Name database - Will this get cleaned up?

[Biff Pow]

I've started a few characters on Torchbearer and have been surprised at the good names available. I lost interest in one and deleted the character, then soon saw someone else using the name. I'm just glad it found a new home.

[macskull]

9 hours ago, Captain Fabulous said:

If people are so upset over losing their name that they leave the game, well too damned bad. Byeeeeee.

Yikes.

[Water]

Armed with a thesaurus and t'internet I've never been stuck for a name. I like the exclusivity of a name in this game once I have found one.  Now, after centuries of the English language usage we still haven't run out of words, knock yourself out with your own creativity.

 

There is only one [insert your exclusive name here]

 

[JasperStone]

2 hours ago, macskull said:

Yikes.

A measure of truth to their response.

I wanted Jack Wolfe during Live because he was a D&D character I played for a long time- I mean, he was the first character I rolled.

Well ....guess what? There is a Jack Wolfe in-game already. 

A NPC ... lol

So I named him Jack Wolphe, and off I went.

 

Creativity in naming your character is part of the fun.

Especially if you want to do an homage, without actually making it obvious.

 

Use a thesaurus for gosh sakes.

 

[Luminara]

42 minutes ago, Water said:

Armed with a thesaurus

 

41 minutes ago, JasperStone said:

Use a thesaurus

 

So... use a large, heavy book to beat the name holders into releasing the names.

 

 

BOOK MELEE NAO PLZKTHXBAI!

[JasperStone]

Just now, Luminara said:

 

 

So... use a large, heavy book to beat the name holders into releasing the names.

 

 

BOOK MELEE NAO PLZKTHXBAI!

I like this approach way way better.

...

Can we use it on anyone?

[Nostromo21]

11 hours ago, macskull said:

Yikes.

 

Don't let the HODOR hit you on the way out...? 

Edited January 28 by Nostromo21

[Player2]

On 1/27/2024 at 3:06 AM, Supertanker said:

I've started a few characters on Torchbearer and have been surprised at the good names available. I lost interest in one and deleted the character, then soon saw someone else using the name. I'm just glad it found a new home.

I made a Dual Blades/Regen stalker on Torch this weekend... the name Close Call was free so now it's mine.

I have a lot of characters between 5 and 49 --some might even say too many.  I never know when I will go back to them, but as evidenced in the Name Release threads in the Torchbearer and Excelsior sub-forums, I do indeed give up on many and let people know when the names are back in circulation.  To be fair, I have released names, then thought twice and regretted it so took a few back.  But that just means I was mistaken on being ready to let go of them.

[Ironblade]

On 1/27/2024 at 12:01 AM, Captain Fabulous said:

If people are so upset over losing their name that they leave the game, well too damned bad. Byeeeeee.

Except the devs feel, and justifiably so in my opinion, that is not an acceptable position.

The game is supported entirely by donations.  So, taking a sarcastic and cavalier position toward managing the game just doesn't cut it.

[Crystal Dragon]

Well, since someones decided alternative name choices are a "bad idea" I guess I get to drop these links to help those seeking a unique, and meaningful name for themselves.

https://www.thesaurus.com/

https://translate.google.com/ (Most, not all languages do translate well into character names on here.)

https://www.fantasytranslator.com/ (For the elvish, dwarvish, and common word searches.)

List of D&D related language translators via D&D beyond forums

https://www.vulgarlang.com/ (Or you can create your own language.)

Another I'd like to share is lingojam, there's thousands of language translators on there for name choices to pick from. There is no harm in searching around for workable solutions to naming a character, and these are the ones I tend to use personally. 48 characters, and only maybe two handfuls of those characters are named in english. Go ham with it, seriously. There's some great translators out there for helping break down the name crunch issue.

[Captain Fabulous]

23 hours ago, Ironblade said:

Except the devs feel, and justifiably so in my opinion, that is not an acceptable position.

The game is supported entirely by donations.  So, taking a sarcastic and cavalier position toward managing the game just doesn't cut it.

