Change character(s) name(s)

[Belmonts]

Which is why no one should have to give up an old account name, even an inactive one just to humor your whim.

Really I'm thinking over the guys who choose a good char name, played 4-5 years ago for like 3 months and quit for good. But again is making me to put a time-limit without any research whatsoever on the DB info. But pretty sure I'm not exaggerating that they are plenty of those cases.

You want to have a new character name... make a new character. Why should development time be wasted on implementing something as trivial as a name change,

Because is not a matter of making a new char with a new name, is to be able to get names that are lost forever in a deactivated account that is, probably, never going to be activated again.

Point is really.
* If it does exist and is on an active account = you're screwed and you must rename/make a new char and as you kindly stated, we deal with it.
* If it does exist on a long ago deactivated account = sorry, but that name should be available again.

when there are more important issues, like modifying NM resistances, job changes, etc.?

Oh I can't be more agree with you on that, but honestly this service implementation shouldn't be an excuse/reason for SE to be as lazy/slow with the in-game stuff that is necessary. Even they can/are pipe-lining a lot of stuff so should't be a problem at all. ^_^

[Sarick]

So when those players come back, how are they going to reaquire their original name? Why should they lose their rights automatically while you retain yours until a time of your chosing?

You chose your own character's name. Deal with it.

I choose my name before anyone on my original server. In fact, mine was the first version across all severs. All my SE stuff dealing with the game was linked to that name both internal and external. I have the same SE mail, handle etc. that is across ALL servers. The fact that I was moved to another server with an inactive player who's just locking up my name isn't my fault. I joined the game with an original name that wasn't taken until after someone copied me.

It's silly that you think they should get rights in your above quote. They don't pay/play anymore so they aren't renting the rights to use that name. If they come back it's simple. Make them change their name, after all they're the ones who quit not me. Why should the paying customer get treated equal to one that isn't?

[svengalis]

This has been brought up quite a few times, I don't think SE has responded yet but I to would like a name change service.

[Belmonts]

This has been brought up quite a few times, I don't think SE has responded yet but I to would like a name change service.

That is why we need to speak up so they can hear us. At least we can try. ^_^

[Llana_Virren]

Sarick, I do not have an issue with the idea of a name change. My issue is the way in which the suggestion is being brought up.

SE has, in the past, given items to players for "returning to FFXI." The idea is that you reward loyalty, yes, but you also want to maintain good relations with former players so as to keep them "in the pool" so to speak for future games/installments.

I'm turning into a broken record here, but I do not have an issue with the idea of a name-change option. However, I think that this should be considered without the additional intent of removing character names from other accounts, whether they are active or not. Yes, you are still paying/playing, and I'm sure you feel like you've accomplished a lot in the years you have played; I simply do not subscribe to the idea that name-changing is such a critical, over-due adjustment, that it warrants the steps being suggested.

Find a way to impliment a name-change option without affecting other accounts, and I'll gladly jump on board.

[Sarick]

Sarick, I do not have an issue with the idea of a name change. My issue is the way in which the suggestion is being brought up.

It only takes a single ping-pong ball to start a chain reaction when you throw it into a room full of loaded mouse traps.

SE has, in the past, given items to players for "returning to FFXI." The idea is that you reward loyalty, yes, but you also want to maintain good relations with former players so as to keep them "in the pool" so to speak for future games/installments.

Quitters aren't loyal if they quit in the first place unless it's because an act of god. Maintaining good relations with the non-paying customers over paying customers is like paying yourself to laugh. These players gave up on the game and could care less about their names at this point. The players who are still playing that where forced into changing their names do care though and therefore should be given the chance to keep their names over someone who may never return.

However, I think that this should be considered without the additional intent of removing character names from other accounts, whether they are active or not.[/B] Yes, you are still paying/playing, and I'm sure you feel like you've accomplished a lot in the years you have played; I simply do not subscribe to the idea that name-changing is such a critical, over-due adjustment, that it warrants the steps being suggested.

