Spiral Knights - Clean the name database please

Clean the name database please

40 replies [Last post]

Fri, 11/01/2013 - 20:35

Fashama

It's ridiculous that almost every thinkable name is taken, especially because they are all blocked by inactive people which don't even play the game anymore because their last login was 2011 or 2012. Do you remember December 2011? Almost no one of them has seriously played the game, but their names still block free spaces. Personally I don't have a big problem with that, but it's a pathetic problem, especially with the new Knight rename tickets. Would you maybe please do one less hen party to do us a favor? Thanks.

The solution is even easy, if there are really some people coming back, they will have the option to give their existent nameless knight a name. And I believe that a clean of 2 year inactive knightnames wouldn't even leave a place open for abuse, since the current rename feature has a much higher abuse risk.

(bad grammar isn't intended)

Fri, 11/01/2013 - 20:38

Bopp

not a bad idea

It's not a bad idea.

Fri, 11/01/2013 - 21:02

Midnight-Dj

I think Fashama is not a bad name. There is a guy out there called his knight 'iamtheloserchild', but still, a good idea.

Fri, 11/01/2013 - 21:05

Glacies

It'd be nice to see this, yes. I'm honestly quite content with my name being Glacies since apparently that is a popular name on most MMOs, but I've been here since launch.

Only problem I honestly see is if people actually do return, I think they'd be pretty peeved about losing their name. Could also be a problem with someone well-known on the forums or even a previous developer. Could honestly cause some major issues.

Fri, 11/01/2013 - 21:08

Rekkusu

+9001

I've been thinking this too, since some one has a name I really want but the account is never played. It's kinda lame to not get a good name just because somebody wanted to try the game got the name and then quit leaving a idle account to consume that name! Although it would be kinda difficult with the character deletion though But I think it's fair to delete accounts that reach 2 years of inactivity.

Fri, 11/01/2013 - 21:29

Damienfoxy

Not possible. The database

Not possible. The database keeps track of all a knights activity, mail, energy, everything. Removing older names could lead to people with good reputation, to taking the reputation of someone who may be under ban or investigation by OOO.

Fri, 11/01/2013 - 21:29

Curious-Mewkat

Because the last time SK had a solid 100k players was because of the free hat for TF2. And that was 2 years ago.

Fri, 11/01/2013 - 23:46

Whimsicality

If you haven't been active since the day you started playing (just to get a TF2 hat, mind you), I highly doubt you're reputable.

Plus I want any old excuse to snag the name Whimsy. Whimsicality is just too much for some people to write, which baffles me. And I highly doubt the person with the name Whimsy was even slightly active. Haven't seen hide nor hair of them since I started playing back in 2011, and with a community this small, I'd have to see them at some point.

Sat, 11/02/2013 - 01:54

Hexzyle

When you're this swag this world just bows at your knees

Removing older names could lead to people with good reputation, to taking the reputation of someone who may be under ban or investigation by OOO

And who remembers scammers from 2 years ago? Do you? The developers could simply make it so that names that belong to players that:

Do not have CE on their account
Have less than 2 hours playtime
Are not currently banned

Can have their names taken.

Sat, 11/02/2013 - 02:21

Iamnoone

This is the worst idea ever.

Just because you want something doesn't mean your entitled to it. When OOO's started allowing name changes, that didn't mean people had the right to take something that belonged to another. Next your going to be wanting to get the rarities and high end items they have too, right?

Just because someone is in your way or has what you want doesn't mean you have the right to roll over or them to take it. Many people come and go playing here. Not everyone plays like you do. Some actually go away for extended periods of time for education, visiting family and vacations. Some can't always access the game. Some have extended hospitalizations etc. Some only play during events. Some play for a while, go elsewhere then come back for awhile and go again for awhile. Why should you get to dictate when and how another should be playing? Why would you want to give people another reason to hate OOO's and sk? When people start signing in and find that OOO's allowed you to take their name, hate and discount will mount. Hate threads will be posted here and elsewhere. Not all accounts are FTP. What's the legal ramifications of taking the name off of a paid account that the user thought they were safe in playing on another site for awhile and coming back to their paid account when they were ready to play again?

Sat, 11/02/2013 - 06:04

#10

Bopp

straw man argument

Iamnoone, that is not a serious argument. It would be trivial to exclude accounts that have had real money spent. It would be trivial to constrain this "cleaning" to only those accounts meeting these criteria:
* no real money spent,
* only logged in once (or maybe no more than 4 hours spent playing),
* never logged in, in the past two years.
There are probably many, many players who make an account, try the game, find that they don't like it, and never come back. And probably many of these players tried the game soon after launch, or soon after Steam launch. So probably a huge number of knight names could be reclaimed, even with these strict criteria that shouldn't really upset anyone.

