Character Name Policy -- Thirty Day Notice!
By
0zymandous,
Posted on: 2007-07-31 15:59 in News, Events and Announcement Discussion
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I am under the impression that the ammount of people who will or would return after 18 months of having their account inactive is very slim to none. I don't think that keeping a name indefinately is a good idea, for non-paying, former customers to be able to do.
They could even send out an e-mail 1-2 months in advance so that the people would have a chance to renew, to avoid their names from being purged.
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No. Speaking as somebody who DID in fact unsub and walk away for 18 months (and then came back, obviously) I can guarantee that had I come back to find out some prepubescent little ADD twit too lazy to pick up a [censored] thesaurus ended up swiping any or all of my character names I would not have resubbed for the 18 new months I've been back (most of it in the larger time blocks) and NCsoft would have been out my sub fees (and the extras packs I bought) for that time. I said this last time name purges were suggested, and I think I'll say it every time they come up: LEARN TO BE CREATIVE. Alternative names FOR THE WIN.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is a natural manure. -Thomas Jefferson
Read the Patriot newsletter. It's right, it's free.
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I am under the impression that the ammount of people who will or would return after 18 months of having their account inactive is very slim to none.
[/ QUOTE ]Military. Money trouble. If it weren't 3am I might think of other reasons.
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I left for about that long because I got mono (sleeping 14 hours a day for 9 months really sharpens your priorities about your spare time) and then started a new job with a cross country move. Over a year later some friends tried to get me to play WoW (blech) and I was reminded how awesome CoH was...and I missed my characters.
I was shocked and delighted to find them all still here, just as I had left them, and that more than anything supported my ongoing subscription. (I'll never leave you again! My preciouses!)
All of that said - holy necro post!
Altoholism isn't a problem, its a calling.
60+ characters, 5 years, 3 50's.
I have just convinced a friend of mine to come back, he has been gone for over 18 months.
Yay for the 'invite a friend back' bonus days.
If he stays after the 1st month his wife will no doubt be re-upping as well.
@Catwhoorg "Rule of Three - Finale" Arc# 1984
@Mr Falkland Islands"A Nation Goes Rogue" Arc# 2369 "Toasters and Pop Tarts" Arc#116617
[ QUOTE ]
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I am under the impression that the ammount of people who will or would return after 18 months of having their account inactive is very slim to none. I don't think that keeping a name indefinately is a good idea, for non-paying, former customers to be able to do.
They could even send out an e-mail 1-2 months in advance so that the people would have a chance to renew, to avoid their names from being purged.
[/ QUOTE ]
No. Speaking as somebody who DID in fact unsub and walk away for 18 months (and then came back, obviously) I can guarantee that had I come back to find out some prepubescent little ADD twit too lazy to pick up a [censored] thesaurus ended up swiping any or all of my character names I would not have resubbed for the 18 new months I've been back (most of it in the larger time blocks) and NCsoft would have been out my sub fees (and the extras packs I bought) for that time. I said this last time name purges were suggested, and I think I'll say it every time they come up: LEARN TO BE CREATIVE. Alternative names FOR THE WIN.
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Ummm... maybe YOU should have been more creative with the name you picked so YOU wouldn't have to worry. Not only should YOU be more creative, maybe YOU should have never left... And the excuse of being "broke" or "called for military" is crap... Just pay up, dude. $144 is NOTHING compared what you spend on fast food, movies, etc.
****DEATH****
It's not all "add twits" trying to use the very same name that "you" came up with.
I know a lot of people who've had to add a . or 1 to their name, because the person who play(ed) the character with it is long gone.
My suggestion in the other thread about this was:
Create a 'petition for name' which allows a player to actively say "Hey I want this name, please find out if the name is being used by an active player." A GM would be assigned to looking up through the database whether the account a name is on is in use, how long it's been out of use, and decide whether to award a name to an active, PAID UP player.
I'm sorry but if you were gone for 18 months - tough. I've been here 4 years. There are plenty of people who are new who want a name and it's gone because someone pl'd their character to level 50 and will *always* be outside the purge range - even if they played for 5 months and have *never come back*.
