I want to keep my old character name!

[Lord_Kjer]

So, I just returned to SWTOR, for like the 3rd or 4th time... But this time something were different, the game ask me to change the name of my first character, created 2011, after I bought Collectors Edition, that I have named "Rohlan", in order to get the legacy name "Dyre", to get my Trooper tank to be named "Rohlan Dyre". I am so not okay with this! Actually I'm furious! ... There has to be something I/you/we can do about this ?!

 

https://ibb.co/nyStsG

[Kyrra_T]

So, I just returned to SWTOR, for like the 3rd or 4th time... But this time something were different, the game ask me to change the name of my first character, created 2011, after I bought Collectors Edition, that I have named "Rohlan", in order to get the legacy name "Dyre", to get my Trooper tank to be named "Rohlan Dyre". I am so not okay with this! Actually I'm furious! ... There has to be something I/you/we can do about this ?!

 

https://ibb.co/nyStsG

 

Add a special character to one of the letters of the name or give him a middle name. You can use spaces now. Alternatively you can add your legacy name to his name and hide your legacy name.

 

Someone else, with more playtime and prob sub status likely had the name also. There is a detailed explanation on the United forces page that explains how they decided who had to rename. Sub status and played time were the prime factors though. Who got it 'first' wasn't even in the equation as far as I can see. This is after all fair, since 'they' were actually playing their characters.

 

That name isn't particularly unique. I've seen a ton of characters with variations of spelling for Rohlan Dyre. Legacy name isn't unique anymore so you probably will run into a few with your legacy name too.

 

If you go the special character route I'd personally suggest using the 'n' with an accent or some other special character (Penn State has a great webpage with the microsoft alt key codes if you need to find one). If you use the special character at the end of your name it will still be easy to locate by your friends looking for you since they can put most of your name in and probably get a 'hit' on who without having to use the alt key code letter.

Edited January 6, 2018 by Kyrra_T

[Feztonio]

tell me about it. i had the character Trick, with a legacy Daddy. Trick the BH was made day-one of launch pretty much as soon as servers went live. it was the 1st toon I made (2nd overall since I reserved a name with pre-order). after merger I'm told I have to change Trick's name. it's highly doubtful someone signed up for Trick any earlier than I did, and now Trick Daddy legacy is useless. BW hates me

[DWho]

tell me about it. i had the character Trick, with a legacy Daddy. Trick the BH was made day-one of launch pretty much as soon as servers went live. it was the 1st toon I made (2nd overall since I reserved a name with pre-order). after merger I'm told I have to change Trick's name. it's highly doubtful someone signed up for Trick any earlier than I did, and now Trick Daddy legacy is useless. BW hates me

 

Renaming had nothing to do with when you created the character, only subscription status at the time of the "merge" and time played on that character. If someone else was subbed and you weren't or they had more play time on their character with the same name (Legacy names do not count in that comparison) they got to keep the name.

[xordevoreaux]

So, I just returned to SWTOR, for like the 3rd or 4th time... But this time something were different, the game ask me to change the name of my first character, created 2011, after I bought Collectors Edition, that I have named "Rohlan", in order to get the legacy name "Dyre", to get my Trooper tank to be named "Rohlan Dyre". I am so not okay with this! Actually I'm furious! ... There has to be something I/you/we can do about this ?!

 

https://ibb.co/nyStsG

 

Stay subscribed from now on.

[LunaticFringer]

We know how you feel, OP. Sadly, even those that were subs still ran into problems with this merge. Even Legacy names were handled poorly.

 

What should've happened:

*Add @forum handle or @email to the game and simply allow players to keep the names they had and hide the @

*Allow players to simply pick from the Legacy names they had

 

Maybe from a coding perspective it was hard with this version of the Hero Engine they gambled on. But it still should've been done that way... then no one would've lost anything. Not even potential subs that do lose it over this stuff.

[Tsillah]

Server merges happened. You weren't subbed. You lose.

