Name Reservation Changes

I don't know if anyone has discussed this in a while, but I feel like with Freedom and the easy levels provided by certain in game tasks (DFB), it's time that we altered the name reservation system again.

To the best of my knowledge, our current name reservation system dates back to 2007. Any name held by a character over level five seems to basically be eternally reserved. With tasks such as DFB, it isn't that hard for players to level a character past twenty.

I have no idea if this is even possible, but I think we should have a tiered system for name reservation based on account activity. For example, if your account has been inactive for 90 days, the names of your characters up to level ten are up for grabs. If your account has been inactive for 180 days, then the names of characters up to level twenty-five are up for grabs. If your account has been inactive for over a year, then the names of all of your characters are up for grabs.

Since the game is now F2P, it's easy enough to log in at your leisure to make sure you keep your names. However, we have names locked away by people who haven't even played in multiple years. What are your thoughts on this?

I think "no, thanks." Especially with Freedom, as I'm running into people fairly regularly who are coming back saying "I haven't played in quite some time." We want to keep them.

I *do,* however, think something like that should apply to:

- Old trial accounts. Their globals were all renamed "trial *random string*" so they're not that hard to find. Pop up a message for when they log in, IF they do, asking them to pick a global name (or have it revert to whatever the first character is, then give the message.) 90 days and they get freed up.

- Banned accounts. Given I still have a list full of spammers, and I doubt most people want oluiadf89234... still, those should just be completely cleared.


Also:
- Accounts that haven't been on in a year get an email. "Come back. If you don't plan to, please free up your names, click here."

- Accounts that are old enough to not have a global - well, the names under 35 *are* freed up from an old script. See if they reply. If not, archive 'em after 180 days after trying to make contact with an email or two like those above.

See my Guides and Tutorials

Certainly we'd want to get players to return. I guess since we're talking about emailing/ reaching out to those players, we could create a grace period following the implementation of the policy asking people to log on to keep whatever names they have reserved.

No.

Even if emails were sent out, the person may not have the email account that was originally associated with the game account. I know mine has changed and I've been subscribed since day one. It took a while for me to change the email address since I didn't need access to it though.

Also, they have enough problems with emailing things correctly. Look at all the comments by people over the years that are not getting the Promotional emails, even the ones that have jumped through hoops making sure that the flag is set to receive emails, making sure that the emails aren't going to a SPAM folder, making sure that they've white listed the address the emails are supposed to come from, changed email addresses to use a service other players are using that are getting the emails. All with no success.

And what if the email goes to someone that is unable to check that email address due to being shipped out of town, out of the state or out of the country for work or any other reason? What if they are in the military and deployed to a location that gives them no access to the email address they have on file or to the Account page to change it?

What if the email goes to someone that has no internet access temporarily for one of any number of reasons?

Your "grace period" couldn't be long enough to account for most of these situations and still be a viable "grace period".

I have friends that haven't played in years that have popped in off and on over the years during free reactivation weekends. Some of them are considering coming back at times now that Freedom is available. I've actively worked to get some of them to come back on a more regular basis. Do you know what their reactions would be if they logged in and their characters name was gone? We'd NEVER get them to play again. Some people would even be raging across all types of internet forums, game sites and other places gamers might look (or just anywhere they could post) slamming the game.

This has become even more an area they aren't likely to touch since the release of Freedom since it is a way to entice former customers back and get them to use the a la carte services in the Paragon Market instead of a full subscription.

Where's JRanger when you need him?

I would argue that by the end of this year, Freedom will have been out long enough for the people who are likely to return to have returned by then.

My email grace period idea was going along with what Memphis Bill suggested. I realize that emails will change (I've changed mine multiple times during the time I've played CoX) and that people won't always be able to access their account emails (I had some problems when I was temporarily overseas). Additionally, I agree that email doesn't function correctly 100% of the time. Perhaps calling it a grace period would be wrong since it won't really be a "grace period," but that doesn't mean that simply because one solution doesn't work for everyone that we shouldn't pursue it.

For those who are likely to return, you say that people have popped in and out over the years during the free reactivation weekends. Well, now they can pop in whenever they want. It's not too much to ask that they log in once or twice a year to keep the names they want.

Furthermore, given that names are required to be unique in the game, the fact that we are continuously locking up names is problematic for players who are actually playing. What's happening is that the current system is preventing actual participants (some paying) from fully enjoying things for the possibility that some people will return.

The reason why I'm suggesting the change is that since my first day of playing over five years ago, I've wanted a specific name, which I would still like. Five years later, that name is still reserved, possibly by an account which has been inactive during all of that time. Should we really be locking up names for that long from people who are currently supporting the game for those who haven't supported the game in so long?

Im actually for this! Don't have a global name? Names are freed up!

Not on in so many years. I say free the names. If they come back and leave again because the name is taken, they likely weren't going to stay around anyways.

