Name System v2

[neko kyouran]

Not really,  Last names are used for show purposes only.  Making everyone have a last name wouldn't change anything since everything is based off of first name only.

[Karyuu]

Moreover, what if our Johnny doesn't want to be in Hydlaa? What if he has a past that doesn't include any of the game regions? What if he "shifted" from another plane? What if he doesn't want any regions attached at all?

Then he must be the first Johnny that gets registered. Only the first doesn't get the addition.

I don't like forcing any names or name additions onto any players. They may have their own stories and their own backgrounds, that such additions will effectively stomp on. I don't see this as an effective "solution" to anything, nor necessary, again. It is much simpler to require unique first names than go through all this - we are not going to run out.

Johnnys from all the different regions came together, and one of them says something inappropriate?

Same as before: You state the nickname, the system checks to which birthname it is linked and uses the birthname as identifier and target for commands like /report.

Maybe I need a nap, but I seriously do not understand this point. You state the nickname to report, but how the heck would the system know which Johnny you mean? Would it need to log all three? Or four or five or more as the world grows? How would the system "check" the birthname attached, if all you can provide is /report Johnny?

"Johnny of Hydlaa says:"

Too tired to think of a better solution for shorting the line.. so coming from the given above, it would have to look like this, yes.

Thumbs down :>

What if you just make it so everyone has to be a first and a last name? Wouldn't that solve the problem 

Again, I would hate for names to be forced onto players - in addition to Neko's reply.

[DaveG]

The simplest thing I can come up with to solve this issue is to require unique full names and not worry about first and last.  (ex:  2 Bobs allowed and 2 Smiths allowed, but only 1 Bob Smith)  All commands would require the full name, a la:  "/tell Bob Smith This is a message."  To make it easier to do, we could add an autocomplete that pulls names out of your proximity list, group list, guild list, and buddy list.  (in that order)  So, to talk to the Bob standing next to you, you'd do "/tell Bob<tab> whatever".  If you really wanted the Bob in your buddy list, smack tab till it finds it.  This gives us more flexible naming, with less restrictions, no numbers, and last names aren't required.

All that being said, we don't need this yet and won't for a while.

[Karyuu]

The simplest thing I can come up with to solve this issue is to require unique full names and not worry about first and last.  (ex:  2 Bobs allowed and 2 Smiths allowed, but only 1 Bob Smith)  All commands would require the full name, a la:  "/tell Bob Smith This is a message."

I haven't seen anyone really figure out how the system would work if there are two Bobs though :\ Then who do you send the /tells to if they don't have any last name? Did I miss something?

If there are five Bobs in-game with a first name only, they aren't anywhere around you and not in your guild/buddy list/group, but you need to talk to a certain one because you need to relay an OOC message, or had an issue or misunderstanding that needs resolving, or want information on something or other, what happens then?

How would /report work if you are surrounded by two Bobs and you don't know which is spouting his offensive nonsense, because they both have the same name that shows up in the chat window? If the suggested solution is chat bubbles, what if you aren't able to turn in the right direction to see them (or hear the chat through walls)?

What if your character is harassed by a Bob, and then later you stumble onto a Bob that looks just like the one you had problems with? What if you refuse to accept his denials and constantly drag GMs into the ring to run /info's and check IPs and accounts, and find them flooded with similar issues almost nonstop, because the chances of abuse are that much higher?

[DaveG]

The simplest thing I can come up with to solve this issue is to require unique full names and not worry about first and last.  (ex:  2 Bobs allowed and 2 Smiths allowed, but only 1 Bob Smith)  All commands would require the full name, a la:  "/tell Bob Smith This is a message."

I haven't seen anyone really figure out how the system would work if there are two Bobs though :\ Then who do you send the /tells to if they don't have any last name? Did I miss something?

If there are five Bobs in-game with a first name only, they aren't anywhere around you and not in your guild/buddy list/group, but you need to talk to a certain one because you need to relay an OOC message, or had an issue or misunderstanding that needs resolving, or want information on something or other, what happens then?

I said full names would have to be unique.  That means one Bob (no last) allowed, one Bob Smith allowed, one Bob Whatever allowed, etc.  The full name is unique (essentially, there's no concept of first/last here); you just have an autocomplete to guess the latter parts.

[Karyuu]

Woops. By "full" I thought you meant first and a definitely existing last. Thanks for the clarification.

Of course then there's the problem of players being fiercely protective over their identities :> Which first names have really become.

