issue 27 Focused Feedback: Name Release Policy - Phase 1: Warning Mode

[Seed22]

12 hours ago, Andreah said:

If a player puts this much work into developing their characters, they can spend the time to level up to 6 and then spend thirty seconds once a year ensuring the character's name will never be tagged available.

Plus, remember(for folks worried) it isn't like the name's gone immediately, it's just a "Hey, you haven't logged into X in Y days" thing. Doubt folks will be waiting for a person to disappear AND for their char's name to be available.

Edited July 25, 2022 by Seed22

[WindDemon21]

On 7/12/2022 at 1:58 PM, The Curator said:

Name Release - Phase 1: Warning Mode

• The name release policy as described some time ago has been implemented and will begin to phase in starting with Page 4.
  • Level 1-5 characters will be flagged as inactive if they have not been played in the last 30 days.
  • Level 6-49 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.

 

 

• You can remove the inactive flag on a character at any time simply by logging them in.
• As it has been some time since the policy was first announced, in order to ensure that players have sufficient time to act on protecting names they actively intend to use, the system will go live in Page 4 in Warning Mode Only.
• This inactivity flag will be displayed in the character list to identify which characters have names that would be at risk, but while the system is in warning mode, no characters will be renamed, and no names can be lost.
• The character list displays a yellow "pre-warning" icon to give advance notice before the inactivity period expires. Level 1-5 characters start warning 7 days prior, while level 6-49 characters start warning 30 days prior.

 

• At a later date to be announced, the system will be fully activated. After that point, players will be able to create new characters using any of the inactive names, which results in the inactive character being renamed.

Would there be some way to implement, where it's not per character, but rather per account? Because I know personally one thing i hated most on live was having to relog in to characters to keep their name available for them when I want to go back to play them. But if say, instead, it was based on account, lets say someone hasn't logged in to their account in like 6 months, all their names should be freed. I think that would still free up a ton of names, and be more relevant without creating a lot more busy work for the playerbase.

 

Maybe per account, but like, 30 days of not logging in, your 1-15 are up for grabs, etc, so you don't have to log in to the individual character, but just your account.

[Doc_Scorpion]

18 minutes ago, WindDemon21 said:

Would there be some way to implement, where it's not per character, but rather per account?

According to the Dev team, no.

 

 

19 minutes ago, WindDemon21 said:

Because I know personally one thing i hated most on live was having to relog in to characters to keep their name available for them when I want to go back to play them.

On Live, keeping your names was as simple as keeping your account paid up.

[Jacke]

1 hour ago, WindDemon21 said:

Would there be some way to implement, where it's not per character, but rather per account?

 

The devs have said no, due to the account information being on another server.

[UltraAlt]

9 hours ago, WindDemon21 said:

Would there be some way to implement, where it's not per character, but rather per account?

 

Unfortunately, that defeats the purpose.

Which is to stop name hoarding which can be circumvented by doorsitting and leveling to 50.

 

This is to make it more difficult to name hoard and to free up names of characters on inactive accounts.

Initially, it will free up names on inactive accounts. After that, it is more about making it difficult to hoard names.  Then another round of freeing up will happen after 1 year. 

 

In all honest, freeing up the name just makes it free so someone else can hoard it.

It may be the name of that player's main character, but they are still holding the name so no one else can use it.

[Excraft]

22 minutes ago, UltraAlt said:

In all honest, freeing up the name just makes it free so someone else can hoard it.

 

Which makes the entire exercise pointless.  Just use a thesaurus. 

[Perma-Newbie]

People are acting like there is going to be an in-game channel that announces when a name is available to steal claim.

 

There is literally no way to know which names will free up when, it just means if someone picks that exact name after the timer has run out then won't get the "Name in Use" error message.

 

While this will be nice and open up some names to (hopefully) become active members, it's not a Be All or even Catch All.

 

...but that in-game channel is a great idea and you should feel free to implement it.

[UltraAlt]

21 hours ago, MadCow99 said:

People are acting like there is going to be an in-game channel that announces when a name is available to steal claim.

