Freeing up old unused names

[elstaar]

the better strategy is to allow any inactive character name to be freed after a grace period based on character level and current account status. level 1 and likes should be automatically freed after really short period of inactivity. and this should not be based on CC (except renames).

[DudeSweat]

If you haven't played your toon for 12 calendar months, and I mean PLAYED (not sure how to follow that), that character's name is dropped and opened for other players to use.

[MajikMyst]

If you haven't played your toon for 12 calendar months, and I mean PLAYED (not sure how to follow that), that character's name is dropped and opened for other players to use.

 

Tell that to any player than went over seas to fight a war.. Way to support your troops..

 

There is no reason to ever take a name from another player..

 

You see.. That is the problem with these types of ideas.. There is no real way to tell why someone left and if or when they will return.. Absent that ability, there is no reason to take a name from anyone.. Nobody would want to come back and find a name stripped from their character.. Just like the OP here is obviously upset it happened to him because of a server merge.. But he is completely content with doing it to someone else so he can have the name he wants..

Edited September 15, 2013 by MajikMyst

[Ratajack]

Of course I cannot guarantee that, but do you think a player who hasn't logged a single time in a year time will really care if he lost a name he probably doesn't even remember? The life of this game is limited as well, we are talking years, not lifetimes here. A year is probably about 10% lifetime of the game, even tough it can be hard to accept.

 

Also, it's entirely different then taking an item of a character to give it someone else. Name creates your in game identity and it's what most players see of you (as I already said). A player who doesn't play for a year has nearly NO ingame identity at all, nobody knows him (but a few friends, if they play, that is). If you take the name from him, you don't hurt his character as you would if you took his weapon or mount or level or stuff like that.

 

A player who takes a name from another player and changes his name, by your own definition, has NO in game identity with the new name. No one knows him by the new name. So, if we're talking about in game identities, the in game identity would be tied to the name a character has had for the past year, NOT a new one and that is NOT justification for taking another player's name away from them.

 

It still boils down to "Mommy!!! Johnny has something I want and I want yo to take it from him and give it to me and I want you to do it now!!!"

 

A character's name is as vital to that character as is every piece of gear, speeder or pet that character has obtained. If this were not the case, you likely would have no reason for trying to take another player's name away from them.

[MajikMyst]

Having the insolence to admit you don't even read my posts is why you should leave the forums for good. The only thing you are doing is clogging threads up with useless posts. Your posts bring no value at all. Please leave this thread.

 

Insolence?? Oh mean like telling someone to leave the forums.. Get over yourself dude.. You clearly don't want to discuss anything.. All you want to do is talk trash and smack at other people.. You have my sympathies.. Let me know when you actually make a point.. You do not have the right to tell anyone to leave the thread or the forums.. You do not have the right to demand that name be taken from other players so that you can use them.. Notice a pattern there?? Some entitlement issues there??

 

How about you stop trolling your own thread and make a point here.. Nowhere have you stated WHY someone should lose their name... Nowhere have you explained how this is fair to all and the right thing to do.. Like I have said.. You have made no points.. Your problem is that I do read your posts..

Edited September 15, 2013 by MajikMyst

[IamTurian]

Insolence?? Oh mean like telling someone to leave the forums.. Get over yourself dude.. You clearly don't want to discuss anything.. All you want to do is talk trash and smack at other people.. You have my sympathies.. Let me know when you actually make a point.. You do not have the right to tell anyone to leave the thread or the forums.. You do not have the right to demand that name be taken from other players so that you can use them.. Notice a pattern there?? Some entitlement issues there??

 

How about you stop trolling your own thread and make a point here.. Nowhere have you stated WHY someone should lose their name... Nowhere have you explained how this is fair to all and the right thing to do.. Like I have said.. You have made no points.. Your problem is that I do read your posts..

 

I honestly don't know why you are so against this.

 

If they are less than level 10, and haven't played again in over 6 months, it's more likely than not (way more likely btw) that they aren't coming back to this game again.

 

If you have one item, and find another item more interesting, and throw that item out into the trash, and it gets sent to the dumpster, would you really care if some homeless man decided to make that item his.

