Alchemystic

you asked if they thought it was a problem, I pointed to the fact that they do.

@Player2 to clear up some of the confusion, you would only have to log in once a month if your character keeps getting flagged for inactivity. This isn't some hard rule I've said where "if you are level 50, you MUST log in once per month", its basically the condition to remove the flag on your character if the script happens to flag you. It shouldn't happen often enough for you to have to do it monthly... unless you were actively trying to be inactive. And the only reason a level 50 would be flagged in the first place would be if it was either farmed up and abandoned, or if it's been sitting idle for well over a year or two. A little context for you, since ignorant people are misquoting me.

They did... that's the whole point of this thread... to enforce the expiration rules (or some variation of them) that THE DEVS put forward. And stop bringing up the military, beating a dead horse at this point...

Mostly for the idle characters way of things, but I don't object to the other methodology. so long as something is implemented (and hopefully better than the initial proposition).

My bad, I needed to go back and edit cos I spaced out a little! But yeah the proposed policy is hot garbage, on that we agree. But I'd also like it so that any account has a chance to be flagged, just so we can also address the following; people namesquatting, this one is obvious people who have migrated server, and have a buncha abandoned characters left behind people who have just opted not to play a character and may have forgotten about it

... The formula is more complex than that. Well, at least my one is.

Nobody said the formula determined who was worthy of a name.

If my character has been inactive for half a year and not got past level 10, go for it.

You're both right

I'd argue that nobody is entitled to anything. We don't pay subscriptions, we're here at the generosity of the Homecoming team, and what they decide to do with their server isn't up to us.

Oh, sorry, I didn't think I would have to explain the joke. The joke was that it would never happen. And "generic'd" is a term used for characters who have had their names changed to a placeholder like "GENERIC19865"

What's the saying again... Use it or lose it? On a more serious note, I don't care about guilt or innocence. That's why I made the formula, to mathematically decipher which characters names should be released without launching an inquest into their moral practices. It's just numbers, and that's all we should really consider.

Yes because the HC devs are going to implement this secretly and tell nobody about it. Look at your character roster, they're all generic'd already.

Honestly, if you think my name clearing policy is harsh you should seen the old one that literally just took into account character level and when it was last logged in 😅

The only thing that would be at risk for active accounts would be low level characters with virtually no playtime and extended inactivity. I cant stress enough that this sorta thing should be indiscriminate, whether the player is active or not, an unplayed level 1 character is the same either way.

Realistically, an active player should be at no risk, even if their characters are inactive, so long as those characters have actually been played and not just sat there for the name alone.

Honestly I hadn't considered the script being run manually but you raise a good point, at least that way people are made aware of it in advance. And if people still have an issue with it after that, then they're either lazy, greedy or spiteful.

@Snowdazeexactly my thinking, it's why I made character playtime a consideration in my formula, because it's not hard to farm a character to 50 and then never use them again.

For real? How would I be able to? I'm not a GM, I cant peek at other people's account information. the only way I could would be with the old Info Tracker that isn't even on Homecoming... but THAT is a topic worth discussing elsewhere.

it's already been addressed that mass name squatting is a thing. People who heard the game was making a return rushed to swindle as many names as they could when the server sprung up, that's fact.

Again, logging in once a week/month would only happen if you were at all flagged by the system, it's not expected of everyone. The first part of the formula is designed to find who should be flagged, but it doesn't cause anything to immediately take effect. So a level 1 character would only be flagged if they were created and then instantly set aside. If you at least play for a little while you'll be absolutely fine, it just encourages people to make use of the characters they have created so you're safe, even if that's just idling in Atlas Park or RPing somewhere. Same applies to level 50s who were farmed up, but the system is more forgiving of that. Then the safety buffer gives people who have been flagged the opportunity to log in, and that would be enough to remove the flag. If you're flagged and you dont log on at all, that's when your name may be up for grabs, but you're safe if nobody else attempts to use it. it's a fairly forgiving three step process in my opinion.

@Excraft You do realise that logging in once a month would only be the case if you were flagged, and you'd only ever get flagged on a level 50 character if they have low playtime (such as being farmed and left aside) or if the account has been inactive for an incredible amount of time. And even then, you have an entire month to fix that before your name might be taken by somebody else, it's not a certainty. If any of that is an issue for you, then you're likely the reason threads like this exist. It's a formula intended to target serial name squatters or abandoned accounts.