The donations are filled with hours. This game is in no danger of going under, even if a few whiny babies leave because they lost some names on characters they never play.

Allowing people to sit and camp on prime names they don't use also just doesn't cut it.

People can't argue that names don't matter and then throw hissy fits about a name release policy. Or that new players not sticking around because they can't get any good names isn't also an issue.

[Force Redux]

No one is involuntarily welcome to my 50s names. Ever.

 

I'm glad the devs agree. No arguments.

[Bionic_Flea]

On 1/26/2024 at 7:35 PM, macskull said:

Based on the limitations of the character name field (20 total characters, no consecutive spaces, no spaces at the beginning or end, alphanumeric characters only plus one of three possible special characters, names are not case-sensitive), you have 2,840,316,982,931,772,359,523,246,788,905,305,801,901,473,792 (which we'll simplify to call 3x10⁴⁵) possible unique names.

 

OK, but how many people want to be named F*&GHvH or Bqk8*zzzz Man?

[ZemX]

49 minutes ago, Bionic_Flea said:

OK, but how many people want to be named F*&GHvH or Bqk8*zzzz Man?

 

Honestly, I figured that part of the post had to be a joke or I'd have replied.

[ZemX]

13 hours ago, Crystal Dragon said:

Well, since someones decided alternative name choices are a "bad idea" I guess I get to drop these links to help those seeking a unique, and meaningful name for themselves.

 

Actually alternatives are great.  Just some of us think that applies also to people who lose names due to inactivity on lower level characters.  All of these resources you linked will help them come up with the same sorts of alternative names they claim everyone else should be perfectly satisfied with.  So thanks and keep it up!

[JasperStone]

1 hour ago, ZemX said:

 

Honestly, I figured that part of the post had to be a joke or I'd have replied.

Mxyzptlk

[nzer]

On 1/28/2024 at 9:36 PM, Ironblade said:

Except the devs feel, and justifiably so in my opinion, that is not an acceptable position.

 

Do they? It's been four years, and they still haven't turned the name release policy on.

 

I don't even think the position is wrong. I personally can't think of a single MMO I've played over the years that released character names due to inactivity. It's well understood that you might not get the exact name you want.

[Force Redux]

I like to think of it this way. Imagine if it wasn't names that were at stake. Imagine if it was your gear such as enchantments and recipes.

 

What would the argument look like if after a period of inactivity stuff you don't need that your character has equipped goes into a public fund for others to take? How well would that go over? Does the argument of "well you're not using it" still hold water?

 

My name is as much an investment in an established character as their gear, their base, and everything else. 

[lemming]

26 minutes ago, Force Redux said:

I like to think of it this way. Imagine if it wasn't names that were at stake. Imagine if it was your gear such as enchantments and recipes.

 

What would the argument look like if after a period of inactivity stuff you don't need that your character has equipped goes into a public fund for others to take? How well would that go over? Does the argument of "well you're not using it" still hold water?

 

My name is as much an investment in an established character as their gear, their base, and everything else. 

That's not a comparison for most.  I have a few names that I want because they're names of my Champions characters, so about 40+ years.  A couple I have, some I don't.  Actually on live, my first main wound up with a totally different name.  I occasionally will see if a name has freed up, but it's not a big deal.   It's a "Hmm, I'd like this character to actually have this name, but in the meantime"

 

If you're just idled, not using a name, it's not being used.     Gear degrading isn't even being talked about.

[Force Redux]

1 minute ago, lemming said:

That's not a comparison for most.  I have a few names that I want because they're names of my Champions characters, so about 40+ years.  A couple I have, some I don't.  Actually on live, my first main wound up with a totally different name.  I occasionally will see if a name has freed up, but it's not a big deal.   It's a "Hmm, I'd like this character to actually have this name, but in the meantime"

 

If you're just idled, not using a name, it's not being used.     Gear degrading isn't even being talked about.

