No names left, do we need to wait on GW3 to be able to play?

[titje.2745]

I think that the OP just want to share an guildwars 2 item key. Look at his name, it looks like a code that gives away exclusives. 
I don’t trust it (to try) but also I already have all 4 outfits.  

[Hesione.9412]

32 minutes ago, Teratus.2859 said:

Old problem many have complained about for years which only gets worse as more players come into the game.
Steam release should be fun 😄
"Downvoted the game, no names available"

I still believe Anet should remove this pointless name restriction and put more system focus on the unique account names everyone must have to play this game.
Mail and player reports etc should be attributed to the account name not the individual character.

There are no good reasons for character names to still be locked like this.
I have 24 characters who all loosely follow racial naming conventions.
Some of them, mostly some of my Sylvari have been a nightmare to name because of their singular name requirement.
They don't have last names, their names have to be singular or they don't work (no titles, markers or numbers.. I can't stand names like that) and they have to sound a certain way and fit a plant/elf person.

It's not impossible to still find names (I managed to get a good one a couple weeks ago) but i'd be lying if I said it was easily to find them.
I've spent literal hours trying to name some of my characters, exhausting countless names and combinations because everyone these days starts pulling up common naming websites looking for name inspiration.
And on a few occasions i've had to use a name change contract to replace a garbage name I hated but got stuck with because of the availability limits.

This is a problem in Gw2 and one that will only continue to grow as the population of the game does.. and I don't mean active population either as every inactive character on every inactive account contributes to it.

The solution is not to take other players names from them though, that's a conversation we've had many times and I have to agree that it's a bad option.
Removing the unnecessary name lock and allowing anyone to use any name they like even if another player is using it is by far the better option.
Hell it may even give new character slots a nice little bump in sales too.

Surely trying to pick a name given by a common naming website is the first problem.

[Teratus.2859]

13 minutes ago, Veprovina.4876 said:

And what restriction is that?

The naming system is pretty unrestricted in GW2.

The only thing you can't do is symbols and i 100% agree with that so that i don't have to see names like |$$$c@sh(ow$$$|, and i only have to see the occasional xXxStupidnamexXx...

I described it in the post you quoted.

Allowing same name use on any character by any player.
Account names should be enough for the system, the same account names we all have here.
 

[Teratus.2859]

1 minute ago, Hesione.9412 said:

Surely trying to pick a name given by a common naming website is the first problem.

They are all common at this point 😛

[Rasimir.6239]

15 minutes ago, Teratus.2859 said:

I described it in the post you quoted.

Allowing same name use on any character by any player.
Account names should be enough for the system, the same account names we all have here.
 

I'd hate if they did that. Character names are much easier (for me at least) to memorize. If I want to whisper, group invite, mail a fellow player I can just use any of their character names. If you do away with unique character names you have to know/remember everyone's full account name, including numbers (since account names without numbers aren't unique in this game).

[Teratus.2859]

13 minutes ago, Rasimir.6239 said:

I'd hate if they did that. Character names are much easier (for me at least) to memorize. If I want to whisper, group invite, mail a fellow player I can just use any of their character names. If you do away with unique character names you have to know/remember everyone's full account name, including numbers (since account names without numbers aren't unique in this game).

Not entirely, that's what the nickname function in the friend list is for.

I don't remember half my friends character names so I nickname them all with their real names/nicknames, very easy to remember who is who in that case.

It would only really be a problem for you if you had a lot of people running the same named characters but I doubt that would end up being that much of a problem.

Keep in mind that names are not split between the servers either, names taken over in the U.S are also taken over in the EU.
And there are millions of Gw2 accounts.

There are hundreds of names i've tried to use in the past, probably more in the thousand region..
And I can't recall a time I ever saw a player who had any of those names running around in game.

Even if Anet removed the restriction, the chances of randomly finding people with the same name as you would still be fairly low, unless it was intentional of course or you simply give all your characters really obvious pop culture references as name or something.

[Rasimir.6239]

23 minutes ago, Teratus.2859 said:

I don't remember half my friends character names so I nickname them all with their real names/nicknames, very easy to remember who is who in that case.

That assumes that I only interact with people on my friends list. I do however frequently interact with guild members not on my friends list, and even people I know from e.g. wvw that are neither on my list nor in any of my guilds. I honestly don't see the point of prohibiting interaction just because somebody can't be bothered to find their own name.

[CyberneticRanger.9170]

Use extended characters. Don't get crazy with them.

