Auto-deletion of names

    To begin with, we're all aware of how horrible the experience with character name reservation went. Honestly, if I have to give my own personal opinion, it's the worst experience I've had in the past couple of years unless we include the Aion Classic tragedy. That one was on another level.


    I'm not going to go into details about how it was handled, I'm sure you're all already pissed off enough regarding it, requested your refunds, or whatever else. I'm not going to mention how the uncertainty in the situations was a pretty big "Screw you" to the people as well - "Yeah, maybe there will be a wipe, maybe there won't be a wipe, let's see how it goes, let's keep dwelling on it for a while longer despite the bigger amount of our players not being able to log in", all good - All in the past.


    The big issue wasn't the fact Gameforge yet again wasn't able to start something off without server issues, it was the fact they didn't think about it in advance. And to go into a little bit of a further elaboration here - Giving the possibility to pick 6 character names instead of 1, maximum 2? I mean let's be real, it was a horrible decision in the first place.


    But what's done is done, moving on.


    In order to undo the bitter taste you've left in your players' mouths, consider introducing an auto-deletion of names after a specific interval of time.


    What does this mean?


    Simple, after an x amount of time has passed without the character being active, the character would either be renamed to a generic name (GenName1234) or the character would be deleted - Either scenario, resulting in freeing up the name.


    I personally think it would be a better idea to resort to the generic names, making sure there are no potential issues related to "my character was deleted because I forgot to log on it for 2 months".


    There would obviously be conditions here as well:

    • The character has been inactive for an x amount of time. (30 to 60 days, perhaps)
    • The character is below a specific level. (Lv10, perhaps)
    • Whatever else Gameforge's heart desires.


    We've all been scarred by Gameforge in the past, SOLO's team seems to be one of the better ones in the company, at least in my experience. I understand that you can not turn the wheels of time and fix the mistake, but at least do try to make things right for the numerous amount of people that got screwed over by your amazing idea to give 6 character name slots.

    Quote from Yuiki

    Or they could have just wiped AS THEY PROMISED if they have the same problems AS THEY DID.... most people couldn't log in on the second try for over 30minutes, but who cares right?

    they decided the qq of the 10 people that got in and saved their named would be bigger than the thousands of ppl that didnt get in at start.


    GF logic

    Quote from Ayia

    There would obviously be conditions here as well:

    The character has been inactive for an x amount of time. (30 to 60 days, perhaps)
    The character is below a specific level. (Lv10, perhaps)
    Whatever else Gameforge's heart desires.

    This is not going to happen if Gameforge is smart.


    You can return to World of Warcraft after a 2 year break and your characters are there waiting for you. In fact, its a reason why people even return at all. Can you imaging how many people would not return to a game if all of there characters were renamed? For reference, WoW lets you reserve 12+ (max allowable per server) names when a new server opens.


    The only issue is that Gameforge had no system in place to handle the log ins. No system to stagger the numbers. Nothing.


    The only time WoW releases names from unplayed accounts is if you havent logged in at least once during the previous expansion, which is basically a 4 year window of inactivity.

    I actually think cleaning up inactive level 1 characters isn't a bad idea, as long as they're unused, and the account deactivated. I think WoW actually does do that, but only for characters with little to no playtime.


    However, a month would be way too little time. Imagine someone that pre-ordered the game and went on holiday, then came back to find out the name is gone. It should probably be more around half a year of inactivity.


    I don't think this will be a realistic option to actually reclaim your username though, and it would probably be best to just give up on getting it and take another name. Whoever got it has just as much right to it after all.


    That's because WoW is one of the few games that can afford to do that, knowing there will be little to no issues with the pre-reservations. I am not aware of any other game that lets players reserve that many names apart from WoW, and the entire issue lies here - They couldn't manage to handle their servers properly. Had they done that, this conversation wouldn't even exist in the first place, but here we are.

    Ahm, okay I have a question for you in the consideration of your Proposal:


    Some People, like me, would really like to play Fox / Warrior later on, me for example. I will main Fox as soon as she comes out. I didn't get my Name for 12 years usage, "Shiru", and I was able to log in at 2 pm. It didn't take 10 seconds and the name "Shiru" was gone from EU. I now will use "Shíru". And I got it on a character, that I will save and not play, because I want to use it for my Fox maincharacter when she comes out. I know this can take a while, but I want this name for her and im looking forward to it.


    When we take your proposal into account, I can't do that. And I would feel cheated that I can't at least take this route to ensure, that this name isn't taken from me for my later maincharacter.


    I can understand your frustration! Please don't get me wrong. I just wanted to give a perspective, that maybe you weren't aware of. I'm not the only one to keep a charactername for later classes, many want the Fox and love her, even though it could take up to two years for her to come out.


    That was all :)

    ~ Oh meine Liebe, was für ein kompliziertes Netz du uns da gesponnen hast. Und nun ist dir die Seide ausgegangen. ~

    If you want to keep a name that badly, you only have to fulfill the conditions that cancels auto-deletion temporarily or permanently.

    In this case it would be reaching level 10, which doesn't seem to take long according to beta players.; or logging in with the character once per 30 or whatever days.

