Names

ArchivedUser

So one of the hardest things in an mmo for me is trying to name my character because all the name seem to be taken. Is there going to be strict only one person can have a name or is there going to be some kind of number system like John#1234 or a family name system is place to allow everyone to have a better chance to have the name they want? 

ArchivedUser

Has not yet been declared. Hopefully we know more soon.

ArchivedUser

Remember from a live stream that having a family name would be an option but not required. No confirmation on global account name locking or just server locking. (Meaning that there could only be one Drizzt worldwide, or one on each server) There will not be a number system so that 150 people can name themselves Sepiroth#2021 or Drizzt#4756.

ArchivedUser

just names at the end of the day , you will be lucky to get the name you want and in 6 months you want to change it anyway 

ArchivedUser

I got the impression it will be First Names with Family names optional.

ArchivedUser

I would assume family names would be optional, probably would be nice if everyone had them though. 

ArchivedUser

Yea I'm kinda hoping for the family names too.

ArchivedUser

One of the kick starter perks was name reservation.  This would be valueless if more than one person can have the same name.  However the naming format has not been released as people have mentioned above.  So what part of the name you have reserved is still open for debate I guess.  I would be highly surprised tho if it is not your 1st name that is reserved.

ArchivedUser

Please no #123 names. I know people want thiere name but personally I want mine to be unique even if i have to find a new one for it.

ArchivedUser

If I can't get Sunfrog I have a unique name picked out that no one will ever guess. 

ArchivedUser

I never understood why systems lock a name to one person or one anything. The data bases that any system can use can easily facilitate endless characters in the game in any organization method with the same name. Per server, or per player or even per family it doesn't matter all characters in a game can all have the same name. You would simply tie that character's name to the account if it is the first one or millionth simply tag that with an unseen variable from the DB  table to a uniquely generated character ID that uses a hash of some sort. So if you are  wanting to use your Drizzt Do'Urden you are as far as the Game knows using character 1W-HG-RT-8U-MP-14-HG-B7. It's just that you and everyone else will only ever see Drizzt Do'Urden. UO does it something like this. Any player can name any character what ever they want within the ToS and with some restrictions like; In game main NPC names or other IP names like Drizzt Do'Urden, Wolverine, Mickey Mouse etc... I really hate games that force every character to have a different name. MMORPG's are supposed to simulate Civilizations; in civillizatiins there are people who have the same name as each other some times both first and last even some times even a middle name. That all has to do with society's trends and popularity of the names. I do hope that AoC does infact not restrict names in any way except to combat stupid names. Names that no sane person would name their childern, I do not even want to see restrictions on names to NPCs if there is a popular person in history or even in current era parents will name their children as such. Using the royal family members' names might be restricted however. Not much I think ruins immersion to be dealing with a player who's PC is named Pu$$y #er or some idiotic sophomoric name as such. I usually flat ignore any such players. If there are too many of them I'll just leave the game.

ArchivedUser

As PJ_Rydecker stated, there were name reservations available on the campaigns. On the KS forum a few indicated that was the only reason they "bumped" their pledge to that level. If IS made that KS/Summer-Backer pledge reward obsolete there will be yet another uprising on the forums about lies/misconceptions/word-smithing.

I however can honestly see it going either way based on their prior examples of dancing around definitions...

ArchivedUser

To use unique names is not so much for the system; it's for the players so they can easily identify the person they are trying to contact.  I personally like that, as there are just so many Steven(s) it would be hard to remember which one or two you wanted to chat with.  Just look at Discord to see the mix up that caused.

ArchivedUser

T-Elf said:

To use unique names is not so much for the system; it's for the players so they can easily identify the person they are trying to contact.  I personally like that, as there are just so many Steven(s) it would be hard to remember which one or two you wanted to chat with.  Just look at Discord to see the mix up that caused.

That is true for that purpose the system could make the or a option of the unique hash available to view in a inconspicuous way on the character portrait.

ArchivedUser

Azathoth said:

As PJ_Rydecker stated, there were name reservations available on the campaigns. On the KS forum a few indicated that was the only reason they "bumped" their pledge to that level. If IS made that KS/Summer-Backer pledge reward obsolete there will be yet another uprising on the forums about lies/misconceptions/word-smithing.

