Hi, my name is.......

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by Cicelee, Jul 20, 2020.

  1. Cicelee Augur

    My primary character has been the same name for nearly 20 years, save for a one or two year switch about a decade ago on a server transfer. About two months ago I transferred to another server and found that name to be taken already. I added the name to the friends list, juat to see if someone was still active with the name. So far, for the past two months, that name has not shown up on my friends list when I am on.

    Now, the character may play at different times than me. That is possible. It might be the alt of a player who.is active, which is totally within the realm of possibilities.

    Or, that name has not logged on since 2002. The account associated with that name ended their subscription in May 2003, and has not set foot in EQ since then. And the chances of that person ever returning are as close to zero as you can be.

    The problem is, I don't know. And it is none of my business to know. However if it is a scenario like the latter, where someone has not logged into the game for 17 years, then i feel.that that name that has been associated with my character for nearly two decades should be made available. So maybe if there was a situation where if an account does not log in for a decade, then the names of those characters get an X at the end of them so that if someone transfers or creates a character, that name is available.

    And in the event that thaf one random person decides to return to EQ after a 17 year hiatus and sees an X at the end of their name, they can petition to have their name back and it will be restored and the other character who took the name gets an X at the end and they can spend SC for a name change.

    Is this out of line thinking? If the account is active and plays, that is one thing. But if it has not been on in over a decade, do we expect that person to come back? Realistically speaking, they are not. So why hoard the name?
    Szilent and code-zero like this.
  2. Sokki Still Won't Buff You!!

    This has been brought up and debated many many times. I like the idea of being able to get your name back if the existing char with the same name hasn't logged in for 10+ years. I don't think this is something they are going to allow/make happen though, especially for server transfers. Now the issue arising from server merges could see some tweaks on how it's handled but even that isn't for sure going to happen.

    I think the current policy with regards to Server Merge is the older char keeps the name and the one created later gets the x but that could cause more cases of this problem. All the old chars that haven't logged in for 10+ years would keep the name just because they started playing first while the current active player ends up with the x.
  3. Razorfall Augur

    what
    My name is
    who?
    My name is
    Slim Shady
    Veteran_BetaTester and Funky like this.
  4. Corwyhn Lionheart Guild Leader, Lions of the Heart

    I guess DBG could charge 50 bucks to do a name search and change if the account hasn't logged in for 15 years.

    I can see folks getting ticked off if they pay up in db currency and the answer is no the account was active last year.
    Veteran_BetaTester likes this.
  5. Zamiam Augur

    well maybe they could do a name search for like 10 bucks and if the name is avail then give the option for the toon that wants the name to purchase a name change potion in marketplace to change his name .
    Name change potions are 15 bucks in marketplace so 10 bucks for the search plus 15 for the name change if its avail .. if not the person is only out the 10 bucks for the search ..
    Buster_Shruggs likes this.
  6. Corwyhn Lionheart Guild Leader, Lions of the Heart

    Its either going to be a manual check or require coding. And not super common request so they need too make back their money on it. I suspect 10 dollars won't do it.
  7. yepmetoo Abazzagorath

    Someone else has the name. If it was that important to you, don't move servers.
    Xyphen likes this.
  8. Triconix Augur

    What kind of ridiculous, illogical thought process is this? Keeping the same name could be very important to someone, but transferring servers to maintain friendships or connections may be equally or more important. It doesn't mean the name is deemed unimportant. This false dichotomy you're using is absurd. If you don't have anything intelligent to say, dont say it.
  9. yepmetoo Abazzagorath

    If only you spent your time in EQ doing the same, we'd all have a more pleasant time.

    Names are first come first served, deal with it. If you are that attached to your name, don't move somewhere you can't use it. If you aren't so attached as to do that, then get over it and move on with your life.

    Would YOU like to log in after a break and find your name gone?

    Who decides what is long enough to not use it? You? Her?

