City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

Character Name Policy -- Thirty Day Notice!

0zymandous

By 0zymandous,
Posted on: 2007-07-31 15:59 in News, Events and Announcement Discussion

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
I'm just pointing out ways in which I watch to see if names are in use. Of course they're not 100% accurate.

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That's an understatement on the magnitude of "Mission Accomplished."

Do you want to know exactly how far from certain your methods are? Let's do some math.

Assume you play 10 hours a day in a continuous bloc, and assume you pay attention so closely that you will never miss if the target name logs on. That means for 10 hours straight, you log in and stare at the chat window, don't eat, don't blink, don't go the bathroom, don't even play lest you miss their login.

Let's assume that the player you're watching plays for 4 hours/day in a contiguous bloc, 5 days a week. He's pretty active.

Let's say he's got 24 characters, each of which he plays more or less randomly on any given day, but he plays one character for all 4 hours of his time. Let's also assume he's on Hide about half the time.

Your odds of seeing that guy log in are 0.714 x 0.0416 x 0.541 x 0.50, or about 0.8% chance — and I've been extremely generous with the starting terms! Chances are very good that you do NOT meet the assumptions in the formula, never missing any time he logs in, never eating or running to the bathroom, never looking away from your Friends list.

It's more likely that you play about 6 hours a day, 5 days a week; and your target has 48 characters instead of 24; and he might play 2 hours a day, 4 days a week. Know what your odds are then of seeing him? About a tenth of a percent — if he's never on Hide! That means you could watch your Friends list for about 3 years and still only have about a fifty-fifty chance of spotting him. (We're not even going to try to calculate what happens if that player is like most — who get a character up to about level 35 and then lose interest, moving on to a new character. You might be diligently waiting for him to log in his level 42 Fire/Fire Tanker that he hasn't played since Issue 3.)

And you say your system is "not 100%." It's about as far from 100% as you could make it. As mathematical proof, the methods described are about as reliable as balancing a feather on a soap bubble.
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I would still love to hear a valid explanation for why someone who has been inactive for the entire duration of the game's life to this point deserves to maintain the names - not even the characters themselves, just the names - of any character.

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That's a strawman argument. I don't think anybody here has said that somebody who logged in once and has never returned in four years deserves to keep their names. I'm certainly not going to step up to defend an argument I never made.

I'm all for having narrowly targeted names removed from the database after a suitable delay. I've never let my subscription lapse (to date, cross fingers), so any name deletion policy would only benefit me rather than harm me, but I simply don't see the vehemence of the users here who absolutely insist that because they sent 1 email and checked 3 times for the user login, that the name they want would and must be affected by any name purge. The logic is faulty. Just do the math and you can see how faulty it truly is.

 

Posted

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I'm just pointing out ways in which I watch to see if names are in use. Of course they're not 100% accurate.

[/ QUOTE ]
That's an understatement on the magnitude of "Mission Accomplished."

Do you want to know exactly how far from certain your methods are? Let's do some math.

[/ QUOTE ]
Ok.

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Assume you play 10 hours a day in a continuous bloc, and assume you pay attention so closely that you will never miss if the target name logs on. That means for 10 hours straight, you log in and stare at the chat window, don't eat, don't blink, don't go the bathroom, don't even play lest you miss their login.

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Or, I could keep chat logs and check for the friend message that pops up when they sign online. Whichever one is easier. Which, of course, means that I can keep track 24 hours a day.

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Let's assume that the player you're watching plays for 4 hours/day in a contiguous bloc, 5 days a week. He's pretty active.

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Except, I’m not just watching one player. I’m watching twenty-five names.

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Let's say he's got 24 characters, each of which he plays more or less randomly on any given day, but he plays one character for all 4 hours of his time. Let's also assume he's on Hide about half the time.

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Let’s say each player has twelve. I think that’s a good average between multiple-server max-slotters and the single-toon players. Also, I know about two people that play on Hide at all – so let’s say a nice 20% Hide percentage.

