Clearing locked character names

[ZemX]

18 minutes ago, arcane said:

How gracious of you to design a policy to benefit yourself at the expense of others and then *gasp* agree to it. Very noble.

 

One post ago you were asking me to thank you for saving myself from my own policy and now it "benefits me at the expense of others"?  Can you make up your mind?

[arcane]

4 minutes ago, ZemX said:

 

One post ago you were asking me to thank you for saving myself from my own policy and now it "benefits me at the expense of others"?  Can you make up your mind?

Read again

[ZemX]

2 minutes ago, arcane said:

Read again

 

No, I think I'm done with you.  You're about 0 for 100 in logical arguments in this thread and that's quite enough for me.  Ta!

[ZacKing]

48 minutes ago, ZemX said:

 

Nobody ever said it was a need.  There isn't a single thing in this game that is a "need" including the game itself.  Literally every thing in it is a want, not a need.

 

In other words, what you just said is also no reason NOT to do this.

 

So even though you're admitting people just come up with a different name, you still feel like you want a name release policy, even though you're admitting people just come up with something else if a name is take.  Either it's a needed thing or it isn't.  Pick one.

[ZemX]

10 minutes ago, ZacKing said:

Either it's a needed thing or it isn't.  Pick one.

 

(a) I just told you it wasn't a need.

(b) I never said it was.  Not once.

(c) So what?

 

Stuff gets added to games all the time because it's wanted... not because it's needed.  Nobody "needed" any of this.  Stuff is added or changed because the people proposing doing it think it makes the game better, not because it needs to be.

[tidge]

I appreciate @Greycat typing up the long history lesson from the Live Name Release, because I did not have the stamina to do it.

 

It is not incorrect that the Live name release policy had almost no impact.

[ZacKing]

46 minutes ago, ZemX said:

(a) I just told you it wasn't a need.

(b) I never said it was.  Not once.

(c) So what?

 

Stuff gets added to games all the time because it's wanted... not because it's needed.  Nobody "needed" any of this.  Stuff is added or changed because the people proposing doing it think it makes the game better, not because it needs to be.

 

Need to have or nice to have or somewhere in between it doesn't matter.  You're advocating for a policy while at the same time saying people will just come up with other names so it's no big deal.  Pick one.

[ZemX]

1 hour ago, ZacKing said:

Need to have or nice to have or somewhere in between it doesn't matter.  You're advocating for a policy while at the same time saying people will just come up with other names so it's no big deal.  Pick one.

 

I never claimed people literally couldn't name their characters right now OR that there weren't still good names to be had OR that this policy would somehow make it so you would always get the name you wanted.  But you and others keep demanding I defend these positions I've never taken, so I'm done with all of you.

 

I've said what I want here more than once and we're just going in circles.  So I am fine leaving it at that.

[ForeverLaxx]

5 hours ago, ZemX said:

What happened that anyone on Live would notice? I was on Live too and I don't remember this at all.    You don't SEE these names being released.  You wouldn't know if a new name you picked was available because of this release script being run unless you had tried it immediately afterwards.  Most people who run into a name collision figure out a new name and are on their way.  They don't try it again.

So your problem with the facts is that you don't believe the facts. I fail to see how that's anybody's problem but your own.

 

You know what would have happened if the Devs sent out a list of "freed names"? It would have been scanned for the actual rare good ones and you'd be complaining that someone else must be camping it now because you still didn't get the name you wanted. The name release system relied on being a bit opaque in order to avoid actual name camping, but the Devs themselves made us aware that the characters with released names were almost all names no one would ever actually want. I'm thinking "smacked head on keyboard" style names and not "real" names were 99.9% of the released list and that's why it was only ran twice with no appreciable affect.

 

And frankly, if you want to keep reminding us all that most people who don't get the first name they want have no issue coming up with a backup/similar name, then I question why you're trying so hard to claim that a name release is something that absolutely needs to happen. Either people have no issue coming up with a name, or they're locked out of every conceivable iteration for a character name.

 

And as an aside, "Metal Ninja" is super generic and I'm surprised this name was available in any form on any of the servers. If these are the types of names you're hoping will be released, well...

[Widower]

On 5/20/2019 at 7:18 PM, Jimmy said:

Name Release Policy

With 1000 character slots per shard, we expected you to make a lot of characters, but we’ve been blown away by quite how many… To date, you’ve made a total of 399,501 characters across 64,519 accounts. In fact, one of you has made a total of 277 characters!

 

Now, some of you have voiced concerns that many names are simply being sat on by level 1 characters that’ll never be played again. This is a fair concern, so we are implementing a system that will allow names of unused characters to be released back into circulation for use by new characters.

 

Characters will be flagged as ‘inactive’ when the following time thresholds are met:

 

• Level 1-5 characters will be flagged as inactive if they have not been played in the last 30 days
• Level 6-20 characters will be flagged as inactive if they have not been played in the last 90 days
• Level 21-49 characters will be flagged as inactive if they have not been played in the last 365 days
• Level 50 characters will never be flagged as inactive

 

 

When a character is flagged as inactive they are not immediately renamed. Instead, their name is simply no longer locked. This allows another player to create a character with that name, at which point the original character will be renamed.

 

You can remove the inactive flag on a character at any time simply by logging them in.

