Discussion: One game, one global server access
By
0verload,
Posted on: 2011-03-14 17:12 in News, Events and Announcement Discussion
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There has been a sense among EU players of being treated as less valuable customers for quite a while now. For instance, Going Rogue was only released digitally in Europe. If we wanted a box, we would have to import one from the US with an activation code that didn't work. Silly, perhaps, but there are these collectors, you know. But more importantly, there were not that many new EU players since there wasn't a box on the shelf at the stores.|
Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
If they had NOT announced the server merge (and were not merging the servers) would you still feel that you were "owed" anything for your monthly subscription fees compared to the US subscribers?
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All UK support, that was available at sensible hours, was killed off when NCsoft was restructured and the UK office all but closed down. Now we have to rely on overseas phone at higher rates and at silly o'clock, or about one mail cycle per day.
EU marketing is non-existent. EU shelf presence is non-existent. And so on and so on.
...yes, I think there's some form of consensus, perhaps not that "they owe us", but that we're definitely getting less for our money.
Will this be better with the server list merge? No, I don't think so, not much anyway. We will get access to more servers, that's true. There will be more official events in which we can participate.
But I really don't see how EU shelf presence or marketing will increase. On the contrary, I get a sense that marketing activities will be focused on NA now that they technically don't have to bother about Europe anymore. And we will still have to call at silly o'clock for phone support.
Still @Shadow Kitty
"I became Archvillain before Statesman nerfed himself!"
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Not if they, as Bloodspeaker said, would make the prefixes permanent:|
Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
No because then it becomes a race to rename. And opens the way to griefing.
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Originally Posted by Bloodspeaker
Of course, they could always decide to add a required regional prefix to EVERYone's globals, making all NA accounts @NA_Global and all EU accounts @EU_Global, making said prefixes permanent. Then everyone "loses".
See? Fair. Even irrespective of vet status or whichever customer can manage to log in first. Less work even for those that have both NA and EU accounts, since they're both discreet and unalterable. |
Still @Shadow Kitty
"I became Archvillain before Statesman nerfed himself!"
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Who said I feel I was owed anything so far ?
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Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
If they had NOT announced the server merge (and were not merging the servers) would you still feel that you were "owed" anything for your monthly subscription fees compared to the US subscribers?
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Would also require Paragon Studios to not hand out a global rename token at the same time |
Originally Posted by Shadow_Kitty
Not if they, as Bloodspeaker said, would make the prefixes permanent:
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*edit* And although "everyone loses", some people would still complain.
Cant stop those from whining.
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If this doesn't apply to you, proper, then never mind. But for those implying they're "owed", they need to actually think on this a bit.
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Originally Posted by Nemzzz_NA
Who said I feel I was owed anything so far ?
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No, I don't think I am. You are advocating a legal bullying tactic to affect a larger number of users because you feel you are at a disadvantage. The legal position is without merit because you are getting better service, but don't want to pay the cost associated with the upgrade.|
Originally Posted by Gaia
Snow Globe,
You are completely missing the point here. |
The terms of service you agree to expressly state that the accounts belong to NCsoft, and if they really wanted to punish EU players (and I don't think they do) they'd just close the four EU servers. If legal action costs NCsoft enough, that is likely what would happen.
Advocating legal action is like cutting your nose to spite your neighbour. It can only serve to hurt yourself worse than what you are trying to achieve.
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Originally Posted by Gaia
Any such action would be raised in the County court they would determine the size of damages or pass it to the High court should they feel it appropriate. That this refers to a service for the provision of something that is virtual has absolutely no relevance to the court where such a complaint would be heard.
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I understand that you and others are venting your anger, but threatening legal action based on discrimination lessens both your position AND actual discrimination cases. I don't equate having to possibly change your global name (if you don't have a NA trial with the same in game global) to discrimination based on age, sex, religion, or disability.
Trying to put this change at the same level is, quite frankly, offensive.
Triumph: White Succubus: 50 Ill/Emp/PF Snow Globe: 50 Ice/FF/Ice Strobe: 50 PB Shi Otomi: 50 Ninja/Ninjistu/GW Stalker My other characters
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That is my point, which Gaia seems to have skipped over in legal fervour.|
Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha
While the rest of the discussion/arguement is all still valid...
