Recycling Character Names

charlmgn

There are many popular character names reserved by former players whose only claim to them was being among the first players, but who no longer play, and haven't played for an extended period - and some who will never play again.

I'd like for ZOS to consider releasing these names after a certain period of inactivity, such as 6 months, and replacing the original characters' names with placeholders in case they return. This would allow active players to recycle popular names that currently are always unavailable, while giving any players returning after a long absence the ability to choose from currently available names. And it would also free up names that would potentially be forever unavailable otherwise due to players never returning at all.

KerinKor

I prefer names that aren't 'popular', I find them more satisfying, and in a game where you can have multiple character names why on Earth would you want one someone else already had?

Stop thinking of ESO as 1990s one-word-name game, you have the ability to be creative and unique and never have to worry about some else making 'your' name unavailable.

That said, 6 months is way too short to yank a name from someone .. 12 months minimum IMO, more like 24 really.

NewBlacksmurf

Hmmm have you though of creating characters with two or three names.

All my characters have a lore friendly first and last name. Since closed BETA I've yet to be stopped but if and when I use one name I often get stopped. There a a lot of ppl playing this game

There is a name generator app too so I mix and match or even add a third name.
No issues

starkerealm

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

Hmmm have you though of creating characters with two or three names.

All my characters have a lore friendly first and last name. Since closed BETA I've yet to be stopped but if and when I use one name I often get stopped. There a a lot of ppl playing this game

There is a name generator app too so I mix and match or even add a third name.
No issues

This what I did for 6 of my characters. A first name from an NPC of that race in Morrowind, Oblivion or Skyrim, and a surname from a different NPC of that race from... again, Morrowind, Oblivion, or Skyrim.

charlmgn

KerinKor wrote: »

I prefer names that aren't 'popular', I find them more satisfying, and in a game where you can have multiple character names why on Earth would you want one someone else already had?

Stop thinking of ESO as 1990s one-word-name game, you have the ability to be creative and unique and never have to worry about some else making 'your' name unavailable.

That said, 6 months is way too short to yank a name from someone .. 12 months minimum IMO, more like 24 really.

I never said one-word names, and I rarely use them.Stop assuming something from what I haven't said. Maybe you haven't noticed the large number of characters with multiple names who are forced to use special characters to get the names they want. That makes the names popular. Yes, some people create characters with special characters for multiple reasons, but a very common reason I've heard has been that the original was taken. I've created characters with both first and last names, trying several times before succeeding in getting the combination I felt was appropriate and either wasn't unavailable or riddled with special characters.

As far as the time limit, I mentioned 6 months. Players will play, and it doesn't take longer than 6 months to decide to get back to the game for most people, especially now that there's no required subscription fee. I would consider up to 1 year at the outside, but in the life cycle of the game, 2 years is way too excessive. If you're gone that long and come back, you should be prepared to rename your characters. And if the majority of players feel about these names the way you do, the returning player won't have a problem. He'll be able to keep his name, since no one will have preempted it. I don't think it would be difficult to add a condition to the placeholder name to give the player the option to keep the old name if it's still available.

But I think one misconception you have, based on the way you've stated it, is that no one would be "yanking" anyone's name. If you're not playing, it's not your name. It's dead code. If it comes to deciding who's benefiting ZOS more, is it the person no longer playing, or the active gamer? Former players pay no bills.

charlmgn

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

Hmmm have you though of creating characters with two or three names.

All my characters have a lore friendly first and last name. Since closed BETA I've yet to be stopped but if and when I use one name I often get stopped. There a a lot of ppl playing this game

There is a name generator app too so I mix and match or even add a third name.
No issues

A randomly generated name wouldn't mean anything to me because I put the personality of the character I want into the name. And the issue I'm describing is generally not a problem experienced by beta or initial-release players. More than a year later, there are huge numbers of "I just bought the game yesterday" comments. These are the people this issue is focused on, as I indicated in my original post, since any player who's been here from the beginning and played continually already has his character names. And this suggestion won't affect those players either. I'm not advocating that active players give up their characters' names to newer characters.

Psychobunni

@charlmgn I agree. There was a particular name I wanted, that has jack to do with the lore, and tbh I doubt is even "popular" by any means. But some skeever has it somewhere

They could do this in conjunction with selling character name change cards in the crown store.

Artemiisia

I had a 3 month break from the game, I would be pissed if my names suddenly was on another persons chars.

People paid money for early release to get their names, and they are theirs for the next 50 years.