 

Actually, its the same thing. A name is property as much as gear. Moreso. Gear can be replaced. A name cannot. A name is identity. If i'm away for a year and Force Redux is replaced as Generic Name 3430 and someone else is running around as Force Redux, that is an usurpation of identity. I know I don't want to run into Krow or another well known Everlasting personality who just happened to take a break and lose their name to find it is now assigned to some schlub. A name is not just a name, its a reputation and  history as well. 

 

Thankfully my 50s are safe, but for those who are advocating for pillaging and looting 50s, I offer my thoughts on the matter. Come up with a new name. I'm invested in mine, even if I take a break for a long while. FFS, I went back to EQ2 after 10+ years away and my characters all still had their names. WoW, too (over 5 years away). 

 

The name pillagers say to those with invested time/energy in a character and their name 'hey, there's no problem, just come up with a new name'. I say the same for the player looking to make a new character who has no time invested in that character. If it's not such a problem for ME, then surely there's no issue with YOU coming up with your own name as well. 

 

TLDR: Keep those sticky fingers out of my stuff. 

[macskull]

15 hours ago, Bionic_Flea said:

OK, but how many people want to be named F*&GHvH or Bqk8*zzzz Man?

Doesn't really matter if they want to be named that, because you can't use asterisks or ampersands in character names.

 

14 hours ago, ZemX said:

Honestly, I figured that part of the post had to be a joke or I'd have replied.

Nah, not a joke. Would a large portion of those possible names be a string of random characters? Sure - but even a tiny fraction of those possibilities mean there are still billions of possible names that aren't.

[Cyclone Jack]

On 1/27/2024 at 11:43 AM, Luminara said:

BOOK MELEE NAO PLZKTHXBAI!

It worked for John Wick, so why not.  🤣

[ZemX]

9 hours ago, macskull said:

Nah, not a joke. Would a large portion of those possible names be a string of random characters? Sure - but even a tiny fraction of those possibilities mean there are still billions of possible names that aren't.

 

Thanks for clearing that up but now I'm puzzled why anyone is worried about the name release policy.   Because as we all know, you don't just lose the name when the timer runs out.  Someone else THEN has to pick the same name.  And as you've just proved with Math!(tm) the odds of that happening are literally one in billions!  So nothing to worry about!

 

Carry on everyone!  Nothing to see here!

[ZacKing]

On 1/23/2024 at 9:53 PM, Pony Up said:

How many people are sitting on names?  Will there be a clean up?  Because this is worse than OG COH.

 

I've said this in another thread, I think the whole name thing should be resolved through code so that names don't have to be unique and are a combo of charactername@accountname like Cryptic did in their updated engine.  HC could run their name release code right now and there's still going to be a ton of disappointed people who think that a name they want is going to get freed up but didn't.  There's no guesswork if this gets fixed permanently instead of a band aid fix.  Yes it's a big project and yes the devs here absolutely can handle it if they wanted to do it.  Posts they've made on the topic over the years have shown they've got a good understanding of the problem and what it would take to truly fix it.  Hopefully they can bring on more devs to help with a project like that as I personally think its a worthwhile endeavor for the long term health of the game and would make a lot of people happy.

[macskull]

3 hours ago, ZemX said:

 

Thanks for clearing that up but now I'm puzzled why anyone is worried about the name release policy.   Because as we all know, you don't just lose the name when the timer runs out.  Someone else THEN has to pick the same name.  And as you've just proved with Math!(tm) the odds of that happening are literally one in billions!  So nothing to worry about!

 

Carry on everyone!  Nothing to see here!

It all comes down to one single question: are we okay with upsetting existing players who are invested in the game on the off-chance that a new player gets upset and quits because the name they want is taken?

 

I feel like that should be a no-brainer.
 

The name release policy is an answer to a nonexistent problem, and the current plan for its implementation makes it trivial for players to continue to hold large amounts of names practically indefinitely. If I want to camp hundreds of character names, it’s only going to take a couple minutes of upfront time investment and then maybe an hour total over the course of a year. The players that are already camping names are going to continue to do so, and the actual number of freed-up names is probably going to be close to zero.