Court law? Really? I'd love to see that one play out; "They stole my name!" "Hmn....how and where?" "In a video game!" "....Get out." It's annoying and far from ideal, yes. But It's not something you could, or should, sue over for pity sakes. |
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Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha
All it takes is a red name to confirm that trial accounts will not count, and recently created accounts will not be able to pick names that clash.
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Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha
And then make seniority the choosing factor.
Honestly, is that really that much to ask? |
Possible definitions:
How long the account existed. Not really possible, as the game doesn't know that.
How long a player has had the global name. I don't think this is stored anywhere.
Vet rewards status. That is pretty complicated and might not be possible before their deadline.
Triumph: White Succubus: 50 Ill/Emp/PF Snow Globe: 50 Ice/FF/Ice Strobe: 50 PB Shi Otomi: 50 Ninja/Ninjistu/GW Stalker My other characters
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And your concern has already been addressed: Your NA account will be reactivated for a weekend (free of charge) at the time of the switch over. This is to let you change the global name on that account so that your EU account's in game global name can remain the same.|
Originally Posted by Mega_Jamie
My point is as now I am loosing my global name because the EU servers are being merged into the NA list, and I have an inactive NA account with the same global as I have on the EU servers.
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Problem solved.
Triumph: White Succubus: 50 Ill/Emp/PF Snow Globe: 50 Ice/FF/Ice Strobe: 50 PB Shi Otomi: 50 Ninja/Ninjistu/GW Stalker My other characters
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Not to mention short sighted and dangerous. Best case scenario you actually win the court case and NCSoft is forced to shut down all servers. Game Over.|
Originally Posted by Snow Globe
Trying to put this change at the same level is, quite frankly, offensive. |
You really want that over a name change?
I'm all for trying to come up with a better solution, though I trust the Devs vetted over this for some time and decided this was the best solution. But all this discrimination nonsense is really starting to grate on me.
Let it go already, it's not strengthening your position it's only weakening it and no amount of Legal precedence or facts you can type out will change that perception.
Maestro Mavius - Infinity
Capt. Biohazrd - PCSAR
Talsor Tech - Talsorian Guard
Keep Calm & Chive On!
Is it possible to delete or rename one of my US trial accounts so I can keep my EU account username when the database is merged?
[CENTER]Euro side: [B]@Orion Star[/B] & [B]@Orions Star[/B][/CENTER]
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Originally Posted by Zwillinger
On this day of merriment, frivolity and green beer, I come to you bearing updates.
So let's get down to Brass Tacks (yeah yeah...). We've been in serious discussion regarding many of the concerns expressed here. While some of our planning is still nascent, and as such I cannot go into a great deal of detail regarding our intent, I can state the following:
We're going to make every effort we can to ensure that your in game persona remains as intact while presenting the least amount of risk to character records as possible. As someone who's job it is to manage online communities and provide a place for people to build relationships, I understand the importance of your virtual identity and the value you're placing on it. |
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Originally Posted by Orion_Star_EU
Is it possible to delete or rename one of my US trial accounts so I can keep my EU account username when the database is merged?
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I'm talking about the actual login name, not the global handle.
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Originally Posted by Red Valkyrja
The answer to your question, is yes.
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[CENTER]Euro side: [B]@Orion Star[/B] & [B]@Orions Star[/B][/CENTER]
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Sorry, you previous post was not clear on that.|
Originally Posted by Orion_Star_EU
I'm talking about the actual login name, not the global handle.
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In that case, here is the answer you seek:
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Originally Posted by Avatea
3- What will happen if my European account name is the same as someone else’s in North America?
We wanted to keep this process as simple and manageable as possible to allow European and North American accounts to access all City of Heroes servers. All European accounts with a name conflicting with a North American account will be prepended with an “EU”. For instance, let’s take a hypothetical European account called “Cityof”. Pre-pended with “EU” would make it “EUCityof”. That is the only change to account names in that respect. We determined that this was the lowest number of users that would be affected by this account name change. North American accounts with conflicting names won’t be affected by this change. |
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Even as a NA customer, I would LOVE the ability to rename my game accounts.
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Originally Posted by Orion_Star_EU
Is it possible to delete or rename one of my US trial accounts so I can keep my EU account username when the database is merged?