 

When you are gone for a while BW cannot know whether you're ever coming back so logically active players get priority. I get that you're angry, but with MMOs you can't just go away for a while and expect nothing to have changed when you come back. Especially in a game that has been troubled from the start.

 

It's not nice, but you took a risk by not staying informed about what's going on in the game. That way you kept yourself from having a choice.

[RagnarAugustus]

... There has to be something I/you/we can do about this ?!

 

https://ibb.co/nyStsG

 

There is something that you can do...accept it. Imagine how the other Rohlan who may have had several hundred hours on his toon and continually subbed the entire time would feel if you got the name and you have left 4+ times? The criteria were clear and fair for who wins in the naming game during the server merge.

[clocknane]

Server merges happened. You weren't subbed. You lose.

 

When you are gone for a while BW cannot know whether you're ever coming back so logically active players get priority. I get that you're angry, but with MMOs you can't just go away for a while and expect nothing to have changed when you come back. Especially in a game that has been troubled from the start.

 

It's not nice, but you took a risk by not staying informed about what's going on in the game. That way you kept yourself from having a choice.

 

This is hogwash. SWTOR is literally the only MMO I have played where this occurs after server merge. I have played all the big MMO's and some smaller one's which have had server merges, and name changes are NEVER required. If a user creates a character, especially if they reserved it, they should not be required to change the name. The person creating the character should be told to choose a different name. This goes with the whole "first come, first serve basis."

 

There is no reason for Bioware/EA to do this, other games don't. It just leads to more issue.

[jamoup]

This is hogwash. SWTOR is literally the only MMO I have played where this occurs after server merge. I have played all the big MMO's and some smaller one's which have had server merges, and name changes are NEVER required. If a user creates a character, especially if they reserved it, they should not be required to change the name. The person creating the character should be told to choose a different name. This goes with the whole "first come, first serve basis."

 

There is no reason for Bioware/EA to do this, other games don't. It just leads to more issue.

 

What?

 

You are saying that if you create a character on one server, you should be reserving it on all servers? Otherwise, when the merge comes, and multiple people from multiple servers all have the same name on the new server, who would get the name?

[WayOfTheWarriorx]

There has to be something I/you/we can do about this ?!

 

https://ibb.co/nyStsG

 

Kill.

[Elessara]

This is hogwash. SWTOR is literally the only MMO I have played where this occurs after server merge. I have played all the big MMO's and some smaller one's which have had server merges, and name changes are NEVER required. If a user creates a character, especially if they reserved it, they should not be required to change the name. The person creating the character should be told to choose a different name. This goes with the whole "first come, first serve basis."

 

There is no reason for Bioware/EA to do this, other games don't. It just leads to more issue.

 

Well you evidently never played Everquest or Everquest 2 during their server merges. If two or more characters had the same name after the merge one of them would keep the name as is and the others would all have an "x" or "xx" or "xxx" (etc.) at the end of the name and if you didn't like it, you'd have to rename (either by petitioning or typing /rename when in game). And I'm pretty sure at the time they were both considered "big" MMOs.

[Tsillah]

This is hogwash. SWTOR is literally the only MMO I have played where this occurs after server merge. I have played all the big MMO's and some smaller one's which have had server merges, and name changes are NEVER required. If a user creates a character, especially if they reserved it, they should not be required to change the name. The person creating the character should be told to choose a different name. This goes with the whole "first come, first serve basis."

 

There is no reason for Bioware/EA to do this, other games don't. It just leads to more issue.

Your anecdotal evidence aside, it's not "hogwash" that you need to keep up with MMOs because things do happen. I've played various other MMOs as well and guess what? Some did have naming issues after server merges.

 

Also this game had 2 rounds of server merges already back in 2012 where the same issue with names occurred so it's a known issue. You see it all depends on how a game has been set up and Bioware just didn't think this game could fail so they probably never set up naming in a way that could avoid this problem.

 

All in all unexpected things can always happen to a game and it's better to stay informed if you're ever planning to come back. If not, then this sort of thing can happen.

