Screwed over by Bioware!

[Heezdedjim]

Funny story . . . I have toons named Bane and Reaper both.

[SpearlikeAtom]

Names are a big deal. When you put effort into creating a name, it does make you feel more committed to the game and character.

 

Except those names are neither creative nor are they original. Being so tied to a name like Titan is a little silly. It's a word that has been around for thousands of years, and not one you came up with so yes there probably would be someone who already had it. If you went to a server where someone already had that name why would they need to change it if they where there first? It happens. They just happened to be lucky enough to pick a server that wasn't dying. If it is truly so important that you would nerd rage, then perhaps this isn't the game for you.

[SpearlikeAtom]

Yeah, nobody thinks the name "Bane" is epic. Nobody wants that name, right? You'd have to be a complete idiot to want to have that name... right? Sore losers' oppinions are completely inconsequential to me. :cool:

 

I find this rather ironic that you would call someone a sore loser when you yourself are throwing a temper tantrum because you are in fact the loser for not getting a rather common name.

[Gronkaarr]

I didn't just get cool names. I got iconic, epic names.

 

HAHAHA sorry but you kind of deserve to lose your character names just for being so terribly unoriginal. Be a little more creative next time

[Jacen_Starsolo]

Funny story . . . I have toons named Bane and Reaper both.

 

I tried to get the names "Batman" and "Shepard". Too bad. Would have been fun to PvP you.

Edited March 1, 2013 by Jacen_Starsolo

[TheBBP]

Having lost all of my character names but two (twice), I am lacking sympathy. Move on.

[DarthTHC]

First-world problems, lol!

[Shwarzchild]

Speak with my wallet? In a F2P game? Check your drugs, pal. Subscription fees pale in comparison to the money they make off the cartel market.

 

Seriously though, if I had been stupid enough to stay on the Bao-Dur tombstone, I would still have some of my names. But, instead I moved to Nightmare Lands as fast as I possibly could, because I was the GM a guild and there were bigger things to consider than MY names. That's the sacrifice I made for my guild, which in turn is for the good of the community when you consider the fact that we're closing on 500 members (or rather characters) today.

The very last shred of my forgiveness went away when BW customer server misled me to lose my very last original name, and when they couldn't even make it right by restoring the character with the same name. Tell me YOU wouldn't be angry in my place, and I'll show you a liar.

 

So you consciously made the sacrifice, that you were willing to make and now you're mad about it. If there are bigger things to consider and deem of higher importance which you recognize your temper tantrum then has no merit. Add me to the list that thinks the OP is over reacting and contradicting himself.

[Belarm]

Maybe get some proper, more unique names than what you have there. Bane and reaper. Srsly, what did you expect? My important characters remained, because those names are unique or very rare at least. I had a character called "silver" once, among a few other names that are used more often. Ofc I had to change it, but who cares? The merges were needed, and that's what counts.

 

Ps: bane. Hahahhaa really ...

 

 

 

 

 

Pps: hahahha...

[TrickyNinja]

Stupid comments like this is what should get people banned from forums such as these. Ego has nothing to do with anything here, except your own pathological need to elevate yourself by sharing your useless oppinion with us.

 

The irony is strong with this one.

[Clanner]

You Sir, Mr TrickyNinja, officially made my day. ;P

[Mercurial_Harpy]

*waits patiently for Sir Copperfield to chime in...*

 

Seriously, never understood the name rage. I never had a naming problem. I would much rather have an original name; as a result, none of them were flagged for change in the 2 server merges I had to go through. They aren't wacky or unpronounceable, but they aren't "Doom" or Rage" or "Skywalker" either.

 

Do y'all really want 1000 Deathknights named xxxArrthhhasssssxxxx like they had in WoW?

 

 

 

*shudder*

[MariaD]

The words you selected are epic and iconic all right. I don't think they make good NAMES. They are too generic. Also, not easy to relate to, for your guildies and friends.

 

Good names are particular to YOU, evocative, unique non-words.

[Joesixxpack]

It's sad when a person isn't treated like the unique and special snowflake that they are.

[Andryah]

Thank you! Finally someone that understands.

 

It's easy to understand your rant. It's also easy to disagree with it.

