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!