So, let’s try this out. There’s a one out of twelve chance for each of the (presumptive) twenty-five players to log in to each of the characters per day. That’s around 8.3%. I won’t see them if they’re on Hide – so multiple by .8 it is. A nice 6.7%. Since I mostly stay logged on overnight, I’ll be watching 24 hours a day, 6 days a week (leaving one day off just for good measure, updates and all that). So there’s a 1/7 chance that I won’t be online when the person signs on. That’s about 14% - so multiple that 6.7 by .86. That’s a 5.8% chance that I will see any one of any of the 25 characters being monitored on any given day, monitoring most days consistently. I think that’s pretty good math.

Nevertheless, this is all semantics - and it's not even an important point, really. Let's get back to the meat of the issue.

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I would still love to hear a valid explanation for why someone who has been inactive for the entire duration of the game's life to this point deserves to maintain the names - not even the characters themselves, just the names - of any character.

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That's a strawman argument. I don't think anybody here has said that somebody who logged in once and has never returned in four years deserves to keep their names.

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My posts clearly outline a plan to have scaling name purges, where those inactive a year or two are minimally affected, while those inactive three or four years are more heavily affected. That is my stance – if you do not disagree with it, then there’s no reason even for an argument between us.

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I simply don't see the vehemence of the users here who absolutely insist that because they sent 1 email and checked 3 times for the user login, that the name they want would and must be affected by any name purge. The logic is faulty. Just do the math and you can see how faulty it truly is.

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I never said that. I am simply attempting to express the magnitude of the problem. For instance, I think that ‘Viking’ and ‘Norseman’ on Champion are probably taken by someone who has been inactive for quite a long while. However, my goal is not to ‘snatch’ these names. Ideally, I would simply like to see a reliable, fair, and consistent name purging cycle put in place by the support team – regardless of which names were freed up, it would be good for the game. The friends list I monitor is solely for my own benefit, though I can use it as an example to show the disuse of popular names (more likely than not, due to inactive accounts), while the policies I suggest are based on my ideas with the community in mind.

I hope that helps clarify the situation.

 

Posted

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That's a strawman argument. I don't think anybody here has said that somebody who logged in once and has never returned in four years deserves to keep their names. I'm certainly not going to step up to defend an argument I never made.

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You may not have made it, but many, many people have. "If I left for 18 years and came back and my name was taken... I'd quit playing!" has been a fairly common mantra. Also, from the posters in this thread, I'd assume that every single person that has ever played and left for more than a year comes back. All of them. 100% certainty.

 

Posted

Side note: A "finger"-type command (show user last on data) for name searches wouldn't be terribly hard to add (since we know the functionality exists due to SG-last on display) and might allow a nice way to free up names.

If I finger "Lord Soth" and find out that it hasn't been logged in for 30 months, I can petition to have the name released.

 

Posted

Keep the discussion clean and non-accusatory. You can disagree with someone's opinion, but you may not insult said person for having their opinion nor disparage it for being different from your own opinion. Instead state yours, and why you feel yours is the correct way.

Koschej
Community Moderator
If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.

 

Posted

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Bill, I'm not saying that all names were taken at the start. I'm not saying that all of the names I've tried to track down are on completely cancelled accounts. I'm saying that a lot - a hell of a lot - either are or might as well be.


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And a hell of a lot are not. I'm not going with - who was it, Pax? Fleeting's? billion-odd per character.
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As you can see, I've come across good names as well, but there's a distinct difference between finding a good name and finding a good name for a concept you had. I build concepts around names because of how rare the truly good names are.

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I rarely have to "retry" a name. Hell, I've gotten some I tried on a lark - Clair de Lune and the aforementioned Theorum among them. And I'm a freaking altaholic.