 

It's not theft if you deny ownership of something. If I decide to give my clothes away to goodwill, and someone else wants the clothes, I couldn't care less if they got the clothes or not.

 

There. That's two hypothetical situations that I just typed out off the top of my head. I know that it's not going to change your mind or anything because you are pretty dead set about which way you think things should go, but I just get satisfaction from proving people like you wrong.

 

Good day.

[Pigdaddy]

Wow has this and is a good idea, but they did it right by making the conditions of it very very hard. Nothing at all wrong with placeholding. I've done it and have it right now, one day I might play those toons (or a toon with the held name) or i may not. The main condition must be not the toon inactive but the whole account. Must be unsubbed, no activity for 6 months MIN then you can apply toon restrictions.

[MajikMyst]

I honestly don't know why you are so against this.

 

If they are less than level 10, and haven't played again in over 6 months, it's more likely than not (way more likely btw) that they aren't coming back to this game again.

 

If you have one item, and find another item more interesting, and throw that item out into the trash, and it gets sent to the dumpster, would you really care if some homeless man decided to make that item his.

 

It's not theft if you deny ownership of something. If I decide to give my clothes away to goodwill, and someone else wants the clothes, I couldn't care less if they got the clothes or not.

 

There. That's two hypothetical situations that I just typed out off the top of my head. I know that it's not going to change your mind or anything because you are pretty dead set about which way you think things should go, but I just get satisfaction from proving people like you wrong.

 

Good day.

 

Because you aren't reading this thread and you post is actually off topic.. Is it your claim that if someone makes an alt, they have to play it within a certain time frame?? Is that your claim?? Since when can you tell someone else how to play or not play their characters??

 

Where did you or anyone else get the right to do that??

 

I make a character with a name, then that name is mine.. Period.. There is no reason to take it away.. I am under no time limit on when I need to play said character, or how long he is allowed to be on my character list.. People just need to get over themselves with these BS claims..

 

Goodwill?? Hmmm?? Who said someone couldn't give a name away?? Read the OP.. Nobody is talking about giving a name to someone else.. Which requires a name change or character to be deleted..

 

Character level is irrelevant..

 

Item?? Really?? You are comparing a character name to an item?? Sure If I delete my character or rename it, then they can have the unused name.. Nobody has ever said otherwise.. Can we stay on topic please??

 

Well.. Your hypotheticals have nothing to do with the issue.. So great Job..

 

He wants Bioware to take a name from a character that belongs to someone else and free the name so he can then use it.. That is stealing.. That is wrong.. Nobody is deleting a charter.. Nobody is giving it away.. It is being forcibly removed from someone's character.. How can you be for this??

 

Have a nice day..

Edited September 15, 2013 by MajikMyst

[MajikMyst]

Wow has this and is a good idea, but they did it right by making the conditions of it very very hard. Nothing at all wrong with placeholding. I've done it and have it right now, one day I might play those toons (or a toon with the held name) or i may not. The main condition must be not the toon inactive but the whole account. Must be unsubbed, no activity for 6 months MIN then you can apply toon restrictions.

 

We often receive requests from players to free up a character name. This is something we are happy to investigate, but the criteria that must be met is very stringent and it's not a request we can always grant. If you are an active player, you do not need to worry that your character names will be changed, even if you have been playing other characters for a while.

Blizzard will always protect the integrity of an active subscription's character names. If you are a paying subscriber or have active game time on your account, none of your names will be altered provided that they are all in compliance with our Naming Policies.

If a requested name is on a completely dormant account, it may be eligible for release. There are several other factors that must be considered and the release of a name is never guaranteed.

If it is determined that a specific name can be released:We will respond to your ticket, alerting you that the name has been made available.We cannot guarantee that the released name will remain available. Time is of the essence in claiming a name that has been freed for this purpose.We will not be able to rename your character as a part of this request. To claim the released name for your own, you will need to create a new character or utilize our character renaming or transfer services.

Updated: Aug 1, 2013

Article ID: 200790

 

https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/requesting-a-name-be-released-for-reuse

 

As you can see there is no listed criteria on what is required to release a name.. Other than to say a dormant account.. What that means is up to Blizzard.. So it isn't taken lightly and just because WOW has it or anything else, doesn't mean it should also be here..

