Character Name Change Service

[LunaticVoice]

I created this thread to discuss the possibilities of a character name change service. Since additional character slots cost money and there's little purpose in having an alt aside from mule duties many people stick with their original character for many years. Just like the game, people change and I'm sure there are many people who wish they could choose a new name for their character.

Many games offer character name change services such as Guild Wars, World of Warcraft, and Age of Conan. These games have a paid service similar to the World Transfer Service and serve to both keep players content and earn some additional income for the companies. Does anyone know the reasoning behind why there is no Character Name Change Service even after 9 years of developing the game?

Are you for it or against it? I don't see why anyone would be against adding an option to change your character's name, but there has to be counterargument or I'd imagine SE would have done it by now.

[Firebert_Lakshmi]

If there's a fee for it. It'd be easy for a person to be a complete jerk, then change his name to avoid a negative reputation.

[katiekat]

i can see people being against it back on my old server we had a guy who was a LS leader steal the ls bank and swich servers and change his name so as not to be cot he get over 40mil in items and gear. if sum one could just pay $10 for it they mite do it more

[LunaticVoice]

i can see people being against it back on my old server we had a guy who was a LS leader steal the ls bank and swich servers and change his name so as not to be cot he get over 40mil in items and gear. if sum one could just pay $10 for it they mite do it more
That is a very good point, I had not considered that.

[katiekat]

That is a very good point, I had not considered that.

yea its part of why i moved servers my whole ls broke up over it

[LunaticVoice]

If possible I would really like a SE representative to comment on the topic since otherwise we'll just be going off speculation to figure out why a character name change service doesn't already exist.

[Meyi]

I personally wouldn't mind it. Some of my friends had their names taken from them during server merge because people who didn't like them created mules on Bismarck with their names and forced them to get name changes. It'd be nice if these people could change their names back.

And sometimes people get tired of a name. I see nothing wrong with a name change. When people screw over a shell and jump servers and change names, they're almost always caught. I think they'd continue to be caught.

[Tsukino_Kaji]

More griefing with less reprecussions? No thanks.

[GlobalVariable]

It'd be easy for a person to be a complete jerk, then change his name to avoid a negative reputation.
More griefing with less reprecussions? No thanks. Excuse me but griefers and item/ls bank thiefs already have a way to change names, a name change service isn't going to impact the situation at all. Mule on target server > server change > rename character > got away clean. Why should us legit persons not have an option to do the same name change without the server change?


Side note: I'd really like to get my old character name back, which I know darn well is not in use.

[LunaticVoice]

Excuse me but griefers and item/ls bank thiefs already have a way to change names, a name change service isn't going to impact the situation at all. Mule on target server > server change > rename character > got away clean. Why should us legit persons not have an option to do the same name change without the server change?
Also a good point, griefing and unethical conduct is going to happen whether or not a name change service is available.

[katiekat]

Also a good point, griefing and unethical conduct is going to happen whether or not a name change service is available.

true it is just like armed robeary is going to keep on despite the cops, how ever that doesint mean you give the bad guys a cunvinyint and ready made escape plan at the entrants of the bank

i think it is a good idear i just think it mite lead to a lot more problems

[GlobalVariable]

true it is just like armed robeary is going to keep on despite the cops, how ever that doesint mean you give the bad guys a cunvinyint and ready made escape plan at the entrants of the bank

i think it is a good idear i just think it mite lead to a lot more problems

Except we aren't "giving them" anything they don't already have...This is like saying nobody should have cars (yes the analogy is bad so was yours).

[Zyeriis]

Giving them the ability to change their name and stay on the same server, for less money, and the ability to con/screw with the same exact people for a second time, sounds like giving them something to me.

[GlobalVariable]

Giving them the ability to change their name and stay on the same server, for less money, and the ability to con/screw with the same exact people for a second time, sounds like giving them something to me.How's that worse than their ability to just do it to different people on the receiving server and then rotate on back. Its like arguing over gun control in here...



These people need banned, and not used as an excuse not to let the rest of us have nice things.

[Zyeriis]

How's that worse than their ability to just do it to different people on the receiving server and then rotate on back. Its like arguing over gun control in here...



These people need banned, and not used as an excuse not to let the rest of us have nice things.

Running off with a lsbank isn't against the rules, neither is changing your name (via server transfer) to escape the bad name you've made for yourself by being a total dick. Being a total dick isn't against the rules either. So, they can't be banned, or they would be.

[GlobalVariable]

It really doesn't matter, it is still not going to create a significant change in anyone's behavior. These people will keep on doing what their doing. If they really earned that bad reputation they aren't going to magically stop and letting the rest of us have something isn't turning us all into the same kind of jerk.

And frankly if someone is repeatedly disruptive enough to warrant this kind of fear, they should be banned. From what I've personally seen people who do these things aren't "just a jerk" they WILL break rules, the problem is they get away with it and learn they can repeat it.

[Zyeriis]

It really doesn't matter, it is still not going to create a significant change in anyone's behavior. These people will keep on doing what their doing. If they really earned that bad reputation they aren't going to magically stop.

And frankly if someone is repeatedly disruptive enough to warrant this kind of fear, they should be banned. From what I've personally seen people who do these things aren't "just a jerk" they WILL break rules, the problem is they get away with it and learn they can repeat it.