Honestly: people who continue to pay for their accounts, even if they're not playing the game, SHOULD have priority over those who repeatedly use the "come back for 10 days! please pay for another month!" folks. And I know there are plenty of THOSE accounts out there too.
If you're not paying for your account, you're also not PLAYING the characters.
** Does the character have plenty of badges? Or were they created and *abandoned* after badges were even inserted into the game? (a badge-collecting character on hiatus would obviously have a higher chance of retaining a name than one which never got a single badge put on it)
** Does the account have a record of on-again-off-again? (accounts which have been put on only at times of freebie access should be on a lower priority than those which had been paid up and abruptly ended payment.)
** How many OTHER characters are on the account? (Altitis hits a lot of us - and though it pains me to say it, someone with plenty of alternative characters should be LOWER on the priority scale than one which has only 2 or 3 high-level characters on it. The ones with a high level and nothing else, have and will PLAY that character, where as people like myself are likely to have a bazillion names scattered everywhere - if I stopped paying for my account, and someone wanted to use "Blaque Ice" - LET THEM. I have 20 others that aren't as likely to be wanted.)
** Give both accounts name change tokens. If a name change is needed because someone else 'took' the name: get creative yourself. If you've been gone, you lose.
All this within reason: minimum 90 days unpaid, unplayed, inactive accounts only. Not "active" in any way.
I'd like to see NC institute a feedback form which allows us to click a box: I'm coming back, but financial hardship means I can't pay. I'm coming back, I'm on military duty for x months. I'm not bothering to come back, because x and y. etc. If any of thsoe tags came up, obviously, reserve the ones who state why they had to leave versus ones who either didn't give feedback (they don't care) or gave negative feedback (they won't be back).
"Getting creative" IS a high priority for me. But even then: aforementioned Blaque Ice is a 'creative spelling' for a character that would otherwise have been named several times over Black Ice, Black Icee, Black Yce, Blaaak Ice, etc. It happens that it's in character, as Blaque is his last name... But I did try naming him Black Ice. And Black Axe, and Blaque Axe in fact. All taken.
Do I play the character? No. If someone managed to contact my account about it, I'd say SURE - have it, and delete him, because he's like level 8. It's no huge deal for heavy alters like myself, but if he was my ONLY character? Yeah I'd pitch a fit.
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
Repurposed
[ QUOTE ]
It's not all "add twits" trying to use the very same name that "you" came up with.
I know a lot of people who've had to add a . or 1 to their name, because the person who play(ed) the character with it is long gone.
My suggestion in the other thread about this was:
Create a 'petition for name' which allows a player to actively say "Hey I want this name, please find out if the name is being used by an active player." A GM would be assigned to looking up through the database whether the account a name is on is in use, how long it's been out of use, and decide whether to award a name to an active, PAID UP player.
I'm sorry but if you were gone for 18 months - tough. I've been here 4 years. There are plenty of people who are new who want a name and it's gone because someone pl'd their character to level 50 and will *always* be outside the purge range - even if they played for 5 months and have *never come back*.
Honestly: people who continue to pay for their accounts, even if they're not playing the game, SHOULD have priority over those who repeatedly use the "come back for 10 days! please pay for another month!" folks. And I know there are plenty of THOSE accounts out there too.
If you're not paying for your account, you're also not PLAYING the characters.
** Does the character have plenty of badges? Or were they created and *abandoned* after badges were even inserted into the game? (a badge-collecting character on hiatus would obviously have a higher chance of retaining a name than one which never got a single badge put on it)
** Does the account have a record of on-again-off-again? (accounts which have been put on only at times of freebie access should be on a lower priority than those which had been paid up and abruptly ended payment.)
** How many OTHER characters are on the account? (Altitis hits a lot of us - and though it pains me to say it, someone with plenty of alternative characters should be LOWER on the priority scale than one which has only 2 or 3 high-level characters on it. The ones with a high level and nothing else, have and will PLAY that character, where as people like myself are likely to have a bazillion names scattered everywhere - if I stopped paying for my account, and someone wanted to use "Blaque Ice" - LET THEM. I have 20 others that aren't as likely to be wanted.)
** Give both accounts name change tokens. If a name change is needed because someone else 'took' the name: get creative yourself. If you've been gone, you lose.
