Release Names or Tie to Global
By
Ad Astra,
Posted on: 2009-11-11 12:02 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Just hopped onto forums for servers that had existing name threads to list a few open names after checking a website for world capitals. Some servers still had names with great potential: Berlin, Havana, and Geneva to name a few.
If your server does not yet have a name thread, start one. It's a great place to list, swap, and request help for ideas.
Another "No Globals" vote. It seems to me that it'd be less like "I have Kid Starfire on my team" and more like "I have @JollyJellyBean on my team playing his version of Kid Starfire". Which might not matter to some but I enjoy my immersion where I can get it.
I do sometimes chuckle at the lists of character names people put out as evidence of all the great names left. "I just got Linky Whimplesmirtz last week!"
I just made a Cold/Dark defender named "Sundae Mourning" but I wasn't especially shocked to find it open 
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Imagine you are playing an RPG as the character "Gareth Dragonsbane". You've been playing this character for a few years. One day, two new players join your group. They both say "Hey, thats a great name! I think I want my character to be named Gareth Dragonsbane too!" and the DM permits it. So you're all Gareth Dragonsbane now.|
Originally Posted by Johnny_Velocity
For me, nothing breaks immersion more than not being able to name your character what you desire. Imagine playing an RPG with a DM who will only let you keep your name if you rolled a 20 on a d20 roll. How long would you stay with that GM? Sticking with an archaic software limitation seems just as arbitrary, even if the limitation served a purpose at one point.
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How'd that be for your immersion?
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Originally Posted by eltonio
This is over the top mental slavery.
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Clear to who? The other players? I'll concede that may be difficult to do, what with costume changes at the tailor being available.|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Show me ONE way that you can have non-unique names without appending global name everywhere, yet in such a way that it's still clear which player the character belongs to and I'll concede on the spot.
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The system? Easy-peasy. Add a UUID to each character generated. It's in fact pretty much SOP for any data management scheme to have an identifier column that is not domain-dependent.
Just to tick of the l33t haters, many moons ago I made a Freakshow-themed SS/Inv Brute named "B1zZ3rK" (that's B-one-Z-Z-three-R-K). That was the name I picked out before I even booted up the computer. His bio states that he was an early test subject for the Tank Smasher conversion after losing most of his limbs in a battle with a berserk claw scrapper named "Wulfereen05." 
On the other hand, I recently made yet another Freakshow-themed Elec/Shield Brute with the intention of naming him "Statix." The name was unsurprisingly taken. I toyed with the idea of calling him some variation, like "Static-X" or "Statickz" or even "Stat1x"...
Then I said screw it, his name is "Snap Crackle PUNCH!" And so it is.
Now I can make ridiculous breakfast cereal references while smacking people around, like his battlecry, "I stay crunchy in milk, sucka!!!" and the ever-popular "Two scoops of knuckles in every FIST!"
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Originally Posted by Nethergoat
it's NEVER too late to pad your /ignore list!
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It'd have to be clear to the players. If you attach a player note this would be easy enough.
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Originally Posted by Nestor
Clear to who? The other players? I'll concede that may be difficult to do, what with costume changes at the tailor being available.
The system? Easy-peasy. Add a UUID to each character generated. It's in fact pretty much SOP for any data management scheme to have an identifier column that is not domain-dependent. |
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A really good one I saw in AP recently was this big green guy dressed in a Huckleberry Finn type costume: Incredible Huck. At least I thought it was pretty clever. Personally though, he should have given him purple skin (like a huckleberry) instead of green to slightly reduce the odds of him getting genericed.
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Originally Posted by stever
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If this was on the Infinity server, then I've seen him too. I've seen someone on Infinity with that description and name. I don't think I've laughed that hard since. That name/costume combo was awesome!
I've got a few names that I consider to be completely awesome, but the one that stands out to me most right now is my level 50 controller, Femaelstrom
I named her before GR was announced. I tell everyone who asks/jokes about it, but no one believes me.
Just recently, I made another controller named American Pi and she's doing great so far. I'd actually been thinking about that name for a while, and only used it because I couldn't come up with anything else for an earth/storm controller that didn't sound totally goofy.
Other names that I have that I can think of right now:
Spirit in the Sky (yes, I like using song titiles)
Sol Sister (bright-colored afros ftw!)
Lady Arachne (on the Infinity server, since another was already mentioned)
Operative Thorogood (George Thorogood and the Destroyers sang "Bad to the Bone")
Lucretia MacEvil (Blood, Sweat & Tears song, which I love to death)
Angel of Migranes (based on an older Farside cartoon that I still laugh about)
Recently released names from characters I never played (only the ones I can think of right now):
Femininja (trying to follow up on the success of Femaelstrom)
Dark and Nerdy (a really smart defender. I've got her geeky costume on file somewhere...)