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Triumph: White Succubus: 50 Ill/Emp/PF Snow Globe: 50 Ice/FF/Ice Strobe: 50 PB Shi Otomi: 50 Ninja/Ninjistu/GW Stalker My other characters
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Extra credit for superior reading skills. Didn't think I was being that vague.
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Originally Posted by Shadow_Kitty
Not if they, as Bloodspeaker said, would make the prefixes permanent
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Where to find me after the end:
The Secret World - Arcadia - Shinzo
Rift - Faeblight - Bloodspeaker
LotRO - Gladden - Aranelion
STO - Holodeck - @Captain_Thiraas
Obviously, I don't care about NCSoft's forum rules, now.
Soooooo any change for account-transfers (within same global game account) in the near future?
(and the past few pages are the exact reason why i never wanted a forum merge with US in the first place).
50)Sinergy X/(50)Mika.
(50)MaceX/(50)Encore
Sign the petition, dont let CoH go down! SIGN!
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I would suggest that if the issue of a forced change to account names and global identifiers in a video game were to escalate to litigation, there would be very few "reasonable people" left in the discussion.|
Originally Posted by Gaia
As to whether the definition of European would be designated to be either relating to Nationality or Ethnicity would be a matter for the courts to decide if matters were to reach such a stage that would be determined on the basis of what a "reasonable person would deem to be reasonable"
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Implied threats of litigation are just poor form.
My postings to this forum are not to be used as data in any research study without my express written consent.
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As a Brit living in Canada I can sympathise with those in the UK and Europe who will actually lose their Global, but i've got little time left for the whiney types who've already been told that they'll have a free activation weekend to come on and change their NA globals.|
Originally Posted by Shadow_Kitty
There has been a sense among EU players of being treated as less valuable customers for quite a while now. For instance, Going Rogue was only released digitally in Europe. If we wanted a box, we would have to import one from the US with an activation code that didn't work. Silly, perhaps, but there are these collectors, you know. But more importantly, there were not that many new EU players since there wasn't a box on the shelf at the stores.
All UK support, that was available at sensible hours, was killed off when NCsoft was restructured and the UK office all but closed down. Now we have to rely on overseas phone at higher rates and at silly o'clock, or about one mail cycle per day. EU marketing is non-existent. EU shelf presence is non-existent. And so on and so on. ...yes, I think there's some form of consensus, perhaps not that "they owe us", but that we're definitely getting less for our money. Will this be better with the server list merge? No, I don't think so, not much anyway. We will get access to more servers, that's true. There will be more official events in which we can participate. But I really don't see how EU shelf presence or marketing will increase. On the contrary, I get a sense that marketing activities will be focused on NA now that they technically don't have to bother about Europe anymore. And we will still have to call at silly o'clock for phone support. |
As for the implied extensive marketing here in North America all I can say is where? The only boxes i've ever seen on the shelves in any store have been older issues long past their best buy date. I've yet to see any advertising anywhere except through the CoH site.
I vaguely recall seeing the original box onthe shelves years ago but wasn't playing any games at the time. It wasn't until three years ago a friend got me into the game and he'd got an older copy he'd picked up out of the bargain bin.
Hell, the only time I recall ever seeing it product placed on any tv show/movie was in the background of the comic book store on The Big Bang Theory.
I never once saw GR on any shelf in any store. I ordered it off the website.
Funny thing is, every one one of the competitors have had their stuff on the shelves everytime I walk in any of the stores locally. New game or old.
Ignoring for the moment all the (IMHO quite silly) legal discussion, I do have one more thing to ask should Zwillinger still have the endurance to read this thread. Namely, as someone who is more than likely to lose their global (even if Trials are excluded) will we be able to request a forum rename as well?
People know me through my global and my forum name so if I have to change one and create a new global identity, it'd be good if I could change the other for consistency.
@Dante EU - Union Roleplayer and Altisis Victim
The Militia: Union RP Supergroup - www.themilitia.org.uk
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Heck, the amount of grief I faced pre-ordering a copy from their "partner" left a bad taste in my mouth (and other Canadians too):|
Originally Posted by Darkscar
As for the implied extensive marketing here in North America all I can say is where? The only boxes i've ever seen on the shelves in any store have been older issues long past their best buy date. I've yet to see any advertising anywhere except through the CoH site.