All this within reason: minimum 90 days unpaid, unplayed, inactive accounts only. Not "active" in any way.
I'd like to see NC institute a feedback form which allows us to click a box: I'm coming back, but financial hardship means I can't pay. I'm coming back, I'm on military duty for x months. I'm not bothering to come back, because x and y. etc. If any of thsoe tags came up, obviously, reserve the ones who state why they had to leave versus ones who either didn't give feedback (they don't care) or gave negative feedback (they won't be back).
"Getting creative" IS a high priority for me. But even then: aforementioned Blaque Ice is a 'creative spelling' for a character that would otherwise have been named several times over Black Ice, Black Icee, Black Yce, Blaaak Ice, etc. It happens that it's in character, as Blaque is his last name... But I did try naming him Black Ice. And Black Axe, and Blaque Axe in fact. All taken.
Do I play the character? No. If someone managed to contact my account about it, I'd say SURE - have it, and delete him, because he's like level 8. It's no huge deal for heavy alters like myself, but if he was my ONLY character? Yeah I'd pitch a fit.
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Dude, this is the BEST idea I've heard thus far. You really can't deny it and anyone who denies it are just mad they couldn't come up with it. ARE THE DEVs LISTENING? ;-)
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It's not all "add twits" trying to use the very same name that "you" came up with.
I know a lot of people who've had to add a . or 1 to their name, because the person who play(ed) the character with it is long gone.
My suggestion in the other thread about this was:
Create a 'petition for name' which allows a player to actively say "Hey I want this name, please find out if the name is being used by an active player." A GM would be assigned to looking up through the database whether the account a name is on is in use, how long it's been out of use, and decide whether to award a name to an active, PAID UP player.
I'm sorry but if you were gone for 18 months - tough. I've been here 4 years. There are plenty of people who are new who want a name and it's gone because someone pl'd their character to level 50 and will *always* be outside the purge range - even if they played for 5 months and have *never come back*.
Honestly: people who continue to pay for their accounts, even if they're not playing the game, SHOULD have priority over those who repeatedly use the "come back for 10 days! please pay for another month!" folks. And I know there are plenty of THOSE accounts out there too.
If you're not paying for your account, you're also not PLAYING the characters.
** Does the character have plenty of badges? Or were they created and *abandoned* after badges were even inserted into the game? (a badge-collecting character on hiatus would obviously have a higher chance of retaining a name than one which never got a single badge put on it)
** Does the account have a record of on-again-off-again? (accounts which have been put on only at times of freebie access should be on a lower priority than those which had been paid up and abruptly ended payment.)
** How many OTHER characters are on the account? (Altitis hits a lot of us - and though it pains me to say it, someone with plenty of alternative characters should be LOWER on the priority scale than one which has only 2 or 3 high-level characters on it. The ones with a high level and nothing else, have and will PLAY that character, where as people like myself are likely to have a bazillion names scattered everywhere - if I stopped paying for my account, and someone wanted to use "Blaque Ice" - LET THEM. I have 20 others that aren't as likely to be wanted.)
** Give both accounts name change tokens. If a name change is needed because someone else 'took' the name: get creative yourself. If you've been gone, you lose.
All this within reason: minimum 90 days unpaid, unplayed, inactive accounts only. Not "active" in any way.
I'd like to see NC institute a feedback form which allows us to click a box: I'm coming back, but financial hardship means I can't pay. I'm coming back, I'm on military duty for x months. I'm not bothering to come back, because x and y. etc. If any of thsoe tags came up, obviously, reserve the ones who state why they had to leave versus ones who either didn't give feedback (they don't care) or gave negative feedback (they won't be back).
"Getting creative" IS a high priority for me. But even then: aforementioned Blaque Ice is a 'creative spelling' for a character that would otherwise have been named several times over Black Ice, Black Icee, Black Yce, Blaaak Ice, etc. It happens that it's in character, as Blaque is his last name... But I did try naming him Black Ice. And Black Axe, and Blaque Axe in fact. All taken.
Do I play the character? No. If someone managed to contact my account about it, I'd say SURE - have it, and delete him, because he's like level 8. It's no huge deal for heavy alters like myself, but if he was my ONLY character? Yeah I'd pitch a fit.
