Why did I lose my guild name

[Jagaimee]

This is not the case here, there is no legitimate reason for this and I have been lied to about it, I have not done all I can, not by a long shot. I will be calling them again tomorrow.

 

This is unfair, worse, its deceitful and underhanded and I will not just accept it and move on.

 

Out of curiosity, were you still subscribed all the time you were away from the game?

[QuinlanSaathis]

Out of curiosity, were you still subscribed all the time you were away from the game?

 

Yes

I have had some issues with credit cards as we all have might have been a day or two without a sub but that has happened a few times before, since the game launched I might have been unsubbed a total of 1 month out of 5.5 years.

[SteveTheCynic]

So I found the GM of the guild that has my name and tried to reason with him.

It did not go as well as I hoped.

Having read the redacted version of the transcript, I'd say it went about as well as you had a right to hope. Unless he was lying to you (not impossible, but ... unlikely), he didn't do anything except create a guild and call it that, meaning that when he did it, your guild's name was already unlocked for some reason.

 

Let it go. Don't be the Tracer Missile guy, nor one of the Jedi Robes guys. Please.

 

Rename it to "The Sanctuary" or "Our Sanctuary" or something. Job done.

[QuinlanSaathis]

Having read the redacted version of the transcript, I'd say it went about as well as you had a right to hope. Unless he was lying to you (not impossible, but ... unlikely), he didn't do anything except create a guild and call it that, meaning that when he did it, your guild's name was already unlocked for some reason.

 

Let it go. Don't be the Tracer Missile guy, nor one of the Jedi Robes guys. Please.

 

Rename it to "The Sanctuary" or "Our Sanctuary" or something. Job done.

 

It bothers me too much, I have to try and get some justice here.

[americanaussie]

Wow this is just crazy. Maybe bad timing on a day that you didn't have a sub? I've been gone for years and no one has taken guild or character name. Although I wasn't a guild leader so guild may have been active after me.

[QuinlanSaathis]

Wow this is just crazy. Maybe bad timing on a day that you didn't have a sub? I've been gone for years and no one has taken guild or character name. Although I wasn't a guild leader so guild may have been active after me.

 

Crazy doesn't begin to cover it that is why I am so fixated on it.

I can understand losing the guild entirely to another character even thou none of the others are active, it would make more sense than losing the name.

 

I need to understand why at the very least.

[curulz]

Having read the redacted version of the transcript, I'd say it went about as well as you had a right to hope. Unless he was lying to you (not impossible, but ... unlikely), he didn't do anything except create a guild and call it that, meaning that when he did it, your guild's name was already unlocked for some reason.

 

That's my thought as well. the name was available for whatever reason. The spiel CS gave you may haven't been accurate, talking about merges and whatnot, but the name was available none the less. The other guild did nothing wrong, and has no obligation to give it up. Best OP will get from CS is a "sorry for the incorrect information, but there is nothing we can do"

[HiltoftheDragon]

Perhaps you could "buy" your guild name back. How deep are your pockets.

[mike_carton]

Do you still have your guild? With all its assets? Are you still the GM? What is the guild name now? Did they rename it to some random letter combination and force you to rename it when you logged in?

[king_nile]

How about "Lost Sanctuary", while you fight this battle. It can be a battlecry against CS

[Resputin]

I understand your point and when I moved I had to do the same thing to most of my characters, and I was happy to do so. I was the one moving and someone else had rightfully gotten the name first why should they lose it.

 

This is not the case here, there is no legitimate reason for this and I have been lied to about it, I have not done all I can, not by a long shot. I will be calling them again tomorrow.

 

This is unfair, worse, its deceitful and underhanded and I will not just accept it and move on.

I first am sorry to hear that you lost your guild name. It would be nice to know exactly why your guild name was taken but you did say you were inactive and your fellow guildies were inactive because you touch base with them in real life. If that is the case then the first bold red is inaccurate. Once your account goes inactive you should no longer have access to any names or anything else that might hinder a current subscriber. Even if you played for 4 years and had 1 day of inactivity for any reason. If someone just joined that day and wanted that name they should get it as they are active. Thats my personal opinion. People should feel free to come and go as they like as more new games are released but they should also not to come back and have anything that a new player could use. Like a name or a guild name.

[TUXs]

So I got a reply from CS, and I am calling ******** on this, utter ********.

Using spoiler tags to keep this clear.

 

 

 

It's (Name Redacted) from the SWTOR Customer Support Specialist Team. It was great speaking to you today and I have been able to get one of my colleagues in the In-Game Department to have a quick look at the case. By the looks of it the reason why the guild needs to be renamed is due to the server consolidations which happened.

