Name change quest??

[Lyrah from TD]

Is there interest in a name change quest?I think it would be handy.

Consider all the people out there called aydtgjgkjh because they gave up trying to find an unused name, they could have a second chance.

Also if you named yourself something that no longer suits your character it would be nice to make a change.

I did consider the thought that some people have other people squelched. I think that once a person is squelched they would stay squelched, regardless of a name change.

Also that in addition to saying "male alluvian Lakeman" on the ID screen there could be a line saying "formerly known as "previous name here".

To keep people from changing names like armor it could be a one time quest per character, like the Ralirea skill credit quest.

What do you think?

[Paraduck]

Well, if squelches are handled by UID's, then they would stay squelched after the name change (at least that's what my logic tells me.) I believe it's been stated that youd lose some things because of this -- like your allegiance info, housing, and the ability to use a few items that are activated only by a certain character name.

[Lyrah from TD]

Good point.

I think the only thing I wouldn't want to lose would be my cottage, so I wouldn't change my cottage owner's name.

So maybe there could be a confirmation screen, like so many that already exisit in game, to ask if you are sure you want to rename your character and warn you what you will be losing.

[Paraduck]

Another thing to consider is that people in your friends list won't know of the change -- the name would just cease to exist and would not know you changed your name unless you told them. From what I've seen, you can add ANYTHING to your friends list -- even if it isn't a valid character name. It also doesn't remove deleted/invalid characters automatically.

[Lyrah from TD]

Another good point.

Another reason for name change might be to get away from people. I can attest to that personally.

[GKusnick]

The devs have said many times that this isn't technically feasible. Your name is the unique handle by which the character database knows you. Change your name and all kinds of things will break.

[Italuwa]

your character is set as a file on the server which loads your files when you login, and if you were to change your name it would take up more space for a file and a line of code to say that the data know as (pick a name) Mulie mulemule itsnt that anymore its Jimmy...this could create another problem...is there another character named jimmy..if so then you might be able to aquire what ever jimmy had on his character because the sevrer might load his info for you, or the server would crash because it would have 2 variables set with the same name, and that causes the programs to crash


this is based on the stuff i learned about programming at school and the game i have made and the problems i have stumbled uppon

[Lyrah from TD]

My humble appologies. I was unaware that this is an old topic.

[Televangelist]

The devs have said many times that this isn't technically feasible. Your name is the unique handle by which the character database knows you. Change your name and all kinds of things will break.



Ooh, Ooh, I thought of something. :)

If the name is the unique handle by which the database knows you, don't change it.

Instead, the quest gives you an Alias.


And the technology for when someone selects or ID's you would follow this logical path:


If Player has Alias:
Then Display Alias
Else:
Display Name


That way, you get your name change, but it's completely separate and removed from all of the inner workings of the code that depend on your name. Your "real" name wouldn't change.

[Paraduck]

I was under the impression that our character names were actually aliases for a bunch of numbers. =X That's how there was an admin controlle Martine while there were normal characters named "Martine."

[Televangelist]

I was under the impression that our character names were actually aliases for a bunch of numbers. =X That's how there was an admin controlle Martine while there were normal characters named "Martine."

If our character names are aliases for our GUID's, and everything is tied to our GUID, then a name-change quest would be a piece of cake.


However, from the responses, I think there are parts of the character database tied to either one or the other of the two -- some to name, others to GUID.


Hence, three categories might be necessary to make this technologically "not so hard": GUID, Name (Which is an alias for GUID), and Alias (Which is an alias for your name).

A bit confusing, but it (should) work, based on what we know.

[Virindi Clown]

If people are allowed to change their names, say goodbye to any safety you had from those who are known to have been problems in the past.

People who feel like tearing your clan apart by breaking and /booting can sneak right back in.

Thieves can simply continue their deeds and change their names.

The same old idiots will bother you over and over and over and just bring the entire game down to their level.

[Paraduck]

Ah, ok -- so a second alias then.

[Televangelist]

VC: We assume there'd be a way to see who they were "originally known as".

Oh, and how are they going to /boot your entire clan if you don't let them into your XP chain?

[Tara Malkav]

"If people are allowed to change their names, say goodbye to any safety you had from those who are known to have been problems in the past.

People who feel like tearing your clan apart by breaking and /booting can sneak right back in.

Thieves can simply continue their deeds and change their names.

The same old idiots will bother you over and over and over and just bring the entire game down to their level."

Agreed. =x

Plus I'd rather not have to look at yet another name for a character, lol. If you named your character something stupid, isn't that basicly your fault? =P

[GKusnick]

A bit confusing, but it (should) work, based on what we know.What we know is that the devs say it's not practical. All else is speculation.

[Lyrah from TD]

All good points.

I think that a formerly known as blah blah blah on the ID screen would cover any concerns about trolls ... as long as people think to check.

The whole harrasment issue goes the other way too. Let's say that you need to get away from buttheads or just even dislike your clan but don't really want to hurt someone's feelings - a name change could solve that. (cowards way out, I know)

Any quest is personal choice. If someone hated the name of their char but didn't want to reroll for whatever reason, a choice to change the name would be nice. What you choose to spec/train when you roll your char is your own "fault" as well and yet we can change that ....

Plus they could make the quest ridiculously hard to discourage impulsive name changes.

[Kieoto]

An Alias would be sweet! And it could give some use to Assess Person and Deception. If your Assess Person was too low, all you'd see is the alias and ??? for skills and level, But then you'd see the real name of the person if your skill was higher, would be a fantastic addition!

edit: Especially now with so few newbies, people tend to know each other, throw in an alias to liven it up

[Televangelist]

What we know is that the devs say it's not practical. All else is speculation.


You're talking conclusions, I'm talking foundational facts. There are some things we know about GUID's and how they're accessed, based on previous dev statements.

Of course, whether that gives us an accurate picture is anybody's guess since we're on the outside looking in.

[RedSeptember_WE]

I personally am against the Idea

The confusion is not worth it.

If it where to happen first everyone would do it, then everyone would complain about it.