Curse

w00t! · Dec 02, 2006, 05:41 PM // 17:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loviatar

hi woot.

unless everybody from Jeff Strain down to Gaile Gray are lying in posts and interviews it is just that secure and unchanable.

the devs know what their database is and they have said it is unchanable once made.

you have (as i) no idea how it is set up so saying it would be easy is total ignorance compounded by Bandini

Hey Lovitar,

Please read my two posts, perhaps I wasn't clear.

1) Names are most likely primary keys, so can't be changed. My second post agrees with an earlier person about how you can kludge around that. We have done that at work.

2) No way that appearance attributes are all primary keys, unless the database is completely normalized, in which case everything would fall apart due to inefficiency. Heck, they were able to do this in Runescape, they could do it here.

3) I doubt that Anet ever lies, and would not accuse them of doing so. I am continually amazed at the quality and quantity of their work. I just believe that they may not have thought this through completely. My people at work didn't think they could do a change that was very similar to #1 above until someone came up with the idea similar to the other poster (who I'd credit, but am too lazy).

4) The only way that Anet should do this is to either make money (by charging real dollars for each name / appearance change), or turn it into a gold sync (to address the economy of GW).

5) You're right, this is all speculation on my part. Although it is not ignorance. That is a very different thing.

Regards

Loviatar · Dec 02, 2006, 06:44 PM // 18:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by goober1973

Yet they can force you to change it if it is deemed offensive

earlier you were forced to delete the character, loot ,armor and all

note that the change is only a mask which other people see on a piece of data (name) that does not vary.

ALSO NOTE that the actual account is unaltered as the *banned* name is still there for the account owner to see when an item is customized.

he sees customized for *banned name* on any customized item which shows that the account data has not been altered.

tomcruisejr · Dec 02, 2006, 06:55 PM // 18:55

$6 dollars per name change @ arena.net store for the win

Total Rogue · Dec 02, 2006, 07:06 PM // 19:06

i think $5 would be more realistic

Red-Tide · Dec 02, 2006, 07:17 PM // 19:17

/signed I wanna change my name

yayrichie · Dec 02, 2006, 10:41 PM // 22:41

/signed

Andyhhp · Dec 26, 2006, 01:57 PM // 13:57

/signed --- ace idea

shifting shadows · Dec 26, 2006, 03:32 PM // 15:32

/signed

Make it a fee at an NPC for like 500 gold or something.

Now what do you all mean by it'll be hard to recognize your friends? You have a friends screen. Look it up there. You have a guild screen. Look it up there. Most people do that anyways. Whenever someone makes a new character, they have to look it up there. Same thing. It's not a big deal.

I'm pretty sure names like Joe suck his mama would be against the rules lol.

ericdanie · Dec 26, 2006, 05:37 PM // 17:37

/signed

Make a fee for that, say, 5 dollars, and avaiable at the Guild Wars Store.
This way, one wouldn't abuse it, and if one would, he's paying for it so the GW Devs are being helped.

Remember, you can track whole accounts on your friends list, so it's not a big deal to be able to change names in the sense of scammes or blacklisted people changing their names. The feature would be there... just for who really wanted it, like character slots, another fully optional feature.

Kendar Muert · Dec 26, 2006, 06:20 PM // 18:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Struth

It would be nice to change your name but as said above, this would probably be too spammable.

Since GW has already made it where you can change the territory your players home districts are (limited to certain amount of times), changing your player name should follow this same layout. If you change your character's name all the time, then wheres the creativity in that? Character names are extremely important and you should be limited the amount of times you can change it, if made changable.

I could see also being able to change hair type and hair color, but the other attributes should stay locked.

/signed

completely agree, and with those conditions,
/signed

curtman · Dec 26, 2006, 08:57 PM // 20:57

Well, I am on 2 day vacation from work and have pulled myself away from Battlefield 2142, FFIII, and Tales of the Abyss. This topic appears best to start with.

