Will there be another Name Purge before the expansion?

[DreadtechSavant]

No. If you've made it this far without that name, you can continue your Star Wars journey without it.

 

Stealing a name you like may temporarily make you happy, but doing so would also be the most reliable way to ensure that the prior owner NEVER return to SWTOR.

 

If you lacked the foresight to create and name your characters beforehand but still insist on something specific, simply use alt characters. Don't alienate other players on a mere hope that something you want will become available. Use your imagination. A lot of decent names are still out there.

 

This!

[TUXs]

No. If you've made it this far without that name, you can continue your Star Wars journey without it.

 

Stealing a name you like may temporarily make you happy, but doing so would also be the most reliable way to ensure that the prior owner NEVER return to SWTOR.

 

If you lacked the foresight to create and name your characters beforehand but still insist on something specific, simply use alt characters. Don't alienate other players on a mere hope that something you want will become available. Use your imagination. A lot of decent names are still out there.

Stealing a name? From someone who is never coming back to this game?! WOW!!!

 

Some of you folk are in complete denial, thinking your old best bud will come back and this game will be just like it was 3-1/2 years ago.

 

If YOU quit and I am still paying, I should be able to take your name in 3-6 months time. Your opinion as a non-customer means nothing to me.

[DreadtechSavant]

Maybe if your on dead server like Pot5 or Jung Ma. I play on an RP server and a name is EVERYTHING I must get right.

 

Also, you didn't read my whole original post. My number one rule is that I am against using accents and alt characters in my names for the reasons I've listed.

 

Bioware has done a name purge before and I don't see why they can't do it again...

 

Did not read your hole post you say to another player.

 

well I have and it's still BH.

 

I play on every sever. EVERY F**** one. never had a problem coming up with unique names for my characters.

 

According to YOU, name is everything on a RP sever. First off it NOT EVERYTHING at all, second you automatically think that, The name(s) you want are no longer in use and even if they are you will automatically get them which is slim in any case. Again that's if and a big if at that.

[DreadtechSavant]

Stealing a name? From someone who is never coming back to this game?! WOW!!!

 

Some of you folk are in complete denial, thinking your old best bud will come back and this game will be just like it was 3-1/2 years ago.

 

If YOU quit and I am still paying, I should be able to take your name in 3-6 months time. Your opinion as a non-customer means nothing to me.

 

Again BH, I have spent time away from this game and came back so does happen, secondly ask BW how many have come back since the new xpac was announced.

As for the post you quoted saying non-customer don't count, wrong they do if they come back and the player you quoted is a paying customer same as you so he/she counts

Since this topic has come up gods know how many times over the last 6 months with no action by BW, its time they put a blanket ban on this subject all together.

[TUXs]

Again BH, I have spent time away from this game and came back so does happen, secondly ask BW how many have come back since the new xpac was announced.

As for the post you quoted saying non-customer don't count, wrong they do if they come back and the player you quoted is a paying customer same as you so he/she counts

Since this topic has come up gods know how many times over the last 6 months with no action by BW, its time they put a blanket ban on this subject all together.

 

Why ban it? Because it bothers you? Stay out of these threads then...given the topic title, it was quite obvious what it would contain.

 

And non-customers don't count...they don't contribute to anything a company needs to do to survive. They should be marketed to and encouraged to return, but not pandered to so much that you risk alienating those who ARE paying customers.

[Andryah]

The thing people seem to forget: The name they crave will very likely NOT be eligible for a purge.

 

And the claims that ALL names are taken is complete fiction. I recently rolled a couple new characters and had no difficulty creating names at all. I even used an online SW name generator for one of them ... which one would think would be all sucked up in the database by now.... NOPE.

 

Note: I'm not opposed to a name purge, but it is by no means needed.

 

Public Service Announcement: If you are demanding a pruge in order to get the name Fred, or Bob, or <insert whatever common real life name you crave> .... it isn't going to happen. Well.. not likely. I did snag the name Janet on The Harbinger after the last name purge.

Edited September 1, 2015 by Andryah

[KyaniteD]

That isn't the case for everybody. Some people lost their original names in server mergers, no amount of foresight could have prevented that. If the person who by sheer chance was the lucky one in this situation is no longer playing the game, I see no reason why they should get to keep the name if someone else who is still supporting the game financially wants it back.

 

I agree. The forced merger that cost me two of my names wasn't even announced 24 hours in advance (Canderous Ordo -> Jedi Covenant). To say names were lost due to lack of foresight is a bit ignorant.

[jedip_enguin]

I have never failed to get a name I wanted, ever.

