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

[Marbing]

1 hour ago, Excraft said:

 

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.

So you lost the name you were sitting on for over a year without playing on an 18 year old game running on a private server. Life goes on. 

 

 

EDIT: For those who need clarification: "You" doesn't always mean specifically YOU, it can be a hypothetical or generic "You" for anyone this statement may apply to. Just so everyone is aware. Also, this statement was more meant to make a counter point to the quoted statement.

Edited July 31, 2022 by Marbing

[Excraft]

1 minute ago, Marbing said:

So you lost the name you were sitting on for over a year without playing on an 18 year old game running on a private server. Life goes on. 

 

I'm not sitting on any names, thanks.  I've got a handful of characters at most. Nice try though.  If not getting a name you want is causing you this much grief, you should probably go outside and discover the real world out there.  There's just far more important things in life.

[NorseStar]

So many ways to go with this. First how many names are so popular that it’s is really necessary? I have, maybe, tried 1 name that was taken. (Willy Nilly) Great name hope it’s a fun toon for you. 

My kids are frequently deployed for months to years at a time, so there is a good chance they will loose several of their toons. I know another player. Hasn’t been on since the first month it was back, has well over 100 50’s with great names, and someday when his kids are grown, and he gets back on, his toons will be there.

I regularly shut off my xp at all different levels, some as low as 10. I also have a few “Seasonal” toons. Marion Bright is a Krampus so she is largely in hiding during the summer months. Isn’t there a better way to weed out the accounts of people who have lost interest, died, or moved on? 

[ivanhedgehog]

the first time this runs will free up the names of the current old inactive accounts. after that it will basically be just an annoyance for people with a bunch of alts. Do we have to have a permanent great name theft system or could we run it once a year? is this system adding overhead on the game servers? if not, no big deal.

[Jedediah]

1 hour ago, ivanhedgehog said:

 Do we have to have a permanent great name theft system or could we run it once a year?

 

I don't understand how a use it or lose it policy is theft in anyway.  

 

Personally as someone with a lot of alts If someone wants to use a name that I am not actively using then more power to them.  More active players means a better game.

[ivanhedgehog]

1 hour ago, Jedediah said:

 

I don't understand how a use it or lose it policy is theft in anyway.  

 

Personally as someone with a lot of alts If someone wants to use a name that I am not actively using then more power to them.  More active players means a better game.

someone has something you want. you get building maintenance to let you in so you can get it. you then can say "I didnt break in so its not theft". if its someone that moved out in the night 2 years ago, fine. If its someone that is at work and not home, not so fine. That being said, the year that the devs set for most 6-49 toons is fine. I dont care about lvl 1-5. Its not borrowing if you never intend to return it. I have just watched people go on for years that because they used a name in ultima online that it is universally theirs and they should be able to evict anyone that uses it.

[Jedediah]

2 minutes ago, ivanhedgehog said:

someone has something you want. you get building maintenance to let you in so you can get it. you then can say "I didnt break in so its not theft". if its someone that moved out in the night 2 years ago, fine. If its someone that is at work and not home, not so fine. 

 

We are talking about names for made up super heroes that you claim by being first, not someone coming into your house and taking the things you own.

[ivanhedgehog]

52 minutes ago, Jedediah said:

 

We are talking about names for made up super heroes that you claim by being first, not someone coming into your house and taking the things you own.

if its so unimportant, why do you want it so bad?

[DoctorDitko]

Is there no way to make this more... voluntary?

 

I imagine logging in and getting a message, "Another player would like to use the name Jelly Baby, whom you haven't played in two years. Would you like to give up the name? You will receive a free respec if you do."

 

Or something along those lines.

 

[Ironblade]

12 hours ago, Excraft said:

Yeah and that was such a raving success on live they never ran it again.

The situations are not really comparable.

Back on live, we had 12 characters slots per shard unless we paid extra.

Now, we have 1,000 per shard.  That makes grabbing names that you 'might play some day' trivial, rather than using up valuable character slots.

 

Edit:  Also, it was never run again because the devs said it didn't free up many names.

In this very thread, GM Impervium said: "But yes, under-leveled, unplayed characters are a huge deal, and I can guarantee a LOT of names are going to get freed up!"

Edited August 1, 2022 by Ironblade

[Myrmidon]

On 7/31/2022 at 1:03 AM, 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.