There already is a name change system in place, I quote from here: http://www.guildwars.com/support/leg..._outcomes.php:

* For unacceptable character names, a mark will be placed against the account and the character will be blocked. This means that the character and all the inventory items and attainments associated with it will be inaccessible until the character has been renamed. The account will also receive a mark, and therefore will be inaccessible for whatever period of time is called for within the escalating suspension system.

Granted, this is for reported offensive names, but it would not take much effort to take this batch job, or whatever they call such processes at ANet, and integrate it into the store. They charge $5-10 per name, user buys a name change, app queries db to see if name is taken, prompts for another name if that one is taken, updates aka 'changes' just like it does for reported name violations, and ANet wins. They get $5-10, user feels satisfied that their name is changed.

Also, I do believe they lie at times, like all companies. The best way to get your client to get over what ever change the devs consider trivial and not worth doing, is to tell them it is not possible. If ANet has a system in place for when some one reports an offensive name, then it is possible to modify and integrate it into the online store. If it is not possible then ANet lied about the offensive name list. They have also proved they can integrate database changes with an online purchase into the system, via skill unlocks and character slots in relation to an account.

Forgot to mention:

As mentioned above, normalization is not good in the real world. If your db is fully normalized, you have to unnormalize it to use it, which creates overhead. Storage and memory are cheap now days.

This is speculation and educated guessing on my part, other than what I pulled from the guild wars conduct breaches. Like the auction house (unless this has been added since I started my GW break), this is something they probably do not want to deal with.

Saphrium · Dec 26, 2006, 09:03 PM // 21:03

/Signed

I like the idea a lot, since I misspell char names easily.

Or simply want it easier to be remembered.

FelixCarter · Dec 26, 2006, 09:39 PM // 21:39

Hell, I wouldn't mind it if it costed 5k-15k or something similar to change your name. People sure as hell won't spam it then if it costed as much as high-end armor.

/Signed

Also, it would be cool if we had [Hairstylist] and [Makeup] NPCs to change hair and faces. But that's just personal opinion speaking. :P

Loviatar · Dec 26, 2006, 10:15 PM // 22:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by curtman

This is speculation and educated guessing on my part, other than what I pulled from the guild wars conduct breaches. Like the auction house (unless this has been added since I started my GW break), this is something they probably do not want to deal with.

well i will give you facts to replace your guesses.

the account name is unchangeable and is indeed not changed.

for offensive names someone at Anet sets up a mask so other people see the *new* name.

if you customize a weapon it will still show customized for *banned name* which proves the account is unchanged.

this is a mess they will not touch.

Baelian Grey · Dec 26, 2006, 10:19 PM // 22:19

/signed

I desperately need an altered name for my warrior.

roalgumo7 · Dec 26, 2006, 10:24 PM // 22:24

/signed

Yup, this and beeing able to change your body and hairstyle is something I would really happen.

Gimme Money Plzkthx · Dec 26, 2006, 11:24 PM // 23:24

/signed. Don't think it should cost real money though, maybe some in-game and/or a limit on amount of times.

CidBlackwood · Dec 27, 2006, 03:12 AM // 03:12

That would be a waste of time, people should just be sure thats what they want, if you want a name that means something about your character a good site for names is

http://www.babynames.com/

Tide to Go · Dec 27, 2006, 03:28 AM // 03:28

no.............just, just no..........

thats like naming your baby and then when its 12 you want to re-name it and take it to plastic surgery......its just rong.

gwjunkie · Dec 27, 2006, 04:00 AM // 04:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3lite

i think this is a pretty good idea...also would be nice if you guys concidered making it possible to change other features such as hair, char. height and etc...

Agreed. I often find my characters don't look nearly as cool, or their names don't sound nearly as cool, as they seemed when I created them. I deal with it, but a good idea I'd like to see happen.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tide to Go

no.............just, just no..........

thats like naming your baby and then when its 12 you want to re-name it and take it to plastic surgery......its just rong.

No, it's nothing like that. This is a bunch of 0s and 1s we're renaming, not a human baby. Come on, seriously.