Free Up Old Names?

[deadite]

Has Virtrium ever considered freeing up names from characters who haven't logged into the game in years? As a new player, I'm having a really hard time finding names that aren't taken.

I'm a pretty imaginative guy, but it has been a real hassle to find good fantasy names that aren't already taken.

Anybody else experiencing this problem? I've seen some, ah, pretty silly names in-game on low level characters, so I think that people might be stretching nowadays to come up with something.

[LOVWYRM]

I do not support this idea:
I have seen folks come back after many years- they are well known by this names- giving them away might not only confuse returning players, but other players too- who greet someone welcome back whom they never met before.

[deadite]

I can see that... Fair enough. So how about names on characters under a certain level who haven't logged in for years? Surely no one under, say, level 10 would be a well-known personality from the game's past?

[LungTien Temeraire]

Or the names of the characters who didn't get past the 14 days' trial?

[LOVWYRM]

*nods* this I agree to Lung & dead

[Sigi]

And I agree with Lovwyrm )



But I have a bit of a hard time with this:
"As a new player, I'm having a really hard time finding names that aren't taken."

What kind of names are we talking about? Really curious. Not doubting you but all the names I gave to my chars were still free.

[Kesqui]

I came back after six-and-a-bit years, and recovered multiple characters; one of those was a level-zero dragon hatchling. Would have been a bit annoyed if they had recovered the character but couldn't let me have that character's original name 'cos someone else wanted it....

I also have to second the "what names are you trying?"
Unless you're trying to use names from books or films.... never had trouble, personally, finding available character names even when creating new character toons (Sodalite is a recent character).

[Darkwing_Duck]

Ditto here. I made a few new characters, and had to either spell it off from what I had in mind, or add an extra letter somewhere for it to accept.
They don`t delete players characters, because those players may be back someday. if I ever quite for say a year, or so, and came back to see my character(s) gone, or without a name. I wouldn`t be too happy XD
heh when I made Reagle I originaly intended on spelling it Regal, but that was taken. played with the spelling until one accepted.

[Akrion]

I can see that... Fair enough. So how about names on characters under a certain level who haven't logged in for years? Surely no one under, say, level 10 would be a well-known personality from the game's past?

Well that could depend. There are plenty of people I could see that would of been on the role-play shards that never would have really gotten very high in level but could have become rather well known regardless. Though my character is over 2 years old now, he's only adventure rating 119 and craft rating 114 as I really spent the majority of that time RPing over doing anything else.

But I have a bit of a hard time with this:
"As a new player, I'm having a really hard time finding names that aren't taken."

What kind of names are we talking about? Really curious. Not doubting you but all the names I gave to my chars were still free.

Same here.. I've got Akrion, Ikaron, and a few names that I'm honestly surprised I was able to get. And I know Raptress has 14 different characters with unique names.

[Dracaena]

I don't think this would be needed. Even for as large a player base as WoW has, I don't remember them ever doing this. I have names in my friends list from before server merge. If I ever see those names light up I would sure hope it was the person I used to know.

Only a couple times have I run into trouble trying for the name I wanted, and believe it or not I ended up meeting the person in game who's character had the spelling I wanted. One became a good friend who I wish still played.

There are web sites out there with nothing but name lists, I will wander around on those if I am hitting a wall thinking of a name. I have also done things like play with English-Latin dictionaries for names. I have a horrible time coming up with new character names but I sure wouldn't want to take a name away from someone else.


Dracaena

[Akrion]

I don't think this would be needed. Even for as large a player base as WoW has, I don't remember them ever doing this. I have names in my friends list from before server merge. If I ever see those names light up I would sure hope it was the person I used to know.
Dracaena

Keep in mind, however, that WoW (just like Istaria) has separate servers. Even if there's 10,000,000 people playing WoW, if they're all divided up into individual servers with a cap of maybe 10,000 people, then really you're only dealing with names spread across 10,000 people.

I believe most of the WoW servers only ever have ~2500-3000(?) on at any given time.. When Istaria first launched its servers had somewhat similar popularity.

[AguaRush]

A good suggestion if you are having trouble with names google fantasy name generator.. i have made many dragons using those names!

if you try to use popular names for example Draco, saphira, frodo, gandoff, eragon, idk any other fantasy name used in a movie/book/whatever
the chances are its pry taken.. and if you created a character with such name.. i dont think the community would take it very well

call me a grumpy veteran player.. but when if id see a name like

eragon shadeslayer

id pry roll my eyes a tad

2 c worth

[Nayuaka]

I can see the frustration I suppose, but I can honestly say that I've never once in my MMO career had a problem with the name I want being taken. Then again I tend to spend hours mulling over names from scratch so I suppose that helps too.

