Names from books

[MarcusAureli]

Would names from books like lord of the rings be banned.

[MarcusAureli]

I'd really appreciate some kind of answer just to make sure I wouldn't get in trouble. 

[MarcusAureli]

Cause idk how picky they are about names until seeing something on the forum.

[SteveTheCynic]

The main rules of conduct have this to say that's related to what you ask:

Quote

You may not use names of copyrighted or trademarked characters, materials or products, e.g. Coca-Cola or Dr. Pepper.

You may not use names from popular culture or media, e.g. Lady Gaga or George Lucas.

So using names from books probably falls foul of both of these.  (specifically, names like "Elrond" or "Kimball Kinnison" or "Alice Wroke" are not copyright, but are probably covered by trademark law, and the books they come from are definitely elements of popular culture)

It's fairly common for forbidden names like these, or even worse things like [CENSORED] and [REDACTED] to survive a fairly long while, since they don't go around searching for them in the game's data, but if reported enough, the moderators will take action against your character (forced rename) or your account (suspension or complete ban, but in either case, forced rename of the character).

In passing: we're also supposed to not name our characters after in-game NPCs or places, but I have a character that I created about ten years ago and unknowingly(0), I named her the same as a small mine(1) in an obscure corner of Voss.  She still has the name today.

(0) None of my other characters that I had at the time had been up that way.

(1) No, her name is not "Claymore".  It's not that kind of mine.

[ReKabNad]

46 minutes ago, SteveTheCynic said:

The main rules of conduct have this to say that's related to what you ask:

So using names from books probably falls foul of both of these.  (specifically, names like "Elrond" or "Kimball Kinnison" or "Alice Wroke" are not copyright, but are probably covered by trademark law, and the books they come from are definitely elements of popular culture)

It's fairly common for forbidden names like these, or even worse things like [CENSORED] and [REDACTED] to survive a fairly long while, since they don't go around searching for them in the game's data, but if reported enough, the moderators will take action against your character (forced rename) or your account (suspension or complete ban, but in either case, forced rename of the character).

In passing: we're also supposed to not name our characters after in-game NPCs or places, but I have a character that I created about ten years ago and unknowingly(0), I named her the same as a small mine(1) in an obscure corner of Voss.  She still has the name today.

(0) None of my other characters that I had at the time had been up that way.

(1) No, her name is not "Claymore".  It's not that kind of mine.

Well, then, I reckon I'm lucky they haven't noticed the name of my Sith Sorcerer:





And yes, that is the Ancient Sith Warblade he's wielding. It was tailor-made for being STORMBRINGER! 😈

🎶I have this feeling that my luck is none too good
This sword here at my side don't act the way it should...🎶

🤘😎

Edited 4 hours ago by ReKabNad
Forgot how I have to add pictures into my post.

[ThanderSnB]

17 hours ago, MarcusAureli said:

Would names from books like lord of the rings be banned.

They would technically be against the rules, but they are rarely enforced. It requires players to report the name in-game. For the most part, players don't care about names from other stories like Lord of the Rings. If enough players did report the name, you won't get banned. They will just make you rename the character the next time you login. If this kept happening with players reporting your names, maybe after enough times you might get a temporary suspension. They will never give details on what it takes to get suspended (temporary) or banned (permanently). As long as you are using names that aren't offensive (no racism, sexism, profanity, etc.), you should generally be fine.

[MarcusAureli]

Thx everyone for the info I think I won't go with some of the ideas I had just to make sure i don't get in trouble. It does seem a shame we can't use names from other sources as they are unique enough to fit in SWTOR in some cases and also give the space epic vibe.