Names

[RampantJoker]

I put this in the wrong area before, and they suggested I put this here.

There are many names on unused level 1 characters who never log in and never play. Would there be a way we can free up names from characters who are never played so that others can use them?

I am just inquiring as I feel the use of ' - names are becoming more common as names they want to use are likely on a level 1 alt without any playtime on it.

[Ramesses]

I put this in the wrong area before, and they suggested I put this here.

There are many names on unused level 1 characters who never log in and never play. Would there be a way we can free up names from characters who are never played so that others can use them?

I am just inquiring as I feel the use of ' - names are becoming more common as names they want to use are likely on a level 1 alt without any playtime on it.

You want the truth?

The answer is No.

Reason being that those characters-- even if they are Alts-- remain characters within a player's paid account. They have the right come back and play those characters someday in the future. Best option you have is to play on another server where the name you want is unused-- other than that, you're out of luck.

FFXIV is a global MMORPG-- not an email service where your account name is deleted because it went unused for a period of time.

[Seera1024]

How do you define never played?

What if that level 1 character is an RP alt that glamor wise is fine in the starter gear or gear from the mogstation as they come as level 1 gear? So you can't state level for a period of time.

Inactivity? I know people have said they returned to games where they had lost names due to a policy like this and the forced name change made them quit again. It broke their connection to the game and their character.

So I'm also going to vote no to this policy.

You're seeing an increase in a certain type of name. I know ' features heavily in mi'qote names - someone who fantasia'd may not have been able to name change as that had been disabled due to server congestion so there may have been more say male vieras running around with mi'qote or lalafel or elezen names instead of viera names. Some players may choose to rename with the - if they get married in game to show original last name and new last name. Much like in real life. Or they want a double word first or last name and it's not due to their first choice being taken. You're assuming the reason for the stylistic choice in the name. Have you had any issues creating a character due to the name you wanted being taken?

[Iscah]

I know ' features heavily in mi'qote names

It does, but only in specific and consistent ways. For Seeker names it separates tribe from given name (eg. Y'shtola = Shtola of the Y tribe) and for Keepers it's only for male names (eg. Zhai'a Nelhah = firstborn son of mother Zhai Nelhah). It shouldn't come up in any other places if you're following naming conventions.

Also the apostrophe in Miqo'te is for indicating the "te" is a separate syllable.