Why do you think it's unimportant? Just because you don't care about something doesn't indicate it's okay. The non-playing customers names are like usable telephone numbers. You can only have so many in one area code. Clearly if they keep those names reserved over a long period they aren't helping the community. In my case they did something far more destructive. They moved me to another area code, then let someone who didn't pay for service several years keep my personal number that I paid to personalize.

Find a way to impliment a name-change option without affecting other accounts, and I'll gladly jump on board.

Why would it matter if you jumped on board? My complaint is people got name jacked or they've had their names reserved for delinquent accounts when the severs merged. Honestly, with a straight face I can say these names most likely have no immediate value to their original owners. With all these delinquent accounts it's not like any good original names are left to began with. So, by saying you support the name-change option without affecting other accounts you've placed an infeasible wall on your point of view. It's like consciously saying I support sleepwalking while unconscious.

We can't underestimate the limits of another persons emotional attachment if we ourselves can't understand what that value is to others. Names do have meaning and value if they didn't then people wouldn't invest the time to personalize in one they can appreciate.

The quitters don't care about their old name if they've been gone a year or more why should you? I know one thing, I still want my original name back. Hopefully, this at least is worth something in the eyes of the people reading this post. For those that still disagree they fail to realize returning players aren't super attached to the game anyway as such, can more easily choose a new identity or even start over.

[Llana_Virren]

Ok, so this will be my last post on the matter; you're obviously not appreciating any point of view other than your own, because you're so personally impacted by a forced name-change that you are unwilling to see any other viewpoint on the matter.

Despite your suggestion that I don't care because it doesn't affect me, the position I have maintained is that forcing someone else to change their name so that you can get yours back is hypocritical, and therefore stupid.

I'll point this out below, although I doubt you'll read it.

Quitters aren't loyal if they quit in the first place unless it's because an act of god. Maintaining good relations with the non-paying customers over paying customers is like paying yourself to laugh. These players gave up on the game and could care less about their names at this point. The players who are still playing that where forced into changing their names do care though and therefore should be given the chance to keep their names over someone who may never return.

You're suggesting that some sort of "authority" bordering on an inquisition party, round up all these allegedly inactive accounts and figure out if they quit due to an act of God? You do not even know if the character name you want is taken by an active member or not, or if it is a mule. You're reaching out for a possibility that the name you want is not being used.

If you (or another player) was forced to do a world-merge (and really, you should have foreseen this if you've ever played an MMO over a long period of time), you have no way of knowing how long that other player has been playing the game. You're suggesting that this is somehow an on-going, rampant issue, and it isn't one. If the name-change option brought up here was not attached to some sort of inquisition then I could see the benefit. As of right now, however, it is looking like the deranged rantings of a crime-less "victim."

Why do you think it's unimportant? Just because you don't care about something doesn't indicate it's okay. The non-playing customers names are like usable telephone numbers. You can only have so many in one area code. Clearly if they keep those names reserved over a long period they aren't helping the community. In my case they did something far more destructive. They moved me to another area code, then let someone who didn't pay for service several years keep my personal number that I paid to personalize.

Again, me, me, me. This issue affected you so horribly that you're convinced something must be done to repair this horrible injustice. Get. Over. Yourself. You don't even know that the character who has "your name" quit, or how long they've been a playing member. So while you're over here lighting torches and raising pitchforks, some poor, helpless soul has no idea how angry you are at them for something as insignificant to game-play as a character name. Did having to change your character name irreparably damaged the content of the game for you?

Why would it matter if you jumped on board? My complaint is people got name jacked or they've had their names reserved for delinquent accounts when the severs merged. Honestly, with a straight face I can say these names most likely have no immediate value to their original owners. With all these delinquent accounts it's not like any good original names are left to began with. So, by saying you support the name-change option without affecting other accounts you've placed an infeasible wall on your point of view. It's like consciously saying I support sleepwalking while unconscious.