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But the point is, it can't really hurt. Ok, I know a good handful of people who've taken breaks for a year for one reason or another. None of them lost names to purges, and none of them had names that would have been tried by players even if they had been purged. None of them would have really minded if they lost the name of a level 12 character. Ok, now let's name some people that have come back after two years. Got a couple? Maybe a few? Ok, name some that have come back after three years. Probably not that many, right?

Then ask yourself if they had any names that would have been highly sought after in the applicable level threshold. I'm guessing they wouldn't.

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Aren't you contradicting yourself here? "The people who have been gone have practically all the good names" to "Think of people who have been gone a year or two, they probably don't have any good names."

Which is it?

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Addressing another point, you can't tell me that the moment beta hit, people weren't snatching up names like 'Warlord' or whatever. The basic stuff. The stuff you first think of when you think of what a character is like. With that huge influx of players at the beginning, it's not at all accurate that they could have nabbed a majority of the simpler names?

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"Leech"
"Hex Girl"
"Mantid"

And who says "simple" names are what people come up with for a character? Especially in a comic book genre, where "Mysterio" (not a real word) or "Project Rage" is just as likely a name?

Hell, I'd almost like to see the "list" you have.

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Yes, I will assume that point, because it's the most reasonable assumption. If the names never appear online, do not seem to belong to any person who appears on the forums, or in SGs, or in chats, if it's a simple name, yes, I will assume that it is likely on an old account, which may have been deactivated for some time. I don't think that's unreasonable. Of course all of them aren't, but like I said - it can't really hurt.

[/ QUOTE ]

1. "Do not appear online" has been beaten to death in this thread already, even if you don't care to accept it. (Oh, you also cannot befriend an enemy... even though that does give yet another place these names could be used.)

2. "Do not seem to belong to any person who appears on the forums" - The devs have told us maybe 10% of the playerbase is on the forums. I'm a regular. Other than my forum name, I think you might have seen, oh, 10 of my character names mentioned at one point or another. Heck, I'll give it 15. Some of which have been deleted. That's an even worse indicator of if a name is on an inactive account or not than "I sit AFK watching a friends list."

3. SGs or chats - How many SGs publish their member lists? None? Same with chats - globals use a global name, unless someone' sset up a bind. Broadcast? I don't always say anything. If you were watching chat for Memphis Bill on Pinnacle, you'd have had very few chances to ever see me.

That character, too - especially when I hit the mid 30s and started getting farm invites (Fire/* tank) spent quite a bit of time on hide. Using your own "system," your assumption would be that that character was on an inactive account.

And you'd be wrong.

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
Side note: A "finger"-type command (show user last on data) for name searches wouldn't be terribly hard to add (since we know the functionality exists due to SG-last on display) and might allow a nice way to free up names.

If I finger "Lord Soth" and find out that it hasn't been logged in for 30 months, I can petition to have the name released.

[/ QUOTE ]

Which is very similar to what I've been saying. Petition on a name-by-name basis. Sheesh. It's like people want to think I'm stealing babies, when what I said was, "let's give people a chance to get a name that by all appearances will never be used by its original owner again."

Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
Repurposed

 

Posted

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Bill, I'm not saying that all names were taken at the start. I'm not saying that all of the names I've tried to track down are on completely cancelled accounts. I'm saying that a lot - a hell of a lot - either are or might as well be.


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And a hell of a lot are not. I'm not going with - who was it, Pax? Fleeting's? billion-odd per character.

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Letter combinations... if you're going to attack the validity of my arguments, please, please hold yourself to the same standards.

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As you can see, I've come across good names as well, but there's a distinct difference between finding a good name and finding a good name for a concept you had. I build concepts around names because of how rare the truly good names are.

[/ QUOTE ]

I rarely have to "retry" a name. Hell, I've gotten some I tried on a lark - Clair de Lune and the aforementioned Theorum among them. And I'm a freaking altaholic.

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'Clair de Lune' is hardly the caliber of name I'm talking about. Try 'Hellfire' or 'Sovereign'.