 

If you pick really common names in a modern MMO (like Reaper for example), you open yourself up to the risk of losing the name if a game goes through server merges or you elect to transfer to a different server. This is common knowledge to modern MMO game play. The only game I have seen that has naming mechanics to mitigate this fairly well is GW2, but it has it's own issues.

 

The effective way to mitigate this is to plan for it and use names that are very uncommon but that you still enjoy. I have been doing this for more then a decade in MMOs. In my case I do it because I like to play different MMOs in rotation and so having names common across MMOs is a personal perk for me. Of my 12 different character names spread across three servers at launch, the only ones I lost during transfers were from competing with myself when two of my servers were merged together and my bank alts (which were named Jan) which I expected to lose them as some point in time.

 

The only downside I see with naming conventions of this game is that as I roll new characters I have to be a bit more imaginative in selecting a name for a new character. But even that is not too difficult in this game with sensible use a dash or an apostrophe.

 

If you don't like it, or can't cope with it, then don't play it and and don't give the game any of your revenue. Clearly you are because you are posting in the forums, so don't try to play the "but the game is free" mind trick in the forum. If you were running it in free mode, you could not post here.

Edited March 1, 2013 by Andryah

[ebado]

I'll post here:

 

I lost two names when I moved from Black Vulkars to the Bastion. After the transfer, I created characters with those names back on Black Vulkars and occasionally played them (got to level 15 on one) just for giggles.

 

When Black Vulkars was merged and their name priority system was in place, those characters transferred to Bastion with their names intact. I sent in a ticket saying I was forced to change two names and now that I have those names on the Bastion, I would like them on the original characters. CS flagged my original characters for a name change, then I deleted the placeholders and moved and restored the original names to my characters.

 

This was a few months ago, and I don't know if they will still bother, but it might be worth looking at.

 

edit: I just clicked on the screenshot and feel like I wasted my time trying to help.

Edited March 1, 2013 by ebado

[MariaD]

Apparently, if you get on first... before everybody else... you can get those names if they're still free.

 

You get them for a while, as you case clearly shows. Then you lose them, for a variety of reasons. That's how things currently work. The promise of keeping names was imagined by some customers. It was not a part of the package they bought.

[Malastare]

Okay, first off. In my opinion, there is nothing epic about those names, except perhaps their level of unoriginality. Seriously, the list reads like a comical stereotype of RPG character names. To me, they are on the same level as "Killar" or "Deth" and only a notch above "I'pwned'ur'mom". I'd take an actually-original name over anything on your list any day. When server merges came, I had to change 2 names out of 20. And I don't even use any of the silly alternate characters (which to me just scream: "I'm both unoriginal and not fast enough to get the clean version of my name!").

 

More to the point: The reason your names are sort of lame is because they are eye-rollingly stereotypical. That is: They're overused. And you knew it. That's why you created placeholder characters (which is exactly what you were doing) to hold those names. And no, being a collectors edition owner does not grant you that right. CE owners get no perks beyond what they bought. So, you grabbed a bunch of names that you knew were going to be taken by other people, and when you transferred servers, you found that reality is actually realistic sometimes.

 

Surely you saw this coming. Or perhaps not. Either way, it was stated quite explicitly to you if you cared to read it (more on this later). Losing names that were laughably stereotypical shouldn't have been shocking. And again: Neither the CE purchase or the length of time you were sitting empty characters on those names gives you more of a claim to them then whoever else had them on the server you moved to. It probably gives you less, actually.

 

And then Bane.

 

First off: You cannot claim that the Service Rep was simultaneously clueless and lying. Lying implies malice, which requires the knowledge of the incorrect information. Either they lied, or they mistakenly told you information that was untrue. I suggest a third option:

 

They told you the truth.

 

I've re-used character names three times now: Select character, delete character, create new character with the same name. Worked all three times. And it's exactly what the Rep told you. What they didn't tell you --and what you probably forgot to ask about-- was whether it would work with a name that is pretty blatantly a violation of the naming rules. You did read the naming rules, right? You seem like a guy who would totally read the naming rules.