    As if DPG is going to waste the time on this, so just from a practical standpoint its a stupid thought anyway.
  10. Triconix Augur

    And yet you're the one making the rude, condescending comments to the OP. Maybe you should listen to your own advice?
    If a person isn't paying for the service, the person shouldn't be entitled to keep that name. HIPAA only requires a retention of 6 years if you want to start getting into legality issues. If they are 6 years, what's the business reason to maintain unlimited retention of a person whom is no longer a customer? Just stop, you won't win this one. Go back to hiding behind an alias.
  11. Tucoh Augur

    My first character named Tuco was on Bristlebane back in 2000 or whatever. Since then I've used that name in 100+ games. When BB was merged with whatever I lost the name. I've sent mail and looked for whomever has Tuco on BB now to no avail. GMs have said they can do nothing. It's ok, I've made peace with it.

    Someone took Tuco day0 on Aradune, leveled to 6 and to my knowledge hasn't logged on since.

    [IMG]
  12. Coagagin Guild house cat

    Its a database entry and little code to begin with unless you think there is a "coding hamster" in the background writing names into the book of time somewhere on an unknown plane of Norrath reality. I suspect this would be worthy of a good intern to perform since the new code base is in C++ and not something completely archaic like it once was. I remember seeing a package years back and had to go look it up. Something that really threw me at the time.
    - Coag
  13. shiftie Augur

    Getting trolled on your name is great. Even better when they app to raiding guilds pretending to be you and you get cross server emails asking about it.
  14. yepmetoo Abazzagorath

    Not as good as someone stealing the account, being too cheap to change the name on it, applying to a top guild, getting tagged, then the recruiter finds out its a completely different person, amirite? =D
    shiftie likes this.
  15. Buster_Shruggs Augur



    Keep checking, you might find them online one day! I had a similar issue when Cazic swallowed up Fenin and I eventually found the person online and after some back and forth and some plat, I convinced them to delete the character so I could reclaim the name. Although, the character they had with the name was only like a level 30ish baz mule. Good luck
  16. Conq Augur

    WTB the name Bonq on Tunare. Paying in kronos, send me a tell in game. It's been unavailable since 2000.
    Conq
  17. CatsPaws No response to your post cause your on ignore

    What!!!!?

    So my F2P accounts should all just get stripped of their names if someone else wants them? I think not.

    I have numerous accounts that are very old and sometimes I only log in to them once a year - those accounts are also free cause they are Silver. But the names mean something to me - named after a child or friend or whatever.

    There are a few names that belong to well loved deceased players and should never be given to anyone. Some are old, some are not so old but none are being used. They should not be given to others.

    Just because one is not paying does not mean they should lose rights to a name. And nothing in this game is HIPPA guidelines based.

    There should be no time limit on it. I came back after 10 years. Its not that long. You can't put a time limit on this as so many old players return every day. We had 2 in the last week on my server who returned after 12 years! And one used to be in my old guild, I recognized the name. Sometimes you may not want the reputation that goes with the name.


    So if someone wants to return to the game who last played in 2010 then they should not only have to go thru the process to recover their account but now the character name they used they have to petition to get it back?

    This is silly. There are tons of new names available that used to be hard to get. Move on with it and create a new one, build new memories blah blah blah.
    Swiss, Zamiam, Yinla and 1 other person like this.
  18. shiftie Augur

    Lol ya that too. I mean I hear if you buy the guild leaders computer parts anything is possible.
  19. Nniki Augur

    I was told someone created a character with the same name, race, and class as me on Aradune too lol. I haven't even logged into that server. Some people are having fun.
  20. Yinla Ye Ol' Dragon

    I'm pretty sure the last server merges they did the duplicate names went to the last char that was logged in regardless of level and date of creation.

    @Cicelee

    This is proberbly not as easy as you think, if they have parcels waiting, housing plots (mine has something like 20 years paid up on it, just so I don't forget) Items in guild hall or other properties, Hall of Fame from retelling (if they were first for their class), Tavid Dennant storage, etc. All of that would need to be changed to whatever the new name is, be it just adding an x or xx or whatever. If it is a storage mule they could be sending themselves parcels to their own char only to find later it is going to you and not to their mule. If you got their name you could get some interesting new stuff!