Can We Talk About Name Availability For A Minute

[Danikat.8537]

@MikeG.6389 said:

@Eloc Freidon.5692 said:Its a shame when games that encourage multiple characters don't incorporate an @handle system. Your handle is what identifies you, so you can name your characters anything you want.

I think the Display Name ("NAME.XXXX") does that to your account. It may just be too complicated to alter the game to recognize that instead of the character's name when going about your business in the game.

Here's an idea:How about adding another field for names during character creation so that you can have a surname (or title, or whatever) and a first name separate from each other. Then you would also have the ability to freely change which one - if not both - is shown to other players in the Hero panel. So for example you'd put 'Legolas' in the first field, 'Smith' in the second, and then you tick a box next to Legolas and only that would appear to other players. The combined name would be unique and still, you wouldn't have to suffer the ridicule of others when running around as 'Legolas Smith'...I've seen another game going about it using similar methods, but three fields for names instead of two. You could tick a box next to each of them and only those were shown to other players.This might be hard - or even impossible - to implement, but at least this wouldn't violate account privacy and would allow anyone to have their desired name displayed.

That could be problematic for things like mail and gifting however. If someone only knows you as Legolas how do they know what to type in when sending you mail? How do they ensure it goes to you and not to another Legolas?

One solution there could be to disable typing a name in and instead require players to find the right person in their friends list, guild or in chat and right-click their name, but I'm not sure how many people would find that annoying, especially for gem store gifting where you'd then have to go back through the menus to find the item you wanted to send.

I like the idea of seperate first and last name boxes, but for other reasons. In particular then you could choose which one/s the game uses when your characters name appears in text, so NPCs don't always have to use their full name. And getting to choose would be ideal so, for example Thomas Ash could just be called Thomas, but Master Akkih isn't stuck being called Master by his friends.

[Teratus.2859]

As much as it very likely won't happen I do agree with you OP.

I've had to compromize on names as well as get creative with them but it is annoying when someone else has taken the name you want, specially when they haven't played the game in years nor plan to again.

Perhaps it would be better if Anet allowed for duplicate names and instead used the players unique account name to whisper etcIm pretty sure i've seen other MMO's utalize something like that.

[Handsel.2891]

@Teratus.2859 said:As much as it very likely won't happen I do agree with you OP.

I've had to compromize on names as well as get creative with them but it is annoying when someone else has taken the name you want, specially when they haven't played the game in years nor plan to again.

Perhaps it would be better if Anet allowed for duplicate names and instead used the players unique account name to whisper etcIm pretty sure i've seen other MMO's utalize something like that.

Again, the presumption that the name you so desperately want is sitting on a long unused account... and that the owner of said account will never play again.Anyway, where's the problem with getting a little bit creative?

[ProtoGunner.4953]

@Danikat.8537 said:

@"ProtoGunner.4953" said:Problem is, many have still the mindset that they can use only one word as a name and hence it it's gone. Just use a first and a last name. I do that and I never had any problems. Be creative.

One of my all-time favourite 'newbie' moments (which actually happened in Elder Scrolls Online but is just as applicable to GW2) was a guy who had obviously just created his first character excitedly asking everyone how they got "invisible letters" in their name - what did you have to type in to make an invisible letter? No one knew what he was talking about until someone said "Do you mean a space?"

I don't know what game/s he'd been playing previously, but apparently it had never occurred to him that a game would let you do that, he thought we'd all figured out some clever trick to insert a character that wouldn't show and he was so happy to find out it was that simple. (He immediately went to delete his character and re-make them with the name he wanted.)

That is hilarious :joy: BTW for example Aion, WoW and I think FF14, too didn't let you use space. I never understood it, since I first played GW1 and it was very 'normal' to me.

[Teratus.2859]

@MikeG.6389 said:

@Teratus.2859 said:As much as it very likely won't happen I do agree with you OP.

I've had to compromize on names as well as get creative with them but it is annoying when someone else has taken the name you want, specially when they haven't played the game in years nor plan to again.

Perhaps it would be better if Anet allowed for duplicate names and instead used the players unique account name to whisper etcIm pretty sure i've seen other MMO's utalize something like that.

