So...how about that free name change for subscribers?

[DarthTHC]

Because being condescending is the best way to have a discussion.

 

In my mind, it's as least as productive as throwing baseless assumptions about the simplicity of changing some incredibly complex software out there as if they're fact.

[DarthTHC]

Your trying to be clever but failing badly. They can easily see who was a subscriber at 2.1 and send those players a cert. it's how they awarded cc at the launch of free to play and how my account gets a set amount of items for each character I create.

 

Also it's a totally sound business decision to delay awarding the certs, to cash in on impatient people. It's not illegal to do that, but it is morally wrong. Also do give me any if you ran a business crap, I'm a professional business analyst, so I have seen practices like this quite a few times. Running a business does not automatically mean you care about your customers, just that you care about profits, see the Starbucks tax issue for evidence.

 

Yes they can see who is a subscriber.

 

But to send them a cert... I imagine they can send one cert to one character and that works great for all the accounts for which all characters are on the same server.

 

What about the accounts with characters on MULTIPLE servers? Can't send out 2 certificates or management gets angry. Send to the wrong server and players get angry. No mechanism in place for transferring anything between servers on the same account. Now what? Oh yeah, they're stuck, aren't they?

 

That brilliantly simple solution... won't work.

 

The best solution I've seen is LordArtemis's. Give the cartel coin value of one character rename to every subscriber. It might be interesting to know why they haven't chosen to solve it in this manner.

[Lung_Tien_Lien]

The best solution I've seen is LordArtemis's. Give the cartel coin value of one character rename to every subscriber. It might be interesting to know why they haven't chosen to solve it in this manner.

Probably because many people would use those CC for other things since not everyone is yearning for a name change. I'm perfectly happy with my characters' names, for example. I imagine they don't want to just give away precious cartel coins that someone may otherwise have paid for.

[Jedi_Thran_Kuro]

Or maybe players should chill the kriff out when something gets delayed and they can't have their freebie RIGHT NOW! I can have my gramma come over there and throw a cold class of water in your tantrum-throwing face if you think it will help.

 

It's not like they've delayed it to screw the players. They've delayed it because IT DOESN'T WORK RIGHT. Same reason they kept delaying the paid server transfers.

 

You'd really prefer for them to release it earlier than they should and have it wreak havoc? That's asinine.

 

Or you'd prefer to be kept totally in the dark about what they're working on and dates, just because you can't manage to reset your expectations when they tell you something didn't work as planned. That's so freaking weak on your part.

 

Seriously. Grow the fark up.

 

Hm, it doesn't work as a free option (which, by the way, it did months ago for the legacy name), but it works fine as a widget you can purchase through the cartel market. Gosh, maybe in the next update, you'll be able to buy a clue in the cartel market. Simple solution: give all subs a free set of the CM name change widgets with their monthly cartel coin allotments. Tell me again why it is unworkable when free, but works fine through a pay system?

[DarthTHC]

Hm, it doesn't work as a free option (which, by the way, it did months ago for the legacy name), but it works fine as a widget you can purchase through the cartel market. Gosh, maybe in the next update, you'll be able to buy a clue in the cartel market. Simple solution: give all subs a free set of the CM name change widgets with their monthly cartel coin allotments. Tell me again why it is unworkable when free, but works fine through a pay system?

 

OK, I'll tell you AGAIN.

 

It doesn't work as free because the target is ONE FREE PER ACCOUNT. This is a different sort of target than they've hit before, even with the Legacy Name rename (which was one per server or legacy).

 

An account may have characters on one server or an account may have characters on multiple servers. An account could have one character on EVERY server.

 

There is a mechanism in-game to transfer stuff between characters on the same server; however, there is no mechanism to transfer stuff to a character ON A DIFFERENT SERVER.

 

So for those accounts with characters on multiple servers, how do you distribute one free item per ACCOUNT and make sure the players aren't pissed off at the result?

 

The answer is Lord Artemis's: Distribute the equivalent value in cartel coins. The drawback to that, which BWEA management may find distasteful, is that there's no guarantee players use those on a name change and may instead use them on something else, for which they might have purchased coins instead. It's a potential loss of revenue.