Also the names, comes with reputations, if I suddenly made a char with a famous name, and it belonged to some prick once, I really dont wanna be have that kinda stigmata on me.

Zuuman

They should release a Scroll of Name Trading in the CS and let 2 consentent people change their name the same way scroll of mara let you "marry" someone. /endofsarcasm

charlmgn

Artemiisia wrote: »

I had a 3 month break from the game, I would be pissed if my names suddenly was on another persons chars.

People paid money for early release to get their names, and they are theirs for the next 50 years.

Also the names, comes with reputations, if I suddenly made a char with a famous name, and it belonged to some prick once, I really dont wanna be have that kinda stigmata on me.

Regardless of how someone who previously held a name was viewed by others, after a reasonable time passes without that player logging in, there is no residual reputation to worry about. It doesn't stop others from using virtually the same names anyway. I've seen so many spellings of Drizzt Do'Urden I couldn't name them all.

I am surprised at the amount of anger this post seems to have generated. Many people seem to feel that I'm advocating taking something away from players, and I'm not. If you haven't played in several months, you're not a player. You've moved on to other things. Since character names are only useful to players, it shouldn't matter to someone who no longer plays whether another person has obtained a name that's no longer in use.

People who started playing in early release, but who no longer play, are not a special breed. Every game has them. They received their benefits while they played. You can look at the advertisements of any newly released online game, and you won't see a benefit of locking in specific character names in case they stop playing for 50 years listed anywhere.

ContraTempo

I have created all 8 characters, nuked a few (early prototypes) and created more. Never ran into a name someone else had taken. Never knew that was a problem. If there are a lot of people trying to name their mage Merlin, their knight Lancelot, their nightblade Bilbo, or their templar Roland or Aragorn or Luke maybe the problem is lack of imagination.

Spacemonkey

I feel this topic is immature. I feel like I'm explaining something to a 6 year old. If my tone shocks you, calm down and then think on it some more.

So Zos sells a product to someone. Person buys said product at full price. subscribes. drum rolls, heaven sings.

3 years later. Zos sells SAME product, at reduced price, to person who does NOT subscribe. Original person gave Zos several times amount of $$ of new person. BUT original person no longer plays actively. Maybe original person has new post at work, changed jobs, went back to school, had KIDS.

New person is very angry for very good reason. Character name Porkchops3000 is taken by some idiot creep that doesn't even play the 40 hours they play for free every week. They may even possibly never play again. New person will have to use name Porkchops30000. Tragedy and drama. Heavens do not sing.

My example is extreme. My example remains true.

In what world would you possibly think any of your arguments are valid to Zos. You are a client. You are asking them to give you another client's name. A client that was there, and that has given them money BEFORE you. (and possibly more).


Dumb Metaphor Example

You drive downtown and see a FREE parking space (I live in Mtl, and those are rather hard to find). However as all free parking spaces, some abominable human being is already parked in it. You keep driving around and 45 minutes later, you still haven't found a spot. But that @$$hole is still parked there. CLEARLY he isn't there. He might be shopping, he might be GONE FOR THE WEEKEND. Point is , YOU will make an immediate use of THAT parking space. The city should immediately tow that car so that YOU can use the free parking space as you are entitled too.

*Side note: Reverse roles, imagine your car got towed for someone else. I don't know how you would feel. But in my case, it would be rather graphic. Now imagine you get stuck for 9 months, unable to play. You finally had that name you so ardently desired. And when you come back to play, someone else obtained it, stole it. And you can't even get the alternative that was available originally. Now you are stuck with PorkButt3000.


A more intelligent example is Console GamerTags: I haven't played online or been subscribed to xbox live in over 2 years. I have had before that a sub since xbox360 launch. If I was to renew a subscription tonight, and learn that they gave my gamertag to someone else. Id get a refund, break open the xbox, $h!t in it, and mail it to microsoft.

No. You aren't entitled to it. They got it first. End of story.

This is life. And yes sometimes life interferes online.

BabeestorGor

Only names I had trouble with were Khajiit. All the names used in previous TES games I liked had gone so I had to make up one that seems lore friendly to me.

CapnPhoton

charlmgn wrote: »

There are many popular character names reserved by former players whose only claim to them was being among the first players, but who no longer play, and haven't played for an extended period - and some who will never play again.

I'd like for ZOS to consider releasing these names after a certain period of inactivity, such as 6 months, and replacing the original characters' names with placeholders in case they return. This would allow active players to recycle popular names that currently are always unavailable, while giving any players returning after a long absence the ability to choose from currently available names. And it would also free up names that would potentially be forever unavailable otherwise due to players never returning at all.