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Call the WAAAAAAmbulance! someone needs a ride. Think of your own names. stop trying to steal someone else's.
Lots of 50's yada yada. still finding fun things to do.
Cthulhu loves you, better start running
I�! I�! Gg�gorsch�a�bha egurtsa�ar�ug d� Dalhor! Cthluhu fthagn! Cthluhu fthagn!
You are in a maze of twisty little passages
I am thinking of my own names. If you'd read: I have over 150 toons with unique names. I have two which I've ever had to do something with to make them in game: Blaque Ice and Dream.Weaver.
How many other people will need "Xanax Queen" or "Cannibal Petey Bones"?
I'm thinking of the people who, recently, have been having issues - as NEW players, PAYING customers - if someone's gone, *they are gone*. I'm not advocating removing their character, I'm saying "let them search and see" if that character's likely to be played *ever again*. Period. Not "immediately hand over the name" - are they Military? stationed at a place without access to the game? Well then *hold those names thank you.* Are they a "wannabe fan" who comes back *only when it's free*? Screw them. Folks who are fair-weather players can have "generic temp hero 1 - 100" for all I care, but what I am saying is: if someone is paying, they take priority. If someone's gone away from the game for 2 years? They are GONE and done with the game, if they want to try getting their name back after it's been taken? Go for it. Same process.
"Hey! This character lost their name!? How! I've only been gone 34 months!! And what are all these 'badge' things?"
I've been playing - and paying - for several accounts for 45 months (just got my badge the other day). I keep my names. Someone that fell off the game after 6 months? They do not get their names. It's not as harsh as it could be, we keep our characters. Anyone who's been gone that long will be complaining more about ED and Big Zones and too much extra stuff coming at them and how their computer can't handle Grandville. They'll already have lost out on most of the game already, and will - most likely - have to create a NEW character anyway. Oooh - wait, what about if they want their own name! They'd have to delete and re-roll - freeing up that name *anyway*.
Sorry, I don't have pity at this point for people who've gone so long from the game that more than half the issues existing will have come out in the meantime. I'm not saying delete the characters, nor on anyone's paid-up account. I would never, ever suggest that. Merely that those who are not going to come back, not be given the preference.
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
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I think the "free weekend" enticements would be a lot less effective at recruiting lapsed players back into the fold if names were retired. I expect that is the reason that names don't get retired on lapsed accounts.
Granted, I have no idea how effective those offers are. But I am pretty certain that having a naming challenge when making a character is a lot less likely to make someone stop paying than coming back to an established character only to find your name gone. I would be much more likely to stop playing in the second situation.
Retiring names would be nice for me, since I've played consistently for a long time. However, I don't think it would be smart from a marketing/sales perspective (and thus not good for the long term health of the game).
Pinnacle
Glowworm * Brrr * Lilinoe
Protector
Kid Trance * Ms. Impala * Red Helen
Virtue
Pooka Pete
I understand that, but I'm not necessarily advocating taking all their names away either:
Only that: if someone asks for a name that they haven't been able to get, that they are allowed to petition to have a GM check on the account which owns it. If the account is paid up, obviously there's no issue: they can't have it. If the account's NOT paid up, there are other conditions to think about including whether the account's ONLY active during "Free weekends".
When I ran a comic shop we would have reasonably regular sales. There was one customer who bought a LOT of manga for her daughter and some of her kid's friends. Thing was, we ordered the books specifically for her - and she would often wait until we had a deep-sale on books to buy them. She cut directly into the profit we could make, by doing this, even though we were making the effort to provide her with the books *on time* when they were available.
On one hand, I see her point: the books cost 10 bucks a pop. On the other hand: my business *suffered* because all she did was essentially leech a box and hold on to those products - or worse, put them back on the shelves until the sale. From a business standpoint, I did have to change the rules: if they were ordered for you or subscribed, no matter *what* product it was (comic, book, manga, etc) it *did not get the sale price*.
She stopped buying regularly and continued to shop only during sales. That's the kind of customer I actually resent - for her cheap attitude. The books still cost us the same to order, whether she bought them full price or not - and in an ailing market with a huge bookstore right across the street which carried the books too - she forced our hand. (and no, she wasn't the only one who would only show up at sales and then demand deeper discounts for buying 'so much' stuff... sigh.)
