Way, way back in the day I remember quitting my short-lived stint in FFXI and being told that my account would be deleted if I didn't reactivate within 30 (?) days. Was fine by me and really just served to make sure I was never tempted to return. Everquest is doing server merges and some people are finding out that they'll lose their character name to people who haven't been active for over four years. A constant debate in the City of Heroes community is name purges and whether some trial account that hasn't played in 4+ years should be locking out "Patriot Girl" as a name. Or if a level capped account that hasn't been played in 4+ years should lock out "Captain Liberty".
Generally speaking, what are your expectations regarding defunct MMORPG accounts? Should they remain pristine forever? If you came back to a game after a couple (unpaid) years and found your characters needed to be renamed, would it result in an instant ragequit? What about after a year? Does your opinion differ for a lvl 3 character versus one that's at the level cap? Or halfway to the level cap? What if they deleted your account entirely (with notice)... would you ever consider returning?
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Belkira wrote:
Wow. Regular ol' Joph fan club in here.
I occasionally think about this in regards to my WoW account... I don't ever see myself going back but the possibility is always there. If I did, I would definitely want my characters to be there as I left them. Although I usually don't have to worry about other people taking the same name, I think that I would not want to have to change my name. That is also true of having to change servers though... I would want to keep my same name on a new server so that I could be recognized by the others who moved from my server.
I definitely think higher level characters are more important in this aspect than lower level ones. It all comes down to reputation; I want my name associated with my reputation and for it to stay that way.
And no, I would probably not return if I found that my character(s) were deleted forever.
I definitely think higher level characters are more important in this aspect than lower level ones. It all comes down to reputation; I want my name associated with my reputation and for it to stay that way.
And no, I would probably not return if I found that my character(s) were deleted forever.
◕ ‿‿ ◕
You should have at least a year to come back without any mods to your account, circumstances in RL may change that prevent you from being able to afford the account at that time. A year should be an adequate amount of time for you to resume your account if you wish.
Shaowstrike (Retired - FFXI)
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"We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."
— James D. Nicoll
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Cooking/Fishing 100
"We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."
— James D. Nicoll
If you haven't paid for an account for 12 months your characters should be archived and names free to be used again.
Should you wish to return after that you would be allowed a free server change or rename or both.
Server merges are different, if both names are in use players should both be ingame mailed and asked if they wish to change names for free, if not then the highest level char should retain the name if both maxed then most active (i.e mains get priority over Alts) then if both Mains the oldest character.
Should you wish to return after that you would be allowed a free server change or rename or both.
Server merges are different, if both names are in use players should both be ingame mailed and asked if they wish to change names for free, if not then the highest level char should retain the name if both maxed then most active (i.e mains get priority over Alts) then if both Mains the oldest character.
FFXI just went through this recently. Really my thoughts on the matter are, there should be a level cap a person needs to reach to keep that name. IF they dont reach it, say one capped job on your character, then the name is up for grabs.
If they hit the cap then the name is theirs to keep regardless.
If they hit the cap then the name is theirs to keep regardless.
If my characters were deleted, then no I don't think I would return. I was under the impression of this for FFXI too, as it was a major reason I didn't return (and I think it was 3 months, not 30 days). BUT I've been told all I'd have to do is contact SE and tell them I want to return and play [insert names here] and they restore them (if they have been removed).
As for the name issue. If someone has not payed for the game for over 12 months, the name should be unlocked. Capped level or not. If you are unable to get $15 within a year to stop the 12month unlock..then you are probably not coming back to that game.
To make sure people know this, an email should be sent out at the 10th and 11th month to said registered email.
As for server merges. That can be a tough move. Maybe keep the "oldest" one (who is being played). If it is a game like WoW, and the 2 toons are on different factions..maybe allow them both to be used.
Or make both people rename, and lock that name from the server.
As for the name issue. If someone has not payed for the game for over 12 months, the name should be unlocked. Capped level or not. If you are unable to get $15 within a year to stop the 12month unlock..then you are probably not coming back to that game.
To make sure people know this, an email should be sent out at the 10th and 11th month to said registered email.
As for server merges. That can be a tough move. Maybe keep the "oldest" one (who is being played). If it is a game like WoW, and the 2 toons are on different factions..maybe allow them both to be used.
Or make both people rename, and lock that name from the server.
The scary part is that even when they said it was only 30 days, SE was lying; chances are Joph's characters still exist.
You should lose the right to a name the moment you delete the account, or seven days after a character deletion. I realize that some people are fickle and like to jump from one game to another in a cycle, but their indecisiveness or complete lack of an attention span shouldn't lock other people out of a name that they might like.
