Irrelevant Hot Take

[Lyssia.4637]

5 minutes ago, Embered.5089 said:

You sound angry, and I don't understand why. I thought I was very clear about my stance. I'm glad that they did not say yes. Also, the person using that account had not logged in in awhile. I had added them and mailed them and waited for them to log on or reply to me, but they never did. They still haven't, and it's been years. I only contacted ANet after it was clear that they weren't coming back.

Not so much angry as astonished, given the clear and pretty bad abuses that would obviously be possible if Anet agreed.  It was an honest question: if you are glad they said yes, why did you ask?  And again, honestly, did you truly not see the possible abuses, and expect them to say yes?  If you didn't expect them to say yes, why did you ask?

[Linken.6345]

Well OP I can understand its hard to do flew letter names almost 9 years into a mmorps life.

 

Maybe expand to have longer then 3,4 or 5 letter names?

[Barraind.7324]

4 hours ago, Lyssia.4637 said:

  I'd suspect nearly everyone who has played the game wanted a name they couldn't get

 

The only name I wanted and couldnt get was jokingly naming a key runner Cranjis McBasketball .

 

And I dont feel that should warrant anything except being happy knowing someone else wanted to use that for lolz. 

[Embered.5089]

7 minutes ago, Lyssia.4637 said:

Not so much angry as astonished, given the clear and pretty bad abuses that would obviously be possible if Anet agreed.  It was an honest question: if you are glad they said yes, why did you ask?  And again, honestly, did you truly not see the possible abuses, and expect them to say yes?  If you didn't expect them to say yes, why did you ask?

When one wants something really badly, they do not care about the consequences. Thus, at the time when I asked, I did not care about the potential abuse. I only wanted a name that I had linked my identity to. I cut out a lot of what I wanted to say since I figured that no one would be interested in knowing exactly why I wanted that specific name, and I still do not intend to go into it. All I will say is that I wanted it so badly that I really did not care about the consequences. Despite that, I now agree that letting people keep their names over any length of time is the better option. My desire to obtain that name cooling down and the reasons for the cool down is also something that I omitted.

So, basically, at the time that I asked, I wanted them to say yes. I did not care about possible abuse. After having them say no and having time to think about it, I decided that it was best that they say no and continue to say no.

Also, I wrote that post to explain to those on the opposing side why I switched sides. I wanted them to see that even though I can understand wanting a name badly, I still think that it's best if you cannot steal names. It was for them. I didn't think that anyone on the same side as me would be the one to react to it.

[Barraind.7324]

2 hours ago, Roda.7468 said:

It would be cool if we had like an in-game tool to come up with names (random name generator or naming conventions listed somewhere at the end of character creation) for those that need to make an alternate name. If you're making a human, charr, or norn there's plenty of options for you to pick when it comes to using a name you want.  But it doesn't help that the lore dictates that 2/5 races don't even have a surname, and adding a title onto a name kinda feels tacky in a game with a title system. :T

Not ingame, but the one i use for names for all sorts of games is https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/guild-wars.php

[Chichimec.9364]

The occasional threads on this topic always bemuse me. People want to take things away from other people because they want those things and can't be bothered to be a bit creative instead. Atm I have have 29 alts, all with names that are meaningful to me. If I could not get the exact name I wanted, a little bit of creativity gave me something I was happy with. Case in point - my most recent alt was created six days ago. I'm listening to one of my favor sci fi series again, the Honor Harrington series, and was brought back to one of my favorite characters in those books, Jeremy X. As expected, that name was taken. However, Jeremy X Sicario was not. Sicario is Latin for assassin and if you are familiar with those books at all, you know that is a perfect title for Jeremy. 

I remember the last time this  topic came  up, someone talked about wanting to use names from Ghostbuster and Game of Thrones characters, only to find out those they wanted were already taken. It took me just a few minutes to come up with playful variations of the desired names that I was able to give to new alts. So my reaction to folks like the OP is stop trying to take things away from other players and instead use your creativity to come up with something that is uniquely your own.

[Mungrul.9358]

22 minutes ago, Barraind.7324 said:

The only name I wanted and couldnt get was jokingly naming a key runner Cranjis McBasketball .

I main a hammer warrior, and really wanted Hammer Smash Face, but was surprised to see it already gone. Fair play to whoever got there first though 👍

[Chichimec.9364]

9 minutes ago, Mungrul.9358 said:

I main a hammer warrior, and really wanted Hammer Smash Face, but was surprised to see it already gone. Fair play to whoever got there first though 👍

Frangit Malleo - that's a Latin translation of Hammer Smash Face. Or - Has Facies Malleo 
Don't know if you could actually use them though as they kinda sound like you are trying to swear or something.

