Character Name Policy -- Thirty Day Notice!
By
0zymandous,
Posted on: 2007-07-31 15:59 in News, Events and Announcement Discussion
I don't disagree at all that potential Continuing customers (good term), should be thought of. However when I ask myself:
How much service should be provided to someone no longer paying for said service, as opposed to someone who has been paying and will be continuing to pay?
I would say numerically the value would be less than zero, but it shouldn't be the same as someone who is paying.
As I've said above, I wasn't in favor of reimplementing this solely for the sake of people getting the names they want. However now since it's a matter of a service that allows people to shuffle the location of their data, its a matter of keeping the name they have versus losing it to someone who was highly unlikely to ever use it (even if they did continue the service).
The gray area in this is when we're dealing with the additional Name Change service. Added as a feature because it makes sense to do so when dealing with transfers, it also kicks the issue of name "ownership" onto a different level. Instead of it being merely a matter of someone with a name in position A wanting to move to position B, and losing their name to an unlikely user who had it in cold storage, we're dealing with giving people something they don't have now, but want.
I think the argument that most people are making when they try to expand the system (that it takes very little time to get to level 6) is the best reason to keep it just where it is. Takes so little time, that anyone returning wouldn't hardly see it as a loss if the name was gone.
The chances that out there somewhere is JoeGuyUser who is going to return after a year and a half away, specifically to play this sweet alt he left parked in front of Blue Steel, is slim to none. I'm willing to chance pissing off that target demographic if it means someone who pays to move to a new server gets to keep the name on their 45 alt.
"Null is as much an argument "for removing the cottage rule" as the moon being round is for buying tennis shoes." -Memphis Bill
Ok...level 6? Seriously...you get to level 6 in like 3 hours of play (and that's if you're trying not to level 
)...why even bother doing this?
This is a waste of time. Anything like this should be done, for a minimum, starting at level 20. Level 35 may have been a bit too high but level 6 is far, far, too low to really matter.
Where I work (not an mmo, but a web service), we just enacted a similar user name policy. Names that have been unpaid and inactive for x number of months are freed up. I think it's totally fair and not unreasonable, no one should be able to hog names indefinitely without paying. There's plenty of advance warning here.
I also feel that making the cut off point, level six is extremely generous of the management here. I am bit confused by those who don't think it is. Honestly, what more could you want then a fair and modest policy, for name changes?
My level 50 Dominators:
Madame Mindbender 50 Mind/Energy
Fly Agaric 50 Plant/Thorn
Nate Nitro 50 Fire/Psi
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Ok...level 6? Seriously...you get to level 6 in like 3 hours of play (and that's if you're trying not to level )...why even bother doing this?
This is a waste of time. Anything like this should be done, for a minimum, starting at level 20. Level 35 may have been a bit too high but level 6 is far, far, too low to really matter.
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Did you actually read through the entire thread? Posi himself has very adequately explained why level 6.
Storm
Serenity is not freedom from the storm, but peace amid the storm ...
... and ex libris before that.
"Null is as much an argument "for removing the cottage rule" as the moon being round is for buying tennis shoes." -Memphis Bill
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... yet you want to affect paying customers too.
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If they're camping names, damn right.
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How do *you* know why I have level 1-6 characters? Some are RP (level doesn't really matter to your typing,) some are concepts I want to try, but am working on other characters, some are spur of the moment. But they're *mine,* and I'm paying for them, so tough.
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I said "for the sole purpose of camping names". In your example you're actually playing. Name campers are not.
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Tell me what a name camper looks like. Really. I'd like to know. Because so far, it sounds like they look just like me sometimes when I get a bunch of great ideas for characters that I create and play through the tutorial and maybe street sweep with for just a couple of levels before going on to create the next concept. A HUGE part of my concepts for most of my characters is their names, and I would be LIVID if my active, paid ahead for over 6 months account was still subject to the stripping of character names for those characters I created and then went back to my mains on my main server for a few months before going back to play with my now (in your world) nameless character.<breath>
Because, as I said, I don't know how one would distinguish a name camper with an active account from what I just described.
Please, do explain.
Storm
Serenity is not freedom from the storm, but peace amid the storm ...
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... and ex libris before that.
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Ooops... forgot to mention that.
And ex libris before Posi!
Storm
Serenity is not freedom from the storm, but peace amid the storm ...