Sat, 11/02/2013 - 06:14

#11

Skyguarder

Move this to the suggestions please.

Sat, 11/02/2013 - 07:36

#12

Iamnoone

@Bopp

"That shouldn't really upset anyone", except for those who sign in only to find they lost their name because someone else wanted it who felt they were more important to OOO and got it. That won't cause hate and discount in between players, right? It also won't cause concern for those who may want to try another game for awhile or may have things in rl to do, right? Do you really believe OOO's won't get a bad reputation in the gaming world when they start yanking user names for their favorites? Do you really believe that a policy change like that would bring in new users and more than what a policy change like that could cost them? Have you considered how many people may not even bother to try sk and just keep walking right by thinking if they start and don't come back right away or in your determined time, (that is subject to change as proved by persistence) they'll have to start over, get a new name or whatever. Look at it from the noob's view point. Think of the policies you are advocating here. Think of what you are asking here and remember we are talking OOO.

Users demanded more content. They wanted the core to be opened. They wanted to be able to finish the game and/or to have more levels and bosses added lowing the core but ultimately they wanted an end to the game, to win it. What they got was missions, rank runs and pay only content. People really didn't like the "you must pay for the new content" part. They got new gear and cried it wasn't new content because they wanted something else not re-skins etc. They got pokemon added but there the core sits untouched and now guaranteed never to be opened due to the new content they wanted. They got lots of content. They didn't like it. People wanted mist taking out of the game. They wanted to have grown men and women who are professionals to work for free so they could play for free. You got it. Grinding for thousands of hours only to find out you now have to pay to finish the game. And don't tell me you don't because I will ask you to show me where all the thousands of radiant fire crystals needed to heat those 5* items you need to become vanguard and be able to then spam vana for those crystal. (And for those of you calculating, every time you use the forge, it costs you more the next time you use it. It isn't 62 crystals 100 times over. It more like, 62, 68, 72, 84, 104, and so on, and not per item, per use.

You want to insult my post, call it a straw man argument. Have you considered how selfish and dangerous the argument is that you want a name someone else has and therefore you should have the right to set or change the requirements to maintain a name or TOS so you can take their name? Have you considered that we're talking OOO and once you have opened the door to taking user names back, that you could sign in one day to find your name was taking too for whatever reason someone else wanted?

Sat, 11/02/2013 - 07:39

#13

Whimsicality

I dunno, League was pretty successful overall with the whole ordeal.

Sat, 11/02/2013 - 08:36

#14

Bopp

not much point in fighting about it

Iamnoone, I don't really understand all of this anger emanating from your post. You seem to be upset about issues other than the one at hand.

The player I had in mind is like this: He creates an account, plays for one hour, doesn't spend any real money, and never returns. You're saying that this player is emotionally invested in the game, and would be angry if Three Rings reclaimed his knight name? That's doubtful. He barely remembers the game, or remembers it as "that game stunk; it's not worth the time".

I don't understand the other part of your argument, that ceding this power to Three Rings would lead to further abuses by Three Rings. I don't regard Three Rings as abusive.

Anyway, I don't feel strongly about the issue. And even if we the players could agree on a plan, it would probably not be implemented by Three Rings. So there's little point in arguing further. Happy travels.

Sat, 11/02/2013 - 08:55

#15

Rekkusu

I don't think anyone is going

I don't think anyone is going to care about there knights name if they haven't touched the game in 2 years :P

Sat, 11/02/2013 - 08:56

#16

Rekkusu

Double post? o.o

Sat, 11/02/2013 - 09:47

#17

Canine-Vladmir

Didnt Star Wars Old Republic do that?
Erased all usernames that haven't been used in a long time.

+1!

Sat, 11/02/2013 - 09:56

#18

The-Vindicar

I most certainly support this

I wonder if guy who had taken the name "Vindicar" is even playing the game these days!

Sat, 11/02/2013 - 10:58

#19

Katmint

It's a possibility, but paid accounts would never be touched even if a purge of old accounts were to happen.

Source: http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/45729#comment-297761

Sat, 11/02/2013 - 11:00

#20

Whimsicality

According to the ToS, you aren't even entitled to your account if OOO decides to take it away anyways, something that you had to knowingly agree to in order for--

Oh, who am I kidding? Nobody actually reads the ToS.

