Name System Reformation

[Kalabakk]

I do, what if I want to play this game, but don't want to play with other people who have friended me on other characters?

I had mentioned the ability to go "anonymous" so that people don't know you are online. If they incorporated something like that, I think it would address your concern.

 

Or maybe, because friending doesn't require two people to agree to be friends, I want to avoid someone who has been constantly chatting at me and the like with group requests and so forth.

Fair enough. In fact, thank you for reminding me about that point. The system Cryptic uses requires both people involved to accept a friend request. So you wouldn't have a bunch of strangers adding you to their friends list without your knowledge and pestering you when you log in.

 

Or did I misread your statement? If you mean the "constantly chatting" thing in reference to people who are your friends, then I think the anonymous thing would also address that concern.

Edited June 2, 2015 by Kalabakk

[Kalabakk]

If I want you to know my account name in-game, I will tell you. @handles matching the account name are not going to change anyone's behavior.

My point was more along the lines of having some kind of unique identifier to distinguish one person from another. I mentioned account name because it already exists and is unique. They could just as easily have us pick some other unique identifier so that character names could be more flexible.

[branmakmuffin]

My point was more along the lines of having some kind of unique identifier to distinguish one person from another. I mentioned account name because it already exists and is unique. They could just as easily have us pick some other unique identifier so that character names could be more flexible.

Conceptually, something other than the account name as an @handle is fine. I just don't see them ever making what seems to be such a major change.

[LyraineAlei]

I had mentioned the ability to go "anonymous" so that people don't know you are online. If they incorporated something like that, I think it would address your concern.

 

 

Fair enough. In fact, thank you for reminding me about that point. The system Cryptic uses requires both people involved to accept a friend request. So you wouldn't have a bunch of strangers adding you to their friends list without your knowledge and pestering you when you log in.

 

Or did I misread your statement? If you mean the "constantly chatting" thing in reference to people who are your friends, then I think the anonymous thing would also address that concern.

 

The first point was about those on my Friends list, so they would see I was online, even if I was on anonymous mode.

 

The second point was the one you address about the mutual friend requirement.

[Fevee]

Sure, but with those "fancy characters" (I guess you mean things like apostrophes, accents, trema, hatschek, umlaute etc. - things that, in the apropriate language, actually have a meaning and thus change pronounciation) the Name actually differs from another. So "Luke" is obviously someone else than "Luké", and both are someone else than "Lüke" , and again all three differ from "L'uke". And, unless you are ignorant of foreign languages, all three of them would be pronounced quite different, too.

 

Whereas I understand that, it is ridiculously easy to disregard those rules (If others even knew those rules in the first place) just to get close enough to the spelling they want.

 

The ß, for example, is supposed to make a double S sound, and shouldn't ever start a word off. Yet if you see a character named ßob running around, are you going to tell me you don't know what he was aiming for?

 

At the moment? Never, because every name is unique. But once that restriction is gone, I guess "Obbiwan", "Obiwann", "Ob'iw'ann", "Obbiiwaann", "O'biwa'n", "Öbiwän" and the other 184 abominations per server of that Name will quickly turn into the original wiriting. There's barely a day where I am online and where I not stumble across names like that. And even without using those original character names, the fact that people regularily ask for name purges because "their name" and "every variation of it, including those with apostrophes and stuff like that" is already taken shows that once the rule "names has to be unique" is lift, you'll find hundreds of characters with equal names.

 

Every name may currently be unique, technically, but are you saying you're always ending up in ops groups with Obiwan, Obiwann, Ob'iw'ann, Obbiiwaann, O'biwan'n, and Öbiwän? Names that violate SWTOR's naming policy still shouldn't be allowed. When you come across these fools, report character name and/or ignore them, then just move on with the game. You should have faith, though, that most people will actually use original names for their characters.

 

Who's talking about groups? You do realize that you can use the chat to talk to people that are not in your immediate surrounding? People that are somewhere else on the same planet? How will I, when using the general chat, be able to distinguish between John, John, John and John?

 

Well, you can always start a whisper conversation with the particular John who's saying things that interest you.

