Good character names are running out, huh?
By
Ad Astra,
Posted on: 2010-01-20 08:53 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
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Ewwwww. I can't stand the look of that personally. I have mutated the spelling of things before I would ever do that. I used to use the Name. method, but went through and deleted all of those characters because I couldn't stand the extra useless character.|
Originally Posted by Zyphoid
I think there is a guide somewhere on the boards explaining naming techniques. I do things like frame in "x" or add a dash. So I ended up with x Keeper of Blades x after moving one of my toons to Virtue. I tend to get the name I want in one way or another.
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Ex:
— Wildfire --> Wylde-Fire (And it even explains the spelling in his bio. Not to mention that this convention is not unheard of in comicdom. See: Havok and others)
— Also, I will use numbers on occasion, when appropriate. Robots might get a v3.7 or a Mk 2 etc. One of my characters is named Number 0-37.
— Combining different words or words in different languages. I wanted the name Black Point. It was taken, so I went with Schwarzpunkt, which translates from German (roughly) as Black Point. Tada! And, as a result, my business man turns villain character became an Austrian business man. Adding a touch more depth to the character.
— Also, I like to use interior hyphens. Skull-Force for example, and Wylde above. It keeps what you may have wanted, but adds the special character to make it more likely to be free.
And, yes, there still are good names out there. I recently acquired Bioflux, Soulburnt, Mantis Engine and Moonspot.
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The other downside would be that your name wouldn't be unique. As it stands, your character name is really the only part of your character that can't be directly copied.
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Originally Posted by Manslayer
Could they change everyone's name to CharacterName@GlobalName? If they add the global name to the end of your character name then you could have any name you want without worrying about it not being available. Character names would appear in team windows and above character's heads, but in chat they would appear as CharacterName@GlobalName. It might make sending tells and invites more cumbersome but that's the only downside I can see.
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@Demobot
Also on Steam
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And yet another downside is that it looks f****** ridiculous!!!
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Originally Posted by Demobot
The other downside would be that your name wouldn't be unique. As it stands, your character name is really the only part of your character that can't be directly copied.
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So you had to resort to settling for a synonym so obscure you hardly found any reference to it on the internet. And this you find an indication that good names aren't running out?|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Good character names are running out, huh?
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I actually agree with you up to a point, and with the exception of a few dissapointing setbacks I have always gotten the name I wanted for my characters. But that annecdote of yours really doesn't help the point you're trying to make...
Also XNameX and N A M E just are horrendous ways of naming your character, seriously ...
@True Metal
Co-leader of Callous Crew SG. Based on Union server.
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Well then I apologize. I wasn't trying misquote. But that's really what your posts sound like.
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
And I never said that, either. I said to pick from one of the ways you WANT your character to be called. If you don't want your Kid Flash to be called Bart Allen, then simply do not call him that. I'm sure there are at least a few other things you can call him. The point is, even comic book characters can be called multiple things, like Superman being called the Man of Steel. Just try one of the alternate variants. It doesn't guarantee you'll get a hit, but you might.
I'm not saying "just use another name," and I'd really like people to stop misquoting me on this one. I'm saying that even if you HAVE to use a particular name, you still have at least a couple of decent variants that you can go off of. Any reasonably developed character has those. And, of course, there is the off chance that yours doesn't, but it goes back to the original point - if you absolutely positively must use one specific name and no variants can EVAR suffice not one iota... Then check it, find it's taken and throw your hands up, because you can't make that character. And no, a non-unique naming system is not the solution until one such that's both clear and not fugly is invented. |
BrandX Future Staff Fighter
The BrandX Collection
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No, I'm not saying what you continually claim I must be saying, functionally, technically, theoretically speaking. You keep missing a central part of the hypothetical situation - that you HAVE several names that you WANT to use to choose from. If you really, really, REALLY have only one singe name and one single name only and no names ever, ever, ever... Then you're boned. I'm sorry, but you are. If you can only ever call your character one thing and one thing only and you can't call him that because it's taken, then there really is no solution to that.|
Originally Posted by Premonitions
Functionally, in this case, you ARE saying change the name because in this case the name is just as integral to the character as every other aspect, and changing anything would recquire either changing the character to fit it, or having the name clash with the character, like having salt in your chocolate cake instead of sugar.
