Discussion: One game, one global server access

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I have not read all the posts but from waht im gathering that ther is chance that us EU players will lose our globals !! A global ive had since game started many years ago.


This Idea of losing global if EU player on server/forum merge is outrageous im not to happy at the sound of these latest proposals so why on earth they decide to do this crazy idea !!!


And dont se why we need a gloabl server lsit with EU and Us on same list, its fine the way it is EU has there 4 servers and US there many. if this global namer change is jsut as merging servers its not a good plan

Not happy about this, not happy at all.
We get robbed of our global identities because of something we have no choice in? Thanks alot!

We get access 11 extra servers in exchange for the confirmation that we've effectively had second class accounts since launch and our history of loyalty to the game means frak all. Way to make a player feel valued!

Personally I'd rather ditch access those 11 servers than lose My Name.

As for the US account holders saying it's no big deal. Try considering it from our point of view, what if you were the one losing a global handle you'd had for the last 5+ years?

I know there's an NA account with the global name @Biscuits, I'm pretty sure it's my trial account that was created for the closed beta of Issue 10, which was only on US test at the time. Will it be possible to get a member of support to check and confirm, and then change the global on that inactive account?

Only other way I can see of doing it, is buying the full NA version, to change it, then letting it go unsubbed. I don't want to lose my Global, it's the name I use for lots of things, but I'd rather not have to pay extra, all because I was invited to help test an Issue years ago.

Being Irish, the first thing that came to mind when I read this ' You can **** right off!!!! I want to keep my global name' - cos you know, we irish just have to curse or it doesn't sound right!

But I took a deep breath, held of on my response and took time to read all the posts.

There is lots of talk about what is fair and what is unfair. I think customer loyalty should be rewarded here as that is the fairest thing of all. Months played/Vet Rewards translate into one thing, Money! And you should reward your loyal customers who have paid the most by letting them keep their global. Quick tally and I calculate I have paid NCsoft over €800 for the last 6+ years. Thats not including expansions and perks i have paid for (would bring the total to almost €1000).

If I have the same global name as a NA account and they have only paid $100, I would feel pretty annoyed and i would feel betrayed by paragon studios if that NA account got to keep the global and I had to change!

I understand that the NA player base is larger but it really feels like the minority is getting screwed here. I also concur that the EU servers usually do get the crappy end of the stick. While a single server list will go a long LONG way to rectify this, this name change issue/system needs to be thought about very long and hard before implemented!

/em, endrant

A huge part of this prolem would be addressed if we could be assured that Trial accounts would never win over EU accounts. Many seem to have tried the US at some point through Trials... Me included.

If I had the option I would simply delete my US Trial account completely... There is no option for that though.

Do something constructive with the Trial accounts!

The thing that makes me laugh is this is being sold as the greatest thing to happen since sliced bread. As a guy who plays on 1 server all this mean to me is that instead of having 3 servers I don't use I will now have 14. So what do I get in exchange for this great gift besides carpel tunnel from scrolling* further to find my server?

The chance to maybe play with some new people who find their way to my sever...possibly...just maybe....because they are bored/out of slots?

This game is 7 years olds and I've been playing actively for over 4. I have limited playtime so I'm not going to be going around actively seeking new friends, I have my sever and my SG and I'm happy enough with the time I play. Sell this to me as someone who already plays peak time on a server in his time zone?

Right now all I'm really seeing is a chance to loose my global name that everyone I play with knows me as (even across other games these days) in exchange for a chance to be in a few more betas earlier, when the US people get them, which I hardly ever do as I like the experience the new content fresh on live.

I know people have been asking for this for years, I wasn't one of them. If I wanted to play on US servers I would have stuck with them. My US account still exists (inactive since 2007) because I didn't start playing EU side until after they closed the account migration system.

Would I leave the game over this? Propably not.

Does it make me feel like a respected customer of NC or Paragon studios? Not really.

Am I possibly overeacting because this information is still being digested? Perhaps.

Does that make my opinion less valid? Nope.

Is it coz I is EU? :P

*before anyone gets pissy I know my last used sever will be at the top

I can understand the frustration. I wouldn't want my global name changed either.

Is there any sort of datamining that would tell us how many names we are talking about? Is it dozens, hundreds, or thousands? Not that it makes much difference if you are the one who has to change, but I think it would be important to know just how many people will be effected.

While I'm not expecting to lose my global I feel for those who are. I feel the priority on names should be active over inactive (say 60 days or more) then veterancy. I don't understand people advocating worrying about customers who MAY come back over those playing NOW. Plan for the future, sure, but PROVIDE for now.

I think if they could delete trial accounts with no access in the last 6 months (3 would be more than enough to me) or something, it would avoid this kind of mess.
I dont see the point to mantain those accounts.
The trials last only 2 weeks. After that, whats the point of mantain them? At least, after 6 months, those accounts should be removed.
That could free names for characters, accounts and even database space.
People can always create another trial if they didnt upgrade to the game in half a year.
Seems fair enough to me.

I should be able count myself lucky in this case that I have an NA account, but I really think that it would have been fairer to add a prefix to both globals where there was a clash and give both a rename token. I personally would not mind having NA added to my global - it's just the name of my first, now long neglected character, but I know that others are far more attached to their choice for various reasons. It would allow people who have the same global on both sets of servers to make their decision on which to rebadge and there are obviously a number of those people around.

I'd like to add my voice to those questioning somthing on this.

My issue isn't (unlike some of my EU compatriots) to do with Global name (at the moment), but is a question raised earlier, too.

