Free-Up Character Names

DUTCH_REAPER · April 2020

Concur with OP. This needs to happen.

StormeReigns · April 2020

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

Here is the thing, people are saying to just add hyphens and what not but that just makes it harder to whisper them.

So... whats hard about hyphens?
Must be difficult to type -

Accents, understandable, although hyphens... must suck when you meet someone in the real world who has a hyphenated name.

Michae · April 2020

Out of curiosity, what's the name you're after OP?

AlnilamE · April 2020

Just last week I saw a name in our guild roster I didn't recognize (we are a pretty small guild). Turns out someone who had played in beta and at launch had just come back to the game and is having a grand time relearning everything.

So no, you can figure out a way to come up with names you like without taking away other people's names.

If I can do it, so can you!

Sylvermynx · April 2020

Jeez. I've got 51 characters, and not once was I told a name was unavailable. Of course, I wouldn't be caught dead at a dogfight using something like Legolas or Drizzt, or Gandalf or Dumbledore.... *rolls eyes*

But no. I do not think names should ever be released just because someone hasn't logged in for a while.

max_only · April 2020

No.

idk · April 2020

Turelus wrote: »

I still wish I had held onto some of the common in demand names on PC EU when I reserved it in early access. I could sell them for a lot of gold now.

As others have said ZOS is unlikely to clear names as it's a massive turn off to a returning players if they've lost their character names. Also there are so many possible names with how ESO's naming rules are set we really are not running out of names.

This.

Heck, give the character a last name. I knew a player that used the same last name for all of their characters they never had a problem with a name already taken. Get creative.

Darkenarlol · April 2020

just be creative at naming your characters

barney2525 · April 2020

Agree with previous poster. I had forgotten, one thing I have done on this game is use esquire at the end of the name. So it ends up Tom esq for the name, for example. And it's not just meaningless letters. It does give meaning to the name.

as a possibility

IMHO

tului78 · April 2020

I'd add a dollar threshold spent too. If you had 6+ months of ESO+ or have added 5000+ crowns over the life of the account

Tempest · April 2020

No thanks... i beta tested eso and on launch i was one of the first people in game (hence the name Tempest) i also got a few other cool sounding names and i dont wish to lose them.

SydneyGrey · April 2020

I think it would be acceptable if it was done only once every five years, for accounts that have not been used a single time in those five years. Not for any less time than that, though.

Some people like me will stop playing a game for a year or two, and then miss it and come back to it later. I did that with Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, Civilization 5 and a lot of other games.

Aelorin · April 2020

@Jakx You do know you can have a surname? So basically that means you can have that name you want, just add a surname and you are ready to go.

Also, by adding a few more letters, you can play with a name untill you find one that works and suits you. For example, if Aelorin was chosen, I would try Aelorix, or Aelorion, or Aelandris, or....There are so many cool names out there, no need to stick with that one name.

I hope you will find that special name for your character.

newtinmpls · April 2020

...I am ... kind of weirded out that this is a thing.

You can't think of an original name? Seriously?

Okay, come here and ask for help or something. If you don't have enough imagination, there are many of us who would be glad to brainstorm something cool for you.

Ryath_Waylander · April 2020

StormeReigns wrote: »

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

Here is the thing, people are saying to just add hyphens and what not but that just makes it harder to whisper them.

So... whats hard about hyphens?
Must be difficult to type -

Accents, understandable, although hyphens... must suck when you meet someone in the real world who has a hyphenated name.

Never, ever, ever, ever put a hyphen in your kid's name. Please spare them the pain. It may look cool but banks, licensing depts, insurance, online shops etc cannot deal with it on their application forms. Ask me, I know.

StormeReigns · April 2020

Ryath_Waylander wrote: »

StormeReigns wrote: »

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

Here is the thing, people are saying to just add hyphens and what not but that just makes it harder to whisper them.

So... whats hard about hyphens?
Must be difficult to type -

Accents, understandable, although hyphens... must suck when you meet someone in the real world who has a hyphenated name.

Never, ever, ever, ever put a hyphen in your kid's name. Please spare them the pain. It may look cool but banks, licensing depts, insurance, online shops etc cannot deal with it on their application forms. Ask me, I know.

Well then, you better start telling all those millions of families that have hyphenated surnames due to heritage/culture that they are wrong.

Ryath_Waylander · April 2020

StormeReigns wrote: »

Ryath_Waylander wrote: »

StormeReigns wrote: »

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

Here is the thing, people are saying to just add hyphens and what not but that just makes it harder to whisper them.