I know that those are short lists, but my memory for character names really sucks, especially since I've made so many (there was one 6-week period where I made a new character every time I played 
).
If there's a point to this post, it's pretty much the same one that I've made before, so just scroll up and look so that I won't have to make this post even longer that it already is.
Hulk puns are great. I have an Ice/Energy Tank named the Depressable Sulk. Had a Stone Tank named the Incontinent Bulk, but my friends in the SG refused to be seen with me, so I deleted him...
Though I guess that frees up a name for the OP, eh? 
Main Hero: Chad Gulzow-Man (Victory) 50, 1396 Badges
Main Villain: Evil Gulzow-Man (Victory) 50, 1193 Badges
Mission Architect arcs: Doctor Brainstorm's An Experiment Gone Awry, Arc ID 2093
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Originally Posted by Nethergoat
it's NEVER too late to pad your /ignore list!
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If enough players think its ugly, it will also have a negative effect on CoX subscriptions, even though that effect might be much more difficult to measure directly.
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Originally Posted by UnSub
My key point was that having non-unique names - in whatever format that works - lowers the barrier to entry for new players, which I see as a positive thing for CoH/V's growth.
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You seem to be doing some sort of calculation; if X names are taken by now, there will hardly be any names left after double the current duration. I contend that the number of 'taken names' is currently TRIVIAL and will not suddenly become mathematically significant in another five years.|
Originally Posted by Rodion
If the game lasts another five years the supply of names will become decidedly sparse. Something will have to be done at some point.
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Let's see, I was making an earth controller with empathy secondary and the character is an alchemist. So I wanted a name like 'Doc' and something related to earth. Got my first try: Doc Volcanic. And this was on FREEDOM.
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I did a hulk pun a while back for an SG cossie/concept competition o nthe theme of "Failed comic book heroes" Name was Miserable Sulk and was a big blue wp/ss tank. Only leveled him to the late teams purely to get the concept powers for the comp. Came second if i remember, to Iron Maiden, who's concept was Margaret Thatcher in a red and gold armourded battle suit that she built in her basement as a pet project after she stopped being PM! (and yes, i'm an EU player!)|
Originally Posted by Chad Gulzow-Man
Hulk puns are great. I have an Ice/Energy Tank named the Depressable Sulk. Had a Stone Tank named the Incontinent Bulk, but my friends in the SG refused to be seen with me, so I deleted him...
Though I guess that frees up a name for the OP, eh? |
Oh, and as far as creative names go, one of my newest toons is a magic WP/ice tank that I rolled using my own random dice method following a discussion on these boards. The idea I came up for him after his random AT, origin, powersets and cossie were rolled for was he was a technomancer that that had an magical accident that fused the upper half of his body with liquid nitrogen while experimenting with super conductors for a technomagic device. It nearly killed him, but was saved by a fellow technomance who sealed his upper body in a metal armoured suit that now keeps him alive. the name i came up with to go with this toon, A Cold Spell, was amased it was free. And it makes for some interesting NPC chatter. Just beat Frostie and not 5 minutes later a passing ped says "I heard frostfires was beaten by A Cold Spell", or something very close to that at least! :-)
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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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Agreed on both.|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Very much so. Purge names from time to time. It helps clean up the throwaway characters. I'm not sure how many names it frees up, but I see no real reason not to, especially with the current purge parameters. But tying names to global is just... Icky!
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Furthermore, considering the increased leveling speed and restrictions on trial accounts, they might also want to purge all names below level 15 on inactive accounts.
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I believe I teamed with Kid Yellow Fire just yesterday.
I vote no to the tied-to-global thing. The English language is made up of millions of words, and you can combine 2 or 3 words into a hero/villain name, and you're not limited to the English language. Our player base is not large enough to run out of names anytime soon.
Purges are fine. As noted earlier, I've recently taken advantage of that. ^_^
my lil RWZ Challenge vid
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The Black Cat|
Originally Posted by AlienOne
Seriously... Animals?
Who would name their "person" an animal name like "Codfish?" |
The Black Canary
The Bat
The Spider
The Rhino
Doctor Octopus
Beast
Wolverine
Scorpion
The Lizard
Sabertooth
And of course...
Captain Mako
Lord Recluse
Barracuda
Black Scorpion
Silver Mantis
I could do this all day...
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Originally Posted by eltonio
This is over the top mental slavery.
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I rolled a new son/son corr earlier this month. Sotto Voce was taken as I expected, however Fortissimo Voce was not.
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Originally Posted by Ironblade
You seem to be doing some sort of calculation; if X names are taken by now, there will hardly be any names left after double the current duration. I contend that the number of 'taken names' is currently TRIVIAL and will not suddenly become mathematically significant in another five years.
