Offer a name change feature for FFXI SE.

[Yuriko]

Hey that's a good idea... Have some kind of 'cool down' after changing a name.

[Meyi]

The only other reason (and the only really valid one) I can think of is- you didn't take naming your character seriously when you started playing and either named your character some kind of gibberish or gimmick, and now you want to give it a real name. But even to that I say, "too bad, should have put more thought into it the first time."

For me, in any game, naming is the longest part of character creation. It's hard for me to think of a good name, and I don't want to regret it later, so I take my time with it. In a few cases i've sat staring at the comptuer screen for a good 5-10 minutes or more trying to come up with a name.

I had to go through about 40 minutes of name cycling for my taru before I finally found one that hadn't been taken. I wouldn't be so quick to judge people as 'careless' with names, as not everyone has access to their first pick... or even their fifthieth.

At the time I thought Meyi sounded pretty darn cute. A little taru, a little name. But damn, every single person automatically assumes I'm a chick because it apparently sounds girly. The thought never crossed my mind when I made it, but it can be nerve grading when I have to explain every day to someone new that no, they're wrong.

It is hilarious listening to people try and pronounce my name though. I've gotten May-ee, May-yee (how I pronounce it), Meh-yai, Mee-yay, My-yee, and the most common, meh-yah. Hell, they even spell it Meya! Or Mayi. I think I got Maya once, even...

Name changing makes it easier for jerks/douches/etc to screw over other people after taking the drops/ls bank/gil/etc and running.

They already do this. Speeding up the process won't make douche bags any more douchey. That's just who they are by nature, and they'll strike when the time is right regardless.

I heard the same lame excuse against race/face/hair change and it's ridiculous. Apparently we should hinder the enjoyment of innocent players because of a few rotten apples. And just because you don't want it doesn't mean other people shouldn't have a right to it; I don't like PvP, but I don't mind if other people play it. FFXI is not just my game, it's a game meant to be enjoyable for everyone who plays it. If someone is miserable on this game because of things they cannot control (harassment, being bullied, utter disgust with initial choices) then they should have options to make the game fun again.

Thankfully SE made the game so easy that taking up a new character only takes a month or two, at best. I am very thankful that I dropped my Elvaan and took up my new taru. To anyone else who wants a current fix to names/race/face/hair changes, this option is always available. It really is easy to catch back up to your past character's accomplishments.

It does and has happened with server transfers. If you're actively trying to figure out who's bad and who isn't, you can study the cross server boards on BG, but if you're not someone who lurks on community sites a lot, you're not going to be doing that.

Odds are high if someone feels jipped by a LS leader/douchebag, they will be looking this information up. Otherwise, the person with a new name will just be a new douchebag and will find their way on everyone's blacklist relatively quick.

Not being able to change things like this is also supposed to encourage people to put more thought into them.

See my dilemma above. :/ Most names that aren't ridiculous have already been taken.

You see a lot more nonsense/silly names when you know you can just change it after it gets old.

Does it really matter if someone has a ridiculous name?

Not to mention the bandwagon namechanges when some new monster comes out or some character in some anime becomes popular.

Does this matter? Can only have one per server.

I see it all the time. After Odin came out, we got more than one server transfer resulting in a name change to one of Odin's TP moves etc.

Cool. I personally like seeing FFXI based names running around. I named my Alchemy mule Romidiant after my adventuring fellow.

Frivolous names and reputation escape attempts to me is something to be concerned about.

At least you made sure to leave this as an opinion.


Hm, I have to wonder if naysayers to this suggestion would also be against people leveling up a new character on the same account. Someone could easily run away with money, or items (preferably mog house deliverable ones), or be a jerk, then create another character on their account and swipe all of that information over. If they go invisible on their Friend's list, previous people won't see them as online. This might still be trackable, but it's a possible loop around the current system. The punishment here is, instead of $5-20 to change names, the person just has to relevel a character and catch it back up. As I said earlier it's not hard.

Personally I just like being able to walk down Port Jeuno and know who 90% of the people there are. Relearning names is confusing.