So... whats hard about hyphens?
Must be difficult to type -

Accents, understandable, although hyphens... must suck when you meet someone in the real world who has a hyphenated name.

Never, ever, ever, ever put a hyphen in your kid's name. Please spare them the pain. It may look cool but banks, licensing depts, insurance, online shops etc cannot deal with it on their application forms. Ask me, I know.

Well then, you better start telling all those millions of families that have hyphenated surnames due to heritage/culture that they are wrong.

I've had this name for 47 years. I've had a PC for 25 years. Why the industry hasn't ever figured out that hyphens are necessary in a form field is a mystery to me

Oh and OP, just no. Use your imagination, can't all be Gandalfs or Geralt of Rivia.

Nerouyn · April 2020

Elsonso wrote: »

I never seem to have problems thinking up names.

Yeah.

There are still good ones available.

Turelus wrote: »

As others have said ZOS is unlikely to clear names as it's a massive turn off to a returning players if they've lost their character names.

It was a big turn off when a former guildie convinced me to come back to WOW to check out the changes, many, many, many years ago.

At least my two main characters had to be renamed and it just didn't feel the same playing them.

Maybe I would have stuck around for more than a few weeks if they'd still been them.

Malkiv · April 2020

SWTOR did a name purge, and here's how it worked:

They started by posting announcements all over the site, launcher, Facebook page, Twitter, and also sent out emails to every registered user. They did this multiple times over the period of a month.

Any character under level 30 (60 was the cap at the time) that had not been logged in for 90 days would need to be logged into to keep the name. Any character over level 30 was safe, and did not require a login to keep the name regardless of inactivity.

If you did not log into your character before the purge, your character was renamed from Character to something like Character0129471098, and then you were given a rename prompt when you logged into it. If you were lucky, you could still get your old name back. If you were less lucky, then you pretty much ignored all the communication going on for a month, and it wasn't high on your priority list to begin with.

It was a massive success - I saw all kinds of fun, witty, or interesting names again, and the event gave a big boost to the population from returning players that had previously gone inactive. There was not a massive outcry on the forums. It was easy, it was straight-forward, and people could still easily keep their names if that was their priority.

Nerouyn · April 2020

Malkiv wrote: »

SWTOR did a name purge, and here's how it worked:

They started by posting announcements all over the site, launcher, Facebook page, Twitter, and also sent out emails to every registered user. They did this multiple times over the period of a month.

I never heard anything about this until long after the purge and lost nearly all of my character names.

Was not happy.

Malkiv · April 2020

Nerouyn wrote: »

Malkiv wrote: »

SWTOR did a name purge, and here's how it worked:

They started by posting announcements all over the site, launcher, Facebook page, Twitter, and also sent out emails to every registered user. They did this multiple times over the period of a month.

I never heard anything about this until long after the purge and lost nearly all of my character names.

Was not happy.

Then it was not high on your priority list. Emails were sent out to the registered email address. In fact, I got annoyed that every time I checked my email, there was a new update about it, so I created a rule to have messages with certain text strings go straight to the trash folder.

At a certain point, the responsibility lands on the consumer.

Nerouyn · April 2020

Malkiv wrote: »

Then it was not high on your priority list.

ROFL

Malkiv wrote: »

Emails were sent out to the registered email address

For all sorts of reasons, the email you register for games might not be one you check regularly.

Or might not even be one you have access to.

Malkiv · April 2020

Nerouyn wrote: »

Malkiv wrote: »

Then it was not high on your priority list.

ROFL

Malkiv wrote: »

Emails were sent out to the registered email address

For all sorts of reasons, the email you register for games might not be one you check regularly.

Or might not even be one you have access to.

Again, at some point, the fault is on you. A company can only go so far with trying to communicate with people before it becomes legal harassment. It was your fault you didn't get the messages, plain and simple.

robertthebard · April 2020

Jakx wrote: »

Sorry, not interested in adding hyphens and awful looking names with accents: æÄÉôöòâäå

The irony in that all of you posting never meet these thresholds because you stay active in the game to a degree that would never see a name be freed up.

Literally we are speaking about YEARS here of inactivity.. day 1 type inactivity. Thats absurd. This game is also played on a mega server. Meaning literally every character ever played on NA or EU you must compete for names with even if somebody dropped this game week 1, trust me... A LOT of people dropped this buggy mess and never came back.

I think the least of your concerns should be placating people who quit the game 6 years ago but helping those who want to play it in this decade. A lot of these posts are related to empathetic "how would I feel if my name was taken?" type responses. Again, do you expect to not login to ESO for 3+ years? Sorry there should be a statute and if you login 4-5 years later and your name is gone, you expect it.

