Free up names of long inactive players

[Doombringer]

i mean i get the desire, i was upset about losing my original name when the server merges happened.

but at the same time, players DO come back. sometimes after long "breaks" i have friends who left and came back with YEARS in between.

hell, my account is lapsed right now for the first time since launch because of this paypal shenanigans (and destiny, i'll be honest <.< but i've taken breaks before and kept paying.) if i lost another name because of that, i think i'd be even more upset :\

[Alhanelem]

They're not coming back. No really, they're gone. As you said, they are now former customers. Don't you think SE should worry more about current customers who are here and paying right now over somebody who may not have given SE a dollar since 2006?

People come back. Some people come and go when they can afford to or feel like playing. Maybe you've missed the "coming back after X years" threads that periodically pepper these forums?

[Pixela]

They're not coming back. No really, they're gone. As you said, they are now former customers. Don't you think SE should worry more about current customers who are here and paying right now over somebody who may not have given SE a dollar since 2006?

I came back to ffxi from a 2 year break after playing ffxiv and some other tiles, I have friends who came back after 4 years.

It would be the ultimate in stupidity for any company to destroy any chance of returnee players becoming return customers.

I could understand if you were to say any char under level 30 that is inactive for 2+ years or something but aside from that it's a bad idea.

[Montsegur]

I'm back after almost 2 years, it does happen! The welcome back campaign worked! I paid my monthly fee from NA release until I left in 2012, so I feel I should be able to keep my name. I suppose freeing up mules that have been inactive since 2003-2004 wouldn't be a big deal, but any main char, it's nice to come back to your name.

[detlef]

As I stated multiple times, the cutoff could certainly be debated. 2 years, 3 years, 5 years. Even 5 years only goes back to late 2009 for a game that started in the middle of 2002. That's still 7 years of people who quit.

[Alhanelem]

But your character name is sort of like rental apartment, you don't own the data, you rent it by monthly payments.

Sorry, no. You don't "rent" the name of your character, you "rent" the ability to log in to your account. The data in your account is permanent unless you delete it. You're paying for access to the data and the ability to modify it.

The well over $1500 i've paid on this account in sub fees since NA launch (10+ years) should keep my name forever. I shouldn't have my character ruined by taking an extended breka from the game. We are promised that our data is kept indefinitely (Early in the game's history, it was semi-deleted, but they ended that practice). Square Enix obviously doesn't agree with you, because they no longer delete characters for inactivity. When they did, names were freed up when inactive characters were deleted (and this only took three months, as I recall) and when they did return home campaigns, some people were forced to change their names. That very well may have put some of those returning players off. Have names expire, and you will have predatory players eyeing known players who don't log in for a long time to steal their name as soon as it's possible- not because they want the name, but because they want to harm that person.

Anything that could even slightly discourage a potential returning customer from returning is a bad idea for their business- in many cases, some sort of grievance made the player leave in the first place, and if they're curious about how the game has changed, you want to give them every reason to resub. Give them any reasons not to, and they won't.

I don't know anyone who plays FFXI because they want to admire their name all day long.

The same logic could be used to argue that if a name is so unimportant to most people, then you should have no reason to want to change to another person's name. I don't think you have any idea how important vanity is to people in any MMO. Names are a part of that. My character's name is an alias that I used for years, not just in FFXI but in many online services. While I use a different name in many places now, Anyone who ever knew me in the game knows me by this character's name. I wouldn't want any other name. and being forced to change it would most definitely have an impact on whether I were to resub after cancelling or not.

This is actually going to be a potential problem in FFXIV in a different way- They are planning to make it so you are forced to vacate land that you own in the housing districts if they are not used for a certain length of time. You don't even have to be unsubbed, simply not entering the property for that duration will trigger it. And if your land is relinquished, you can potentially lose a lot of your rare furnishings, which can not be retrieved if you relinquish the property they are placed in (Common furnishings can be retrieved, but certain rare ones can't to prevent them flooding the market) Do you think it's fair for someone to lose millions and millions of gil worth of stuff on their account because they were inactive? What if you had to vacate your mog house if you were inactive in FFXI and lose the stuff in your mog storage?

The long story short is, people can get attached to various elements of their character. It's not unreasonable for them to expect that if htey take a break from the game, everything will be as it was left when they do return.

[Alhanelem]

So you are clearly trolling

You're kind of rude to accuse me of that, because that's not what I'm doing at all. I also wasn't "changing what you said." It's called an analogy. Its not really nice to go around throwing brandings like that so casually. I wasn't being aggressive or rude to you or trying to pick a fight. Disagreeing with your opinion is not trolling.

This quote above sums up the gist of what you are saying in relation to my post. I was talking about names. Not character data. I even said "you don't lose your character, you'd just have to pick a new name."

I know what you were talking about. I'm arguing that one of the reasons (among others) that they had originally deleted character data was probably to free up names. And that one of the reasons they no longer do this is because many of us consider our names more sacred than you seem to be giving credit for.

Your character is property of SE, and you are renting it,

I'm sorry. You don't "rent" your characters. You are paying for *a license access to the game and associated rights*, not for the data itself. This is nothing like a rental. You do not return anything to SE when you cancel your subscription (You aren't borrowing or returning anything; SE retains full property rights the entire time). This isn't like going to the redbox machine, renting a DVD, and returning it the next day. It is not like renting a car, or anything else.

I also said a 2 year grace period for names. Meaning you can not pay subs for 2 years, before the name becomes available to other people. I think that a 2 year grace period to lock your name without paying subs, is very generous.

I disagree. I have observed many people come back to the game after more than 2 years. It happens. The only thing that should free up a name is deleting a character or transferring off that server.

[BST]

This will never happen, ever.

Hell they don't even delete characters off of the inactive servers..

Besides, I would hate to log in from time inactive, and see my old name running around in use by some random.

[Alhanelem]

Also on the actual topic, I have heard stories of RMT actually creating characters with desirable names, and immediately letting the account idle unpaid. Until a buyer can be found, a buyer who likes this name.

I can see that happening in a bigger MMO or having happened in XI's heyday, but I don't really see it being a worthwhile investment for the RMT to tie up names for this purpose in XI. The account black market just can't possibly be big enough to buy up accounts just for names. (Fully leveled, geared up accounts are another story)

[Alhanelem]

Well, I think your post just serves to illustrate how much some people do care about their names and by extension, how upset they would be if they were forced to give them up. (in regards to previous comments suggesting names aren't / shouldn't be important)