 

Or, if it's that big of a problem, then perhaps we shouldn't have name/surname hiding options. Everyone's forced to display their character name and surname. Thus, when in genchat, you can distinguish between John Carter, John Paul, John Williams, and John Travolta.

 

Unless, titles can be a part of chat dialogue. So, if we have a bunch of surname-hiding Johns, odds are that they won't all be sporting the same title. Jedi John, Captain John, John the Backstabber, and Sergeant John. Which option would you prefer, Turajin?

 

And don't come with any "in chat it will be shown as [Name]@[account]" ********. There should be no account-info in chat. If I want to be known as John only, it has to be that way in chat, too, otherwise the system is broken and worth wasting asingle thought on it.

 

The point of this thread is to be an alternative to the @handle option, if you haven't noticed. But if you're absolutely sure that a million Johns will pop up, then you'll have to get creative and make a surname you'll be willing to go by. If you want to be just John, it's too late for that, this archaic naming system dictates that you were beat to it. But with this option, you still can't be the John, but you can still be a John.

 

I'm one of those people that has been suggesting a Cryptic-like solution (ex. - Star Trek Online - STO) since beta. I still think it's an excellent way to handle things.

 

I think it's an excellent way, too. Add a few privacy options when people are feeling antisocial, and everyone's problems are solved. But, people are resistant, anyways, so the point here is to provide an alternative that conforms to the current naming system in place.

[Turajin]

Every name may currently be unique, technically, but are you saying you're always ending up in ops groups with Obiwan, Obiwann, Ob'iw'ann, Obbiiwaann, O'biwan'n, and Öbiwän? Names that violate SWTOR's naming policy still shouldn't be allowed. When you come across these fools, report character name and/or ignore them, then just move on with the game. You should have faith, though, that most people will actually use original names for their characters.

I have two or three characters who's ignore-list consist mainly of dozens of variations of "Obiwan", "Qui-gon", "Chewbacca" and other original names. There isn't a single day where I do not stumble across a new one of those original names written in a "creative" way. ANother part of my ignore-list is filled with dozens of names similar tho theese: "Iamthebest", "Mastakillah" or "xxxsuperdudexxx".

So, no, I don't have any kind of faith that most people will be creative and make original names. After all, all these "change the naming systems" threads are almost always started with someone saying "i can't name my character the way I want because that name is already taken"... as I said before, for me this alone is the proof that people aren't creative enough in trying to get "original" names. The fact that a reformation of the naming-system is asked for alone tells me that if it is done we will see dozens, if not hundreds of characters with identical names....

 

But, people are resistant, anyways...

I am resistant because I don't want everobody to know what characters are connected to my account. If I use toon x, I don't want those people that know my toon y to know that I am online, unless I chose to tell them. I might not be in the mood to chat with my freinds, maybe I want to level a different toon and not have my guildies ask me to switch to that other charcter and join them, etc. etc. etc.

 

So, there should be not even the slightest hint on a name that shows to what acount that toon is connected, unless I intentionally and voluntarily show that hint. Of course, this means I am also totally against a system like "befriend a toon and automatically befriend the legacy and all toons on it"-option.

[Willcutt]

The problem isn't lack of creativity. I can be creative and come up with unique names all day long. Its more of a problem of preference. None of those names matter if you want to name you character something that's already taken. I've always preferred cryptics and tsw naming systems over the archaic traditional mmo naming system most games use, including swtor.

 

This problen could be solved using @handles with better privacy options, the ability to use a space and caps on the next letter, or a nickname handle per each character that is unique and the first and last name can be whatever you choose. Then of course the legacy name in all three scenarios can remain the same while the Character name is flexible.

 

I can create new names all day long. But I prefer only a few. And those are often taken.

[branmakmuffin]

The problem isn't lack of creativity. I can be creative and come up with unique names all day long. Its more of a problem of preference. None of those names matter if you want to name you character something that's already taken.

If it's already taken, that's proof right there that the name is not original and therefore arguably not very creative (which is of course a matter of opinion, but copying is generally not considered "creative").

[Fevee]

After all, all these "change the naming systems" threads are almost always started with someone saying "i can't name my character the way I want because that name is already taken"... as I said before, for me this alone is the proof that people aren't creative enough in trying to get "original" names. The fact that a reformation of the naming-system is asked for alone tells me that if it is done we will see dozens, if not hundreds of characters with identical names....