Just about every MMO and online service has a policy about this and they are mostly the same. they don't delete or change old account info no matter how long its been inactive. I'm sure a returning player that was on hiatus would not appreciate having to do this.

Greatsword

Whenever I see someone with a 2- or 3-word name, my only thought is: I'm so sorry for you being late to the party.

KaleidoscopeEyz

This? Really? Have we run out of things to complain about? Suck it up.

dimensional

This is a *terrible* idea. There are plenty of people who have to quit for whatever reason and then come back later when they can. I would definitely not want to be one of those people.

If you're having problems coming up with names... get more creative? IDK what to say, I haven't had a problem naming any of my characters and I love all of their names.

KaleidoscopeEyz

A more intelligent example is Console GamerTags: I haven't played online or been subscribed to xbox live in over 2 years. I have had before that a sub since xbox360 launch. If I was to renew a subscription tonight, and learn that they gave my gamertag to someone else. Id get a refund, break open the xbox, *** in it, and mail it to microsoft.

Ummm, yeah. Pretty sure gamertags aren't reserved forever. Microsoft announced a few years back they would recycle dormant gamertags There was one I wanted originally that was taken by another player. Two years later I check again and it was available.

Danikat

I'm sort-of one of the people this is intended for (I only got the game in February, almost exactly a year after it came out) and I'd be absolutely against this. A lot of people, myself included, deliberately take breaks from games, not because we don't like it any more but because there are other things in our lives besides the one game. In fact as far as I've seen it seems to be only those people who exclusively play MMOs who will stick to just one game at a time and only stop when they've left and have no intention of ever coming back to it (unless they want to make a 'dramatic' exit from another game more dramatic by declaring that they hate it so much they're reinstalling a game they quit previously).

If I came back from a break, planned or otherwise (and especially if it was unplanned) to find that due to some arbitrary time limit my character names have been removed and reissued to some random who came along later that would probably be the point when I really would uninstall and never play the game again. And warn all of my friends off of it too.

It may not seem like a big deal if you're the type of person who is happy picking a random name, or even if you copy a name from your favourite TV show or whatever. But when you take the time to choose or design a name that suits that specific character having it taken away would ruin the character. You may as well suggest that if someone doesn't log in for X months all their characters appearances are randomised, it would have the same effect.

On top of which, speaking as someone who came into ESO a year 'late' and still periodically makes new characters there's only been once when I was unable to get the name I wanted on the first try. That was when I tried to use Holds-All-Things for an Argonian mule. So I changed it to Holds-All-Stuff, which was available.

Admittedly three of my characters use a word I made up as a last name (although in recent years I have started seeing it in use by other people as an account name) and one is in Latin. But the others are things anyone could come up with, and yet they were still available.

Greatsword wrote: »

Whenever I see someone with a 2- or 3-word name, my only thought is: I'm so sorry for you being late to the party.

That's interesting because I do almost the exact opposite. If I see someone with a one word name, especially if it has a hyphen or other special characters in it and it's not obviously lore appropriate, I wonder if they actually realised you could use spaces and if they wanted to change it afterwards. A surprising number of people don't realise, including one guy who was in Daggerfall freaking out about how so many people got "invisible letters" in their name. Apparently it hadn't ever occurred to him that spaces were an option.

Whereas I've been using two word names (or sometimes 3+) as long as games have let me do it. Not always, it depends on what suits the character, but I'm more likely to use at least 2 words than just 1.

Holycannoli

I tried to reserve a few names the minute the game first went live - set my alarm to wake up since it was like 5 or 6 AM. I woke up, got ready for the name race to begin in a few minutes and lo and behold the server was brought up an hour early and I lost most of the names. But I did get one.

And I'm not giving it up. The character is never used since I'm waiting for the barber shop to create it properly (no time to create it properly when you're looking to snag the name).

Danikat

Holycannoli wrote: »

I tried to reserve a few names the minute the game first went live - set my alarm to wake up since it was like 5 or 6 AM. I woke up, got ready for the name race to begin in a few minutes and lo and behold the server was brought up an hour early and I lost most of the names. But I did get one.

And I'm not giving it up. The character is never used since I'm waiting for the barber shop to create it properly (no time to create it properly when you're looking to snag the name).

Why not use the character creator to work out what you want them to look like, take screen shots of the sliders, and then delete the character with the name you want and re-create them with the name and appearance you want?

It should only take a few minutes that way, and it's highly unlikely anyone else would take the name in that time now the game has been out for a while and character creations have slowed down.