Again, the presumption that the name you so desperately want is sitting on a long unused account... and that the owner of said account will never play again.Anyway, where's the problem with getting a little bit creative?

Creativity only goes so far.. and some people like myself for example are significantly invested into giving our character natural sounding lore fitting names and honestly despise having to throw a name out entirely because it's taken or change a few letters around or spell them akwardly to the point they look and sound stupid.This usually results in a character getting deleted entirely, or our plans for a new character to get thrown out until we can think up another character we want to make.

Nobody's presuming the names we want are sitting on long inactive accounts but it is a fact that there are a lot of dead Gw2 accounts which will never be used again and some of them may have claimed good names that someone else who does play the game regularly would get more use out of.

The biggest problem for me I find is Sylvari and Asura characters as they specifically only have singular names unlike Humans and Norns which have both first and second naems, I do not enjoy incorporating titles into my character names that conflict with who that character is and where they came from either so it becomes increadibly difficult to find sigular fitting names for these characters.Charr also have specific restrictions on their names too which can make them a little tricky to find good names for.For example a Charr's last name tends to incorporate both a defining trait of their personality along with something that relates to their legion or warband.

To use one of my Charr characters as example.. I have a Charr Necromancer that I had already decided was going to be an Ash legion member and a Minon Master build days before I even created the characer.. so her last name combined those two elements becoming Ashfiend.Charr are not to bad since they have two names but Sylvari and Asura are a lot harder to name due to the singular restriction.It may not matter to you and a lot of people but some of us put a great deal of effort into designing our characters and there's nothing worse than thinking up a theme, build, playstyle, appearance even what weapons we'll use and what armor and what colours we'll dye it all before we even create the character.. only to find someone else has claimed the one name you felt would fit that character.

[kharmin.7683]

@MikeG.6389 said:

How about adding another field for names during character creation so that you can have a surname (or title, or whatever) and a first name separate from each other. Then you would also have the ability to freely change which one - if not both - is shown to other players in the Hero panel. So for example you'd put 'Legolas' in the first field, 'Smith' in the second, and then you tick a box next to Legolas and only that would appear to other players. The combined name would be unique and still, you wouldn't have to suffer the ridicule of others when running around as 'Legolas Smith'...Please, no. I really don't want my screen filled with dozens of Legolas running around.

[Danikat.8537]

@ProtoGunner.4953 said:

@Danikat.8537 said:

@ProtoGunner.4953 said:Problem is, many have still the mindset that they can use only one word as a name and hence it it's gone. Just use a first and a last name. I do that and I never had any problems. Be creative.

One of my all-time favourite 'newbie' moments (which actually happened in Elder Scrolls Online but is just as applicable to GW2) was a guy who had obviously just created his first character excitedly asking everyone how they got "invisible letters" in their name - what did you have to type in to make an invisible letter? No one knew what he was talking about until someone said "Do you mean a space?"

I don't know what game/s he'd been playing previously, but apparently it had never occurred to him that a game would let you do that, he thought we'd all figured out some clever trick to insert a character that wouldn't show and he was so happy to find out it was that simple. (He immediately went to delete his character and re-make them with the name he wanted.)

That is hilarious :joy: BTW for example Aion, WoW and I think FF14, too didn't let you use space. I never understood it, since I first played GW1 and it was very 'normal' to me.

It's a similar situation for me, I played Ultima Online where only single word names were allowed, first encountered surnames in games in Neverwinter Nights (the single-player one, not the MMO) and my next MMO was Guild Wars 1 where characters had two word names, then GW2 where you could choose. So I just assumed things had moved on and games had more flexible names now.

Of course I'm currently waiting for my other MMO to finish server maintenance so I can log in, something else I assumed ended with GW1, so it looks like things don't progress evenly across different games.

[kettering.6823]

@"mrauls.6519" said:Years later, and I still can't believe I got this name. I feel you OP. I think they should make it so you can "sell" names for gold.

https://i.imgur.com/9V7F7Js.jpg

I mean, theoretically you still could. It would just have to involve really good timing on your and the buyer's part, with deleting/renaming your character and the buyer creating/renaming their character at nearly the same time. There would be no guarantee either.

[Danikat.8537]

@"kettering.6823" said:I mean, theoretically you still could. It would just have to involve really good timing on your and the buyer's part, with deleting/renaming your character and the buyer creating/renaming their character at nearly the same time. There would be no guarantee either.