 

Don't confuse copyrighted names for common names. Plus, you completely disregard surnames as part of someone's identity. I'm sure Lucy is a common-enough name, but you don't know which Lucy I'm talking about, do you? If I just wanted to name my character Lucy, then perhaps originality is yet to be achieved. But if I elaborated further to say Lucy Ricardo, Lucy Heartfilia, or Lucy Pevensie, then this "common" name probably now stands out in your mind. If it's so common, why do these names now stand unique? A surname completes a character's identity. But since we can't exactly use surnames, we either have to babble new names, õŕ ùşē fąŋċŷ śΨmßōŁŝ Ŧŏ ĝęť â ċļőšę-Ěʼnōŭġħ ŝpëĺĺīŋģ.

 

If it's already taken, that's proof right there that the name is not original and therefore arguably not very creative (which is of course a matter of opinion, but copying is generally not considered "creative").

 

Again, there's a difference between copyrighted names and common names. Either see that for yourself, or call Lucas out on Luke and Ben being stolen names.

[Willcutt]

If it's already taken, that's proof right there that the name is not original and therefore arguably not very creative (which is of course a matter of opinion, but copying is generally not considered "creative").

 

You missed the point entirely. Creativity has nothing to do with it. I can name creative names all day. But I don't want any of them. Its a matter of preference. Just because someone names their kid John doesn't mean they arnt creative. It just means they prefer that name as opposed to Malevalor or whatever creative name they could have thought up. People can be creative and prefer common names. This idea that creativity is the issue is just silly and shows a lack of understanding on your part of why this is even an issue.

[Kulyok]

You missed the point entirely. Creativity has nothing to do with it. I can name creative names all day. But I don't want any of them. Its a matter of preference. Just because someone names their kid John doesn't mean they arnt creative. It just means they prefer that name as opposed to Malevalor or whatever creative name they could have thought up.

 

I guess we have to accept that a rare name is a kind of reward for early-time subscribers. (I got lucky - I accidentally got one of my favorite names. The rest of them, well, I just had to fall in love with new names all over again).

 

I guess Bioware would not permit exchanging names between two players(first player pays 50mil to the second player, the second player deletes his John character, first player immediately creates a character named John), otherwise that could be an option.

Edited June 5, 2015 by Kulyok

[Willcutt]

Or they could update their naming system. Space and capitalizing the next letter, @handles with more privacy options, or nicknames are the best possible ways I can imagine this would work. They probably won't ever do it. But man, it would be nice if they did!

[Fevee]

I am resistant because I don't want everobody to know what characters are connected to my account. If I use toon x, I don't want those people that know my toon y to know that I am online, unless I chose to tell them. I might not be in the mood to chat with my freinds, maybe I want to level a different toon and not have my guildies ask me to switch to that other charcter and join them, etc. etc. etc.

 

So, there should be not even the slightest hint on a name that shows to what acount that toon is connected, unless I intentionally and voluntarily show that hint. Of course, this means I am also totally against a system like "befriend a toon and automatically befriend the legacy and all toons on it"-option.

 

Well, this is a suggestion to avoid that type of reformation. But, if you read the amendments to that suggestion anyways, then there would be privacy options for individual characters, making it so that the character in question remained invisible to searches and friend lists.

 

Anyways, this game still needs to fix the naming system. There is more to a character than their first name, and we should be able to employ that.

[Fevee]

Characters should be defined by both character and surnames. Yet it's only character names that are considered; that's not enough. Plus, it would actually allow us to have the name we actually want.

[Fevee]

ERROR

Name unavailable, please choose another.

 

I can't be the only one tired of seeing that. Please fix the naming system, I refuse to resort to incomprehensible babble and/ðŕ mækĩŋġ ŧĥě ʼnåmëş çĥāŀk fųļĺ őf fōřèïġņ śŷmβθΓŝ.

[Fevee]

I made a character, named him, deleted him, and just now attempted to recreate him under the exact same name.

 

ERROR

Name unavailable, please choose another.