Sat, 11/02/2013 - 13:55

#21

Aus-Lagger

This is only a problem if

This is only a problem if you wanna call yourself Kirito, naruto, sasuke or any other anime name.

Sat, 11/02/2013 - 13:51

#22

Alphacommando

@Curious-Mewkat

Guilty. I joined because of the hat.

Sat, 11/02/2013 - 14:10

#23

Wavara

"Do you remember December 2011? Almost no one of them has seriously played the game, but their names still block free spaces."
I did, but had to left in March 2012 due personal problems. Here I am, again, playing this game. Am I not entitled to keep my name?

"I dunno, League was pretty successful overall with the whole ordeal."
That reminds me, I got this e-mail from them due to my inactivity. OOO could do something like this.

@Alphacommando
High-five! :D

Sat, 11/02/2013 - 15:36

#24

Glittertind

"That reminds me, I got this e-mail from them due to my inactivity. OOO could do something like this." -Wavara

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. Give players a window to get back and make sure their name isn't made available. Could be anything from... Say one week to one or two months? Should be plenty of time, really. It's not like it takes that long to just download the game and sign in and out.

Sat, 11/02/2013 - 16:05

#25

Iamnoone

"Do you remember December

"Do you remember December 2011? Almost no one of them has seriously played the game, but" they have rare items no longer through crafting or that can be purchased at the ah. Myself and many others would love to have them. "According to the ToS, you aren't even entitled to your account if OOO decides to take it away anyways, something that you had to knowingly agree to in order for--" So let's take their name and items at the same time. Put them on the ah for 1cr and let the bidding wars take over. We could get those items out there for those who want them and have a crn sink at the same time. Wavara wouldn't have minded signing in and finding that.

And don't say you aren't saying you want their items just their name because many do want their items too. Why stop at names? Gaia did it.

Sat, 11/02/2013 - 21:41

#26

Phyrosite

maybe you should try this...

think of a more creative name... or add stuff to your already existing name to make it sound cooler...

Examples:
My name, i never find it being used already in anything i play.

Fashama, never seen it used before now (not a bad name either if i do say so myself)

Sterquilinis, because who wants to be known as the god of poop. plus its not nominative, so people would probably not use it.

you get my drift. be creative.

possibly another solution?? try neverwinter online's naming style.

everyone has an account name and character name, character names are non-unique but account names are. so there could be two ImTheLoserKnights, but one would be ImTheLoserKnight@yoloswag, but the other would be ImTheLoserKnight@swagyolo, but there couldn't be two @yoloswags.

Sun, 11/03/2013 - 04:05

#27

Oboron

Insert message here.

Mon, 11/04/2013 - 14:24

#28

Bookmarkmayne

A surprisingly good

A surprisingly good suggestion. +1

Tue, 11/05/2013 - 22:58

#29

Fashama

Be careful, this post could include personal opinion!

Iamnoone, are you serious? Is that some kind of unfunny and mindless trolling? This is by far never the worst idea ever, especially because so many people have answered here (thank you all!). I have never thought about stealing someone elses name or items (How on earth did you get that idea?), and the real name stealers are inactive since years. I only agree with your more or less constructional-written part with the gamecontent, because a level editor / map creator would solve this issue, and OOO would even have much less work.

Wavara wrote: "That reminds me, I got this e-mail from them due to my inactivity. OOO could do something like this."
Thanks for showing this, this is an excellent example.

Bopp, thanks so much for your true arguments. I'm glad to see that you completely understand the topic and logic, and I appreciate people like you so much.

Damienfoxy wrote: "Not possible"
No, this isn't true, it's technically possible (it's more possible than you think). And it wouldn't mislead reputation or people because of the 2 years inactiveness cooldown. And as someone has stated above, no one would even remember such persons. And as I said, the current rename option leaves a much higher name abuse risk.

Aus-Lagger wrote: "This is only a problem if you wanna call yourself Kirito, naruto, sasuke or any other anime name."
This isn't true too, it affects incredible many names, even less known names, and I haven't even thought about anime names. Do you would like to see a very long list of examples? I think it's not necessary, because I believe that you can think... (hopefully). OOO said that there are more than 5 million accounts, and how many people do you see ingame from them? Something like 0,0001%. This means, there are a lot names taken and word for word wasted. In fact it doesn't surprise me, that some people call themselves "Yjhsjhsjh" or "Bbuuttoonn" because there is barely room for names, and then we need to invent an exotic name.

Only laziness or unsureness would explain why OOO hasn't done something about this problem yet.