I have three accounts under my NC Master Account: My active EU one, and two US trial accounts from years ago. One of those trial accounts has the same account name as my EU account. I don't want to have to add "EU" to the start of my account name when the merge happens (yes, I am that lazy), and since I own both account names, is there any way I can delete that ancient US trial account to ensure no account name conflicts? My EU account has been around longer than that trial account.

I will also, however, raise my voice regarding the global name issue. Now, I have no idea if there's a guy called "Shadowe" active on the US servers (he made one post on the forums, years ago, as far as I know, but I do know that I don't own it as a Global Name on the US servers), and it really doesn't bother me if there is (I have another name I'm happy to use as my global if needs be), but I am inclined to agree with other users who have said Vet Active > Newer Active > Inactive, though part of me thinks Vet Active > Vet Inactive > Newer Active > Inactive sends a message that loyalty is appreciated.

I think that's the largest problem that the long-time EU players have - while it's all well and good to say "the EU servers are being merged with the US servers", from our perspective that isn't and shouldn't be true. It is the merger of all the servers. There is no "more important" server list involved in the merger. Or there really shouldn't be. If "@Made Up Name" from the EU, who has been on the EU servers since the EU servers went live in 2005 suddenly finds that they lose their global name to a trial account created on the US servers at just the wrong time, I'd say they have a right to feel unappreciated. It sends the message from NC that "your 6 years of custom in the EU are less important to us than someone who decided to try out the US servers for free".

The system that they are planning to use will treat everyone equally, sure, and it simplifies the disruption from a Database management perspective (only one of the two databases gets altered before they get merged), but it is not fair, and it's certainly not looking after your loyal customers.

NA player here -
Seriously, the only fair way to do this is to ensure that people who have had their global name longer gets to keep it. Hands down.
Personally, I couldn't care less if I lost my global handle because it was created when I played the game for the very first time and my very first character, whose name I wasn't happy with, became my global. I don't even play that character anymore much.
But obviously some people have give much thought, and invested much time and identity to their names. And if they have been using that handle for the last five or six or seven years, then they should be allowed to keep it over someone in North America who created an account five months ago. That's just common sense.
All I can see happening here is resentment and frustration and ill-feeling in what should be an exciting and promising announcement, especially when you couple it with the "suck it up, Euros" attitude by some of my fellow North Americaners.
I don't want to lose out on the opportunity to make potential new friends from overseas because they think all NA-ers are a bunch of self-interested, unsympathetic jackwagons.
Whether an individual thinks it's a big deal or not, it's obviously a big deal to some players who could be affected, and from a customer service standpoint, NC Soft would be very wise to put the needs of the current, paying player before the needs of a nebulous, once-and-possibly-future trial player.

And by the way, my global handle is @Jack of Rooks - feel free to steal it!

By the way, I really hope that there is a check built-in already that blocks EU globals being used as globals on new NA accounts from now on. Otherwise, it will be abused - this is the internet, after all.

I am not a *prefix*... I am A MAN!

Well I don't post on these forums that often but sometimes something crops up that just means I HAVE to voice my opinion.

And I'm pretty riled up right now.

GRRRRRRRRR (<-- See how riled I am!)

I've spent an inordinate amount of money on this game over the years.
I've spent an inordinate amount of time in this game over the years.
Bar one day where I forgot my bank card had expired and my account had lapsed I have been playing this game for 72 odd months concurrently with no breaks.
I've ALWAYS been known as Knightingale, even before the whole Global name thing came along.
Since Global names were established I've always been @Knightingale.
I have a huge friends list with a load of people who know me as Knightingale.
When I log into the game and come into chat channels it's always "Hey Knighty", "Hi Gale", "How's you tongith Knightingale".
Like other people that name has carried over to other games and other forms of Internet identity.
It's my online identity. It's somethign I'm proud of and have spent years cultivating. ESPECIALLY in a game to which I've loyally been subscribed to for over 6 years and spent a small fortune on.

And now..... now I'm being told that within a few months that identity COULD be lost to someone who fits any of the following criteria.

a) has been playing US side for 7 plus years continuously.
b) has been a player at sometime in the past on the US servers but might now no longer be active.
c) has at some point dabbled very briefly in CoH on the US side and happened to have the same Global as me
d) has had a trial account US side wth the same Global as me and then decided against actually playing the game any longer because it wasn't to their liking

only after these 4 groups of people have been checked..... will I get the Global handle I've had for 6 plus years.

Now Group a) I'm not too concerned about. They were here first so technically I'm the usurper of the name. And as they're still playing they're entitled to it. I'd be miffed but ultimately I understand.

The other 3 groups should, as far as I'm concerned, forfeit the name. They no longer PAY for the privilege of having that name. I DO.

THAT is fair.

i've never really thought of the EU side of the operation as being the second-class citizens of the CoH family. I've always just puttered around, been pleased with the content and all the new issues and the like. I've bought all the packs and expansions etc so that I continue to fund this game the best way I can because I don't want it to end. I've always said that I'll be logged in when they finally turn the servers off, I won't go willingly into the night.

But now it does appear that for the first time I see us as being the ignored outspoken MINORITY.

A case of, "Well yes the EU guys will complain, but what the hey, there's not too many of them and it'll all blow over."

I wish I could say that this would drive me from the game, that my outrage would fuel my convictions and I'd say toodle-pip and thanks for the fun. But I know that I'll still be here playing my favourite game and hanging out with my friends and exploring the wonderful new content that's coming down the pipeline.....

And yes frankly it will all blow over and will be mostly forgotten in the months to come.

But right now I'm pi**ed!

Honestly, rethink this please. Give some weight to the Veterans. The ones who've been around a LONG time and paid in time and money to EARN those names. Your current plan, while it might technically cause less problems to you is just downright unfair and badly thought out.

My tuppenth, I assume you'll ignore it, after all I am from the EU........