 

So, yea, it's now being held by a level 4 bounty hunter on Hutta. Sure looks like the situation where they're just going to hog it, but never use it again. Seriously, just fix your broken name system, Bioware.

[Altakiri]

Personally I agree with the OP. Having a place to stick a surname alongside a legacy name would be nice. Or, just remove the Legacy Title from the Names List and allow a surname to be displayed instead(Just Another Idea) , leaving the Legacy Title, in the Legacy Title area. (You know where you can display such titles as <Dread War veteran> and the like ) That way, at level 10 for *all* your toons you can pick a surname. For instance, you have your first ever toon that you named Gavin Warnova (example only) who is a human Jedi Knight. You really think it appropriate to have your Zabraki Agent named Sassan also identifying themselves as having the surname of Warnova? So on first playthrough, allow the player to choose a surname, *And* A Legacy Name, then on each successive playthrough at level 10, allow them to pick a Surname. Reverse Implementation could be achieved via a title unlock mailed to everyone (like the Republic Ace and Imperial Ace outfits for Starfighter) so the above mentioned combination could be Gavin Warnova, Warnova Legacy, whereas the Zabraki mentioned above could be Sassan Grartrok, Warnova Legacy (Which could be hidden for RP Purposes) IMO RPers are continually getting shuffled aside for the greater PvP and PvE communities anyway. (Different Argument Altogether) The Outfit Designer was a nice touch, and already it is impossible to ban entire legacies from Guilds or stick entire legacies on Ignore (A fact that credit spammers use to their advantage) So what privacy concerns can even *be* raised from hiding Legacy Names while still allowing surnames to be implemented. For programming purposes, it would just be another Legacy Name unlock, just one that the Player can choose to display in addition to their main Title and Legacy Title. (But i'm no programmer so don't quote me on that) This is all just ideas, of course, but it would be nice, at least for the RP community, and for everyone else who just doesn't care, you can choose to display it or not at your discretion.

 

 

___________________________________________

[Lansotey]

I agree with the point that the player should be able to make the choice to either have a character carry the same surname as the rest of the legacy or not. The benefits could be that it would open up numerous naming options for certain popular names, allow for more unique names (in that each character could have a full name that does not share a singular surname between them all, etc.). There are other games out there that have already implemented a naming system similar to what I think was mentioned before (FFXIV and GW are two i can think of off the top of my head).

 

Taking it with a grain of salt, but there are some issues in the game that -should- get more attention than names at this late stage in the game...like the launcher constantly messing up for many players, (ERROR: List too long. lol). Again, just off the top of my head. Unique first and last names for each char would be nice, however, I don't see it as first in the laundry list of things that need work. Just my opinion though.

[Fevee]

No amount of name purges will free up names used by NPCs in desolate corners of the game of which no one ever visits. And, look at all the NPCs ingame which have their own surnames, saying we can only have one surname per legacy is like saying all the NPCs have to share a surname, as well. Fix the naming system so we can actually have the names we want. Edited June 28, 2015 by Fevee

[jcgaboury]

I have written before on the naming system and I still believe it needs to be changed. For creative naming I named my character Emperor's and used the Legacy system for the name Wrath and now have the name I wanted as Emperor's Wrath. I have used this with Empire's and a few other names. This does tie up your legacy name though for one character. But no one can use the name now and with this naming style I cannot use any of the titles offered in the game. I could use the prefix "The" in order for my name to be properly written. This is why I asked for the developer team to add simple prefix and suffix words such as large, small, great and other descriptors so people can be a little more great ice with the existing naming system. Charge me a few dollars for my prefix and a whole new possibility of names emerges.

 

I was one of the lucky ones to get a name I wanted though and have the name Occlus on my inquisitor which is the neutral Darth name given to you by Darth Marr at the end of the inquisitor story arc. My wife now uses this name as an inquisitor and I being Emperor's Wrath conquer the galaxy for the empire.

 

Thanks for reading and please add the suffix "The" so I can complete my name.

 

"The" Emperor's Wrath

Darth Occlus

Manda'lor's Champion

[Fevee]

I was one of the lucky ones to get a name I wanted though and have the name Occlus on my inquisitor which is the neutral Darth name given to you by Darth Marr at the end of the inquisitor story arc. My wife now uses this name as an inquisitor and I being Emperor's Wrath conquer the galaxy for the empire.

