Make surnames optional.

[Rhianu]

Surnames were a really cool idea in theory, but the way they were implemented was horribly, horribly wrong.

What's wrong about it, you ask? The fact that players are forced to use them, that's what.

Back in 2010, Hiromichi Tanaka said that surnames were implemented to ensure that players could always get the name they wanted. Well guess what? The name I want is just one name: Rhianu. But the game didn't allow me to have just this name, instead forcing me to tack-on a second name after it. The surname system did not ensure I would get the name I wanted. In fact, it did exactly the opposite. It deprived me of my desired name.

I do not want to have two names for my character. I want to have only one name. Forcing me to have two names takes away my freedom of choice and makes it impossible for me to create the online persona I truly want.

Not to mention the fact that surnames also make everyone's names extremely long, which is annoying because it fills more screen space and makes it take longer to type out someone's name when sending a /tell.

Also, for some odd reason I've found that it also makes it harder to recognize people when everyone has such long names. Not sure why that is, but it just is.

I understand that surnames do carry with them certain advantages, such as being able to get any first name you want even if it's already taken, as well as enabling an extra layer of creativity and cleverness that simply isn't possible otherwise, but these advantages are offset by the disadvantages I've listed above. But if surnames were optional, all the advantages they entail could still be gained without any of the disadvantages that come with forcing them.

[Arya]

Surnames were a really cool idea in theory, but the way they were implemented was horribly, horribly wrong.

What's wrong about it, you ask? The fact that players are forced to use them, that's what.

Back in 2010, Hiromichi Tanaka said that surnames were implemented to ensure that players could always get the name they wanted. Well guess what? The name I want is just one name: Rhianu. But the game didn't allow me to have just this name, instead forcing me to tack-on a second name after it. The surname system did not ensure I would get the name I wanted. In fact, it did exactly the opposite. It deprived me of my desired name.

I do not want to have two names for my character. I want to have only one name. Forcing me to have two names takes away my freedom of choice and makes it impossible for me to create the online persona I truly want.

Not to mention the fact that surnames also make everyone's names extremely long, which is annoying because it fills more screen space and makes it take longer to type out someone's name when sending a /tell.

Also, for some odd reason I've found that it also makes it harder to recognize people when everyone has such long names. Not sure why that is, but it just is.

I understand that surnames do carry with them certain advantages, such as being able to get any first name you want even if it's already taken, as well as enabling an extra layer of creativity and cleverness that simply isn't possible otherwise, but these advantages are offset by the disadvantages I've listed above. But if surnames were optional, all the advantages they entail could still be gained without any of the disadvantages that come with forcing them.

I suppose it would be nice to have an option to turn them off on your screen if you want (course, if you have 2 people with the same name you may need to be psychic as to who is who if they're same race and same gear/class - which does sometimes happen).

As for the creativity/cleverness, I don't know which server you're on, but on Cornelia there are plenty of unoriginal names that make you want to wince every time you look around (just as it used to be in FFXI as well). I don't think you can prevent that completely (short of banning everyone with a mis-spelt game/tv/movie/RL celeb name - which would probably leave only 100 ppl on each server, lol).

[Eruantien]

gotta love the quests that take the piss out of that, hey xxsephirothxx, xxxxcloudzxxxx, sephirof etc XD

[Veasna]

They need to implement that system of being able to make nicknames for people on your friendslist and use those to send tells to. Such a system was talked about a long time ago but with all the other problems with the game they never started on this it seems.

Maybe they can give us the option to turn off on our screen a) our own name and b) everyones lastnames. I'm not for complete removal of surnames, not for the amount of work that comes with doing this and also because a lot of people have picked suited names due to this feature. It's just opening another can of worms.

[Rhianu]

I'm not for complete removal of surnames, not for the amount of work that comes with doing this and also because a lot of people have picked suited names due to this feature. It's just opening another can of worms.

I didn't say remove surnames, I said make them optional. In other words, allow people to give their characters a surname if they want, but don't force them to have one.

[Zenaku]

They need to implement that system of being able to make nicknames for people on your friendslist and use those to send tells to. Such a system was talked about a long time ago but with all the other problems with the game they never started on this it seems.

Maybe they can give us the option to turn off on our screen a) our own name and b) everyones lastnames. I'm not for complete removal of surnames, not for the amount of work that comes with doing this and also because a lot of people have picked suited names due to this feature. It's just opening another can of worms.

How about you make a topic about it? To remind SE about the system of nickname that was said a long time ago.

[REDace0]

I like the surname system and didn't have a problem with it myself. I managed to come up with a surname I'm happy with and I like that I got to pick an easy first name. On the other hand I can definitely see how this is a problem. Maybe they should let you turn surnames off display and let the game assign you a surname that fits the world if you don't care to have one.

[Yogard]

Yes, I know, old thread and all, but this is pretty much what I would have created a thread for anyways.


I think I brought this up already at the Alpha stage and I never really had hopes for anything to happen and here we are. I completely agree that we should not be forced into this but I would also not want them to remove it completely as some seem to be suggesting in the other similar threads.

