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$3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/01/2016 12:53 PM CST

Provocative? Maybe. Needs to be discussed? Absolutely. We've all known that this 600 lb. Gorilla was quickly coming up, as the years pass and the English language has only X amount of combinations before the "name" becomes scrambled garbage we have to face this potentially thorny issue eventually. So therefore...

Under the following template, would this work?

Name Purchase (special; please email Simutronics customer service)

Qualification for name: The account which the character is on must have been INACTIVE (not logged on) for 48 months+.

Price: 3000 Dollars (First come, first serve. As time stamped by the email sent to Simutronics).

The name after purchase can be applied to ANY character on your account.

Thoughts?
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/01/2016 01:08 PM CST
So what happens when that person returns to find their character deleted? Is a one time payment really worth losing customers and potentially more money in the long term? Seems like a short-sighted suggestion.
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/01/2016 01:21 PM CST


If the player whose character deleted never purchased more than $500 dollars and not planning on spending that much again? Yes. Don't delete it, just make their name BlankBlank. They died in their sleep when the place they were at caught fire, but the Gods favored them for their bravery and heroism and believed them worthy to continue on. They will retain all the memory and the skills they had, but they must take upon a new name.
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/01/2016 01:53 PM CST
>>If the player whose character deleted never purchased more than $500 dollars and not planning on spending that much again? Yes.

So a player who doesn't pay as much, or doesn't have as much time to play, as another player who is willing spend more money should be allowed to have something taken from them and given to another player? Why not just put a price tag on every character according to circle and ranks and if someone wants to pay Simu a stupid amount of money then they can just take someone's character and start playing it themselves?

People put just as much work in a character's reputation and role play as they do circles and ranks. A character's name means everything when you are talking about reputation and RP because that is the way we identify them. Taking something of importance from one player and giving it to another on the basis of they pay more money (or any reason really) is an absolutely horrible precedent to set, and one that would make me stop giving my money to Simu all together.
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/01/2016 02:05 PM CST
>as the years pass and the English language has only X amount of combinations before the "name" becomes scrambled garbage we have to face this potentially thorny issue eventually..

The DR CM name generator leaves a lot to be desired but we're nowhere near close to the end of decent and fantasy appropriate names. There are plenty of quality fantasy name generators to be found. If someone has a name that's scrambled garbage they chose it that way.



Vote:
http://www.topmudsites.com/vote-DragonRealms.html
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/01/2016 02:15 PM CST
BUT I WANTED TO BE DRIZZT!

Monster Elec

You hear the distant echo of a savage Horde snarling in barbaric disapproval of your deeds.
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/01/2016 02:15 PM CST

You have to see it from the other side as well. What if this person just spammed all the cool names (and basically get em locked forever) for future use then never returns? Or maybe he was even trolling.. who knows?

Some epic name like 'Death' is sitting on someone's account at level 0 just doing nothing until the end of time all because in 1998 some kid bored after his math test decided to give DR a whirl and just happened to type the name in first. He's probably shopping at the Walmart right at this moment and if you were to come up to him and ask him "hey, remember your Dragonrealms character?" he'll go , "Dragon what ?.. listen fella I'm in a hurry I gotta get my kids to violin practice, don't bother us again."

Yep, there's a prospective long-term customer right there! All the while the people who are here logged onto the game RIGHT NOW are struggling to find a half decent name that doesn't sound like you smashed your face into the keyboard. The real sad part is, my friend and I after hours of frustration did this exact same thing (smashed face onto keyboard to get a name) only to discover in some sick twisted comedy that it was "not available." It's time for a service like this to finally arrive. It's way way overdue.
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/01/2016 02:17 PM CST
I rolled both my toons up a year ago and my names are cool and good and frankly if you're not able to find a name that isn't in the form of gobbeldygook or Adjectivenoun you're just not trying hard enough.



Thayet
@thayelf // http://thayette.tumblr.com

"But you must know that if corruption is powerful enough, it's not corruption at all — it's law. Unspoken, unwritten, but law." — Robert Jackson Bennett, City of Stairs
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/01/2016 02:35 PM CST
Deathdrizzt is available.

