That really does suck, especially with Samaritan since I found that one free and posted it in the VNW thread on March 7. That had to have been just added. Maybe it was petitioned? I can't see them trying to use the name of an established character for one of their npc's (again).
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@Starflier
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TBH that doesn't make any sense to me. If they had decided to take those names, why would your friend be able to make characters with them?|
Originally Posted by Hero Prime
The only reason that makes sense is that NCsoft or Paragon Studios has decided to take the name a player had and turn it into an NPC name.
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The only reason that makes sense to me, personally, is that there's a bug.
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Well... that was my unspoken belief, Pampl - that there's a bug and that they're not sure how to get around it.|
Originally Posted by Pampl
TBH that doesn't make any sense to me. If they had decided to take those names, why would your friend be able to make characters with them?
The only reason that makes sense to me, personally, is that there's a bug. |
Knowing that my friend had made characters by that name on his account, the GM told me of a possible workaround. He instructed me to make my characters and give them different names, then he would rename the ones on my friend's account, and after securing the names would rename mine so that I'd have my names back. Only after I created the characters did the GM "discover" the names were on the blocked list, then asked me if I could just be happy playing the characters with the temporary names I had given them. (He offered to rename them, as well, but not to the names I had before.) The GM did, however, rename the ones on my friend's account to "Optimal1" and "Samaritan1" (thus proving neither of them was blocked for trademark - after all, they wouldn't have renamed a character "Superman1" or "Spider-Man1", but instead would have given them the name Generic 004523452 or some such).
Right now, I'm just flabbergasted.
Where do we go from here?
Well...it likely won't help your current situation, but always check a name is still free by looking for it on a different server, chances are it won't be taken on all and if it is blocked it will say not available and you'll know before you reroll. Not that I'm sure what you'd do with the placeholders then though.
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That's not a bad idea, Kai, but I'm not sure it would have helped in this case. Here's a quote from one of the GMs who was "helping" me, bad grammar and all.|
Originally Posted by Kai
Well...it likely won't help your current situation, but always check a name is still free by looking for it on a different server, chances are it won't be taken on all and if it is blocked it will say not available and you'll know before you reroll. Not that I'm sure what you'd do with the placeholders then though.
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| I can confirm the name "Optimal" and "Samaritan" is in use on most servers, including Virtue. |
Where do we go from here?
That's so weird. 
For what it's worth in helping figure this out, as of right now, when I check to see if either name is available I get "The character name is not available" message. There is no global attached to them in game and I can't friend them.
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The Queen's Menagerie
They don't advertise it, but yeah....they've always done this. See, the list of blocked names is not static. It can't be. It grows and changes as new stuff is added to it. This makes sense, because obviously the GMs can't think of everything. And also...there's always new comics and other entertainment properties. New stuff comes out, new names get added to the list.
When City of Heroes launched in 2004, the GMs didn't police anime and manga stuff. There was even a user-submitted screenshot prominently featuring a clone of Rock Lee from Naruto on the front page of the official website for several months. But try making something from Naruto now - you won't get far.
The devs also block names used by new signature characters and other NPCs, as they're added to the game.
The thing is, changes aren't retroactive. If you already have a certain name, and it was only lately added to the banned list, they usually won't go back and force you to give up your name. This has come up before; folks have been reported to the GMs, and so on. Generally if you had the name beforehand, on that character, GMs will give you a wave.
If you actually went and deleted the character, though, even with the intention to reroll...that's where it gets tricky. Because you don't have the character any more. You just, technically, gave it up.
A sufficiently senior GM might be able to help you, though. If you really want the name, you need to fight for it. Get them to escalate the case until it reaches someone in management. Certainly you can prove that you had the name before - their database records should show you had a character with X name for Y amount of time, and only deleted that character on Z date.
This will take time, but if you manage to get the case escalated, there is a chance.
@Acyl
VIRTUE
Blue: Realpolitik, Leading Lady, Glass Lass, Superball, Alec Kazam
Red: Battery Acid, Obsolete, Bugfix
I remember having Optimal for a while, kind of shocked that it would be on the blocked name list. Only thing I can think of that might cause it to be added is if someone might end up mistaking it for Optimus, but that's a bit of a stretch. Anyways I hope that you get your names back. Try Acyl's suggestion and see if you can get your issue escalated to GM management and see if they can help you out.