 

It is these sorts of problems that could cause the one free name change per account to be delayed for technical reasons.

 

Clear enough this time, or shall I try to explain it again, maybe with pictures?

Edited May 28, 2013 by DarthTHC

[LordArtemis]

If I were to guess...if they have considered the free coin option...I would say it is reasonable to assume that they may have looked at that option and found it undesirable due to the idea that they would be devaluing the currency...they would have to give out a substantial amount of coins to cover the current cost in the market.

 

I personally still think it would be the best option...not only would it take care of the problem, it would be considered by many, IMO naturally, to be a good will move for subs.

[Arlon_Nabarlly]

Name changes are pointless unless they do something to free up the old idle character names anyway IMO.

[MillionsKNives]

I haven't read all of the pages (though I have read a couple at each end), so forgive me if this has already been said. I've thought a little bit about this and there are only a couple good ways I can think of that will do precisely what they want and no more (giving out equivalent CC doesn't really fit this).

 

They already have a two-phase system, where you purchase an item on the market, which you then have to go and retrieve from a shopping cart like menu. This allows you to reverse your purchase if you made a mistake, or preview the cost of multiple things before actually redeeming them. My solution would be to put the name change token into the "shopping cart" of all subscribers, and disable the return button. This allows players to retrieve it from any character on any server, and doesn't create excess CCs for people who don't want it. The setback though is that this mechanism is likely not already in place. They would have to make it possible to grant items to players' cartel market pages, and impossible to reverse back into CCs.

 

Alternatively they could add a new item to the market that does the same thing as the existing name change token, but can only be purchased by subscribers, can only be purchased once, and costs no coins. Like the other solution, this one falls short in that it requires certain functionality that doesn't currently exist. We know that the market can determine if you qualify for an item (see the exclamation mark on certain items), but it doesn't currently prevent you from purchasing said items. Also I don't believe there is any sort of quantity limit imposed on any current items. However this solution does sound more simple than the one I proposed above in terms of implementation.

Edited May 28, 2013 by MillionsKNives

[Godlymuppet]

Yes they can see who is a subscriber.

 

But to send them a cert... I imagine they can send one cert to one character and that works great for all the accounts for which all characters are on the same server.

 

What about the accounts with characters on MULTIPLE servers? Can't send out 2 certificates or management gets angry. Send to the wrong server and players get angry. No mechanism in place for transferring anything between servers on the same account. Now what? Oh yeah, they're stuck, aren't they?

 

That brilliantly simple solution... won't work.

 

The best solution I've seen is LordArtemis's. Give the cartel coin value of one character rename to every subscriber. It might be interesting to know why they haven't chosen to solve it in this manner.

 

I am no programmer, but this should be workable.

 

They already have the ability to display a currency across all servers, as that’s what they do for total cartel coins. They could add a second value beneath that that says unclaimed rewards (where they have the name change token, so you cant get other things), then when it is claimed on one character it has can be removed as a reward.

 

That took me 2 mins to come up with.

 

Heck it may take a little programming, but it would stop it ever being an issue again in the future and they cloud use it for any rewards they want to give out.

 

Any reason that could not work?

Edited May 28, 2013 by Godlymuppet

[Thundergulch]

You said before F2P launch that subs were supposed to get one free character name, legacy name, and guild name change per month...then comes 2.1 and you say we're only going to get one free character rename period (not per month). I was ticked, but I can live with that, but then you say oh wait, not gonna be ready when 2.1 launches. Then we get a road map of future patches, 2.2 on PTS, nothing in patch notes about the free character rename...

 

So...umm...yeah...like, when you actually going to come through on things you promise?

 

I'm not reading through 9 pages, but show me where they said "per month" and not just a one time free change.

[AlaricSevGirl]

I'm impressed that you are so familiar with their Cartel Market code that you can solve a problem in 3 sentences that they can't solve in 3 weeks.

 

They should hire you. Immediately.

 

Really guys, what do you think their motivation for not releasing this is, if it's not as they've said? Someone give me a valid theory, please.

 

It's obvious. They know that people will pay CC for name changes and they want to make out before they give something away free. I love the game and it's that obvious to me. It's called free enterprise.

[AlaricSevGirl]

I'm not reading through 9 pages, but show me where they said "per month" and not just a one time free change.