 

I think you were correct with "steal".

 

 

[Oubliette_Red]

On 7/25/2022 at 1:11 PM, WindDemon21 said:

Would there be some way to implement, where it's not per character, but rather per account? Because I know personally one thing i hated most on live was having to relog in to characters to keep their name available for them when I want to go back to play them. But if say, instead, it was based on account, lets say someone hasn't logged in to their account in like 6 months, all their names should be freed. I think that would still free up a ton of names, and be more relevant without creating a lot more busy work for the playerbase.

 

Maybe per account, but like, 30 days of not logging in, your 1-15 are up for grabs, etc, so you don't have to log in to the individual character, but just your account.

 

It was explained earlier in the thread that it couldn't be done by account.

 

[Excraft]

5 hours ago, Oubliette_Red said:

It was explained earlier in the thread that it couldn't be done by account.

 

They didn't say it couldn't be done.  They said it was a lot more work to do it by account. 

[lemming]

10 hours ago, Excraft said:

 

They didn't say it couldn't be done.  They said it was a lot more work to do it by account. 

Splitting hairs.   The dev who mentioned diving into that code noted there were a lot of areas where data was keyed to the character name, not the account, so it would take a lot of work to get it there.   Probably a page worth of dev work just to do that with all the testing needed to make sure things don't have unintended consequences.  One of those terrible design decisions that has far reaching consequences and is a pita to fix, but on the other hand, not that huge of a return for QoL.

[Ghost]

22 hours ago, UltraAlt said:

 

I think you were correct with "steal".

 

 

If it’s not owned, nor is it being used - how is it stealing?

[ivanhedgehog]

On 7/15/2022 at 10:56 AM, Doc_Scorpion said:

The system tries to have its cake and eat it too.  If it's hard for active campers for hoard names (per a GM comment elsewhere in the thread), then it's going to be difficult for normal players to maintain their roster as well.  Under the proposed system you can't have it both ways - both difficult for the campers and easy for the active players.  It's an onerous burden on active players to have to "prove" their worthiness to a name on an ongoing basis.

That's why I've always been an advocate of account level action.  It may be difficult from a developer point of view, I appreciate that...  But if it can't be done right, minimizing the burden on actual active players (accepting that a few bad apples will slip through), then it shouldn't be done at all.

I have always been an advocate of the first person that gets the name keeps it. This insistence on stealing other people's names bad. The common idea that these are just "name campers" and not someone that doesnt happen to play exactly when you do is wrong. People will be back in the forums whining that they cant get the name they think they deserve soon after this  goes into effect.

[ivanhedgehog]

On 7/17/2022 at 10:16 AM, Troo said:

 

I may have missed your solution for name squatting.

 

While you and I may not be offenders, there are some out there who took advantage, and this is how it is being addressed.

 

 

 

Nah.

It's all right there and they have already tapped into that section of the code for the visual indicators. A search might be easier than a sort, though less polished.

 

If that was what they were going after they would just have a under lvl 20 6 months unplayed gets freed up policy. over level 20 you had to play it and its not just a place holder

[Ghost]

30 minutes ago, ivanhedgehog said:

What is name camping? I made a toon and played him to level 30, then got an urge to play another toon, what gives anyone the right to take my name. if they get that name that they have to have and put it on their blaster remade from live, how long can they ignore it before they are now the name campers? why is name camping bad? if I got it first, its mine. Why does anyone feel entitled to take it away? I understand the account that hasnt been logged in in 2 years, but stealing someones name that has been logged in all week isnt right. maybe I am looking at this wrong. Its just how I feel about it.

You are looking at it wrong IMO

Youre focusing on people who play the game and forgetting about those that created an account 3 years ago, and have not been back.  
No where does it say that if you don’t play for a week, you lose the name.  

 

 

 

Edited July 31, 2022 by Ghost

[ivanhedgehog]

8 minutes ago, Ghost said:

You are looking at it wrong IMO

Youre focusing on people who play the game and forgetting about those that created an account 3 years ago, and have not been back.  
No where does it say that if you don’t play for a week, you lose the name.  