[DaveG]

I see no real reason why we shouldn't have multiple people with the same first name.  It's rather odd that we don't, frankly.  We should encourage some creative naming, but if you want to name your character Bob, be my guest.  You'll just need to stick a last name on the end there to make sure the full name is unique.  I do admit it might be annoying to have people be able to "steal" name components.  ie:  someone might like to name their character Xael Something.  Most of the time though, I think it should be allowed.  (in this case, we might want to require GM char first names to be unique to prevent impersonations)  It would also allow for recurring names.  Every culture has names based on mythology that are popular, and I think that's fine to repeat here.

[Kerol]

Having a clear mind again, I'm wondering why I didn't suggest yesterday to simplify the system by, as DaveG suggested, taking the full name including family name as unique identifier. But not only first and last name but allowing one or two middle names (simply by allowing 2 or three spaces as characters in the name). That should make everyone happy

The idea with the nicknames can also be solved without numbers or counters in first hand:
As stated in the initial post, you have an optional nickname field in the CC. If you leave it empty, the birthname is taken as nickname.
If you fill something in, it is treated just as a regular forename is treated now, it has to be unique.
Ingame you always have the nickname on the label and the birthname in the chardesc.
But then again, you can modify privately the nicknames like I said, by rightclick on the buddylist. And there one could allow all characters, including numbers and other symbols.
It wouldn't matter to anyone if you privately name anyone "jo1" because "jo" alone isn't unique.
The name resolution works just as proposed, using internally the birthname (or resolved PID) as identifier. Your client could resolve the given identifier (Birthname/PID) to the private nickname again. With that you don't have "Johnny of Hydlaa says:" in the chat, but, if you privately gave him the nick "joh"; "joh says:".

[Suno_Regin]

You guys said all the good names were taken, well, that's wrong. I played around with some REALLY original names yesterday (fire, wind, water, earth, frost, etc.) and I found a few very original names I put into one account, such as Blare. All the good names aren't taken, people are just thinking too hard, and making names in a different language. If they'd actually search, they'd notice that there are plenty of original/very unoriginal names left, that can also be pronounced easily.

[DaveG]

I tend to agree.  The naming policy does not allow names that are physical or famous things (ie: no stupid crap like Frying Pan Man or Elvis) but that doesn't mean we can't have regular generic names, too.  Not everyone's name needs to take 10 minuites to figure out how to pronounce.  (if it's even possible...)

[Josellis]

If there are several johnny are online and you add one to your buddy list, it will ask you "which one do you want to add? Please select one of the characters from the list below and the conversation you had with the Johnny select will appear." The same would happen to the group.

If you are using /tell, it will ask you the same thing as with the group/buddy list adding, but instead of each time asking you, it will say "The Johnny you have select has the ID number 3. From now on, please type "/tell Johhny3" to tell something to this Johhny. if you wish to select another Johnny, type /tell Johhny"" (3 because it is the 3rd johnny to come online). The Johnny # will never change as long as that Johnny is online. if he is the only one online, it will assign #1 and it isn't necessairy to the person who tells to type "/tell johnny1". If a second Johnny comes online, it will ask (as explained before) which johnyy to select.

If there are several Johnny on a same map, the ID will automatically appear after his name (Johnny1 Smith, Johnny2 bla) so that it stops the confusion

[Karyuu]

DaveG's suggestion was by far the simplest and the most likely to actually happen. No numbers, no messes. Anyway, we are still not running out of names, nor are we likely to any time soon.

[Pestilence]

In RL, a name with 8 characters or more is simply not practical.

As someone who has a name of 8 chracters in Rl and 7 ingame I think one is severely limiting yourself if you think names like that are to complicated. Perhaps a little hard to creat pronouncable names but thats something different altogether. Anyhow since when are we in Planeshift worried if you can pronounce a name or not lol

[Kerol]

Just count the number of names in a specific language of 6, 7, 8 characters. It's not a coincidence that nicknames never (i never seen an exception) have more than 5 characters, ever.
It's not a question of possibility, but of human nature. I'm not against lengthy names, but the lengthier the names get, the higher is the need for nicknames, and my thought was, if nicknames get implemented, why not having them fully customizable? However, the customizable part is a low priority, really. Having full names and nicknames I see as medium to high priority, though.

[Pestilence]

hmm a nick of mine ingame: Merman

nickname I have seen: fluffy

Anyhow having long names doesn't mean people can't have nicknames