[Account Cold Storage] Should toon names be released too?

heaven13 · December 2019

Dusk_Coven wrote: »

Mostly the defense here is people "might" come back after 5+ years. Probably most accounts don't though. That's why they are considering some kind of "Cold Storage" at all.

Who determines what a "reasonable" absence is? You're saying 5+ years but Alnilame is under the impression cold storage will be initiated after 6 months. That's a huge difference. Some people only come once per chapter. What about military members who deploy for 6+ months at a time and can't log in during that period? Then you might have people who played during a free-to-play event, enjoy the game, but wait for a sale or have some other reason for not purchasing straight away.

Dusk_Coven wrote: »

Not much different from seeing the same name with a space or hyphen or slight accent on it, I imagine. You'd still essentially see that name.

If there's "not much difference" between having the name you want exactly or the same name but with a space/hyphen/accent, then why advocate for freeing up character names so you don't have to add the special characters? As Goregrinder said, first come, first serve and those who find a name already in use are the ones who should be obligated to make adjustments.

In my opinion, there is no good reason to delete people's characters (or rename them to a randomized string) just to free up the name for someone else who might want to use it.

WhiteCoatSyndrome · December 2019

Dusk_Coven wrote: »

WhiteCoatSyndrome wrote: »

Kadoin wrote: »

And when players mistakenly identify new name holders as some one else...?

This very much. And no, the account name is not good enough as an identifier; you can send in-game mail with the character name, leaving a wide avenue for mistaken identity. Also last I checked, you can change your account name.

If someone changes their account name.
And someone else takes the now freed-up account name.
That's fine? It's possible it's happening right now, so your argument about 'mistaken identity" doesn't really fly.

You misunderstand. Imagine the following scenario:

Player 1 makes their character and names him 'Wizard X'
Player 1 stops playing long enough their character gets moved to cold storage.
Scammer 1 then makes a new character named 'Wizard X'
Scammer 1 was guildies with Player 1 before Scammer 1 was kicked, and thus knows that Player 2 was friends with Player 1 and was in a lot of the same guilds.
Scammer 1 then contacts Player 2, tells them they're 'back' and asks to be re-invited to the guild, where they are then free to perform whatever havok got them kicked in the first place.

Identity theft, in other words.

Account name can be changed, so Player 2 can't use that as a check. Race change tokens also exist, so Player 2 can't even check and find out if 'Wizard X' is still an Argonian Sorcerer instead of a Breton Templar to try to avoid this.

Oh, and let's not forget this is ZOS who would be implementing this hypothetical name-release system, so when Player 1 comes back and finds their character renamed to 'randomqwertxyz123', there is at least 50% chance Player 1 will need to buy a name change token to change it to something sensible.

redgreensunset · December 2019

Dusk_Coven wrote: »

Just the fact that people are so defensive about wanting to keep their names is reason enough to consider releasing names from players who probably won't come back. If you have to keep trying a different name just to make your character, each time you change your character's name to try to get a valid one changes how you conceived of your character.

For newer players entering the system, it's a problem that will just get worse over time.

Prrasha wrote: »

I started ESO fairly recently. Some of "my" names from other games were available. Others were already in use. So I invented new ones. It's really not that hard. The "use high-ascii characters and extra spaces" thing is juvenile, in my opinion.

Then maybe your character's name doesn't matter as much to you during character creation. People use ways to try to retain the initial name they want because it's part of their character concept and toon identity. Players who don't come back don't need their toon names anymore.
Mostly the defense here is people "might" come back after 5+ years. Probably most accounts don't though. That's why they are considering some kind of "Cold Storage" at all.

@Dusk_Coven

And you're not listening to any of the argument because you've cooked up this scenario in your mind that you just can't seem to let go of. But let me try again.

Cold storage will take effect after about 6 months not the number you just pulled out of your rectum. That's a regular posting abroad or for that matter on a drilling rig. For people with chronic or severe illnesses being barred from playing for 6+ months isn't unusual either due to hospitalization or other things. And that's just some real life examples of why people wouldn't log in for long enough for their account to go into cold storage yet who wants to and do return once they have the chance to play again.
All these people should by your idea lose the identities of the characters they worked so hard to create because you can't conceive of legitimate reasons for being away from the game for more than a few days or week?