 

 

WHEN?

I am not aware of any server consolidations, merges or anything of the sort for a long time.

 

 

All guild names are unique so only one guild can have (Name Redacted) and by looking over the login history of (Name Redacted a guild may have been created when you were not active.

 

 

CREATED?

As in brand new, taking MY NAME that is YEARS old.

 

 

In terms of what we can do is to recommend selecting a new name for the guild as it is outside our Customer Service control. The Stupid decided to perform server consolidations and they have picked which guild keeps their name.

 

 

CRITERIA?

What made them worthy of getting my guild name that I have had for years.

 

 

You can always reach out to the Developers via the forums and see what they say. I apologize for the long wait time on this issue and the fact you have lost the guild name you had for years.

 

 

Eric, Keith are you reading this? I need some help and some official input here please.

CONFIRMATION

Confirming the age of the guild in writing right there.

 

 

I did try my best to see if there was any solution but like I mentioned to you over the phone some issues are out of our hands.

 

 

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Where is it? What do I pay you for?

 

I see no valid reason for my guild name to be taken here, this is a travesty and although most of you won't care, remember if it happens once it can and will happen again.

Interesting. Since there haven't been any server consolidations in literally 3 years, either you've been gone a helluva lot longer than you made it seem (I don't believe that you were), or they're mistaken.

 

I suggest you PM Musco...he may be able to help you.

[SteveTheCynic]

Crazy doesn't begin to cover it that is why I am so fixated on it.

I can understand losing the guild entirely to another character even thou none of the others are active, it would make more sense than losing the name.

 

I need to understand why at the very least.

If you asked me to speculate (I know you didn't, but I will anyway), I'd say that perhaps when everyone was flagged as inactive, the guild passed into a limbo state (from having no valid guild leader for an extended period) and part of that limbo state is that the name is unlocked.

 

After about a month, either 28 or 30 days, not sure which, of the guild leader being inactive, the role of guild leader is unlocked and given to the next-in-line eligible character. If the other members had already dropped their subscriptions, that might leave the guild in a weird state where the only subscriber has just been disconnected from the leadership (unless he logs in first), but there isn't a valid guild leader to take over.

 

If your subscription also dropped, even for a day, while the guild was in that weird state, it could pass into an even weirder state where there was NO valid leader at all, not even you. (Guilds not created by an all non-sub group must be lead at all times by a subscriber.) This is a guild where all members are inactive (not logging in) AND not subscribed, and it's at least somewhat reasonable, up to a point, to unlock the name of such a guild.

 

Strictly speculative, of course.

[TUXs]

SteveTheCynic has the best theory. Edited April 25, 2017 by TUXs

[Chelz]

You are not a guild if you are the only one in it, nor do you need, or should have, a guild name if you are a solo player. Move on man. Jesus

[Andryah]

If that was the case then the CS email would have said so.

 

Not necessarily. They very often will not give ANY specifics when it was a name change triggered by someone reporting the name. And I'm sorry, but they are careless sometimes on reported names and simply trigger a rename without really plowing through the details first (particularly if the complainer made a coherent and logical case when reporting a name). There have been many cases over the years where someone had a character name for years, only to wake up one morning and find they are forced to change it, and that the original name is blocked from reuse.

 

Besides.. I question some of the stuff you buried in spoilers, because you mixed in not just alleged responses from CS (which none of us are able to verify, which is why I use the term alleged) with editorial ranting.

 

As for... not going to sit there and take it... what exactly are you going to do about it? You can play, or you can quit. What you cannot do is get your alleged guild name back..... as you can see from the CS responses.

[Andryah]

If you asked me to speculate (I know you didn't, but I will anyway), I'd say that perhaps when everyone was flagged as inactive, the guild passed into a limbo state (from having no valid guild leader for an extended period) and part of that limbo state is that the name is unlocked.

 

After about a month, either 28 or 30 days, not sure which, of the guild leader being inactive, the role of guild leader is unlocked and given to the next-in-line eligible character. If the other members had already dropped their subscriptions, that might leave the guild in a weird state where the only subscriber has just been disconnected from the leadership (unless he logs in first), but there isn't a valid guild leader to take over.

 

If your subscription also dropped, even for a day, while the guild was in that weird state, it could pass into an even weirder state where there was NO valid leader at all, not even you. (Guilds not created by an all non-sub group must be lead at all times by a subscriber.) This is a guild where all members are inactive (not logging in) AND not subscribed, and it's at least somewhat reasonable, up to a point, to unlock the name of such a guild.

 

Strictly speculative, of course.

