Please Lift Name Restrictions
By
Agonus,
Posted on: 2009-09-17 08:47 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Quote:
I'm certainly no expert on comic characters so this isn't to prove you wrong, it's more idle curiosity but how many of them were the same superhero at the same time? You haven't named the superhero, only the people who have worn the mantle. For the most part there has only been on Robin, one Batman, one Flash (although I think there may have been some serious crossover here). I may covet the name johnny velocity but would never take your mantle unless you were no longer using it.
|
Originally Posted by Johnny_Velocity
Alan Scott, Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner, and John Stewart disagree with you. So do Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, Wally West, and Bart Allen. And Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, and Damian Wayne. The Marvel and DC Scarecrows beg to differ. The Golden Age Daredevil takes umbrage with the second sentence in your third paragraph, while Dick Grayson, Jean-Paul Valley, and Terry McGinnis vehemently disagree with the following one. All the Batgirls concur. Jim Hammond and Johnny Storm are burning with anger over your comments (sorry!) and Steve Rogers, James B. Barnes, William Nasland, Jeffrey Mace, and John Walker similarly disagree. Ben Reilly was unavailable for comment.
|
Quote:
5 is just too low for a decent name purge. Since we have trial account restrictions now it would be better to set it to at least 14 or so. Several groups I inherited had characters that were inactive for years but they were 6+ so it's little wonder why the last announced name purge didn't do much.
|
Originally Posted by Fleeting Whisper
- If your account is inactive (as in, unpaid, you can't log in inactive) for 90 days,
- If your character is level 5 or below, - If they decide to run the name reclaim script (and as I mentioned before, they don't have to tell us when they're doing this), |
Tyger (50), Mutation-Controller Mind/FF - oldest Mind/FF on Union
Quote:
|
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.
|
Quote:
Sorry, but how many comics have had these people appear at the same time under the same name outside some collosal event or cameo? Sure we've had two Nightwings at the same time, but that was because one was a knife-stabbing psycho. If we're wanting to use a comic book format well..|
Originally Posted by Johnny_Velocity
The evidence actually supports opposite of your assertion - comic book tradition is actually one of multiple heroes having the same name. Sure, each one has had its own conflicts, individuality, and sometimes costumes, but that is what made their stories worth telling.
|
Jean-Paul Valley - took over the mantle from Bruce while he had a broken back. One Batman.
Terry McGinnis - took the over mantle Batman while Bruce is a crotchety old man. One Batman.
Dick Grayson - has taken over now that Bruce Wayne is, for all intents and purposes, dead. Okay so there were multiple Batmen, but heck it was the Battle for the Cowl.
So if you're willing to paralyze, kill or let your Johnny Velocity grow old with dignity and a bum knee, send out the tells and we'll roll a spunky new Johnny Velocity in Outbreak as soon as you shelve him and fighting for roll, first one to 100 Contaminated wins.
As for the Batgirls they are all currently under different names: Flamebird, Oracle, Huntress, Cassandra Cain and Misfit and The Spoiler has gone and become the new Batgirl. So in the end you have persons taking up a single role and then taking up a different name entirely once someone else wants a go, so shall we play pass the name on a bi-monthly basis?
Could really try this all day, Green Lanterns are all numbered, we can already do that; see PONY-01, PONY-02. Scarecrows in DC and Marvel? Isn't that like two wholly different universes, kinda like servers.
But lets not stay with the examples, the Supergirls, Superboys and Supermen! Sure they're lots of them, but you have them actually distinguished by the people as Power-Girl, Matrix, Cir-El (wiped from the continuity!) and Kara Zor-El, Kon-El, Superboy-Prime, Ultraman, the Reign of Supermen arc with Cyborg Superman aka The Cyborg (not to be confused with Cyborg, small difference), Eradicator & Steel.
So, no, the opposite isn't true. The opposite is more confusing. They allow multiple persons to take a role for when the story suits it, allowing multiple name instances because the story requires it and allowing Hugo Strange to be the Batman because he really-really-really-really wants it.
@Drakmarth & @Drakmarth2
Avatar by S. Wall
#415877 - An Uncivil War: Preclude - Looking for Feedback
Quote:
The first time it was done up to level 36. The results suggested that most names claimed were 5 and below by far, thus the border was lowered. Not enough gain for the return of removing names from potentially returning customers.
|
Originally Posted by Tyger
5 is just too low for a decent name purge. Since we have trial account restrictions now it would be better to set it to at least 14 or so. Several groups I inherited had characters that were inactive for years but they were 6+ so it's little wonder why the last announced name purge didn't do much.