Like if I wanted Carman Camelion, which is no doubt taken, try:
Cãrman Cãmelion
Carman Camælion

But, do not go how wild there...
Cārmãn Cāmãlion

Another way is to use alternative spellings, or shorten them up. But, let us say you got this name, Iksar Beastlord, and you want to know if it is taken. Copy the name, Iksar Beastlord, and paste into friends list. If it says the name does not exist it's free to be taken. If an account shows up, you can remove that player and try something else.

Edited April 4, 2022 by CyberneticRanger.9170

[Danikat.8537]

The name Sangya Vayu will be available soon, because I deleted her yesterday. I also created her a couple of days ago so I know it's still possible to find unused names. (But Sanjna Vayu is now taken, which was free until this morning. But it'll be free again at some point soon.)

I create new characters on a regular basis, and the only times I have trouble finding a new is when I'm copying it from somewhere else or when I'm just typing something random until it looks like a name (and that's partially because I have a bad habit of always starting with A). When I put a bit more thought into it I can always find an available name I like. If my first attempt is taken I change it slightly. Here's some ways to do that:

• Change the spelling - e.g. Thomas to Tomas.
• Use special (accented) characters. Anel to Anél.
• Add a last name eg. Thomas to Thomas Ash. (Or add a 2nd first name - Sarah to Sarah Jane, split a made up name into 2 words etc.)
• Add a title - Lord Thomas. Uncia the Firesmith. Vanirar the Brave.
• If the name means something you could use different words that mean the same thing. E.G. Carlos Windwalker to Carlos Windstrider.
• Change the language. Maybe you want a sylvari called Holly and to fit the lore you use the Gaelic word Cuileann, but it's taken. So you change it to the Welsh Celyn.

[Daxmort.4789]

I use the same name for all my asura characters (following the "no surnames, only titles" naming convention for the race lore) and mix it with the asura personal story "pocket portal" thing; so each of my asura are technically from different dimensions/timelines, all brought together without realising it.

 

So "Reckoner Daxxis" for my Revenant, "Pathologist Daxxis" for my Necromancer, Technocrat Daxxis for my engineer and so on for all classes!

 

(Waiting for the confused reaction emoji for the people who don't understand the concept. 😉)

[Teratus.2859]

48 minutes ago, Rasimir.6239 said:

That assumes that I only interact with people on my friends list. I do however frequently interact with guild members not on my friends list, and even people I know from e.g. wvw that are neither on my list nor in any of my guilds. I honestly don't see the point of prohibiting interaction just because somebody can't be bothered to find their own name.

It's hardly "prohibiting interaction" in any way shape or form..

Again that's exactly what the friend list is for, add them and nickname them if you have problems remembering names, which for the record I also do.

I don't see why millions of names should be restricted just because some people can't be bothered to take 3 seconds to add players they play with regularly to their friends list.
They don't even need to add you back in Gw2, which makes it even better and more convenient than other MMO's.

[Teratus.2859]

46 minutes ago, CyberneticRanger.9170 said:

Use extended characters. Don't get crazy with them.

Like if I wanted Carman Camelion, which is no doubt taken, try:
Cãrman Cãmelion
Carman Camælion

But, do not go how wild there...
Cārmãn Cāmãlion

Another way is to use alternative spellings, or shorten them up. But, let us say you got this name, Iksar Beastlord, and you want to know if it is taken. Copy the name, Iksar Beastlord, and paste into friends list. If it says the name does not exist it's free to be taken. If an account shows up, you can remove that player and try something else.

I can say from experience those are all things I do regularly when trying to use a name, it almost never works with singular names.

The better tip I'd advise that has worked for me after a reasonable amount of attempts is mixing 2-3 completely different names together, and then add some alternate spellings or double letters.
But even that isn't a sure win on the name you want.

I still find hundreds of mixed names like that are already taken, because plenty of people have the exact same idea.

Edited April 4, 2022 by Teratus.2859

[Veprovina.4876]

1 hour ago, Teratus.2859 said:

I described it in the post you quoted.

Allowing same name use on any character by any player.
Account names should be enough for the system, the same account names we all have here.
 

Wouldn't that create a similar problem to what i described? 100's of kids making the same "funny" meme name? This way at least they need to change something so it's a bit different, plus, most people if they can't have the exact same meme name, won't even do it, so that kinda roots out the undesireables as well.

 

Moreover - you can't see people's account names some times, you can only whisper the name. That also serves a purpose. Random people can't target you as easily. Though, i'm not sure how that works, sometimes i see people's account names, sometimes i can only whisper the name, idk... 

 

Still... There's really no huge benefit to allowing everyone to have exact same names, and needing to use account names to interact with people... The system in place is fine.