To me, as someone who *has* seen both angles of this, it still strikes me as 'give the paying customer, the regular customer, MORE'. Because those who do wander off and come back - unless they come back and PAY for several months again, then fall off again, there's no reason to support a bunch of people who will only arrive for the free lunch.
Add to that: those names have never, ever been a huge deal to anyone. Only a few specific names, some near and dear to individuals, but obviously - great minds think alike. There have been plenty of discussions about this in the past. There's no such thing as 'hoarding' a name, because there ARE plenty of good names.
The reason that the policy was even rescinded long ago in the first place, was that it wasn't freeing up and actually USING enough of those names. It wasn't worth their effort, in other words. So to have a much more specific-use rule, petition for a gm to go search for info. Not saying they should SHARE that info of course! Just "yes, you can use this name, we determined it'd be okay" or "no, sorry there are circumstances that won't let you use it." In, I would imagine almost all cases, there should be no issue at all: a 30 month absence or a fly-by-night appearance during freebie weekends does *not* constitute a player who is worth fawning over. Those who are here, consistantly, paying up month by month - or those who have to skip and come back regularly and play actively - those are the ones who honestly, from a business standpoint, will always mean *more* to a company. Been there, done that.
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
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[ QUOTE ]
I understand that, but I'm not necessarily advocating taking all their names away either:
Only that: if someone asks for a name that they haven't been able to get, that they are allowed to petition to have a GM check on the account which owns it. If the account is paid up, obviously there's no issue: they can't have it. If the account's NOT paid up, there are other conditions to think about including whether the account's ONLY active during "Free weekends".
When I ran a comic shop we would have reasonably regular sales. There was one customer who bought a LOT of manga for her daughter and some of her kid's friends. Thing was, we ordered the books specifically for her - and she would often wait until we had a deep-sale on books to buy them. She cut directly into the profit we could make, by doing this, even though we were making the effort to provide her with the books *on time* when they were available.
On one hand, I see her point: the books cost 10 bucks a pop. On the other hand: my business *suffered* because all she did was essentially leech a box and hold on to those products - or worse, put them back on the shelves until the sale. From a business standpoint, I did have to change the rules: if they were ordered for you or subscribed, no matter *what* product it was (comic, book, manga, etc) it *did not get the sale price*.
She stopped buying regularly and continued to shop only during sales. That's the kind of customer I actually resent - for her cheap attitude. The books still cost us the same to order, whether she bought them full price or not - and in an ailing market with a huge bookstore right across the street which carried the books too - she forced our hand. (and no, she wasn't the only one who would only show up at sales and then demand deeper discounts for buying 'so much' stuff... sigh.)
To me, as someone who *has* seen both angles of this, it still strikes me as 'give the paying customer, the regular customer, MORE'. Because those who do wander off and come back - unless they come back and PAY for several months again, then fall off again, there's no reason to support a bunch of people who will only arrive for the free lunch.
Add to that: those names have never, ever been a huge deal to anyone. Only a few specific names, some near and dear to individuals, but obviously - great minds think alike. There have been plenty of discussions about this in the past. There's no such thing as 'hoarding' a name, because there ARE plenty of good names.
The reason that the policy was even rescinded long ago in the first place, was that it wasn't freeing up and actually USING enough of those names. It wasn't worth their effort, in other words. So to have a much more specific-use rule, petition for a gm to go search for info. Not saying they should SHARE that info of course! Just "yes, you can use this name, we determined it'd be okay" or "no, sorry there are circumstances that won't let you use it." In, I would imagine almost all cases, there should be no issue at all: a 30 month absence or a fly-by-night appearance during freebie weekends does *not* constitute a player who is worth fawning over. Those who are here, consistantly, paying up month by month - or those who have to skip and come back regularly and play actively - those are the ones who honestly, from a business standpoint, will always mean *more* to a company. Been there, done that.
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Wait it sounds like you're asking them to change things so GMs/support staff have to do manual work on a case by case basis. Wouldn't it make more sense to update or otherwise make changes to the policy, and then run new queries for available names?