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I don't agree that is as often the case as you suggest. I don't agree that all that very often, a person has a character that is already well-developed and with some backstory and yet doesn't go by at least two names. To my eyes, at least, that sort of thing goes hand-in-hand with the process of writing for a character. I'm not trying to put down any hard and fast rules, but I'm saying that, more often than not, even a set concept has SOME wiggle room. Maybe it doesn't for you. Hell, it doesn't always for me. But I cannot agree that's in the slightest a common situation.
Yes, I make no contest that it sucks when you can't change a name and it's taken. I don't think this is a situation nearly as common as you make it out to be.
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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.
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I didn't have to "settle" for anything. I had a list of synonims to try and this is the first one that went through. When I realised how obscure it was, I fell in love with it, because I enjoy obscure things as long as I know what they mean. And this is always the argument: "I want a descriptive name, but I tried all the variants and they were all taken." Well, I had a descriptive name I wanted to use, I tried all the variants and I got a name. I take this as evidence that the process works. Hell, if I were able to just log in and get "Blindness" on the first try, I'd have posted asking "What the hell are you people doing? Why has this not been taken?" If you want a descriptive name (as opposed to THAT EXACT NAME), then good names are still very much out there and unused.|
Originally Posted by TrueMetal
So you had to resort to settling for a synonym so obscure you hardly found any reference to it on the internet. And this you find an indication that good names aren't running out?
I actually agree with you up to a point, and with the exception of a few dissapointing setbacks I have always gotten the name I wanted for my characters. But that annecdote of yours really doesn't help the point you're trying to make... |
And this anecdote of mine very much does help make a point - for the first time in probably a year I make a character with a name that may not fly, and I get a name that is hugely satisfying within 10-15 minutes. Unless you want to claim that my experience was somehow aberrant and I just got hugely lucky (which I can't exactly dispute, but will you claim it?), the fact remains that I did what people complain is impossible first time around, first time I needed it. I did not need to rely on the statistic likelyhood of coming upon a concept for which there was a good name. I picked a concept, I picked a name, I found a name that worked and I did not skip a beat. If I had to change the concept or change the name theme, I would not be here posting about it. But I did exactly what I've insisted was easily possible all this time. And it was very easy and very possible.
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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.
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If NcSoft/Paragon Studios are expecting an influx of NEW players when Going Rogue goes live they should consider addressing the naming issue. Personally I don't have a problem with the way it is at the moment, but it takes time to get into that mindset, and do we really want any influx of new players to fall at the first hurdle because they want to name their first super hero something obvious and get very very frustrated when they can't?
Alt-itis is a big part of this game for a lot of people, so you don't have situations where a single player holds one or two names, you have a situation where they can hold one or two hundred...
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They should address this horrific naming issue.|
Originally Posted by NightshadeLegree
If NcSoft/Paragon Studios are expecting an influx of NEW players when Going Rogue goes live they should consider addressing the naming issue. Personally I don't have a problem with the way it is at the moment, but it takes time to get into that mindset, and do we really want any influx of new players to fall at the first hurdle because they want to name their first super hero something obvious and get very very frustrated when they can't?
Alt-itis is a big part of this game for a lot of people, so you don't have situations where a single player holds one or two names, you have a situation where they can hold one or two hundred... |
I like how other games have a suggest name option for when people can't be bothered to think.
Maybe we could have a thesaurus built in.
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They currently have the script to purge names on toons below level 6 on accounts that have been inactive 90+ days. Since trial accounts can go up to level 14, I think they should change the script to characters under level 15. The 'inactive 90 days' part sounds reasonable.|
Originally Posted by NightshadeLegree
If NcSoft/Paragon Studios are expecting an influx of NEW players when Going Rogue goes live they should consider addressing the naming issue.
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Oh, by the way, what "naming issue" are you talking about?
Paragon City Search And Rescue
The Mentor Project
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As far as I'm aware, the script didn't do much of anything above level 6, but if Trial accounts are the problem, I believe those get treated a little differently. I don't actually have any proof that they are, mind you, but it would make sense that a Trial account which never got paid for and has been inactive for a year doesn't hold great potential to spontaneously sprouting a new subscriber and, moreover... Well, let's just say that if I start a trial for some game somewhere and go away for a year, I'm not exactly going to be coming back for characters I may or may not remember.|
Originally Posted by Ironblade
They currently have the script to purge names on toons below level 6 on accounts that have been inactive 90+ days. Since trial accounts can go up to level 14, I think they should change the script to characters under level 15. The 'inactive 90 days' part sounds reasonable.
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So, yeah, I have no problem with all character names on Trial accounts being purged as soon as thye hit the 90 day mark.
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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.