Just saying.



Also... Names like Death are pretty stupid. People that have names like Shadowheart and Deathshadow and crap like that are silly. It's not in genre, and it's ooc.

I'd become a GM in a heartbeat just to hammer people with stupid names and keep the gweth clear of OOC. Done deal. Names like Baykinator, Whopper, and Chaloopasupreem all died today. SUPER FUNNY. No, it's childish and dumb.

Monster Elec

You hear the distant echo of a savage Horde snarling in barbaric disapproval of your deeds.
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/01/2016 02:37 PM CST
Stuff like Shadowheart or whatever is a bit silly but fine. People IRL have names like that. Seriously.



Thayet
@thayelf // http://thayette.tumblr.com

"But you must know that if corruption is powerful enough, it's not corruption at all — it's law. Unspoken, unwritten, but law." — Robert Jackson Bennett, City of Stairs
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/01/2016 02:39 PM CST
>>The DR CM name generator leaves a lot to be desired but we're nowhere near close to the end of decent and fantasy appropriate names. There are plenty of quality fantasy name generators to be found. If someone has a name that's scrambled garbage they chose it that way.

This...

>>I rolled both my toons up a year ago and my names are cool and good and frankly if you're not able to find a name that isn't in the form of gobbeldygook or Adjectivenoun you're just not trying hard enough.

...and this.

I like the character's names I've rolled up in the last year better than the ones I made 7-8 years ago. They are all normal names too, not some joke OOC names or some other nonsense.


>>You have to see it from the other side as well. What if this person just spammed all the cool names (and basically get em locked forever) for future use then never returns? Or maybe he was even trolling.. who knows?

How can you ever know this for sure?

Most of DR's player base is made of up longtime on again - off again players. Many people that played when I started my main character years ago don't play anymore, but they have been replaced by people who quit 5-10 years ago and are now returning, most of them on the characters they played back then.

Why should they have to return with the chance that they will start in the name generator when they go to play a name they have a sentimental attachment to? How do you gauge how much disposable income they will have if they do come back? How much of that income do you think Simu would get if the player was forced to choose a new name on their favorite character upon returning from a break from the game?
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/01/2016 02:44 PM CST
Stupid in and of itself is not a condition to force a name rechoice, primarily because every GM has different criteria for what "a stupid name" would look like, secondarily because I am not allowed to enforce my aesthetics upon you, and finally because people actually have silly names IRL.

-Armifer
"Perinthia's astronomers are faced with a difficult choice. Either they must admit that all their calculations were wrong ... or else they must reveal that the order of the gods is reflected exactly in the city of monsters." - Italo Calvino
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/01/2016 02:45 PM CST
I have a cost-free solution to this dilemma: Numerical names.

125825 just arrived.

"Brace yourselves, Squanto is going to bleh blah fart fart bleh.." -the player of the character formerly known as Pureblade
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/01/2016 06:35 PM CST
> choose 24601

Sorry, that name is unavailable.

> curse



Elanthipedia - https://elanthipedia.play.net/mediawiki/index.php/Main_Page
Epedia Admins - https://elanthipedia.play.net/mediawiki/index.php/Elanthipedia:Administrators
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/01/2016 06:39 PM CST
Argh!! All the good numbers are taken! :(

"Brace yourselves, Squanto is going to bleh blah fart fart bleh.." -the player of the character formerly known as Pureblade
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/02/2016 11:19 AM CST

Whatever income Simu gets from a player returning is probably far far short of what they would get if they got the 3k lump sum right now. How do I know this you ask? Simple math.

In the heyday of this game, we were pushing 2000 people online at peak time. Now we're around 400~500 or so during peak hours (and I'm being very generous here as the Multi-Accounting is rampant currently, the number of uniques is probably a little over half that, further there is a significant chunk of that being newly created F2P). So, what that means is that the returnees aren't exactly flooding back into the game. Rather, we (at best) have stabilized (in terms of returning/leaving) and or even losing more then returning (with new players using the F2P model filling up the ranks).