 

You can jump up and down all you want screaming other games don't do this, but that's beside the point. SWTOR does do this and that's the game we're dealing with and there is a double precedent already.

 

If you stay away for an extended period of time, you just know that stuff will be different. But as I've told people many times before, as a player you do not own anything you pay for and it's always subject to change, character names included. Now I'm not saying that this situation is great. It's not. But it's part of how SWTOR is set up.

[LordFell]

This is hogwash. SWTOR is literally the only MMO I have played where this occurs after server merge. I have played all the big MMO's and some smaller one's which have had server merges, and name changes are NEVER required. If a user creates a character, especially if they reserved it, they should not be required to change the name. The person creating the character should be told to choose a different name. This goes with the whole "first come, first serve basis."

 

There is no reason for Bioware/EA to do this, other games don't. It just leads to more issue.

I lost a character name in World of Warcraft due to

Being inactive.

A server merge.

 

...this happens in literally any game that's big enough to have more than one server.

That's a fact.

You're wrong.

 

And, I just used it as an opportunity to take a name that was... honestly, a bit common (which is why I lost it in the first place) and replace it with a name which was vastly superior, and made me a lot happier.

[AlienEyeTX]

How dare you try to take another player's name! Selfish much?

[LunaticFringer]

At the risk of starting a riot in thread... and because I know EA loves money.

 

Just add in the @ moniker in game already. (email, forum handle, whatever) Add it as an attachment to all accounts and you can probably make *gasp* more money off of even more name changes! Mind you, I still think it shouldn't have been an issue anyway but they would make money off of it.

 

1. Add @attachment to account for each character
   
2. Add a hide @attachment to the UI (for chat window)
   
3. Hand out maybe a max of 4-5 free charcter names per account
   
4. Watch more CM money flow in from additional name change purchaces
   

 

Because the @ moniker would make the first name of any character unique to it... we could actually appear to see more than one of the same named player character running around and people would be fine with it. Why? Because it'd still be unique to your @ moniker (forum handle or email and you could easily hide it using the UI).

 

Other than invalid (off limits) names for first name and legacy names then... this would give players a lot of freedom to name their characters without having to use the silly special characters just to use a name they'd like to use. I'm just surprised this isn't considered for every mmorpg made at this point.

Edited January 9, 2018 by LunaticFringer

[clocknane]

What?

 

You are saying that if you create a character on one server, you should be reserving it on all servers? Otherwise, when the merge comes, and multiple people from multiple servers all have the same name on the new server, who would get the name?

 

The person who originally created it. Why should the person who originally created the name be punished due to EA/Bioware's screw up where they botched a game's launch and it has continued to lose players (hence the merge)?

 

Like I said, first come, first server, and also like I said, other games have formed server merges where name changes WERE NOT necessary. If they can make it work, so can EA/Bioware.

[clocknane]

I lost a character name in World of Warcraft due to

Being inactive.

A server merge.

 

...this happens in literally any game that's big enough to have more than one server.

That's a fact.

You're wrong.

 

And, I just used it as an opportunity to take a name that was... honestly, a bit common (which is why I lost it in the first place) and replace it with a name which was vastly superior, and made me a lot happier.

 

I call bs on you having to change your name in WoW. I have played that game since its launch in 2004, and have been through 2 server merges and NEVER had to change my name. I won't give my character name, but I can tell you, it is named after a movie character, and I doubt very seriously, NO ONE tried to use it prior to and after merge. To this day, I still have that character.

 

 

And you are wrong, it DOES NOT happen on any game where they have more than one server. Like I said, I have played literally every MMO there is under the sun (to name a few; Wow, Aion, GW2, Neverwinter, Everquest I and II, Elder Scrolls Online), and some going back to late 1990's, and yes, I am old in terms of gaming years so what, and have never seen name changes be as frequent as they are in SWTOR.