Also on a side note, it's things like this that make me so hesitant on deleting and re-rolling characters that I have.
Paragon Unleashed Forums
Twitter: @Alpha_Ryvius
Anyone here from the beta/pre-release days may remember Ms Liberty on the forums. She was probably one of the most active and visible members of the forum. Emmert decided he liked the name and put it in the game and blocked her from using it.
So no, this is nothing new.
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Haha, 'her'?|
Originally Posted by Dr_Occult
Anyone here from the beta/pre-release days may remember Ms Liberty on the forums. She was probably one of the most active and visible members of the forum. Emmert decided he liked the name and put it in the game and blocked her from using it.
So no, this is nothing new. |
Do you not remember the Ms. Liberty facade? Turned out to be a dude using pictures of a Canadian model to solicit male attention.
Back to your regularly scheduled thread...
They are returning Optimal to me.
After sending PMs to multiple GMs and Devs, they discussed it and have decided to do a forced name change on one character on my account, to give it the name "Optimal". All I had to do was send in a ticket telling them which one to change. Interestingly, the character I was going to make into "Optimal" is now under the name "Hack", so rather than let it sit and languish, I've asked them to rename an old level 50 Martial Arts Scrapper that I haven't used in ages, breathing life into the build with a new concept.
That works for me. I can understand them not releasing Samaritan, as it is indeed a character in another comic universe, so I'm satisfied with the return of Optimal.
Thank you, Paragon Studies and NCsoft.
Where do we go from here?
Glad to hear this got resolved for you! As an FYI for future reference, I've had this same problem come up for me before. Saved a name, deleted, went to re-roll and was told the name wasn't available. The GM who helped me at that time advised me to wait and try again after the next maintenance period, which I did and behold! It worked. Got the name back, no problem.
Of course, if names are added to the block list, that step wouldn't help, but it does seem weird your friend could make them but you couldn't. At any rate, very happy this got sorted out for you!
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Originally Posted by Mr_Mud
Haha, 'her'?
Do you not remember the Ms. Liberty facade? Turned out to be a dude using pictures of a Canadian model to solicit male attention. Back to your regularly scheduled thread... |
Does that make what I posted false? And no, I basically quit reading the public pre-release boards after the character hijacking and the back and forth between Emmert and the Ms Liberty person.
Just like Acyl explained above, yes a lot of times this happen when after big maintenance some names that have been blocked, they became available, but the same thing happen later and specially if you re-roll a character, the name is blocked again.
That can be very lame and ridiculous as a lot of those names are just your American common guy/gal name or Japanese guy/gal name too. That's why with one of those name i make sure i choose the correct archetype, so in any case a re-roll do not cost me the name.
I hope all of those ordinary person names that are blocked, one day they decided to unblocked them since those will not damaged Paragon or NC-Soft at all.
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Bashing Emmert and his decisions is like, I dunno, dragging the rotting corpse of a horse into the town square and savaging it with pneumatic jackhammers.|
Originally Posted by Dr_Occult
Does that make what I posted false? And no, I basically quit reading the public pre-release boards after the character hijacking and the back and forth between Emmert and the Ms Liberty person.
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Originally Posted by Yunalesca
I hope all of those ordinary person names that are blocked, one day they decided to unblocked them since those will not damaged Paragon or NC-Soft at all.
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@Acyl
VIRTUE
Blue: Realpolitik, Leading Lady, Glass Lass, Superball, Alec Kazam
Red: Battery Acid, Obsolete, Bugfix
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Congrats! I do wonder tho if that's why they blocked Samaritan. There are just so many names used by multiple genres, comic companies, mythology, etc. that aren't blocked. Frustrating what seems to be randomly selected. But that's great news about Optimal. That one made NO sense whatsoever.
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Originally Posted by Hero Prime
They are returning Optimal to me.