 

Anyway: I strongly suspect that between the game launch and now, Bioware has added a very small blacklist of names, likely with the most head-smashingly common violations: HanSolo, BobaFett, Malak, Revan, Vader, Sidious, etc. Is it shocking that Bane would be on that list? Not at all. He's an iconic Darth from the EU, and plays a very formative role in Sith lore. Did the SR maliciously hold back that bit of EU knowledge, cackling with glee as you deleted the character? I doubt it. They were probably as clueless about EU lore as you are. However, not knowing about the character doesn't grant you the right to use the name.

 

Even if they did do it on purpose, from my perspective, the SR did the right thing. Saved me the time it would take to report your name as a rule violation.

[uziforyou]

What would you do? There's a limit to how much crap people can take, and now you're starting to add to it. Why is this thread here? Because BW customer server doesn't care about it's players as long as they shut the hell up and pay. So, I shared my story with the community instead. If your love for this game has made you blind, then stay ingame and leave the forums for people who are still trying to convey a point.

 

Lolwut?

 

Convey the point that you're a self entitled spoiled brat who believes his opinion is somehow more valuable than anyone elses?

 

Yeah, whatever.

[planet_J]

I was going to rant about this...but this post pretty much says what I was going to say...

 

Okay, first off. In my opinion, there is nothing epic about those names, except perhaps their level of unoriginality. Seriously, the list reads like a comical stereotype of RPG character names. To me, they are on the same level as "Killar" or "Deth" and only a notch above "I'pwned'ur'mom". I'd take an actually-original name over anything on your list any day. When server merges came, I had to change 2 names out of 20. And I don't even use any of the silly alternate characters (which to me just scream: "I'm both unoriginal and not fast enough to get the clean version of my name!").

 

More to the point: The reason your names are sort of lame is because they are eye-rollingly stereotypical. That is: They're overused. And you knew it. That's why you created placeholder characters (which is exactly what you were doing) to hold those names. And no, being a collectors edition owner does not grant you that right. CE owners get no perks beyond what they bought. So, you grabbed a bunch of names that you knew were going to be taken by other people, and when you transferred servers, you found that reality is actually realistic sometimes.

 

Surely you saw this coming. Or perhaps not. Either way, it was stated quite explicitly to you if you cared to read it (more on this later). Losing names that were laughably stereotypical shouldn't have been shocking. And again: Neither the CE purchase or the length of time you were sitting empty characters on those names gives you more of a claim to them then whoever else had them on the server you moved to. It probably gives you less, actually.

 

And then Bane.

 

First off: You cannot claim that the Service Rep was simultaneously clueless and lying. Lying implies malice, which requires the knowledge of the incorrect information. Either they lied, or they mistakenly told you information that was untrue. I suggest a third option:

 

They told you the truth.

 

I've re-used character names three times now: Select character, delete character, create new character with the same name. Worked all three times. And it's exactly what the Rep told you. What they didn't tell you --and what you probably forgot to ask about-- was whether it would work with a name that is pretty blatantly a violation of the naming rules. You did read the naming rules, right? You seem like a guy who would totally read the naming rules.

 

Anyway: I strongly suspect that between the game launch and now, Bioware has added a very small blacklist of names, likely with the most head-smashingly common violations: HanSolo, BobaFett, Malak, Revan, Vader, Sidious, etc. Is it shocking that Bane would be on that list? Not at all. He's an iconic Darth from the EU, and plays a very formative role in Sith lore. Did the SR maliciously hold back that bit of EU knowledge, cackling with glee as you deleted the character? I doubt it. They were probably as clueless about EU lore as you are. However, not knowing about the character doesn't grant you the right to use the name.

 

Even if they did do it on purpose, from my perspective, the SR did the right thing. Saved me the time it would take to report your name as a rule violation.

[Neverfar]

Starting from the top, here...

 

"Epic" names? This reminds me of something I heard once, that the word "epic" is so overused that it now refers to things that are quite mundane, bleak, and bland. Such as "Bane" and "Reaper" for names. That's just about the first choice of uninspired, uncreative people across the MMO world. They usually add umlauts or accent marks or just settle with Darkshadowangelnightbane or something.

 

It's bizzare that the OP of this thread is going around with condescending smug smilies and sarcasm and implying that his detractors are "losers" who are "jealous" of him. Curious, because he's the one that lost his "epic" names, so by his own definitions shouldn't he be subject to his own immature put-downs?

