Character names already taken - PURGE!

[Shaogin.2679]

> @"Jimbru.6014" said:

> Tonight I conceived a great RP idea for a female Sylvari Necromancer. Went through the character creator, got to the final step of naming her, and every single name I could think of was taken. Even with the help of Wikipedia and dozens of tries, I could not find a fitting name for her and ended up giving up on the concept. GW2 seriously needs to purge all the idle low level characters out there that are just taking up names for people to "reserve" names or whatever.

 

It's been said a hundred times already (maybe use google next time?) but no. This is never going to happen. Anet has said it is not going to happen. They don't want people coming back to the game only to realize that they have lost their character names just because people can't be original.

[kharmin.7683]

> @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > @"kharmin.7683" said:

> > I really wanted Legolas for my ranger though. Drat.

>

> Jon Legolas was available a few weeks back (I tested it to disprove this "no more names left" in another thread)

 

Thanks. I guess the sarcasm tag fell off of my earlier post. :)

[Randulf.7614]

> @"kharmin.7683" said:

> > @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > > @"kharmin.7683" said:

> > > I really wanted Legolas for my ranger though. Drat.

> >

> > Jon Legolas was available a few weeks back (I tested it to disprove this "no more names left" in another thread)

>

> Thanks. I guess the sarcasm tag fell off of my earlier post. :)

 

It didn't, I spotted it hence my reply was equally tongue in cheek (although actually true at the same time)

[magnusthorek.8027]

It's funny seeing people pulling the real-life's money card to defend the purging/not-purging argument (even funnier, doing it so in an angry way) instead of contributing for healthily debating. You all have to understand that when your right as buyer/owner/creator/whatever ends, someone's starts.

 

Now, I'm not defending any side but, why someone who plays from day one can have something and someone who's playing for a year or less cannot? Are names unique in our world? is there only one single John, Mary, Joe, Richard around the globe? Only one single person can demonstrate his/her love and appreciation for a character/persona from a TV Show, movie, musical group and nobody else, in the world, cannot? Those who arrived later must have to subject themselves in modifying the writing, adding/removing letters or heck even playing along with UTF character encoding just to have something generic/alternative that's close enough?

[AgentMoore.9453]

> @"magnusthorek.8027" said:

> Those who arrived later must have to subject themselves in modifying the writing, adding/removing letters or heck even playing along with UTF character encoding just to have something generic/alternative that's close enough?

 

Yes. It has nothing to do with privilege either, that's just how the current naming system works.

 

There are some games that allow you to pick any name for your characters, because they allow you to have that name once per account rather than having the name once per server. In those games, you can have thirteen Betty Boops provided they're on thirteen separate accounts. The reason for this is that those games are coded differently to allow for that kind of naming system.

 

Guild Wars 2 is not. Because it's not, names are first come first serve. And because they are first come first serve, whoever creates a character first becomes the owner of that name by default. There is no malice in this, but there is definitely malice in saying 'Well, I'm more important than you because I (play more) (am new to the game) (want it more) (am named Betty Boop in real life) (smell of strawberries), so we need to purge your names so I can have them'.

 

That is why you see such riled responses on this thread. People don't just call for name purges, they also talk down about the people who currently own the names they want and are unable to provide strong arguments for their side. This is also why you see so many replies suggesting creativity while naming, because that is a more tangible and immediate solution to getting the name you want with the system we currently have.

 

[magnusthorek.8027]

And I don't disagree with your (very well written) argument. It's ANet's faulty naming system that leads human beings who are not exactly known for keeping their emotions under control (not in an MMO at least) to be under their skin (hope this is right), almost cursing each other because of silly things.

 

I also had my share of difficulty. Astrid's name took me three real-life hours to get to, but I met the game almost one year ago (and I blame lack of marketing in my country for this). Sure, I got really upset because a few names weren't unavailable but all I had to do was think outside the box which is not something everyone's capable (or willing) to do.

