/checkname

[Perma-Newbie]

With the upcoming name-pocalypse releasing a million names, it would be nice to have a command that can check to see if a name is available while logged in.

 

I suggest "/checkname <name>" which would return "This name is available." if the name is unused OR if the timer has expired on the character in question.  It would return "This name is used by @Global currently."

 

Now if you want to make it really sexy have it tell us how long the user has been offline and what level they are (ie: When will it be available, if ever).  But knowing the City of code this may not be possible within the game.

[Rudra]

Character creator screen, input desired name, click magnifying glass. After name release goes active, do that as part of your start of gaming and/or end of gaming activities.

[Perma-Newbie]

I see you've never had an idea while playing and needed to check /getglobalname to see if the name was taken.

 

That tracks.

[Rudra]

23 minutes ago, Duuk said:

I see you've never had an idea while playing and needed to check /getglobalname to see if the name was taken.

 

That tracks.

What does /getglobalname have to do with checking to see if a name is now available for a character concept you have? If I have a character concept pop in my head while I'm playing, I check to see if the name is available by going into the character creator when I can. If I'm in Pocket D or my SG base, the transition to the character select screen is a 0 second timer.

[Riverdusk]

Was going to say just use /getglobalname and you can already do it.  But it appears you already know about that 'trick', so not sure why another command is needed?

[Owl Girl]

i categorically oppose anything that makes it easier to poach names.

[Perma-Newbie]

11 minutes ago, Riverdusk said:

Was going to say just use /getglobalname and you can already do it.  But it appears you already know about that 'trick', so not sure why another command is needed?

GetGlobalName will return a valid name if the name is in use.  It doesn't tell us if it's available due to name release.

 

Maybe if GGN returned "@Global is not online. Name is eligible to be claimed." that would also work.

 

And names aren't being "poached", they're being redistributed from accounts that haven't logged in for over a year AND didn't hit level 50.

[Rudra]

4 minutes ago, Duuk said:

And names aren't being "poached", they're being redistributed from accounts that haven't logged in for over a year AND didn't hit level 50.

That isn't true.

 

On 10/1/2024 at 7:58 AM, Widower said:

Name Release Begins November 1st

 

The City Council has decided that we will activate the long-awaited name release policy on November 1st, 2024 at 9:30 PM Eastern Time. As a reminder, the policy is as follows:

 

• 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 6-49 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 (with the exception of Temporal Warriors)
• 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.
• This flag will be visible on the character select screen. You can remove the inactive flag from a character at any time simply by logging them in.

 

As you are likely aware, the timer has been going since the release of Issue 27, Page 4, so most names should be released immediately.

 

It has nothing to do with how long an account hasn't been active. It does require players that maintain low level alts have to play them more often though. And the more alts a player has, especially of the lower levels, the more difficult it becomes keeping their characters intact. I can see why that would be viewed as poaching. (And to an extent, I agree with that sentiment.) Only level 50 characters are safe for their names. If it had been for accounts that were left inactive for a year, then there wouldn't be such frustration from players like me.

 

Derailment ended, now back to our regularly scheduled OP.

[WanderingAries]

12 minutes ago, Duuk said:

GetGlobalName will return a valid name if the name is in use.  It doesn't tell us if it's available due to name release.

 

This sounds like it could be logistically challenging and easy to abuse.

 

Probably the best thing would to simply dual-box, leave the secondary idle in the background (use the low fps command to save the limited performance hit), and when you get inspiration toggle to the other window (will need a 2nd account), do the quick check, and you're done. What you're asking for overall seems like it would ask for things that would take a bit of an effort to script and the next thing people would then ask to be added to it would be "well, how much Longer until it's available" and "can I make an in-game timer Macro?" which will both go bust when the original person decides to play that character, resetting the timers.

[OEM61]

I see where such a thing would be useful, but is it so useful that the work would be worth it?

If I was so taken with a name that I wanted to check it right now then I'll log my toon out and check the name right now.

If I log out, check the name, and then log right back in because the name is taken, I will have missed out on what?  A minute of play?

How much dev work should go in to something that can sometimes keep a player from "wasting" a minute of play time?

[Owl Girl]

19 hours ago, Duuk said:

 

And names aren't being "poached", they're being redistributed from accounts that haven't logged in for over a year AND didn't hit level 50.

 

pfft, sounds like communism to me. no thanks, ivan!

[megaericzero]

Forgive me if I'm reading into this wrong but this seems like a thinly-veiled request to make it easier to harass people for character names. I can't imagine it's a pressing need to check name availability while logged-in because you'd still have to log out to create a character to lock it in if it was available.

[Greycat]

*Misreads request, implements /czechname, which provides the Czech equivalent of the requested name.*

[biostem]

51 minutes ago, megaericzero said:

Forgive me if I'm reading into this wrong but this seems like a thinly-veiled request to make it easier to harass people for character names. I can't imagine it's a pressing need to check name availability while logged-in because you'd still have to log out to create a character to lock it in if it was available.

We're also *not* talking about a modern game, where there could be an extensive load time between logging out then back in...

[TheMoneyMaker]

The check name command is already in game.  It's /friend <name>

 

If it's in use, it will add that name to your friends list. After which you can simply /unfriend <name> to remove it. If the name is not in use, it will tell you that there is no such character and you can quickly log out and claim it. This won't work with names that are in use but may be available due to the name release function, but you can't have everything.