Toy
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Quote:This varies per person. For myself, the amount of time is relevant. Because there will be players that sure will come back but there will be others that won't.Originally Posted by White Hot Flash
As the weather heats up each year, so does this tired argument. It has the same ending as it did each time before.
I'll sum up what others have said in response:
1) All the good names are NOT taken, which means...
2) If you find your favorite name unavailable, get more creative. You're not a snowflake...sorry.
3) The whole point of Freedom was to allow people to come and go, to pay or not pay, as they either need or desire. The amount of time since they've last logged in is irrelevant. They deserve to have their names reserved just as much as those that let their account lapse for two days. See #2 above.
4) If those accounts are over a year old, that means that at some time they've paid money...just like you. See #3
5) Purging scripts have been run, and run, and run some more. They've culled every name that's ever going to be gained. It's not worth the Devs' time to do it again. They've said so themselves. See #2
This comes down to who came first, which by luck is not you. That's the way life goes sometimes. Make some lemonade.
This is a different case but i can compare it with this one. When i have character names that at the end they didn't fit my concept, i prefer to give them to someone that i know, then leave them taking dust. Someone can make a good use of the name, instead of doing nothing on my account. Other players prefer to have the name even they won't be using it at all. I respect that.
First i thought that this case won't go so far. Now i see that it needs to be worked out by the devs, since from post freedom, a lot of people are talking about a new name script and new methods with the name reservation policies.
Just like Brand X has mentioned, Freedom is a method to make more money at the end. Even players can choose to pay or not pay, like most F2P MMO's, they are designed for that. -
Quote:I understand your point and i respect your opinion Memphis Bill. To be honest i still support the idea for the inactive trial accounts and names without a global chat handle to be taken from their account.Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill
See prior mention - just because it's on a "trial" account (and the only way you can see that is a @trial global) doesn't mean that account is not active.
Just imagine: You tried COH a while back on a trial, but didn't stick with it then. You do now, but only play on weekends. On tuesday, a script is run to free up names on accounts starting with @trial. Since there's not a popup telling you "Your global is @trial, you must change it," you haven't paid attention to it. So you come back Saturday and - *bam* you've lost your name and must rename it.
Post-Freedom, there are no "trial" accounts.
I know that the Post Freedom ''trial'' accounts have change but an inactive name since 2004 and an inactive name on an account that never contributed anything for the game, i don't think is fair to have a name doing nothing there.
Another point on this is that if those players have the intention of returning and if they remember all of the information. Some might remember for sure, others won't even have the intentions to return.
It is an unpredictable thing, since we are not in their shoes to know if those former players are going to come back or if the ones with trial accounts are currently active.
Regarding character names in inactive accounts from 3-4 years, i won't get there since that is a different case and we have seen a lot of people returning to the game who were inactive in that time range. -
Quote:Wow! this is a very interesting and funny thing. Now this is a very close case to the other 3 we mentioned above. Their action was a very nice and polite oneOriginally Posted by Dr_MechanoEU
Heh funny thing apparently, one of the people on Union how use to play had a character named Lady Grey, apparently when they introduced Lady Grey they had to ask her if it was ok to use the name.
. (in a positive way)
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Quote:Those are very good points. I read one time that something similar happened with Frost Fire, before he was added to the game. The person explain the situation and he/she could keep-up the name.Originally Posted by Slaunyeh
To be fair, that's two different situations. If you had a character called Frostfire, before the CoH writing team made up a character with that name (and honestly, I expect this happens every time they introduce a new NPC), you should be fine. I vaguely recall a rumour from when Citadel got his new name, but I don't recall any specifics.
In my case, Anti-Matter already existed in lore. And, probably, somewhere in the 40+ game. I just wasn't aware of it 'till much later. But it was still ruled as being okay. Maybe because Antimatter and Anti-Matter are different enough names, or because they're fairly lenient about their own NPCs since they own everything we create in-game anyway, so it's not like I could claim ownership of either character. Or maybe you get brownie points for reporting yourself.
I don't know.
Every responsible GM will be more than glad to us if we report ourselves and they will do all they can to resolve our worries. Even you re-name him, it was cool you could keep him for a good amount of time.
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Quote:I must agree with this. Names that don't have a global name and names tied to a trial account, they must be freed up.Originally Posted by BrandX
Im actually for this! Don't have a global name? Names are freed up!