After sending PMs to multiple GMs and Devs, they discussed it and have decided to do a forced name change on one character on my account, to give it the name "Optimal". All I had to do was send in a ticket telling them which one to change. Interestingly, the character I was going to make into "Optimal" is now under the name "Hack", so rather than let it sit and languish, I've asked them to rename an old level 50 Martial Arts Scrapper that I haven't used in ages, breathing life into the build with a new concept. That works for me. I can understand them not releasing Samaritan, as it is indeed a character in another comic universe, so I'm satisfied with the return of Optimal. Thank you, Paragon Studies and NCsoft. |
My Corner of DeviantART
The Queen's Menagerie
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Yes the definition of Celebrity can be pretty loose but believe me a name like Sakura (as long it does not resemble any of the anime and video game characters with that name) it does not anything, since the name is for the Cherry Blossom Tree and one of the most common female names in Japan. In the past, the name was blocked. For me, that is very non-sense.|
Originally Posted by Acyl
Bashing Emmert and his decisions is like, I dunno, dragging the rotting corpse of a horse into the town square and savaging it with pneumatic jackhammers.
They do block celebrity names as well, and the definition of 'celebrity' can be pretty loose. I've seen at least one name blocked which turned out to be, after some checking, the name of a singer I'd never heard of. But just because, y'know, I've not heard of the guy doesn't mean the GMs haven't. |
This has been a case that from a very good reason and purpose to protect NC-Soft and our game, then it go to the extreme obvious non-sense.
Well that's their decision and they can do whatever they want with the game. We have the same rights to make respectful opinions. ^^
Well, one could say Optimal is really close to Optimal Optimus. >_>
BrandX Future Staff Fighter
The BrandX Collection
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If it was his avatar, then that was silly on the part of the other forum goers |
Originally Posted by Mr_Mud
Haha, 'her'?
Do you not remember the Ms. Liberty facade? Turned out to be a dude using pictures of a Canadian model to solicit male attention. Back to your regularly scheduled thread... |
But wow. I didn't know this! I never really had reason to think Jack was so bad untill reading this just now.
BrandX Future Staff Fighter
The BrandX Collection
Hero Prime,
I'm sorry to hear what happen to you with the Samaritan name but I'm glad you have Optimal back. Between Optimal and Optimus, i see a big difference and i will never mistaken those two names.
Congratulations on getting it back again. A good friend in game of mine told me too, after i told my story to this friend. This person even made my day with a character name that she wasn't using any longer.
PM Zwillinger. That man is incredibly good at responding to player inquiries. I wish the support team was more like him.
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"Dark Armor is a complete waste as a tanking set."
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I didn't say it made anything you said false, I was merely making you aware of how that entire situation ended in lulz.
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Originally Posted by Dr_Occult
Does that make what I posted false? And no, I basically quit reading the public pre-release boards after the character hijacking and the back and forth between Emmert and the Ms Liberty person.
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Samaritan is a major character in the Astro City comic book series. Basically, the Superman-equivalent of the universe. (different powerset, different origin, but clearly inspired by).|
Originally Posted by Goblin_Queen
Congrats! I do wonder tho if that's why they blocked Samaritan. There are just so many names used by multiple genres, comic companies, mythology, etc. that aren't blocked.
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so, it's not a case of an obscure, alternate genre character. It's a straight-up superhero character for a world pretty similar to the COH world. Personally, as a comic book geek, I'd be surprised if that one WASN'T blocked.
Oh, and everyone, go read Kurt Busiek's Astro City. It's awesome. Just read the story from Astro City #1. It's a day in the life of Samaritan. Read it, and you'll never think of a superman-like character the same way again. Oh, then read "Nearness of You" from Astro City #1/2, and be ready to cry if you have the slightest romantic bone in your body.
I'm a published amateur comic book author: www.ericjohnsoncomics.com
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It's a common given name, and probably one that won't invite a lawsuit or anything. You know that, because you know about Japanese society and naming conventions. Maybe the GMs weren't aware of that when they blocked the name. Or perhaps they figured it was dangerous, because a lot of people only know the name from...I dunno, the Naruto character? The Street Fighter character?|
Originally Posted by Yunalesca
Yes the definition of Celebrity can be pretty loose but believe me a name like Sakura (as long it does not resemble any of the anime and video game characters with that name) it does not anything, since the name is for the Cherry Blossom Tree and one of the most common female names in Japan. In the past, the name was blocked. For me, that is very non-sense.
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When they go about blocking names, they frequently run with the lowest common denominator. They often get overly cautious about this...I mean, after all, they were already sued once. Yes, yes, I know, discussing the Marvel legal case is a whole can of worms on this board.