[deadite]

I think it might be easy when you have already have a name you're happy with to forget the frustration of coming up with a simple to pronounce and spell fantasy name that a new player can be happy to call their main character.

As for literary names, I'm not in the habit of using them. Occasionally I may mix/match/alter names of minor characters that I liked. For instance, "Auren Stark" is a name that I've used a lot. Auren is kind of a spin on "Auron" from a video game, and the surname "Stark" I pulled from the Song of Ice and Fire books. I like it. It's me.

But even if I did use names like "Eragon" or "Gandalf"... that would really be my own business, and just because you may not like them doesn't mean that they shouldn't be available for those who do. I don't like names that are all lower-case or are phrases crammed together without spaces, but to each their own. (Personally, I'd rather see "Eragon" than "ikillyourface".)

Anyway, it's all subjective. The issue as I see it is this: If a new player comes into the game but can't get a name that they're happy with, they are that much less likely to stick around. And if there are hundreds of names out there from 14 day trials or level 1 characters that logged in one time 5 years ago... what's the harm in freeing them up?

Anyway, not trying to be argumentative. I just think that there's some merit to the suggestion and there's a way to free up some names without compromising any old players who may return. Other games have done this before... most notably Everquest when they deleted all characters under level 5 who hadn't logged in for a certain period of time on inactive accounts. They did it specifically to free up names.

[Chasing]

Question?

Are character names independant from each shard or are they global across all 3 shards?

[awdz]

From what I have seen, you can use a character name on one shard that someone else used on another shard. The names are unique only within their own shard.

[Thicklesip]

I think it might be easy when you have already have a name you're happy with to forget the frustration of coming up with a simple to pronounce and spell fantasy name that a new player can be happy to call their main character.

I wouldn't know. I haven't made a name yet that didn't result in casual readers shrieking in aggravation when they try to type it back out. And let's not get into people trying to SAY them....

But even if I did use names like "Eragon" or "Gandalf"... that would really be my own business, and just because you may not like them doesn't mean that they shouldn't be available for those who do.

I don't think people are campaigning to make them unusable! Just saying that while it is your choice to pick such a name, it is other players' choice to judge you for it.

If a new player comes into the game but can't get a name that they're happy with, they are that much less likely to stick around. And if there are hundreds of names out there from 14 day trials or level 1 characters that logged in one time 5 years ago... what's the harm in freeing them up?

The trouble is that Istaria has a reeeeeally high rate of people wandering away for a long time and then coming back when you least expect it. Nobody's eager to turn new trials away, but they're similarly reluctant to annoy long-dormant players who reawaken.

Anyway, not trying to be argumentative. I just think that there's some merit to the suggestion and there's a way to free up some names without compromising any old players who may return. Other games have done this before... most notably Everquest when they deleted all characters under level 5 who hadn't logged in for a certain period of time on inactive accounts. They did it specifically to free up names.

I do think freeing up old names might be a good idea. I don't know if it's actually warranted, is the trouble. How many good names that new/current players want are already taken? How many of the cases where they're taken is it a case of some nobody alt from four years ago who'll never see the light of day again? I suspect that there just aren't enough to be worth the hassle of GMs combing through the database to prune old characters, or devs writing a way to automatically do it. Especially when all that happens is new characters are forced to make up a new spelling, or whole new name-- which isn't always great, and CAN ruin it for some people, but frequently isn't more than a 5-second blip of irritation before they move on.

[EDIT] to mention that WoW's system is that you can Armory the name you want, and if you find that it's some unplayed bank alt you can petition to have the name freed back up. I like that system more than I like EQ's, I think.

[Chasing]

[EDIT] to mention that WoW's system is that you can Armory the name you want, and if you find that it's some unplayed bank alt you can petition to have the name freed back up. I like that system more than I like EQ's, I think.

That sounds like the best way to do it so far. That way less ppl are impacted, but it might be more overhead admin wise to achieve.

What I would personally like to see on the character creation screen is a button or box, that will suggest free names that you could choose from.

IE if I wanted to make a sslik character, then 10 free sslik type names could be suggested (doesn't mean that you have to pick one of the 10 thou).

[Blue Hasia]

Also i would like to see on the choose a name screen an option that says name available, click ok to continue or back to choose another....because some times im just wondering if that name is available or not and dont want to jump into game just to find out.

[Dracaena]

Well fiddle, was going to quote the name rules from the game policies on the website but those links are broken. _Mod Alert_ the links need to be fixed so they don't just take you to a sign up page for goggle docs.

What I was going to mention is using names from other people's works ex: Gandalf, Frodo. Those are often copywrite territory and against rules in most games out there.

And yes I do make new characters from time to time. The only time I run into problems is using a popular name that is usually tied up no matter what game I am trying to use it with.

Go check out the name list sites on the web, you can often find some very nice uncommon names.


Dracaena