I mean from a customer support business standpoint introducing new manual work sounds like the least scalable solution, and something that a smart business would try their best to avoid. If you think about the costs involved, would you really rather have the cost of customer support increase proportionally to costs spent on development?
I would rather have one or two people dedicated to the task, if need be, yes.
There would be plenty of other changes which would also be required, of course.
** "I'm leaving my account" information. As I said before, if someone doesn't care to leave information, or says in plain words 'I don't like this game' they are low priority. Someone clicks the box for "military, deployment, I'll be back" they keep their names. I know that this is done in other games (as purely feedback, I mean), to some extent, that's where I got the idea from. This in itself would clue in any manual information search where to NEVER bother to snag a name from.
** Perhaps the request could actually be forwarded to the account holder. 3rd party only, obviously - "Someone in the game has requested a name which we believe your account uses. If you would like to keep this name, please reactivate your account." or something similar. Thus: if someone hasn't bothered to update their email info, and won't get the info, they are *very unlikely* to want the account anyway.
** Yes, train and keep people on board whose job it is to handle *specific things*. Why not? Their cost of support has already been increased, and with all the additional things we can buy for the game... my money is well spent. Heck, they could even *charge for the petition* to make it less likely to be abused. You REALLY REALLY want the name? Well someone's paying to ask about it, get back on the game and 'rescue' your abandoned character. (and again: not a guarantee - this would be a risky move, to want to pay for something that you might not even be able to get. It should be a last ditch effort. But an effort I think might be worth it for the few people who would decide 'I really, really do want that name, and if it's on an account being ignored by its old owner for 2 years+, I'm willing to get it from them.')
I don't think it'd be something that would ever be implemented, mind you. But I think that tossing the idea out at all might spark some discussion in the higher-ups about it.
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
Repurposed
1) im leaving data..
I check military no matter what, my names are safe.
2) blackmailing customers is a lousy way to keep thm
3) orderable sets are 99% gm interaction free. The cost of having people assigned to getting names for unimaginative dorks is prohibitive. You say you have no problem getting names. How can the new player tell the difference between someone that has not had an active account in 6 months or an alt of mine that i havent played on guardian in 6 months.What is the line? tell the gm's its ok to pull a name that hasnt been played for 2 years even if the player has played other toons on that account in the last week? He isnt using it. Newbies need to think of their own names, just like the rest of us do.
Lots of 50's yada yada. still finding fun things to do.
Cthulhu loves you, better start running
I�! I�! Gg�gorsch�a�bha egurtsa�ar�ug d� Dalhor! Cthluhu fthagn! Cthluhu fthagn!
You are in a maze of twisty little passages
"Blackmailing"?! Lol! As a business, I'd expect people who come in only once in 3 months or less and *don't pay* to play, to be the least of my concerns. Those who actually are putting up the cash? They get the developments and benefits of it.
Here is the thing: if you left your apartment, unpaid and unvisited, for 5 months with no forwarding address and no information behind, would you expect the people you're renting from to just ... keep everything? For you?
I wouldn't. If I came back after 6 months and said, "well, I'm back!" I'd expect people to be worried about me, but also, realistically, I'd expect everything that was being held to have been sold off or taken back by family. After only 1 or 2 months unpaid space rent at the storage facility where I have 2 full units, they break open the lock, and sell/trash/give away everything in a locker regardless. Someone comes back then, they're completely SOL. You only garner the benefits of the game while you are *paying to play it*.
And your statement - "it's okay to pull" - no, it would not be, not even by any stretch of MY imagination, as I've repeatedly stated. The MAIN qualifier is "UNPAID, UNPLAYED" accounts. Not "unplayed characters" on paid up and active accounts! Please understand the HUGE difference there.
I don't have to VISIT my storage units, I only have to PAY for them. Exactly the same deal here: I don't have to play all my alts - all I need to do is pay up on them to secure my right to keep their name. People who do NOT do so, those are the ones I'm talking about.
And remember: the people posting here are the ones who, primarily, are "in the know" about things happening in and around the game. A LOT of people inside the game itself don't even KNOW there are forums, even though there's a link right on the updater. Military? They're a little more aware because they DO know they can be deployed.