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Originally Posted by Shagster
Samaritan is a major character in the Astro City comic book series. Basically, the Superman-equivalent of the universe. (different powerset, different origin, but clearly inspired by).
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@Acyl
VIRTUE
Blue: Realpolitik, Leading Lady, Glass Lass, Superball, Alec Kazam
Red: Battery Acid, Obsolete, Bugfix
I'm not sure why I'm writing this here, but it's likely because I feel as though there is no further recourse. I just lost two names to NCsoft/Paragon Studios, and I have yet to hear a clear answer as to why.
It started a few nights ago, when I deleted a placeholder character with the name “Samaritan” in order to finally make the character. I had managed to secure the name a few weeks ago, but college and work kept me from making the character I wanted to make at the time. It stayed on the back burner until earlier this week, when I finally had enough time to play a new character. Unfortunately, when I tried to make the character, the game informed me that the name was no longer available. (Please note: It didn't say it was in use – there's a marked difference between the error message you get when another player has a name and the one you receive when a name is blocked.) A little disappointed, I went looking to see if there was a “Samaritan” in another comic book universe. Lo and behold, there was – a Superman analog in a minor comic-verse known as Astro City.
Ah, well. I gave that one up for lost. Immediately I reformed the character concept and decided upon another name I was holding: Optimal. Excited that I was finally going to play a Ninja Blade/Ninjitsu stalker, I painstakingly designed the perfect costume. Unfortunately, when I tried to create the character, I got the same error message. What was going on? I went into the game and tried to add both “Samaritan” and “Optimal” to my friends list, in order to see if someone else had snagged the names and I just got the wrong error message. Nope! Nobody had made characters with either of the names.
At this point, I was frustrated. I tried on my wife's account and had the same problem. I spent the money on a Going Rogue pack and opened my second account, but couldn't make the characters there. Interestingly, however, a friend of mine was able to make the characters with those names on his account.
Amazing. I figured there was a problem with my IP address.
And then came my ordeal with Support.
I'd love to just cut and paste the whole thing to you, but the gist of it is this: For two days they hemmed and hawed and had no idea what to do to help. Then suddenly they “discovered” both names were on the blocked list, filtered out from player use. This, of course, doesn't explain how I got a hold of them (unless, as the GM intimated, they were added to the filter after I had the names), or how my friend was able to make them (because if they were filtered for my client, and he was using the same client, they should have been filtered for him, too, right?). Why were they filtered? I was given the following list of reasons why that might have happened:
- They might be inappropriate. (Nope... neither name was inappropriate.)
- They might be trademarked. (Ah, well... Samaritan might be, but Optimal isn't, at least not as a comic book character or anything remotely close.)
- They might break the Terms of Service somehow. (Not that I can tell...)
- They might be reserved by NCsoft or Paragon Studios for future game fiction. (Aha...)
Samaritan might be covered by a trademark, but no more so than any of a number of other names that are being used in-game, names that are common enough terms that blocking them seems more a reaction of fear than one of good sense. Players have names like Phoenix, Mask, Apocalypse, and others on the Virtue server, all names far more well known and tied to various comic-related IP than “Samaritan”, and yet they're not blocked, so I can't see how NCsoft or Paragon Studios can justify suddenly blocking this one. And Optimal? The only reason that makes sense is that NCsoft or Paragon Studios has decided to take the name a player had and turn it into an NPC name. Frankly, if that's the case, that's low, very low.So I guess I'm writing this here because I want an answer; I want to know why I lost these two good names, in a game where good names are becoming increasingly difficult to find. Can they really justify actions that are blatantly anti-player in a game so in need of all its subscribers? I'm afraid to delete other level 1 name placeholders I've been holding until I have time to make a proper character, for fear that they'll suddenly be unavailable, too. I have the name "Lore" - who until three weeks ago was a level 46 scrapper. Three weeks ago, however, I deleted the character with the intention of remaking him, but didn't have the time, so he sits there as a level 1. Do I have to fear that, sometime in the last three weeks, they'll have blocked that name, too? What happens when you want to remake a long-played character? Do we all have to live with the worry that we may just lose a name we've had for a while, only because we delete a character to remake it?