 

I lost no names in the server merges.

 

I use no accents in my account names.

 

The people who complain about this stuff must be seriously lacking in originality.

 

That said, I'm all for sticking it to the freeloaders, so have at it.

[KyaniteD]

The thing people seem to forget: The name they crave will very likely NOT be eligible for a purge.

 

And the claims that ALL names are taken is complete fiction. I recently rolled a couple new characters and had no difficulty creating names at all. I even used an online SW name generator for one of them ... which one would think would be all sucked up in the database by now.... NOPE.

 

Note: I'm not opposed to a name purge, but it is by no means needed.

 

Public Service Announcement: If you are demanding a pruge in order to get the name Fred, or Bob, or <insert whatever common real life name you crave> .... it isn't going to happen. Well.. not likely. I did snag the name Janet on The Harbinger after the last name purge.

 

I was surprised but very happy to get one of my original names back after the first purge.

 

By now I'm mostly at peace with the way things are. I was going to get a rename with a special character (which in many languages are actually part of the name and determine how it's pronounced), but then I got this CS response after trying to rename my legacy.

 

They really need to fix this first before even considering another purge.

Edited September 1, 2015 by KyaniteD

[CaptMurphy]

I support this. A second round would be nice.

[Andryah]

I was going to get a rename with a special character (which in many languages are actually part of the name and determine how it's pronounced), but then I got this CS response after trying to rename my legacy.

 

They really need to fix this first before even considering another purge.

 

Wow. That's messed up. If a character is legal during character creation, it should be legal during a rename.

[KyaniteD]

Wow. That's messed up. If a character is legal during character creation, it should be legal during a rename.

 

It doesn't say the name is invalid or not available. It accepts the name, but displays it wrong.

[TheSeventhJedi]

Stealing a name? From someone who is never coming back to this game?! WOW!!!

 

Some of you folk are in complete denial, thinking your old best bud will come back and this game will be just like it was 3-1/2 years ago.

 

If YOU quit and I am still paying, I should be able to take your name in 3-6 months time. Your opinion as a non-customer means nothing to me.

 

Hear hear.

[The-Kaitou-Kid]

Gotta say, it's not impossible to get names at the moment. You're not gonna get regular names like James and Mark or anything like that (probably at least, you never know when somebody will decide to delete a character) but with some thought you can typically get somewhere close to what you want.

 

For example, Harbinger is my home server (also have characters on Shadowlands, but I play on Harbinger more often) and I was able to get several names that, in my opinion, look fairly "normal" without much trouble. My main, a Sentinel, is named Christee. To go off one of the examples I mentioned above, I also have a Guardian named Jeymes. You just have to get a bit creative with the spelling and, failing that, make some creative use of apostrophes (my Vanguard's name is Hau'ke, for instance).

 

I wouldn't oppose a name purge though, personally, as long as the same standards are used from the last one (meaning characters over a certain level or with a certain amount of activity are safe plus any character owned by a subscriber). I don't think names should be taken forever in the off chance the original player comes back sometime down the line, especially if they barely put much into the character in the first place. That name could be put to much better use by an active player.

[Andryah]

It doesn't say the name is invalid or not available. It accepts the name, but displays it wrong.

 

Yeesh.. that's even worse!

[Rhyltran]

Why ban it? Because it bothers you? Stay out of these threads then...given the topic title, it was quite obvious what it would contain.

 

And non-customers don't count...they don't contribute to anything a company needs to do to survive. They should be marketed to and encouraged to return, but not pandered to so much that you risk alienating those who ARE paying customers.

 

In a world of mmo's returning customers are still customers and six months isn't a long time in the lifetime of an mmo. Many people do quit forever but some people do take breaks or go on leave. I've been away for 8 months and returned and have been playing a solid year since. By not freeing up names they aren't alienating anyone. That's not what the definition of being alienated means.

 

Also names like Boba and Fett.. if they do a name purge those are the first kind of names where you'll have people waiting for severs to get up immediately and put the names in. Given how fast some people's connections are as well as how quickly they can type.. good luck winning the "lottery." To the original poster I'm sorry the names you want were taken but I don't support name purges for those who have subscribed at some point. Those that have subscribed or put money into the game deserve to keep their name. Luckily bioware agrees so it's a moot point.

Edited September 1, 2015 by Rhyltran

[Kirameki]

Created 16 new characters on 2 US servers last week without anyone being taken. I must either be super creative (not really because some of them were very common) or some people are not putting in the effort to be more creative.

