Name Release System

[Steampunkette]

I know you've worked on it, and it's something you're fairly happy with in it's design... but could you implement it in the next patch? Like November 1st, please?

 

If there was a "Requests" forum I'd put this, there, but... Yeah.

 

I would deeply appreciate the activation 'cause I know some people sitting on choice names for characters that don't actually exist, yet, and may never be realized. 

[Player2]

Wasn't this already in effect for awhile?  Something like 30 days for characters level 5 or lower and then if someone else tries to use the same name on the same shard, you lose the name.

[GM Sijin]

It isn't live yet. The policy was outlined a while ago but I'm afraid there's no timeline for this going live at this time. When they're ready to release it I'm sure they'll let us know. Thanks for your continued patience on this!

[WanderingAries]

It was suggested in another like thread that you could use the get global command on that server and ask if they were willing to let the name go if you were Really attached to it, but otherwise do what we always do and get creative!

[Steampunkette]

15 hours ago, WanderingAries said:

It was suggested in another like thread that you could use the get global command on that server and ask if they were willing to let the name go if you were Really attached to it, but otherwise do what we always do and get creative!

I got creative. And the person holding the name no longer plays.

 

At this point there's just a level 1 abandoned character with the name I hope to get. All I can do now is wait for the name release system.

[FDR's Think Tank]

I have seen people running around with duplicate names in game, I am sure of it. Is there a different system in place?

 

In my mind, there should be free range on all the names... if people want exclusivity, they can issue a name challenge and fight for it in the arena. You know, like The Tick did against Barry.

[GM Sijin]

Names are unique per shard\server. There are ways to have very similar names (replace a lowercase L with an uppercase i or the opposite, adding a . or ' to the end of the name, etc), but two players on the same shard cannot have the same character name.

Edited November 17, 2019 by GM Sijin

[Lost Ninja]

8 minutes ago, GM Sijin said:

Names are unique per shard\server. There are ways to have very similar names (replace a lowercase L with an uppercase i or the opposite, adding a . or ' to the end of the name, etc), but two players on the same shard cannot have the same character name.

I have a trio with the names:

Heavy Illumination - I L L

Heavy IIlumination - I I L

Heavy IIIumination - I I I

 

I triple box them and I do get some confused conversations "How do you get three characters with the same name?" sort of thing.

 

It was always my dream on live to be able to afford to run 8 accounts (and the hardware/internet/etc) to run a full super team on my own... The Heavy Illumination super team would have been 8 Grav/Rads all with the "same" name, same costume... build... etc. Never happened of course. And unless HC rules on Multi-boxing are relaxed I doubt it will. 😄

 

I also have a spreadsheet with the exact names because it's a sod to remember which is which... 😄

Edited November 17, 2019 by Lost Ninja

[MTeague]

Hm.  Seems to me I have a few alts who I'm going to want to level to 6 real soon now.

[WanderingAries]

8 hours ago, Lost Ninja said:

I have a trio with the names:

Heavy Illumination - I L L

Heavy IIlumination - I I L

Heavy IIIumination - I I I

 

I triple box them and I do get some confused conversations "How do you get three characters with the same name?" sort of thing.

 

It was always my dream on live to be able to afford to run 8 accounts (and the hardware/internet/etc) to run a full super team on my own... The Heavy Illumination super team would have been 8 Grav/Rads all with the "same" name, same costume... build... etc. Never happened of course. And unless HC rules on Multi-boxing are relaxed I doubt it will. 😄

 

I also have a spreadsheet with the exact names because it's a sod to remember which is which... 😄

Your login must be "Fun". :p

[gameboy1234]

On 11/16/2019 at 3:59 PM, GM Sijin said:

It isn't live yet. The policy was outlined a while ago but I'm afraid there's no timeline for this going live at this time. When they're ready to release it I'm sure they'll let us know. Thanks for your continued patience on this!

If this ever does happen, please give us lots of notice that the new name policy is imminent.  Not everyone reads the test server patch notes, and I'd hate to see anyone caught unawares by such a change.

 

At least 30 days before it happens an announcement on the forums would be best, I think.  Maybe add an "it's coming" notice to the in-game patch notes / motd.

[Lost Ninja]

16 hours ago, WanderingAries said:

Your login must be "Fun". 😛

Not really account names are just account names...

