If it hasn't already been freed up by the past name purges (e.g. it's on a high level character), then I really doubt that you'll be able to get it.
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Unlikely. The rules-of-thumb for name purges are posted somewhere (several somewhere's actually), but what it basically comes down to is, if the character in question is level 6 or higher, their name will never be taken away from them, even if the player hasn't subscribed in 4+ years.
The general consensus for why this is the case is that NC doesn't want to upset returning players if they log back in after x-number of months or years and find they've lost their character's name(s).
IMO, that's a bunch of hooey. Anyone who has dropped the game for multiple years and returns expecting to still have their character names has a pretty big sense of entitlement if you ask me. I doubt if I went to work for another company for a few years and then returned to my current job, they'd have my office and parking space waiting for me when I returned.
I know this topic is a dead horse, and it's probably not easy to do, but if it was possible, I think characters on inactive accounts should be stripped of their names if they are under the level of the number of months the account has been inactive. For example, start with accounts that have been inactive 24 months or longer:
Inactive 24 months - all characters level 23 or lower are genericked
Inactive 27 months - all characters level 26 or lower are genericked
etc.
etc.
etc., until
Inactive 51 months or longer - all characters under level 50 are genericked.
In this way, if you have been an active, paid subscriber within the last 2 years, you'd only be at risk of losing a name in characters under level 6, and no one would ever lose a name on a level 50 character.
This would be in addition to the current, infrequently run name-freeing-up program, and if were up to me, both would be run every three months.
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So if you are in a line of work where you may very well be sent off somewhere without high speed internet for 2 or more years, you would be pretty much screwed. (aka working for the DoD as military personnel or a civilian contractor.)|
Originally Posted by mousedroid
I know this topic is a dead horse, and it's probably not easy to do, but if it was possible, I think characters on inactive accounts should be stripped of their names if they are under the level of the number of months the account has been inactive. For example, start with accounts that have been inactive 24 months or longer:
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There is a name I want to use on the Virtue server that is already being used. I was informed that I can find out who is using that name in-game by typing /getglobalname. I used that and nothing came up. I was told that if nothing came up the name is being used by an account that was made before Globals came out and that account is no longer active. Is there anyway for me to get this name? |
Two things that might help:
1: Post the name you want here. Perhaps we can help you come up with a decent alternative.
2: Send a tell to the player and plead your case. If they are still active but are not actively using that character, perhaps they will be merciful and relinquish the name. You can send a tell (without using email) even if the recipient is offline. They will get it when they log back in.
Additionally, if you want another way to get the global name, use gignore on the character name and note the global it says you are ignoring. Then be sure to gunignore to take them back off your ignore list.
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No, it works if the player is offline, except, as mentioned above, if the character is pre-global. I have a few people still on my (non-global) friends list from way back and checked this out of curiosity once.|
Originally Posted by Willowpaw
S
I thought getglobalname only worked if the player being queried was online. |
You can even test it by doing /getglobalname on a character you know is offline, and then reversing it with /getlocalname on the global you just got.
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Quote:
Only works if you have their Global Handle to send the tell to. Normal tells, those sent to a character name rather than a global name, just get a message of that name being offline atm or not existing.
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Originally Posted by Willowpaw
Send a tell to the player and plead your case. If they are still active but are not actively using that character, perhaps they will be merciful and relinquish the name. You can send a tell (without using email) even if the recipient is offline. They will get it when they log back in.
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Quote:
/getglobalname <charactername>
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Originally Posted by LostNinja
Only works if you have their Global Handle to send the tell to. Normal tells, those sent to a character name rather than a global name, just get a message of that name being offline atm or not existing.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Dispari
I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.
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[threadjack]
OK, I have to ask, where are all these overly cute bobble-head anime styled avatars coming from?
[/threadjack]
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Originally Posted by FatherXmas
[threadjack]
OK, I have to ask, where are all these overly cute bobble-head anime styled avatars coming from? [/threadjack] |
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Dispari
I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.
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Quote:
Ask Psygon nicely, and she may make one for you too |
Originally Posted by FatherXmas
[threadjack]
OK, I have to ask, where are all these overly cute bobble-head anime styled avatars coming from? [/threadjack] |
As for the opening post, ther might be a small chance of the name you want being freed up if they run another name purge before GR goes live, as I think they did something similar before CoV launched.