We can change it to “name hoarding” if you like.

Edited August 2, 2022 by Myrmidon

[Number Six]

2 minutes ago, Ironblade said:

Now, we have 1,000 per shard.

 

Not to mention an effectively unlimited number of free accounts.

[Excraft]

5 hours ago, Jedediah said:

Personally as someone with a lot of alts If someone wants to use a name that I am not actively using then more power to them.  More active players means a better game.

 

If you're an active player, someone can contact you and negotiate for you to release a name to them.  It's up to you if you want to give it up or not.  There's no need for this policy if players can communicate with each other.

 

28 minutes ago, Ironblade said:

The situations are not really comparable.

Back on live, we had 12 characters slots per shard unless we paid extra.

Now, we have 1,000 per shard.  That makes grabbing names that you 'might play some day' trivial, rather than using up valuable character slots.

 

Edit:  Also, it was never run again because the devs said it didn't free up many names.

In this very thread, GM Impervium said: "But yes, under-leveled, unplayed characters are a huge deal, and I can guarantee a LOT of names are going to get freed up!"

 

Sure they're comparable.  Everyone seems to believe every account used up all 1,000 slots on every shard across multiple accounts.  I just don't see that as being true and haven't seen any evidence it is even remotely what the majority of people are doing.  There's just not that many active accounts here and there's no shortage of word combinations left to use. 

 

If you'd like to believe every word a GM says, more power to you.  Based on what I've seen with my own eyes, I'm skeptical of anything they say.  How many of the "under-leveled, unplayed characters" that are a "huge deal" even have actual words that someone else may want?  It's more likely a fraction of a fraction.  People see big numbers posted in this thread and are getting their hopes up.  By all means, release this on accounts that haven't been logged into in 2 years or more and start with that.  Chances are highly likely those people aren't coming back.  Active players can be contacted by other players about releasing a name.  There's name release threads on these forums. 

 

4 hours ago, Jedediah said:

We are talking about names for made up super heroes that you claim by being first, not someone coming into your house and taking the things you own.

Right.  It's not a big deal.  Just pick something else. 

[Jedediah]

4 hours ago, ivanhedgehog said:

if its so unimportant, why do you want it so bad?

 

4 minutes ago, Excraft said:

Right.  It's not a big deal.  Just pick something else. 

 

I never said it wasn't important, I just thought that the metaphor of it being stealing was a tad hyperbolic.

 

I see names like the toys at a preschool.  Whoever picks the toy first gets it but if you put your toy down, anyone else should be allowed to pick it up.

 

As to why I care at all.  It's my hope that this change does two things;  drives people to create new characters increasing active players, and encourages people to reach level 50 and engage with the end game content.  At this point whether or not this change accomplishes these goals  is purely a matter of opinion and open to discussion.  But I think that it would be a shame not to give it a try.  

[lemming]

6 hours ago, DoctorDitko said:

Is there no way to make this more... voluntary?

 

I imagine logging in and getting a message, "Another player would like to use the name Jelly Baby, whom you haven't played in two years. Would you like to give up the name? You will receive a free respec if you do."

 

Or something along those lines.

 

And if the person never logs back in?   This is addressing people having names that they haven't used much, and possibly they're just sitting on inactive accounts.

[UltraAlt]

14 hours ago, DoctorDitko said:

I imagine logging in and getting a message, "Another player would like to use the name Jelly Baby, whom you haven't played in two years. Would you like to give up the name? You will receive a free respec if you do."

 

Or something along those lines.

 

This is stalking. There is enough of that already going on with names.

People are finding the globals of people with names that they want, bombarding them with tells asking them to relinquish the name, and then complain if the person doesn't respond to them.

 

We don't need this.

 

+ what kind of a reward is a respec?!

 

Oh, I see. It's all a joke.

Good one.

 

You had me going there for a moment.

[ShardWarrior]

5 hours ago, UltraAlt said:

This is stalking. There is enough of that already going on with names.

People are finding the globals of people with names that they want, bombarding them with tells asking them to relinquish the name, and then complain if the person doesn't respond to them.

 

We don't need this.

 

Any player harassing another player over a name can and should be reported to the GMs so they can be dealt with accordingly. 