 

True enough, they wouldn't allow people to change legacy names or guild names once a month, but they did say 1 guild and 1 legacy name changed and definitely went back on that when they knew people would use it because why not try to get 3000 CC out of it instead. They didn't get it from my guild. That was definitely a low blow. I agree with others, don't lay on the "we shouldn't have said that". If they said it, they meant it, but changed their minds when they thought they could make money out of it. I don't think anyone is going to pay 3000 CC for a guild name change. I don't know what the legacy name change costs but I wouldn't go there either. I'd just reroll which is what I did.

[DarthTHC]

I am no programmer, but this should be workable.

 

They already have the ability to display a currency across all servers, as that’s what they do for total cartel coins. They could add a second value beneath that that says unclaimed rewards (where they have the name change token, so you cant get other things), then when it is claimed on one character it has can be removed as a reward.

 

That took me 2 mins to come up with.

 

Heck it may take a little programming, but it would stop it ever being an issue again in the future and they cloud use it for any rewards they want to give out.

 

Any reason that could not work?

 

 

Sure, that could work. That could be what they did. Then they could have run into a bug.

 

The thing of it is, none of us armchair quarterbacks are ever going to solve the problem, regardless how long any of us have been writing software. We don't know the code. We don't know what the problem is, and the only way we're ever going to know is if BWEA chooses to tell us which they will only do after they've fixed it.

 

MMOs are some of the biggest, most complicated computer programs ever written. Sometimes things that seem like they should be simple to we players, hackers, and mensch non-NASA, non-MMO programmers have much bigger implications.

 

I keep seeing people who insist that BWEA delayed this to deceptively collect more cartel coins from people who just can't wait for the free name change. I keep wondering in amazement that these people can still post to the forums (read: are still giving BWEA subscription dollars) because I'd be gone in a hot second if I ever thought they were being purposefully deceptive.

Edited May 28, 2013 by DarthTHC

[Godlymuppet]

Sure, that could work. That could be what they did. Then they could have run into a bug.

 

The thing of it is, none of us armchair quarterbacks are ever going to solve the problem, regardless how long any of us have been writing software. We don't know the code. We don't know what the problem is, and the only way we're ever going to know is if BWEA chooses to tell us which they will only do after they've fixed it.

 

MMOs are some of the biggest, most complicated computer programs ever written. Sometimes things that seem like they should be simple to we players, hackers, and mensch non-NASA, non-MMO programmers have much bigger implications.

 

I keep seeing people who insist that BWEA delayed this to deceptively collect more cartel coins from people who just can't wait for the free name change. I keep wondering in amazement that these people can still post to the forums (read: are still giving BWEA subscription dollars) because I'd be gone in a hot second if I ever thought they were being purposefully deceptive.

 

Its good that you have faith in them, many of us of a wee bit more cynical than yourself. As that cynacism is normally born from being screwed over by companies, your unlikely to win people over. We think they are profiteering, AE have form for it and we will never really know.

 

We have sugested ways to do it, if it does not happen soon, then they are just screwing with us.

[Arlon_Nabarlly]

I'm not reading through 9 pages, but show me where they said "per month" and not just a one time free change.

 

It was referenced on a subscriber benefits page in-game when F2P first launched. It was quickly edited out as a mistake especially since name changes weren't in game at all at the time.

[DarthTHC]

Its good that you have faith in them, many of us of a wee bit more cynical than yourself. As that cynacism is normally born from being screwed over by companies, your unlikely to win people over. We think they are profiteering, AE have form for it and we will never really know.

 

We have sugested ways to do it, if it does not happen soon, then they are just screwing with us.

 

And I think that's probably reasonable for some number of people to think.

 

But for the life of me I still cannot fathom why anyone would willingly keep giving money to an organization they believe is actively deceiving them in a brazen attempt to get more of their money.

Edited May 28, 2013 by DarthTHC

[Godlymuppet]

And I think that's probably reasonable for some number of people to think.

 

But for the life of me I still cannot fathom why anyone would willingly keep giving money to an organization they believe is actively deceiving them in a brazen attempt to get more of their money.

 

It's because even though we think they are just trying to milk us for every penny, we still enjoy the game.