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its a matter of keeping the name they have versus losing it to someone who was highly unlikely to ever use it
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I'm guessing a majority of the people that abandon the game do not return, but Cryptic and NCSoft seem to be implying that a significant number come back, enough to complain about losing names when they return. So I'm not sure it can be taken for granted that its "highly unlikely" that they will never return.
If nothing else, those freebee temporary reactivations cause a lot of people to return to the game, at least temporarily. A large unknown is how many of those people *might have* returned to the game, but were sufficiently upset over losing the names of their characters that they elected not to.
I'm not arguing against the currently announced system: I think few people could argue that there is enough time invested in a level 6 to seriously bemoan the loss of its name. But I am suggesting that the general argument, that *no level* should be safe, by default, and that if *any* level is protected, that's only doing those accounts a favor, isn't the perspective that is most consistent with what is actually "fair" in the broad sense, and what's best for the game as a whole.
I do understand the point about people transferring: here you have a case that *someone* is going to lose their previously established name, and the only question is who. But I think the problem with that scenario is that its far too easy to exploit. If I want a name, and its taken on my server by an inactive account, I can make a character on another server, pay to transfer them to my server and bump the name, and then delete the character and name change myself to the now vacated name.
This means that while the mechanism could be originally designed to protect active name users when they transfer to servers that have inactive users with the same name, it ultimately degrades to anyone that can pay, can bump any inactive name. And there's no reason that should be tolerable, unless you are prepared to allow that in other circumstances, like me simply outbidding you for your character's name. Again, the issue here is that inactive accounts are not being given the same treatment as active accounts.
I don't think people who don't pay to stay active should get things that the people who do pay to stay active get. That line of thinking leads to people being able to go back and buy the veteran badges after having not subscribed for a long time. But I don't know if names are specifically shared resources that people should "rent." I think that a different and completely valid perspective is that names are things that people *contribute* to the game. When I make a character with a certain name, I've *added* that name to the game. Its a contribution to the game that has nothing to do with resources I'm leasing to play the game. The opposing viewpoint suggests that the namespace is a giant invisible list of all possible names, that we players check out, and then check back in, like library books. I don't really subscribe to that viewpoint, though. I *create* my names. I don't select them from a list of all possible names. So I don't think that I'm obligated to "return them" even if I was no longer an active subscriber.
Keep in mind I'm not talking explicitly about legal rights or anything like that, but rather illustrating the point of view.
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What I'm hearing here is a lot of "more!" from greedy children. They've heard what the policy is, and they've heard why it's that way but it's not enough. Hmm, I wonder just how many names the dev's are freeing up with the under-6 cutoff of inactive accounts vs how many would be freed by upping it to 20? I wouldn't be at all surprised if 90% of those names are <6. Obviously we don't have hard numbers, but my own account has 50+ alts scattered on servers I don't play on much, and 24 on the two I do play on. Of those scattered 50+ alts, only 5 of them are level 7 or more, yet on my 2 home servers I play regularly and currently have 5 level 50's, 3 in the 40's, 10+ in the 20's and a few lowbies. And I've been here for 2 1/2 years. So out of roughly 75 total characters only 30 of them are over level 6.
This new policy isn't a "I want 'x' name!!!! Gimmie!!!". It's a reasonable balance that affects the least people while giving the greatest return. Now, last I looked that was the most effective way to make a decision. I'd bet that by far the largest group of characters in the game are level 6 or less, and as has been said it's trivial to level one to 7 so it causes the least infringement on former customers while giving current customers a HUGE number of freed up names. And now you're arguing that it's not enough? That you must have everything, and RIGHT NOW?
No, you can't have that 10th helping of ice cream.
COH has just been murdered by NCSoft. http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes
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Dang, this means I have to activate my 3 other accounts that I am saving names on, just to make sure they arent free'd up for someone else to use?
3 active accts x $15.00 = $45.00
3 inactive name saving accts x $15.00 = $45.00
$45.00 + $45.00 = $90.00 for month of August!!!
Dang, Dev's making me go broke!!!
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11 US servers x 12 character slots per server x 3 accounts = 396 names.
That is almost 400 names that you're squatting, not counting your active accounts. Why in the world do you need to reserve four hundred names? If you're not going to use those names, give them up to someone who will.
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Well I will tell you its only names on ther servers I play, which is 2 servers. Virtue and Freedom. So I dont have 396 names saved, but I do have 60ish, that are level 2 through 10. I have played them, but most are waiting future new power releases in game. For instance.....
the name "Chain" I have saved will hopefully be used for when again, hopefully the Chain power pool is released in future issue's, as this was one of the power pools that Statesman had commented on.