"What? Vigor? Who's Vigor? Oh, you mean Barbarossa? Wait, he was banned and bought a new character? Again? God dammit"

This I will agree with. I always tell people I was Kin so that they know who I am (I didn't create a character to 'hide'), but I'm sure it was confusing for some. I've had a few friends who had to change their names because of the server hop and it was sometimes difficult remembering their new spelling/new name.

I'm not sure I would change my name. I'd like the option to be available, should I ever break down and want it, but for now Meyi is pretty unique. If I did change it, I'd definitely change it to something incredibly masculine, like Butch, or Tom, or maybe even Iamamandaysu. Mm, that last one rolls right off the tongue...

[Volkai]

The only other reason (and the only really valid one) I can think of is- you didn't take naming your character seriously when you started playing and either named your character some kind of gibberish or gimmick, and now you want to give it a real name. But even to that I say, "too bad, should have put more thought into it the first time."

For me, in any game, naming is the longest part of character creation. It's hard for me to think of a good name, and I don't want to regret it later, so I take my time with it. In a few cases i've sat staring at the comptuer screen for a good 5-10 minutes or more trying to come up with a name.

I'm disappointed in you for this post. You can do better than this in thinking of valid reasons.

I don't know about you, but I've taken my time in thinking up some good character names, and I have a LOT of them.

I shouldn't need to 1) make a mule 2) buy a server transfer 3) wait three months, and then 4) change servers again as well as 5) shell out USD$50 (see steps 2 and 4) to change my character name without changing servers or starting over.

SO hey, here's another Valid Reason to want to do a Name Change: Roleplaying.


Also, 5-10 minutes is a pretty short amount of time to think up a good name.


Seriously, instead of asking "why should someone be able to change their name?" let's ask why someone should NOT be able to change their name, and see if the possible answers to that can't be effectively neutralized.


Reasons someone should NOT be able to change their character name in FFXI:

1] They're trying to avoid the consequences of abusing other players (in a manner that violates ToS)
-- counterpoint: Character IDs do not change where names do, with a zone and time the offending character can still be tracked down by GMs.

2] Blacklist evasion
-- counterpoint: Blacklist based on character ID instead of name makes it impossible to evade blacklist by name change.

3] They're trying to avoid the social consequences of abusing other players (in a manner that does not violate ToS)
-- counterpoint: It's not SE's responsibility to manage this since the behavior they are partaking in is within the terms of service. Deal with it. Also, remember this is more of a niche case than you might think, considering that all manner of harassing violates ToS.

I don't understand this bit about people "screwed over by server merges."

Ask Pikko about it.

[Kristal]

Ask Pikko about it.

The only people that got screwed over this way were the people from the 1st merge when SE forgot to disable new character creation on the destination servers. Those people should be given a chance to reclaim their name, although it would have to be on a case-by-case basis. A lvl 1 mule has little right to the name, since it was most likely made in an attempt to grief the source server player. But if that name was taken by someone actually playing the game, it's a different matter and they should keep it. Regardless if it is held by a 3-year inactive player.

As for other people wanting to change their name.. keep in mind that your ideal name is very likely taken. As is anything remotely like it. And even if you did get one you like, what's to keep SE from reducing the number of servers even further? Then you paid for your name change in vain. I'm sure some server jumpers must have had that happen to them...

[Modoru]

Honestly, I wouldn't pay for it, even if it's kinda dorky to have this name at this point; but does it *really* bother anyone?

Like, does it really break the game? Let people change their name if they want, it's their money; let them figure it out if they can't get the name they want.

[svengalis]

I see Square Enix is avoiding this thread like the plague.

[SNK]

I would be also honestly. :|

[Juri_Licious]

I see Square Enix is avoiding this thread like the plague.

I know right.

[FrankReynolds]

If this became a problem, SE could easily remove the feature again. Really nothing to argue about.

[Tsukino_Kaji]

I had to go through about 40 minutes of name cycling for my taru before I finally found one that hadn't been taken. I wouldn't be so quick to judge people as 'careless' with names, as not everyone has access to their first pick... or even their fifthieth.

I would wholy atribute this to a lack of unoriginality. If it's the 15th one you've come up with, then you should have been able to put more forthought into it then most and be satisfied with what you have now. Therefor, there should be no reason for you to want to change it. So then, what's your reasoning for supporting it?