Character name change option on website every 3 or 6 months.

[Vikingur]

Hi,

Love the game, missed it so much after it shut down. So firstly thanks so much for your effort in making it available again!

Having said that, I´d really like to see a namechange option available online for your own characters.
So that if you find that after putting in a some hours of playing a character you don't really like the name you have the option to change it.
To avoid abuse I think this should only be possible once every 3 or perhaps 6 months per character.

Though I'm not aware of the database structure behind the game I know you're mainly using C# from some dev posts I've read. And as a C# developer myself I don't think this would be such a great undertaking in general (all things being equal and all that), and would be a very nice addition to the game framework.

Just add a DateTime (timestamp) to each character for their last namechange and have a submission form under the user control panel here on this website or somewhere appropriate.

Process would probably be something along the lines of the following if using a model in mvc:
//mvc model: class NameChanger {int CharacterId, String FirstName, String Surname, DateTime TimeStamp = DateTime.Now}
//mvc view: form submit (with NameChanger model)
//mvc controller: check in DB if name available (+if you want any filtering)
//mvc controller: if available update name (first and/or surname)
//mvc controller: update timestamp
//mvc view: return submission results

And that's it, in general. Could always have Visual Studio generate list of available characters per user view etc. to save time.
Probably simply graying out characters that are unavailable for name change at the time (according to timestamp), giving an approximation to when next available for namechange on the webpage.

[RyanMakara]

Personally I think there's still too much risk involved in allowing people to change their name by their own will to whatever they see fit. Whether it's every 3 months or even 2 years, I'm sure there's more reasoning to change your name other than "not liking it". When you create your character here you should -always- pick a name that you'll be happy with, exactly because we aren't prone to changing people's names whenever they want.

For the team it's both an issue of not being able to track certain users if we do not also log their previous names (and to what extend would we do this would be the eventual question), and for the players in general it will be even harder to identify certain users they may or may not have issue with.

[Vikingur]

I appreciate your having taken the time to add your input to this, and understand where you're coming from.

I suppose some people might try to opt for changing their names if they've made a bad name for themselves on the server by bad behaviour etc.
On the other hand any friends lists, block lists etc. should get updated to the new name given that the character references are passed by Id. But that would still subject everyone else that hasn't taken the time to block said person to a new reign of terror so to speak lol.

For tracking users I would have though you'd have primarily used their login names for the records, but even so there would probably be references to character names within the written complaints etc. so I see how that might cause problems of verifying the records if a name has been changed.

For my own purposes, I suppose I just like the idea of the flexibility it would offer as more often than not I find that after having spent some time on a character I would like to make a small tweak to the name or change it, suppose I have a streak of perfectionism lol.

But you guys in the trenches are more aware of any issues and technical complications that any proposed solution would entail due to your inside knowledge.

[RyanMakara]

I suppose some people might try to opt for changing their names if they've made a bad name for themselves on the server by bad behaviour etc.

Exactly

On the other hand any friends lists, block lists etc. should get updated to the new name given that the character references are passed by Id. But that would still subject everyone else that hasn't taken the time to block said person to a new reign of terror so to speak lol.

Problem is, that doesn't happen at the moment. If a name is changed you need to add the new name to the exception list/friends list. The social lists work different from actual database logic.

For tracking users I would have though you'd have primarily used their login names for the records, but even so there would probably be references to character names within the written complaints etc. so I see how that might cause problems of verifying the records if a name has been changed.

Actually, if you change character names individually on one account, we need to make a flag for each character that lists "previously known as" on that account. So it'd probably generate a long list after a while of various different aliases, which may also be plagiarisations of previous users or parodies which causes immense confusion.

For my own purposes, I suppose I just like the idea of the flexibility it would offer as more often than not I find that after having spent some time on a character I would like to make a small tweak to the name or change it, suppose I have a streak of perfectionism lol.

I actually believe you should be able to expand on your character's name even more with more than just a last name/title change, as is currently possible. I'd love to be able to introduce certain prefixes and suffixes based on achievement in the game, as I remember from EverQuest. As it stands, most, if not all Warhammer lore characters have kept their original name from birth, but have only variated on it by the achievements they've acquired or the personal life-changing events they went through. There are exceptions of course (corrupted Empire soldiers who become Chosens probably swear off their former mortal name for a more fitting Norscan name, or forget their name altogether), but on the majority, I don't believe name changing is necessary unless it's an offensive name.

That does remind me of how I once wanted to change the name of my Squig Herder to a more Greenskin sounding name so I could be part of seirous roleplaying guilds. I never paid 20 bucks to EA when they started offering name change scrolls, however.

[Vikingur]

Those are some interesting points on the construction of the game and logging there, thanks for explaining.
It does surprise me though that the social lists are seperated from the database logic. An older design principle or just some local files listing contacts per client perhaps?

I actually believe you should be able to expand on your character's name even more with more than just a last name/title change, as is currently possible. I'd love to be able to introduce certain prefixes and suffixes based on achievement in the game, as I remember from EverQuest. As it stands, most, if not all Warhammer lore characters have kept their original name from birth, but have only variated on it by the achievements they've acquired or the personal life-changing events they went through. There are exceptions of course (corrupted Empire soldiers who become Chosens probably swear off their former mortal name for a more fitting Norscan name, or forget their name altogether), but on the majority, I don't believe name changing is necessary unless it's an offensive name.

That does remind me of how I once wanted to change the name of my Squig Herder to a more Greenskin sounding name so I could be part of seirous roleplaying guilds. I never paid 20 bucks to EA when they started offering name change scrolls, however.

Would be great to see something like that in the game. Gives further goals to strife for, like quest and accomplishment titles atm.

Have to love the Warhammer lore. It's amusing to state that I had not shown any interest in it until after I started playing Warhammer Online live back in the day. The parts I enjoyed the most, beyond the PvP, was getting new entries and extended entires in the Lore book and reading those!
Since then I've really gotten to enjoy the warhammer fantasy universe in particular, such as Gotrek and Felix book titles. Just something about the grittiness and grimness of the setting.

And I have been known to roleplay in game and throw out various comments on the Chaos winds and the wonders of transmutational blessing of the Ravengod and Nurgle during pvp.

[bobthehero]

Is there a way to get a name change currently?

[Gachimuchi]

Is there a way to get a name change currently?

Not unless a GM spots a character with a sufficiently distasteful name and makes them change it afaik.

[Elven]

Is there a way to get a name change currently?

Not unless a GM spots a character with a sufficiently distasteful name and makes them change it afaik.

We change any names that breach terms of service. We don't however change names upon request of players.

[szejoza]

I'm against name changes all the way down. Devs are putting loads of hours to make this game great so the least you can do is spend one goddamn hour to create a couple of character names and don't bother devs afterwards. They have plenty of work as it is!

[bobthehero]

I made my character before I was aware of the RP side of the game, and his name kinda sucks for RP, its why I asked