I'm not sure it would require precise timing. Going by the number of characters appearing in the introductory instances there aren't huge numbers of new characters being created at any given time. The chances of someone trying for exactly that name at the right time seems very small. It would need planning of course, but I would have thought something like "I'll rename my character at 4:00pm UTC on Tuesday" and then the other person makes sure they're making their character at 4:00pm on Wednesday, so when they're done the name will be available and they can use it. I'd even say it might be worth leaving it a minute or two for the database to update, but I've not tried so I'm not sure how that actually works.

[kettering.6823]

@Danikat.8537 said:

@"kettering.6823" said:I mean, theoretically you still could. It would just have to involve really good timing on your and the buyer's part, with deleting/renaming your character and the buyer creating/renaming their character at nearly the same time. There would be no guarantee either.

I'm not sure it would require precise timing. Going by the number of characters appearing in the introductory instances there aren't huge numbers of new characters being created at any given time. The chances of someone trying for exactly that name at the right time seems very small. It would need planning of course, but I would have thought something like "I'll rename my character at 4:00pm UTC on Tuesday" and then the other person makes sure they're making their character at 4:00pm on Wednesday, so when they're done the name will be available and they can use it. I'd even say it might be worth leaving it a minute or two for the database to update, but I've not tried so I'm not sure how that actually works.

I would still personally feel more comfortable communicating with someone on Discord if I were to attempt something like that, just to make sure it works. But I'm paranoid about stuff like that. It's all theoretical though, like you said; I've never actually seen or heard of anyone trying something like this, at least not in GW2. In games like LoL though, definitely.

[Genesis.8572]

@"Teratus.2859" said:Creativity only goes so far.. and some people like myself for example are significantly invested into giving our character natural sounding lore fitting names and honestly despise having to throw a name out entirely because it's taken or change a few letters around or spell them akwardly to the point they look and sound stupid.Which other people are capable of easily achieving even now, as I and others have experienced as well.

Nobody's presuming the names we want are sitting on long inactive accounts but it is a fact that there are a lot of dead Gw2 accounts which will never be used again and some of them may have claimed good names that someone else who does play the game regularly would get more use out of.However, I would never suggest that we who play the game more regularly are somehow more entitled to those names. That idea is ludicrous, arrogant, and spoiled.

The biggest problem for me I find is Sylvari and Asura characters as they specifically only have singular names unlike Humans and Norns which have both first and second naems, I do not enjoy incorporating titles into my character names that conflict with who that character is and where they came from either so it becomes increadibly difficult to find sigular fitting names for these characters.Scarlet Briar. Sylvari can have or make surnames for themselves, especially now as they encounter more races that use the equivalent of surnames. They too may opt to adopt them such that they can distinguish themselves from their fellow sylvari.

Charr are not to bad since they have two names but Sylvari and Asura are a lot harder to name due to the singular restriction.This "singular restriction" is self-imposed. Nothing stops you, for example, of including a title as part of your name: E.g., Researcher Gann, Engineer Azuul, Arcanist Obapp, etc.

It may not matter to you and a lot of people but some of us put a great deal of effort into designing our characters and there's nothing worse than thinking up a theme, build, playstyle, appearance even what weapons we'll use and what armor and what colours we'll dye it all before we even create the character.. only to find someone else has claimed the one name you felt would fit that character.I'm sorry (not sorry), but this screams 'entitlement.' Names you feel entitled to for your character concept will be taken. I advise you to create more open-ended character concepts that do not require particular names.

[Danikat.8537]

@Genesis.8572 said:

The biggest problem for me I find is Sylvari and Asura characters as they specifically only have singular names unlike Humans and Norns which have both first and second naems, I do not enjoy incorporating titles into my character names that conflict with who that character is and where they came from either so it becomes increadibly difficult to find sigular fitting names for these characters.Scarlet

Briar

. Sylvari can have or make surnames for themselves, especially now as they encounter more races that use the equivalent of surnames. They too may opt to adopt them such that they can distinguish themselves from their fellow sylvari.