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But the point is, it can't really hurt. Ok, I know a good handful of people who've taken breaks for a year for one reason or another. None of them lost names to purges, and none of them had names that would have been tried by players even if they had been purged. None of them would have really minded if they lost the name of a level 12 character. Ok, now let's name some people that have come back after two years. Got a couple? Maybe a few? Ok, name some that have come back after three years. Probably not that many, right?

Then ask yourself if they had any names that would have been highly sought after in the applicable level threshold. I'm guessing they wouldn't.

[/ QUOTE ]

Aren't you contradicting yourself here? "The people who have been gone have practically all the good names" to "Think of people who have been gone a year or two, they probably don't have any good names."

Which is it?

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It's both. Many people simply do not have widely sought names. My point is that from personal experience, nobody I have encountered would have been negatively affected by the plan I have suggested.

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Addressing another point, you can't tell me that the moment beta hit, people weren't snatching up names like 'Warlord' or whatever. The basic stuff. The stuff you first think of when you think of what a character is like. With that huge influx of players at the beginning, it's not at all accurate that they could have nabbed a majority of the simpler names?

[/ QUOTE ]

"Leech"
"Hex Girl"
"Mantid"

And who says "simple" names are what people come up with for a character? Especially in a comic book genre, where "Mysterio" (not a real word) or "Project Rage" is just as likely a name?

[/ QUOTE ]
The problem is, it's not just as likely in our Cities. It's a dozen times more likely that the name will be along the lines of 'Project Rage' than 'The Lizard.' We're more likely to have 'Perak' than 'Feedback,' or 'Kraven' over 'Atom.' It's not that these names are necessarily better or worse - being more of a silver age person, I lean towards the more classic ones, but excellent concepts can be made with either subsection of names - it's that there is an extreme imbalance in which type is more available. The simple names are in short supply because they are simple and come more quickly to mind, and are a little bit more appealing from a comic book concept standpoint.

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Hell, I'd almost like to see the "list" you have.

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That can be arranged. This is my "most wanted" list (incomplete, have other lists elsewhere with hundreds more names).

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Adventurer
Almighty
Amplifier
Aztec
Backfire
Berserker
Blitzkrieg
Boss
Buccaneer
Cataclysm
Cavalier
Centurion
Champion
Cherub
Concerto
Cougar
Cowboy
Crossfire
Cyclone
Daemon
Daybreak
Deadbeat
Demigod
Demon
Destroyer
Doctor
Download
Dreadnought
Dynamo
Earthbound
Earthquake
End
Equalizer
Everest
Evergreen
Executioner
Eye
Eye of the Storm
Falcon
Fallen
Fearless
Fenrir
Fireball
Firefight
Firepower
Firework
Frostbite
Glacier
Gladiator
Goddess
Gravedigger
Green Thumb
Guardsman
Guerilla
Headhunter
Heavyweight
Hellfire
Herald
Hero
Hotshot
Huntsman
Iceberg
Immortal
Invader
Ironwork
Jaguar
Junkyard
Legionnaire
Livewire
Lumberjack
Lunatic
Lynchpin
Macabre
Magnum
Mainframe
Maniac
Manifesto
Marksman
Martyr
Masquerade
Maverick
Mechano
Messenger
Messiah
Meteor
Musketeer
Nomad
Norseman
Outlaw
Overkill
Panzer
Patriot
Peacekeeper
Phantom
Pioneer
Pirate
Prophet
Reaper
Renaissance
Renegade
Samurai
Savior
Sentry
Seraph
Serpent
Sheik
Sheikh
Sideshow
Slaughterhouse
Soundtrack
Soundwave
Sovereign
Spartacus
Specimen
Sputnik
Stinger
Stonemason
Stormfront
Striker
Supersonic
Surge
Swashbuckler
Swordsman
Symphony
Terror
Timekeeper
Tomahawk
Torpedo
Totenkopf
Traveller
Ultrasonic
Vesuvius
Victor
Viking
Viper
Vortex
Warhawk
Warlord
Warmonger
Weatherman
Werewolf
Widower
Wildfire
Wireless
Witch Doctor
Wrangler
Zephyr

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your assumption would be that that character was on an inactive account.