 

We will not be activating this policy for at least a two weeks (possibly longer), so if there are any names you don’t want to lose, please ensure you keep the above guidelines in mind!

 

This is a first pass on this policy, and we may modify it at a later date, however we will give at least 30 days notice for any changes related to releasing names.

 

This was the policy we released two years ago, and it continues to be the policy we intend to implement Soon™. (Though you may well want to think of it as One of These Days™ at this point. It requires someone to actually code the system and we have, frankly, higher priorities than this.) Now, please stop attacking each other.

[GraspingVileTerror]

Thank you for the clarification, @GM Widower.

 

And thank you @ZacKing for .

[WanderingAries]

2 hours ago, GraspingVileTerror said:

Thank you for the clarification, @GM Widower.

 

And thank you @ZacKing for .

 

 

[Blackbird71]

On 8/24/2021 at 9:06 PM, stealthnight said:

I actually like the idea of adding 'NAME's to the Auction House. Whether they are reclaimed due to inactivity or if someone want to give up a name they currently have for some influence. It would add a new dynamic to the game. Plus it would ensure that those who lose their names due to unforeseen circumstances will be financially reimbursed.

 

This is a colossally Bad Idea, for so many reasons.  Incentivizing name campers by allowing them to get paid for it is not going to improve the situation for anyone on either side of the issue.

[ZacKing]

18 hours ago, GraspingVileTerror said:

And thank you @ZacKing for .

 

LOL!  You're welcome.  Zardoz is an underappreciated masterpiece.

[Marshal_General]

On 8/24/2021 at 8:39 AM, Glacier Peak said:

Cool, you did before and after though right?

Actually no. This was the early 90s when the internet as we know it today did not exist. It was just some BBS sites and where one meg was a hefty download. Still though, there are situations where someone can go a long time without being able to log in.

[Luminara]

13 minutes ago, ZacKing said:

Zardoz is an underappreciated masterpiece.

 

Sean Connery in a diaper, thigh-high boots and suspenders was the masterpiece.

 

I wonder if he kept the costume...

[TraumaTrain]

Now @ZemX needs the same avatar. 😉

[ZemX]

2 minutes ago, TraumaTrain said:

Now @ZemX needs the same avatar. 😉

 

I'm evil... but I'm not a monster!

Edited August 26, 2021 by ZemX

[PeregrineFalcon]

27 minutes ago, stealthnight said:

I'm sorry you feel that way. 

Why? He's right.

 

Look, I'm about the most pro-capitalist, anti-communist person you'll ever meet, but even I think that allowing people to get paid for name-camping is just going to make the situation worse. It's a known fact that paying people to do a thing causes more people to do that thing more often.

 

The entire point behind this thread is to find a way to free up names so that people can get the names that they want. Allowing people to sell names on the auction house is guaranteed to cause a ton of people to log in right now and immediately create hundreds of characters on all of the servers, thus exacerbating this problem immensely.

 

Why are you sorry that this will not happen?

[Luminara]

13 minutes ago, PeregrineFalcon said:

It's a known fact that paying people to do a thing causes more people to do that thing more often.

 

Being paid to do a job never encouraged a single one of my co-workers to actually do that job.

 

🤷‍♀️

[ZemX]

3 minutes ago, PeregrineFalcon said:

 

The entire point behind this thread is to find a way to free up names so that people can get the names that they want.

 

Well.. was the point. 

 

Can't believe none of us thought to scroll up and hit the F.A.Q button!  It's right there!  Embarrassing and hilarious at the same time.   🤪

 

But it makes both the two-year name release idea AND the name auction idea and the whole silly slap fight over it moot.  This is the way name release will be implemented... if it ever is.   

 

[Grouchybeast]

On 8/24/2021 at 4:40 AM, Techwright said:

 "Batman" forges a full mythos.  Having to rename him "Batmanuel" significantly changes him (and probably not for the better).

I was going to say that these arguments about freeing up names from dormant accounts have been running since way back on the live forums, and they continue to be a waste of time because nothing new ever comes out of them.  But, hey, now I have a great idea for a Fawlty Towers homage character, so there's that!

[PeregrineFalcon]

17 minutes ago, ZemX said:

But it makes both the two-year name release idea AND the name auction idea and the whole silly slap fight over it moot.  This is the way name release will be implemented... if it ever is.

Yes. We're all well aware of this. We've all read the F.A.Q., and we've all read the recent post by the GM confirming this.

 

However, this is the suggestions forum and someone made a suggestion. And we're talking about it because we want to. But thanks for pointing out what we all already knew.

 

Take care. 😉

[Blackbird71]

22 minutes ago, PeregrineFalcon said:

Yes. We're all well aware of this. We've all read the F.A.Q., and we've all read the recent post by the GM confirming this.

 

However, this is the suggestions forum and someone made a suggestion. And we're talking about it because we want to. But thanks for pointing out what we all already knew.

 

Take care. 😉

 

Actually, we're still in General Discussion...  😉

[Blackbird71]

1 hour ago, stealthnight said:

I'm sorry you feel that way. 

 

If you don't think your idea would immediately result in a new in-game industry of name-churning, where players just come up with whatever names they can so they can sell them to others on your name auction, then you've got another thing coming.

The way things are now, if someone has the name you want, you can come up with a variation, or make up something new.  If your idea is implemented, it won't be long before players must pay for any name they want that isn't just absolute gibberish.