I love playing the game, and have fun. I have soooo many toons that I play, and have almost every combination of every Archetype. I am not sorry, nor will I be. I pay for the accounts, and keep them active, so I wont apologize to anyone. But, this will be an expensice month, as the last time all my accts were active was March. But such is my burden.
Maybe I'll get some more cool names! GAME ON!!!
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One particular reason is simply this: our fighting men and women stationed overseas. I know several of them (at least) that LOVE City of Heroes, and have characters ranging the full level spectrum. If someone is called away/deployed, more than likely, they are going to shut down their account for the duration of their duty overseas, since they will not have access to play in such places as Iraq or Afghanistan
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Then they should be treated like anyone other deadbeat who doesn't pay for his or her account. (And I should point out the blinders you have on - there is much more to the military than ground pounders who go to Iraq or Afghanistan.)
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(plus that vaunted poverty level pay scale the military has doesn't help one's budget while deployed).
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Contrary to what you hear on the news - the military pay scale is in most areas more than adequate to live on if you watch your budget. You aren't going to get rich, but you are far from starving. (I know many sailors who do live on just their military pay.)
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So imagine their surprise when they return home, as many have after 14 months of extended duty to find their favorite characters names taken from them.
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Imagine their surprise when they don't pay for their house or car for 14 months - and they return home and find them gone.
And give me any crap about 'disrespecting our service men and women'. I've been there and done that, I've earned my T-shirt. And I did it back when being in the service wasn't 'cool'.
Derek Lyons
Fire Control Technician (Ballistic Missile) 2nd Class (Submarine Qualified)
United States Navy, Submarine Service, 1981-1991
http://derekl1963.livejournal.com/
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Ex is correct. We datamined how many names would get freed up by doing the purge at every level. After level 5, the amount of names freed up drops noticably on every server. There are a LOT of names being "camped" by inactive accounts on characters under level 5.
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I'm also willing to bet there's a bit of "hey, if you couldn't even level to 6, you probably don't care as much about that character anyway" involved in the thought process somewhere.
Honestly, I'd suggest never raising that bar higher than 14 - once you can get a travel power, that's a logical place to put the cutoff, on teh top end.
But for now, level 6 works just fine for me.
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these individuals have the creativity and imagination to think outside of the box and come up with a different solution that could better serve Cryptic's and NCsoft's customers.
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Are we reading the same thread here? Many of these suggestions are incredibly heavy handed. If I have 10 toons on my account that are lvl 20 or below ( or much higher if some people had it their way) should I be punished by having my name stripped from me when RL interferes with playing this game?
I hate to break it to you, but the people with the data that specifically says that the below lvl 6 will yield the most names are the only ones that can make an informed decision.
And my comment about the . names is simply my opinion, which I can post on the boards just like you can. There is no reason to act all surprised as if I am the first person to ever post an opinion that you disagree with. Besides I am so sick of seeing people who can't come with their own name and use a . to spoof it. Its lame and unimaginative and in certain other games i could mention would get your name set to default 000001 for impersonation.
I cannot believe that people are suggesting that active accounts have names transfered to "unreserved" status. Ever. For any reason.
No one is ever entitled to a name, not a specific one, not a "quality" one, nada. This policy change is a favor the devs are doing to the people who hunger for names that may or may not be freed up by any policy change. (If it's someone's main, you are SOL.)
This will free up a great many names. From there its a grab bag if The One you want is released. Until now, you haven't been given the right to take someone's name from them. Now, under limited circumstances, you can. But try not to delude yourself into thinking that its your right, and that they have taken something from you by getting there first. They haven't. They didn't take "your name". They took "their name". And if this unreserves it and you claim it, then, and only then, is it yours.
Altoholism isn't a problem, its a calling.
60+ characters, 5 years, 3 50's.
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QR
And I think I'll go with the folks (the devs) that have ACTUAL DATA about how many trail accounts and names aren't used.
Pretty sure this will free up more than you think.
Besides Ex said if it doesn't work they can always adjust it later.
Leave it be for now folks.
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The devs data once said Regen Scrappers could solo +8's...
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I cannot believe that people are suggesting that active accounts have names transfered to "unreserved" status. Ever. For any reason.
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I can believe it. Some people don't have the ability to use their imagination. "i r gut teh gud name idea! Then they find out the "gud" name isn't available. After they get done crying about it they whine some and add a dot or slashes or some other odd character to the name to get the one they want. They don't want to put the thought into alternate names.
