Homecoming Server Update (October 1st): Closed Beta, Name Release, and CoC Updates

[lemming]

For me, I haven't seen any bumps in days logged off.   I tend to check my dayjob progress and run thru anniversary badges on even parked characters, so the longest time most of my characters date back to when I cycled thru the anniversary badge.

 

I also have a few names "reserved" here and there on level 1 chars that I'm cool with people claiming and those numbers have been fine as well.  (Couple of them I'm using to see when the name release happens just to double check it's live...)

 

And the simplest way to discount the conspiracy theory of the devs doing that is "why would they?"

That would take having to run a script on the DB incrementing logged off times.  Sure, lets take time to run something to shortcut a process we're putting in place.

Plenty of us would notice a jump

 

[Abraxus]

I know our culture, of late, doesn't exactly embrace the concept; but, if we'd start assuming good intentions, rather than asserting that there are ulterior motives involved with everything related to the game, it would be a step towards being a bit more at peace for everyone.  If there is something for legitimate concern, we will know, and we will say so.  But, making mountains out of molehills is a surefire recipe for unnecessary arguments, and general chaos.  There isn't much we can do about the craziness out there.  But, in here, we can make a concerted effort to be better. 

[mechahamham]

3 hours ago, Abraxus said:

I know our culture, of late, doesn't exactly embrace the concept; but, if we'd start assuming good intentions, rather than asserting that there are ulterior motives involved with everything related to the game

 

I think this stems from two different sources. First, people have gotten used to the fact that there are no end of companies that ARE constantly trying to screw them over, from search providers that sell their search history to advertisers to banks and financiers that attempt to extract every quantum of cash they can.

 

Second, there's a trend in the media that the various talking heads can claim anything they want to justify their wants, even on 'news'... *hah* as if... broadcasts that are sensationalized to the point of fine puree.

 

People get in the habit of thinking in terms of baseless accusations because it seems like everyone's out to get the better of them.

[Felis Noctu]

I'm someone who understands the sentimentality behind a character's name, and I don't want to take that from someone. But at the same time, if a person isn't playing anymore, and they're so far gone that they don't know this is happening (because they haven't touched it in who knows how long), then they may not care as much as people think.

 

I'm personally waiting for the possibility a single name. I've saved the global name of the person who currently has it in case they come calling. In all honesty, if I get it, and then they come to me about it, I have no issues giving it back. They had it first, after all!

 

It's really not that hard to be reasonable about this sort of thing.

[Emberly]

I got the only name I ever cared about, and I'm glad for it. Thanks devs, this meant a lot to me.

[ziquapix]

Is anyone seeing the name release working?  It's already 9:45 PM Eastern on the anointed day, 15 minutes past the deadline.  I've got about 20 characters lined up for renaming, and I'm renaming over and over, but I'm getting zero results.  Some of these names are pretty obscure, so I'd think I'd get at least one!  I'm thinking maybe it's not going live as scheduled?

[Maelwys]

7 minutes ago, ziquapix said:

Is anyone seeing the name release working?  It's already 9:45 PM Eastern on the anointed day, 15 minutes past the deadline.  I've got about 20 characters lined up for renaming, and I'm renaming over and over, but I'm getting zero results.  Some of these names are pretty obscure, so I'd think I'd get at least one!  I'm thinking maybe it's not going live as scheduled?

Close CoX, log in again, then make a NEW throwaway character with the name you want to get.
If you get the name, go to the character select screen; rename that throwaway character to something random + give the name to the character you want to have it.

(I've managed to grab 4 out of the 6 names I wanted; including the two that were most important to me....)
 

Edited November 2 by Maelwys

[Nostromo21]

15 hours ago, mechahamham said:

 

This is easily verifiable. Lots of us log chat and take screenshots. Be sure to post an excerpt of a chat log with a timestamp that shows less than 100 days on a character when you've also verified that they're showing 200+ days. You may be able to find someone you group with regularly who logs this if you haven't.