 

Could be. Though this would be the first time I am aware of this being the case. I don't think there is any policy that stipulates this... but of course they are free to do anything they wish with content inside the game as no player has any actual rights to anything in game, other then perhaps "squatters rights, until un-squatted by the studio.

 

Now.. as someone earlier pointed out... it could be some other player wanted to form a guild with the name, could not, could find absolutely ZERO presence of any players in game with that guild name, and petitioned why to the studio. I could see that triggering a check on the guild and name to determine if the name was prohibited, or if the guild simply appeared dormant. If they found the name valid, and the guild dormant, it could be that they forced a name change on the dormant guild. This MMO does indeed have restrictive polices on guilds when they are not controlled by a paid sub.

 

And of course the OP will come and tell us all how unfair this is.....but what is clear now in this discussion is by OPs own admission.... the role of the guild was as a "placeholder" to "squat" the name and the assets. OP does not own what is being camped... so the studio is free to do anything they like.

Edited April 25, 2017 by Andryah

[Andryah]

You are not a guild if you are the only one in it, nor do you need, or should have, a guild name if you are a solo player. Move on man. Jesus

 

A lot of truth to what Chelz is saying in my view.

[QuinlanSaathis]

Perhaps you could "buy" your guild name back. How deep are your pockets.

 

Not deep enough, only 100mil or so

 

Do you still have your guild? With all its assets? Are you still the GM? What is the guild name now? Did they rename it to some random letter combination and force you to rename it when you logged in?

 

Yes

It was a random message saying the name had expired and I was forced to change it.

Currently the name is Sacrarium Spiritus Lumine

 

I first am sorry to hear that you lost your guild name. It would be nice to know exactly why your guild name was taken but you did say you were inactive and your fellow guildies were inactive because you touch base with them in real life. If that is the case then the first bold red is inaccurate. Once your account goes inactive you should no longer have access to any names or anything else that might hinder a current subscriber. Even if you played for 4 years and had 1 day of inactivity for any reason. If someone just joined that day and wanted that name they should get it as they are active. Thats my personal opinion. People should feel free to come and go as they like as more new games are released but they should also not to come back and have anything that a new player could use. Like a name or a guild name.

 

Your opinion is not fact and the historical facts do not lend it weight.

I have been here a long time and I knew a lot of people, never heard of a guild name lost in this manner before.

 

Interesting. Since there haven't been any server consolidations in literally 3 years, either you've been gone a helluva lot longer than you made it seem (I don't believe that you were), or they're mistaken.

 

I suggest you PM Musco...he may be able to help you.

 

I have

No answer as yet

 

If you asked me to speculate (I know you didn't, but I will anyway), I'd say that perhaps when everyone was flagged as inactive, the guild passed into a limbo state (from having no valid guild leader for an extended period) and part of that limbo state is that the name is unlocked.

 

After about a month, either 28 or 30 days, not sure which, of the guild leader being inactive, the role of guild leader is unlocked and given to the next-in-line eligible character. If the other members had already dropped their subscriptions, that might leave the guild in a weird state where the only subscriber has just been disconnected from the leadership (unless he logs in first), but there isn't a valid guild leader to take over.

 

If your subscription also dropped, even for a day, while the guild was in that weird state, it could pass into an even weirder state where there was NO valid leader at all, not even you. (Guilds not created by an all non-sub group must be lead at all times by a subscriber.) This is a guild where all members are inactive (not logging in) AND not subscribed, and it's at least somewhat reasonable, up to a point, to unlock the name of such a guild.

 

Strictly speculative, of course.

 

And this is why I said it would make a lot more sense if I had "Lost the guild" entirely rather than just the name, the name is weird.

 

You are not a guild if you are the only one in it, nor do you need, or should have, a guild name if you are a solo player. Move on man. Jesus

 

There is a lot of time and effort, along with sentimental reasons tied in this this guild and the name, not to mention 100's of millions of credits and game assets, why should I/we give that up?

 

Not necessarily. They very often will not give ANY specifics when it was a name change triggered by someone reporting the name. And I'm sorry, but they are careless sometimes on reported names and simply trigger a rename without really plowing through the details first (particularly if the complainer made a coherent and logical case when reporting a name). There have been many cases over the years where someone had a character name for years, only to wake up one morning and find they are forced to change it, and that the original name is blocked from reuse.

 

Besides.. I question some of the stuff you buried in spoilers, because you mixed in not just alleged responses from CS (which none of us are able to verify, which is why I use the term alleged) with editorial ranting.

 

As for... not going to sit there and take it... what exactly are you going to do about it? You can play, or you can quit. What you cannot do is get your alleged guild name back..... as you can see from the CS responses.