Not on in so many years. I say free the names. If they come back and leave again because the name is taken, they likely weren't going to stay around anyways. -
Quote:Oh boy.. you tell me. I have Sakura in one specific server and this was a big worry for me when i took the name. I based my Sakura on the real meaning of the name= Cherry Blossom Tree for a Mutation Plant/Thorn Dominator. I use the City of Heroes plant costume set with supernatural face 12, which is a perfect choice for plant characters.Originally Posted by DMystic
Well after reading that sentence I immediately thought of 3 Sakuras that are copyrighted. One for Magic,one for Natural and one that's a mix of Natural/Magic of course the three I'm thinking off are specific but the natural one is somewhat generic as well.
A very nice and responsible member of the GM team work with my case and make the investigation. I'm glad everything went positive and he did understand that i have no intentions in imitating the 3 popular Sakura's= Kinomoto, Kasugano and Haruno.
In addition that Sakura is a very common female given name in Japan. The name is all good as long you don't use a school uniform with martial arts, pink ninja with healing powers and no magic staff and particular unique costumes one. LOL.. Most of Sakura Kinomoto's costumes are impossible to be made on CoH, so that is a very good thing.
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Quote:That's a pretty interesting story.. Since another point of consideration is a name that is used by an npc. You got the name before Antimatter appears in the game. I read about a similar case with the Dr. Aeon name, before the character was introduced to the game.Originally Posted by Slaunyeh
I remember, back in 2004, one of my first characters was a rad/rad defender... named Antimatter. I'm a slow leveller, so it took years (and a reroll to a rad/rad corruptor) before I realized that there was praetorian NPC named Anti-Matter (fun fact, I found out during an event in Pocket D where Posi was playing Anti-Matter. I don't know which of us was more weirded out).
So. Doh! I actually reported myself right away, and a couple of days later got a message from a GM saying it was fine. So I got to keep that name. I still have the character on virtue, though I eventually renamed him anyway.
It is nice that they let you keep the name. In the case of the OP, the problem was that he wasn't pointed out for the Abomination NPCS, he was pointed out for the Marvel Comics Abomination.
My personal experiences for the outcomes of this problems have being the GMS. The very responsible GMS took their time to investigate some of my characters and they even asked their supervisors before making their decision. I have done this with 4 different characters and everything has gone well with the responsible GMS.
I think your case was handled by one of them. Nice to see positive experiences with this type of case.
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I can understand your anger and frustration. I have been on the same position, but all Captain Electric was trying to do is to help you. It is not fair on your part for trying to report him because he has the name Hercules which is a public domain name and his character does not have any resemblance to any of the Hercules (Marvel, DC and so on).
I know how can you feel for what happened to you Abomination character. There are two Abomination NPCS. Abomination from the Halloween Trial and the Abomination Vahzilok minions. I know how contradictory this can be, since if we only point that the trademark violation is just for the character name, there will be a lot of trouble with the Abomination NPCS.
We can use for a good example the character name Jester. In the past, Jester was blocked because of the Marvel Comics Jester, now we have the Jester in First Ward, so we can see another contradictory example.
One of the comments i have support regarding this case is that Paragon/NC Soft have a lot of distrust on how players will handle these type of character names with their likeness. I can understand them because of the lawsuit made by Marvel and how they want to keep safe from all the lawyers fees and scandals. Still they must understand that there are a lot of players that are responsible and will use the names correctly without making any trademark violation.
A good example of this is Captain Electric with Hercules and Selenir with Phoenix.
A good resolution to this problem is to have all the GMS who have real knowledge about comic books, anime, video games, movies, pop culture and etc, to inspect the characters who have these type of character names and make proper investigations based on the costume, powers and background that the player choose for their character. I know that will help since there are a lot of responsible GMS who take their time and do their best to help all the players.
In the other hand, there are other GMS that if any player full of envy or a player who just want to ''protect'' the game from another law-suit, those will not help you at all and they will based their decision if there is a comic book character named Bird, Insect, Bug or Giant, the name can't be used by a player and they will put you on the generic line.
That is the main problem and i can think this could be your case with all the characters you had. At-least Abomination will be an obvious example.
Everyone's opinion count and after reading this, there are some others along Captain Electric which did their best to explain you this situation. There are a lot of us here who have a strong opinion regarding this issue and i hope this can be resolve for the best of all. -
Quote:I remember this very well. It was realistic, since if our characters died thanks to a knockback, knockdown or knock-up power, dying lying on their back should be the correct animation.Originally Posted by Acroyear2
Some years ago CoH had two defeat poses. The one, which is still the current, is to faceplant. The second was to end up lying on your back with arms and legs spread somewhat. It was random which defeat pose would come up when your character was defeated. I like this as it gave a little bit of varity for a group of PCs all defeat in battle at the same time.