With that being said, sure, there are people returning (never denied that, in fact I'am one). However, quantity matters here, and the one or two "welcome backs" (who chances are probably won't be affected by any of this) versus someone who is here right now opening his hand with money is a fairly common sense choice.
You have to also realize, that maybe at most 20~30 people will actually pony up to pay 3000 USD for ONE name. That's 20~30 names out of thousands, THOUSANDS of DECADES LONG dormant/un-used/wasted names that could be newly re-constituted (and actively played - I would assume so after paying 3000$) and enjoyed by players who are here right now playing the game.

Further, I would like to amend my initial proposal and say any name bought must be applied to a NEW character, as this isn't a "name change" per say but rather "name buying".
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/02/2016 12:41 PM CST
Isn't the 'old accounts are still viable' thing what holds back the GMs from repossessing boats from players who don't actually play any more?
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/02/2016 12:55 PM CST
>Argh!! All the good numbers are taken! :(

>choose 8675309

8675309 exclaims, "Woo hoo!"

Rhadyn da Dwarb - Blood for fire!
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/02/2016 02:29 PM CST
lol

"Brace yourselves, Squanto is going to bleh blah fart fart bleh.." -the player of the character formerly known as Pureblade
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/02/2016 03:26 PM CST
This is easily one of the worst ideas posted in the last 48 months.

Ask yourself how pissed off you would be if you returned after a break; expecting to replay a beloved character and found your name hijacked by someone actively destroying the reputation you built up.

It's not difficult to think up a name. Even the DR website has some good ideas on how to go about it.



Vote:
http://www.topmudsites.com/vote-DragonRealms.html
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/02/2016 07:09 PM CST
This would be used more often to take the name of a popular and well known character from DR's past than it would be to take the name of some random character no one ever met.

This is the equivalent of quitting your job for 6 months of salary in a lump sum. You are losing money in the long run for a small amount of money right now.

It would also encourage character sales for people leaving the game for an extended time. Why let the character sit and have a chance of coming back only to have to change your name? Just sell it now, take the money, and make a new name when/if you return.
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/02/2016 07:58 PM CST


I tried doing a password reset of an account i made a time ago and was told at the time that the character was too old to find, even with id number associated to it. I might even still have that piece of paper floating around...
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/02/2016 08:17 PM CST
>I tried doing a password reset of an account i made a time ago and was told at the time that the character was too old to find, even with id number associated to it. I might even still have that piece of paper floating around...

Unless you were resetting the password on your character, that's an account issue, not a character one.
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/02/2016 09:10 PM CST


Except, the characters are On the account. So if my account is too old to be brought back, why would someone elses equally as old or older be able to?
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/02/2016 10:29 PM CST
My wife and I were absent for 8 years, 2006 to 2014, and we jumped right back in with no account challenges. If I did, I would contact support for assistance. I would get upset if my name was taken.

-Dartellum Waddle

Vote for DR: http://www.topmudsites.com/vote-DragonRealms.html
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/02/2016 11:14 PM CST


I'm glad they liked you more than me. :(
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/03/2016 04:24 AM CST
>Except, the characters are On the account. So if my account is too old to be brought back, why would someone elses equally as old or older be able to?

Let's try this again!

Last year I contacted billing through email and asked them if I had any legacy accounts. Because I remembered my very first play time with DR was an AOL account, and I wondered if it still existed. This account would not have been active in, uh, 10-15 years, and it would have only been active for a few months.

They were able to look it up.

Once they find the account, it's associated to all the characters which were not deleted or rerolled by you, the owner.
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/03/2016 05:11 PM CST
>I'm glad they liked you more than me. :(

Did you call up Billing, check out the various email accounts and news for old accounts?