30 minutes ago, Danikat.8537 said:

• Change the language. Maybe you want a sylvari called Holly and to fit the lore you use the Gaelic word Cuileann, but it's taken. So you change it to the Welsh Celyn.

That's kind of what i did for one of my characters. Turned out great!

 

I also use the same last name for all my characters. Less chance that some name i want is also attached to that same last name.

But i've never had troubles naming my characters. None of the names i tried were taken... Then again, i don't make characters every day so i probably don't have the same problems as someone who does, idk... 

 

2 hours ago, Kulvar.1239 said:

You mean Xxx Stupid Name Xxx 😄

Hahah, indeed! 😄 

[Rasimir.6239]

3 minutes ago, Teratus.2859 said:

that's exactly what the friend list is for, add them and nickname them

I wasn't aware I'd have to add all of my guild members to my friends list just to be able to interact with them 1:1 . I don't know if you're a leader/officer in any larger guilds and as such have interactions with dozends of players on a regular basis, but the friends list really isn't built to deal with that amount of players, especially if you're active in more than one guild/community.

[Teratus.2859]

16 minutes ago, Veprovina.4876 said:

Wouldn't that create a similar problem to what i described? 100's of kids making the same "funny" meme name? This way at least they need to change something so it's a bit different, plus, most people if they can't have the exact same meme name, won't even do it, so that kinda roots out the undesireables as well.

Doubtful and even if they did and it annoyed you then you could just block them.
Problem solved in that case.

16 minutes ago, Veprovina.4876 said:

Moreover - you can't see people's account names some times, you can only whisper the name. That also serves a purpose. Random people can't target you as easily. Though, i'm not sure how that works, sometimes i see people's account names, sometimes i can only whisper the name, idk... 

It would work the same way, the player you click on and whisper would be recognised by the game via their account name even if you don't know it.

What would become harder would be whispering a random player in a different part of the game that you don't know.
So you'd only be able to contact them if they are in your guild, on your friend list or you know their account name.

If they are on the same map as you and/or talking in the chat, contacting them and adding them as friends would be just as easy as it is now.

16 minutes ago, Veprovina.4876 said:

Still... There's really no huge benefit to allowing everyone to have exact same names, and needing to use account names to interact with people... The system in place is fine.

The system in place is old and outdated.
It's not about everyone having the same name, it's about people having the freedom to use the names they want and not having to spend potentially hours on the creation screen trying to find one.. which has happened to me several times over the years, and even causing timeouts which force me to completely remake the character I was trying to name.

This subject about restrictive names has come up countless times over the years and it becomes more of a problem the bigger this game's audience becomes.
I wont be surprised if the Steam release ends up getting a good number of downvotes just because a lot of players get annoyed that all the names they want are unobtainable.
It'll probably end up causing a lot more calls for "taking" names from inactive accounts which has been a common request for many years already and not a good idea as so many have counter argued for many years.

Edited April 4, 2022 by Teratus.2859

[Teratus.2859]

17 minutes ago, Rasimir.6239 said:

I wasn't aware I'd have to add all of my guild members to my friends list just to be able to interact with them 1:1 . I don't know if you're a leader/officer in any larger guilds and as such have interactions with dozends of players on a regular basis, but the friends list really isn't built to deal with that amount of players, especially if you're active in more than one guild/community.

I'm in 2 largish guilds yes.

I wasn't specifically talking about your guild though.
I was talking about the random's you claim to play with regularly.

There's no good reason not to add them to your friend list if you are friends with them.

[Kulvar.1239]

41 minutes ago, Veprovina.4876 said:

Wouldn't that create a similar problem to what i described? 100's of kids making the same "funny" meme name? This way at least they need to change something so it's a bit different, plus, most people if they can't have the exact same meme name, won't even do it, so that kinda roots out the undesireables as well.

 

Moreover - you can't see people's account names some times, you can only whisper the name. That also serves a purpose. Random people can't target you as easily. Though, i'm not sure how that works, sometimes i see people's account names, sometimes i can only whisper the name, idk... 

 

Still... There's really no huge benefit to allowing everyone to have exact same names, and needing to use account names to interact with people... The system in place is fine.

That's kind of what i did for one of my characters. Turned out great!

 

I also use the same last name for all my characters. Less chance that some name i want is also attached to that same last name.

But i've never had troubles naming my characters. None of the names i tried were taken... Then again, i don't make characters every day so i probably don't have the same problems as someone who does, idk... 

 

Hahah, indeed! 😄 

Allowing hyphens would allow many real legit names to be used.

As for meme names, they can already use every accented variation anyway.

