Like other large MMO's is it not time for an official name purge?

Twohothardware · April 2018

I know World of Warcraft and other larger MMO's have name purges every so often to free up taken names that players who haven't been on the game in years are still holding preventing that name from ever being used by existing players. ESO isn't as large as WoW but because you can have up to 15 characters first names especially for your character, even the most obscure of ones, are typically taken if they can be found on any list in a Google Search.

The biggest annoyance with so many names already being taken is that you have to either invent a name or have a whole list of names to try before the character creation screen logs you out and you have to completely re-do your character.

I don't believe Elder Scrolls Online has ever had a name purge since launch so wouldn't this be a good time to have one with the 4 year anniversary just over?

Lynx7386 · April 2018

You can use last names here.

Gythral · April 2018

24 Characters
start with a letter
dont end with a space

Danikat · April 2018

I admit I don't make new characters in ESO as often as I do in some games, but I've never had trouble getting a name I wanted.

It helps that you can add spaces and, accented characters and use some punctuation, as well as the long character limit. That gives a lot more options than in some other games. If the name you want is taken you can change the spelling slightly or add a last name/first name or title. Another option which can work is to try using different languages.

EvilCroc · April 2018

Good names are taken and will never return.

DEAL
WITH
IT

Gythral · April 2018

EvilCroc wrote: »

Good names are taken and will never return.

DEAL
WITH
IT

Better yet
Join the party earlier, fashionably late always has this supposed issue in MMOs

Guarlet · April 2018

Along with a last name, you can also add a random honorific like "Lady," add a hyphen/apostrophe, or change a letter. Get creative, make up your own- I've never had a problem with taken names. ^^

Iluvrien · April 2018

All of my character names have been lore appropriate. None of them have ever been taken.

Maybe there is a lesson there somewhere.

Tyrobag · April 2018

Just use a last name, or slightly adjust your spelling. I've never had to spend more than 15 minutes making a lore friendly name that fits my character, and I've never had to do any of the stupid things where people put in an X or an _ somewhere then try to pretend it isn't there.

Horowonnoe · April 2018

Never had a problem getting a name i wanted : )
That said - Potema the Wolf Queen is mine. As is Almalexia.
As is the wonderful stealable item from thieves guild - False Eye

DBZVelena · April 2018

"other mmo's purge the names" yea no, you mean WoW purged the names.
Pretty sure this isn't a universal thing the way you present it.
And really if you're creative getting the exact name you want isn't hard.
Its when you're NOT being creative that you come against the "Name in use" thing.
And even then you can get around it if you're creative enough. And i'm not talking about substituting i for L or such bull.

But lets be honest here. This whole thread isn't about the access to names. Its about you wanting a not very creative name which somebody else already has in use and now you're upset about it.

Twohothardware · April 2018

DBZVelena wrote: »

"other mmo's purge the names" yea no, you mean WoW purged the names.
Pretty sure this isn't a universal thing the way you present it.
And really if you're creative getting the exact name you want isn't hard.
Its when you're NOT being creative that you come against the "Name in use" thing.
And even then you can get around it if you're creative enough. And i'm not talking about substituting i for L or such bull.

But lets be honest here. This whole thread isn't about the access to names. Its about you wanting a not very creative name which somebody else already has in use and now you're upset about it.

Yea no, I mean the multiple MMO's that do name purges and the two largest MMO's which are WoW and League of Legends are among them. I never presented it as universally done by every MMO large and small.

And actually this whole thread is about whether active paying subscribers should have access to the vast list of potential character names that are held by inactive players years ago when the game launched who may of not even logged an hour on the game or even completed the Tutorial.

Tasear · April 2018

... maybe if we could check character name before creation then it would help?

Tandor · April 2018

Tasear wrote: »

... maybe if we could check character name before creation then it would help?

I think that would be useful, as would being able to save a template.

However, I've never found it a problem - I actually have two characters with the same name (one on each of my accounts) which was easily achieved by adding a different last name to them. I only did it because I wasn't sure which one I wanted to keep, but it shows how easy it is to come up with a name that's already taken just by adding a last name.

Besides, there are far more reasons why names are rejected than simply that they have been taken already. Most of the rejections probably arise from copyright, decency, and lore/NPC conflicts.

FloppyTouch · April 2018

You mean you dont like a name like Xx1(nameyouwanted)1xX??? Weird

starkerealm · April 2018

I've, basically, never encountered this. Every character I've rolled up since launch has had the name I was looking for. It took a little experimentation with my High Elf, but that's because I didn't use a surname on her.

Maybe, be a little more creative with your names?

Perwulf · April 2018

What? Someone stole your sweetroll?

MLGProPlayer · April 2018

I had to name my mules in Spanish since "Inventory One", "Inventory Two", etc. were taken.

Taleof2Cities · April 2018

Twohothardware wrote: »

DBZVelena wrote: »

"other mmo's purge the names" yea no, you mean WoW purged the names.
Pretty sure this isn't a universal thing the way you present it.
And really if you're creative getting the exact name you want isn't hard.
Its when you're NOT being creative that you come against the "Name in use" thing.
And even then you can get around it if you're creative enough. And i'm not talking about substituting i for L or such bull.

But lets be honest here. This whole thread isn't about the access to names. Its about you wanting a not very creative name which somebody else already has in use and now you're upset about it.

Yea no, I mean the multiple MMO's that do name purges and the two largest MMO's which are WoW and League of Legends are among them. I never presented it as universally done by every MMO large and small.