[Danikat.8537]

> @"magnusthorek.8027" said:

> It's funny seeing people pulling the real-life's money card to defend the purging/not-purging argument (even funnier, doing it so in an angry way) instead of contributing for healthily debating. You all have to understand that when your right as buyer/owner/creator/whatever ends, someone's starts.

>

> Now, I'm not defending any side but, why someone who plays from day one can have something and someone who's playing for a year or less cannot? Are names unique in our world? is there only one single John, Mary, Joe, Richard around the globe? Only one single person can demonstrate his/her love and appreciation for a character/persona from a TV Show, movie, musical group and nobody else, in the world, cannot? Those who arrived later must have to subject themselves in modifying the writing, adding/removing letters or heck even playing along with UTF character encoding just to have something generic/alternative that's close enough?

 

Are you suggesting Anet created a system where character names have to be unique _so that_ only the first person to think of using each name could have it? I really doubt that's the case. I suspect it's more likely Anet made this decision because it's much, much simpler to create a database where names are unique and if you can insist on that rule then it saves a lot of trouble, and players having to use a bit more creativity when naming their characters is a side-effect of that.

 

Of course you can't do that when dealing with people's real data because you can't tell someone they can't be on your system or have to change their name just because someone else already has the same name, so you have to find a work-around. There's a few ways of doing that, like using another identifier in addition to the name but now your database needs to search and match two fields instead of just one and you need to get more info from the person. (It's also not totally fool-proof - if John Smith Jr still lives at home, or just down the road from his parents his post code will match John Smith Snr, so even using name + post code you've still got a conflict.) Or you could assign each person a unique ID number. You need a way to generate and record those but that's relatively simple. The complicated part is you need that person, and anyone else who needs to access their data, to be able to find and/or remember their ID number. (Having used databases which do assign people ID numbers it's usually easier to ask for other bits of info and just keep going until you narrow it down to one person than to ask them to remember or find their ID number.)

 

In GW2 terms this would come up with things like mail and whispers. If you want to send mail to Legolas how do you make sure you're sending it to the right one? The game would have to have a way of displaying the ID number or other identifier - and then everyone ends up showing as Legolas 231 or whatever and I doubt people who are unhappy with X Legolas X or Légolas would consider that any better.

 

So it's possible to do it of course, but I'm not at all surprised that game developers, who have far more control over how characters are customised than anyone dealing with real people, go for the simpler and less error prone system of insisting on unique names, and players having to be a bit more creative when naming their characters is just a side effect of that.

[magnusthorek.8027]

> @"Danikat.8537" said:

> Are you suggesting Anet created a system where character names have to be unique _so that_ only the first person to think of using each name could have it? I really doubt that's the case. I suspect it's more likely Anet made this decision because it's much, much simpler to create a database where names are unique and if you can insist on that rule then it saves a lot of trouble, and players having to use a bit more creativity when naming their characters is a side-effect of that.

As a former developer, I agree that's much more simple, but I wouldn't bet my money it wasn't, at some degree intended either.

 

> @"Danikat.8537" said:

> In GW2 terms this would come up with things like mail and whispers. If you want to send mail to Legolas how do you make sure you're sending it to the right one? The game would have to have a way of displaying the ID number or other identifier - and then everyone ends up showing as Legolas 231 or whatever and I doubt people who are unhappy with X Legolas X or Légolas would consider that any better.

If that was an issue, we wouldn't really need the already unique account names. Unless players always typed the full account name in a message recipient's, that wouldn't be a problem either. And I don't know you but the only scenario in which I "/whisper", manually, someone, is to whisper myself when I want to link something without using a "/say". In both of these cases, I always used the game's UI.

[Rauderi.8706]

> @"Just a flesh wound.3589" said:

> You can use last names. If you wanted, for example, a necro named Nightshade you can use Nightshade as a first name and pick a last name. The name will almost certainly go through.

 

..were you looking over my shoulder or something?

 

I have a Sylvari Necro poe that has the edgy "Nightshade" as part of her name. :lol:

Of course, I put her in the first Wintersday outfit and coated her in the most pastel colors I could find, because I don't take her seriously at all.

