Free Up Names (Suggestion)

Hey everyone,

As I was looking to change my name, I came across so many inactive level 1 characters - some of which I have been keeping an eye on for years through Lodestone. I feel like there should be a system in place where a character that has clearly been made just to “gatekeep” a name should get auto-deleted after a reasonable amount of time.

Please keep in mind that I do not mean characters that have been leveled and were actually in use and have some sort of progress. I’m only referring to the inactive characters that have been level 1 or a low level (1-20?) for a long, long time.

Would this be possible to do or is this not considered an issue by the majority?

I'm not against this coming to the game, but I am wondering how you got into the situation in which a name you want is taken. Due to being able to use first names and surnames it is incredibly unlikely that someone would have both parts of the full name you want...unless the name you want is from a famous character in media, example: Cloud Strife. Or if you're trying to be as generic as possible with a John Smith sort of name.

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Originally Posted by Penthea

I'm not against this coming to the game, but I am wondering how you got into the situation in which a name you want is taken. Due to being able to use first names and surnames it is incredibly unlikely that someone would have both parts of the full name you want...unless the name you want is from a famous character in media, example: Cloud Strife. Or if you're trying to be as generic as possible with a John Smith sort of name.

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I’ve tried using my real life name and some variants of it but unfortunately they are all taken on my server, mostly by level 1 characters. It seems inevitable as FFXIV has been out for 10+ years, so all the inactive low level characters made over that decade (or less depending on server) have accumulated. I genuinely hope something will be done about it, but if not - oh well. It’s certainly not a priority issue but it would free up so many names: both popular, generic names but also others.

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Originally Posted by Cherrycubus

I’ve tried using my real life name and some variants of it

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I highly recommend not doing that, for potentially obvious information reasons.

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Originally Posted by Jijifli

I highly recommend not doing that, for potentially obvious information reasons.

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Thank you for your concern! However, I have 8 names and I simply use my more dormant, unknown names, so no safety issues there as I’m publicly only traceable/known for 2 of them (which I won’t use as my character name).

You can also visit other worlds on your data center, and soon even other data centers, so is the name you want taken on every single world?

I haven't seen anyone else express that this is an issue. Most people just get it from the random name generator or a non-random name they came up with that fits the lore in the same way.

I wouldn't recommend using your real life information. That is best kept between you and those you trust.

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Originally Posted by Jeeqbit

You can also visit other worlds on your data center, and soon even other data centers, so is the name you want taken on every single world?

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I unfortunately can’t leave my world as I’m in a free company with friends and I don’t want to leave them behind... I guess I’ll just have to accept it then.. I guess I’m glad not many consider this to be an issue, though. Thank you for your message!

I don't mind some kind of name culling, but at what point do you draw the line? Lv 2? Lv 10? Lv 30? Last log-in date? I would propose the point just beyond the limits of the trial accounts, so that trial accounts can't be used to keep names.

I don't think it is an inherent right of a player to keep names using unplayed characters. It should be the realm of the TOS decide on this, so I don't mind it.

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Originally Posted by Zfz

I don't mind some kind of name culling, but at what point do you draw the line? Lv 2? Lv 10? Lv 30? Last log-in date? I would propose the point just beyond the limits of the trial accounts, so that trial accounts can't be used to keep names.

I don't think it is an inherent right of a player to keep names using unplayed characters. It should be the realm of the TOS decide on this, so I don't mind it.

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That’s a really good point and I agree! That would be perfect.

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Originally Posted by Cherrycubus

I’ve tried using my real life name and some variants of it

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Be very careful with this. Even the most cautious people can fall prey to a creep who knows how to dig for information you think is safe. It is particularly unsafe if you have ever used your real name in any social media. I would stick with variants if you really want a tie in with your real name. Perhaps consider using a version of your name in a different language? For example if your name is Flora you could use Florette. Maybe for the surname look up the origins behind your own surname and use a word relating to that. My own real life surname means "vigilant" which is an entirely different word to my actual surname so something like that would be safe to use.

Also your current name is pretty cute :)

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Originally Posted by Penthea

Also your current name is pretty cute :)

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I’ll definitely stick with variants and aww thank you so much! ♥️

Echoing everyone else bringing up the dangers of putting personal info online. I used to play a game where internet warfare was basically commonplace. I simply had an old username connected to a dead FaceBook I never used (and forgot it existed entirely) until all of my info ended up in a doxx, followed by my IP getting exposed and pizzas delivered to my house (hence why mine now resets every 2 hours). I know pizza is tame but I've also heard horror stories from friends of stalkers showing up in their town and sending them photos as proof. So, just be careful. People are nuts with how deep they'll go to find someone either out of plain boredom or obsession.

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Originally Posted by Zfz

I don't mind some kind of name culling, but at what point do you draw the line? Lv 2? Lv 10? Lv 30? Last log-in date?

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WoW does this and has a cutoff of 'hasn't played for two expansions.' So someone who hadn't played since HW (or SB, come EW) will have their names freed up. Character names aren't immediately deleted or anything, they just become available to use. If someone else claims them the old players will be forced to remame themselves if and when they ever play again.

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Originally Posted by Jijifli

I highly recommend not doing that, for potentially obvious information reasons.