 

Inviting them into SGs or Teams though can be fun... 😄

[Bossk_Hogg]

On 11/17/2019 at 2:33 PM, MTeague said:

Hm.  Seems to me I have a few alts who I'm going to want to level to 6 real soon now.

That's still just licking cookies you aren't realistically going to eat. Either play the name, or give it up to someone else. Hoarding a bunch of names you spent a few minutes on is still hoarding. If anything, the policy is too lax IMO. 

[EmmySky]

I have rules regarding my altitis and they restrict me from creating new toons at this time.  That being said, I have come up with some good (in my opinion) concepts and if they are gone by the time I allow myself to roll them, I will just have to get more creative.

 

A few times this last week I have changed existing toons names but not re-reserved the old names because they werent that good anyway lol.  Also, my lowest toon is 15 so its not like I am licking cookies (eeeew thanks @Bossk_Hogg for that mental image lol). 

 

I did have someone (a global friend) want one of my toon names and I said sure but she was joking and we started spitballing (to go with the licking) names similar that she could use.  If someone wants my name, other than my global or my Comic-Con toon, I will usually let them have it unless I am super attached.  

[FDR's Think Tank]

1 hour ago, Bossk_Hogg said:

That's still just licking cookies you aren't realistically going to eat. Either play the name, or give it up to someone else. Hoarding a bunch of names you spent a few minutes on is still hoarding. If anything, the policy is too lax IMO. 

"Bury me with all my stuff, because you know it's mine." is perhaps closer to dead accounts that aren't even logging in. Maybe Naming rights need to be purchasable from the auction house with your level/playtime raising the minimum bid for the name (unless surrendered...)

 

I am still a big fan of the arena battle for the name, but it's important not to forget backstory too. I think if you haven't added at least a funny quip to explain your character's backstory you aren't very invested in the name.

[MTeague]

3 hours ago, Bossk_Hogg said:

That's still just licking cookies you aren't realistically going to eat. Either play the name, or give it up to someone else. Hoarding a bunch of names you spent a few minutes on is still hoarding. If anything, the policy is too lax IMO. 

You're free to view it that way. I say it's a cookie *I* baked, and just haven't eaten it *yet*.  Maybe you can play 14 hours a day.  I play a few nights a week, a few hours a night.  I have one 50, one 39, one 30, five or six in the 20's, and yes, a handful of alts (5-6?) who are still level 1.   I would not be opposed to a solution where multiple people could use a name, SO LONG AS, it's identifiable who is who.  I don't want someone else being a jerk to reflect poorly on me, and if I happen to lose my cool one evening, I don't want it reflecting on someone else.

 

But as long as the game is setup that there can be only one?

Then yes, I'm going to keep the names for characters who I'm going to play.

[Marine X]

I honestly think that if you haven't logged in for 6 months anything below level 10 should be fair game, and I mean that the entire global account has been inactive that long. There was a population peak in about May/June of people that, for the most, have moved on to the next shiny. Well it's been about 6 months now and a lot of accounts are not being accessed or the population would be higher.

As far as someone who is on MORE, being able to TAKE a name away from a less active player, that smacks a bit of Elitism, and has no place here. We all have our real life schedule and limitations, or lack thereof, and should not be penalized or rewarded based on our personal situation. This kind of thing is what ignited the backlash against SCoRE after the existence of the private server was posted, and is one of the darkest times in COH Community history and should never, ever be allowed to happen again.

[Bossk_Hogg]

15 hours ago, MTeague said:

You're free to view it that way. I say it's a cookie *I* baked, and just haven't eaten it *yet*.  Maybe you can play 14 hours a day.  I play a few nights a week, a few hours a night.  I have one 50, one 39, one 30, five or six in the 20's, and yes, a handful of alts (5-6?) who are still level 1.   I would not be opposed to a solution where multiple people could use a name, SO LONG AS, it's identifiable who is who.  I don't want someone else being a jerk to reflect poorly on me, and if I happen to lose my cool one evening, I don't want it reflecting on someone else.

 

But as long as the game is setup that there can be only one?

Then yes, I'm going to keep the names for characters who I'm going to play.

I mean, how baked is a cookie that someone hasn't even gotten out of the tutorial? Most of the names people are camping could just be made in Icon and their owner would never feel the difference. Plus this wouldn't even be an issue of the people worried about losing their 52nd favorite level 1 alt would sit down and play them for even a single session once a month. In your case, getting a handful characters to level 6 takes maybe an hour or two even without using DFB, but you aren't really what I mean when I speak of people hoarding names. I know of some with over a hundred level 1/2 characters, and that's just ridiculous IMO. 