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Originally Posted by Snow Globe
On June 30th I went to my local GameStop store. I put down a $40 deposit ($44.99 Canadian, not including tax) (Gamestop.ca product page). So silly me, I went to the store this morning expecting to get my Going Rogue box and goodies. I was politely told that "I don't know what happened, but we got a memo that shipments all across Canada have been delayed. It more than likely means that the vendor didn't produce enough product or that it got held up at the border."
They had my phone number, but didn't even bother to let me know that there was a delay. Thanks a lot. |
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Originally Posted by Dante
Ignoring for the moment all the (IMHO quite silly) legal discussion, I do have one more thing to ask should Zwillinger still have the endurance to read this thread. Namely, as someone who is more than likely to lose their global (even if Trials are excluded) will we be able to request a forum rename as well?
People know me through my global and my forum name so if I have to change one and create a new global identity, it'd be good if I could change the other for consistency. |
Triumph: White Succubus: 50 Ill/Emp/PF Snow Globe: 50 Ice/FF/Ice Strobe: 50 PB Shi Otomi: 50 Ninja/Ninjistu/GW Stalker My other characters
At least be happy you got boxes, i cant even remember the last box i've actualy saw from CoH in stores here (i collect NCsoft's CE - thus only lacking CoH itself).
50)Sinergy X/(50)Mika.
(50)MaceX/(50)Encore
Sign the petition, dont let CoH go down! SIGN!
The CoX CE was called the "deluxe" edition. It *was* released in the UK, but I have this sneaking suspicion that it was actually *all* the UK boxes. I have yet to see a non-deluxe edition of the base game (that wasnt GvE)
If you were looking for a big box (style of CoV) then I believe you are hideously out of luck. When NCsoft were running their shop at public events (which they did at the Omega Sektor), they had Collectors of their games available, including CoV, but no CoH "big style box"
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To my knowledge, the "regular" CoH was never released to Europe. On the other hand the box copy in Europe was the CoH DVD Edition, so you got the Prestige Cape and Power Slide.|
Originally Posted by SinergyX_EU
At least be happy you got boxes, i cant even remember the last box i've actualy saw from CoH in stores here (i collect NCsoft's CE - thus only lacking CoH itself).
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If you couldn't get a hold of the CoV CE in game goodies, I've been trying (unsuccessfully) to convince NCsoft to release a booster that had all the in game stuff from both CoH CE DVD and CoV CE DVD. I've been doing so even though (and because) I have both add-ons already.
I think I've might have seen the AE edition once in stores, and I only found the Going Rogue box because I specifically pre-ordered it.
As to marketing, I can tell you from experience that outside of the US, the game isn't really marketed at all. And even there a succession of bad deals has usually come back to bite the game.
The Good Vs. Evil Edition was initially an exclusive deal with Wal*Mart USA (not Canada). For 6 months the complaints were resounding on these boards.
The Architect Edition could barely be found, even up to the time Going Rogue came out.
The Gamestop promotion was a nightmare and I think Gamestop got more out of the deal than Paragon Studios/NCsoft out of that one.
Triumph: White Succubus: 50 Ill/Emp/PF Snow Globe: 50 Ice/FF/Ice Strobe: 50 PB Shi Otomi: 50 Ninja/Ninjistu/GW Stalker My other characters
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Sadly, a free activation weekend only help those that have an NA global to change. |
Originally Posted by Darkscar
As a Brit living in Canada I can sympathise with those in the UK and Europe who will actually lose their Global, but i've got little time left for the whiney types who've already been told that they'll have a free activation weekend to come on and change their NA globals.
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Those, like me, that have no NA global to change and a pretty obvious name, risk losing the global to an active player who have had the account more than I had mine, an active player who have had the account less I had mine, an inactive player, a NA trial account owned by someone else, or a griefer who thinks that those whiney Euros should just open wide and swallow.
Still @Shadow Kitty
"I became Archvillain before Statesman nerfed himself!"
See? Fair. Even irrespective of vet status or whichever customer can manage to log in first. Less work even for those that have both NA and EU accounts, since they're both discreet and unalterable.
No because then it becomes a race to rename. And opens the way to griefing.
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