As I understand it the lore only says that sylvari do not have family names, because they don't have families (or they're all one family). There's nothing to say their name has to be just one word. I realise most sylvari in-game do have one word names (Scarlet being the obvious exception) but IMO it's not going against the lore for them to have a two (or three) word name, it just won't be one they inherited from their parents.

And of course many of them have titles, either related to their job or rank or a kind of nickname, like Laranthir of the Wild.

[ShiningSquirrel.3751]

@"Lunia.2736" said:But you won't lose any of your names? The idea is to only free up completely unused names on inactive accounts since around launch. Which is when the majority of names were taken.

So what do you tell the players who where promised by the devs that their names from GW1 would be reserved for them and created new toons in GW2?What do you tell the players who where promised when they purchased GW2 that they could log in any time and their accounts would be just like they left them?Your asking Anet to go back on their word and change a fundamental rule they created right from the beginning for no reason other then you can't think up a name ?The only word I can think of to describe an attitude like this would be "entitlement".

Bottom line, the game was advertised and SOLD with this feature. Players purchased it with this feature. That should be enough to end this discussion right there.

[ShiningSquirrel.3751]

@Lunia.2736 said:

@Ashen.2907 said:

@Lunia.2736 said:

@MikeG.6389 said:

Firstly, who are you to judge why a certain name is not available to you?

What...? Why would it be me judging? It'd be an automated system determining completely dormant accounts based on not having logged in for over 7 years etc.

I wouldn't be touching anyone's account. It would merely be Anet recycling completely dead names from 2012/2013 that are on inactive accounts.

@Ashen.2907 said:"someone else has something that I want. Please take it away from them and give it to me."

This comment is way underrated.

It's underrated because it's missing the point entirely.

Not missing the point at all. Person A has something that person B wants and so person B is asking that the something be taken away so that he can have it. Period.

Imagine you got a new office job.

You work there for 6 years in your

mediocre office space

(metaphor: "bad" name in gw2)

and wonder why you could never get the

amazing office space

(metaphor: "good" name in gw2)

next to you which has been empty for 7 years.

So you go to your boss and ask your boss if you could move into that office, since you've been actively with the company for 6 years now. The boss tells you that office belongs to Bob. You ask: "Huh, who's Bob?" Oh, he was a

new employee

(metaphor: low level, low value account)

who quit his job on his first day 7 years ago, we keep his office space reserved for him on the off-chance he gets back.

Would it be too much to ask for Bob's office space to be reassigned to you after 7 years and Bob having to be the one who gets the

mediocre office space

if he does somehow happen to come back on year 8? I personally don't think so.

Bad

and

good

name has been put in quotations since that's very subjective.But think of wanting to name your character "Ash" or "Ashen" instead of "Ashén The Burnt" as an example.

People posting here need to realize they won't lose their name if this is implemented properly! If so it would only affect the dormant accounts from around launch that carry little to no actual worth. It's not like their character will get deleted either, they will simply have to choose a new name.

Now I hear the argument that if they came back to the game they'd be put off the game because they'd have to choose a new name, but you also need to think about the amount of people who are put off the game because they can't get any of the names they are interested in to begin with.

If the "Bob" had an employment contract (game purchase) that stated that office (name) was his if/whenever he returned, then yes it would be reasonable for the company to hold it for him and you would not be entitled to take it from him just because you wanted it.

There is no such thing as a "dormant" account or an unused account in GW or GW2. Once you create an account in GW it is yours for whenever you want to use it, even if that is never.That is the way it is and always has been, it's not going to change. Use a little imagination and think up your own name instead of trying to steal someone else's.

[notebene.3190]

@Klowdy.3126 said:

@notebene.3190 said:I don't see why names have to free up. They have the best system for naming characters. They allow spaces, quite a few characters, and some special characters. I get more frustrated systems where they don't allow a space, so you have to use an underscore.

Legolas Ignatowski

Granted, that's 18, but you get the idea.

People need to come up with last names, and titles like the Vikings used. Ivar the boneless, Eric the red, Eric the great, Leif Erikson. This game is so easy in which to make names. Sorry, Sephiroth, and all of its deviations are taken. Nope, Groot is unavailable, be more clever.

Janet From Accounting :)

[Astralporing.1957]

@"Lunia.2736" said:Imagine you got a new office job.