 

Seriously, don't accuse people without proof. It says a lot more about you than it does about them.

And how would you like me to do that, given I mostly solo - go back in time and take screenshots...? I will however reset them all soon and record the date for future glitches in the matrix, as this is not the first time I've noticed this side-effect after major changes/patches.

And I provided all the 'proof' that's required - my clear memory and recollection, across 70+ characters, many of which I know for certain I've logged into & played, well within the 200+ days the system now tells me they haven't been accessed for. I'm not accusing anyone of anything, most likely this is a system bug or glitch. Perhaps take our own advice and don't accuse people of lying without proof - it says a lot more about you than it does about them. Have a nice day ;).

[Nostromo21]

17 minutes ago, ziquapix said:

Is anyone seeing the name release working?  It's already 9:45 PM Eastern on the anointed day, 15 minutes past the deadline.  I've got about 20 characters lined up for renaming, and I'm renaming over and over, but I'm getting zero results.  Some of these names are pretty obscure, so I'd think I'd get at least one!  I'm thinking maybe it's not going live as scheduled?

The only thing that appears to be working is Excelsior getting overloaded, ahem. 

[Ulysses Dare]

Whelp, I was wrong. I thought the name release wouldn't actually release any good names, just stuff like GoofyName123. But, of the ten names on my wishlist, I got five. Plus, now I can be reasonably sure the other five are at least in the hands of an active player. So mission accomplished, devs.

[Ael]

I got my namesake on Torchbearer, the only thing I wanted and have wanted for the last few years.

 

Edit: I've also managed 10 more names. When I remade my absolute favorites from Live, most were taken, so I added the controversial "." at the end of each one. I figured, okay, I'll rename them later. Now, those built level 50s have the proper names at last.

Edited November 2 by Ael

[Oubliette_Red]

11 minutes ago, Ulysses Dare said:

Whelp, I was wrong. I thought the name release wouldn't actually release any good names, just stuff like GoofyName123. But, of the ten names on my wishlist, I got five. Plus, now I can be reasonably sure the other five are at least in the hands of an active player. So mission accomplished, devs.

 

I was only looking to pick up one name and managed to get it, now I'm just sitting in Outbreak watching new characters pop in and out. lol

[Fire Chief]

Working as intended nice work HC...Ohhh yeah and also got the one name I wanted on Ex.

[lemming]

1 hour ago, Nostromo21 said:

And how would you like me to do that, given I mostly solo

If you log chat, you'll get a line like

2024-11-01 19:34:02 Welcome to City of Heroes, Crimson Herring!

for Redside "Now entering the Rogue Isles, Crimson Herring"

 

[kelika2]

i got 3 of the 4 main ones i wanted and like 12 other side ones that i kinda had to think about and force name

im done

thank you for this

[Oubliette_Red]

Devs, I hereby dub thee 'Glorious Liberators of Names'.

[Riverdusk]

Curious if anyone has noticed any of their names "taken" yet?  I left some without logging them in that I didn't care much about and they have the red triangle now.  Just wondering if we'll notice them renamed immediately if someone grabs them or if we won't notice until we try to log them back in at some point.

[kelika2]

6 minutes ago, Riverdusk said:

Curious if anyone has noticed any of their names "taken" yet?  I left some without logging them in that I didn't care much about and they have the red triangle now.  Just wondering if we'll notice them renamed immediately if someone grabs them or if we won't notice until we try to log them back in at some point.

I took my own name to test it out with another account.  Just added a '1' to the name, no space.

[mechahamham]

1 hour ago, Riverdusk said:

Curious if anyone has noticed any of their names "taken" yet?  I left some without logging them in that I didn't care much about and they have the red triangle now.  Just wondering if we'll notice them renamed immediately if someone grabs them or if we won't notice until we try to log them back in at some point.