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
|
Quote:
The poster I was responding to stated "there is only one," which is demonstrably wrong. You can quibble that in some of my examples, the careers did not overlap, but you gloss over the fact that for several of them their careers have overlapped. Multiple people are "Green Lantern" (of Earth), multple people are calling themselves "Flash."|
Originally Posted by Drakmarth
Sorry, but how many comics have had these people appear at the same time under the same name outside some collosal event or cameo? Sure we've had two Nightwings at the same time, but that was because one was a knife-stabbing psycho. If we're wanting to use a comic book format well..
Jean-Paul Valley - took over the mantle from Bruce while he had a broken back. One Batman. Terry McGinnis - took the over mantle Batman while Bruce is a crotchety old man. One Batman. Dick Grayson - has taken over now that Bruce Wayne is, for all intents and purposes, dead. Okay so there were multiple Batmen, but heck it was the Battle for the Cowl. So if you're willing to paralyze, kill or let your Johnny Velocity grow old with dignity and a bum knee, send out the tells and we'll roll a spunky new Johnny Velocity in Outbreak as soon as you shelve him and fighting for roll, first one to 100 Contaminated wins. As for the Batgirls they are all currently under different names: Flamebird, Oracle, Huntress, Cassandra Cain and Misfit and The Spoiler has gone and become the new Batgirl. So in the end you have persons taking up a single role and then taking up a different name entirely once someone else wants a go, so shall we play pass the name on a bi-monthly basis? Could really try this all day, Green Lanterns are all numbered, we can already do that; see PONY-01, PONY-02. Scarecrows in DC and Marvel? Isn't that like two wholly different universes, kinda like servers. But lets not stay with the examples, the Supergirls, Superboys and Supermen! Sure they're lots of them, but you have them actually distinguished by the people as Power-Girl, Matrix, Cir-El (wiped from the continuity!) and Kara Zor-El, Kon-El, Superboy-Prime, Ultraman, the Reign of Supermen arc with Cyborg Superman aka The Cyborg (not to be confused with Cyborg, small difference), Eradicator & Steel. So, no, the opposite isn't true. The opposite is more confusing. They allow multiple persons to take a role for when the story suits it, allowing multiple name instances because the story requires it and allowing Hugo Strange to be the Batman because he really-really-really-really wants it. |
CoX mechanics do not let me "take on the mantle" of a retired hero except in very limited instances, and NEVER for a hero over level 5, unless that hero is deleted. I with those who think that should be changed.
Trotting out the "comic book tradition" argument supports my position, not that of the "unique namers," no matter how confusing you find it. (Though I daresay that if you can grasp comics continuity as well as you clearly do, your brain can handle seeing two "Captain Awesomesauces" at the same time. I promise it won't cause you any lasting damage.)
A lot of comic heroes enjoyed using other hero's names...and then Lex turned off their powers.
Perhaps the best argument for a change is an economic one: it would help attract and retain paying customers.
Oh sure, you might have the crazy or two who respond to such a change with an "I quit NAO." (All together now, children, "Can I have your stuff?") But I figure those small numbers would be far outweighed by the number of people who are made happier. I think far more people are name-picky as opposed to people who are picky about seeing duplicative names or are so selfish that they have to be the only Captain ______.
And frankly, if you've been around this long, this issue isn't really going to be the one that drives you away.
Just remember right now there is only one Mr. NoPants....but we could be legion.
I wish the "be more original" guys get off their high horse.
And for the record, all the arrogant people listing the names they "luckily" snagged and preaching to others to use a thesaurus?
Yeah, they are terrible. Really. The only way you get a name in CoH on a populated server is because it's one nobody wants.
And despite what anybody says, if you want the name "Meltdown".... well, "Captain Meltdown" and "Mr. Meltdown" and "Green Meltdown" are all horrible compared to.
Also: It's ridiculous to refer to people who haven't played the game in three years as "paying customers".
