Missing Genders: A request for Male Miqote, Female Highlander, and Female Roegadyn

[Soukyuu]

Yeah, Square Enix decides what is or isn't a valid reason. Yet, you claim that there is no valid reason. This is where you contradict yourself. Either you have talked directly to a SE representative about this, or you're saying there is no valid reason when you in fact have no way of knowing this.

It should be obvious that my post merely expresses my opinion, so no, I'm not claiming anything nor have I any sources from within SE.

SE could easily make this info available for a certain period of time after someone performed a name change.

I doubt it, your name being part of your personal information. If anything, they would have to ask you if you are ok with it. Which brings us to people changing names to reset their reputation - they would obviously deny this and there would be nothing SE can do about it except denying the name change and risking to lose a paying customer.

I've never denied you the opportunity to express your opinion. I asked for a rationale for why your opinion is one that should be shared by others, such as for example Square Enix. If you can't, that's fine too, you can keep your opinion regardless.

I stated my reasons in my first post on this topic, but it seems you overflew my post after seeing I didn't think unrestricted name changes should be allowed. Again, for me the only valid reasons are having a vulgar name or changing genders. Allowing name changes for other reasons would just make it easy for people to reset their reputation, and even though there are luckily few people with really bad reputation on ffxiv (I personally know of 2), I don't think opening such an "escape" option is right.

The whole discussion is moot now though, since SE stated they are indeed looking into providing name changes. Since they didn't say anything about restrictions, we can assume either everyone gets a chance, or no one if they can't figure out how to make it without blowing up their database.

[Mirage]

And I agree that your issue with dodging bad reputations is a valid concern, which is why I think past names should be possible to check in one way or another, at least for a certain period of time. If you can check if a player used to be someone you hated, I don't really see any reason why he or she shouldn't be allowed to change his name to whatever he wanted.

People change. What they might have thought was a really awesome name when they were 16 might sound really retarded 2-3 years later. While you might think character names should stay with the character forever because of for example role playing reasons, or because it is your identity in the game, other people might not have that sort of an attachment to their character at all. For some people, their ingame character is just a heap of polygons and textures that serves no purpose other than to let you interact with the world. With the amount of time that many players put into a game such as a MMO, I think it is unreasonable to tell people to make a new character just because they want to change their name from "Sausage Bag" to "Arnwolf Skurfe".

In an offline game, a playthrough generally takes less than 80 hours. Restarting and giving the character a different name there is trivial. In an MMO, restarting and getting to the same level and gear you had before could take months even if you played several hours every single day.

[Soukyuu]

And I agree that your issue with dodging bad reputations is a valid concern, which is why I think past names should be possible to check in one way or another, at least for a certain period of time. If you can check if a player used to be someone you hated, I don't really see any reason why he or she shouldn't be allowed to change his name to whatever he wanted.

And I'd be fine with that too, I just don't see it happening.

People change. What they might have thought was a really awesome name when they were 16 might sound really retarded 2-3 years later. While you might think character names should stay with the character forever because of for example role playing reasons, or because it is your identity in the game, other people might not have that sort of an attachment to their character at all. For some people, their ingame character is just a heap of polygons and textures that serves no purpose other than to let you interact with the world.

If they have no attachment to their characters, why does the name matter then, though? Because they are suddenly aware that the name and the character represents them ingame whether they care about it or not. Which brings us to your next point:

With the amount of time that many players put into a game such as a MMO, I think it is unreasonable to tell people to make a new character just because they want to change their name from "Sausage Bag" to "Arnwolf Skurfe".

In an offline game, a playthrough generally takes less than 80 hours. Restarting and giving the character a different name there is trivial. In an MMO, restarting and getting to the same level and gear you had before could take months even if you played several hours every single day.

A valid point. That wouldn't have been an issue for most people if they actually really thought harder when naming their char. Many just roll their face over the keyboard to be able to finally start playing instead of thinking of a proper name. In which case it's their own responsibility, and they are not in any way entitled to a name change imo.

Then there are cases like MrKupo's when the name suddenly doesn't make any sense. I could argue having same last names doesn't mean you're related. But I won't...

[Arkhan]

People are forgetting though, that an idiot is an idiot.

If they're still an idiot with a new name, it won't take long for everyone to know again.. lol

[Radnar]

Concern over players changing their name to avoid a bad reputation is not valid. In every MMO ever that allows name changes, players who try to hide behind a different name are always found out. A name-change doesn't change bad behavior, and people notice when a new character with the same gear/class/level as the bad-rep player suddenly appears on the server.

There is no valid reason to not allow players to change their name if they want to. SE should not spend resources trying to police something players already police just fine by themselves.

[Mirage]

I actually agree with this. I'm just trying to be diplomatic, and find a solution both sides can feel all right with.

[Elexia]

Concern over players changing their name to avoid a bad reputation is not valid..

It is a valid point though. The XIV community has proven if there's something that can be abused in the game it will be abused. So using it to avoid bad rep every few weeks is indeed a perfectly valid point. Whether you feel so or not is your opinion, however in terms of abuse, it's valid.

Much like only allowing people who are gender swapping to change names is perfectly valid too, you personally just may not agree with it.

There is no valid reason to not allow players to change their name if they want to. SE should not be spending resources

SE is a company, they're the ones running the show they can deem what they can/should/don't/won't/shouldn't need to spend resources on.

[Radnar]

The XIV community has proven if there's something that can be abused in the game it will be abused.

That is not something that has been proved by the FFXIV community. That's human nature.

So using it to avoid bad rep every few weeks is indeed a perfectly valid point. Whether you feel so or not is your opinion, however in terms of abuse, it's valid.

What are you actually saying here? Are you saying that the concern is valid, or that you think people will use name-changes every few weeks/months to try and avoid the concequences of their actions? Of course people are going to try, but name changing has never worked in any other MMO to escape a bad rep, and it won't work in this one either.

Much like only allowing people who are gender swapping to change names is perfectly valid too, you personally just may not agree with it.

Again, what are you actually trying to say here?

SE is a company, they're the ones running the show they can deem what they can/should/don't/won't/shouldn't need to spend resources on.

Yes, SE is a company and, yes, they also run FFXIV. I don't see how that has anything to do with my position.

[Mirage]

Well, name changes, if possible after the one we're likely to get at the start of v2, are most likely not going to be free. I would also be surprised if there wasn't a solid cooldown on the feature, something like one name change per character per 3-6 months.

[Babydoll]

Who cares if people want to change name...if people are going to do something bad they will do it regardless. They can always buy the game again and just make a new character if things get that bad. Its not like leveling is hard lol