  🙂

Edited August 13, 2021 by Chichimec.9364

[TheLadyOfTheRings.9148]

5 hours ago, Zynk.9015 said:

People have had their names taken from them for lesser reasons than inactivity. 

They have? 

[TheLadyOfTheRings.9148]

13 minutes ago, Chichimec.9364 said:

The occasional threads on this topic always bemuse me. People want to take things away from other people because they want those things and can't be bothered to be a bit creative instead. Atm I have have 29 alts, all with names that are meaningful to me. If I could not get the exact name I wanted, a little bit of creativity gave me something I was happy with. Case in point - my most recent alt was created six days ago. I'm listening to one of my favor sci fi series again, the Honor Harrington series, and was brought back to one of my favorite characters in those books, Jeremy X. As expected, that name was taken. However, Jeremy X Sicario was not. Sicario is Latin for assassin and if you are familiar with those books at all, you know that is a perfect title for Jeremy. 

I remember the last time this  topic came  up, someone talked about wanting to use names from Ghostbuster and Game of Thrones characters, only to find out those they wanted were already taken. It took me just a few minutes to come up with playful variations of the desired names that I was able to give to new alts. So my reaction to folks like the OP is stop trying to take things away from other players and instead use your creativity to come up with something that is uniquely your own.

Totally agree 😉 

[Lyssia.4637]

47 minutes ago, Embered.5089 said:

When one wants something really badly, they do not care about the consequences. Thus, at the time when I asked, I did not care about the potential abuse. I only wanted a name that I had linked my identity to. I cut out a lot of what I wanted to say since I figured that no one would be interested in knowing exactly why I wanted that specific name, and I still do not intend to go into it. All I will say is that I wanted it so badly that I really did not care about the consequences. Despite that, I now agree that letting people keep their names over any length of time is the better option. My desire to obtain that name cooling down and the reasons for the cool down is also something that I omitted.

So, basically, at the time that I asked, I wanted them to say yes. I did not care about possible abuse. After having them say no and having time to think about it, I decided that it was best that they say no and continue to say no.

Also, I wrote that post to explain to those on the opposing side why I switched sides. I wanted them to see that even though I can understand wanting a name badly, I still think that it's best if you cannot steal names. It was for them. I didn't think that anyone on the same side as me would be the one to react to it.

That's fair enough, and I appreciate your honesty.  I will say, though, I don't see any forum thread as being about "sides," and as such, I wouldn't say I'm on your side as opposed to anyone else's.  The point of a forum thread, I am old-fashioned enough to believe, is the conversation.

 

On that note, I respect the process you went through.  On the other hand, I can absolutely imagine being on the receiving end, and having a name meaningful to me taken away, just because "someone wants it really badly."  I'm glad you, too, clearly came to having that kind of compassion, but the initial stance of "I want it really badly and don't care who gets hurt" is entitled and arrogant, and I think that needs to be pointed out.  Again, not necessarily calling you out specifically, and I'll freely admit, I've been there too: I'm just saying, that's what that is.  A thing to think about for anyone at all reading this thread, and accepting that some people will disagree with me.

Edited August 13, 2021 by Lyssia.4637

[Gorem.8104]

I quit for six years and came back and have been playing every day since logging in for hours. 

 

Like, It'd have sucked so hard if i'd lost all my names I made when GW2 first released due to some "Name deletion" system that i'd have not come back and stayed quit. 

 

So ya know' not really the best idea 

[IndigoSundown.5419]

I would be happy to see either of the following:

 

1) Use names being non-unique, with account names being the distinguisher between characters whose use name is the same.  Cryptic's games (STO, Champions Online, Neverwinter Online) use this system and it works fine.

2) Expansion of the name field (25 or so) plus relaxation of the strictures on characters that I see on real world names both current and historical (e.g., hyphens, apostrophe's).

 

I would not be happy to see removal of names from the inactive, which might impact many and please only a few.  Why?  Every "popular" name removed would be gained by one player, and other players who wanted that name would still be disappointed.  With the inclusion of spaces, and thus surnames, the possibilities for names are virtually endless.

Edited August 13, 2021 by IndigoSundown.5419

[Zavijah.2695]

I do agree that names should re-enter the pool for use if they have not been used after a certain time. 

 

A name is not intellectual property held by the individual or trademarked on the server.
It is the series of keystrokes your created character is designated by on Anet's server. 

 

Under T's & C's we all know the game has a finite lifespan anyway, even if decades -  so getting hung up on ownership or self identity for something people may or may not return to is irrelevant. 