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Expand the name field length from 20 to 30 characters. A surprising number of names come in at 21 characters ( ' :
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Originally Posted by LISAR
They should address this horrific naming issue.
I like how other games have a suggest name option for when people can't be bothered to think. Maybe we could have a thesaurus built in. |
@Texarkana
@Thexder
Here is my awesome idea, just go with it.
If an account has been inactive for 24 months or more then all their names on non level 50 characters can get stripped.
When they show back up to this game, they can have a bunch of free rename tokens.
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I'm against this mechanic.|
Originally Posted by Manslayer
Could they change everyone's name to CharacterName@GlobalName? If they add the global name to the end of your character name then you could have any name you want without worrying about it not being available. Character names would appear in team windows and above character's heads, but in chat they would appear as CharacterName@GlobalName. It might make sending tells and invites more cumbersome but that's the only downside I can see.
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Not only is it cumbersome, it's just plain ugly.
I'm sorry for those that have a hard time finding what they consider to be a good name.
Once again, I'm for adding a mechanic into the costume creator that will generate a list of names based on the specifics chosen in the costume creator that would check available names before listing possible choices.
I still don't have problems finding names.
Rigidity in mindset really part of the issue.
The mechanic you are suggesting allows for an unlimited number of copyrighted_charactername_variation@player combinations.
I really don't want to see @playername anywhere in the game, then again I don't want to see IRulz or IPwnzU over anyone's head either. IRulz@PwnzingU being a worse case scenario in my book. This kind of naming convention has no place in a superhero game as far as I am concerned. The name is intentionally created to harass/belittle other players and for no other reason. So may say that it is funny, but we all know that this kind of naming practice is not utilized in order to be humorous. I'm not even buying that it is used as a last resort because the player had a hard time "getting the name that they wanted".
I would like to see stricter naming conventions imposed in order to remove such garbage, L337, and PvP names (PvP names are those that are generated with characters to confuse one character or another or to cause an optical illusion that may obscure the name so that it is hard to recognize a target as a live opponent in Pvp) from the game.
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My point is, that your original post was just more of the "There's no problem, you just suck, shut up" mentality. People say that the naming system causes problems, and others say "No, you're just a bad name/character creator, see how good I am at it?" No problem or disagreement has ever been solved by one party denying that the problem exists, and then insulting the other one. | Yes, I make no contest that it sucks when you can't change a name and it's taken. I don't think this is a situation nearly as common as you make it out to be. |
A method that allows two people to have the same name would solve this problem, and only hurt the people who're being needlessly selfish, and it would only hurt them in that they would'nt be able to infringe on others people's freedoms.
Right now naming is very much a game of claim-jumping, whomever gets it first, gets it, regardless of how they plan to use it.
But I DID have an idea, it came to me in the shower. :P
Allow each character to have two names.
The game would recognize both of them as one full name, similar to a first and last name, but the player would choose which name had priority, in other words, which name was the "first", and which name was the "last", and thus which one would be shown over their head, and in most capacities under circumstances where there are'nt two people with the same "first" name in the same area, team, or zone.
The only time the "Last" name would show up is on the team search, when two people with the same "First" name were in the same zone, on the team list when two people have the same "First" name and are on the same team, on the Supergroup Roster under the same conditions, and when you bring up their profile
Ideally you would be able to switch back and forth for which name has priority, so, for instance. When I'm fighting crime, people would see Superman when they searched me or looked at me, but when I put on my glasses, I can go into my Character ID, and switch the priority, and be Clark Kent.
The game itself would recognize the full name, so two people could have one of the same names, but not both, and niether of their names would be considered taken.
So if I have, say
Name1:Ben Reilly
Name2:Spider-man
and another person has
Name1:Peter Parker
Name2: Spider-man
We can co-exist, even on the same server, and not have any problems.
Rename tokens would apply for both names, so you would'nt get only one name changed when you rename.
Anyone Who wants to argue about my usual foolishness can find me here.
https://twitter.com/Premmytwit
I'll miss you all.
The @global is ugly... ruins RP... ruins talking in public channels... ruins privacy... is ugly?... is stupid...
I dont want most people on a server to know what character I am on.
There are people on this forum that treat me like crap, after I say something about just about anything, could be random... and they just talk endless crap... I do not want these people sending me tells ingame. Just trying to be jerks. Just happened the other day with my MA story. I dont like it. I do not want just anyone to know.
