Quote Originally Posted by Seillan View Post
I'm not saying that I'm against names being freed up from inactive player accounts (under reasonable conditions anyway) but saying that the above scenario is "very atypical" is really just speculation. I don't personally think it's quite as a rare as you think and certainly not just a "handful." I've seen enough evidence to the contrary on the reddit forums alone to come to that opinion. With the plethora of mmorpgs out these days, it doesn't seem at all a stretch that someone might stop playing their "main" game for a year or two while trying out the newer titles. Then there's also lengthy deployments, accidents, and/or unexpected financial troubles on top of that for some.

I'd also argue that, in FFXI's case specifically, there's likely a considerable amount of people (like myself, for instance) that quit playing this game many, many years ago because we were tired of having to try for hours to get a group, only to have the healer leave right when we joined -- I can't even count the number of times that happened to me on my DRK. The addition of trusts and a more solo-friendly experience in general is still relatively new in this game, so I'd wager that you'll see more early-era players returning these days than you would have prior to the aforementioned changes -- and many of them would probably be coming back hoping to see their old characters in tact, name and all.
You're absolutely right that I'm just speculating even though I'm stating it as a fact. But you have to admit that it's highly likely that players who are gone for 5 years or more aren't likely to come back. A quick look at all the greyed-out names on your friends list should back that up.

I really think that there is potential to free up a lot of cool names without having a negative impact on potential returning players, especially if SE were to follow some of the suggestions posted in this thread.