Quote:
Me and a friend who also plays on triumph were stunned when we were able to get Turbo Lass and Turbo Lad (AKA the Turbo Twins) for one of our silver aged groups. This was about 4 or 5 months ago.|
Originally Posted by SwellGuy
I had one of those last night.
|
But it is rare. I've not been able to give my copy of CO a go yet, but I'd be curious to know from those that have experienced it directly: Does CO's naming scheme which allows multiple versions of local names on their one giant server lead to much confusion ever? I mean I really wonder how often we'd each really run into someone with the same name. The only good thing about the current naming scheme is that it HAS forced me over the years to be more creative with my naming of characters which has actually led to some great concepts and names. If I went with my first impulses, I'd probably have a stable full of weak knockoffs instead of the strange hybrids of homage and original I have today.
Got the name Ghetto Girl on Virtue recently.
If you guys keep talking about this I'll have her beat you with her shoe.
Quote:
This happened to an old account of mine. I lost the names, and was asked to rename them upon logging in.
|
Originally Posted by Garielle
At one point, I thought I remembered them discussing introducing an autopurge system If I recall, it would put your character names into the "Available" name pool (but not rename your toons) if your account had not logged into that server for 90 days (don't remember the exact duration, but I believe it was 90 days). If no one grabbed the name, your characters would stay as is If someone did take a name you were using, your character would be Generic Named and you would get a free rename token. By doing it that way, it wasn't necessary for you to login to every character you had As long as you logged into your account at all, your names were safe.
Not sure what ever happened to that idea, or whether the entire thing was just some odd dream I had and never actually happened. |
I'm going to have to make some sort of copy and paste response like Memphis Bill has for this "problem" of "not having enough free names".
Here is a start, partially pulled from another thread:
A 20 character limit that allows the use of 36 unique characters and equals 3,600,000,000,000,000,000,000 possible character names.... that is just SO limiting!
And considering that there's somewhere between 450,000 and 1 million unique INDIVIDUAL words in the English language..... that you can then pair with OTHER unique individual words.....let's say you can fit 2-3 words in one name with the character limit making conservatively
2-3 million unique names....
..... we're running out of possible names!
Quote:
What if we use foreign words and dead languages?
|
Originally Posted by Westley
I'm going to have to make some sort of copy and paste response like Memphis Bill has for this "problem" of "not having enough free names".
Here is a start, partially pulled from another thread: A 20 character limit that allows the use of 36 unique characters and equals 3,600,000,000,000,000,000,000 possible character names.... that is just SO limiting! And considering that there's somewhere between 450,000 and 1 million unique INDIVIDUAL words in the English language..... that you can then pair with OTHER unique individual words.....let's say you can fit 2-3 words in one name with the character limit making conservatively 2-3 million unique names.... ..... we're running out of possible names! |
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Mr_NoPants
What if we use foreign words and dead languages?
|
Inconceivable!
Ah, jeez, another "I can't think of an original enough name, so make them ALL available" thread?
OP, there are plenty of good original names available.
On Pinnacle, within the last few days I've gotten: Amplified, Snowstrike, Realityburn, Shock Effect. That's just on ONE server. All of them were my first choice. The only one that surprised me was Amplified.
Besides, can you imagine the confusion of all the poor NPCs if there was no name uniqueness?
NPC: "This is too tough for us, call Ultra Guy!"
NPC2: "Okay.....There's Ultra Guy who is a tank in blue, Ultra Guy who is a blaster in red, Ultra Guy who changes his costume every couple days, and Ultra Guy who is AFK in Atlas all day, which one do you want?"
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
I would seriously not have a problem if they went the CO route and attached names to globals, to make them non-unique. I don't have a burning desire to monopolize any names myself, and I doubt that I'd be tripping over people with the same name. My names are usually quirky enough that I don't see them being popular choices. 
Plus if they did attach names to globals, that would open up the possibility of future server merges, which could help the folks on servers with declining populations.
All of that being said, I'd be ok with things staying as they are too. I can't say that I've ever had a really hard time finding a name, and I don't feel unhappy with any of my current character names. I do recognize that I'm pretty flexible though, and in cases where my first choice wasn't available I was ok with moving on to something else that got the same point across.
Did you have to bring up a server merge? Really, did ya HAVE to?
NO on server merges. Some of us LIKE playing on a low population server.
Myself, I physically CAN'T play on a busy server, I play on a laptop and the amount of lag generated by the population on Freedom and Virtue locks my system up.
If all servers were that populated people with lower end systems (like me) wouldn't be able to play at all.