I like the fact that my global and my characters are not shown in chat. Yes you can click on a name to check it, but the unknown is better. I adopt a different personality with each character, and some characters may have pissed people off. I am more me when I use my global to chat. So having the two not always associated is a good thing.
Shoot, I even removed my character names from my signature so no one would know who I am in game. I am sure it would not be hard to find out, but still that is an extra step. I may post something stupid on a bad day, piss someone off, and them ignore me forever in game. I would like to avoid that, as we all say stupid crap that we don't really mean at times.
Now that I think about it, there are posters that I like now, that I hated a few years ago, or that I am more tolerant of at the least.
Types of Swords
My Portfolio
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I'm down with that. I'm also down with the often given alternate purge idea where anyone inactive for 5 years has all names purged; 4 years, purge characters 40 and under; 3 years, 30 and under, etc. Naturally, fire off an e-mail to the accounts on file letting them know it's going to happen.|
Originally Posted by Perfect_Pain
Here is my awesome idea, just go with it.
If an account has been inactive for 24 months or more then all their names on non level 50 characters can get stripped. |
I know the counter argument that someone might decide to come back to CoH after a five year absence, find their character name gone and immediately quit in disgust but I (personally) don't see this as a very legitimate concern. I think keeping current paying customers happy is more important than worrying about the potential of the occasional multi-year absentee returning and being bitter. Heck, offer a free reactivation weekend in the e-mail so if someone really *is* worried about losing the name "Tangerine Firebird" after four years of inactivity, they can preserve it (and maybe even get hooked in again).
Yes yes, noone likes the Character@global thing, can we try to come up with a solution? Eliminating unused character names on inactive accounts based on levels sonds fantastic to me.
Anyone Who wants to argue about my usual foolishness can find me here.
https://twitter.com/Premmytwit
I'll miss you all.
After playing CO for the one month of life it has in it... I think I still prefer CoH's unique names. It WAS ugly seeing all those @globals in broadcast and the only upside was not having to see or deal with the typo-tricks some people play here to get a common name. Yet because of the @global tacked on the end it wasn't much better than seeing "xXTheHulkXx" really.
It sucks not getting the name you want, but it's also really good to get that unadulterated version of the name you DO want when it happens. And it does still from time to time.
Villains: Annie Alias, Dr. Amperical, Shade Golem, Knight Marksman
Heroes: The Clockwork Mime, Soccerpunch, The Fissioneer, Samurai Houston, Oversteer
Join The X-Patriots on Virtue!
Naming Elitists? haha
The funny thing is, there are games far more popular than City of Heroes that use the unique naming system on a per-server basis. I usually dislike using the argument "everyone else is doing it" but, frankly, just about everyone else is. The only notable ones that come to my mind that kind of don't would be Tabula Rasa (still had the same clone last name; cancelled), Sword of the New World (unique family name/surname still required; gone free2play), and CO (the unique global handle, the least elegant workaround of all; no comment).
As it currently stands, unique hero/villain name is the level of granularity currently implemented and, if there's one major lesson mmo developers should know by now, you don't change a fundamental system at the expense of your existing customers to possibly lure in a few more. City of Heroes is here today because of the commitment of its playerbase, the ridiculous number of alts they have, and probably in good part to the identity attached to each and everyone of them. Paragon/NcSoft would be stupid to ever tinker with that as loudly as a few might cry.
Clean-up scripts are great, expanding field name length is very easy too, but no way do you change to non-unique names.
@Texarkana
@Thexder
Ooh, Just came up with another application of my previously stated system. Instead of adding the full name in searches and menus when two people with the same name are together, the game would switch the displayed name of the person who came second to their secondary(last) name. If more than two were present, then the system would default to who I've already stated it.
Anyone Who wants to argue about my usual foolishness can find me here.
https://twitter.com/Premmytwit
I'll miss you all.
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Of course those are all fantasy games.|
Originally Posted by Texarkana
The funny thing is, there are games far more popular than City of Heroes that use the unique naming system on a per-server basis.
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You could faceroll your keyboard and come away with a serviceable elf name
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Fixed. And also, wouldn't aliens all be "Natural" origin by default... assuming their "superhuman" powers are native to their race?
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Originally Posted by Jophiel
You could faceroll your keyboard and come away with a serviceable alien name
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Could they change everyone's name to CharacterName@GlobalName? If they add the global name to the end of your character name then you could have any name you want without worrying about it not being available. Character names would appear in team windows and above character's heads, but in chat they would appear as CharacterName@GlobalName. It might make sending tells and invites more cumbersome but that's the only downside I can see.