---
"I think anything that forces you to do something no sane adventurer would do just in order to train is ridiculous."
DR-SOCHARIS

---
Victory Over Lyras, on the 397th year and 156 days since the Victory of Lanival the Redeemer.
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/06/2016 02:17 PM CST
<I'm glad they liked you more than me. :(

That's also what character PIN # are for.
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/06/2016 03:56 PM CST
Thats the number i was referring to. Said it was too old and couldn't do it.
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/06/2016 04:11 PM CST
There has been one name purge in my memory. Characters that were very, very old, like 15 years old, and had not been logged in for the bulk of that time and were below a certain circle or only logged in once or something were purged from the system. This was several years ago though. It is possible the character in question was lost to that?



Thayet
@thayelf // http://thayette.tumblr.com

"But you must know that if corruption is powerful enough, it's not corruption at all — it's law. Unspoken, unwritten, but law." — Robert Jackson Bennett, City of Stairs
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/06/2016 06:17 PM CST
Could they not do a moving name release? Have it set to like the year 2000 or maybe even up to 05. If someone hasn't reactivated in 10 years, chances are more than likely they will not. So every year just move up the last log in date to 06 then 07 and so forth as the game continues. Possibly have exclusions for higher level characters or what not that made it to a set threshold.
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/06/2016 06:29 PM CST
There's a point where characters are unrecoverable. This talks about it more: http://www.play.net/dr/cservice/permarestoral_faq.asp
While this info is for paid restorals, the timeframe here is also a good baseline for reactivation. There are cases where older characters can be restored, but the PIN is required, mostly this happens in the case of extremely older characters/accounts that never transferred over to the web from AOL.

I lost my character prior to March 6, 2000, is there any way I can get it back?
No, we do not have the technical capabilities prior to March 6, 2000 to restore characters lost prior. On March 5, 2000 we changed the type of equipment and tapes used for backups. Four years later, we no longer have the previous equipment.



~Evike
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 01/22/2016 05:12 PM CST
>and finally because people actually have silly names IRL.

There was a couple in New Zealand who named their kid "Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii"
My point is that what sounds silly to someone else might not sound silly to you. Of course, in this case, the parents lost custody so the girls name could be legally changed to something NOT stupid but my point is there are plenty of names out there. You shouldn't have to pay an obscene amount of money to buy names. Use your imagination. There is plenty out there.


Your mind hears Nebby thinking, "{faintly}" "I know what I'm rotting for"
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 02/18/2016 04:22 PM CST


While in jail i came across this reading the policy.

CHARACTER PURGES

Any character which has been inactive for 90 days or more,
is in danger of being purged from the database. If this
happens, your only option is to start a new character, as
nothing from the old one (stats, coins, renown, inventory,
etc.) will be replaced or re-created.

So I guess, if a character is inactive for 90 days, it is possible that monetary incentive could pursued the "freeing" of a character name.
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 02/18/2016 04:26 PM CST
The only time I ever heard of a character purge happening was for commoners who had under like a few hours of gameplay and were on inactive accounts.

IMO character purges outside of that is a terrible idea, especially with a 90 day window.



Uzmam! The Chairman will NOT be pleased to know you're trying to build outside of approved zones. I'd hate for you to be charged the taxes needed to have this place re-zoned. Head for the manor if you're feeling creative.
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 02/18/2016 05:02 PM CST
people come back all the time, its a tough thing to purge.




Don't forget to vote for dragonrealms:

http://www.topmudsites.com/vote-DragonRealms.html
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 02/18/2016 11:04 PM CST
>>people come back all the time, its a tough thing to purge

I took a 5 year break a couple of weeks ago (last week? I don't remember). I think I paid for 1 month per year just to make sure I wasn't getting purged. I know people that came back after 8 or more years too.
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 02/19/2016 01:25 AM CST
I'm curious what name the OP wants to buy so badly. They've brought this idea up several times now.

Monster Elec

You hear the distant echo of a savage Horde snarling in barbaric disapproval of your deeds.
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Re: $3000 Dollars for choice of ANY Name. 02/19/2016 10:54 AM CST
Solomon? That'd be my choice anyway.

Rhadyn da Dwarb - Blood for fire!
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