[Angel.6085]

I have a character name named after a famous person from a metal band, and its the original name. I rarely play this character. But I had this character in GW1 after a friend sold it to me. I reserved this name in GW2 to ensure I still kept it.

 

I should lose it because I don't play that character often? :smirk:

 

The state of many games and character names is first come first serve. You weren't here at start, you don't get the name. It isn't punishment for players starting later, and it isn't preferential for players starting earlier. It is fair though.

[Just a flesh wound.3589]

> @"Rauderi.8706" said:

> > @"Just a flesh wound.3589" said:

> > You can use last names. If you wanted, for example, a necro named Nightshade you can use Nightshade as a first name and pick a last name. The name will almost certainly go through.

>

> ..were you looking over my shoulder or something?

>

> I have a Sylvari Necro poe that has the edgy "Nightshade" as part of her name. :lol:

> Of course, I put her in the first Wintersday outfit and coated her in the most pastel colors I could find, because I don't take her seriously at all.

 

The funny thing is, just yesterday I saw 2 chars in Brisbane with Nightshade and Belladonna as a last name with the first names being very short, about 3 letters. I noticed them particularly because of this thread. They wanted highly sought after names for their chars and got them by using a little bit of creativity and being flexible.

[Solvar.7953]

Is everyone who wants name resets also complaining to gmail or other providers that they weren't able to get johnsmith@gmail.com because someone else has it, they are sure that person hasn't logged in for a while, thus that name should be freed up so they can get it? Similar argument here.

We technically don't know what would break if Anet allows duplicate character names, and what it would take to allow it. But regardless, that path has already been laid down and seems incredibly unlikely to be revisited at this point, so finding a unique name is your only solution.

 

[Game of Bones.8975]

On a tangent note, I wish naming the character came near the front of character creation.

Top three really important things about creation: race, sex, and name. All the other details, like shape of the nose, height, and hair color are small details that have little to do with gameplay.

It's not a solution to the "can't-find-that-perfect-name" quandary, but it would save time during creation.

[Danikat.8537]

> @"Game of Bones.8975" said:

> On a tangent note, I wish naming the character came near the front of character creation.

> Top three really important things about creation: race, sex, and name. All the other details, like shape of the nose, height, and hair color are small details that have little to do with gameplay.

> It's not a solution to the "can't-find-that-perfect-name" quandary, but it would save time during creation.

 

I agree it would be helpful if you could check the availability of the name while in the character creator, but there is a fairly quick work around. Click create a character, then skip to end and put in the name you want. If it's available the new character will be created and you can log out immediately, delete them and then the name is saved to your account for 24 hours so you can take your time making them look the way you want without worrying that you'll lose the name.

[Shena Fu.5792]

No amount of purges will ever be satisfactory. Most importantly it accomplishes nothing, except headaches for devs and players who own the names.

 

Lets say 1000 people want the same name. How can a purge satisfy all 1000 people? After a purge, only 1 (one) person can get the name, and 999 others are left in the dust. Are those 999 people going to forums and make 999 different complaint threads?

[Gwaihir.1745]

Theres plenty of names open, you're just being unoriginal.

[Rasimir.6239]

> @"Solvar.7953" said:

> We technically don't know what would break if Anet allows duplicate character names, and what it would take to allow it. But regardless, that path has already been laid down and seems incredibly unlikely to be revisited at this point, so finding a unique name is your only solution.

It's not even just a technical question. If you allow non-unique character names, then people can use those to pull all kinds of scams on their fellow players, including more malicious ones.

 

Imagine being whispered by a character name where you know one of your buddies has a character of that name, asking you to quickly send them and they'll send it back as soon as they get to a bank. Right-click + send message and you're quickly out of your resources because an impostor created a character of the same name.

 

Worse yet, you innocently create a character with a name you like, then get into all kinds of trouble with your fellow players because you unknowingly choose a name used by another player that has gotten into fights with others.