Personally I would like to see a possibility for anything from one to at most maybe three part names. As in for example: Conan, Conan Destroyer, Conan of Barbarism. Don't ask why I used Conan there (the answer is: I don't know).

It is utterly silly to force players into this and there is no reason why anyone should be against such a change, I think.


The nick-name idea sounds good too, and the channel-system itself could greatly ease the communications if we were able to create our own channels (and merge that battle channel into the one dang window), with tabs for each that you have open where you could simply type in your messages as if it was the default channel.

Imagine tabs for private channels, linkshells, and more. And again, I'm not saying it should be completely changed from what it is if some players actually like it (I kind of doubt that but I've seen weirder stuff). More customisation for all!

Or is it... ~cough~ PS3-limitations?


Either way, I digress, that is a story for another thread.


I do find it rather peculiar how in FFXI you can not have any spaces, and seemingly most NPCs do have at least one space in their name, but in XIV, it seems to be the other way around, completely.

[Dragoy]

Looks at his post... Wrote a lot again, did you not? It is intended as a reference to show the hardships that come with character naming in FINAL FANTASY XIV. Sorry for the slight off-topic nature of the first part, but I felt like telling the story, and this seems as good a place as any.

It is a background story, not something to be discussed here.


Back in Alpha, I imagined it was an error, and even reported it as such but noticed now that it still is there: I can not use the name 'Dragoy', at all.

So I decided to finally find out what is wrong with it.

I tried all kinds of letter combinations, bad words, and others, to compare the error messages and see what is allowed and what not. I quickly learned it is 'goy' that makes the name 'bad'. I was flabbergasted. Did they make a typo in the filter?

Well, a quick search provides the answer, quoting wikipedia:

Goy (Hebrew: גוי‎, regular plural goyim גוים or גויים) is a Hebrew biblical term for "nation". By Roman times it had also acquired the meaning of "non-Jew".[1] The latter is also its meaning in Yiddish.

By the Goddess, a religious reference! This does not bode well. Actually, it bodes ill. I fail to see the offensiveness of it, though, but then again, there are not many things that I do find offensive, so I guess I just don't count...

It's not like the name I am trying to use is 'Goy Whatever', either, so they are actually going the lazy route and they just filter 'goy' instead of handling names which players report to them due to being clearly offensive. No, instead, they render every name that has 'goy', or anything else that is filtered in it unusable, offensive, and derogatory.

Quite frankly I might be offended by that. =þ
It makes sense for the most common words, but for something like this? Really?


My first inquiry to the Customer Service yielded a funny answer, in short: "Names can not be used if they are already in use. Also the name of a character can not be changed after its creation."

Clearly they did not even bother reading even half of my text, but more importantly, they also wrote that: "Finally, there is no set rule against the use of the syllable 'goy'."

So okay, maybe the person was just not aware of which game we are even talking about; perhaps they were thinking of another set of filters. Mistakes happen and at least I didn't actually pay for that eMail (except with my time and the internet connection that is needed, but I digress).

So, I proceeded with a new inquiry, referring to the previous one, and this time they had found out that 'goy' is indeed illegal. Moreover, it indeed is so because of the fact that it may in some situations be considered derogatory.
Heck, even the 'Urban Dictionary', which can make nearly everything and anything offensive I might add, has this to say: "Usually neutral, despite persistent untrue rumors that it is derogatory. It should only be considered offensive when it is used in a context indicating that it's intended as an insult."

That should mean something!
I, for one, have never even heard of the word, until now.


But that is as they say, that.
Religion is a touchy subject for companies, and I understand it, but I for one am suggesting them to allow more variety by not simply blocking certain strings of letters. Instead make it easy and intuitive for players to report names that which they find offensive, and then deal with them.

So I would implore anyone that might be affected by this, and other strings of letters, to use the Suggestions & Feedback option at the Support Centre, and let them know.


Same goes for naming in general. As good Sir Yogard mentions there ~cough~ I do not see why we can't have a maximum of three parts for names, simply 1-3. Sure, it might confuddle the chat-system, but that needs to be changed anyways. The images of XIV 2.0 have a shimmer of hope when I look at the chat-window there. It might actually be possible to create channels within the window, and I would hope you could simply open channels as 'private chats' that will deliver your messages to the character without the text commands entirely.

But that again, is for another topic, even if somewhat related.


For those who do not feel like reading the above, at all: Send your Suggestions & Feedback, make use of it, so that the naming-system has more chances of becoming more versatile, and user-friendly!

I would also like to note that the replies regarding this via eMail were received very swiftly and for that I commend the Customer Service. Fastest was 20 minutes or so I think!


Okay.
Before I think of anything else to say...
Blubb!

[grandm]

don't make it optional just get rid of it, i hate it the OP was right its too long when sending a tell, also ppl love obscure names its bad enough when they have one obscure name. i got to double check the spelling coz it just don't look right, but when they have two. and the tell wont send i got to double check then check again see which of the names i got wrong, boo to this system.

ironicly my name Gandm Aseabrute might seem a little obscure i know :P