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I agree with your reasoning, but I'd extend it to level 50s. If you've been inactive for an unbroken 4+ years it's simply unreasonable to continue to reserve those names. |
Originally Posted by mousedroid
I know this topic is a dead horse, and it's probably not easy to do, but if it was possible, I think characters on inactive accounts should be stripped of their names if they are under the level of the number of months the account has been inactive. For example, start with accounts that have been inactive 24 months or longer:
Inactive 24 months - all characters level 23 or lower are genericked Inactive 27 months - all characters level 26 or lower are genericked etc. etc. etc., until Inactive 51 months or longer - all characters under level 50 are genericked. In this way, if you have been an active, paid subscriber within the last 2 years, you'd only be at risk of losing a name in characters under level 6, and no one would ever lose a name on a level 50 character. |
In general I like that NCsoft retains our characters' names and possessions. I think it's quite common for people to take breaks from MMOs, then return for a while. But anyone who has been inactive for over 4 years would have to have quite the sense of entitlement to feel any outrage over losing any character names. I say the balance should be tilted in favor of current paying customers.
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Personally, I feel if the account has not been actively subscribed for 5 years, then the character names should be taken from that account.
Barring feelings of entitlement that has been expressed before, if after 5 years, they have not attempted to play the game and resubscribe, it is more unlikely that they will ever come back, much less remember what that character name was.
At best, maybe if they had a level 50 toon, that name could stay, but anything below that should be made available for the rest of the subscriber base. Level 50's are the cream of the crop, so to speak, most players will remember their first 50.
I did a 14-day trial of WOW about 5 years ago, only tried one toon, and I can't remember the name of that toon if my life depended on it.
And what are the chances that someone who hasn't subcribed for 4+ years still :
1. Has the same computer with the game still installed
2. Has the same email address because you know...
3. Has forgotten the username/password
4. has the original install discs
5. Remembers the names of every toon on the account
I think they should scale the name purges.
1-2 years inactive account - name purge for toons lvl 10 and below
2-3 years inactive account - name purge for toons lvl 25 and below
4-5 years inactive account - name purge for toons lvl 35 and below
5+ years inactive account - name purge of all toons (minus lvl 50's)
My 2 inf...
Quote:
Numbers 1-4 are irrelevant.|
Originally Posted by Backhand
And what are the chances that someone who hasn't subcribed for 4+ years still :
1. Has the same computer with the game still installed 2. Has the same email address because you know... 3. Has forgotten the username/password 4. has the original install discs 5. Remembers the names of every toon on the account |
1. You can install the game whether or not you've changed computers
2. You can update your email address in Account Management
3. You can retrieve your username/password (via phone if necessary)
4. You can download the game from the internet
Regarding the rest of your post, I don't have an opinion either way.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Dispari
I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.
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Quote:
In short? Yes.|
Originally Posted by Willowpaw
So if you are in a line of work where you may very well be sent off somewhere without high speed internet for 2 or more years, you would be pretty much screwed. (aka working for the DoD as military personnel or a civilian contractor.)
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Just because RL makes playing impossible does not mean that you should be as important as customers who are, right this moment, paying to play this game.
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Then what you do is set up an automatic payment using your debit/credit card. That way your account stays active the entire time you are on deployment/assignment and when you return you'll have accrued all those nifty vet rewards.|
Originally Posted by Willowpaw
So if you are in a line of work where you may very well be sent off somewhere without high speed internet for 2 or more years, you would be pretty much screwed. (aka working for the DoD as military personnel or a civilian contractor.)
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Civilian contractors get paid enough to afford it, and military personnel will have very few places to spend their money on in combat zones. Married military will already have their sub figured into their budget. Heck their spouse might even play the game while they are deployed.
A little trick you can do to get past a name that's taken on the server is just add a . to the name at the end or a - or . in the middle... It's not really noticeable much, and the only annoyance it can cause is if someone needs to type the name out for the purpose of tells or invites, and then it's just a case or seeing/remembering the full stop. I've done that on one or two of my toons and have never seen the toon that has the unmodified verison of those names running around my server (even on search) and if I did I would be prepared to change the name if it was a problem.