[Marbing]

17 hours ago, Excraft said:

If you're an active player, someone can contact you and negotiate for you to release a name to them.  It's up to you if you want to give it up or not.  There's no need for this policy if players can communicate with each other.

This can still happen even with this policy, so moot point.
 

Active accounts can get their name squatters to lvl 7 in about 5 mins each and sit on them and only log them in once a year. They can then be reached out to, just as they are now, for those names they are actively sitting on. Inactive accounts that wouldn’t reply anyways will have the names released. Win win.
 

Again, if you lose a name on a toon you haven’t played in over a year on an 18 year old game that you didn’t pay for, oh well. Use a thesaurus. 
 

 

 

 

 

[ShardWarrior]

1 hour ago, Marbing said:

This can still happen even with this policy, so moot point.

 

The policy itself applying to active accounts is what is moot and redundant.  There is no reason for it if an active player can be contacted by another active player.

 

1 hour ago, Marbing said:

Again, if you lose a name on a toon you haven’t played in over a year on an 18 year old game that you didn’t pay for, oh well. Use a thesaurus. 

 

I see.  Using a thesaurus is perfectly fine and only applies when it is the other guy.  The person looking to use an already taken name should not have to.  That makes perfect sense.  🙄

[Marbing]

7 minutes ago, ShardWarrior said:

I see.  Using a thesaurus is perfectly fine and only applies when it is the other guy.  The person looking to use an already taken name should not have to.  That makes perfect sense.  🙄

I only said it because it was said before for the exact opposite reason. I was being a smart ass.

 

9 minutes ago, ShardWarrior said:

The policy itself applying to active accounts is what is moot and redundant.  There is no reason for it if an active player can be contacted by another active player.

Nope. There absolutely is solid reasoning for it, and this argument has been countered many times in this thread. You just don’t like it, which is fine.

 

 

I couldn’t care less if a name is taken, I use a different language often. I just don’t get the backlash for this policy. This is a no brainer IMO. 

[Duuk]

20 hours ago, Number Six said:

 

Not to mention an effectively unlimited number of free accounts.

Side note:  If the Devs aren't working on an Incarnate arc featuring a villain group known as The Inner Circle someone isn't doing their job.

[Duuk]

Pie in the sky dreaming because of CoH codebase:

 

If would be nice if, when you "Check Availability" of a name during character creation if it would say,

"Sister Pistols: In use by @Madcow99 last on 2 days ago"

 

Of course, knowing the CoH code it would have to load the toon to get that info and would reset the login timer every time.

[UltraAlt]

4 hours ago, Marbing said:

Active accounts can get their name squatters to

 

... level 50 while they are doorsitting AFK in a Farm.

 

Being 50 shouldn't lock your name forever unless you are playing it (logging it in at least).

 

Once being level 50 meant something. It was an achievement.

 

Logging in, finding a farm, moving your character inside farm, and going AKF until you hit level 50 is no achievement.

This behavior should not grant immunity to the name release policy.

 

 

[Astralock]

1 hour ago, UltraAlt said:

 

... level 50 while they are doorsitting AFK in a Farm.

 

Being 50 shouldn't lock your name forever unless you are playing it (logging it in at least).

 

Once being level 50 meant something. It was an achievement.

 

Logging in, finding a farm, moving your character inside farm, and going AKF until you hit level 50 is no achievement.

This behavior should not grant immunity to the name release policy.

 

 

 

 

Agreed.  There should be a two year policy on level 50 characters.  If you haven't logged on in two years, odds are that you are not coming back.

[ShardWarrior]

4 hours ago, Marbing said:

Nope. There absolutely is solid reasoning for it, and this argument has been countered many times in this thread. You just don’t like it, which is fine.

 

 

I couldn’t care less if a name is taken, I use a different language often. I just don’t get the backlash for this policy. This is a no brainer IMO. 

 

There is and has been solid reasoning provided in this thread why it is redundant and completely unnecessary for active accounts, you just do not like it, which is fine.  I cannot speak for anyone other than myself, I find the sense of entitlement some have appalling quite frankly.  Getting this upset over someone else getting a name you wanted before you and causing you so much grief is just baffling.  Just use something else.  It just is not that hard.   It is also truly amazing the arrogance several people have in wanting to dictate to others what an acceptable amount of play is. 

Edited August 2, 2022 by ShardWarrior