But folks who don't even know they should be GETTING emails from the game? I know a bunch here that have had to make corrections, because for whatever reason they stopped - but they made the effort. The people I'm talking about who may lose a name, do NOT make the effort. To keep, play, pay for or maintain their accounts.
So please stop making the weird assumption - that I've repeatedly said otherwise - that I mean to take away names from paid up, active accounts. That is NOT what I'm talking about. Only those who are NOT paying. That's how NC worked it anyway: 90 days unpaid accounts. That's only 3 months.
I'm talking about "what about the people who haven't been back, EVER, after their first stint" or "they don't bother paying, but they come back for a free weekend".
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
Repurposed
It's just not a good idea. Don't make me Jranger you!
If you really want to free up names, maybe a better idea would be a voluntary retirement system for active accounts like so:
Joe Gamer has an active CoH/V account. He has a billion alts spread over many servers. A lot of them are under level 6. After 90 days of inactivity, Joe Gamer will get a prompt:
Character [Name X] is below level 6 and has not been accessed in 90 days. Would you like to release the name of this character so that another player may use it? This will only remove the character name, it will not affect the character in any other way. If you choose to release the name, [Name X] will be issued a free character rename token the next time you log the character into the game.
YES, I will release the name of character [Name X]
NO, I would prefer to keep the name of character [Name X] for now
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This puts the onus on active players to stop sitting on names they aren't using and there can be no hard feelings because the system is voluntary -- they can just say no and be done with it.
Penalizing former players when they come back is never a good idea. You don't know why someone stopped playing, you don't know if or when they might be back. You can't presume what their motives are.
But they already do penalize them: 2 purges later, and I haven't yet heard of ONE peep from someone who "came back" to find their characters had been genericed. Not a one. If there is one, sadly I suspect it'd have been lost to time. But this is nothing new, and nothing more than a logical extention of what the company *already does*.
For your suggestion, this would place a LOT of problems on people like me, who have 100+ alts: why would I have to click box all of them, I'm a paying customer. I'm not even refering to paying customers. I only mean to penalize those who *do not care* or *will never notice*.
And like I said: if someone tracked me down and said, "hey are you the owner of X name?" "Yah, why?" "Well I've got a great character concept but it sucks not to have that name. Are you playing it?" "No, actually I'm not. I'll check - I don't even think it's high level, I could probably stand to remove it for you."
Not everyone WOULD, and certainly there would be names that I'd keep - but again, ones which are very, very unlikely to be needed by other active players.
The problem of non-paying people losing their character names is essentially a non-issue. To my knowledge not one person has complained about it, because they *have not returned*. I'd love to hear about someone who did, *and is still paying now after returning* (ie: not someone who jumps on during the free weekend and complains, because they WILL NOT HAVE PAID again anyway).
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
Repurposed
I doubt many people are overly attached to characters under level 6. I actually have no problem with the system as is, even though it does penalize absent players. It's a mild penalty. I don't see a reason to make it more severe.
I know three people who lost character names because of the policy that was in place when it hit any character under 35. None play the game now but all three had resubbed to find character names wiped out. I'll ask them if the name loss was a factor in any of them quitting.
I am still of the mind that with millions of combinations of names out there and the already in-place policy of purging lower than level 6 names on inactive accounts, nothing more need be done. It's up to the player to find a name they like and can live with.
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I am under the impression that the ammount of people who will or would return after 18 months of having their account inactive is very slim to none.
[/ QUOTE ]Military. Money trouble. If it weren't 3am I might think of other reasons.
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New baby.
Serious illness, or death, in the family. (For example, my mother spent several months on deathwatch for my grandmother, taking care of her as best she could ... she didn't even have enough time each day, between her work and taking care of her mother, to get a full night's sleep in ... let alone recreational activities. Had she been a player here, I doubt she'd then return very quickly afterwards, either.)
A serious illness YOURSELF, possibly resulting in an extended hospitalisation.
...
Yeah, plenty of reasons.
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[...] the excuse of being [...] "called for military" is crap... Just pay up, dude. $144 is NOTHING compared what you spend on fast food, movies, etc.