I however can honestly see it going either way based on their prior examples of dancing around definitions...

Giving backers name reservations while otherwise not restricting any name duplication will not make the perk obsolete. It just means that no other player can use a character name from reserved perks list. Say some backer wanted to reserve John Doe. This only means that no one else can ever make a character named John Doe. This will allow for any number of Jon Doe's however because there was no reservation on Jon Doe.

ArchivedUser

The name reservation in KS was not listed as "exclusive", so if they want to offer packages in the future that have it they are well within their purview. It was stated that name reservation will roll out based on level of KS backing, so you can expect those that paid more to get theirs first. Just because Johnny paid 80 dollars for his Pioneer package, he will not be reserving before Cliff, who bought Braver of Worlds. 

In social MMOs names are unique beyond a database reason. In a game unlike the current trend of log on, que for random dungeon or raid, get matched with people you have never seen, do the dungeon, then log off never to see them again, the reputation people build will matter. No groupfinder, no fast travel or summoning stones. If you want to get stuff done, people will or will not group with you based on your rep.

ArchivedUser

Fair point, and I am aware the Name Reservation was not exclusive. @NolonDragard nailed it with his example. If you reserved a name, but then multiple avatars had that name, then there would have been no point to the reservation exclusive or not. If however it prevents anyone else from having the reserved name I see no issue.

ArchivedUser

UnknownSystemError said:

The name reservation in KS was not listed as "exclusive", so if they want to offer packages in the future that have it they are well within their purview. It was stated that name reservation will roll out based on level of KS backing, so you can expect those that paid more to get theirs first. Just because Johnny paid 80 dollars for his Pioneer package, he will not be reserving before Cliff, who bought Braver of Worlds. 

In social MMOs names are unique beyond a database reason. In a game unlike the current trend of log on, que for random dungeon or raid, get matched with people you have never seen, do the dungeon, then log off never to see them again, the reputation people build will matter. No groupfinder, no fast travel or summoning stones. If you want to get stuff done, people will or will not group with you based on your rep.

Good points. I would rebutt however that reputation can actually and fairly easily be added as a mechanic in many ways. One way is by overhead name font changed if your PC has marked that PC as "Known" before. Mechanic could be "To Mark a PC as Known D-Right Click name bar." All that does is mark the PC as "Known" by your PC that marked that PC as "Known". So it can be a choice to participate with the system or not. If you mark PC as "Known" you have a a simple menu option if you open that character's avatar GUI; a manually adjusted slide scale of -10 to 10 points with say 39 discriptors from something like dread or fear on the bottom to something like admire or love at the top. These points are aggrated by the number of people who chose to recognize this PC. At the lowest reputation the PC will have a reputation to all known title of say lowest -x points as "-The Dreaded-" to the +x points of "-The Admrible-". This should not be public because it would produce bias and it would prevent a PC with a negative reputation from rehabilitating their reputation if they want. When a PC is marked as "Known" that PC agrregated reputation is made known to the PC that marked them as known. A PC marks themselves as "Known" to the PC when they mark the other as "Known". In that PC reputation GUI you will also have a journal entry that you can enter a short descriptive phase or really any note about them. Only the PC that entered the journal note will ever be able to see that journal note. You never know your own reputation unless some one tells you or you say go to a NPC seer or something but that seer would only tell you your reputation aggregate for the last IRL 36 hours. You'll never know who marked you as known untill you see their overhead name and you will never know what reputation points a specific PC has given yours and you'll never know how many PCs marked you as "Known". It would probably be good to know who your PC has marked as "Known" say through an acquaintances menu option.

I'd just like to see a way that no one is prevented from using a PC name that they want with in reason (ToS or perks reservations). It really turns me off when I cannot name my PC what I want because then I do not want to play that PC.

ArchivedUser

Basically what I meant is if you're a dick in game, people are going to remember. You can name your character "L33tNoobSmasher" or "Daenerys Targaryen" all day long. If you are a nice, social player I am going to group with you. If you are just a whiny pain in the ass every time you are asked to an event or group, you won't be grouping with me. Since there is no groupfinder mechanic that will auto group you with others, those that persist in being entitled assholes will find themselves marginalized pretty quickly.