For what it is worth I'm one of those new players that you're so worried about, I've only been here since Elsweyr. In that interval I've created a sizeable number of alts because I'm a total altoholic and I like testing out all character classes and various play styles just to see what I like the best and to have options for different styles of play depending on my mood. I have yet to run into this problem and I tend to riff off canon names so I really should have a problem. And yet.

Imryll · December 2019

I'd rather they didn't.

Tandor · December 2019

Dusk_Coven wrote: »

SpacemanSpiff1 wrote: »

Why? Someone have a name you want?

Newer players encounter this all the time and it's a problem that just gets worse over time.

It's not a problem, if anything the problem for newer players is that they may not realise that they can add additional wording to their chosen name and it will be accepted. Use a surname, a prefix, or a suffix.

For example - you want "Freddie" and it's taken, so you get "Freddie Forsaken", "Forsaken Freddie", "Freddie Fails the Medical" etc. It isn't hard, and if necessary you can always bow to those who have been playing the game for 5 years - even if they haven't played for the last 12 months - and come up with something original.

nickl413 · December 2019

Out with it OP, what name are you trying to get? I might have it and I might be willing to negotiate

MrGhosty · December 2019

As a lapsed player who came back after several years, this would be a big no from me. I left the game when it didn't have enough content for me but kept an eye on the game from afar. When I returned I ended up subbing and spending a fair bit of money as I got back into it. All of that would have been lost revenue for ZOS if I booted the game back up to find that my names had been taken from my characters.

If you want a name, you need to be the first one to grab it.

Sylvermynx · December 2019

I've got 45 characters on two accounts, across both PC megaservers. I did not ONE TIME get an error that a name was already taken. I've played not quite a year and a half, so I consider myself still fairly new. Not only that, I did NOT reuse any of the 120 names I used in WoW and RIFT.

Oh, I also have several thousand names in file, NONE of which I have ever seen in any of the three MMOs I've played.

spartaxoxo · December 2019

Will cold storage mean these people no longer count towards giving you bank access?

Dusk_Coven · December 2019

WhiteCoatSyndrome wrote: »

Scammer 1 then contacts Player 2, tells them they're 'back' and asks to be re-invited to the guild, where they are then free to perform whatever havok got them kicked in the first place.

Guild membership is account based.
And depending on the wait time before a name is released, it could be a VERY long time to run one scam. Unlikely tbh.

Zephard · December 2019

Dusk_Coven wrote: »

Just the fact that people are so defensive about wanting to keep their names is reason enough to consider releasing names from players who probably won't come back. If you have to keep trying a different name just to make your character, each time you change your character's name to try to get a valid one changes how you conceived of your character.

For newer players entering the system, it's a problem that will just get worse over time.

Uh, Dusk_Coven, might you think about suggesting to only allowing names to be use for 30 day periods of time, then force people to change them. That way no one is attached to a name, so no one will complain about not having the name they already got!

Sorry, newer players if the names you choose seems to be taken, and you have to come up with new names. My first alt could not be named the same name as my main, so I was in the same boat as you, having to think up a new name.

So some people are sensitive about their names, others no so much, I have a friend who names all his toons items on his desk. Randomly. Me and My wife name all our toons as couples so each couple has the same last name.

I would say we are so far been very lucky, that no one has already had our combination of names. In fact we have not ran into anyone who has had either our first name or surnames.

I have only once ran into someone in any online game that had a name that I wanted before I saw them with it. (I been playing online games since the BBS days.) That one time, was a name I got from a book. After that, I haven't run into that problem again.

If I came out of cold storage and found someone else was using the name I had already had, I would wonder "who is this person, I have to meet them, someone who thinks just like me!"