Oh, and just to forestall the inevitable argument: I CAN'T buy a new computer, because spending $700 or more on a new system just to play a video game isn't feasible for my budget.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
Quote:
Mine tend to be, as well, but I would *HATE* to see this. Especially seeing how ridiculous it looks in CO. |
Originally Posted by anachrodragon
I would seriously not have a problem if they went the CO route and attached names to globals, to make them non-unique. I don't have a burning desire to monopolize any names myself, and I doubt that I'd be tripping over people with the same name. My names are usually quirky enough that I don't see them being popular choices.
|
Quote:
| Plus if they did attach names to globals, that would open up the possibility of future server merges, which could help the folks on servers with declining populations. |
Don't make me break out the copypasta. *glares*
Do it Bill!
Copypasta FTW!!!
Edit: I would have myself, but I'm lazy and didn't want to look for it.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
Quote:
Woah, wait a minute. I never said they *should* do any server merging. Personally I would be happy if they left the servers as is. |
Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill
Mine tend to be, as well, but I would *HATE* to see this. Especially seeing how ridiculous it looks in CO.
Which has many, MANY issues of its own - starting with "The servers are fine," "Not everyone WANTS to be on a crowded mess like Freedom" and "The game is not about to die, which is the message a server merge sends." Don't make me break out the copypasta. *glares* |
I just see non-unique names as a pre-requisite if they were inclined to merge any servers, or move to a server-less system. Remember when server transfer launched? The devs themselves broached the topic of a possible server-less system sometime in the far off future.
If they did do something like that, then I could see the need for a new naming system. If they don't do something like that in the future, then I don't see a need to change things. That's pretty much all I'm saying.
Quote:
Unless you honestly believe that "Boxcar Artichoke" is just as good a superhero/villain name as "Meltdown" (to use the example above), this argument is both spurious and specious.|
Originally Posted by Westley
I'm going to have to make some sort of copy and paste response like Memphis Bill has for this "problem" of "not having enough free names".
Here is a start, partially pulled from another thread: A 20 character limit that allows the use of 36 unique characters and equals 3,600,000,000,000,000,000,000 possible character names.... that is just SO limiting! And considering that there's somewhere between 450,000 and 1 million unique INDIVIDUAL words in the English language..... that you can then pair with OTHER unique individual words.....let's say you can fit 2-3 words in one name with the character limit making conservatively 2-3 million unique names.... ..... we're running out of possible names! |
Its not a question of "possible." Its a question of "pleasing."
The people who claim that confusion will result greatly underestimate their own intelligence, the intelligence of the average user of this game, and these devs' ability to make a good interface.
Regarding the comments on CO's method, I personally did not think anything was wrong with it, either technically or asthetically. But I haven't played it since it went live. Last I knew, you could hide the "@Duplicatenamesscareme" part of the global address.
Okay, what about the fact that CoH is loosely comic-book based?
I look at it as my character is the star of his or her own comic book series. Which I'm guessing was supposed to be the idea.
Imagine if you walked into a comic book store and saw 35 Superman titles, all of them a different character. It would kind of lose any sense of what the name means.
One of my examples, Snowstrike, would be a great name for an ice or snow based comic book character, and it was available when I tried it. There ARE pleasing names available still, you just have to try harder now.
I'd be willing to bet that the name Meltdown was snapped up for a fire or radiation based character on every server in the first week of launch, simply because it's so obvious. The first stone tank ever rolled was probably named Rock.
IMO the best names are the ones that aren't immediately obvious.
I happen to like wordplay names, as my forum handle shows. I had a stone tank named Taken for Granite as well.
To put it bluntly: Allowing anyone that wants to be Ultra Guy to have the name is kind of a cop-out. Champions probably does it because there is only ONE server, instead of the 15 we have here. There is no option to try the name on a different server, because there ISN'T a different server.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
Quote:
You haven't read this whole thread? This was discussed earlier today. Comics have a tradition of more than one person wearing the mantle.|
Originally Posted by ClawsandEffect
Okay, what about the fact that CoH is loosely comic-book based?
I... Imagine if you walked into a comic book store and saw 35 Superman titles, all of them a different character. It would kind of lose any sense of what the name means. |
To address your example, there aren't *quite* 35 Superman titles per month, but not too many years ago they each featured a different person with the Superman name. It happened right after "The Death of Superman." It sold like crazy.
Amazingly, not one customer reported being confused. True story.
My scrapper doesn't need an AoE. She IS an AoE.