(And I've never used special characters)

 

The chance that the names people want to become available after a purge is also very slim. Loads of names might be being used by subscribed players who still play but have them banked as alts (like me) till they want to play them. If my name would be taken from me just because she's not high level enough I would unsub.

So yeah name purge ok, but players that still have an active subscription should be safe no matter the level their characters are. Even a lvl 1 bank alt should be bloody safe when you pay for a subscription.

Edited September 1, 2015 by Kirameki

[CaptMurphy]

If my name would be taken from me just because she's not high level enough I would unsub.

 

Apparently you're fortunate enough to not have been through a server merge. I lost my main's name because of it... twice. Once from Kaas City -> Canderous Ordo then again from Canderous Ordo -> JC. The first time my character was lvl 50 and in full Rakata gear, so I don't know how that even happened in the first place.

Edited September 1, 2015 by CaptMurphy

[SelinaH]

Apparently you're fortunate enough to not have been through a server merge. I lost my main's name because of it... twice. Once from Kaas City -> Canderous Ordo then again from Canderous Ordo -> JC. The first time my character was lvl 50 and in full Rakata gear, so I don't know how that even happened in the first place?

Name assignment priority rules during a server merge aren't necessarily the same as rules for a standalone name purge.

[KyaniteD]

Apparently you're fortunate enough to not have been through a server merge. I lost my main's name because of it... twice. Once from Kaas City -> Canderous Ordo then again from Canderous Ordo -> JC. The first time my character was lvl 50 and in full Rakata gear, so I don't know how that even happened in the first place?

 

I'm not 100% sure, but I think during the first merger those on the destination servers had more "clout" than those from origin servers, and only during the second transfer things like date of creation and hours logged on that character were taken into account, as all servers were considered origin servers and the destination servers were newly created "super servers" that only inherited the name from one of the origin servers.

[Kirameki]

Apparently you're fortunate enough to not have been through a server merge. I lost my main's name because of it... twice. Once from Kaas City -> Canderous Ordo then again from Canderous Ordo -> JC. The first time my character was lvl 50 and in full Rakata gear, so I don't know how that even happened in the first place.

 

I've been trough 2 server merges. So you're apparently very wrong in your assumption. Only lost one name out of the 20. And that one was not very hard because the name was Kasumi (my legacy name being Goto) Just had to suck it up because it was the only name for which I was not being creative at all.

Edited September 1, 2015 by Kirameki

[Thoronmir]

I made my core guys back when the game released and survived two server consolidations without losing any names. My friends were not so lucky.

 

I play on all the non-PvP servers and am a true altaholic. I'll delete a level 50+ character to make room if I've filled all 22 of my character slots on a server. I confess that I've resorted to a few names with special characters in those instances when I really wanted a specific name. But, usually, it's just the regular alphabet garnished with an apostrophe or dash.

 

Still, I support regular, periodic name purges. Perhaps once each year ... but no more frequent than every six months. I prefer that they be unannounced and random, lest we see an "Oklahoma Land Rush" for available names. Because the point should be making more names available to all players ... not making a specific name available to a specific player.

 

And, yes, any name connected to an active subscription should be sacrosanct. It never fails to confound me, this bias some players express in favor of high level characters. My crafting alts may stay below 20 for several months before I get around to leveling them. Not all players view any MMO as a race to the level cap. Not all believe that the game only "begins" at end-game. So, please, consider part of my $15 each month the ransom I pay to preserve my alts' names.

 

You can treat the Preferred and F2P as you see fit.

[Darth-Rammstein]

I'm on board with another purge of inactive names. I rolled a Consular on Harbinger yesterday, took half an hour of clicking random to find a name that wasn't taken.

 

Harbinger is a tough one, basically any name that's not completely original has already been taken.

Edited September 1, 2015 by Darth-Rammstein

[TheSeventhJedi]

And, yes, any name connected to an active subscription should be sacrosanct. It never fails to confound me, this bias some players express in favor of high level characters. My crafting alts may stay below 20 for several months before I get around to leveling them. Not all players view any MMO as a race to the level cap. Not all believe that the game only "begins" at end-game. So, please, consider part of my $15 each month the ransom I pay to preserve my alts' names.

 

You can treat the Preferred and F2P as you see fit.

 

I don't think anyone would support taking names away from subs. I've already had that happen to me once, thank you very much.

 

That said, if you unsub for two years, yeah, I claim your cool crafting toon names as my own. Whoever took Bendu on Shadowlands, I'm gunning for you.

[branmakmuffin]

I'm a pretty creative person when it comes to making up random names that you think would never be taken but it's gotten to the point were every name I come up with is taken

The two parts of that statement are in direct contradiction.