 

In FFXIV, if you don't even enter your house and interact with an item within a 30-45 day window, the house you paid millions for returns to the available cycle. So for perspectives sake, if you really value your identity, you'd bare minimum log in to the launcher that doesn't even require you to enter log in details. Get your daily login reward, then go on with your life. 

If you can't even do that, you don't deserve to keep your name. 

[Kalocin.5982]

Only thing I agree with is free accounts that have been abandoned, other than that I like the luxury of taking a break for as long as I dang feel like. That's the primary reason why I can even fit GW2 in with other games to be honest

[Dark.7069]

NO

There are plenty of names available. Use your imagination. This is the stupidest suggestion I ever read, on top of that the timeline of 18months is incredibly short. You're only thinking about what you want. What about the people who would lose their names? It's unfair to them. It's unfair to me.

When I was playing AION, I lost a lot of my character names because NCsoft did a similar thing that you're suggesting and I was more than just upset. They did a server merger and whenever a merger happened, the names that were identical were somewhat free for the taking. I had a couple of rare names but because I took a break for a few months and didn't even know a merger was happening, I lost all those names. If ArenaNet does this, it will be the biggest scumbag move in the entire company history.

[b k.1648]

2 hours ago, TheLadyOfTheRings.9148 said:

They have? 

Probably because the name breached the Terms of Use. Seems there are people who think that's unfair for some reason.

[ASP.8093]

Seems much more productive to raise the name length cap by 5-6 letters than to set up this whole elaborate system for punishing people who don't log on enough.

 

(And between the pandemic and the expansion, there have been a *lot* of lapsed players returning after *multiple years away* — they deserve respect and consideration, too.)

[Teratus.2859]

14 hours ago, Sobx.1758 said:

And for some reason you believe that allowing repeated names won't just spawn multiple of the same joke/silly names?

It wouldn't rule it out, but it would certainly discourage it.

There's only so many times you can get that "name in use" message before you start feeling like saying screw it and just create a sdajhsgfhabsa character so you can just play already.

Longest i've spent on the character name page is around 4 hours just trying different names.. it's annoying and ultimately unnecessary to be so restrictive on names.
I have 23 characters all with serious, thought out names, I wouldn't give a kitten if other people saw them, liked them and copied them.. and I don't know why anyone would have a problem with such a thing.

Practically everyone on earth shares their real name with a bunch of total strangers.. it's absurd to be annoyed about something like that, and there's no reason to be annoyed about it in a fictional setting either.

[Krzysztof.5973]

We don't "need" it, but it could definitely be beneficial. Maybe something closer to 3 or 5 years of inactivity per character that causes you to forfeit the right to that name? Just my personal opinion, you do not deserve to call yourself an active player if you have not played for 5 years 🙂

[Ellye.9123]

I've taken multiple 3+ years breaks from this game.

Wouldn't have come back if I have lost a character name because of that.

 

Then again, all my characters have a name and sunname and are not based on famous character names or stuff like that.

Edited August 14, 2021 by Ellye.9123

[T G.7496]

Nope, shoulda been here earlier or thought of it sooner, or just be more creative.

[morsdood.1987]

Just come up with a different name my dude

[Teratus.2859]

7 hours ago, Dark.7069 said:

There are plenty of names available. Use your imagination. 

According to MMO Population Gw2 has an estimated14,829,798 accounts.
Even if every one of those accounts only had a single character that is still 14,829,798 unique names in use that cannot be used by anyone else.
If by chance they all had 4 characters that would put it to 59,319,192 unique names.

And altoholism is quite well known amongst the active playerbase with many having upwards of 20-30 characters.. all again with unique names.

So I have to strongly disagree with you on both those points.. using your imagination isn't very useful advise for those who are struggling with names.
Speaking as someone with 23 characters I know personally how annoying and difficult it can be to get fitting names.

And just to reiterate due to the length of the thread now.
I'm not pro taking peoples names from them, this isn't a good idea and the vast majority of people arguing against the OP here are doing so on this point.

I am specifically for opening the name market up to allow for anyone to use whatever name they want, regardless of whether someone else got it first.

[Dawdler.8521]

16 minutes ago, Teratus.2859 said:

I'm not pro taking peoples names from them, this isn't a good idea and the vast majority of people arguing against the OP here are doing so on this point.

I am specifically for opening the name market up to allow for anyone to use whatever name they want, regardless of whether someone else got it first.

How about a compromise?

It cost 1000g to "buy" the name of another player, should they accept. The player that sells the name get the gold of course.

Problem solved. Everybody happy. People so desperate for a specific name someone else have has to fork out gold so we can laugh at them, people willing to sell them get gold and are happy too.