And you'd be wrong.

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Ok, I know I've been arguing whether or not my methods were reliable, but really, is it even relevant? Can it realistically be denied that long-inactive accounts hold some of the best, most classic names available? Arguing over a magnifying glass doesn't change what's under it. Sure, let's say that I'm blind as a bat when it comes to finding out whether or not the characters are active or not. And? The painful truth is still there. Hell, when they instituted the level 5 and under 90-day inactive purge, crazy names like 'Earth,' 'Wind,' 'Fire,' 'Blackguard,' 'Gateway,' 'Anubis,' 'Odin,' and others opened on Champion. That's level five. It's mindboggling to think what could be unleashed if level 12 or 15 were purged (with a higher inactivity threshold, of course).

 

Posted

I guess I'm totally missing the point of why it matters what accounts are active and not being found. Because I'm not seeing any reason why it matters at all.

and Hertz said:[ QUOTE ]
I don't think anybody here has said that somebody who logged in once and has never returned in four years deserves to keep their names.

[/ QUOTE ]

unfortunately, as Havendunk stated, that is very much the case. Many have posted saying that a name should be untouchable forever, no matter how long the account has been expired.

 

Posted

I've been fortunate , there have been names I've tried for and not been able to retrieve. But the ones I have are spelled correctly and memorable. I hope they do unlock some of the non-played character names. All of my characters have 2 names - Southern Spice, Electric Jolt, London Knave, Evening Noir, Dream Dove, Winter Swan, Silver Locust, Exotic Ecstacy. I was thrilled the other month when I typed in Shimmer and it was actually available. I would like to see unpaid account names become available after a reasonable amount of time, but if the devs choose to hold out until there is a larger need to do it, it won't take away form the game it just means I have to be a bit more original and I can live with that as long as I don't have to spell my name with a 3 instead of an E.

 

Posted

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This is my "most wanted" list (incomplete, have other lists elsewhere with hundreds more names)...

Adventurer
Almighty
Amplifier
Aztec
... etc


[/ QUOTE ]

Hate to break it to you, but quite a number of the names on your list are not only "taken" in the game, they're taken in real life, too. DC and Marvel and Image (among others) are squatting on your names, the dirty bounders.

Try googling "Phantom" and "comics" and "Lee Falk" for example.

Just off the top of my head:

Blitzkrieg -- DC villain
Cavalier -- DC villain
Cougar -- Rob Liefield Image character
Crossfire -- Marvel villain
Cyclone -- Marvel villain
Demon -- DC hero (Jack Kirby 4th World)
Destroyer -- Marvel hero (actually 2 of them)
Dynamo -- Golden Age hero
Executioner -- Marvel villain
Eye -- Golden Age hero, also a Silver Age indie hero
Falcon -- Marvel hero
Firepower -- Marvel villain
Gladiator -- Marvel villain
Guardsman -- Marvel hero(es)
Immortal -- Image hero (Invincible series)
Jaguar -- Archie Comics hero
Livewire -- Marvel villain
Magnum -- Marvel villain
Maverick -- Marvel hero
Mechano -- Golden Age hero
Nomad -- Marvel hero
Patriot -- Marvel hero
Peacekeeper -- Charlton/DC hero
Phantom -- Lee Falk's archetypal original tights-and-mask hero
Pioneer -- Golden Age hero
Sentry -- Marvel villain
Swordsman -- Marvel villain/hero
Terror -- Marvel hero
Tomahawk -- DC hero
Torpedo -- Marvel hero
Viper -- Marvel villain
Warhawk -- Marvel villain
Wildfire -- DC hero

Personally, I've not trouble coming up with unused (and EULA-compliant) names ... save for the time one of my Issue 3-era characters got name-nerfed during one of my Iraqi tours, thank you very much.

