May we please have a name change option?

[Purrfectstorm]

May we please not have a name change option. The trolling that would occur, the bad players skipping past their bad rep...just no.

I think you're placing too high a relevance to "rep." But besides that, some bad players (not sure if you mean bad attitudes, bad at playing, or both) might actually evolve. It would be pretty harsh to saddle someone with the bad player reputation who has reformed their attitude and/or play. Not to mention there are already work arounds (switching servers, then switching back, etc.) It seems pointless to deny people nice things just because some people will take advantage. This was, is, and will be true of any nice thing ever.

[Mahri]

I think you're placing too high a relevance to "rep." But besides that, some bad players (not sure if you mean bad attitudes, bad at playing, or both) might actually evolve. It would be pretty harsh to saddle someone with the bad player reputation who has reformed their attitude and/or play. Not to mention there are already work arounds (switching servers, then switching back, etc.) It seems pointless to deny people nice things just because some people will take advantage. This was, is, and will be true of any nice thing ever.

An exceedingly good point, and I'm not remotely convinced that "reputation" is a driving force behind player interactions to begin with. Players with poor attitudes who are unable to do well with others are a self-regulating phenomenon (they aren't having fun and so they don't keep playing, at least never for long stretches) -- and as bad a rap as internet anonymity gets, trolls and griefers are actually rather few and far between in this game. The same cannot be said of every MMO, but so far, this one has done alright in that respect.

There are enough ways to make social connections through FCs, alliances, and various linkshells that good communities will form up and maintain themselves as they continue playing together, and also form a regulating force against the occasional bad egg. The ability to change one's name makes ultimately little difference here.

[Bluevann]

technically you already can change name. It's just an expensive procedure:

1: Move your character to another server.
2: Create a character on your original server with the same name as your main character.
3: Move your main character back to your original server. Name change prompt will then occur because your alt has taken your original character's name slot.
4: Delete the alt.

Though I guess this cannot be done if you have the subscription plan that limits you to one character per server :/

[Ehayte]

technically you already can change name. It's just an expensive procedure:

1: Move your character to another server.
2: Create a character on your original server with the same name as your main character.
3: Move your main character back to your original server. Name change prompt will then occur because your alt has taken your original character's name slot.
4: Delete the alt.

I'm totally doing this - how much does a server transfer cost? Like 12 bucks? How long does it take? If its a total cost of $24, I would probably pay $15 to change my name anyways, so I'm only overpaying by 9 bucks, which isn't bad because everyone thinks my name is "I Hate Fates" Which...I mean...I kind of do, but that's not the intention.

[ZaxLavayi]

That would be great!

[necrosis]

Lets add more ways people can troll and get away with it...

[Woggers]

Yeah it seems like a good idea, but I think there will be more trolls coming from it than honest people wanting to change their name to fit within the lore. Blacklisting is not an option for me, I only have room for RMT spammers on there. Lol. I usually just be sure to take a mental picture of the bad players on my server. So name recognition is big for me. If these players were able to change their name and continue to be d-bags because they can continuely change their name would be very frustrating to me.

[Souljacker]

I would like the option as well. If time has proven anything about the FF community, it's that it's impossible to escape a bad reputation. I don't think there is an XI player alive who doesn't know who Feiwong is and that guy was all over the place. Somehow, the community always tracked him down.

[LineageRazor]

I would like the option as well. If time has proven anything about the FF community, it's that it's impossible to escape a bad reputation. I don't think there is an XI player alive who doesn't know who Feiwong is and that guy was all over the place. Somehow, the community always tracked him down.

It isn't hard to avoid gaining a bad reputation. Simple human decency will usually suffice. If someone can't manage that then yes, they are not welcome in the game, they will never be welcome in the game, and they SHOULD be trackable and hounded until they leave the game for good. People can change for the better, it is true - so, these people should accept that they made a mistake, take their changed self to a new game and start fresh with new friends and companions.

There are good reasons to allow name changing and appearance changing. Granting folks the ability to escape a bad reputation is not one of those good reasons. Self-policing through ostricization is pretty much the only recourse left when it comes to bad eggs that don't technically break any rules (and therefore have no grounds for banning).

[Ehayte]

Yeah but...if it costs $20....it would take some serious financial commitments to continue to troll....