You deny that with lesser limitations (regardless of how much lesser) that there aren't people who would tip their "im not a douche/im a douche" scale the wrong way? They're there, trust me, want to find them? Try probing port jeuno's shout with a mildly idiotic question. The more severe the answer, the more likely that person is to abuse such a system.

"They aren't going to magically stop." What does this have to do with adding such a service? Are you trying to say the opposite of what I'm trying to say: that they would shrink in number? That's a bit absurd, if that's the case.

[GlobalVariable]

These people already exhibit their bad behavior. Not having a name change feature hasn't stopped them from getting away with it all this time. Do you just not care as long as its someone elses server? You realize that another server with them jumping ship easily lands their trash on your to right? Its a two way street there.



You deny that with lesser limitationsYou seem to be assuming we're asking for a system where anyone can change their name at any time any number of times. I don't think anyone wants that. Look at how other games do this 1st...Most only allow it once or have long wait intervals between and both situations have a fee.

[Tsukino_Kaji]

Excuse me but griefers and item/ls bank thiefs already have a way to change names, a name change service isn't going to impact the situation at all. Mule on target server > server change > rename character > got away clean. Why should us legit persons not have an option to do the same name change without the server change?


Side note: I'd really like to get my old character name back, which I know darn well is not in use.Doing so has like a 90 day wait time, what they're talking about would be instantaneous.

[Skyrocket]

i can see people being against it back on my old server we had a guy who was a LS leader steal the ls bank and swich servers and change his name so as not to be cot he get over 40mil in items and gear. if sum one could just pay $10 for it they mite do it more

Well I'm for having character name change services. On the other note maybe SE should make a Linkshell Moogle for linkshell registration and banking. "registration i mean if a ls leader decided to leave the remaining ls members can elect a new leader or inpeach a leader." btw sorry got a little sidetracked.

[GlobalVariable]

Doing so has like a 90 day wait time, what they're talking about would be instantaneousI didn't see anything specifying it had to be instantly repeatable with no wait time. Heck does it need to be repeatable at all? Once per character only even with a significant fee would probably please everyone asking for it.

[LunaticVoice]

I didn't see anything specifying it had to be instantly repeatable with no wait time. Heck does it need to be repeatable at all? Once per character only even with a significant fee would probably please everyone asking for it.

I wouldn't mind a limit of once every 90 days or even once a year with a fee, but I'd never pay more than $15 for it which is already a ludicrously high fee for such a simple service. I only use that as a jumping off point because other MMOs charge a fee for it around that range. Many good arguments have been made and there's really no point in not implementing a Name Change Service because people already do it indirectly with server switches. I think it would please a lot of long-time players who thought a name like "Xsefirothx" or something was cool when they were in high school but want a respectable name for their beloved character 9 years later.

[Ashiee]

There is absolutely no reason why there should not be some type of name change service that you can pay for. Unless it costs SE a ton of money to implement (which I doubt, I am pretty sure they would make a decent chunk of cash out of having a service such as this) it seems like a win/win situation for everyone, SE makes a profit, while people who want a to have a name change have the ability to do so.

People worried about people griefing, I have bad news for you, people who want to grief will find ways of doing it no matter what. With the correct restrictions to a name changing service, such as a high price point, I would say $15 - $25, and a limit to how often you can change your name, such as every 3 -6 months, a name change service would provide people who want to change their name the option to change their name, while not giving griefers much more additional ability to grief then they already can. Back before server transfers were put in place, the same issue came up of how much people would abuse the system, but I’m sure the majority of people would rather have server transfers as an option then not have it as an option. The same is true with this, I’m sure it would do way more good than harm.

At least for me, this service would have been a godsend if it was available. I had my account hacked 3 years ago, and someone on my server was taking the names of people that got hacked when people were having rollbacks/were transferred over to another server and I was one of those people who lost their name. I was able to acquire the name back on a mule after a year or so, but I had no way to change it back. I called a GM five times (at least) trying to have my name changed, yet I was unable to get my name back. Only after these most recent server merger and people being able to change was I able to argue my case with two GM’s for an hour (and again, thank you for being understanding GM Rahlk and GM Enieralera) that I was finally able to change my name. However I could have bypassed all of this if there was a name change service.

Before being able to get my name changed, I considered other options, paying 25$ and go to another server for 3 months, and then pay another $25 dollars to go back, I also considered deleting my character, and calling up SE and telling them it was a mistake and have it restored. Honestly both of those ways are pretty horrible, and extremely inefficient for a name change. I was seriously considering transfer servers for a name change, but I never wanted to leave the server I was on for three months. I was also not willing to risk character deletion due to the fact I had a roll back (I probably would have risked it otherwise).

And I know that more legitimate players that do not want to grief would like this service also. I had two people /tell me asking me how I was able to change my name after I did, and I know from the past 3 or 4 people who have called up GM’s because they wanted to change their names, not for malicious purposes, but just because they were tired of the name they picked years and years ago.

TLTR version:
There is no reason why there should not be a name change service with the right restrictions in place, SE profits, customers profit, the current name change policy is outdated and a pain in the butt.

(also sorry for some messed up spelling/grammar, I was writing this in the middle of a computer science lecture and was trying to pay attention to that to :P)