Why the Devs removed this alternate defeat animation I do not know, but I'd love to see it returned to this game.
It should be interesting to know if this animation is bugged or if the devs remove it. -
Quote:I remember this very well. It was realistic, since if our characters died thanks to a knockback, knockdown or knock-up power, dying lying on their back should be the correct animation.Originally Posted by Acroyear2
Some years ago CoH had two defeat poses. The one, which is still the current, is to faceplant. The second was to end up lying on your back with arms and legs spread somewhat. It was random which defeat pose would come up when your character was defeated. I like this as it gave a little bit of varity for a group of PCs all defeat in battle at the same time.
Why the Devs removed this alternate defeat animation I do not know, but I'd love to see it returned to this game.
It should be interesting to know if this animation is bugged or if the devs remove it. -
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Quote:I know about this and i was suspecting a lot from the following line: The DEVS can use names that trademarked characters share because they are in complete control of the use of that name, and can avoid any trademark violations. They don't allow US to use them because they can't control how we use the name, and trademark violations are sure to arise if we were allowed t use themOriginally Posted by ClawsandEffect
The name does NOT count.
Names like Deadpool, Batman, or Superman would count, because they are names that are formed by combining words not normally found together.
A name like Inferno, or Ricochet doesn't fall into the same category, because they are simply words.
If you create a Ricochet that does not have the same look and backstory/powers as an existing character, there is nothing that can be done about it, because you cannot copyright or trademark a common word.
Example: http://marvel.com/universe/Ricochet_%28Johnny_Gallo%29
Now, there is a Praetorian character known as Ricochet. It is allowable because the characters share nothing other than the name, which is a common word (common word: found in the dictionary).
The DEVS can use names that trademarked characters share because they are in complete control of the use of that name, and can avoid any trademark violations. They don't allow US to use them because they can't control how we use the name, and trademark violations are sure to arise if we were allowed t use them.
Responsible players won't create imitations of those by any chance. I have been talking about the common words and i agree with your point. I can't complaint at all since we can use some common world names (not Venom, Phantasm) but others that in the past were blocked and they have being nice enough to let us use them.
Still in my opinion, it is unfair to every responsible that will create a unique character with common words that happens to be the name of a famous comic book/manga/anime/video game character.
Still maybe that can change just like with some other names like Spider and Arachnid. Some of the Devs already recognize the good actions of responsible players. -
This is a controversial issue from day 1 and i think that all those iconic unique names should be on the name filter.
In my opinion, There are a lot of character names from Greek/Norse Mythology Creatures and Gods/Goddesses, that shouldn't be on the name filter for any reason. Since the public domain values are law and no matter how many Odin's, Hera's and Aurora's are part of many famous Comic Book companies, their image and background is what protected by laws.
Nobody is the owner of character names which are public domain. Still the Devs are the ones who can change that if they want. -
Quote:Your point reminds me of one of the Paper Missions when one of the Snake leaders has the exact name of an Anti-Hero that we love. It does not violate his image and look, but the name still counts.Originally Posted by Giant2005
They haven't?
The amount of times I have got a paper mish to rob the Chum Bucket made me assume they didn't worry about such things anymore. -
Quote:Don't worry Gunpowder Witch. Not everyone is sociable but being not sociable does not mean being a bad person. In my opinion i would use more the term 'Introvert' since i don't see any anti-social behavior in your writing.Originally Posted by Gunpowder Witch
I apologize for my preceding post.
While a couple of posts were far from gracious the response I gave was out of proportion to the provocation. Emberly hit a hot topic. I am not a leader and am a poor socializer. I rarely talk in teams, leading one is impossible. Having my nose rubbed in that fact while very frustrated at the situation put me in the only frame of mind where I get talkative. I got mad. I pushed myself to start a thread on a topic that was bothering. Obviously I should not have. I was even less successful at that than at leading teams.
Again I apologize for lashing out. Mods can lock this, or I will if the option exists for me.
No more posts.
So everything is alright and remember that there are people here that really want to help you. Forget about the ones who failed at that.
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I released the following names which were available since the last time i checked:
Ballerina
Mortificator
I don't know if there will be a problem with Mortificator because is an NPC name. The thing is you can't copy their costume parts exactly and using a (The) Mortificator will help. There is no way someone who can't confuse you with a NPC, still i recommend to ask support for this one.