    For something so very important to you, that would be well worth it, wouldn't it?

    I'm keeping a name for a later class aswell but I'd have no problem with just leveling it to a certain level to make sure I get to keep it.


    I think auto-deletion is a good idea. It needs to be tied to certain conditions but something like reach a certain level or logging in every x days like OP proposed seems reasonable enough.

    After all, it's not a threat for people who played the char at least a little bit. It's only to prevent players from blocking names but never playing the char. It's to clean up inactive level 1 chars, not punish active players for taking a long break.


    I think more games could profit from the way FFXIV handles names: you have a first and last name, making it possible for multiple people to have the same first name as long as they have a different last name. And you're usually referred to by your first name in the story.

    If a game doesn't do something like this, freeing up names from inactive level 1 chars isn't a bad idea.

    Quote from Li-Ming

    If you want to keep a name that badly, you only have to fulfill the conditions that cancels auto-deletion temporarily or permanently.

    In this case it would be reaching level 10, which doesn't seem to take long according to beta players.; or logging in with the character once per 30 or whatever days.

    For something so very important to you, that would be well worth it, wouldn't it?

    You are right, it is not much of a bother. I would just want to delete my character without a 6 - 7 day wait, before I can use the name again. So I am saying, if the condition for name deleting would be level 10, that would be great, because the instand delete option for characters has a cap at level 15. So as long as those to things don't cross each other, that would be really appreciated on my part, so that no one has a problem.


    As long as this would be the case, I would be on board with the name deleting.

    ~ Oh meine Liebe, was für ein kompliziertes Netz du uns da gesponnen hast. Und nun ist dir die Seide ausgegangen. ~

    Quote from Murr
    Quote from Evil

    (...)It would have been correct to let us vote for this...

    If the original poster ( Ayia ) would like a poll on their post, I can add one. I just need to know what you want the question to be, and what options you want.


    I mean, I guess a poll would only make sense if it's something Gameforge's team would consider doing. Otherwise, if this is just going to be another thread that will be forgotten in time without any attention, I don't see any point.

    Quote from Ayia
    Quote from Murr
    Quote from Evil

    (...)It would have been correct to let us vote for this...

    If the original poster ( Ayia ) would like a poll on their post, I can add one. I just need to know what you want the question to be, and what options you want.


    I mean, I guess a poll would only make sense if it's something Gameforge's team would consider doing. Otherwise, if this is just going to be another thread that will be forgotten in time without any attention, I don't see any point.

    let's make a poll they might reconsider if the poll shows results

    I am posting the related policy from a (in)famous mmo. This could be helpful as a reference in case GF one day considers deleting inactivate names.


    We will consider releasing the character name of an account under the following conditions:

    • The name was not reserved as part of the perks associated with a Disciple or Master Founder's Pack.
    • The name does not belong to a high-level character/account.
    • The account has been inactive for a long enough time.
    • We may also take into consideration other factors that affect the eligibility of a name.

    Please be aware that we will only release the name(s) in question if you supply two (2) Name Change Vouchers (per name being changed). This is only available to existing characters on your account. This is to cover the original owner of the name and to change your own character's name.

    Customer Support will not release “inactive” names to be used for potential “new characters”; nor will they be swapped, for free, on existing low-level characters.

    The Customer Support team cannot guarantee that a name will be available. Customer Support cannot reserve a name for your use if you do not have the required two (2) Name Change Vouchers (per character), at the time of your request.

    To request the release of a character name that is already in use, please contact our customer support team here and do each of the following:

    • Have two (2) Name Change Vouchers available, per character being changed, in your Received Items tab.

      Ex.: Renaming one character will require two (2) Name Change Vouchers. Renaming two of your characters will require four (4) Name Change Vouchers, and so on.

    • In the ticket’s description, list YOUR character name(s) that you wish to change including its Region (NA or EU).

      Ex: My OldName (NA)

    • Below that, list the "inactive" names that you desire. The names must be listed in the order of preference, from top to bottom. You may make separate lists, per character, that you are renaming. The first eligible name on the list will be the one that Customer Support will immediately use to rename your character.

      Ex:

      Name ILove

      Name ILike

      Name IsOkay

    • Once we reach an eligible name (per two [2] Name Change Vouchers) in the list, the rest of the name list will be ignored; as they weren’t preferred over the previous names in the list. This name will be immediately used for the character's name change.

      Ex: If "Name ILove" isn’t eligible, and "Name ILike" is eligible, we will not check "Name IsOkay"; unless the player has four (4) Name Change Vouchers and is requesting to change two of their character's names.

    • Players/Accounts who submit name requests without at least two (2) Name Change Vouchers on the account, will be limited to a grand total of 3 names to check. If using one (or more) of these name checks is your intent, please state this in your ticket.

    *This is subject to change at any time.


    With all those being said, although I have got all 6 names I wanted, I still believe GF did not handle the situation properly. I will be all for it if they eventually decide to do a full wipe.