ä á à â ã å ë é è ê ü ú ù û ï í ì î ö ó ò ô õ ÿ ý ñ ç

[Debesyla.7102]

But, honestly, yeah, you can just use name generator websites if you lack ideas this much. Helped me once 😃

Also dictionaries are an amazing invention, especially for other languages than English. So many word ideas!

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by Debesyla.7102

[Astralporing.1957]

28 minutes ago, Teratus.2859 said:

I was talking about the random's you claim to play with regularly.

What if i want to interact with someone i do not play with regularly? After a few days i may remember someone's character name, but i will have a problem with their full account names. If more than few days have passed, the chances of me remembering the numbers that go with the account name will be exactly zero (seeing as i struggle even to remember mine own).

 

[Veprovina.4876]

29 minutes ago, Kulvar.1239 said:

Allowing hyphens would allow many real legit names to be used.

As for meme names, they can already use every accented variation anyway.

ä á à â ã å ë é è ê ü ú ù û ï í ì î ö ó ò ô õ ÿ ý ñ ç

Accentuation and hyphenation is ok, but i meant symbols like @ / \ | * + ¤ ×.

Even apostrophes would be ok if they allowed them, but adding certain symbols that are already used in names isn't the same as allowing all symbols and numbers, and isn't the same as allowing same names for multiple accounts.

 

Also...

 

Mëmë nämë

 

isnt' the same as

 

×××69|69|69\Meme-N@me/69|69|69×××

 

One is harder to look at and less immersive than the other. 😉

 

1 hour ago, Teratus.2859 said:

Doubtful and even if they did and it annoyed you then you could just block them.
Problem solved in that case.

It would work the same way, the player you click on and whisper would be recognised by the game via their account name even if you don't know it.

What would become harder would be whispering a random player in a different part of the game that you don't know.
So you'd only be able to contact them if they are in your guild, on your friend list or you know their account name.

If they are on the same map as you and/or talking in the chat, contacting them and adding them as friends would be just as easy as it is now.

The system in place is old and outdated.
It's not about everyone having the same name, it's about people having the freedom to use the names they want and not having to spend potentially hours on the creation screen trying to find one.. which has happened to me several times over the years, and even causing timeouts which force me to completely remake the character I was trying to name.

This subject about restrictive names has come up countless times over the years and it becomes more of a problem the bigger this game's audience becomes.
I wont be surprised if the Steam release ends up getting a good number of downvotes just because a lot of players get annoyed that all the names they want are unobtainable.
It'll probably end up causing a lot more calls for "taking" names from inactive accounts which has been a common request for many years already and not a good idea as so many have counter argued for many years.

Look, this is your opinion vs mine, and i really don't like going in circles. I think the system is fine, you don't. That's ok. There's really nothing more to be said.

 

The problem for you is, i'm not the one you have to convince, and Anet isn't known for digging too deep into the game's code because they already stated numerous times that it's a sphagetti code, and who knows how the naming system is coded and where.

 

Additionally, you have to convince them it's worth spending resources on. Someone has to add that functionality, and not only that, but with the naming system change, systems like LFG, whispers and plenty of others are affected. So someone else has to also fix the inevitable bugs that will be caused by this. And those people need to get paid to do it, and instead of whatever else they could have done, they will have to fix every little thing across the board to allow for this change, especially if you want multiple accouts to have the same name. So it's also a matter of is it worth allocating programmer time to names, when they could have been doing something else. 

 

So, is adding a few symbols, and allowing multiple accounts to have the same name worth messing with the whisper system and potentially some others? Or can people just be a bit more creative and work within the confines of what Anet wants to allow.

 

There's also the lore aspect. Do hyphens and apostrophes exist in Tyria? If they do, do they exist in naming conventions (they don't obviously)?

 

Lastly, what gain is there to spend god knows how many hours to change the system and potentially breaking other ones? What are you really gaining? So you can name your character L'ynne instead of Lynne and have your buddy have the same name?

I'm kinda not seeing the worth here...

 

So whatever you might think of the naming system, whether you think it's outdated or not, it's really not up to you to change it.

And i hate to say it, but, don't hold your breath that Anet will change that too.

Maybe with Steam release to allow for more names, but not before, and i doubt they'll ever allow same names across multiple accounts due to how certain systems are designed to respond to names.

Adding a hyphen or an apostrophy as allowed symbols, i can see that, but same names across accounts, you can probably forget about that - no matter your opinion on it. 

 

It is what it is. The best thing for you is to work within the confines like the rest of us, and don't stress about it too much. 🤷‍♂️

[Hesione.9412]

1 minute ago, Veprovina.4876 said:

Accentuation and hyphenation is ok, but i meant symbols like @ / \ | * + ¤ ×.