 

 

 

It is still about taking something that belongs to someone else. people keep using name squatting. Name squatting is taking that which someone else owns and using it against their will. On live, I had someone that wanted a name I had. I had to eventually get the gms involved because after I ignored them they would use other people to contact me. The changes the devs made to the time frame of this have helped ease my mind about this change. While I am against the concept, this change will be fine.

[Ghost]

1 hour ago, ivanhedgehog said:

It is still about taking something that belongs to someone else. people keep using name squatting. Name squatting is taking that which someone else owns and using it against their will. On live, I had someone that wanted a name I had. I had to eventually get the gms involved because after I ignored them they would use other people to contact me. The changes the devs made to the time frame of this have helped ease my mind about this change. While I am against the concept, this change will be fine.

I understand what you’re saying.

I would hate to be hounded for a name, or lose a name.

However, no one owns the names.  

[ZacKing]

Why does this need to be implemented?  Where's the masses of new players complaining they can't find a name?

[UltraAlt]

30 minutes ago, ZacKing said:

Why does this need to be implemented?  Where's the masses of new players complaining they can't find a name?

 

Well, I can only guess you are trolling or haven't been around too long.

 

It really isn't so much the new players but the returning players (some of whom have been back for quite a while) trying to get the names that they had before the Sunset.

There have been a bunch of threads about it.

[Excraft]

6 minutes ago, UltraAlt said:

Well, I can only guess you are trolling or haven't been around too long.

 

It really isn't so much the new players but the returning players (some of whom have been back for quite a while) trying to get the names that they had before the Sunset.

There have been a bunch of threads about it.

 

Someone else got it first.  Deal with it and move on.  Unless this is because there's a name on an abandoned account someone in the inner circle wants, than that's perfectly ok.

[Ruin Mage]

The Inner Circle demands that names be released, or so the conspiracy goes.

[Marbing]

3 minutes ago, Shadeknight said:

The Inner Circle demands that names be released, or so the conspiracy goes.

So, just so we are on the same page here, there is a secret society of people that are plotting to ruin an 18 year old free game well past its prime? 

I do like a good joke.

[Ruin Mage]

I don't want to derail the thread too hard, but you're close.

Anyway, I find it odd to see a "first come first serve neener neener." elementary school mentality to names. That's...not how it worked on live (where they did this very same name release, just...not the same time limits) and just because we're a private server/"ROGUE" server doesn't mean we need to not do a policy as well. It harms no one but inactive people to have their names freed up. 

"Oh but get a thesaurus" doesn't quite work in the long run.

Edited July 31, 2022 by Shadeknight

[Marbing]

As you can see by my list of toons in my signature, I have a lot of alts. The ones I play the most (those listed there) are all lvl 50. So I dont have to worry about their names being taken. However, I have about 100 other alts that are not level 50. If I lose those names, that is my own fault. I don't play them as much and therefor the name should go to someone who will actually use it. 

That being said, I do understand the emergency situations where people may not be able to play for extended periods of time. But those edge cases seem few and far between and this solution seems fair on the whole. 1 YEAR to keep a name for a lvl 10 (for example)? You know how long it takes to get to lvl 10? Lets just say I could probably have had another lvl 10 in the time it took me to type this post up. Maybe even 2 lvl 10s. 

 

The only issue I see with this, is the initial time it will take to log in all of your NON-LVL 50 toons and reset their timers. After that... you have a whole year! 🙂 
 

Edited July 31, 2022 by Marbing
added stuff for clarity, but I still can't see through it so oh well...

[Excraft]

28 minutes ago, Shadeknight said:

Anyway, I find it odd to see a "first come first serve neener neener." elementary school mentality to names. That's...not how it worked on live (where they did this very same name release, just...not the same time limits) and just because we're a private server/"ROGUE" server doesn't mean we need to not do a policy as well. It harms no one but inactive people to have their names freed up. 

 

Yeah and that was such a raving success on live they never ran it again.  So you can't get the name you want on an 18 year old game running on a private server.  Life goes on.