Invalid Name

[ZakkdaMan]

Trying to make a new toon; Red (family name)

"Invalid Name"

Tried several Alt characters in the family name, (which I dislike having to use them for my RP toons), before I came to the conclusion "red" is invalid..

Why is Red Invalid? Its a pretty common nickname to have..

P.s. Dont want to share the family name because I dont want my username to be associated with my toons for privacy reasons. 
Also I have several toons with the family name.

Managed to get Redd to work but I hate how it looks with 2 D's
 

Edited January 24, 2023 by ZakkdaMan

[TrixxieTriss]

It’s definitely the word Red causing the issue. 

If I had to guess, I would say the name Red falls under their real world name policy of not allowing real names. 

The problem is why & who made the decisions on what names are included & what names aren’t. Because there is a lot of inconsistencies with the naming policy & what they define as a real name.

Bioware really needs to run through it’s invalid name rules & update them. They have never been consistent & many are illogical outdated.

 

[AJediKnight]

The naming conventions are bizarre when you think about it. I mean, look at two of the more prominent names that Lucas used in his own movies: Luke and Ben. Granted, these "normal" names are the exception rather than the rule - the vast majority of characters in Star Wars have what amounts to typical fantasy phonetic soup. But the fact that two out of arguably the three most important characters in Star Wars use names pulled, of all places, from the Bible - so, really core western world stuff - implies to me that it's a big galaxy, and naming conventions in this game should be loose rather than tight.

But... they aren't.

Like, just as an example, I recently rolled a character and wanted to name her Amy (with a last name). It was blocked - Amy is out of the question. And... I'm kind of like: really?

[SteveTheCynic]

33 minutes ago, AJediKnight said:

The naming conventions are bizarre when you think about it. I mean, look at two of the more prominent names that Lucas used in his own movies: Luke and Ben. Granted, these "normal" names are the exception rather than the rule - the vast majority of characters in Star Wars have what amounts to typical fantasy phonetic soup. But the fact that two out of arguably the three most important characters in Star Wars use names pulled, of all places, from the Bible - so, really core western world stuff - implies to me that it's a big galaxy, and naming conventions in this game should be loose rather than tight.

But... they aren't.

Like, just as an example, I recently rolled a character and wanted to name her Amy (with a last name). It was blocked - Amy is out of the question. And... I'm kind of like: really?

Try the variant that I've seen in my time in the US: Aimee.

(For info: Alice is also blocked, but Alyce is not.)

[Traceguy]

9 hours ago, TrixxieTriss said:

 

If I had to guess, I would say the name Red falls under their real world name policy of not allowing real names. 

How is that rule enforced? I see hundreds of real world names allowed, but a small handfull are disallowed. My guess is all real world names are allowed, unless that name is of a Bioware employee.

Edited January 24, 2023 by Traceguy

[SteveTheCynic]

19 minutes ago, Traceguy said:

How is that rule enforced?

It's enforced for ===> that list of words by the automated censor.  It looks for separate words or sub-words (separated by - or ') and if it finds one on the list, the whole name is invalid.

Some Earthly names are on the list, some are not.

19 minutes ago, Traceguy said:

I see hundreds of real world names allowed, but a small handfull are disallowed. My guess is all real world names are allowed, unless that name is of a Bioware employee.

It's unlikely (but not impossible) that it's *just* because they are BioWare employees.  It's more likely to be for other reasons, like trademarks (probable reason for "Phoenix"(1) being barred) or famous people of some sort.  ("Alice" could fall foul of the censor for various reasons, notably "Alice's Restaurant", "Alice Cooper", "Alice (Liddel) in Wonderland", etc.)

(1) Alter ego of Jean Grey.

[JediQuaker]

11 hours ago, ZakkdaMan said:

Managed to get Redd to work but I hate how it looks with 2 D's
 

You could try R'ed. 🙂

Edited January 24, 2023 by JediQuaker

[TrixxieTriss]

7 hours ago, JediQuaker said:

You could try R'ed. 🙂

Sorry if I’m wrong, but I don’t think it allows an ‘ after the first letter.
If I remember correctly, you need two letters before it allows you to use the ‘ 

ie, Re’d

🤷🏻‍♀️

Edited January 25, 2023 by TrixxieTriss

[ZakkdaMan]

2 hours ago, TrixxieTriss said:

Sorry if I’m wrong, but I don’t think it allows an ‘ after the first letter.
If I remember correctly, you need two letters before it allows you to use the ‘ 

ie, Re’d

🤷🏻‍♀️

 

10 hours ago, JediQuaker said:

You could try R'ed. 🙂

haha thank you for the advice, but having too use 2 D's bothers me as much as having to use r'ed and so forth. I guess ill have to settle for something like Rëd (even tho it pains me..)

[ZakkdaMan]

21 hours ago, TrixxieTriss said:

It’s definitely the word Red causing the issue. 

If I had to guess, I would say the name Red falls under their real world name policy of not allowing real names. 

The problem is why & who made the decisions on what names are included & what names aren’t. Because there is a lot of inconsistencies with the naming policy & what they define as a real name.

Bioware really needs to run through it’s invalid name rules & update them. They have never been consistent & many are illogical outdated.

 

 

15 hours ago, AJediKnight said:

The naming conventions are bizarre when you think about it. I mean, look at two of the more prominent names that Lucas used in his own movies: Luke and Ben. Granted, these "normal" names are the exception rather than the rule - the vast majority of characters in Star Wars have what amounts to typical fantasy phonetic soup. But the fact that two out of arguably the three most important characters in Star Wars use names pulled, of all places, from the Bible - so, really core western world stuff - implies to me that it's a big galaxy, and naming conventions in this game should be loose rather than tight.