 

Thanks for reading and please add the suffix "The" so I can complete my name.

 

I think your naming desires don't co-inside with SWTOR's naming policy.

 

But, I would still like to restate that many's alts are missing out on surnames they could have. Many people are missing out on half their identity, I'd like to see that fixed.

[Grue_Hunter]

Actually, there is a rule against naming your characters after canon or well-known characters.

 

 

Yes, Luke, Han, Ben, all common human names. If someone wants to run around with their headcanon Jason Skywalker: The first Skywalker to join the Jedi Order. Or, if someone has an original design named Luke Faufer, then they may do so. It's just that there aren't allowed to be any Luke Skywalkers.

 

But the naming policy has not been enforced - yes, even with reporting since it was first recommended to me about a year and a half ago.

 

Off the top of my head, I have seen guild and character names related to:

1. drugs - Mary Jane, Ganja, Spliff, Cannabis, Marihuana/Marijuana, Joint, Blunt

2. celebrities - youth pop culture icons, icons from the past, rock stars past and present (Elvis may have left the building but not the game; ditto Jenners, Tina and Ike, Bieber and Swift)

3. characters from the Star Wars Universe (including ingame NPCs, Rebels, The Clone Wars and Seasons 1-6!), Star Trek universe, DCU, Marvel U, Top Cow U, Squaresoft, popular TV shows, Disney, etc. (I'd name them but restrictions on posting are the only thing that seem to be enforced)

4. Leet or nonsense names

5. Lewd names that discriminate against women, LGBT groups and racial minorities

 

Personally, I find it mildly amusing yet sad that the in-game censor can pick some of these up yet characters are allowed to walk around with names that are prohibited. (I'm surprised that a regular in-game audit of the names doesn't occur -- yes, to even catch those that are doing it with accented letters.)

 

It's very well having a naming policy that is a carbon copy of what is seen on other MMOs, but if it is not enforced, then what is the point? And why not enforce it, given the legal liability entailed?

 

Yes the naming system needs an overhaul. But how about enforcing the policy while they are at it?

Edited July 2, 2015 by Grue_Hunter

[Fevee]

Yes the naming system needs an overhaul. But how about enforcing the policy while they are at it?

 

I concur. When I come across names I feel are in violation, I report them. I don't see much happen, afterwards, but I still report them. It would be nice if they knuckled down and stayed on top of violators.

[Monumenta]

Off the top of my head, I have seen guild and character names related to:

1. drugs - Mary Jane, Ganja, Spliff, Cannabis, Marihuana/Marijuana, Joint, Blunt

2. celebrities - youth pop culture icons, icons from the past, rock stars past and present (Elvis may have left the building but not the game; ditto Jenners, Tina and Ike, Bieber and Swift)

3. characters from the Star Wars Universe (including ingame NPCs, Rebels, The Clone Wars and Seasons 1-6!), Star Trek universe, DCU, Marvel U, Top Cow U, Squaresoft, popular TV shows, Disney, etc. (I'd name them but restrictions on posting are the only thing that seem to be enforced)

4. Leet or nonsense names

5. Lewd names that discriminate against women, LGBT groups and racial minorities

 

This has also been my experience. Its a reflection of a company that cares more for income from subs and CC than they do creating a welcoming environment. The prevalence of credit sellers are also a reflection of this.

 

1 moderator per server for 4 hours a day could greatly curtail both of these things.

[branmakmuffin]

I was one of the lucky ones to get a name I wanted though and have the name Occlus on my inquisitor which is the neutral Darth name given to you by Darth Marr at the end of the inquisitor story arc. My wife now uses this name as an inquisitor and I being Emperor's Wrath conquer the galaxy for the empire.

You were "lucky" you named your character an entirely unoriginal and uncreative name? If Occlus is the name every neutral Inquisitor gets, every neutral Inquisitor is Darth Occlus just as much as yours is. In an RP/IC sense, your character is the Darth Occlus only if your fellow RPers agree (your "head canon" notwithstanding). Now maybe you are not an RPer and don't care about that, however.

 

But it's super hard to take your post seriously.