George Carlin wrote:
I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.
FFXI was doing that Return to Vana'Diel campaign, and I think it's clear from that that they aren't purging accounts, only putting them into cold storage. It's only during these yearly campaigns that they dust off the old tapes as it were and let you bring your toons back.
I'm not sure how I would feel about loosing my character names, I doubt I would have any friends still playing that would care, but there is a sort of identity involved that would be revoked if you lost your name. People wouldn't know you anymore and you'd have to spend some time reforging those old connections.
I'm not sure how I would feel about loosing my character names, I doubt I would have any friends still playing that would care, but there is a sort of identity involved that would be revoked if you lost your name. People wouldn't know you anymore and you'd have to spend some time reforging those old connections.
I think that once a character is either deleted by the player, or removed from play by the time that is given (3 months for FFXI, iirc) for a deactivated character, the name associated with that character should be up for grabs for any new character.
I am in a unique position. I started FFXI when it first came out as a Male Elvaan. After my first year on FFXI, as I neared the end of college, I deleted my character, and reformatted my PC to remove all temptation to go back. The sole purpose of this was so that I could concentrate on finishing school and graduate, as I noticed I was allowing FFXI to consume more and more of my time.
After I graduated, and got a normal job, I started to get bored in the evenings, and started FFXI back up for some casual, fun, with the understanding of what the game was capable of doing to my spare time. Since I had deleted my original character, I was unable to get it back using the normal methods. So, I created a new one. This time, it was a Mithra. Luckily, nobody grabbed my name while I was gone, so I was able to get it again.
While I was leveling my new character, I partied with people who I recognized from my old character. Some of them would make comments (not necessarily bad) about how I was not the original person with that name, and associated my name with my old character as well. I always explained what I had done to them, but it was still weird.
I am in a unique position. I started FFXI when it first came out as a Male Elvaan. After my first year on FFXI, as I neared the end of college, I deleted my character, and reformatted my PC to remove all temptation to go back. The sole purpose of this was so that I could concentrate on finishing school and graduate, as I noticed I was allowing FFXI to consume more and more of my time.
After I graduated, and got a normal job, I started to get bored in the evenings, and started FFXI back up for some casual, fun, with the understanding of what the game was capable of doing to my spare time. Since I had deleted my original character, I was unable to get it back using the normal methods. So, I created a new one. This time, it was a Mithra. Luckily, nobody grabbed my name while I was gone, so I was able to get it again.
While I was leveling my new character, I partied with people who I recognized from my old character. Some of them would make comments (not necessarily bad) about how I was not the original person with that name, and associated my name with my old character as well. I always explained what I had done to them, but it was still weird.
lolgaxe wrote:
Thinking outside the box is fine, but the owner's manual is on the inside.
Champions Online has an interesting solution to this problem. Names are concatenated with <account>@<name>. So while the display shows just the name floating over the character, any chat related commands for sending/receiving messages use that format. This means that any number of people can have the exact same name without conflict. It also has the advantage that you are identified by your account as well as name. So changing names doesn't really matter. Reputation damage done on an account follows you around as well.
They also don't divide their game world into different servers, but instances of zones that are otherwise universal. Any character can interact with any other character in the game. Kinda neat, and something more games should look at implementing IMO.
As far as making people change their names if they haven't played in X amount of time, or whatnot, I'm generally opposed. If I came up with that name first, it should be mine. Period. As long as the game keeps those characters, the name should be kept as well. I'd much rather they come up with some method to make names unique while keeping the displayed name as originally selected than start renaming people. Some character names are kinda irrelevant, but some may have some significance to the person playing it. Nothing would suck more than deciding to return to some game only to find that your beloved character no longer has the same name.
Well, ok. Lots of things would suck "more", but it would still suck.
They also don't divide their game world into different servers, but instances of zones that are otherwise universal. Any character can interact with any other character in the game. Kinda neat, and something more games should look at implementing IMO.
As far as making people change their names if they haven't played in X amount of time, or whatnot, I'm generally opposed. If I came up with that name first, it should be mine. Period. As long as the game keeps those characters, the name should be kept as well. I'd much rather they come up with some method to make names unique while keeping the displayed name as originally selected than start renaming people. Some character names are kinda irrelevant, but some may have some significance to the person playing it. Nothing would suck more than deciding to return to some game only to find that your beloved character no longer has the same name.
Well, ok. Lots of things would suck "more", but it would still suck.
King Nobby wrote:
More words please
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