But... they aren't.

Like, just as an example, I recently rolled a character and wanted to name her Amy (with a last name). It was blocked - Amy is out of the question. And... I'm kind of like: really?

This is exactly my thought.. Really?

I just cant even make a connection to a real world name, other than the fact it is popular, and has most likley been associated with hollywood at some point..

I wish they at least looked at both names other than just keywords.. 

[TrixxieTriss]

1 minute ago, ZakkdaMan said:

 

haha thank you for the advice, but having too use 2 D's bothers me as much as having to use r'ed and so forth. I guess ill have to settle for something like Rëd (even tho it pains me..)

Sadly, that’s the only other option, which many of us use to get around the naming convention 

[JediQuaker]

12 hours ago, ZakkdaMan said:

haha thank you for the advice, but having too use 2 D's bothers me as much as having to use r'ed and so forth. I guess ill have to settle for something like Rëd (even tho it pains me..)

Keep in mind that a common name like "Red" would probably already be taken anyway, even if it was 'valid'. So, doing alternate spellings is something that is often used. You end up with things like "Qua'ker" and "Qwakur", etc. (I have 4 characters with names based upon "Quaker". 🙂 ) 

[HeatRacer]

Reminds me of the headache of trying to come up with a vanity license plate that is both allowed, and not taken! I've run into my share of "invalid names" for inexplicable reasons.

[VegaMist]

21 hours ago, TrixxieTriss said:

Sorry if I’m wrong, but I don’t think it allows an ‘ after the first letter.
If I remember correctly, you need two letters before it allows you to use the ‘ 

ie, Re’d

🤷🏻‍♀️

You are wrong. I have several characters with ' after the first letter - no problem.

[TrixxieTriss]

2 hours ago, VegaMist said:

You are wrong. I have several characters with ' after the first letter - no problem.

Fair enough. I wasn’t sure. I do know you can’t have a space after the first letter or -. I wasn’t sure about the ‘ because it’s been over 12 months since I last created a new character. 

[OlBuzzard]

Creating new names right now is the one thing that I do feel for newer players.  Man ... that can be a real pain in the tail feathers!!  I honestly do wish I had a better answer!
I have an alt that I wanted to name:  Flint Lock ... got the same results  (nada ... not going to happen)...  Soooo  I ended up with Flynn't Loc!  Hey!  It worked !!!  Woo Hoo!!

[Hrafnhildur]

Hi, I created a Chiss character and tried to name her Ki'ann'va but surprise, invalid name. OK, i thought maybe "real" names like "Ann" are not allowed, so I tried Ki'enn'va. Still, invalid name. Then, Kee'ann'va, this one worked. May I ask, what's the problem with "Ki"? It doesn't mean anything in English and is not a real name so I don't understand why isn't it allowed. Some guild mates said is because a name cannot have less than 3 letters, but in this case how do you explain players named S'c and S'r? 

[SteveTheCynic]

4 hours ago, Hrafnhildur said:

Hi, I created a Chiss character and tried to name her Ki'ann'va but surprise, invalid name. OK, i thought maybe "real" names like "Ann" are not allowed, so I tried Ki'enn'va. Still, invalid name. Then, Kee'ann'va, this one worked. May I ask, what's the problem with "Ki"? It doesn't mean anything in English and is not a real name so I don't understand why isn't it allowed. Some guild mates said is because a name cannot have less than 3 letters, but in this case how do you explain players named S'c and S'r? 

Hard to say for sure, but "ki" is the Japanese name for the thing that the Chinese call "qi", Qi - Wikipedia.  The other meanings that the Unreliable Source(1) turns up don't, mostly, seem relevant either.  KI - Wikipedia if you want to judge for yourself.

(1) Wikipedia.  It is unreliable because it is "the encyclopedia that anyone can edit", which is problematic because quite frequently, *anyone* does edit it, even people who lack the necessary knowledge, and/or people with malicious or self-interested intent.

[denavin]

Did you ever stop to think that "Invalid Name" may simply mean that the name is already taken?

Common names or if your trying to make a statement, then it is most likely already used.... Try again.

Use your imagination, coming up with a name is not that hard.... I have 31 characters with 31 unique names. Never had any problem naming any of my characters.

Remember it's just a name..... Not a political statement or a comment on what ever....

[Achnaattwo]

2 hours ago, denavin said:

Did you ever stop to think that "Invalid Name" may simply mean that the name is already taken?

Common names or if your trying to make a statement, then it is most likely already used.... Try again.

Use your imagination, coming up with a name is not that hard.... I have 31 characters with 31 unique names. Never had any problem naming any of my characters.

Remember it's just a name..... Not a political statement or a comment on what ever....

Bummer part, is I never get to see who uses that name I wanted. If it's really still be used/played . Lets say I want 'Steve', I can't "Invalid Name", so If I still want Steve I needed to add something, but it's just not the same then.  I can't be Darth Steve, or Master Steve. Bummer 🥺

I get it, Possibly already taken, or was it really a "Invalid Name"

 

I just have to come up with something else, seems  there are a ton of names I can use, just won't be the same .  Sorry Ted is a "Invalid Name" , damn 😔

[SteveTheCynic]

10 hours ago, denavin said:

Did you ever stop to think that "Invalid Name" may simply mean that the name is already taken?

If the name is already taken, the game says that it is "unavailable" rather than "invalid".

10 hours ago, denavin said:

Common names or if your trying to make a statement, then it is most likely already used.... Try again.

Use your imagination, coming up with a name is not that hard.... I have 31 characters with 31 unique names. Never had any problem naming any of my characters.

Remember it's just a name..... Not a political statement or a comment on what ever....

Pretty much this.