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/EPIC FAIL
I don't expect that the soldiers in Iraq - who're being SHOT AT, not to mention having to worry about bombs, grenades, and sundry other engines of dismemberment and death - get to stroll over to a McDonald's very often, hey?
And as for your dismissing being broke ... guess what, chowderhead: some of us live on VERY tight budgets. Maybe someday when you're not getting free room and board from your parents, you'll understand that SOMEtimes, it's not "hmm, order pizza tonight ... or pay CoH this month".
Sometimes it's "EAT this week, or pay CoH this month?"
Not a happy choice. And noone should ever dismiss "I'm broke", until they've FACED that very sort of choice.
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I am still of the mind that with millions of combinations of names out there and the already in-place policy of purging lower than level 6 names on inactive accounts, nothing more need be done. It's up to the player to find a name they like and can live with.
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I'd like to see the cutoff raised to 10, or even 15. Other than that ... I agree wholeheartedly, the current system works reasonably well.
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It's just not a good idea. Don't make me Jranger you!
If you really want to free up names, maybe a better idea would be a voluntary retirement system for active accounts like so:
Joe Gamer has an active CoH/V account. He has a billion alts spread over many servers. A lot of them are under level 6. After 90 days of inactivity, Joe Gamer will get a prompt:
Character [Name X] is below level 6 and has not been accessed in 90 days. Would you like to release the name of this character so that another player may use it? This will only remove the character name, it will not affect the character in any other way. If you choose to release the name, [Name X] will be issued a free character rename token the next time you log the character into the game.
YES, I will release the name of character [Name X]
NO, I would prefer to keep the name of character [Name X] for now
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*Hell* no.
Yes, I have lowbie characters... heck, I have a grav/kin I created back when we could still get the Malaise pants and original "Pointy ears" head, who's all of level 9 right now.
Getting those would be *irritating.*
BUT, you have the kernel of an idea.
Inactive account, just a few characters.
3 months - "You haven't been active, here's an offer to come back!"
6 months - Offer to come back, or "Please let us know if you don't intend to return."
Repeatd at 1 year and at 18 months.
If any of those get a reply of "No, I'm not coming back," they get one more email to verify - "Are you sure?" which lets them know that, if this is done, the entire account is wiped. Account (billing and game) names, characters purged, the works.
"Yes, I'm sure" - happens immedately.
No response - happens in one month.
"No, I'm not" - still a valid email, continue on the email notices, etc.
Also, they should be able to log on to the PlayNC site and opt to have their characters purged. ("I no longer have the client, I'm inactive and will not be back" or something.)
All of which keeps it in the players' control.
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And like I said: if someone tracked me down and said, "hey are you the owner of X name?" "Yah, why?" "Well I've got a great character concept but it sucks not to have that name. Are you playing it?" "No, actually I'm not. I'll check - I don't even think it's high level, I could probably stand to remove it for you."
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They won't have to have a GM or anybody else to look up names for people. When the City Vault launches people will be able to search for names themselves and start bugging the crap out of whoever has it to give it up so they can have it. If the name is on a dead account, then they can start bugging the crap out of the GMs and devs to give it to them. What a wonderful tool they're building for us. 
I think having full time GMs devoted to name scrutinizing is somewhat excessive. I just don't see how it's a bad idea to have _some_ kind of cutoff for name holding. If an account is INACTIVE for 3 1/2 years, what's the point of that account still holding names. I've suggested a few cutoff times, but really, I'm not the one who would know best what a proper cutoff time should be, the devs are. All I'm saying is that there should be _some_ defined line. If this game goes on for another 4 years, are people seriously saying that accounts made and abandoned within the 1st 6 months of the game's history should still be allowed to hold onto their names indefinately? If so, then I believe they are being very naive and unrealistic.
Personally, I think automated emails being sent saying, "Your account has been inactive for 12 months and the names will be released in 30 days if you do not respond." would be fine.
Even servicemembers in Iraq have email access at least once per year, and allowing them to click one link to have their account maintained (possibly with the link asking, "why the absence?" and making it noted in the account) isn't asking too much.
Non-response gets purged.
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I am under the impression that the ammount of people who will or would return after 18 months of having their account inactive is very slim to none.
[/ QUOTE ]Military. Money trouble. If it weren't 3am I might think of other reasons.
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt