Free up names of long inactive players

[Tidis]

So, this has only cropped up because I know a group of us are planning on transferring servers but on the server in question my name is already in use but the Tidis on that server hasn't played for 4 years. It seems lame to lose the character name I've had since I started playing in 2007 because of someone who hasn't played in years.

I believe there should be a cut off point where player names become available to use, in the unlikely situation of a player returning after years away, they would be the ones who have to change their name due to being inactive for so long.

I hope people agree with me, of course I may be alone in this! I did have a brief search for similar topics but it seems people incorrectly posted them in the website feedback forum so it might have been completely missed.

[Alhanelem]

Why should any former customer (who could potentially come back) have their character's names robbed from them? You never know if any of them might visit the game again, and it would really suck to come back after not playing for years and find that your character's name has been stolen.

The only names that should be released (if they don't already do this) are the names of permanently banned, non-RMT characters (RMT characters generally use gibberish names and leaving those names used doesn't hurt anyone while also potentially making things slightly more difficult for RMT)

[Fahzewn]

Tidis! Sucks to hear you're transferring servers (or trying to). Not like I'm part of that stuff that you do anyway lol. I kinda agree with you but see Alhanelam's point as well. Be nice if we could just have a notation of what server we came from though. You could be Tidis still, but Tidis with something like a title of the server you transferred from if the name happened to be taken. Fayrra's idea but seems like a decent one. I always hated transferring servers (merges) and finding out my alts' names have to be redone. Thankfully no one likes the name Fahzewn except me so I haven't had an issue with that.

Good luck to you and the others I'm assuming are going with you though.

[detlef]

Why should any former customer (who could potentially come back) have their character's names robbed from them? You never know if any of them might visit the game again, and it would really suck to come back after not playing for years and find that your character's name has been stolen.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?

[Olor]

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 do come back. Of course, if we would like to drive people away from ever coming back again, this is the perfect attitude.

Seriously, just stay in your current server, or pick a new name. It's not hard. No one on the new server will know what your name used to be anyway. Is it really such a big deal to go by Tidys or Tydis instead of Tidis?

Man, the entitlement is insane.

[detlef]

People do come back. Of course, if we would like to drive people away from ever coming back again, this is the perfect attitude.

Seriously, just stay in your current server, or pick a new name. It's not hard. No one on the new server will know what your name used to be anyway. Is it really such a big deal to go by Tidys or Tydis instead of Tidis?

Man, the entitlement is insane.Entitlement? Would you mind explaining? I'm not being confrontational by the way, I legitimately don't understand what you're saying.

Many people place a lot of value in their character's name. It's a shame when a great name is wasted on a mule or a character that has been deactivated for a very long time. Nothing can be done in the case of an active mule, but someone who hasn't played for some amount of time should be fair game. Doesn't it make sense to cater to an active, paying customer over somebody who has not paid for a long time and is highly unlikely to pay in the future?

Also, if you're going to argue that losing your name after coming back can drive people away, can't it be argued that new players being locked out of good names would also be driven away? Both scenarios are unlikely but would seem to cancel each other out.

[Olor]

You're saying people are very attached to their names - then you are saying someone would still come back if their character's name was taken away. You can't have it both ways. I know if I took a couple years off for whatever reason and my character's name had been hijacked by someone I would be less likely to come back. I'd take it as a big FU from the company. And it would be a big FU from the company.

There are millions of awesome names left. Heck when I made my mules over the last two years, there were lots of super cool names I could pick for them, nothing got rejected as already taken that I tried... so... no I don't think new players will be discouraged by players having names locked up. I am pretty sure everyone understands that if you're late to the party you're unlikely to get the most popular names.

It's okay to be a bit creative and come up with a name that's not taken. And if the OP doesn't want to change his name he can stay on his current server and keep his current name or move to a server where his name is free. Nothing is being taken from him, but he wants to take someone else's name just cause.

Entitlement = "I want this name so the company should take it away from someone else"

[Deirdre]

Yeah but 'a couple of years' is moderately reasonable. "Last login, Dec 12, 2005"? Yeah they aren't coming back. I'd support this, and I'm happy with my character's names as is, and could probably handle changing mine if forced to by a server merge.

[detlef]

You're saying people are very attached to their names - then you are saying someone would still come back if their character's name was taken away. You can't have it both ways. I know if I took a couple years off for whatever reason and my character's name had been hijacked by someone I would be less likely to come back. I'd take it as a big FU from the company. And it would be a big FU from the company.So you took off a couple years. Let's make the cutoff 3 years then. Or 5 years. In Georgia, being missing for 4 years is long enough to declare you legally dead.


There are millions of awesome names left. Heck when I made my mules over the last two years, there were lots of super cool names I could pick for them, nothing got rejected as already taken that I tried... so... no I don't think new players will be discouraged by players having names locked up. I am pretty sure everyone understands that if you're late to the party you're unlikely to get the most popular names.

It's okay to be a bit creative and come up with a name that's not taken. And if the OP doesn't want to change his name he can stay on his current server and keep his current name or move to a server where his name is free. Nothing is being taken from him, but he wants to take someone else's name just cause.I can't really argue this, since it is of course possible to be creative with a name. I lost my name when Kujata merged with Valefor and yeah, I had to think for a long time on what to do. It's possible, and you're right there are a lot of names out there.


Entitlement = "I want this name so the company should take it away from someone else"Taking it away from... somebody who is no longer a customer. Nobody is suggesting that you lose your name if you deactivate for a month. But if somebody has been gone for 5 years, then there's a very good chance they aren't coming back. Why not cater to the people actually playing?

If a server merge happens, the available names will be even more restricted. Why not free up some good ones that haven't been in use for awhile?

[Stompa]

I would put the cut-off at 18 months of no payments. Your name goes grey and if somebody else pays for a character with that name on your world, then they get the name and you get the "please choose new name" message if you ever decide to start paying for FFXI again in future.

There's nothing wrong with being a casual player, or even taking 5+ year break from the game. We all have real lives which are demanding. However if you are gone for a long time it is only fair that somebody who is paying monthly subs can have your old name. You won't lose your character, just pick a new name when/if you ever return. You might even like your new name better!
:cool:

[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 trollingYou'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. :mad:

[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)

[detlef]

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)Absolutely, it's a very valuable thing. My thinking is that there should be a point where a player has been inactive for a long enough time that it becomes fair game for somebody who's actually playing and can actually appreciate it.

Again, I acknowledge that players do come back, but surely there is some kind of balance between serving the current playerbase and someone who isn't likely to play again.

[Alhanelem]

Its true some people do like to do the whole peacock thing, look at my shiny colourful plumage etc.It really isn't a matter of shininess. I don't look at my name as glorious "shiny colorful plumeage." At the same time, it's part of who we are in the game If you come back and someone has stolen your name, two problems occur: One, whoever took your name can impersonate you and ruin you while you're away; Two, Even if the person who takes your name isn't that kind of jerk, people won't recognize you. It's both more than you think it is personally, and less than you seem to think others seem to think. You're using hyperbole here, and also being a bit hypocritical. If names aren't important, you shouldn't be bent over about people having names you apparently want- After all, it's not really that important, right?. If names are important, then you shouldn't be arguing that they be taken away from people.

If this weren't a pay to play game, I'd feel slightly different. It is more common in F2P games to release names after extended inactivity; however many of these games protect the names of paying customers longer or indefinitely- that is, if you've bought stuff from the f2p cash shop or bought in to the optional subscription or w/e, they will protect your name since you gave them money. This is somewhat understandable, especially since f2p games have a mugh higher turnover rate, and a lot of players who pick up the game, play until they hit a paywall, then quit.

[Demonjustin]

So you are clearly trolling, by taking my post and changing what I said and then responding to things I have not said.I'd just like to point out. That is what's known as a Strawman, not trolling. Trolling is basically posting with the intent purpose of aggravating someone. We are clearly trying to have a real argument here, thus, this isn't trolling. That said, if someone is misrepresenting your argument in order to make it easier to argue against, that is a Strawman.

I only really want to point this out because I feel like the internet, and by extension these forums, have become far too complacent with calling everything that seems to disagree with them or simply seems like an illogical rebuttal, trolling.

[Alhanelem]

I wasn't misrepresenting anything. If anything i inferred from his post was not what he intended to say, that was his fault for being unclear / writing in such a way that any reasonable person could have misunderstood.


I only really want to point this out because I feel like the internet, and by extension these forums, have become far too complacent with calling everything that seems to disagree with them or simply seems like an illogical rebuttal, trolling. You sir just won an internet. Thanks for being a voice of reason.

[Stompa]

I'd just like to point out. That is what's known as a Strawman, not trolling. Trolling is basically posting with the intent purpose of aggravating someone. We are clearly trying to have a real argument here, thus, this isn't trolling. That said, if someone is misrepresenting your argument in order to make it easier to argue against, that is a Strawman.

I only really want to point this out because I feel like the internet, and by extension these forums, have become far too complacent with calling everything that seems to disagree with them or simply seems like an illogical rebuttal, trolling.

Fair enough, but a Troll is something living under bridges and waiting for passers-by, so technically it is open for interpretation on forums. My definition was always what I said in my earlier post, Trolls love to argue and will set up alternate versions of the poster's meaning, like wrestling the post into a better hold, before launching into attack on the new version.

I would suggest to you that using strawman arguments is a classic troll trait. The two things "trolling" and "strawman" are not mutually exclusive.

Also that Alhanelem is not a Troll, Trolls are always bad full-time, but a normal person can be trolling in a certain post, without being a real Troll. But that the post I was upset about was certainly exhibiting troll-like behaviour, ie. trolling.

But we already laid this one to rest, and had started talking on-topic again, so thanks for digging up the off-topic stuff again lol. Thats another trolling trait btw, returning to off-topic subjects when other people have tried to move on.

:p

[Alhanelem]

Trolls love to argue and will set up alternate versions of the poster's meaningI've really never heard "troll" used in this context. The only definition of "troll" I know of (as far as the word's use on the internet) is intentionally attempting to provoke a reaction out of others for their own entertainment.



But we already laid this one to rest, and had started talking on-topic again, so thanks for digging up the off-topic stuff again lol. Thats another trolling trait btw, returning to off-topic subjects when other people have tried to move on.Topics can change / get derailed / distracted / whatever, that's normal in human conversation and isn't necessairly trolling. If anything, this thread has gone off topic because the actual topic has been pretty well beaten to death by all sides. :p

[Tidis]

I wouldn't call him a troll, he just disagrees with the opinion that inactive names should be freed up. I have now changed server and my name is now Taidis, sucks but there you go, it doesn't change my opinion that inactive player names should be freed up, a common argument I have seen is that names are important to people and it would drive away returning players.

Well from the perspective of names being important, on the flip-side, isn't it annoying for someone who appreciates their character name to see it being taken up by someone who hasn't played in years and most likely will never play again? Granted I willingly changed server but what about those back when the last server merges happened who forcibly lost the names the cherised?

With regards to people being driven away from coming back by losing their name, from a business perspective, isn't it better to appease the players regularly paying the subscription fees, rather than the ones who might, but probably won't come back.

[Alhanelem]

So I think you are being far too picky about the semantics, especially in your first line above,Given that you're the one who went to a wiki to get a questionable definition to argue your point, I'd argue you're the one who is being too picky about semantics. But I'm not here out of malice and i'd prefer not to be unfairly branded, so I'll just leave this here. In a paid subscription game like this, I really don't feel you should ever be forced to give up your name. In an F2P game where there's far less likely to be any attachment to your name, I can sort of understand it- but not here. That's all I'm going to say.

[Angrymithra]

I wouldn't call him a troll, he just disagrees with the opinion that inactive names should be freed up. I have now changed server and my name is now Taidis, sucks but there you go, it doesn't change my opinion that inactive player names should be freed up, a common argument I have seen is that names are important to people and it would drive away returning players.

Well from the perspective of names being important, on the flip-side, isn't it annoying for someone who appreciates their character name to see it being taken up by someone who hasn't played in years and most likely will never play again? Granted I willingly changed server but what about those back when the last server merges happened who forcibly lost the names the cherised?

With regards to people being driven away from coming back by losing their name, from a business perspective, isn't it better to appease the players regularly paying the subscription fees, rather than the ones who might, but probably won't come back.

I think you should have went with a new name alltogether.

[Tidis]

The name and variations of it have been with me since I was a kid and I'd just had fun playing FFX, not my favourite FF or even my favourite character but I find it hard to change it up.

[Sfchakan]

I don't think SE should devote resources to worrying about people who name their character variations of main characters from other FF games.

[Tidis]

A thinly veiled criticism of my choice of character name, can't see how it's any different from naming yourself after one of the main characters from the X-files.

[Demonjustin]

It doesn't matter what your name is. The fact of the matter is having to change your name no matter what happens simply sucks. I don't know about anyone else, but when I made my character my name wasn't something I was primarily worried about, in fact, I was an impatient child who simply wanted to play his game. I made my name a combination of my nickname from Xbox Live, Demon, and my real life name, Justin, to form Demonjustin. Over the last few years I haven't actually become known as either of those two names however, I've become known as DJ. Luckily for me, I've become known by two letters that are little more than initials, if I changed servers and had to change my name I'd only have to make sure I'm still DJ.

What of other people? If I had been named, say, Tidis, what might my nickname be? Well, I for one would likely call someone like this Tid, or simply spell out the entire name. Being forced to change this would cause me to change what people commonly and easily address me as. In this specific case, Tidis changed their name to Taidis, and with that name I'd call them Tai. Such a simple change would be an annoying one for anyone to put up with as changing what you're being addressed by is something hard to get used to after a long period of time. In my opinion it's not something we should just have to deal with if in the end the people who are taking up out current name aren't even playing and likely never will again. For this very reason it's why I think there should be a cut off date of some sort where your name is no longer your own and you should be treated no different than if you had transferred servers upon returning. If no one took your name then awesome, but if someone did then you're the only one to blame as you made the choice that ultimately lead to your name being lost.

[Tidis]

The less said about my in-game nickname the better, simply put, despite the paradoxical nature of it, my nickname is longer than my actual character name.

[Sfchakan]

A thinly veiled criticism of my choice of character name, can't see how it's any different from naming yourself after one of the main characters from the X-files.

This is actually the name I ended up going with after my original was taken when servers were merged. I tried 8 or 9 others I liked more, ended up typing this one in and it went through.

It's not that big of a deal and you could... I don't know, just get over it?

[Tidis]

You seem to be under the impression that I'm authentically upset about losing my original character name, nope, it sucks sure but going with the spelling Taidis is how I pronounce it anyway. Just because I'm now suggesting this doesn't mean I'm upset at all, I knew before I made this suggestion I wasn't going to save my name, there was no way an SE representative would see this and implement a change before I moved server.

That doesn't mean I suddenly don't think this is a good idea.

[Dale]

So, this has only cropped up because I know a group of us are planning on transferring servers but on the server in question my name is already in use but the Tidis on that server hasn't played for 4 years. It seems lame to lose the character name I've had since I started playing in 2007 because of someone who hasn't played in years.

I believe there should be a cut off point where player names become available to use, in the unlikely situation of a player returning after years away, they would be the ones who have to change their name due to being inactive for so long.

I hope people agree with me, of course I may be alone in this! I did have a brief search for similar topics but it seems people incorrectly posted them in the website feedback forum so it might have been completely missed.

I lost my name due to the server transfer also. It's annoying no doubt - and pissed me off. But I don't agree with your solution because I would be equally annoyed if I took a long break from the game only to come back and find my name had been stripped from my character.

I think the better solution would be for SE to simply add something to the name so they wouldn't be identical - such as a reference to their original server or something.

[kylani]

I lost my name due to the server transfer also. It's annoying no doubt - and pissed me off. But I don't agree with your solution because I would be equally annoyed if I took a long break from the game only to come back and find my name had been stripped from my character.

I think the better solution would be for SE to simply add something to the name so they wouldn't be identical - such as a reference to their original server or something.

I had friends who lost their names due to the server merge, and some quit if not right away, soon after. I do think the name can be very meaningful to a person. I'd have quit if I lost my name. I never felt it was fair for an ACTIVE player to lose their names to an inactive player because they were on the 'losing server'.

I've also taken breaks a few times and probably wouldn't come back if my name was changed. In another game, I paid for early access to get my favorite name, then took a break and lost it, and I didn't go back, mainly because I felt I had paid extra just to get the name I wanted and was angry.

But I don't see why there couldn't be a time frame/level check where an inactive player is considered gone if they haven't played in five years, or didn't play more than a month when they did play, or had no job higher than level ten. I don't think all inactive accounts are the same, and it's a shame to lose names that may have never been used more than a week or two. I can see not renaming an old level 75, but an old level 5 char? Really?

[Sfchakan]

I lost my name due to the server transfer also. It's annoying no doubt - and pissed me off. But I don't agree with your solution because I would be equally annoyed if I took a long break from the game only to come back and find my name had been stripped from my character.

I think the better solution would be for SE to simply add something to the name so they wouldn't be identical - such as a reference to their original server or something.

Surnames say HELLO!

Perhaps it could be rolled out with the new UI.

[Alhanelem]

So, this has only cropped up because I know a group of us are planning on transferring servers but on the server in question my name is already in use but the Tidis on that server hasn't played for 4 yearsSo don't transfers servers than, and keep your name. Which is more important to you? I think transferring, especially as a group, serves little purpose at the present time. If you're moving because you think your server is dead, I've got news for you, they're all about the same amount of dead.

Also, your name is already an altered spelling. Maybe there's a better altered spelling that is available.

Surnames would actually be kinda nice. It somewhat solves naming problems because people can have the same first or last name as long as the other one is different. The only downside is it leads to a lot of stupid two word phrases being used for names instead of using "real-sounding" names.

Also, I could see an exception for characters created on accounts that never played past their free 30 days or other free trial, or that never played past a very early point in the game. These people are probably not as attached to their names, are the least likely to be coming back, and least likely to be upset or turned away by having to change names if they do come back.

[Sfchakan]

Also, I could see an exception for characters created on accounts that never played past their free 30 days or other free trial, or that never played past a very early point in the game. These people are probably not as attached to their names, are the least likely to be coming back, and least likely to be upset or turned away by having to change names if they do come back.

The problem with eliminating older accounts like this is you are saying one customer is worth more to you because of X. Just because JohnBoy316 decided to RP as a gardening mastermind and never EXPd at all doesn't mean he has any less right to his account than SuperSaiyinCloudX, who hit rank 6. They both bought the product and paid for service.

[fussel]

Dude...

Here's part of my AH transaction history from ffxiah:



Imperial Bronze Piece Nov. 18, 2014 Pett Fussel 5,000
Meat Mithkabob x12 Sep. 22, 2009 Fussel Kyosak 4,000

There's a flat 5 years break where I didn't pay and didn't play.

Now here's, what the SE Account Management System says about my RotZ registration:



Rise of the Zilart Nov. 19, 2003

I played and paid for 6 years straight. Then I took a break for 5 years. Now I'm playing again.

This disproves the statement "They won't come back" by example.

[Fahzewn]

Surnames would work if it was done in the fashion of FFXIV (other games might do it as well). Some games, EQ and LOTRO for example, have surnames but treat them like titles more than anything and you still wouldn't be able to create a character with the same first name.

[detlef]

The problem with eliminating older accounts like this is you are saying one customer is worth more to you because of X. Just because JohnBoy316 decided to RP as a gardening mastermind and never EXPd at all doesn't mean he has any less right to his account than SuperSaiyinCloudX, who hit rank 6. They both bought the product and paid for service.So maybe something like playtime, furnishings, level, and elapsed time since last login could be factored in? Besides, gardening mules have nothing of value and are no different from a character used for storage. I don't really think SE will do anything about this as it's far easier to do nothing, but it is probably something that should be considered if they decide to do another server merge.


Dude...

Here's part of my AH transaction history from ffxiah:



Imperial Bronze Piece Nov. 18, 2014 Pett Fussel 5,000
Meat Mithkabob x12 Sep. 22, 2009 Fussel Kyosak 4,000

There's a flat 5 years break where I didn't pay and didn't play.

Now here's, what the SE Account Management System says about my RotZ registration:



Rise of the Zilart Nov. 19, 2003

I played and paid for 6 years straight. Then I took a break for 5 years. Now I'm playing again.

This disproves the statement "They won't come back" by example.Dude... Your situation is very atypical. There are probably only a handful of players like you who take such a long break and are playing today.

[Sfchakan]

You're right, SE will and should never delete older characters again willy-nilly just to appease a portion of the fan base. It would be a terrible move and prove detrimental to efforts to get people to return to the game as paying subscribers.

Any level of measurement isn't valid. Someone who barely got to play years ago might have been too busy because of real life obligations to advance far in the game, but now has all the time in the world and could subscribe for months or years to come. That's what I was getting at.

Why try to make some existing paying customers happy if they are essentially content enough to continue playing and you risk losing additional customers? It's a bad move and could spin off some bad PR.


I think adding surnames would be the least amount of work required and not risk potential revenue. Simply have the surname hidden until you check the person, having it displayed either in the chatbox or in a new field on the existing display boxes.

Will surnames be added? I don't think they've ever hinted at doing such a thing, so I feel it's unlikely at this point.

[detlef]

You're right, SE will and should never delete older characters again willy-nilly just to appease a portion of the fan base. It would be a terrible move and prove detrimental to efforts to get people to return to the game as paying subscribers.I did say that SE probably will do nothing. I did not say that SE should do nothing. The rest of that is your argument, not mine.


Any level of measurement isn't valid. Someone who barely got to play years ago might have been too busy because of real life obligations to advance far in the game, but now has all the time in the world and could subscribe for months or years to come. That's what I was getting at.

Why try to make some existing paying customers happy if they are essentially content enough to continue playing and you risk losing additional customers? It's a bad move and could spin off some bad PR.How can someone who "barely played" "years ago" get so attached to his/her character's name to the point that the person will not resubscribe because the name is no longer available?

[Demonjustin]

You're right, SE will and should never delete older characters again willy-nilly just to appease a portion of the fan base.Deleting characters would be a terrible solution. Treating the characters as though they had transferred servers and disconnecting their names from the characters/servers until the person resubscribes would be a great solution.

[Sfchakan]

So stealing someone's original name is a good solution?

Sorry, guys, I don't think you're selling me on this being a good idea. I don't see how it would work out well for SE.

[Seillan]

Dude... Your situation is very atypical. There are probably only a handful of players like you who take such a long break and are playing today.

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.

Don't get me wrong though, I'd love to be using my own favorite name right now too (Seilan, which I use for any game that I'm able) but I also think the terms for potentially taking a name from someone need to be carefully though-out, given some of the reasons above. Just my two gil anyway.

[Tidis]

I do think a fair compromise would be to restrict which names are freed up based on how much progress the character has made, whether it be a minimum level, playtime, whatever would be fair.

[detlef]

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.