Hi, I'm just back after a year off, no thanks.

Danikat · April 2020

Ryath_Waylander wrote: »

StormeReigns wrote: »

Ryath_Waylander wrote: »

StormeReigns wrote: »

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

Here is the thing, people are saying to just add hyphens and what not but that just makes it harder to whisper them.

So... whats hard about hyphens?
Must be difficult to type -

Accents, understandable, although hyphens... must suck when you meet someone in the real world who has a hyphenated name.

Never, ever, ever, ever put a hyphen in your kid's name. Please spare them the pain. It may look cool but banks, licensing depts, insurance, online shops etc cannot deal with it on their application forms. Ask me, I know.

Well then, you better start telling all those millions of families that have hyphenated surnames due to heritage/culture that they are wrong.

I've had this name for 47 years. I've had a PC for 25 years. Why the industry hasn't ever figured out that hyphens are necessary in a form field is a mystery to me Oh and OP, just no. Use your imagination, can't all be Gandalfs or Geralt of Rivia.

It may not be the most original idea, but seeing a guy called 'Gerald of Rivers' did make me smile. IMO that's a good example of adapting a name when the one you wanted is taken.

hasi · April 2020

Ectheliontnacil wrote: »

Bradyfjord wrote: »

I also think it would be unnecessary to give up names. Due to being able to add a space and hyphen, you can work out a name of just about anything you might wish. I do empathize with people that have to alter their favorite name, but having names 'taken' is just something that comes with online gaming.

£ēt'$ b€ høñë$t thõùgh, thö$e ~`и'аmës löøk aшfûl.

That is personal taste, and if you really want to use that one certain name without changing it from Wolfhunger to Wolf Hunger or Wolf H Unger or such, it's the best choice to go for...
I like my Warden's name Fróstbyté for example.💔

LukosCreyden · April 2020

I haven't seen any Game of Thrones characters or any Geralts in a while and honestly, I am very happy about that. As long as you are being creative, freeing up old names will never be needed.

Elsonso · April 2020

LukosCreyden wrote: »

I haven't seen any Game of Thrones characters or any Geralts in a while and honestly, I am very happy about that. As long as you are being creative, freeing up old names will never be needed.

It sounds like the ESO waiting list for the name "Geralt", and all variants, has reached the flash point.

robertthebard · April 2020

Elsonso wrote: »

LukosCreyden wrote: »

I haven't seen any Game of Thrones characters or any Geralts in a while and honestly, I am very happy about that. As long as you are being creative, freeing up old names will never be needed.

It sounds like the ESO waiting list for the name "Geralt", and all variants, has reached the flash point.

Might be things like Drizzt or Revan too. It seems like I've actually seen situations like this arise when someone wanted to use a copyrighted name, and found that they couldn't, assumed it was taken, and started a thread, only to find out that they couldn't use the name they wanted anyway, due to copyright infringement issues.

Jakx · April 2020

Almost every post ignores what the original post says and just comments. [snip]

So I will bucket the different responses and respond to them that way.

-First Bucket, "I quit the game for a year and just came back, NO THANKS!"

Response: Yea so thats exactly the customer-base I said wouldn't be affected by this name release. Right at the top, a conversation starter of 3+ years of inactivity. I've taken breaks of 1 year too, alot of people have. This game honestly drains you with how many issues it has. I'm clearly talking about accounts that are long inactive, not your typical hiatus lengths.

-Second Bucket, "I played beta and just came back!!!!!!"

response: You prove the exception but in a thread that has at best 20 different posters? Yea not the norm. Those people who are the norm have quit. they arent coming back. Also, how come all the people who say they beta'd the game and just came back have forum accounts that are mere months old? At worst you're lieing and at best you did not provide feedback during the beta. ps. Check my account age (im gonna love the hate I get for that comment)

-Third Bucket, "NO way because its unfair I never even got an email from ESO when it went f2p or SWTOR/WOW when they changed naming policies"

Response: At a certain point the customer has a responsibility. If you make fake emails and don't have anyway to be contacted. That just to me proves more why customers who do have interest in playing the game should have your inactive names of 3,4,5, years freed up.

Summary: I didn't flesh out the entire idea for ZOS because they dont pay me to do these things. There's a certain expectation that they would properly inform customers of these intentions. Make it so that its an appropriate amount of inactivity with certain caveats (time spent in game, money spent etc) and generally attempt to weed out those who actually play ESO and those who dumped it.

To those that feel like they're proving the exception. "I really did play beta and JUST came back." I'm sorry, get over it. Guess what, you're back! Your names arent going anywhere.

[edited to remove bait]