Let's see, I was making an earth controller with empathy secondary and the character is an alchemist. So I wanted a name like 'Doc' and something related to earth. Got my first try: Doc Volcanic. And this was on FREEDOM. |
@Catwhoorg "Rule of Three - Finale" Arc# 1984
@Mr Falkland Islands"A Nation Goes Rogue" Arc# 2369 "Toasters and Pop Tarts" Arc#116617
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While I am not for the whole global thing, you should keep in mind that "new" characters could be rerolls or a name that has been camped for a long time. On Virtue it's even pretty common to trade camped names. Not to mention some of those names could have been using the i = l trick, which I can imagine not everyone wants to use. Your name will look pretty lame if someone is using a different font. |
Originally Posted by stever
I did this this afternoon. Planted myself under Atlas, and spent 120 seconds jotting down all the names I spotted on new alts.
Came up with this list: ... If a few minutes watching the new names popping in doesn't help you realize that there are good names left, I guess I can't help you. |
I think the perceived availability of names is related to what a person considers to be a good name. There's quite a few examples of names across this thread that I wouldn't personally use. Names do seem scarce to me on Virtue, but I'm not a fan of using humorous puns. I can still come up with something that I like though, so it's not impossible. I do think a name scrub wouldn't hurt though.
The Solution!
If an account is DOWN for more than 6 months, ALL their names become available.
Have NC send EMAILS to everyone in the world with an account that has been down for 3 months or more... and tell them,
"Because we have so many active subscribers and we do NOT want to go the Champions Online route of 'yourname@yourglobal says: blah' We are going to start freeing up SUPER NAMES on all account that have been down for more than 6 months.
If you are in the Military and plan to resume playing when you get home please send us an email back so we can preserve your account and character names."
If you chose to return to the game and your characters have lost their names you will get FREE rename tokens for each of your characters that needs a new Super Name.
Thank you for your understanding, this program starts on 01/01/10
That would make things around interesting on those free activation weekends.
"Sorry bucko, but CoH and CoV are the same game." -BackAlleyBrawler
"Silly villain, CoX is for Heroes!" -Saicho
I'm actually not against P_P's idea, especially since it gives an out for those who are out of their home country in active military service.
Though, I would propose to make it purge names from accounts that were unpaid (rather than inactive, since people do pop in for the increasingly-frequent "Free Activation Weekends") for more than a year, rather than 6 months.
Main Hero: Chad Gulzow-Man (Victory) 50, 1396 Badges
Main Villain: Evil Gulzow-Man (Victory) 50, 1193 Badges
Mission Architect arcs: Doctor Brainstorm's An Experiment Gone Awry, Arc ID 2093
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Originally Posted by Nethergoat
it's NEVER too late to pad your /ignore list!
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Given the way I pick character names, I am probably not typical, but my own personal experience is that finding names has not gotten any easier or harder in the five years I've been playing the game. The probability that a name I enter will be free seems to have remained relatively constant.
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Originally Posted by Ironblade
You seem to be doing some sort of calculation; if X names are taken by now, there will hardly be any names left after double the current duration. I contend that the number of 'taken names' is currently TRIVIAL and will not suddenly become mathematically significant in another five years.
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Ok, I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I honestly think that if you have let your account go lax for more then 1 year, your names should default to "GenericHero #" to free up the names for the rest of us good, long term subscribers, and the new folk that come along. Part of the diffculty in introducing people to this game now, are them being able to find a good name for they're toon.
As for P_P's idea, I agree, it would be a simple way to give an out to the military and other groups. However, I was in Iraq for 15 months with the US Army and kept my account active, so there is no reason they couldn't do the same.
"when i can savagely beat sheep while issuing ultimatums and torturing people, then i may go back into it" -vara nocturne
Not enough Evil...
I take it back NC SOFT is enough evil for anyone...
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When they refer to 'inactive accounts', the devs mean accounts that have allowed the subscription to lapse, i.e. 'unpaid'.
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Originally Posted by Chad Gulzow-Man
I'm actually not against P_P's idea, especially since it gives an out for those who are out of their home country in active military service.
Though, I would propose to make it purge names from accounts that were unpaid (rather than inactive, since people do pop in for the increasingly-frequent "Free Activation Weekends") for more than a year, rather than 6 months. |
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Seriously... sometimes people who leave for a long time come back. Knowing that those characters are exactly as they left them is a draw for those lapsed players to return. You are suggesting that NC would burn that bridge to appease a customer who, let's face it, is rather unlikely to leave over the matter?
Or, let me put it like this. If I took a year off from this game, under this policy, I'd never return.
Paragon Unleashed, Unleash Yourself!
Duplicate names tied to different globals? Please no. What could be more immersion-breaking, clumsy, and ugly? I can only think of one thing, and Im not sure the Devs have enough goats for that.
Name purge? Of course. Why not? Sure, the claim that all the good names are taken is bogus, but many good names are taken and not used. Why not make them available after a time?
I'm not here to make you laugh.