 

This is the full transcript typed out from the In-Game CS Email.

I can take screenshots but I did not feel the need.

 

Could be. Though this would be the first time I am aware of this being the case. I don't think there is any policy that stipulates this... but of course they are free to do anything they wish with content inside the game as no player has any actual rights to anything in game, other then perhaps "squatters rights, until un-squatted by the studio.

 

Now.. as someone earlier pointed out... it could be some other player wanted to form a guild with the name, could not, could find absolutely ZERO presence of any players in game with that guild name, and petitioned why to the studio. I could see that triggering a check on the guild and name to determine if the name was prohibited, or if the guild simply appeared dormant. If they found the name valid, and the guild dormant, it could be that they forced a name change on the dormant guild. This MMO does indeed have restrictive polices on guilds when they are not controlled by a paid sub.

 

And of course the OP will come and tell us all how unfair this is.....but what is clear now in this discussion is by OPs own admission.... the role of the guild was as a "placeholder" to "squat" the name and the assets. OP does not own what is being camped... so the studio is free to do anything they like.

 

This is true,

But who is to say my compatriots will not return someday, I know them IRL and I try to convince them to return at least once a week I might be successful one day.

Am I to blame for the mass exodus from this game, I just want to retain what portion of it that is mine.

 

A lot of truth to what Chelz is saying in my view.

 

I disagree

There is no easy way to liquidate a guild and retain the assets or their worth so why should I/we lose those assets.

[JediRelentless]

I see no justifiable reason why OP should have lost his guild's name. It shouldn't matter if the guild was only alts from one person.

[Jagaimee]

Yes

It was a random message saying the name had expired and I was forced to change it.

Currently the name is Sacrarium Spiritus Lumine

 

---

 

There is a lot of time and effort, along with sentimental reasons tied in this this guild and the name, not to mention 100's of millions of credits and game assets, why should I/we give that up?

 

...but...wait. Look, I'm sorry, but I still don't get it. You didn't lose the guild. All you lost was the name. You still have the entire guild and everything in it. What is the big deal?? I don't understand. You have the guild, you have everything in it, all that was changed is the name. It's still the same guild. You say the name means a lot to you - sure, I can understand that - so why not name it The Sanctuary or something similar/near-identical?

[AscendingSky]

...but...wait. Look, I'm sorry, but I still don't get it. You didn't lose the guild. All you lost was the name. You still have the entire guild and everything in it. What is the big deal?? I don't understand. You have the guild, you have everything in it, all that was changed is the name. It's still the same guild. You say the name means a lot to you - sure, I can understand that - so why not name it The Sanctuary or something similar/near-identical?

 

Yeah, I'm starting to feel this story has some holes in it... if you cared about the name so much, why would you name it something completely different instead of something very similar while trying to get the original guild name back? And first he said he was the only person in the guild, then later said other people were in it, they were just inactive. This doesn't seem to make sense.

Edited April 25, 2017 by AscendingSky

[HiltoftheDragon]

Am I to blame for the mass exodus from this game, I just want to retain what portion of it that is mine.

 

None of it is yours. You own nothing in this game. The only thing you own to a degree is the permission to log onto a server. Thats all you technically own. What part of that dont you understand.

 

Im beginning to think that we've all been trolled either really good.......or really bad.

Edited April 25, 2017 by HiltoftheDragon

[QuinlanSaathis]

Yeah, I'm starting to feel this story has some holes in it... if you cared about the name so much, why would you name it something completely different instead of something very similar while trying to get the original guild name back? And first he said he was the only person in the guild, then later said other people were in it, they were just inactive. This doesn't seem to make sense.

 

The new name means Sanctuary of Light in Latin

I was in a hurry and had to change it before I could play.

 

It is not completely dissimilar but it is not the name of the guild that was entrusted to me.

 

There is no trolling here I assure you.

 

The guild name was taken for no real reason that I can see. I was lied to about it and yes the name means a lot to me, it reminds me of better times in the game with lots of guild mates, its nostalgic.

The name is important yes but what is more important is why and how this could just happen, its not fair and that bothers me a lot.

Edited April 25, 2017 by QuinlanSaathis

[QuinlanSaathis]

Besides.. I question some of the stuff you buried in spoilers, because you mixed in not just alleged responses from CS (which none of us are able to verify, which is why I use the term alleged) with editorial ranting.

 

https://ibb.co/ea1W35

 

https://ibb.co/gePUqk

 

I would rather it was one shot but I am not sure how to increase the size of this window.

Hopefully this final middle shot proves this is the full message.

 

https://ibb.co/bzscbQ