[FDR's Think Tank]

The very BEST solution to this will come when this is all legitimized. Then there will be more people and MORE servers

 

Personally, I only came back recently. I only just found out... It honestly makes me squirm knowing the game has been running since January this year and I didn't know. (I don't hold any animosity to SCoRE and I think they did the right thing, keeping it secret back then. It's not a secret now and they released it to the public.)

 

This game has haunted my dreams for years and I have written my own notes on how to accomplish something closer to the original design of the game. I don't know when I would feel ready to share those ideas, but they don't really have anything to do with this being here now. We can play... And ultimately there will be more servers. The name limitation doesn't really exist on a long enough timeframe, you just find a server without it.

 

I think this only really is targeting people who have, for whatever reason, left the game.

 

Edited November 19, 2019 by FDR's Think Tank

[GM Sijin]

5 minutes ago, FDR's Think Tank said:

I think this only really is targeting people who have, for whatever reason, left the game.

Mostly, yes. That was certainly the intended targets when Paragon did their own version of it. It does also put pressure on people who have the inclination to sit on hundreds of very low level characters with super common names. They either invest time in those alts via leveling them or logging into them regularly, or risk losing the names they aren't really (actively) using.

[Llewellyn Blackwell]

On 11/17/2019 at 8:37 AM, Lost Ninja said:

I have a trio with the names:

Heavy Illumination - I L L

Heavy IIlumination - I I L

Heavy IIIumination - I I I

 

I triple box them and I do get some confused conversations "How do you get three characters with the same name?" sort of thing.

 

It was always my dream on live to be able to afford to run 8 accounts (and the hardware/internet/etc) to run a full super team on my own... The Heavy Illumination super team would have been 8 Grav/Rads all with the "same" name, same costume... build... etc. Never happened of course. And unless HC rules on Multi-boxing are relaxed I doubt it will. 😄

 

I also have a spreadsheet with the exact names because it's a sod to remember which is which... 😄

I got you beat I made a guy named Llewellyn Blackwell. I could basically rename my whole stable that. And if/when HC admin decides if using NC soft owned lore based names like Bentley Berkeley is not ok Ill be ready to alter my whole roster into LBs

[Kismette]

On 11/18/2019 at 3:45 PM, FDR's Think Tank said:

I think if you haven't added at least a funny quip to explain your character's backstory you aren't very invested in the name.

So, I can create a character named Hoarder (currently available in Excelsior), write "I like to hoard" as bio and not play log/play it again makes me invested in the name? 🧐

[FDR's Think Tank]

5 minutes ago, Kismette said:

So, I can create a character named Hoarder (currently available in Excelsior), write "I like to hoard" as bio and not play log/play it again makes me invested in the name? 🧐

I think backstory should be a factor, but not the sole determining factor. Most people don't even write anything in their character bio. Think about that. Everyone has Google. You could do a quick search for Benjamin Desraeli quotes and just pick one if you didn't feel strongly enough about anything else. You can't go wrong there.

 

But if you don't even log into your account after, I don't think you are long for keeping a name. If you lose the name, you can move to another server and take it when you return. If you didn't level up, you probably aren't even in an SG that needs your character yet.

[Kismette]

2 minutes ago, FDR's Think Tank said:

I think backstory should be a factor, but not the sole determining factor. Most people don't even write anything in their character bio. Think about that. Everyone has Google. You could do a quick search for Benjamin Desraeli quotes and just pick one if you didn't feel strongly enough about anything else. You can't go wrong there.

 

But if you don't even log into your account after, I don't think you are long for keeping a name. If you lose the name, you can move to another server and take it when you return. If you didn't level up, you probably aren't even in an SG that needs your character yet.

Everyone has their own way of being 'invested' in their characters, is what I'm getting at here.  Not everyone make bios, not everyone fully IO out their alts.  It's no different than saying, if they don't get their characters to 50, they're not invested in them.

[EmmySky]

The problem that a line has to be drawn somewhere.  There is a policy (not yet in effect) and the people who drew that (those) line(s) are players as well, not just some developers who stumbled upon a winning game formula, so I bet (assume) they knew, or at least took into account, different levels of vestedness (its a word because I just used it!) when making the policy and (will continue to do so) in the future implementation of the policy.  OMG run-on sentence.