game and kept an active subscription, and when the server transfers came around, so did everybody else at the time that you had to compete against to get the name(s) you wanted. You want to tell me what makes you so special that in the unlikely event we had the same that I must somehow defer myself because someone wants to exalt themself for getting a pre-order?

 

That's crap. That is archaic, Noble vs. Serfs, crap.

[Darth_Halford]

Let me get this straight. You're a pre-order just so you could get beta and early access. You've been a subscriber since day 1. Even after getting screwed over your names you still pay Bioware money for the game, and you think you should be rewarded because of how devoted you are to the game...

 

and yet IM the fanboy in this conversation?

[Hoodling]

We all made informed decisions. At the time of the original server transfers, we had all the information we needed to make the decision as to whether or not to remain on our original server. Everyone could have checked the destination server to see if their name was available. We were all notified when server transfers became available, and we were all informed that eventually everyone would be transferred off the origin servers.

 

I'm not going to go into whether or not EA/BW held information back from us, or even if they knew there would eventually be a second server merger at all. We can speculate all we want, but that is all it would be-speculation.

 

With the initial server transfers, the person on the destination server got to keep the name if there was a conflict. This is the same as any server transfer in any other game I've played. The reason for the "priority system" with the second server merger is that NO ONE remained on their server. All the servers were replaced with higher capacity severs, even if the new ones had the some of the same names. Everyone got transferred to a new server, therefore no one already had any given name on the destination server. Thus, EA/BW had to set some rules for how naming conflicts would be resolved since no one had the name first on the destination server.

 

Either you're not getting the point or you're not even trying to. The fact remains, everyone on the low-pop servers got completely shafted.