If someone has an active account (that is, they are currently paying), those names are theirs. That's the way it works, should work, and if they want to keep paying customers, will always work.
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One particular reason is simply this: our fighting men and women stationed overseas. I know several of them (at least) that LOVE City of Heroes, and have characters ranging the full level spectrum. If someone is called away/deployed, more than likely, they are going to shut down their account for the duration of their duty overseas, since they will not have access to play in such places as Iraq or Afghanistan
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Then they should be treated like anyone other deadbeat who doesn't pay for his or her account. (And I should point out the blinders you have on - there is much more to the military than ground pounders who go to Iraq or Afghanistan.)
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(plus that vaunted poverty level pay scale the military has doesn't help one's budget while deployed).
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Contrary to what you hear on the news - the military pay scale is in most areas more than adequate to live on if you watch your budget. You aren't going to get rich, but you are far from starving. (I know many sailors who do live on just their military pay.)
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So imagine their surprise when they return home, as many have after 14 months of extended duty to find their favorite characters names taken from them.
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Imagine their surprise when they don't pay for their house or car for 14 months - and they return home and find them gone.
And give me any crap about 'disrespecting our service men and women'. I've been there and done that, I've earned my T-shirt. And I did it back when being in the service wasn't 'cool'.
Derek Lyons
Fire Control Technician (Ballistic Missile) 2nd Class (Submarine Qualified)
United States Navy, Submarine Service, 1981-1991
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Whoa, fellow submariner!!!! You've cycled the pumps to 2 Fast / 2 Fast without hearing the bell! Calm down, and check again to what I was responding to.
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under lvl 6 is kinda lame how about:
Inactive account 90 days toons under 10
Inactive account 1 year toons under 30
Inactive account 2+ years nothing is safe
also any account inactive for a year that wasn't active for more than 3 months sould also not have safe names.
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THIS is what I was responding to. And as I said in my end reply to that:
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I know you are thinking of the players, and I applaud that.
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as well as stating I agree with Ex and Posi on this:
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I understand the need to free up names , but I'm with Ex and company on this one.
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You're classifying a contact without prosecuting the data! My response was simply that there are those who will have (and I do know a few that did) shut down their accounts temporarily simply to help make ends meet, with the knowledge, thus far, that their accounts and names were safe.
The new NC Soft Character Name Policy is good! If an active account of level 5 or less has been inactive for that long, then, yes, I believe the names should be given up. My response was against fellow MMO SethChupra's "chop all level 30 and below inactive names after a year" suggestion; it seemed a bit harsh, and the first thing that came to mind were those fellow sailors, airmen and soldiers that I know that DID secure their accounts to save money.
Prosecuting a contact on the console requires attention to detail; lets not get into name-calling and snap shots. Shift the pumps to 1 slow/1 slow and get another leg on that bearing, before you call Firing Point Procedures.
Last check, blinders were stowed for sea.
- Submariner, 20 year Vet (1984-2004), retired (SSN 688, SSN-692, SSN-760).
-USAF 2 years service
-Civil Air Patrol (20 years, retired)
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I can believe it. Some people don't have the ability to use their imagination. "i r gut teh gud name idea! Then they find out the "gud" name isn't available. After they get done crying about it they whine some and add a dot or slashes or some other odd character to the name to get the one they want. They don't want to put the thought into alternate names.
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Sometimes. And sometimes they put a load of thought into alternative names and the other seven or eight names they come up with are also taken.
Happened to me once, which is why one of my 50s has a period at the end of his name. Don't be so quick to judge people in the future, is my suggestion.
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Not an argument, an opinion. Not trolling just sick of all the people with entitlement issues.
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No, it is trolling. You're lumping everyone into one big sack and slapping an unpleasant label on it. That, sir, is trolling.
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My problem is people who want the whole, or most of, the level range of names up for grabs because they didn't get "The Red Bull" that some level 30 fire tank has and they feel their concept is sooooooooo much better and they really, really deserve it. And they can't live with "Roter Bulle" or "Toro Rojo" or some such.
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Those people aside, this sort of culling simply makes sense. If Joe Player's account has been shut down for eight months and there's no sign of him ever coming back, what then is the tragedy if all his characters are renamed "GenericWhatever" and the names freed up?
Because that is what we are talking about, for the most part. The number of "name campers" who are simply sitting on minimally active accounts with unplayed characters can't outnumber the true inactives.