Dusk_Coven · December 2019

Zephard wrote: »

Uh, Dusk_Coven, might you think about suggesting to only allowing names to be use for 30 day periods of time, then force people to change them. That way no one is attached to a name, so no one will complain about not having the name they already got!

You make a fake claim then bash it?

Zephard · December 2019

Sheezabeast wrote: »

In other multi player games I’ve played, it’s a popular troll tactic to make an account on launch day, snipe the best names, and later sell the account with the desirable name. Others simply make the best names on a spare troll account and they rot for eternity to spite others.

What the heck is best names? Seriously I don't get that.
BoB maybe is like a best name. But what others?
What have I been missing in my years of playing games?

Dusk_Coven · December 2019

heaven13 wrote: »

Dusk_Coven wrote: »

Mostly the defense here is people "might" come back after 5+ years. Probably most accounts don't though. That's why they are considering some kind of "Cold Storage" at all.

Who determines what a "reasonable" absence is? You're saying 5+ years but Alnilame is under the impression cold storage will be initiated after 6 months. That's a huge difference.

Of course it is. ZOS would have to look at people's play patterns. Do people regularly leave and come back after a few months? After a year? After a couple of years?
Looking at what the player base does would be important.

Zephard · December 2019

Dusk_Coven wrote: »

Zephard wrote: »

Uh, Dusk_Coven, might you think about suggesting to only allowing names to be use for 30 day periods of time, then force people to change them. That way no one is attached to a name, so no one will complain about not having the name they already got!

You make a fake claim then bash it?

A fake claim? I might not understand what claim I was making?
I was making a suggestion, not a claim, just bold the words I read from your post that make me think of the suggestion.

Acrolas · December 2019

I don't see the point. It wouldn't be a transparent process and worst case turns into a battle of who can download the newest patch the quickest and has a spare character slot or token and also lucks out on finding a wanted name.

It also seems weird to flush a lot of creative and inspired names so that somebody can maybe pick up Deadpool, Daenerys, or Darkwing Duck. None of which add anything of particular value to this brand.

Merlin13KAGL · December 2019

Nestor wrote: »

It is already enough of a pain to restart the game after an extended period:

1. It has to be updated to the current client, or even redownloaded.
2. You probably have to deal with the 2 Factor Email Challenge
3. Good chance that the Password has to be changed.
4. Addons, if used, have to be updated.
5. Skills and gear need to be reevaluated. Replacing gear can take hours, even if go all crafted, days if you have to farm it. New rotations take time to set up.
6. You have to try and remember where you left off and what you want to pick up and continue on with.
7. Your old guilds may not be as active so you have to try and find new ones.
8. I am sure I am forgetting other things....

Forcing someone to come up with a new name for an existing character would be the straw that would stop this camel from coming back.

@Nestor , depending on the timeframe, you might also add the 85 page Privacy Notice/Updated ToS to that list, as well.

Almost guaranteed CP will have been modified, too.

InaMoonlight · December 2019

Dusk_Coven wrote: »

InaMoonlight wrote: »

Wouldn't be very cool, and most likely scare any retunee's away instantly if they risked that the names they chose and thought up over ages suddenly vanish... Imagine logging in again reading new interesting updates, only to see 6-10 chars named 654235632 if you had names like Cassiopeia, Picasso, Nyx, and so forth. Don't think, and hope that'd never happen, noone would return for longer then it took to see their char-list I fear.

But if you didn't care enough to log in -- for a long enough period that you ended up in Cold Storage -- would you care about your character name?
If they did release your character name they'd probably give you a name change token of course. Then you can use accents or other tricks just like ACTIVE players have to do now.

As a returning player, say i quit right after beta, saw all the amazing dlc's done since, and going "Heeeeey noooow we talkin'!" I would definitely log straight back out without subbing... That would be a dealbreaker on the return, i would implode if i lost Sinnie, Sinni and Sinny, or even the one named after my lost cat... Prerogative of those that did sit up waiting 24 hrs for the live servers to launch

And i would probably get a little on the homicidal side if my guilds Moon Sugar or Moonlight got nabbed aswell lol. Actively used or not, i made a severe effort for it all, and returning to find all of that changed (like when my computer died and took me over half a year to replace), yeaaaah... no

InaMoonlight · December 2019

Maggi12 wrote: »

what will happen with those ppl who are in the guild, but not played 10 months or so. And the guild leader did not kicked them? Will they remain "as is" in the guild roster list?

