Removing unaccessed lvl1 characters

[Kosmos992k]

I'd imagine it'd be for names. Maybe there's a level 1 cloud strife and they want the name....

they could delete inactive accounts characters though. would likely require an email notification to the registered address or something giving that player a chance to log on and keep it sort of thing. kinda like what they do with reclaiming housing plots but on a longer time frame.

that said I have a couple of level 1 characters that hold names I've used in the past or may use again in future. if I ever change race again.

long term it can become a problem admittedly. you can look at things like xbox live or psn, hell even gmail lol. where its almost impossible to get an id that doesn't have a million numbers at the end or some other babble so yeah I can see a valid argument for removing long standing inactive accounts / names.

I really don't see this as an issue, names are unique only within the server you are on, the worst that should be needed would be changing the spelling or adding an initial or something. Look at one of the more common female character names drawn from popular fiction, Asuna from SAO; there are only 2 Asuna YYuki's in the entire game, but probably one Asuna Yuki on each and every server. A slight alteration in spelling fixes it in most cases.

Other variations that would work would include;
A'suna Yuki
Asuna Y'Yuki
Asuna Yuk'i
Asuna' Yuki
...
and so on, and so forth.

This supposed shortage of names is a non issue really.

[MomomiMomi]

Admittedly without actually checking for sure, there are only about 40,000 lore names for each of the lalafell tribe's females.

Lalafell lives matter. Think of the lalas.

[Niwashi]

I have a couple level 1 characters I log into occasionally, but all I've ever really done with them so far is try out outfits and occasional roleplay. You don't need to level up for that. Would you include those as well? If you truly mean the "never logged in again" part, then it wouldn't apply to them, but if you extend it to any character that stays level 1 for a long time, then it does. I wouldn't want those characters deleted, nor their names taken away.

Though I haven't actually gotten involved in a roleplaying community here in this game so don't know how much it applies here, I know in some other games there are roleplayers who deliberately keep their roleplay characters at level 1 because it suits their image of them best. If there are people who are doing that here, they shouldn't have their characters taken away.

[Welsper59]

I have a couple level 1 characters I log into occasionally, but all I've ever really done with them so far is try out outfits and occasional roleplay. You don't need to level up for that. Would you include those as well? If you truly mean the "never logged in again" part, then it wouldn't apply to them, but if you extend it to any character that stays level 1 for a long time, then it does. I wouldn't want those characters deleted, nor their names taken away.

I'm pretty sure that's what the OP meant. I doubt anyone could logically argue for deleting characters that are used for whatever reason even if they are lvl 1.

If SE has no issue with it, then that's that. First come, first serve is the rule of thumb in those cases. If they feel that at some point in the future, names have become limited, they may elect to have a deletion protocol of inactive characters. Some games have done this in the past, although with XIV, because of the 2-name system, the chances of running out of meaningful names is exponentially slimmer.

[File2ish]

SE used to delete inactive characters (or content IDs?) in Final Fantasy XI (think it was 90 days?), but they stopped doing that a long time ago. Probably aren't going to see them deleting inactive characters here even if they are level 1, haven't logged in for months-years, and haven't even done anything aside from the first quest to get in the not instanced part of the game.

[Masquerade]

I really wanted to make a dragoon named Lavitz Slambert from the epiiiic classic PS1 game The Legend Of Dragoon, and there is already one on each server.
Only half a handful of them are over level 40. The rest are level 1-10. (most being only level 1)
Shame when a good names gets taken by a player that no longer plays the game anymore, or wasted the name during a free-trial account.

But I don't think the deletion of the character should be based on how often they play on it. But maybe the deletion of said 1-10 leveled alts on an account that has not been active for X amount of time.

*edit*
I know in the game DC Universe Online there are name collectors. They snag the names from video game character and names out of Pop-Coulter and then sale the rights to the name for in-game currency. Is that something that commonly happens on in this game?

[Ametrine]

LAAAAVIIIIIIIIIITZ!!!

Sorry, okay I'm done.


I've never heard of name selling. That is a new, and incredibly skeevy, concept to me.

As for the OP's suggestion, I don't know if I'd be cool with that.

It's very possible an old player may decide to return to the game after seeing the latest expansion, only to log back in for the first time in a few years to see everything poofed away from inactivity.

That would turn off players so fast.

[Sicno]

And I'm referring to lvl1 characters that only made it as far as the opening cutscene only to NEVER log in again. I'm finding this more common on alts, as opposed to people who've played on trial (I'd assume playing on trial will get you well beyond level 1.) and subbed as a result; that's how I ended up playing XIV.

I'm aware character removal in general is a touchy subject, probably having been implemented in other MMOs, but the way I see it, it's a level one character, fresh to the game, that say, hasn't been accessed in months to a year, maybe even more. Why bother? It can free up potential names and space (although I can't say how much space a character with no sufficient levels even takes up.)

What do you guys think?

...And how exactly are those lvl 1 characters bothering you?

[Enkidoh]

Really, is it hard to think of an original name instead of a name of a character from <insert favourite anime/game/TV show/movie/novel/comic here> that is the current flavour of the month just to look hip? Incidentally, it's actually against the terms of service you agreed to when you first created your account with SE to use a character name that is actually copyrighted to another company (meaning you're actually not allowed to use names of other characters from other TV shows, games, films, anime, cartoons, comics etc), although I have never heard of someone getting their account suspended because of it, it's still there in the ToS).

I also understand that there is actually a default block on using certain names, particularly certain popular FF characters like Cloud and Sephiroth, but that doesn't stop people 'creatively' thinking ways to get around that.

So really, this is a non-issue. If you're that hard up for choosing a name, there is actually a random premade name generator built into character creation that you can use to choose a clan-accurate name for your character.

Also, I have several level 1 characters who I hardly play as, but they are still my characters, one is a Legacy character from 1.0 complete with Onion Helm, Hermes Shoes and 'Mark of the Twelve' on her back, so it would be extremely unfair to players to have such characters deleted simply 'to free up character names'.

[Zorzi]

Really, is it hard to think of an original name instead of a name of a character from <insert favourite anime/game/TV show/movie/novel/comic here> that is the current flavour of the month just to look hip?
[...]
If you're that hard up for choosing a name, there is actually a random premade name generator built into character creation that you can use to choose a clan-accurate name for your character.

To be fair, even this isn't a guarantee. When I was making alts to test out looks for fantasias, I'd hit the random name generator and I came across a bunch of names already used. It could be bad luck, but I ended up having to generate around 10 names before I found one combo unused. And since a few of the races have naming conventions based on real life, someone can also inadvertently steal your original name too, if you both did your research (aka read the same Wikipedia list. )