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I will often use my real first and last name (shortened) for usernames. I wish I was creative.. For me, my first, last, and even middle name are common anglo names it probably doesn't even matter... :(

Maybe they also have a common name? :p

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Originally Posted by Brightamethyst

WoW does this and has a cutoff of 'hasn't played for two expansions.' So someone who hadn't played since HW (or SB, come EW) will have their names freed up. Character names aren't immediately deleted or anything, they just become available to use. If someone else claims them the old players will be forced to remame themselves if and when they ever play again.

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i actually do not support this. unplayed level 1, sure, but not any character. people are already stressed enough about not being able to take breaks via housing as it is that we don't need to stress folks who don't own housing. there are people who take extended breaks and want to keep their names, i don't think forcing name changes on them should someone else take their name is fair.

(to clarify, i am not saying this is something you agree with, just i don't agree with blizzard's methods of freeing names.)

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Originally Posted by Zomkei

(to clarify, i am not saying this is something you agree with, just i don't agree with blizzard's methods of freeing names.)

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The thing is WoW actually needs name culling. You can have only a one word name in that game, which can make finding an available name you like be very troublesome. I have spent several hours trying to find a name in WoW. It was especially difficult if I wanted a lore appropriate name. Sometimes the most obscure names in my tiny country's language, that is only spoken there, were taken. Sometimes even names I made up were taken. Many times I have had to settle for a name I didn't like because trying to find one I do enjoy felt like a lost cause. Furthermore you can now have the 50 character limit all on one server, so you can literally save 50 names in one server. FFXIV does not have this situation at all given we can have a max of only 8 characters per server.

In FFXIV name culling is significantly less needed because the likelihood that someone would have the exact combination of first name and surname you want is very low unless you want to use something from popular media or a common set of names that sound like one from real life. There is so much freedom with creativity by having two part names for characters. I was so incredibly happy when I saw that surnames were in FFXIV. Choosing my name for my first character in FFXIV was the first time in my 16+ years of mmos that my top choice for a name was not taken without going to a dead server.

While I don't think name culling is much needed in FFXIV I'm not against it. However I am against culling the name of any character at lvl 50 or higher. Players do come back after years sometimes, and it would suck if the name of a character you poured so many hours in to is no longer yours. If you are at least max lvl for the base game then the name should be yours forever.

And before anyone says "who cares? It's just a name" well for many of us being called by something we're not fond of does diminish our enjoyment in the game.

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Originally Posted by Penthea

The thing is WoW actually needs name culling. You can have only a one word name in that game, which can make finding an available name you like be very troublesome. I have spent several hours trying to find a name in WoW. It was especially difficult if I wanted a lore appropriate name. Sometimes the most obscure names in my tiny country's language, that is only spoken there, were taken. Sometimes even names I made up were taken. Many times I have had to settle for a name I didn't like because trying to find one I do enjoy felt like a lost cause. Furthermore you can now have the 50 character limit all on one server, so you can literally save 50 names in one server. FFXIV does not have this situation at all given we can have a max of only 8 characters per server.

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i actually didn't know this. i haven't played since pandaria, so hearing that you can now have 50 characters on one server is a shock lol. i suppose that's fair in WoW's case, though like you said, something that isn't needed in XIV.

Imagine being one without a namesake. X.X
Be extra careful.

Well the character definitely shouldn't get deleted. Other games handle this by changing the name of the idle character. But you have to be careful with rules. It would need to be not just an inactive character but also on an inactive account and idle for some specific amount of time. If someone's still paying for their sub, it doesn't matter if they are playing the character or not. Those characters shouldn't be touched because that's part of what they're paying for each month.

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Originally Posted by Zomkei

i actually do not support this. unplayed level 1, sure, but not any character. people are already stressed enough about not being able to take breaks via housing as it is that we don't need to stress folks who don't own housing. there are people who take extended breaks and want to keep their names, i don't think forcing name changes on them should someone else take their name is fair.

(to clarify, i am not saying this is something you agree with, just i don't agree with blizzard's methods of freeing names.)

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I also don't think it's necessary in FFXIV but it's practically required in WoW.

WoW only uses one word names and doesn't have class changing like XIV. If you want to play a difference class you need another character, meaning most players have entire stables of characters. That leads to situations where bigger and older servers are effectively out of regular names. They have to free up names periodically and "account has been inactive for 2+ expansions" feels like a reasonable cutoff.

In FFXIV this is a complete non-issue though because two part names and a much smaller number of characters per server means any given name, or something close to it, will probably be available. Unless you want some specific popular name (I imagine there's probably a Jon Snow on every server) what are the odds someone else wants the exact same name as you? (I've met other Jennas and other Starsongs, but according to the Lodestone I'm the only Jenna Starsong in the whole game.)

Not really a necessary feature since we have surnames. On the other hand I guess there isn't really a reason to not have this feature either.

Keep in mind though that even if there was a system to free up names it doesn't mean the names you wish to have would become available. That level 1 inactive character may be an alt of someone who plays every day. Also in a game where people sub just to keep a house they have no use for, players who want to reserve names would simply fulfil any new requirements in order to do so.