You work there for 6 years in your mediocre office space (metaphor: "bad" name in gw2) and wonder why you could never get the amazing office space (metaphor: "good" name in gw2) next to you which has been empty for 7 years.

So you go to your boss and ask your boss if you could move into that office, since you've been actively with the company for 6 years now. The boss tells you that office belongs to Bob. You ask: "Huh, who's Bob?" Oh, he was a new employee (metaphor: low level, low value account) who quit his job on his first day 7 years ago, we keep his office space reserved for him on the off-chance he gets back.

Would it be too much to ask for Bob's office space to be reassigned to you after 7 years and Bob having to be the one who gets the mediocre office space if he does somehow happen to come back on year 8? I personally don't think so.The difference here is that "office spaces" in this case are not a limited resource, and you can create for yourself a completely new, good office space that will even be specifically tailored to you, instead of aping a design you saw somewhere else and probably doesn't really fit you. (metaphor: make yourself a good name. The only thing stopping you from doing that is your own unwillingness to do so).

Also, what if the boss agreed with you, and told you that Bob's office space will be released if he won't show tomorrow. Tomorrow, you show up, there's no Bob, so you go happily to his former office space, only to see a new guy in it. He just got hired, and came to the job 5 mins before you...You waited for 6 years for that space, only to see it being taken by someone else, when you could have used those 6 years to look for a better one.

Hint: If you are in a "mediocre office space" for 6 years, you can only blame yourself for preferring to wait for a lucky chance instead of taking your own life in your hands.

[IndigoSundown.5419]

@"Lunia.2736" said:

Imagine you got a new office job.

You work there for 6 years in your mediocre office space (metaphor: "bad" name in gw2) and wonder why you could never get the amazing office space (metaphor: "good" name in gw2) next to you which has been empty for 7 years.

So you go to your boss and ask your boss if you could move into that office, since you've been actively with the company for 6 years now. The boss tells you that office belongs to Bob. You ask: "Huh, who's Bob?" Oh, he was a new employee (metaphor: low level, low value account) who quit his job on his first day 7 years ago, we keep his office space reserved for him on the off-chance he gets back.

Would it be too much to ask for Bob's office space to be reassigned to you after 7 years and Bob having to be the one who gets the mediocre office space if he does somehow happen to come back on year 8? I personally don't think so.

Posters who use analogies ought to think whether their "analogy" fits the situation they are applying it to. This one does not.

Office space is something the company pays for. It's a resource for which the expense only makes sense if the space is being used for productivity. Letting an office sit unused would be a waste of money. The analogy fails because reassignment of office space is both reasonable and expected.

Names in a video game are not a resource, they are a part of the experience of playing the game. This means that reassignment of names is neutral with respect to reasonableness (i.e., there are reasons on both sides of the discussion). It is not expected because it is a matter of developer policy, not RoI.

[Rabbi Rick.3194]

That's what you get for naming your character Drizzt Do Urden (or any of the hundreds of variations that are out there.

BE CREATIVE! B E Creative!

[Handsel.2891]

@notebene.3190 said:

@Klowdy.3126 said:

@notebene.3190 said:I don't see why names have to free up. They have the best system for naming characters. They allow spaces, quite a few characters, and some special characters. I get more frustrated systems where they don't allow a space, so you have to use an underscore.

Legolas Ignatowski

Granted, that's 18, but you get the idea.

People need to come up with last names, and titles like the Vikings used. Ivar the boneless, Eric the red, Eric the great, Leif Erikson. This game is so easy in which to make names. Sorry, Sephiroth, and all of its deviations are taken. Nope, Groot is unavailable, be more clever.

Janet From Accounting :)

Kenny The Copyguy

[kharmin.7683]

@MikeG.6389 said:

Kenny The CopyguyAwesome! Not everyone would get that reference. Well done!

