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Angelklaine

Name Changing - Why or why not?

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Today I bring you all another controversial point of discussion: name changes.

 

With so many sales, and so many characters changing hands, I wonder why aren't name changes allowed? I suppose reputation would be a thing, but really, once a character changes hands, reputation is meaningless. It's not like I can buy a character, and instantly become the most trusted person on Wurm.

 

Financially speaking, I know a lot of people who would be super excited to be able to sell their characters they are holding onto just because they have their name. Even if Angelklaine was a more powerful character, I would never let it go because that's a name I have been using for many years. Some of us grow attached to a name tag I suppose.

 

Here's what I propose could be a good option:

 

Allow players a name change every 6 months - 1 year. This would prevent or reduce the chance of people swapping names on the fly to avoid consequences, such as on deed thefts, betrayals, etc. while still allowing those who buy accounts to change the names.

 

Give every character an Unique ID number that is publicly visible. Same reason as above. People would be able to attach the Unique ID to the perpetrator. 

 

Put an real world currency cost to the name change. Paying Euros for the name change would cover the costs of extra work on the GMs. For reference, other games charge something in the vicinity of 20e for this service. Or make it automated with an in game item sold by a trader, then add a debuff that prevents you from using it for the amount of time specified.

 

Limit the name changes to a lifetime amount. If you feel there is a problem with account hoppers, then limit it. 3 changes lifetime and done. I can't think for a reason to do this but there it is.

 

What do you think? Please comment below with your opinions, thoughts or ideas.

 

 

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I"m OK with it ,if the name change update with KoS list,removes the player from all door/gates/buildings outside his own ownership, announces it server-wide, put it on twitter feed, and is costly

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forum search will probably give you 20 threads with pros and cons that have already been put forth over and over

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Indeed. But times change. Game updates happen. People come and go. It's never a bad idea to listen to fresh minds and opinions.

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From what I understand, the playername is the unique id, and changing that to something else at present will unlink you from everything you own. At least thats how it was explained during that streamer/youtuber debacle.  And since it is this way, I'm not so sure it would be a simple transition from nameid to name + id.

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If that is the case, and impossible/too hard to reverse, then why not letting the user make the decision? If I purchase a character, I wouldn't have any issues with getting everything unlinked from everywhere before I set roots. Plus it would make it harder for anyone with real ties to the character to change their name.

 

Steal this rare sword and loose everything I own, or carry the burden on my name from here on?

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Seeing as I'm starting over from scratch and losing access to all my grinded skills because I couldn't stand looking at my old name anymore... I would have liked something like this. It's 'only' 1500 or so hours of time lost. I know many others have higher, but still. That's a lot of catch up to do, lol.

 

Edit: I'm not saying I agree or disagree with something like this. Just that it would have helped me. If the devs want to add it, I'd welcome it. If not, oh well :P

Edited by Ellietwopointoh
Adding a bit to not double post.

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Disagree.   Our names are our reputations in Wurm.  
I also happen to disagree with the allowed sale of accounts, but that's another issue.

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Can you please elaborate a bit more? I would like to know why you think that way. For example, if I steal your stuff, and then I sell my account to a new guy, is that guy forever branded as a thief? Common sense would dictate no, since he wasn't the person who robbed you.

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1 minute ago, Angelklaine said:

Can you please elaborate a bit more? I would like to know why you think that way. For example, if I steal your stuff, and then I sell my account to a new guy, is that guy forever branded as a thief? Common sense would dictate no, since he wasn't the person who robbed you.

As I said, I disagree with account sales being allowed.   That is one of the reasons why.  
Also since someone can fake selling their account, if you stole from me, I wouldn't trust the person who bought your account, they could just be you pretending to be a new owner.    It wouldn't be the first time someone lied about selling their account.

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That does makes sense.

 

But there is also a other argument. The same person could make a new account for th same purposes. Or given how it's allowed, buy a clean account. It all goes back to the same Wurm paranoia circle.

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+1 on this i need a new name as it shows personal information. 1st account i made is this one Smwwodburn and i thought that was username(login like other games) not actual character name. I very much need a name change any would even pay for a name change ticket. And in order to regulate it you would need to have had your account for at least a year or specified amount of time. Ive been playing for about 5 years or more now so much needed. I can see the reputations and such but id settle for my in game nickname as ive built up a decently positive renown. Maybe have it to where it shows your original name in parenthesis or have a sub-menu (toon history) that you right click on their toon or in chat channels and shows all the names theyve had prior on that toon. Again, i see a lot of issues that may occur with such a thing. But no way am i starting a new main toon after all the Time, Money, and Work ive put into this one.