Edited January 10, 2018 by clocknane

[Tsillah]

I call bs on you having to change your name in WoW. I have played that game since its launch in 2004, and have been through 2 server merges and NEVER had to change my name. I won't give my character name, but I can tell you, it is named after a movie character, and I doubt very seriously, NO ONE tried to use it prior to and after merge. To this day, I still have that character.

Well maybe it's because you're such a long standing customer with them that you got to keep your names. Ever considered that?

Chances are you were the one to keep it and any others that tried it lost their name to you.

 

Oh and this is from Aion (you mentioned it) from October 2017:

 

Q: What will happen to my name?

Unfortunately, all names will be reset. Originally, we anticipated the characters names to take after the server abbreviation, but that is no longer the case. All character will be assigned a temporary name, and all characters will receive a Name Change ticket so their names be can reacquired on a first-come, first-served basis. We will work to mitigate cases of identity theft, so please avoid taking names that you have not used previously and do not take a name from another active player. If you feel a name has been taken from you, support will be handling the requests.

Character Name Change and Legion Name Change tickets will be temporarily unavailable starting on October 4. They will be made available sometime after the merges.

 

And Tera in 2016:

If two or more characters share the same name prior to the merge, only one character will keep the name on the new server. The name will automatically be awarded to the character with the most play time. If you have less play time than another character with the same name, you will receive a tag designating that your name must be changed (for example, Cool.Guy_1). You will be prompted to choose a new name before logging into the server with that character.

 

Everquest II in 2016:

In the event of duplicate character names as a result of this server merge, priority will be given to the character who has logged in to the game within the past sixty (60) days; if both characters have logged in within the past sixty (60) days, then the character which has accrued the most gameplay time overall will retain its name. Other characters will have an "x" added to their names until a unique name has been determined.

 

Do I need to go on? These are all direct quotes from the game companies.

 

Edit: Here's a link from WoW going back to 2010 where they freed up names of inactive characters so also in WoW you can definitely lose your names due to inactivity for example. https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/15910697/release-the-names-character-name-reclamation-coming

Edited January 10, 2018 by Tsillah

[jamoup]

The person who originally created it. Why should the person who originally created the name be punished due to EA/Bioware's screw up where they botched a game's launch and it has continued to lose players (hence the merge)?

 

Like I said, first come, first server, and also like I said, other games have formed server merges where name changes WERE NOT necessary. If they can make it work, so can EA/Bioware.

 

You still have not clarified what you mean by "originally created it"

In this server merge, multiple existing servers were put onto totally new servers. In the case of Star Forge, four servers were merged into this new server. That means four different people could have "originally created" the same name. But only one person gets to keep it. So which one of them should get the name?

[clocknane]

Your anecdotal evidence aside, it's not "hogwash" that you need to keep up with MMOs because things do happen. I've played various other MMOs as well and guess what? Some did have naming issues after server merges.

 

Also this game had 2 rounds of server merges already back in 2012 where the same issue with names occurred so it's a known issue. You see it all depends on how a game has been set up and Bioware just didn't think this game could fail so they probably never set up naming in a way that could avoid this problem.

 

All in all unexpected things can always happen to a game and it's better to stay informed if you're ever planning to come back. If not, then this sort of thing can happen.

 

You can jump up and down all you want screaming other games don't do this, but that's beside the point. SWTOR does do this and that's the game we're dealing with and there is a double precedent already.

 

If you stay away for an extended period of time, you just know that stuff will be different. But as I've told people many times before, as a player you do not own anything you pay for and it's always subject to change, character names included. Now I'm not saying that this situation is great. It's not. But it's part of how SWTOR is set up.

 

Of course my evidence is anecdotal, what personal experience isn't? Also, of course things change and happen in MMO's. Content changes being the main thing that happens, but name changes should be excluded. Most players who leave an MMO come back to play it again at some point, I am sure you have.

 

What games have you played where name changes took place? You seem to have vastly different experiences than I have. Also, just because changing a name is not a big deal to one person, does not mean it isn't to the person who initially reserved the name. For some players, a character name is very personal (myself not included in this).