[KelyNeli.4516]

If you have no idea for new names i could give you few:xXKnightofDeathXx69DarkVader69420noscoperboi420IHaveAutismBePatientFortnitePlayer2010XxXTentacleXxXLordOfTheGrandmaGarden666NWordPass999

[Just a flesh wound.3589]

@KelyNeli.4516 said:If you have no idea for new names i could give you few:xXKnightofDeathXx69DarkVader69420noscoperboi420IHaveAutismBePatientFortnitePlayer2010XxXTentacleXxXLordOfTheGrandmaGarden666NWordPass999

None of these will work as posted1) no numbers allowed so your 420noscoperboi420 would be Noscoperboi2) only capital letters at start of a word/after a space. Example. Your XxXTentacleXxX would either be Xxxtentaclexxx or Xxx Tentacle Xxx

[Sapphire Artemis.3062]

@KelyNeli.4516 said:The solution to it is simpler than you would ever think.Just give your character a real life name and surname divided with a space. Simple

Actually, not always the easiest thing.My character recently got married, and when I went to change her name, I discovered that her new name had already been taken. And it wasn't a common name, either. Her first name is common enough, sure. But her last name is a long one that has multiple origins and spellings. I ended up using an accent (only needed one) and that worked, but... I was frustrated for weeks because her name doesn't match that of her husband. I'm still a little frustrated, actually.I do agree , it is much less common to have names like this already taken, but it's not a guarantee.

[Danikat.8537]

Æthelred The Ready was available too, but it's not any more. I'm keeping this one, at least for a little while.

I'm genuinely surprised it was available, I thought it was an obvious twist on one of the most amusingly titled king of England.

Edit: Ok, so Aethelred The Ready was taken, I copied the name from Wikipedia because I'm never sure of the spelling and didn't realise the AE is a special character. That's alright then, normality has resumed.

[Bloodstealer.5978]

@Lunia.2736 said:

@Ashen.2907 said:

@Lunia.2736 said:

@MikeG.6389 said:

Firstly, who are you to judge why a certain name is not available to you?

What...? Why would it be me judging? It'd be an automated system determining completely dormant accounts based on not having logged in for over 7 years etc.

I wouldn't be touching anyone's account. It would merely be Anet recycling completely dead names from 2012/2013 that are on inactive accounts.

@Ashen.2907 said:"someone else has something that I want. Please take it away from them and give it to me."

This comment is way underrated.

It's underrated because it's missing the point entirely.

Not missing the point at all. Person A has something that person B wants and so person B is asking that the something be taken away so that he can have it. Period.

Imagine you got a new office job.

You work there for 6 years in your

mediocre office space

(metaphor: "bad" name in gw2)

and wonder why you could never get the

amazing office space

(metaphor: "good" name in gw2)

next to you which has been empty for 7 years.

So you go to your boss and ask your boss if you could move into that office, since you've been actively with the company for 6 years now. The boss tells you that office belongs to Bob. You ask: "Huh, who's Bob?" Oh, he was a

new employee

(metaphor: low level, low value account)

who quit his job on his first day 7 years ago, we keep his office space reserved for him on the off-chance he gets back.

Would it be too much to ask for Bob's office space to be reassigned to you after 7 years and Bob having to be the one who gets the

mediocre office space

if he does somehow happen to come back on year 8? I personally don't think so.

Bad

and

good

name has been put in quotations since that's very subjective.But think of wanting to name your character "Ash" or "Ashen" instead of "Ashén The Burnt" as an example.

People posting here need to realize they won't lose their name if this is implemented properly! If so it would only affect the dormant accounts from around launch that carry little to no actual worth. It's not like their character will get deleted either, they will simply have to choose a new name.

Now I hear the argument that if they came back to the game they'd be put off the game because they'd have to choose a new name, but you also need to think about the amount of people who are put off the game because they can't get any of the names they are interested in to begin with.

Except your metaphor or perhaps you mean analogy is hugely flawed.. do you know of any such business that would actually do what your using as anything remotely close to character name releases.. sorry, bad metaphor/analogy is just bad and completely off the mark.Every account carries worth.. especially those created at launch because the game was purchased not some F2P fleeting moment.. PURCHASEDTherefore that account holder has every right to come back and play at whatever time they choose, or not. The fact is they have the potential to come back and desire to have their toons remain within the themes/ideas they initially had for them.If you want Ash or Ashen then get creative and make it look as close to it as you can possibly get or maybe think outside the box and perhaps try something close in theme and meaning.. KINDLED, BLACKASH, CARBON BLACK, ASH to ASHES... POTASH... you get the drift!It just takes a bit of lateral thinking and some creative juice.