No. This is not the only hybrid/F2P MMO with a unique naming policy and ours is more lenient than most because unlike those other MMO's we aren't restricted to one word names. There's no shortage of names in any of those games nor is there a shortage of names here.

And the same argument BrandX made is just as valid used in reverse. Anyone that quits playing this game because they couldn't get a specific name, doesn't like the game enough to stick around anyway.

Then just clear the names of people who havent been around in say six years.

if an account hasnt been logged into for over 2 to 3 years by all means those names should be made available...

if you log in as a VIP or F2P it counts... if your $15 a month is being paid... all that counts... but if you have left the game for 3 years and havent even logged on once you should be able to sit on a name.

You do not own the name or that toon, the game does. IF you dont want to lose a name then log on... if not then thats just too bad.

3 years if by far long enuff wait time. I would not be hurt or upset if I came back to any game after three years and my name was released.

for a name to be gone forever on an inactive account is just silly. I have played since Jan. 2006. I have taken breaks, never more than 6 months at a time.

let someone who is actually playing the game and/or spending money enjoy the name.

Let's be clear here, the held assumption by most people against the suggested change is that players will return.

The fact of the matter is that not all players who leave the game will return. Furthermore, those who do "return" do not necessarily stay.

For those of us who haven't had problems finding names, I'm happy for you. However, simply because it hasn't been an issue for you doesn't make it an absolute non-issue. While I agree that there is always the opportunity to find a variation of a name, sometimes just that one name is the name for you.

As a short aside in response to Kitsune Knight, I think there's a big difference in losing your name while active and losing your name while inactive: if you're active, you're contributing to the game and its community; if you're inactive, you're not contributing to the game directly and you may be contributing to the community.

With any policy change such as what I'm suggesting, there will always be tradeoffs. I understand that most people are okay with the current name policy because, as many of you have implicitly demonstrated, it's not a major issue in our lives (but I would argue that that doesn't render it non-problematic). It's unlikely that current players will leave the game if they don't have the name they want. However, having players who have left the game return is also probability based, and really, I don't think any of us can identify what that probability is (I'd be more than happy to be proven wrong on this).

What we're weighing against current player satisfaction (and I believe this is a small amount of satisfaction) is potential returning player dissatisfaction (which would arguably possibly be a large amount of dissatisfaction). I think that the lack of contribution by potential returning players is ultimately outweighed by the contribution of current players, especially in an F2P game that has been F2P for a some amount of time.

/signed this only

i agree with Memphis_Bill on these two points only as one the accounts are trial and two the others are banned as for the rest maybe not i also have many alts and have not ran in to too may name i could not get but i usually good at picking unique names. And been lucky on others.



- Old trial accounts. Their globals were all renamed "trial *random string*" so they're not that hard to find. Pop up a message for when they log in, IF they do, asking them to pick a global name (or have it revert to whatever the first character is, then give the message.) 90 days and they get freed up.

- Banned accounts. Given I still have a list full of spammers, and I doubt most people want oluiadf89234... still, those should just be completely cleared.

It doesn't affect me either way, but in saying that...I think if an account (not a toon) has been inactive for 3 years - regardless of level....their name should be made available.

I mean seriously... 3 years??? That's not a break from the game...that's not a "having a lil financial probs and will return in a month..or 6."

Like I said though... I personally do not care if they do something like this, but I would support a 3 year inactive ACCOUNT having all their names be made available.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paladiamors I love you, I Burnt the Toast!

Yeah, I've always been in favor of a stronger name purge (but, I can understand holding off due to the new business model).

Months is too small of a time-frame to go by, but years, I am all for opening up the names (remember it is not an automatic loss of names... they just become open if anyone happens to grab one).

I think 3 years is a great/fair time-frame.
If they want to be more lenient than that, they certainly could be... and there'd still be benefit to it.

With an 8 year old game, I'd bet you'd get some good mileage out of opening up names of accounts that have been inactive for 7 years. The early names grabbed that have not been active for that long could very well house some monickers that'd make current and future players happy to use.

I don't know that they'll ever make any changes along these lines, as Forbin is correct, the arguments of disgruntled/pleased work both ways.
I just see it as active accounts should trump long inactive accounts. Just my opinion on it.

For me, it's not about names being impossible (or even near impossible) to come up with... it's just about names being indefinitely held by people who haven't played this game for years and years and years (and years!).

Those without global names... that's a long time!

I think the cases of people quitting over any of this (on either side) are outliers.

If I come back 4 years later... and my name has been taken... hey, that's on me. Thank you, CoH, for keeping my characters and levels and Inf. and so on in your database!!
I used to play a game that stated, very clearly, that any length of inactivity could result in your characters going bye-bye from their database.
I never heard of this actually happening, but I always thought it was a reasonable warning.