So wherefore the problem?
You know, what irks me is the infantilization so many people are inflicting on people they disagree with. Calling someone uncreative or unimaginitive is insulting and unnecessary, as is putting infantile words in their mouths. Ad hominem attacks don't strengthen your argument.
Paying customers MUST take precedence over non-paying customers, whether they be potential or former cutomers. That's just good business. The phone rings while you're dealing with a customer on the floor, you ignore the phone. Standard practice.
If a non-paying customer is sitting on a name that a paying customer wants, the paying customer should be given access to it. Level should not matter.
I liked the staggered solution that was suggested earlier. There's no reason to save a character of any level for posterity (whose posterity, exactly?). After a specific period of inactivity (that's ACCOUNT inactivity - paying customers should not have to be concerned by this), your character's name will become available. The period required should be specific to level (ie. L50s would stay safe longer, but would eventually be freed up too).
It would be nice to be able to free up names on active accounts too, as there are those that sit on names people want just to be jerks (name griefing?), but I don't see that being feasable.
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there are those that sit on names people want just to be jerks (name griefing?), but I don't see that being feasable.
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Really!?!? Thats some serious passive aggression there.
Theres gonna be a lot of people just getting their toons to lvl 7 then let them sit around collecting dust 
"PvP Messiah"
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Theres gonna be a lot of people just getting their toons to lvl 7 then let them sit around collecting dust
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Which I assume is the expected behavior if they want to keep their names.
Is this a bad thing? How can you be sure that the dust they are collecting is due to name camping? How many alts do you have that would fall under that category of gathering dust by your definition?
My account is less than 2 months old, and I already have more alts than I can level up in a reasonable amount of time. Granted, I tend to play them to 4 just to get a feel for the AT and then play the one that I like/suits my playstyle for longer periods. Then if I get sick of looking at <flavor of enemy here> I will give them another go and make them a few levels.
I am definitely not going to let someone's opinion about what I should do with my alts change my play style.
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there are those that sit on names people want just to be jerks (name griefing?), but I don't see that being feasable.
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Really!?!? Thats some serious passive aggression there.
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Oh, I don't doubt it for a second. There are people who will do ANYTHING to be a pain.
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It's still showing special treatment to them. You're right, name purging is a nessecary evil. But at the same time, how is it right for names to still be taken up by accounts that have been inactive for a year, two years, since CoH launch? Compared to all the other MMOs and their inactive account policies out there, inactive accounts here are practically pampered to.
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Special treatment implies different treatment. So in what way are they being treated special?
Special treatment is when you single them out and take away their names. And while that might be necessary in some cases, that is different treatment from all other customers.
By what definition of the word "special" are inactive accounts getting special treatment.
Asking "how is it right" is asking the wrong question, because it presumes what it argues: that by default, its a given that inactive accounts should not be allowed to hold their names, so an argument has to be made for why they should keep what by default they should so obviously lose.
The default, though, is that they should keep their names, because that's always been the policy of the game. The question is "why should someone be allowed to take it away?" And it has to be something other than the simple case of money, or else that argument can be generalized to argue that names could be outbid by people with more money.
I cannot think of a reasonable argument that says "if I pay X, I deserve preferential treatment over the person that no longer pays X, but someone who pays 2X should get no more preferential treatment than me."
The reason I cannot give NCSoft a hundred bucks and take one of your character names away is not because you have some special right to the name, or there is a cosmic law that says fifteen bucks buys name-theft deflection. The reason is that its bad business to treat customers that way. By extension, NCSoft has made the calculated business decision that they want to minimize the number of character names they take away from previous customers, because treating them in that way negatively impacts their ability to lure them back to the game, and its public knowledge that NCSoft's business model presumes that MMO players are fickle, leave and join games regularly, and they are taking the combined approach of trying to make sure that when someone leaves an NCSoft game, NCSoft has another game they can move to, and contrawise, after they've been gone awhile, NCSoft might be able to lure them back to games they previously left.
That business decision mandates treating "former customers" as "continuing customers" just not current customers of a paticular given game, which means they believe its in their best interests to treat those former customers in a manner consistent with the belief that many will ultimately return.
Would you feel any differently if NCSoft gave people the option to remain "paying customers" that could inactivate, but maintain their characters, at a cost of two cents per century? Or are you saying that its not enough that they be paying customers, but you have a specific price in mind for what they should be forced to pay to maintain their character names, or else its not fair to current playing customers?
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