AshTal

I support this I wonder if it will happen when they bring in a name change option in the crown store to encourage us to pay for it.

Holycannoli

Danikat wrote: »

Why not use the character creator to work out what you want them to look like, take screen shots of the sliders, and then delete the character with the name you want and re-create them with the name and appearance you want?

It should only take a few minutes that way, and it's highly unlikely anyone else would take the name in that time now the game has been out for a while and character creations have slowed down.

I actually recorded my creation of the character when I made it in beta so when the time came I could duplicate it exactly, but I didn't delete and recreate because it's at the top of my character list and I want to keep it there.

Yeah I'm weird that way.

pirate3

I think they did something similar in SWTOR a year or two ago, although it may have been tied in with server merges which is obviously not going to be an issue here. Regardless, I'm definitely with the OP on this one. Of course, they would have to give dormant players sufficient notice so they could relog and secure the names they have.

Spacemonkey

@KaleidoscopeEyz considering it's tied to the marketplace and that I do have dlcs and games bought in those years. I highly doubt anyone who'se ever purchased anything on xbox live, counts as dormant. Same goes for anyone whose ever logged on into the game for eso.

Holycannoli wrote: »

I tried to reserve a few names the minute the game first went live - set my alarm to wake up since it was like 5 or 6 AM. I woke up, got ready for the name race to begin in a few minutes and lo and behold the server was brought up an hour early and I lost most of the names. But I did get one.

And I'm not giving it up. The character is never used since I'm waiting for the barber shop to create it properly (no time to create it properly when you're looking to snag the name).

You can create a character with all the correct sliders. Dont finalize it (dont click create/play), instead cancel. If you attempt to create a new character again, all your sliders will be in latest place. So what you can do is make the character. Cancel. Delete your character that holds the name you want. And then Create the proper looking character with the proper name in like 15 secs. Obviously you have that 15 second window risk where someone would steal the name.

KaleidoscopeEyz

Spacemonkey wrote: »

@KaleidoscopeEyz considering it's tied to the marketplace and that I do have dlcs and games bought in those years. I highly doubt anyone who'se ever purchased anything on xbox live, counts as dormant. Same goes for anyone whose ever logged on into the game for eso.

Sure, they can keep your account and give you a bogus name until you reknew it and then force you to change it. I'm not making it up. Microsoft announced it themselves that they recycle gamertags and I say kudos to them. They did a clean up a few years back. This article is from 2011 and it happened.

http://www.maximumpc.com/microsoft-recycling-old-gamertags/

charlmgn

Holycannoli wrote: »

I tried to reserve a few names the minute the game first went live - set my alarm to wake up since it was like 5 or 6 AM. I woke up, got ready for the name race to begin in a few minutes and lo and behold the server was brought up an hour early and I lost most of the names. But I did get one.

And I'm not giving it up. The character is never used since I'm waiting for the barber shop to create it properly (no time to create it properly when you're looking to snag the name).

I've done that before with characters. One that I never played for the same reason was generally pretty easy to delete and recreate at a later date when the rush to create characters isn't so pressing. Is there a chance that someone could snag the name in the 5 or 10 minutes it takes to recreate it a month or so later? Yes, but it's minimal and I haven't had an issue with that when I used this method.

charlmgn

Spacemonkey wrote: »

I feel this topic is immature. I feel like I'm explaining something to a 6 year old. If my tone shocks you, calm down and then think on it some more.

So Zos sells a product to someone. Person buys said product at full price. subscribes. drum rolls, heaven sings.

3 years later. Zos sells SAME product, at reduced price, to person who does NOT subscribe. Original person gave Zos several times amount of $$ of new person. BUT original person no longer plays actively. Maybe original person has new post at work, changed jobs, went back to school, had KIDS.

New person is very angry for very good reason. Character name Porkchops3000 is taken by some idiot creep that doesn't even play the 40 hours they play for free every week. They may even possibly never play again. New person will have to use name Porkchops30000. Tragedy and drama. Heavens do not sing.

My example is extreme. My example remains true.

In what world would you possibly think any of your arguments are valid to Zos. You are a client. You are asking them to give you another client's name. A client that was there, and that has given them money BEFORE you. (and possibly more).


Dumb Metaphor Example

You drive downtown and see a FREE parking space (I live in Mtl, and those are rather hard to find). However as all free parking spaces, some abominable human being is already parked in it. You keep driving around and 45 minutes later, you still haven't found a spot. But that @$$hole is still parked there. CLEARLY he isn't there. He might be shopping, he might be GONE FOR THE WEEKEND. Point is , YOU will make an immediate use of THAT parking space. The city should immediately tow that car so that YOU can use the free parking space as you are entitled too.