@Snowdaze in regards to the safety buffer for lower levels. Perhaps just to ensure people cant abuse the system just by farming to 50, the grace period should be 6 days + 1/2 your level (rounded up). So a level 1 character would need to log in at least once a week. A level 50 character would have to log in at least once a month. Obviously, this is just the for characters that are created and then immediately left aside, the formula will still treat all other characters fairly, and ensure that casual players arent accidentally flagged too. This safety buffer should probably come into effect after the formula has done its job, so if you are flagged, you have X amount of time (as above) to go active again or risk losing your name. As a side note; I'm not sure how easy it may be to implement, but instead of being instantly generic'd by the system, make it so you keep the name until somebody else tries to use it (either when making a character or changing a name), at which point they get the name and you unfortunately lose it. That way you can still retain ownership of any of your names so long as nobody else tries to use it. So for the most part, this should ensure the game isn't flooded by generic'd characters.

The formula should flag anything that indicates inactivity or name squatting, regardless of level. I didn't originally think of putting a safety buffer in because I wasn't sure how it could be abused, but if we can find something that can eliminate it flagging new characters without also it also being open to manipulation then I think we have something we can work with. Though realistically speaking, so long as you make a new character, and then just continue to play it (even casually) it shouldn't flag you. The only way I can see this system being cheated is if somebody literally logs into every level 1 character they're squatting with every day. They would have to actively do this which I dont think many people would. I'm not saying the formula is foolproof, because is sure isn't, but it's a strong enough deterrent that makes namesquatting harder to do, while also ensuring that accounts that are completely inactive arent also sitting on names.

I got one more manipulation set that I'm gonna be a bit cheeky with. I'm gonna try combining Storm Summoning with Wind Control. Yeah, Wind Control, that Control powerset that never was. Now, I'm only gonna use a few powers from it, and hopefully it could even be used as a launching pad to bring Wind Control fully into the game? I dunno. The powers I'm using will probably be different in effect, such is the way of Manipulation powersets anyway. The idea for this Manipulation set is to take that 'Pressure' mechanic from Wind Control and use it here, and try and make it look somewhat like newer Manipulation powersets in design. Storm Manipulation - Air Push: A new power that functions identically to Ki Push, with the same animation. Knockback and damage improves with Pressure level. - Snowfall: A modified smaller version of Snow Storm, creating an AoE patch instead of being a toggle, so it acts like Caltrops or Glue Arrow - Downdraft: A hold power taken from Wind Control - Pressure Build Up: A standard Build Up power that also applies stacks of Pressure - Thundergust: Another Wind Control power, acting as a good cone debuff power that builds Pressure. - Stormfront: A new toggle power that increases regeneration and recovery, while boosting resistance to cold and energy damage. Covers the body in the Thunderhead aura - Freezing Rain: Taken from Storm Summoning, makes for a nice debuff power with some DoT potential - Microburst: Another Wind Control power that instead consumes Pressure, dealing stun and a heavy debuff. - Lightning Storm: The final power from Storm Summoning. Works nice as a T9 damage power similar to a few other Manipulation powersets I appreciate that using stuff from Wind Control is a bit of a reach, but I think we could probably use assets already in game to help visualise it. I had a few real basic ideas how to do that. I figured I'd just tack it onto this post instead of making another thread. To visualise this set, motions similar to Water blast and Kinetic Melee would work nicely, a lot of waving and swooshing, with some more traditional Control stuff mixed in too. POWER ANIMATION FX Updraft Lift Similar to that of Frozen Armor's activation FX, where the wind coils upwards. Downdraft Air Superiority Same as above, but in reverse. Breathless Dehydrate A smaller version of Heart of Darkness, with a reversed Reaction Time FX on the inside. Windshear Repel A personal version of Shadow Field centered on the player. Thundergust Repulsing Torrent Smaller version of Gale, but with Thunder Clap FX added in too Microburst Thunder Clap Similar to Gale, but delivered from above. Keening Winds Focused Burst uses the Shadow Field FX to create a bubble, filled with dense clouds and dusty particle FX Vacuum Concentrated Strike Uses a Shadow Field FX, but with the Hurricane FX on the feet of the target Vortex Hydro Blast A tiny floating bubble with uses the Shadow Field FX again, with cloudy/dusty particle FX inside the sphere. Naturally, a lot of these powers are also going to have particle FX from Storm Summoning, Cold Domination, maybe even Staff Fighting too. But the primary visuals will be similar to Darkness Control and Storm Summoning since they best fill in for what we need.