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Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
Then it's time for them to get off the cross, use the wood to build a bridge, and get over it.
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I've done exactly that. About two years ago, I was deployed to the Persian Gulf, but I kept my account active the whole time. When I got back, not only were all of my characters waiting for me (after a lengthy patch download), they all had shiny new Nemesis staffs!|
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
Then what you do is set up an automatic payment using your debit/credit card. That way your account stays active the entire time you are on deployment/assignment and when you return you'll have accrued all those nifty vet rewards.
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So, speaking as someone who's repeatedly had to leave the game for months and months and months at a time, I say if someone isn't using the name, then they aren't using the name. Let someone have it who will.
If nothing else, names used on trial accounts that are never activated should open back up after, say, three months. Those of us that pay hard-earned money for this game shouldn't have to suffer because someone else tried it out and decided not to.
FUN FACT: That burst of light when you level up is actually the effectiveness escaping from your enhancements all at once.
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This is why people, including me, are suggesting scaling the purges based on time away not completely wiping out every character. So yeah, if you've been away for 24 months and have a bunch of names reserved on low level characters that you don't play, you'd be pretty much "screwed" out of those names. If you have a level 35 Blaster you really like? Her/his name will be perfectly safe.|
Originally Posted by Willowpaw
So if you are in a line of work where you may very well be sent off somewhere without high speed internet for 2 or more years, you would be pretty much screwed. (aka working for the DoD as military personnel or a civilian contractor.)
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And further - if my job sent me somewhere that I couldn't get on the internet for 2, 3, 4 or more years, I personally would be so freaking glad to be home that I wouldn't be overly upset about losing some character names.
(Sometimes, I wish there could be a Dev thumbs up button for quality posts, because you pretty much nailed it.) -- Ghost Falcon
Given that this game has an uncanny knack for drawing back people who have been away for years, sometimes since launch, keeping their names safe is probably a good thing to do.
This is why my pad trial accounts all have names that no one in their right mind would want, because I don't like taking up 'cool names' on unused accounts. 
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I completely agree with this reasoning and I am happy that NCSoft take care not to upset returning players. Just made a friend reactivate after 24+ months and if he would have had his names taken away he probably would have quit immediatly and gone back to WoW
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Originally Posted by mousedroid
The general consensus for why this is the case is that NC doesn't want to upset returning players if they log back in after x-number of months or years and find they've lost their character's name(s). . |
Quote:
What we're proposing here is a practical realization that 2 years is not the same as 5 years. With each passing year where a player has never reactivated, the chances of him ever doing so diminish. I really don't see the harm in a policy that would free up all names from an account if it had been inactive a solid 5 years. Yes, there's a miniscule chance that player would be return with a crystalline memory of his reserved names and be gung-ho to subscribe for years if only those names were kept, but it's more likely he won't have any recollection and will be happy to start from scratch.
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Originally Posted by TimeWellSpent
I completely agree with this reasoning and I am happy that NCSoft take care not to upset returning players. Just made a friend reactivate after 24+ months and if he would have had his names taken away he probably would have quit immediatly and gone back to WoW
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Freedom: Blazing Larb, Fiery Fulcrum, Sardan Reborn, Arctic-Frenzy, Wasabi Sam, Mr Smashtastic.
I like that this game is mindful of trying to keep returning players as happy as possible as far as maintaining their names are concerned. But I'd have to agree that 5+ years exceeds any and all reasonable allowances this game should ever be accounting for in this situation.
I favor a staggered approach of releasing names based on level and time exceeding 5 years. Basically it's a variation of Backhand's idea, but shifted upward to start at the 5 year mark:
5 years inactive account - name purge of all characters level 10 and below
6 years inactive account - name purge of all characters level 25 and below
7 years inactive account - name purge of all characters level 35 and below
8+ years inactive account - name purge of all characters level 49 and below
I think something like this is a reasonable compromise between all points of view here.
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When did Global names come out?
There is a name I want to use on the Virtue server that is already being used.
I was informed that I can find out who is using that name in-game by typing /getglobalname.
I used that and nothing came up.
I was told that if nothing came up the name is being used by an account that was made before Globals came out and that account is no longer active.
Is there anyway for me to get this name?