I hope Ballerina can find a good home. She can be a very good Blade Dancer concept for a Dual Blades Scrapper/Brute/Stalker/Tanker. -
I have seen more ''Tougher'' answers and there is no reason for quitting because of that. I don't know what really angered her more, but maybe it was this:
If you aren't willing to for your own team, I have no sympathy for you.
I'm not sure but some people are more sensitive to that, others are not. That's why we are all different. Still i find no reason to quit for that and believe me Gunpowder Witch, you gonna find a team for sure, even it takes some time. -
Quote:I can understand how you feel and in my opinion that wasn't the best way to answer your question. I can recommend you to check the Virtue LFG Beta. I have seen a lot of positive feedback about it and it worth to try that. Sometimes finding teams on Virtue is not easy, i have been lucky to find great teams for Task Forces and Police Scanner missions. It takes time but you will find them.Originally Posted by Gunpowder Witch
Some people have a very hard time doing that. My lack of social skills isn't something I normally put up for attacks. I won't make the same mistake here again. Thanks for the lesson.
It is natural for hostility to be met with hostility. I have no empathy for either of you, DIACF.
Don't let that type of answer to take your fun with this game away. You gonna find all kind of people here and you gonna find the good ones too. believe me.
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I love my Sonic/Sonic Defender. She is a Domestic Songbird on the Virtue server and Sonic/Sonic was the perfect choice for her character concept. I know how other Sonic Defenders feel when it comes to find teams and super groups. Not everyone is an Archetype Elitist, but like every situation, you will encounter some of them.
I haven't found any problems right now in finding a good team, but still i have seen the ignorance about the set. Still Sonic is far from Useless. It is my favorite and most fun Defender set i have played since my time in City. All of the sets are needed and all will contribute to a team when they are properly used.
Don't give up!! Believe me, it is very worth to be one. I must agree that the set need a good buff and i hope the Devs will finally give a buff to it.
All_Hell and Emberly are very right about this.. -
Quote:This has been in demand for a couple of years now. I hope they decided to do it, because just like you mentioned it, we are a lot of people who will be paying for having a couple of more of death animations.Originally Posted by Skeeter
As much as this request was for a joke, how about making it an emote select and it is what gets played when your HP hits 0. And Paragon can make even more money with various purchasable death (unconcious) animations.
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Quote:Very true. Same as Victoria, Troll, Hades (is taken on Virtue), Fortunata, Hercules (is taken on Freedom and Virtue) Tarantula, James, King, Dracula, Alucard, Skull, Neko, Sakura and Hunter.Originally Posted by Yogurt
Razor is a blocked name.
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In my case, i have seen a lot of the most wanted one word names around Atlas Park and other low level areas. I have seen periods and apostrophes on names that are not trademarks, for example: Hades but still is on the blocked list, so the player needed to use a period so he can create Hades.
Another good point is like Dinah Might has already mention, there is a lot of competition for certain popular names.
I have saw a lot of those popular names already taken but not in action. Some players are using them as place holders, other players are hiding their global, because they don' want other players to inquire if they can buy or trade their names.
Still i have seen a couple of names that are not taken but that's not gonna be for so long, because i have seen a good population on Exalted and for now this will continue for a good time.
We have to wait until Freedom becomes free to play. -
Quote:Sakura is blocked once again and in my opinion it shouldn't. Sakura is a very common Japanese name which means cherry blossom and is not an name totally attached to a Pink Haired Medical-Nin or a Martial Artist School Girl. At-least I'm talking for the people with a good imagination which can make a lot of unique characters with the Sakura name.Originally Posted by Artegal
Was hoping to get Starforce myself as that is my main badger on Union but I see you got it so that's cool as you have the global as well.
Was also hoping to get either Alice, Sakura or Rhiannon but they were all taken by the time I was able to get online.
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Since the last time i checked, the following names were available:
Thug
Groom
Mobster
Gangster
Dionysus
Cadaver
I don't know if this names are still available before today's server publish took place, but i know some of them are. If you manage to get any of these, i hope you enjoy them!! -
I got the Ancient Greek Goddesses name that i wanted. I'm still impressed that i manage to get them, because those are the first in high demand, since they are high deities. I can't complaint at anything and I'm very happy with the names i got in Exalted.
Gaia
Hera
Demeter
Persephone
Hebe
Hestia
Aphrodite
Arachne
Zombie
Dwarf
Crab
All of the Greek Mythology characters are based on their original ancient Greek writings, which are totally public domain. As for Dwarf, she is based on a City of Heroes concept which are the Nictus. I want her to be a Red Side Warshade.