--CH

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


This is my "most wanted" list (incomplete, have other lists elsewhere with hundreds more names)...

Adventurer
Almighty
Amplifier
Aztec
... etc


[/ QUOTE ]

Hate to break it to you, but quite a number of the names on your list are not only "taken" in the game, they're taken in real life, too. DC and Marvel and Image (among others) are squatting on your names, the dirty bounders.

[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks for proving my point even more. Apparently, those are some of the best comic names around... and yeah, I don't check for copyrights unless it's a blocked name. Blocked names aren't on the list (so, those are apparently all valid in-game names).

 

Posted

Actually people have said "IF I logged on and found my toons had been gone". To my knowledge so far only one person has come forward on the forums recently after a 2 year absence, and not even on this thread. A lot of IF's out there, but very very few actual ones who stated for the record: I lost my toons, therefore I stopped playing.

Still no tangible evidence that there's an issue. Seriously - if you're gone for that long, expect your character to be present, but if they're lower level, *expect that they were hit by the purge you were warned about*.

Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
Repurposed

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


This is my "most wanted" list (incomplete, have other lists elsewhere with hundreds more names)...

Adventurer
Almighty
Amplifier
Aztec
... etc


[/ QUOTE ]

Hate to break it to you, but quite a number of the names on your list are not only "taken" in the game, they're taken in real life, too. DC and Marvel and Image (among others) are squatting on your names, the dirty bounders.

[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks for proving my point even more. Apparently, those are some of the best comic names around... and yeah, I don't check for copyrights unless it's a blocked name. Blocked names aren't on the list (so, those are apparently all valid in-game names).

[/ QUOTE ]

"Best?"

 

Posted

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Bill, I'm not saying that all names were taken at the start. I'm not saying that all of the names I've tried to track down are on completely cancelled accounts. I'm saying that a lot - a hell of a lot - either are or might as well be.


[/ QUOTE ]

And a hell of a lot are not. I'm not going with - who was it, Pax? Fleeting's? billion-odd per character.

[/ QUOTE ]
Letter combinations... if you're going to attack the validity of my arguments, please, please hold yourself to the same standards.

[/ QUOTE ]

???

I was saying I didn't agree that that many letter (and space) combinations was a valid argument. Reading comprehension...

[ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

As you can see, I've come across good names as well, but there's a distinct difference between finding a good name and finding a good name for a concept you had. I build concepts around names because of how rare the truly good names are.

[/ QUOTE ]

I rarely have to "retry" a name. Hell, I've gotten some I tried on a lark - Clair de Lune and the aforementioned Theorum among them. And I'm a freaking altaholic.

[/ QUOTE ]
'Clair de Lune' is hardly the caliber of name I'm talking about. Try 'Hellfire' or 'Sovereign'.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh? Why is it "hardly the caliber?" Sounds like... OPINION! Especially since it's not available on any other server. Seems popular. Also foreign for "Moonlight."

[ QUOTE ]

Ok, I know I've been arguing whether or not my methods were reliable, but really, is it even relevant?


[/ QUOTE ]

Given you're using it as "proof" that these people are inactive and "squatting on the good names," I'd say yes it is.

Edit:

And as far as that list of names - even the copyrighted ones that made up a chunk ofg that list - why not do something *just* as classic and add another word? You know, like a color (see also Green Arrow, Green Lantern) or some other descriptor (Stellar Champion, Aztek Avenger?)

 

Posted

QR re: Blackguard's name list:
I have personally seen several of those in-game, and I had Stormfront for a little while before deleting it.

http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Side note: A "finger"-type command (show user last on data) for name searches wouldn't be terribly hard to add (since we know the functionality exists due to SG-last on display) and might allow a nice way to free up names.

If I finger "Lord Soth" and find out that it hasn't been logged in for 30 months, I can petition to have the name released.