 

I have an imagination enough that even years after an MMO comes out I can come up with names that are both non-gibberish (not too fond of excessive apostrophes or "special" letter accents), are catchy, and are sometimes wordplays or comprised of actual words in new ways that pertain to the character concept. At NO point in this process do I think "if I get on the server first I win the magic game of who gets to be called Bane first out of thousands of excited angsty preteens!"

 

So, long and short of it, OP: you're embarassing yourself. Stop. And please practice your imagination and let go of your ego bruises.

[TW-Cool]

I remember having to change the two names that I had before the server merge. They were characters I made up during my free week trial. One of the names I liked, the other ones I didnt care about. However, since it happened several months ago, I have actually forgotten what those names were.

 

What would have been creative for BW to do would be to have any characters with the same name from a server merge battle it out in a duel. Whoever wins gets to keep their name. Of course the only problem is having to be online at the same time. So as an alternative, they could always battle an elite and whoever kills it faster wins the name when they next log on.

[Heezdedjim]

I remember having to change the two names that I had before the server merge. They were characters I made up during my free week trial. One of the names I liked, the other ones I didnt care about. However, since it happened several months ago, I have actually forgotten what those names were.

 

What would have been creative for BW to do would be to have any characters with the same name from a server merge battle it out in a duel. Whoever wins gets to keep their name. Of course the only problem is having to be online at the same time. So as an alternative, they could always battle an elite and whoever kills it faster wins the name when they next log on.

Yeah, or they could have just thought the whole thing through a little more, like Cryptic did, and give you one unique "Handle" that associates with your account, and then your character names only have to be unique between your own characters. You still have to fight over handles if you want a particular one, but at least your "first name" can be whatever you like.

 

This was a painfully obvious move they should have made with Legacy names, making the "surnames" the only global namespace, and leaving you free to name each character anything you want within your Legacy. But either this never occurred to them, or they couldn't figure out how to make it work when they decided to tack Legacy names on after launch. As it is, the game is even worse that most, because we have all the downsides of TWO collidable namespaces, and none of the benefits of a hierarchical system at all.

[Asavrede]

OP, you might want to get to the point within oh say the first three paragraphs. I gave up, but I guess it's something about naming.

 

Yawn.

[Hoodling]

Starting from the top, here...

 

"Epic" names? This reminds me of something I heard once, that the word "epic" is so overused that it now refers to things that are quite mundane, bleak, and bland. Such as "Bane" and "Reaper" for names. That's just about the first choice of uninspired, uncreative people across the MMO world. They usually add umlauts or accent marks or just settle with Darkshadowangelnightbane or something.

 

It's bizzare that the OP of this thread is going around with condescending smug smilies and sarcasm and implying that his detractors are "losers" who are "jealous" of him. Curious, because he's the one that lost his "epic" names, so by his own definitions shouldn't he be subject to his own immature put-downs?

 

I have an imagination enough that even years after an MMO comes out I can come up with names that are both non-gibberish (not too fond of excessive apostrophes or "special" letter accents), are catchy, and are sometimes wordplays or comprised of actual words in new ways that pertain to the character concept. At NO point in this process do I think "if I get on the server first I win the magic game of who gets to be called Bane first out of thousands of excited angsty preteens!"

 

So, long and short of it, OP: you're embarassing yourself. Stop. And please practice your imagination and let go of your ego bruises.

 

Here we have yet another person who simply missed the point completely. I've never played an MMO where I've lost names twice over and been cheated out of the last of them, and then lost my guildname to boot. Funnily enough, I believe I lost the guildname to myself because I never disbanded the original guild on Bao-Dur. I remade the guild with the same name on Nightmare Lands after the first move, and then we ended up with a "@ Nightmare Lands" tag and given an option to rename once they moved us to The Red Eclipse. Awesome system here, Bioware. Like someone else said in here, they could have just taken a little more time to put a proper system of priority in place for the first merges. They just didn't care until people had a complete fit about it.

 

The OP was not about whether or not the names are epic in your oppinion. I couldn't care less. If you're happy with names like "Scratchnsniff" then that's entirely up to you. Whatever names you consider to be good, if you had them and then lost them to the extent that I did (reffering to the way I lose Bane)... then you'd be angry too.