 

This is not an easy topic to talk about because it does involve removing a name from someone else's account.. Blizzard and Bioware need to exhaust all efforts to either contact the person or determine that the player is permanently gone.. Even then in the case of people in the military and being over seas.. This is a bad issue..

 

The people that make these requests really just need to sit down and think about how they would like to name taken from them and under what circumstance.. When the figure that out, then they can ask how Bioware or Blizzard will ever figure that out..

 

Edited September 15, 2013 by MajikMyst

[Pigdaddy]

meh i thought they did it. haven't been there in ages and just remember glancing over something about it a long time ago. My thoughts still stand that there would have to be very VERY strict BLACK AND WHITE (no greyzone AT ALL) conditions for such a system.

[Darth_Victus]

I would support this only if the account itself was inactive for an extended period of time and the character in question was below a certain level, say 20 for example. Similar to how SoE has it set up in EverQuest.

 

I know it is frustrating losing a name or not able to get the name you wanted. Heck, I been playing since early access. Created my character within minutes of the servers going live, but the first wave of server mergers I lost my name to another player. A player who was only level 25 ( I was level capped by then), and to this day has remained inactive. Yes, I added the name to my friends list.

 

Should there be a system that BioWare can implement to focus on the naming issue? Yes, but only if certain restrictions are in place like I put above. So it is fair to both parties. What I would suggest is that the account itself would have to be inactive for at least a full year. Chances are, if the account is inactive for that long, they are not coming back. Also, the character with the name in question would only be eligible to have the name removed if it is level 30 or below; as it is extremely easy to level in this game. Furthermore, upon the request made by the active player is made, an email is sent to the owner of the inactive account to give them a chance to retain their characters name.

[MajikMyst]

I would support this only if the account itself was inactive for an extended period of time and the character in question was below a certain level, say 20 for example. Similar to how SoE has it set up in EverQuest.

 

I know it is frustrating losing a name or not able to get the name you wanted. Heck, I been playing since early access. Created my character within minutes of the servers going live, but the first wave of server mergers I lost my name to another player. A player who was only level 25 ( I was level capped by then), and to this day has remained inactive. Yes, I added the name to my friends list.

 

Should there be a system that BioWare can implement to focus on the naming issue? Yes, but only if certain restrictions are in place like I put above. So it is fair to both parties. What I would suggest is that the account itself would have to be inactive for at least a full year. Chances are, if the account is inactive for that long, they are not coming back. Also, the character with the name in question would only be eligible to have the name removed if it is level 30 or below; as it is extremely easy to level in this game. Furthermore, upon the request made by the active player is made, an email is sent to the owner of the inactive account to give them a chance to retain their characters name.

 

I would agree to this, except to add that it be 2 years instead of just a year.. This is only to account for military personnel that may be sent over seas... Something like this, the need to be sure is paramount.. 2 years would be enough..

[MajikMyst]

meh i thought they did it. haven't been there in ages and just remember glancing over something about it a long time ago. My thoughts still stand that there would have to be very VERY strict BLACK AND WHITE (no greyzone AT ALL) conditions for such a system.

 

Oh they do it.. But the exact terms in which they will has never been published.. So nobody can say when they will release a name and under what conditions.. That was my only point..

[CrazyMcGee]

Personally I would make this super simple.

 

If you have not logged in for 60 days, then if someone else tries to use the name, they can. When you log back in, you have to change your name.

 

To me this would seem pretty fair. If you want to have a placeholder name or just a lowbie you aren't playing at the moment, it's all good, you just have to log in once every 2 months. That's not hard for any active player.

 

They could e-mail you an auto-warning after 53 days and say "you have one week to log in".

 

I don't think that would be onerous on those who want to keep names and it would keep a good churn of names that are being taken up by players who have left the game and never plan to come back.

 

To me, it would be a fair balance between keeping names you got first (on that server) and those who were forced to move, chose to move or just want to change name.

[MajikMyst]

Personally I would make this super simple.

 

If you have not logged in for 60 days, then if someone else tries to use the name, they can. When you log back in, you have to change your name.

 

To me this would seem pretty fair. If you want to have a placeholder name or just a lowbie you aren't playing at the moment, it's all good, you just have to log in once every 2 months. That's not hard for any active player.

 

They could e-mail you an auto-warning after 53 days and say "you have one week to log in".

 

I don't think that would be onerous on those who want to keep names and it would keep a good churn of names that are being taken up by players who have left the game and never plan to come back.

 

To me, it would be a fair balance between keeping names you got first (on that server) and those who were forced to move, chose to move or just want to change name.

 

Again, you aren't considering people that have a life or someone that fights for your freedom.. I'm sorry.. Under your terms it is a bad idea and there is nothing fair about it..

[Calculated]

Interesting points have developed since I logged off.

 

First of all, I would like to say that there is certainly no need to know if a player is gone for good - WoW doesn't do that either. It would be enough to contact the player before he could lose his name to make him aware of it, so he has time to act and keep the name.

 

Second point, about in game identities, whatever you do with your own is your business, I was talking strictly about the identity of the other player. If he is really away for some time, his identity is close to nothing - taking the name won't hurt his character or reputation in any significant way (of course, there are some examples where name can be remembered for a long time, but this is not the case for SWTOR, but mainly EVE).

 

Majik, I have provided enough reasons why a player should lose their name, and why it would be fair. It would be fair because the rules would be the same for everyone - that is the definition of fairness. What we as players can do is bring this problem to BioWare and try to came up with the best rule set so we can all (or at least most of us) agree that it would be fair and reasonable.

You are also talking about people that "have a life", or "fight for your freedom" (certainly not mine, I am an European). Yeah, this is a problem. We cannot truly ensure that a person won't ever come back to the game, or know the exact date of deployments of every unit in the Army. What we can do is make a rule set that is generous to both parties. An email (or two), warning a user of his name (or account) being inactive for a long time would be enough for the group of players who don't play very actively - if they care about their name, they will login to save it for another time period. There is nothing hard about that, and it certainly is not about dictating to anyone how he should play his character, neither it is only about a single individual that has a name that someone else wants - the rules would be the same for everyone. The second group, the army, that is more problematic. What we could do is make the rules generous enough, so the time you have to "save" your characters name is long enough. I do not really know about how long the average troop deployment is in the US, but we would have to design it around that, most probably.

 

As I said before, this system wouldn't have to be automatic, but on demand - original names would still most likely stay with their creators, but of course that is a point to discuss.

 

 

 

At the very least, I think the system Darth_Victus proposed should be implemented. If a certain account is inactive for an extended period of time, any character that is below some threshold would lose his name. I think this would be very generous to most players, ensuring their mains and other high level characters would keep their name.

[CrazyMcGee]

Again, you aren't considering people that have a life or someone that fights for your freedom.. I'm sorry.. Under your terms it is a bad idea and there is nothing fair about it..

 

Ok, a) people who "have a life". If they don't log in for 60 days because they prefer to do other things, that's fine, but then they won't care about their name either. It takes 2 mins to log in - if they don't want to spare that in 2 months, they don't care.

 

b) I assume you mean the US army? If they care that much, they could just ask a friend to log in. Again, it takes 2 minutes every 2 months. Not hard if you care enough to do it yourself or ask someone else to do it for you. Much less effort than watering someone's plants or feeding their fish.

[Mowermanx]

Wow, a thread filled with self entitled would-be name stealers....

I don't know how anyone can get off on trying to steal other peoples names, you would have to be a new level of low pond scum to even suggest it, I mean, you people are unbelievable.

Edited September 15, 2013 by Mowermanx

[Pigdaddy]

ok just to interject, leave military personnel out if it. They can and do login from overseas deployments (have RL friends and guildies doing exactly that)

[Calculated]

ok just to interject, leave military personnel out if it. They can and do login from overseas deployments (have RL friends and guildies doing exactly that)

 

Thanks for the input.

 

Wow, a thread filled with self entitled would-be name stealers....

I don't know how anyone can get off on trying to steal other peoples names, you would have to be a new level of low pond scum to even suggest it, I mean, you people are unbelievable.

 

It works in other games and there is no reason it shouldn't work here. There are logical reasons why it would be beneficial to the game as a whole as well. If you do not have anything to add to the discussion, please don't post. If you have some arguments, please, we would love to hear them.

Edited September 15, 2013 by Calculated

[AlexDougherty]

I really wish people would stop looking for ways or trying to justify taking a name from someone else..

 

Actually a lot of names are still being taken up by people who played for a few weeks when the game started, and then never played again. Very few people want to steal from people using names, a few do but they are a minority, most just want to get rid of characters that re never going to be played again, and are taking up names.

 

Personally I would prefer that the inactivity be for an account, not a character, and a year is about right for that, this allows people working abroad (soldiers, oil rig workers, scientists in Antartica) to maintain their characters, and still thin out dead characters hogging names.

Edited September 15, 2013 by AlexDougherty

[Uber_the_Goober]

. Those characters belong to the person who's account they are on.. Make up a new name and move on..

 

No, they don't. Read the EULA.

 

And, this exact sentiment can be applied to the person hoarding the name with no evidence of ever having played it. Make up a new name and move on if you decide to start playing the toon.

[Uber_the_Goober]

Wow, a thread filled with self entitled would-be name stealers....

I don't know how anyone can get off on trying to steal other peoples names, you would have to be a new level of low pond scum to even suggest it, I mean, you people are unbelievable.

 

"Name-stealers"???

 

Why don't you call the guy who has 10 character slots filled with level one toons he's never going to play a "Name-Hoarder"??

 

Simple, if you don't want your name taken, PLAY THE CHARACTER!! There's no sense in having the name or even the character at all if you're not intending to play it.

 

Other people don't want to wait around for your indecisive self to "get around to it".

[Ratajack]

I honestly don't know why you are so against this.

 

If they are less than level 10, and haven't played again in over 6 months, it's more likely than not (way more likely btw) that they aren't coming back to this game again.

 

If you have one item, and find another item more interesting, and throw that item out into the trash, and it gets sent to the dumpster, would you really care if some homeless man decided to make that item his.

 

It's not theft if you deny ownership of something. If I decide to give my clothes away to goodwill, and someone else wants the clothes, I couldn't care less if they got the clothes or not.

 

There. That's two hypothetical situations that I just typed out off the top of my head. I know that it's not going to change your mind or anything because you are pretty dead set about which way you think things should go, but I just get satisfaction from proving people like you wrong.

 

Good day.

 

 

The player who "owns" the name now did NOT throw it in the dumpster or donate it to good will. He did NOT choose to delete the character, meaning he did NOT throw the name away.

 

To use your analogy, he put that item on a shelf, Maybe he'll go back and get it off the shelf and maybe he won't. He did choose to hold onto it, and put it on a shelf. That shelf is in his home.

 

You are asking BW to go into his home, take that item off the shelf and give it to you because you happen to want it.

 

That is all there is to it.

[Ratajack]

I would support this only if the account itself was inactive for an extended period of time and the character in question was below a certain level, say 20 for example. Similar to how SoE has it set up in EverQuest.

 

I know it is frustrating losing a name or not able to get the name you wanted. Heck, I been playing since early access. Created my character within minutes of the servers going live, but the first wave of server mergers I lost my name to another player. A player who was only level 25 ( I was level capped by then), and to this day has remained inactive. Yes, I added the name to my friends list.

 

Should there be a system that BioWare can implement to focus on the naming issue? Yes, but only if certain restrictions are in place like I put above. So it is fair to both parties. What I would suggest is that the account itself would have to be inactive for at least a full year. Chances are, if the account is inactive for that long, they are not coming back. Also, the character with the name in question would only be eligible to have the name removed if it is level 30 or below; as it is extremely easy to level in this game. Furthermore, upon the request made by the active player is made, an email is sent to the owner of the inactive account to give them a chance to retain their characters name.

 

You first mention level 20 as the level needed to ensure a player does not have a name taken from them. You then mention that you lost your name to a character of level 25. Unsurprisingly, you then suggest level 30 as the required level to protect your name. Gee, there is NO selfish reasoning there, at all.