[/ QUOTE ]

Which is very similar to what I've been saying. Petition on a name-by-name basis. Sheesh. It's like people want to think I'm stealing babies, when what I said was, "let's give people a chance to get a name that by all appearances will never be used by its original owner again."

[/ QUOTE ]

All snarkiness aside, thats exactly what you are doing. Many of these toon are their creators babies, they have leveled them up and played them over many years. You come along and want to gut them.
You will not see many of the older players online. Many stay in hide on purpose. Many have so many tells and emails from friends that they delete anything from an idiot that wants their name. I would really like to see your list of awesome names. And wonder how many you cant get because they are copyrighted. or banned due to other issues.

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

 

Posted

These characters are their babies and yet they have had their accounts closed for months?

 

Posted

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These characters are their babies and yet they have had their accounts closed for months?

[/ QUOTE ]

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOO! Exactly! Makes so much sense right? Oh-- wait! They can't afford to play the game! Their budget is tight! NO! They've been deployed to the military! That's why they haven't play since May of 2004!! I bet you they think of this game EVERYDAY!

 

Posted

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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.

[/ QUOTE ]
/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.

[/ QUOTE ]


DEADDD @ you thinking you gassed me.


See how you misconstrued and twisted my words? Without doing that you would have no arguement. I would NEVER said people being in the military are crap. But I shouldn't be surprised you'd try to slither in like that because the audacity you've shown just assuming that I live with my parents because I am 19 years old. I'm sorry but I've dodged college for now BUT I got my own Benz, I got my own ends and immediate friends. I get money... do you get yours? If not, then maybe you should get off the internet and go get that money.

And if you have to choose between eating for a week or playing CoX for a month, then you got BIGGER problems to worry about than losing your name on some internet game. See how that just flowed? I just gassed YOU with one reply and that's all you get from me, sis. That's how nice I am.

 

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These characters are their babies and yet they have had their accounts closed for months?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, my point.

I wouldn't expect any "baby" of mine to languish without food, air, water, attention for months long enough to have any hope they'd be alive after that long normally.

Every one of my characters on the game is my "baby" But then I'm an artist, rpg creator and writer. I think I know from "baby".

If they wanted to keep their "baby" alive, they *need to be paying to have their account open*. At least every couple weeks - they do have 15 day time cards at NC you know. Every 75 days, you can put up one of those, bing, saves those characters from having their names removed.

And plus: the CHARACTER is still there. If they get it wiped of their name, what else is there? Oh yeah - a free name token, which they can use to create (dun dun dunnnn) a new name. And I would suspect it's likely that most of those wiped names *are still available*. As others have been pointing out: there are plenty of names which appear to be available that you'd 'think' aren't. because they're "good" names. Single-word, highly descriptive names.

Most of mine are two to three word names, person names, not 'hero' names.

Steal my babies, I dare you. NAME SOME.

The point is that no one is 'stealing' anything when it's *been abandoned*.

Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
Repurposed

 

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Side note: A "finger"-type command (show user last on data) for name searches wouldn't be terribly hard to add (since we know the functionality exists due to SG-last on display) and might allow a nice way to free up names.

If I finger "Lord Soth" and find out that it hasn't been logged in for 30 months, I can petition to have the name released.

[/ QUOTE ]

Which is very similar to what I've been saying. Petition on a name-by-name basis. Sheesh. It's like people want to think I'm stealing babies, when what I said was, "let's give people a chance to get a name that by all appearances will never be used by its original owner again."

[/ QUOTE ]

All snarkiness aside, thats exactly what you are doing. Many of these toon are their creators babies, they have leveled them up and played them over many years. You come along and want to gut them.
You will not see many of the older players online. Many stay in hide on purpose. Many have so many tells and emails from friends that they delete anything from an idiot that wants their name. I would really like to see your list of awesome names. And wonder how many you cant get because they are copyrighted. or banned due to other issues.