 

Characters in a game such as this, that serve as avatars of the player, need to be clearly distinguished by other players, and not just for technical reasons. Personally I use other people's character names a lot because they are much easier for me to remember than the account names (especially the numbers part). I use them for whispering or sending mail, putting people on my friends list, joining or inviting to parties and similar stuff. If names were no longer unique, it would make interacting with my fellow players a lot more confusing and complicated and a lot less convenient to me than it is now.

[kharmin.7683]

> @"Shena Fu.5792" said:

> No amount of purges will ever be satisfactory. Most importantly it accomplishes nothing, except headaches for devs and players who own the names.

>

> Lets say 1000 people want the same name. How can a purge satisfy all 1000 people? After a purge, only 1 (one) person can get the name, and 999 others are left in the dust. Are those 999 people going to forums and make 999 different complaint threads?

 

This is a good point. Also, how would anyone know if a character name is sitting on an idle character or not? It may be that purging wouldn't even release the name that the OP wanted.

[The Greyhawk.9107]

> @"whoeverxwins.1279" said:

> Sylvari can be tricky, as the 'apparently' more common Gaelic names are even taken. In that case, I've added their cycle, ie Dubshlaine of Noon. On other cases I've combined words from a Gaelic dictionary to create names, ie Cranmeathbhan.

>

> You should see the struggle to get hobbit or elvish names in LOTRO! I was gone from that game for 5 years before recently returning, after a server merge. So glad I was there longer than anyone merged to my server named Pearblossom!

 

Perhaps you might have more luck using Brythonic names instead of Gaelic ones. The Sylvari, at least in regards to names and culture, are based off of the Welsh, who use the Brythonic Celtic branch, rather than the Gaelic Celtic branch of the Scots and Irish.

[bobsort.4097]

Well since the name I wanted was taken, I added a jr (junior) to the end and got it. Anyway the other character was more senior! ;)

[Tuna Bandit.3786]

I bypass that issue, by using a family/last name. (however you wanna call it)

It helps with rarity, therefor increasing your chance the name is still unused,

[brokenrabbit.6538]

At least your name didn't get nabbed by Pokemon. I had been using Tyram since AD&D 80's and well hell...

 

 

[Teratus.2859]

This topic again lol

 

Yeah I get it.

 

I spend a great deal of time giving my characters fitting names and relentlessly following certain rules such as Asura/Sylvari not having second names for example.

I don't like titles in names either and I don't care much for generic MMO names like "Master of death" or "I Pwn Noobs".. names like that break my immersion more often than I care to admit tbh.

 

I run into name taken crap a lot and it's very annoying when you go through upwards of 30-40 names only to find them all taken.

 

Taking names from inactive people though.. I see the reasoning behind it and somewhat agree with it but there are good arguments against it as well.

 

What I think Anet should do is overhall the name system entirely to diminish the significance of personal names and instead have every players unique account name be the means to which mail, chat, whispers, invites etc work in this game.

That way duplicate names wouldn't be a problem at all and everyone could choose the name they want regardless of whether you were the first one to use it.

[kharmin.7683]

> @"Teratus.2859" said:

> What I think Anet should do is overhall the name system entirely to diminish the significance of personal names and instead have every players unique account name be the means to which mail, chat, whispers, invites etc work in this game.

> That way duplicate names wouldn't be a problem at all and everyone could choose the name they want regardless of whether you were the first one to use it.

This has been suggested before and voiced down. Players don't want to be in a map and see 40 Legolas running around.

 

[Teratus.2859]

> @"kharmin.7683" said:

> > @"Teratus.2859" said:

> > What I think Anet should do is overhall the name system entirely to diminish the significance of personal names and instead have every players unique account name be the means to which mail, chat, whispers, invites etc work in this game.

> > That way duplicate names wouldn't be a problem at all and everyone could choose the name they want regardless of whether you were the first one to use it.

> This has been suggested before and voiced down. Players don't want to be in a map and see 40 Legolas running around.

>

 

Aye, voiced by me as well multiple times lol

 

I doubt it would ever be that bad though, besides some names would become so common and cringy after a while people would either swap characters or buy a rename contract to escape it xD

 

Still 40 legolas running around would be greatly preferable to having to deal with the annoying amount of names that are unavailable.