Edited by Smwoodburn

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+1

 

I sold my original account years ago (9-10 years) and literally two weeks later it was permabanned. Getting that name back would be awesome, and most older players still know me by it.  (Shout out to all the OG wild playahs!)

 

Most people seem to be afraid of abuse, but it's easy as hell for 'abusive' players to simply buy up old accounts now to hide with as it is now. You've proposed good counter-measures.

 

 

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I would like to hear more arguments or countermeasures. Or arguments about my point. What I am trying to do with this thread is to get a better understanding of the pros and cons the community might have. I have heard a lot of people say "Oh that account is worth less because it's previous owner had a bad rep" only to later see a decent dude using it without complications. Sure, I can see the issues with KOS systems, but that's something minor, given you can always go somewhere else or avoid those places. In the end, the truth is reputations don't follow the character, no matter how strongly people feel about it. There can be exceptions, but these are far in between.

 

If it was to happen, how would you guys like to see it implemented? What things would you like to see happen? What wouldn't you like to see get touched?

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I do not have a problem with account sales.  But I do not wish to see name changes.  I think if you buy a character you buy the reputation.  I know a good many people that didn't have stellar reputations that sold a character only to get it back.  I can't even keep up with all of my own alts some days.  I certainly do not wish to try to keep up with who changed what name to what.

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I'm for changing of character names. My alt alone, I would love to be able to get his name changed as it was something that happened years ago.

 

But having to pay the conversion cost of something that goes up and down like a yo-yo in slow speed (and can make the cost of a month's worth of prem time more or less expensive from the past month), I would rather prefer paying for the name change with silver.

At least the value of silver stays solid. Plus, not everyone can afford to pay for prem (which is why you can pay with silver, aka a point of losing your sanity grinding).

 

So why not keep that as an option?

Edited by Benie

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Right now only way for someone to salvage a bad rep is to start over or buy a new account (both options costly in time or money).

 

Either way they are reaping what they sow, no way should characters be allowed to be renamed.

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As someone said, name IS our unique ID, no point trying to hide that unique ID and then create another layer on it.

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The unique ID mentioned here.... it should be the original name, added as a surname when you open private chat or when you use examine on the person. So you want to change your name from Orange to Banana? Your name is Banana Orange in the chat window or when examined in person. you change your name from banana to apple this time. your name is Apple Orange. The surname should never change.

 

Or.... the new name could be the surname and the original name would be the front in private chat window or examine, and your surname would appear in local and all that stuff. Example: Maiev Steinhaut (just random example, not what I would change to) in private chat window or examine. Steinhaut in local, permissions and death tabs etc. Original name, once again, never changes

Edited by Maiev

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An "A.K.A." feature might go a way to addressing those with concerns about it being used for sinister reasons. An easy way to see all previous names a character has had (if any). For those just wanting to get rid of a name they no longer like, it's just an origin story.

Edited by Darmalus

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I never was a fan of being able to change names, but wurm is such a tight knit community nowadays that word gets out who is on that acc and what it used to be.

I mean even for pvp sakes, voice comms are such an essential part now that if you recognize a voice, its pretty easy to pinpoint who is on that acc after a name change.

 

I get the arguments for both, and really do not care in the long run, I have 1-2 accs I would like to change the names of, but if I can't that is fine too.

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I believe this service is already available. Requirements are that you need to be a YouTuber, and to have done some dodgy stuff in your past

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I am a firm believer in the reputation of all owners following the account so I honestly can't +1 this. 

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Rolf almost put a name change form in the game, but some members of the community whined against it and it was instantly and permanently removed.

 

The name change is possible, if you are impersonating a staff member (or created the account without knowing it), have a controversial name (changed by GM or account banned) or be a known youtuber having a direct favor from Rolf himself (bashurgate here we are again).

 

The Pro and Cons remains the same, knowing the cons are already in a form or another ingame. Want to change identity or have a clean slate, buy a new account, fake the account selling transaction, whatever, you will pull it till it's figured out. Name change will not change that, specially not if we have some kind of history behind it. (Leaving the PvP meta out of this, not knowing who your opponent is might even be fun for once).

 

I'm advocating since a while a name change / face change / gender change services for either silvers or euros (from the website). As proven above, the technology is here and the impact will be minimal.

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