And actually this whole thread is about whether active paying subscribers should have access to the vast list of potential character names that are held by inactive players years ago when the game launched who may of not even logged an hour on the game or even completed the Tutorial.

This is ESO.

This is not "another MMO".

That said, you still should be able to accomplish your goal using spaces and special characters.

Tabbycat · April 2018

I don't think they let you name your character Lusty Argonian Maid.

Jameliel · April 2018

All of these random suggestions from people who enjoy arguments for the sake of an argument. I entirely agree with OP. As the majority of popular MMO's do, purging names is a simple and time-tested solution. If you don't play within a certain period of time, it's safe to conclude you either quit or don't care about losing a name that much.

"I never have a problem, so you should do what I say". The arrogance of many people nowadays borderlines on the level of sociopath.

Iluvrien · April 2018

Jameliel wrote: »

All of these random suggestions from people who enjoy arguments for the sake of an argument. I entirely agree with OP. As the majority of popular MMO's do, purging names is a simple and time-tested solution. If you don't play within a certain period of time, it's safe to conclude you either quit or don't care about losing a name that much.

"I never have a problem, so you should do what I say". The arrogance of many people nowadays borderlines on the level of sociopath.

I think my irony meter just broke... and that someone needs to look up a robust definition of “sociopath”.

Donari · April 2018

As far as I know WoW has had exactly one name purge, the one that got me to buy WoD so as to save my at-that-point 7 year old names that had been woven into tons of RP. The next time I quit I decided it no longer mattered if someone took my names there so yeah, maybe there was a subsequent purge that didn't ping my radar.

GW2 affirmatively won't purge names, it's designed to be friendly to those who might need a long leave of absence, and I've never had any problem getting any name I wanted, all lore friendly.

ESO has far more flexibility of name than GW2 thanks to including punctuation and, I believe, a longer character limit. I've never had a problem finding a name in ESO (granted I've only made seven alts, plus a few throaways for PTS). I've never even encountered the time-out problem people report where they lose their whole character design during the long search for a name. Imo a returning player finding his/her names and thus game identity erased is more likely to nope out and never return than a new player is likely to dump the game over not getting their favorite anime name.

Ectheliontnacil · April 2018

I love this idea. Most of the really cool names are most likely taken by inactive accounts (ppl who created the chars at launch and have quit by now).

huntgod_ESO · April 2018

I just made Gandalf the Barbarian the other day, so not all names are taken. Was actually surprised it was available.

Androconium · April 2018

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

This is ESO.

This is not "another MMO".

Yep.

brimstone74 · April 2018

This game allows spaces and special characters in the name. Its really not needed here. There are No good names. What most refer to as good names are over used and unoriginal. Be creative. We don't need anymore legolasteabagsyourmoms running around.

mesmerizedish · April 2018

Just name all your characters using at least three words in dead languages like I do, gosh.

itscompton · April 2018

DBZVelena wrote: »

"other mmo's purge the names" yea no, you mean WoW purged the names.
Pretty sure this isn't a universal thing the way you present it.
And really if you're creative getting the exact name you want isn't hard.
Its when you're NOT being creative that you come against the "Name in use" thing.
And even then you can get around it if you're creative enough. And i'm not talking about substituting i for L or such bull.

But lets be honest here. This whole thread isn't about the access to names. Its about you wanting a not very creative name which somebody else already has in use and now you're upset about it.

DC Universe Online does name purges too, and it's way less populated than ESO. I really don't understand why some people just like to be contrarians and shoot down any good idea people post about in the forums. What possible logic do you people have to argue against something as reasonable as someone requesting names being reclaimed from defunct accounts that haven't logged on in months, if not years?
The fact that you can be "creative" and still come up with a name close to what you want doesn't make you special, and is besides the point here, so stop acting like the OP is out to take away the only thing in life that gives you satisfaction. Seriously SMDH.

Sting864 · April 2018

Guarlet wrote: »

Along with a last name, you can also add a random honorific like "Lady," add a hyphen/apostrophe, or change a letter. Get creative, make up your own- I've never had a problem with taken names. ^^

Use creative spellings... dynamic and strategic use of apostrophes... EZPZ to get a legendary name... Besides... Gionne S'mythe has a legendary quality about it...

Vapirko · April 2018

itscompton wrote: »

DBZVelena wrote: »

"other mmo's purge the names" yea no, you mean WoW purged the names.
Pretty sure this isn't a universal thing the way you present it.
And really if you're creative getting the exact name you want isn't hard.
Its when you're NOT being creative that you come against the "Name in use" thing.
And even then you can get around it if you're creative enough. And i'm not talking about substituting i for L or such bull.

But lets be honest here. This whole thread isn't about the access to names. Its about you wanting a not very creative name which somebody else already has in use and now you're upset about it.

DC Universe Online does name purges too, and it's way less populated than ESO. I really don't understand why some people just like to be contrarians and shoot down any good idea people post about in the forums. What possible logic do you people have to argue against something as reasonable as someone requesting names being reclaimed from defunct accounts that haven't logged on in months, if not years?
The fact that you can be "creative" and still come up with a name close to what you want doesn't make you special, and is besides the point here, so stop acting like the OP is out to take away the only thing in life that gives you satisfaction. Seriously SMDH.

You said it. I think the thing that triggers me most relates to eso are people that come to posts that suggest something that wouldn’t affect them in the slightest just to be a negative *** about it. They also all seem to start with the stupid phrase, “yeah, no.”