*Side note: Reverse roles, imagine your car got towed for someone else. I don't know how you would feel. But in my case, it would be rather graphic. Now imagine you get stuck for 9 months, unable to play. You finally had that name you so ardently desired. And when you come back to play, someone else obtained it, stole it. And you can't even get the alternative that was available originally. Now you are stuck with PorkButt3000.


A more intelligent example is Console GamerTags: I haven't played online or been subscribed to xbox live in over 2 years. I have had before that a sub since xbox360 launch. If I was to renew a subscription tonight, and learn that they gave my gamertag to someone else. Id get a refund, break open the xbox, $h!t in it, and mail it to microsoft.

No. You aren't entitled to it. They got it first. End of story.

This is life. And yes sometimes life interferes online.

While the topic itself isn't immature, you've responded in a highly immature manner. Oddly enough, that doesn't shock me, coming from someone who would defecate in a console and mail it to the manufacturer as a way to demonstrate his displeasure.

To skip what was obviously a cathartic rant and get to the one point you made (regarding console gamer tags), it's not uncommon for unused accounts to be recycled, whether it's user IDs, phone numbers, email addresses, among many other areas. If you keep the accounts active, this recycling won't happen. To use your phraseology, *you* aren't entitled to it. You abandoned it, so don't be in so much of a hurry to crap in a box.

Spacemonkey

KaleidoscopeEyz wrote: »

Sure, they can keep your account and give you a bogus name until you reknew it and then force you to change it. I'm not making it up. Microsoft announced it themselves that they recycle gamertags and I say kudos to them. They did a clean up a few years back. This article is from 2011 and it happened.

http://www.maximumpc.com/microsoft-recycling-old-gamertags/

Yes, they announced they were recycling dormant namertags. Namertags that were created for a microsoft account but that wasnt being used on xbox live. People who had a GT because of signups through zune or stuff like that.

If you had xbox live gold at one point and used your credit card. Your Gamertag isnt going anywhere. Ever. Well actually I guess maybe after a full generation or so. (they drop the 360 and move on with the xbox one and w/e is after, theyll clear out everything thats inactive since 360 - and actually Microsoft's policy is over 7 years) - which does make sense. Eso is like 2 years old. We are a long, long time away from that.

charlmgn wrote: »

While the topic itself isn't immature, you've responded in a highly immature manner. Oddly enough, that doesn't shock me, coming from someone who would defecate in a console and mail it to the manufacturer as a way to demonstrate his displeasure.

To skip what was obviously a cathartic rant and get to the one point you made (regarding console gamer tags), it's not uncommon for unused accounts to be recycled, whether it's user IDs, phone numbers, email addresses, among many other areas. If you keep the accounts active, this recycling won't happen. To use your phraseology, *you* aren't entitled to it. You abandoned it, so don't be in so much of a hurry to crap in a box.

@charlmgn Oddly enough it does shock you. While your initial post might have been a valid request (though a futile one from a commercial perspective), your follow up replies to comments made it immature. And as such I've used hyperbole and rhetoric to make my point - which isn't about gamertags allthough I could make more parallels between offline and online play. But if you think they recycle gts more than they do email addresses, that example is a lost cause.

The point was that they sell a product, and we buy that product. You will never be more important than another client -> which is what you are asking.

charlmgn

Spacemonkey wrote: »

@charlmgn Oddly enough it does shock you. While your initial post might have been a valid request (though a futile one from a commercial perspective), your follow up replies to comments made it immature. And as such I've used hyperbole and rhetoric to make my point - which isn't about gamertags allthough I could make more parallels between offline and online play. But if you think they recycle gts more than they do email addresses, that example is a lost cause.

The point was that they sell a product, and we buy that product. You will never be more important than another client -> which is what you are asking.

1. I'm an infinitely better judge of what shocks me than you will ever be, and you continue to fluff your posts with irrelevant and ignorant statements.
2. You continue to fail to understand the difference between a "client" and a "former client". Those of us who continue to spend money have remained clients, which a software company providing a dynamically changing and growing product needs and values. Will they or can they satisfy every request? No. But bringing those issues up is valued. They've demonstrated it repeatedly. And whether or not you or anyone else agrees with any request or recommendation made by others on the forums, it's what they're for. Regardless of all of this, thanks for your interest in and contribution to this topic.

aander91

You can use spaces, dashes, and apostrophes. This really isn't a problem with the game.