List the names going back into the pot

[shiznitz]

My characters on Champion whose names will soon be available:

Happy Fun Ball
Tinderbox
Shadowcat
Eskimofo

[Llava]

I don't know if many people who've had cancelled accounts for 90 days or more are reading this board.

[Signe]

You can have Signe.  I don't like it anymore.  You people have used it all up.

[schild]

8 names of mine will be gone, but not forgotten. Unfortunately they escape me. Someone will get Mr. Ripley though, and that makes me sad.

[Sky]

I don't know if many people who've had cancelled accounts for 90 days or more are reading this board.

Um...what? I guess I missed what this thread pertains to, but it doesn't sound good...

[Llava]

If your account has been cancelled for 90 days or more, as of October 24th, your character names are "up for grabs."  That means someone can create a new character on the same server using the name.  If you reactivate and try to log that character in, you will receive a prompt asking you to rename the character.  If/when this happens, ALWAYS TRY THE ORIGINAL NAME FIRST.  Someone may not have taken it.

Characters are not being deleted.
Friends lists are automatically updated with the changes.
It requires that the account itself be cancelled for 90 days, not that you log in each individual character once every 90 days.

[Sky]

Well, fuck. Is this the new "Please don't return to CoH" initiative?

I could see a year, but 3 months? And I was in the habit of resubbing every six months....so much for that shit. Color me no longer a Cryptic fanboi.

That really sucks.

8 names of mine will be gone, but not forgotten. Unfortunately they escape me.

Heh.

[Llava]

I believe it's an attempt at regular customer retention.  I, for one, get more invested in a character with a decent name.  At this stage, nearly all names that refer to anything are taken.  Mythology, history, whatever.  Though I'll bet Paracelcus is available.

But believe me, this isn't out of nowhere- TONS of people have been asking for this.  Though I personally would have preferred that villains pull from a separate name database than heroes on the same server (so there could be a villainous Coyote and a heroic Coyote, for instance).  This was plan B for me, though, and I stand behind it.  Names are far more important in this setting than a fantasy setting (really, what's the different between Menalitus and Menalytus?) where, as mentioned in the News Thread, archetypal names are in high demand.

Hell.  On Virtue the name "Strix" is taken.  Seriously, who besides me even really knows what a Strix is?  (Oddly enough, though, Striga was available... wouldn't have thought so, given that it's the name of a whole damn zone)

[Signe]

Right now they'll give you anything you want to distract you from the HUGE FUCKING ENHANCEMENT NERF.  Three months is not long enough.  A year, maybe, would be okay, if they must.  Who cares if tons of people want it... tons of people want pudding, too, but they don't get it, do they?  And rightly so.

[Rodent]

Right now they'll give you anything you want to distract you from the HUGE FUCKING ENHANCEMENT NERF.  Three months is not long enough.  A year, maybe, would be okay, if they must.  Who cares if tons of people want it... tons of people want pudding, too, but they don't get it, do they?  And rightly so.

Oh I will have my pudding. And I'm looking forward to getting another chance on snagging Rodent, some fucker took it but is never-ever online.

[Xanthippe]

I don't understand this.  Set me straight.

Does this mean that if I cancel for 4 months:

      my heroes will be gone?

      or just that I need a new name for my Dr. Goodhead defender hero?

Bad, bad idea, either way, in terms of getting old players to come play again.

[Signe]

Your characters will still be there but they will all be named "Generic Hero Dumbass" or something if someone has taken your old name.  I don't much care for the idea either.

[Phred]

Even though I am in danger of losing all my character names I think CoH needed this. I think because the character generator was more fun than the game many people are tying up names with characters they never, ever play. Even better would have been if cryptic had announced the removal of names on any character under L5 unplayed in the past 3 months.

[Sky]

This is a stupid way to go about it, period. As has been mentioned, there is a strong tie to your identity in CoH. I was only 24th level or so (goddamned grind), but I generally only play the one character, and that's what I identify with in CoH. Making me be random jackass # 49993 just shits on my early participation in the game, but I guess it's clear that Cryptic only cares about what people have done for them lately.

My solution would've been applying it to all characters under level 10 or 20 or something, or all but the highest level character on a server, since I have a bunch of alts just reserving names that I could see being put back into the pool, as I never got to develop those characters.

But delete my main's name? I'll never be back and it pisses me off just enough to not buy CoV.

Stupid idea.

[Phred]

But delete my main's name? I'll never be back and it pisses me off just enough to not buy CoV.

Stupid idea.

No loss. It'd still be the grind you left because of the first time, with new, improved gimping of characters.

I don't think I've ever seen a dev team more devoted to alienating their existing customer base than Cryptic. The people that were still playing liked the game the way it was. I doubt anyone will be tempted to return by hearing of the recent nerfs either so it's lose/lose imo.