ArchivedUser

That's what I was getting at instead of recognition of a specific PC by name because no one can have the same name. Let PCs share names and build in a reputation mechanic similar to what I've laid out. When grouping the first time your PC encounters an other PC you know nothing about them you have no reason to be bias about them in any way. You can the mark them as known to your PC so the next time you group up and they want to be a part of your group if you do not like them you have a function to know something about this l33tNo0b$masher that is different from this other l33tNo0b$masher because the one you've encountered before and he's was so terrible that you gave him a -10. So you then have a way to know whether you want to group up or not. You'll never need to remember anything about a PCs actions because you'll have a rating and a note. If you gave l33tNo0b$masher -10 then sometime latter you see that same PC with a glowing reputation but you still see your damning note about him you'll know that maybe he's improved his interactions. If you really on what you remember if the one and only l33tNo0b$masher because there is only one and he was a dick the first and only time I encountered him then you'll never know if he's become a better player. Unique names are an imersion breaking lazy way to help players keep track of their in game acquaintances. I'd rather see a mechanic of player created reputation. This way bias will at least have justification because you last encounter was terrible or terrific to you and you will then be able to see if your impressions are shared or not.

ArchivedUser

I feel you.

ArchivedUser

NolonDragard said:

That's what I was getting at instead...

Then how about creating a fake bad reputation from the hostile guild, or just from enemies?

ArchivedUser

I have played games with both unique and reusable names. The problem with reusable names is that lots of people will use whatever name is popular at the time or other things, like everyone wanting to name themselves after norse gods.
I could see that being a massive problem in raids. For example, there are two Thors in one raid, in the same guild as well, both paladin/fighter. One of them just messes up all the time and you just don't know which one is actually harming the group dynamic, so you accidently kick the wrong one out of the group. This is a very specific example, but it's not one that couldn't happen at all. Or you see two people with the same name talking in guild or region chat and you don't know which one is a troll and which one is your friend or guild mate.

ArchivedUser

I agree, in general chat the same name will be a problem XD

ArchivedUser

Uhg. Oh please no number or symbol names. That totally breaks my immersion.

ArchivedUser

Darxy said:

Uhg. Oh please no number or symbol names. That totally breaks my immersion.

Yea that is what I'm hoping too. I'm hoping for first names with family names at least optional to ease making names. The only problem with having family names is that how are they displayed in chat. Two names would cause the chat window to be quite large depending on max length of names.

ArchivedUser

I hope its exclusive. That's the whole reason I bought it. I want my character name. And only me lol.

ArchivedUser

Yea I'm sure the first names would definitely be exclusive if you bought that. I'm wondering if they would add last names how that would work into the exclusion part. I mean people could have their saved first names but could have the same last name as someone else potentially. But who knows maybe this game will only have first names and this conversation was for nothing ha. Theory crafting at its finest.

ArchivedUser

PJ_Rydecker said:

One of the kick starter perks was name reservation.  This would be valueless if more than one person can have the same name.  However the naming format has not been released as people have mentioned above.  So what part of the name you have reserved is still open for debate I guess.  I would be highly surprised tho if it is not your 1st name that is reserved.

Name reservation probably for account name.
I expect to see many characters on the same server with the first name of Drzzt, but all with unique account names/last names.

ArchivedUser

Name reservation for account names that you've already created?? No the name reservation is for character names. However you may only get to reserve it on one server, we'll see when they are ready to announce more information about the reservation system.

ArchivedUser

Account name for the forums doesn't automatically transfer to account name for the game.
Reserving a name would have all of my characters include .Dygz or @ Dygz as a last name.
I could have characters called Dygz.Dygz and Drzzt.Dygz and Darxy.Dygz
If Darxy is reserved by someone else, i would not be able to have the name Dygz.Darxy, but Darxy would be able to have that name.

If I set my permissions accordingly, people would be able to do a search in-game for my character by account name. So, they would know that Drzzt.Dygz and Darxy.Dygz are my alts. People not on that list would only see the "first name"  wouldn't be able to search and find my alts by my account name.
For my characters' name bar, I would have the option to display first name only or first name and account name (among other options, like titles, etc).

That's the way it works for NWO - and subsequent games have implemented similar versions of that feature.