    Quote from shinn
    Quote from Yuiki

    Or they could have just wiped AS THEY PROMISED if they have the same problems AS THEY DID.... most people couldn't log in on the second try for over 30minutes, but who cares right?

    they decided the qq of the 10 people that got in and saved their named would be bigger than the thousands of ppl that didnt get in at start.


    GF logic

    Do you have access to the data on how many managed to log in, because I know at least 15 people that got in immediately, and that's only people I know. Obviously GF had the data, and as the decision was not to wipe I think you can be pretty sure that there were more who managed to get in than those who didn't. Thousands is a bit of an exaggeration, it seemed like thousands because of the "WIPE" spam on discord. Also another consideration, and also one that GF will have data to prove it, a lot of people who got in but weren't quick enough to get their names were shouting for a wipe. (Yes cheaters will be cheaters)

    Yes it was a disaster, but I think they handled it pretty well considering a lot of games, if not most, have problems with mass logins at release/early access, and nobody was ever promised that they would get the names they wanted. I know several people who logged in at 1pm who missed getting their names, I also know some folks who got their names even though they missed getting in first, it was a chance and that was exactly the offer made by GF. I made some characters on NA, mainly to play with my American friends if needed, and one of my names was taken there....just have to get creative and make another one.


    As for deleting names, I think you could be pretty sure that if people take a break from a game, which a lot of people do, and came back to find their characters with generic names, they would immediately log out and not bother returning. GF is a business, it's there to make money not further upset customers. In the future they will be relying on "breakers" returning at some stage. I still have all my characters intact with their names in EQ1, that's back to 1999. As for deleting level 1 chars, as somebody else has already said, I have reserved a name for my Fox and one for my Archer. The former will not be out for at least 6 months and the latter for some time after that. I would be furious to one day log in and find their names had been taken, and additionally there is no reason for me to play them until that time.

    Quote

    The name was not reserved as part of the perks associated with a Disciple or Master Founder's Pack.

    Aka, this excludes all currently existing Characters, which is actually the reason/trigger for this thread, no?


    Iirc that is not the case with their names, just the characters themselves. (talking about characters that got deleted)


    WoW can also afford to release names slower or not at all as it has many, many servers (thus many opportunities to get a name) and has been active for closing in almost 2 decades.


    The OP suggests limiting it to low level, which is reasonable as it wouldnt effect invested characters.

    Quote from Rosy

    Do you have access to the data on how many managed to log in,

    Just judging by discord it was easy to note that most were unable to get in on the first round. The vast majority didnt. I was one of the lucky few. But if you want more: I left seconds after getting in the first time and tried to make characters on the other server, but couldnt enter either server again.


    Most people didnt get in untill the second round. (which was 2~ hours later so I assume a number of people already left to try at a later time)

    Quote from Rosy

    because of the "WIPE" spam on discord.

    There was a lot more spam with name posting, or ridiculing people that couldnt get in. :/

    These name reservations are always a nightmare. Snow White is taken, now I have to pick a dwarf name and I really want to be something that is taken... And we still end up with Joe69_TrollGod, because that fits so well in a careful designed game that respects it's lore. It's just so... Epic! It's not.


    I would love if all MMO's would start having a large database of names that contains

    - more names than the number of characters that can be ever created and

    - are immersive / relevant to the lore or story (if there's any; if not, there can be even more names)


    Then suggest a list of names for the player to pick from, based on an advanced search criteria, such as:

    - want to contain these letters: A twice, D once, starting with T

    - want a name that means or contains the word "water"

    - and so on, whatever else...


    then show the suggested results and allow to pick or search again.


    There won't be this mass hysteria repeating in every single MMO: "my name" is taken. I'm not making a joke here, this really hurts some people. Not everyone can pick another name easily, and they have to live on with that emotional wound.


    Now what is done is done. I would start again anytime if such a system would be put in place, to fix every name I ever see in any MMO (or this at least). And to have a name that really fits in. I would accept even Chinese names & letters, if those can be copy pasted when needed, by the means of right click or something.

    As an long time gameforge customer I can tell you that they will not delete names unless there is a conflict. Once upon a time Runes of magic had a large number of servers. At some point they decided they had to many and gave players a certain amount of time to reserve their accounts and have them transferred to new servers. I missed this by a couple of months, not that I remembered my original account anyway. So massive amount of names were released. I created new accounts and added as many characters as i could for storage because the while free to play... the game is not free. I stopped playing for about 4 years. When I came back they had merged servers again. I only had to change two names and they were of level 1 characters. With Solo even if they add more servers you still won't be able to duplicate names.


    Plus, even if they were to purge names of low level characters, that wouldn't guarantee that the name you wanted would be freed up. I had to use an alt code to get the name I really wanted. You can also use numbers in place of similar looking letters. Or find the Chinese equivalent. This is a really good translation site https://chinese.yabla.com/chin…ish-pinyin-dictionary.php


    A guild mate of mine didn't get the name he wanted in beta so he took used the Latin name for the same thing. He missed out again during the name reservation. I would be a little sad if he determined it to be a reason he couldn't play the game.

    Haocang: Tzuyü Discord: Agera#3507 (please message with solo in order to be added as a friend)