 

Much like smokers knowing its not good for them, they still enjoy a ciggie.

 

My sub runs out in seven weeks. I'll be going free to play when it does, unless they give me a reason to carry on subbing (which as a PVP player is unlikely).

 

Many probably took out long subs like me, but the direction they seem to be going is not what I was hoping for.

[kodrac]

It's still a trivial issue: for every subscriber account, issue one "Rename: Character Name" item and have it sitting in the unclaimed items section on the Cartel Market. Log onto your character you with to rename, claim item. I still don't understand the delay.

 

That's a good idea in theory. BUT have you ever bought anything on the CM and left it in the claim area? I did. I was on my GTN toon and thought I'll buy the new Trooper armor and leave it unclaimed, then when I'm done here I'll switch toons and claim it. I switched toons and there was nothing in the claim area on the CM. I switched back and there it was. I had to claim it and wait the 3 days to mail it.

 

So it seems the claim area isn't 'global' to your account, it's just 'local' to your current character. Maybe that's the hold up. That would be a big fix that could possibly affect transactions which a long delay would be reasonable as more than one thing is affected.

 

Then there's the mail option, but mail goes to every character you create on your account, not just the one you would want it on which is not their intended goal. They'd have to make it Bind to Legacy. Which possibly would be a fundamental change to the item or even multiple items. Notice how nothing on the CM is Bind to Legacy? That would be a fundamental change or a change in policy. So there's coding and possibly some internal politics involved as well as logistics.

 

Short version... it''s never as easy as it sounds.

[ShyNyny]

While I don't agree with the OP's tone, I do agree with the sentiment of disappointment.

 

I really thought it was gone forever when they took it off the FTP Sub Features list. I'm excited to hear it's back. I just saw that on the other list, but the wording was very upsetting for me. As excited as I am about it being back on the menu, I'm really bothered by it coming back as a seemingly one-time-only perk. I can't be the only alt-o-holic who chose some names I'm unhappy with the day I logged in and discovered that I'd been moved to a new server (again) and that all my names for all my characters were taken (of course) and grumpliy chose a bunch of names with which I'm not happy.

 

Other than the wording, do we have any evidence it's only a one-time thing? I've not seen any posts so far in my search confirming this sad news; however, I am still combing through the forums and fan sites. Otherwise I'm still going to hold out hope, because when I first read about having one free name or legacy name change a month per account, I was completely ecstatic, and I really want to keep that glee in my life. > . <

[Saiaku]

Bumping this.

 

Handing out the promised name change shouldn't be such a big problem, since it can be bought on the cartel market after all.

This has to be either of these two things:

1) They are waiting because they want to milk the unpatient players through the cartel market

2) They have no idea what they are doing....

[Thaed]

And I think that's probably reasonable for some number of people to think.

 

But for the life of me I still cannot fathom why anyone would willingly keep giving money to an organization they believe is actively deceiving them in a brazen attempt to get more of their money.

 

I still don't know how that made it into the original advertisement. I mean, it's not exactly a typo. Did no-one even check the thing before it was published?

[DarthTHC]

I still don't know how that made it into the original advertisement. I mean, it's not exactly a typo. Did no-one even check the thing before it was published?

 

Here's a stunning concept: Software developers sometimes talk about features before they are fully developed and ready to be released.

 

It's shocking, I know. But being an industry insider (I work for a software development shop), I can assure you it happens far more frequently than you might think. It's almost as if it's a prevalent, or even industry standard practice!

[Vinjar]

I always laugh when I see people who didn't realize that 'surname' meant a last name.

[DarthBrundleFLY]

And I think that's probably reasonable for some number of people to think.

 

But for the life of me I still cannot fathom why anyone would willingly keep giving money to an organization they believe is actively deceiving them in a brazen attempt to get more of their money.

 

Well you are still subscribed and I would have to guess that you no longer play the game, I mean when would you find the time too? You spend your $14.99 a month posting on the forums, defending Bioware in every negative thread that appears on here and then multiple times per page, per thread...are you getting an undisclosed amount of Cartel Coins per forum post?

 

Maybe you need to take a step back as well and just go back into the game and ignore the forums all together.