 

I had one I didn't care about, and TOLD people in /gen chat on excel that I didn't care about. I even encouraged another player who was interested to take it, if for no other reason than to see what it would look like when it got 'liberated'.

 

Later in the evening, I decided to log in to see if it had been taken yet... and clicked on the damn thing before I realized what I'd done.

 

So, someone who's had a name freed up, please post a screenie of what it looks like.

[lemming]

7 hours ago, mechahamham said:

 

I had one I didn't care about, and TOLD people in /gen chat on excel that I didn't care about. I even encouraged another player who was interested to take it, if for no other reason than to see what it would look like when it got 'liberated'.

 

Later in the evening, I decided to log in to see if it had been taken yet... and clicked on the damn thing before I realized what I'd done.

 

So, someone who's had a name freed up, please post a screenie of what it looks like.

Like Kelika2 said, just adds a number to it.  (or increments it.)

 

I had copied one of my chars that qualified as vulnerable to beta.   And it added a 1 to the name.   (If the name is at max characters, last char becomes a 1)

If the last char is a 1, it increments it.     (Big -> Big1 -> Big2, etc...)   What I don't know is if  Big1 thru Big9 exist.  Will it create Big10, Big11, or Big91 (or something else)

[Ukase]

20 hours ago, mechahamham said:

People get in the habit of thinking in terms of baseless accusations because it seems like everyone's out to get the better of them.

It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you. 

I asked the librarian for a book on paranoia. She said it was right behind me! But seriously, I never asked the librarian about such a book. 

That said, I would rather not get names taken from me. But, at the same time, I've had plenty of time to level the names I want to 50. We can get to 50 in a matter of hours, properly motivated. What is the big deal? 

Even if such motivations (and the strategies that go with them) aren't one's cup of tea, it's still easily done, and if the name means that much, you do it. And then you can re-roll as a level 1 with a different name, get beyond level 6 or so, and rename both the PL'd version to something else and your level 6 to your desired name. And just keep playing it until you hit 50 organically. 
So many work arounds if it came to that. 

I keep asking myself how things would play out if I were in charge. lol, I'd probably be the only one here. But if I were in charge, any account dormant for over a year and a day would be deleted. You haven't played in that long, you likely never will. 
But don't panic folks! I am not in charge and never will be. 

[brass_eagle]

On 11/1/2024 at 7:42 PM, Emberly said:

I got the only name I ever cared about, and I'm glad for it. Thanks devs, this meant a lot to me.

 

I will say, you should only care about a few names! Maybe even a roster that fits on one page (what's that like 10?).. But you shouldn't expect your Electric/Electric blaster to get "Shocker", without some sort of Fr34ksh0w modification: SH0ck3r

 

A lot of my names haven't been taken... because they are poor silly things like "Blooming Magnolia" or "Bruce with a Widows Peak"... silly names but fun characters. Altitis is the crux of us all.

[Ukase]

I am left to wonder if the name Naughty Zoot was always available, or if I got it from some long-dead dormant account. 

I wouldn't have thought of it, if the MSR chat wasn't filled with Monty Python references. It's not a great thing to go afk during an MSR, but I had to tab out and make it quickly, lest someone else get it. 

 

[Greycat]

On 11/2/2024 at 1:11 AM, Riverdusk said:

Curious if anyone has noticed any of their names "taken" yet?  I left some without logging them in that I didn't care much about and they have the red triangle now.  Just wondering if we'll notice them renamed immediately if someone grabs them or if we won't notice until we try to log them back in at some point.

 

Mine that have red triangles on them are *highly* unlikely to ever be taken, unless someone really wants to name their character after a base code for a base they don't own or have some really oddly specific designations/titles.

[Greycat]

So devs! How many new characters were created in the 24 hours after the name release went active? 😄

 

(I'm honestly just as curious about the first hour or two, too. On top of how many names were "available" just before, since that certainly wasn't 1.6 million with a month to "protect" them.)