Even apostrophes would be ok if they allowed them, but adding certain symbols that are already used in names isn't the same as allowing all symbols and numbers, and isn't the same as allowing same names for multiple accounts.

 

Also...

 

Mëmë nämë

 

isnt' the same as

 

×××69|69|69\Meme-N@me/69|69|69×××

 

One is harder to look at and less immersive than the other. 😉

 

Look, this is your opinion vs mine, and i really don't like going in circles. I think the system is fine, you don't. That's ok. There's really nothing more to be said.

 

The problem for you is, i'm not the one you have to convince, and Anet isn't known for digging too deep into the game's code because they already stated numerous times that it's a sphagetti code, and who knows how the naming system is coded and where.

 

Additionally, you have to convince them it's worth spending resources on. Someone has to add that functionality, and not only that, but with the naming system change, systems like LFG, whispers and plenty of others are affected. So someone else has to also fix the inevitable bugs that will be caused by this. And those people need to get paid to do it, and instead of whatever else they could have done, they will have to fix every little thing across the board to allow for this change, especially if you want multiple accouts to have the same name. So it's also a matter of is it worth allocating programmer time to names, when they could have been doing something else. 

 

So, is adding a few symbols, and allowing multiple accounts to have the same name worth messing with the whisper system and potentially some others? Or can people just be a bit more creative and work within the confines of what Anet wants to allow.

 

There's also the lore aspect. Do hyphens and apostrophes exist in Tyria? If they do, do they exist in naming conventions (they don't obviously)?

 

Lastly, what gain is there to spend god knows how many hours to change the system and potentially breaking other ones? What are you really gaining? So you can name your character L'ynne instead of Lynne and have your buddy have the same name?

I'm kinda not seeing the worth here...

 

So whatever you might think of the naming system, whether you think it's outdated or not, it's really not up to you to change it.

And i hate to say it, but, don't hold your breath that Anet will change that too.

Maybe with Steam release to allow for more names, but not before, and i doubt they'll ever allow same names across multiple accounts due to how certain systems are designed to respond to names.

Adding a hyphen or an apostrophy as allowed symbols, i can see that, but same names across accounts, you can probably forget about that - no matter your opinion on it. 

 

It is what it is. The best thing for you is to work within the confines like the rest of us, and don't stress about it too much. 🤷‍♂️

We don't know how the back-end handles character names with respect to database links. That spaghetti code is using look-ups to database tables that store character information. The entire code may have been designed on the assumption that character names are unique. If so, that's an incredible amount of work to redo.

[Veprovina.4876]

2 minutes ago, Hesione.9412 said:

We don't know how the back-end handles character names with respect to database links. That spaghetti code is using look-ups to database tables that store character information. The entire code may have been designed on the assumption that character names are unique. If so, that's an incredible amount of work to redo.

If so, if it's tied to name uniqueness, then indeed, that's a LOT of work just to allow someone else to use the same name.

And seeing as how certain systems are designed to allow name lookups, like whispers, those would inevitably break and need to be redone to allow multiple accounts having the same name.

And that's just whispers, who knows what else might be tied to names. 

Edited April 4, 2022 by Veprovina.4876

[dusanyu.4057]

As far as asura names you can put a specialty in front of it like "Golemancer Vekk" and it can be fun to think if good words to fit your characters class.  

 

for any race you can embrace the inevitable an  name yourself Commander *insert name here* 

[Diak Atoli.2085]

2 hours ago, Daxmort.4789 said:

I use the same name for all my asura characters (following the "no surnames, only titles" naming convention for the race lore) and mix it with the asura personal story "pocket portal" thing; so each of my asura are technically from different dimensions/timelines, all brought together without realising it.

 

So "Reckoner Daxxis" for my Revenant, "Pathologist Daxxis" for my Necromancer, Technocrat Daxxis for my engineer and so on for all classes!

 

(Waiting for the confused reaction emoji for the people who don't understand the concept. 😉)

I mean, I do something similar for my characters.

[Debesyla.7102]

11 minutes ago, dusanyu.4057 said:

As far as asura names you can put a specialty in front of it like "Golemancer Vekk" and it can be fun to think if good words to fit your characters class.  

 

for any race you can embrace the inevitable an  name yourself Commander *insert name here* 

Oh yeah, this too! Actually, I believe doing this for humans would be lore friendly too. After all we do have all kinds of surenames like "Smith", "Cook", "Baker" and etc. I am yet to use this naming trick, but I hope to for my next human character... 😄