 

I do agree with you that Bioware did not put thought into it because they did not see it failing, but again, why should a player who initially chose that name be required to change it due to Bioware/EA's screw up where server merges are necessary? The player/person not wanting to change their name paid to have early access to the game, or had that name first, and most pre-paid for at least one main purpose, to reserve a specific name. The player trying to use the name already in use should just be required to pick a different name. It is their fault for not pre-ordering and being here first to reserve that name.

 

Regarding SWTOR doing this, yes, they do, but it is a system that can be fixed/tweaked, and my mentioning of other games was only to point out it is possible to do it without a name change requirement.

 

People can disagree with me all they want, but as with any forum post based on opinion, I stand by first come, first server basis regardless of server merging. A player who was here from the get go, pre-ordered to reserve the name, or even if they did not pre-order, and had the name first, should have the right to keep that name. The player trying to use said name should be required to pick a different name. I don't think it is right to punish players who originally chose a name just because a game is losing players and requires server merges, or because the game studio wants to merge servers for their own reasons.

[Tsillah]

Of course my evidence is anecdotal, what personal experience isn't?

 

Feel free to read my post two posts above this one that has examples of games where people can and did lose names. They are some of the games you mentioned. I even gave a link for WoW where they announce that inactive character names were freed up in 2010.

 

And this is exactly the problem with anecdotal evidence. You never had the problem so you think it never happened in any other games. I look at real evidence on the web and I find that it does happen a lot.

 

You get why I don't put stock in anecdotal evidence?

Edited January 10, 2018 by Tsillah

[Qouivandes]

if you want to keep your old character name then you can keep your old character name. the only change you should have seen are falling costs as the server merge took hold. Now, you may need to be a little flexible, but you can keep your old character name.

[LordFell]

I call bs on you having to change your name in WoW. I have played that game since its launch in 2004, and have been through 2 server merges and NEVER had to change my name. I won't give my character name, but I can tell you, it is named after a movie character, and I doubt very seriously, NO ONE tried to use it prior to and after merge. To this day, I still have that character. .

I started WoW in Vanilla. I quit WoW during Burning Crusade.... and didn't come back until Mists of Pandaria. I had about a dozen characters... when I returned to game, all but one of my characters were fine, but I did have to rename my Gnome Mage, who had a derivative of a common name.

 

It happened. This is a true thing. Your insistence that I'm making things up... doesn't make this any less true. And besides, it's obvious this would happen any time there's a server merge. Two characters have the same name, and there's no coding in place to allow two characters to share a name... SOMEONE is going to lose their name. That's just reality, and it cannot be denied.

Edited January 13, 2018 by LordFell

[Tashia]

I went through all the Everquest II server mergers ....

I was playing from live day 3 on November 11, 2004 ...

ok --- having been through all of them, I am still in danger of losing my name to someone -- still --- fact --- if they ever merge my server and one particular server together .... guess what? I will lose my name ...

I have already picked out another name for her ... no big deal .... just do it ..... and she is a level 104 with 240+ days of play time ( and I am subbed and working to get her maxed out at 110)

... but with the criteria they have used in the past, (which I am very familiar with by now ) ... IF I do not keep up with what is going on ( read forums, etc.) I will NOT know if and when it hits ---

I completely lost an old account on Everquest by not signing in and not keeping up with the news on forums ---

 

THIS is why if you ever -- ever -- play any game, you read the forums and keep up with news -- yes, even with an old game you are not playing --- just takes a few minutes .... I was not playing EQII when I read about the last merger, but when I did, I resubbed and started playing ... it worked

 

Same with SWtOR -- not playing, not subbed --- but I read the forums and stay up with news ... when I heard, I resubbed and crossed my fingers ( as well as "saving " all my names on the other servers that were being merged into mine)

---- it worked too .... didn't lose one --- but I was prepared and had new names already reserved ... some I liked even better lol ....

 

Change the name, as others have said -- it happens in MMOs --- we all have things like this happen to us ..... we survived ... you will too