They will remain, unless another then leader has kick-rights and uses them

kaisernick · December 2019

I have never had a issue with someone already having my names ever.
zeni made a smart move having mail and other stuff linked to acount name rather than character, WoW TOR all suffer from the old and poor decision to have character names be linked to mail (which is the main reason duplicate names are not allowed in games that do such a thing)

So in all i dont see a point.

max_only · December 2019

No. DCUO did this and I deleted the game.

Asys · December 2019

max_only wrote: »

No. DCUO did this and I deleted the game.

over a stinkin name??? HA

Dark_Lord_Kuro · December 2019

Well
It depend of how they do it
if they do tell us everywere a few month in advence that any account that did not at least login once in the last 3-4 years will get a few number after their name and an equal name change token its kind of ok

But i would prefer them to not do it

Sheezabeast · December 2019

Zephard wrote: »

Sheezabeast wrote: »

In other multi player games I’ve played, it’s a popular troll tactic to make an account on launch day, snipe the best names, and later sell the account with the desirable name. Others simply make the best names on a spare troll account and they rot for eternity to spite others.

What the heck is best names? Seriously I don't get that.
BoB maybe is like a best name. But what others?
What have I been missing in my years of playing games?

Think one word names like Helga, Ulfric, Bob, ect. For some people they try very hard to get a character with this name format. For example, I have the character Svanhilde. I made her after Beta, and when she got married to her rp partner, I created a second character where I replicated her and added her new last name. I didn't name change her to Svanhilde Maloran, rather I kept Svanhilde, and have a Svanhilde Maloran for roleplay. It is very hard to get single names.

Eiagra · December 2019

I have had this happen to me on another MMO. I left for a while because I had other life commitments. When I freed up some bandwidth to go relive some memories and see what was new and fresh... all my names were numbers.

They were names I'd had since the game's launch.

I decided I wasn't so interested in the game after all, and that was it. Haven't tried it again since.

Addendum: Here's a different solution for you. Convert to an "accountname@charactername" format. It would require a re-structure of how friends lists, messaging, etc. works, but it would eliminate the issue with names. And since accountnames are now visible in-game, I can't think of a reason (other than devtime) not to convert to it (feel free to correct me on that though, I'm not giving it that deep of thought).

kargen27 · December 2019

My character's names are a part of my characters. I don't want others playing my characters even if it is in name only. Doesn't matter if it is five days or five years those names go with those characters.

AlnilamE · December 2019

Asys wrote: »

max_only wrote: »

No. DCUO did this and I deleted the game.

over a stinkin name??? HA

The stinking names are important enough to the OP that he wants names someone else got first...

bmnoble · December 2019

Don't see any point, how are you going to know what names have been made available?

Your not going to hold off creating a character just because the name you want isn't available, you pick a different variation or another name altogether and move on.

Iskiab · December 2019

Dusk_Coven wrote: »

When an account is put into Cold Storage (an eventual part of the Performance Improvements Plan), should the character names be released back into availability?

This is a good idea. As games age all the good names are taken, people end up with strange misspelling of handles they’ve had for years.

Nomadic_Atmoran · December 2019

Dusk_Coven wrote: »

Nyladreas wrote: »

Regardless of how long of a break there is, people simply DO care about things like names of their characters or whatever. Us, humans, we're just stupid and wired like that. Most of us anyway.

I'm thinking accounts that end up in Cold Storage are unlikely to ever be logged back in and the owners have forgotten about ESO.

Thats a pretty big assumption. Plenty of people regularly return after years of absence and while there will probably be a lot of character names that are forever locked away. Its not as the availability of those names returning will outweigh the possible customer service nightmare of a customer that refuses to resub because their character names were scrubbed.