Emphasis added, because you're using opinion to support fact, instead of fact to support opinion. Interestingly, it shouldn't matter if I jumped on board. But if my opinion on the matter carried such little weight, you wouldn't be so inclined to try and persuade me (and others) that you're a victim of some crime-less circumstance.

Your sleepwalking example indicates how handicapped your understanding of my viewpoint is, so let's try this one more time: my point of view is no more (or less) reasonable (or unreasonable) as yours. You are incapable of allowing me to disagree with you, despite my efforts to be civil and respectful in my opposing view. So, Nice_Mode is off.

I support any idea to improve FFXI, the game play, content, or player relations. I do not, however, support any effort to prioritize player "loyalties" due to jobs levelled, time played, or time joined. I understand that when your world got merged, you had to change your name. For the sake of my argument, this could have been because you moved OR because the character on the world you were moving to had been playing longer. Making someone else change their name for your own agenda is not a suggestion for FFXI improvement. It's selfish, hypocritical, and shows that you are more worried about the name of your character than the world in which you play it.

We can't underestimate the limits of another persons emotional attachment if we ourselves can't understand what that value is to others. Names do have meaning and value if they didn't then people wouldn't invest the time to personalize in one they can appreciate.

But in your effort to regain your own name, you're automatically assuming that anyone else with your name has less, or no attachment to the name themselves. Are you really this obtuse to the arrogance of that argument?

The quitters don't care about their old name if they've been gone a year or more why should you? I know one thing, I still want my original name back. Hopefully, this at least is worth something in the eyes of the people reading this post. For those that still disagree they fail to realize returning players aren't super attached to the game anyway as such, can more easily choose a new identity or even start over.

You've done enough to demonstrate how no one else cares about their name but you. This is your white whale, Captain Ahab, and the only way to break this obsession is to get over it, or quit the game while you're ahead. Because if you're still this butthurt about your character name, you're in need of serious help. You have suggestions for how everyone else can do something different except for you. And for that reason I'm done trying to be a part of this meaningless debate.

[Reiterpallasch]

It's a shame we can't get SE to seriously consider a paid name change service, all because the retarded 'special people' always have to bombard every thread about it with their endless QQing.

Contrary to popular belief, their isn't some huge hoard of rich dbags willing to constantly pay money to change their name just to @#$% with you.

[Trisscar]

I would like to see Namingway implemented too. And then I would like to every single person with a populistic 'cool sounding' name be forced to use that service or face the ban stick. All joking aside, where do I go to to return my character's name back to her original one?

[Meyi]

"Be more creative"... hmm...

Sometimes, people just happen to create the same name twice. Such as, my name Meyi came from a language I've been creating, yet there is a Meyi on Carbuncle, Lakshmi, Ragnarok and Ramuh, and several other Meyi* names on other servers. As far as I'm aware, there is no tie of Meyi and Final Fantasy, and as far as I'm aware, it's not a common word of some existing language. Provided it is a simple four letter name, I don't find it to be a common name. If I lost the name, I would feel a part of my identity was lost, and might not feel connected enough to my character to even want to play him anymore. My connection to the game is already unstable.

However, I know I'd be very devastated to lose the name "Romidiant". It's the name of my Adventuring Fellow, it's now the name of my Alchemy mule, and I've come to be very attached to the name. I've had it for years. Being forced onto another server where my names may already exist, and therefore forces me to change character names I've become attached to, is wrong. I got lucky when I was forced from Seraph to Bismarck; I only had to change the name of a taru mule (Kinky to Kinkypoo). But I know there are other servers with my characters' names on them, and I don't want to lose them.

The only way to "be more creative" is to keyboard smash. The more characters, the lower the probability of someone else having the same combination as you. And who wants Sdfjkghfghb for their name?

Learn to have some compassion for people... some sympathy...