[/ QUOTE ]

Again. No one is talking about characters on active accounts...except you for some reason.

Furio--Lvl 50+3 Fire/Fire/Fire Blaster, Virtue
Megadeth--Lvl 50+3 Necro/DM/Soul MM, Virtue
Veriandros--Lvl 50+3 Crab Soldier, Virtue
"So come and get me! I'll be waiting for ye, with a whiff of the old brimstone. I'm a grim bloody fable, with an unhappy bloody end!" Demoman, TF2

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


All snarkiness aside, thats exactly what you are doing. Many of these toon are their creators babies, they have leveled them up and played them over many years. You come along and want to gut them.
You will not see many of the older players online. Many stay in hide on purpose. Many have so many tells and emails from friends that they delete anything from an idiot that wants their name. I would really like to see your list of awesome names. And wonder how many you cant get because they are copyrighted. or banned due to other issues.

[/ QUOTE ]

Again. No one is talking about characters on active accounts...except you for some reason.

[/ QUOTE ]

Bolded for emphasis. If you have an active account, this is not and can not be an issue. We're only addressing the people's accounts which *are not being paid for* and *are not currently active*. not ones which are on hide, that would imply they *are paid*.

Paid = exempt from any and all wipes.
Paid = if you're on and someone asks nicely, you have the opportunity to make someone else very happy by 'giving' them a name.
Unpaid = you take your chances.
Unpaid for a long long time = you don't get to whine, where have you been.

Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
Repurposed

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


All snarkiness aside, thats exactly what you are doing. Many of these toon are their creators babies, they have leveled them up and played them over many years. You come along and want to gut them.
You will not see many of the older players online. Many stay in hide on purpose. Many have so many tells and emails from friends that they delete anything from an idiot that wants their name. I would really like to see your list of awesome names. And wonder how many you cant get because they are copyrighted. or banned due to other issues.

[/ QUOTE ]

Again. No one is talking about characters on active accounts...except you for some reason.

[/ QUOTE ]

Bolded for emphasis. If you have an active account, this is not and can not be an issue. We're only addressing the people's accounts which *are not being paid for* and *are not currently active*. not ones which are on hide, that would imply they *are paid*.

Paid = exempt from any and all wipes.
Paid = if you're on and someone asks nicely, you have the opportunity to make someone else very happy by 'giving' them a name.
Unpaid = you take your chances.
Unpaid for a long long time = you don't get to whine, where have you been.

[/ QUOTE ]


I don't know how many times you and Furio have to point out that we aren't talking about ACTIVE accounts. I get it... maybe he's just to caught up in thinking he's right that he can't see. Who knows? I think I am done with this thread though... I'm just gonna hope that Devs are listening...

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Side note: A "finger"-type command (show user last on data) for name searches wouldn't be terribly hard to add (since we know the functionality exists due to SG-last on display) and might allow a nice way to free up names.

If I finger "Lord Soth" and find out that it hasn't been logged in for 30 months, I can petition to have the name released.

[/ QUOTE ]

Which is very similar to what I've been saying. Petition on a name-by-name basis. Sheesh. It's like people want to think I'm stealing babies, when what I said was, "let's give people a chance to get a name that by all appearances will never be used by its original owner again."

[/ QUOTE ]

All snarkiness aside, thats exactly what you are doing. Many of these toon are their creators babies, they have leveled them up and played them over many years. You come along and want to gut them.
You will not see many of the older players online. Many stay in hide on purpose. Many have so many tells and emails from friends that they delete anything from an idiot that wants their name. I would really like to see your list of awesome names. And wonder how many you cant get because they are copyrighted. or banned due to other issues.

[/ QUOTE ]

Again. No one is talking about characters on active accounts...except you for some reason.

[/ QUOTE ]

... except for the prior discussion where someone "knew" the accounts werre inactive because of the very reasons listed in the post you quoted. Characters on hide, deleting any email from folks they don't know (or ignoring email completely,) /ghide...