Wed, 11/06/2013 - 03:37

#30

Hexzyle

When you're this swag this world just bows at your knees.

And as someone has stated above

I'm always referred to as "someone"

Wed, 11/06/2013 - 06:54

#31

Lanieu

+1, although it doesn't

+1, although it doesn't affect me.

Wed, 11/06/2013 - 08:47

#32

Shadowstarkirby

I see absolutely no reason why the name database shouldn't be cleaned. People can argue that one guy from two years ago will be very offended when they find that their name they used for at most, what, an hour? is taken when they just happen to want to log into that very game they tossed away years later. No one should feel entitled to a good name just cause you played for 5 minutes and goes on lockdown cause you got it first, if someone wants it, pays reg--no, PLAYS regularly, they deserve to own that name they desire. I understand breaks completely, the game has content droughts, but if you have to disappear for more than a year (and that's a huge stretch), you really might want to reconsider playing the game at all.

I have two names I'd like to give to my alt characters I have on my steam account, but of course they're taken cause early players always get first dibs.

Please let it happen, OOO.

Wed, 11/06/2013 - 08:58

#33

Krakob

@Hexzyle

You'll always be "Trae- I mean uh, that other gun puppy guy" to me <3

Wed, 11/06/2013 - 16:03

#34

Sylveon

Further down the road, when I stop playing, I'm certain someone else would love to have my name.

Sucks to be them. I won't ever stop playing! Wahahaha!

Thu, 11/07/2013 - 09:09

#35

Shamanalah

my 2 cents

I was there in December 2011... and I doubt this is a good idea...

All you want is the wave of TF2 free hats acc to go away, meaning that once you find out your name is still taken, you will come here again to whine about it... and be like "1 year away is too much for a MMORPG, they should remove all account that are 1 year old!"

And it will go on and on...

Just no, if there was a huge player base like Diablo or LoL or WoW, then I could understand (also the huge amounts of bots in those games). But SK has none of those, has a somewhat small database and can manage on it's own... and if you aren't creative enough to find a name then maybe you should think about one.

I took 3 days before coming up with my LoL account... XD and I love it

The number of characters I've named as a gamer.... how are you having trouble? there's even online site dedicated to finding names

I mean... use your logic... what is more time and money consuming...

finding another name?

Demanding OOO to put a name filter system

..... think about it for one sec before crying out loud on the forum -_-

Thu, 11/07/2013 - 13:36

#36

Fashama

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition...

Hexzyle wrote: "I'm always referred to as "someone""

Hehe, I'm sorry :)

Shadowstarkirby wrote: "I see absolutely no reason why the name database shouldn't be cleaned. People can argue that one guy from two years ago will be very offended when they find that their name they used for at most, what, an hour? is taken when they just happen to want to log into that very game they tossed away years later. No one should feel entitled to a good name just cause you played for 5 minutes and goes on lockdown cause you got it first, if someone wants it, pays reg--no, PLAYS regularly, they deserve to own that name they desire."

Thank you. Absolutely right, very well worded.

Shamanala wrote: "All you want is the wave of TF2 free hats acc to go away, meaning that once you find out your name is still taken, you will come here again to whine about it... Just no, if there was a huge player base like Diablo or LoL or WoW, then I could understand (also the huge amounts of bots in those games). But SK has none of those, has a somewhat small database and can manage on it's own... and if you aren't creative enough to find a name then maybe you should think about one."

5 million inactive accounts are nothing? It's a lot, especially because the daily peak is rarely higher than 10.000 (Steam + no steam). I wouldn't whine, because with a clean there would be enough alternative names, very especially if they would take away a name of 2 year old dead knights automatically, they wouldn't have to do something ever again. And it's not only the TF2 hat thing which has ruined so much name freedom. Of course I have thought about many other names! But it's ridiculous that every thinkable nice looking name is taken, and there are people which are a way more pissed than me. I don't have a lack of creativity, and my name here isn't seen by others ingame, because this is my forum knight, and I haven't cared much if it sounds stupid or not. A weird name like mine was of course free, and I wouldn't bother myself with dumb looking names by using a word and using the same letters two times for every alphabetic character (like Woorrdd or Naammeelleess. If you see people with double letters, it's a sign of this database junk problem). And I prefer to have a name choosen by myself, by my own creativity / brain, name websites are emergency options for me. I think that a name like Shamanala counts to the exotic group, because mine and yours don't make much word sense and aren't very common. Names like Halamanalola wouldn't be common too, because it sounds too strange. More common words in names like Shadowstarkirby are most likely to be used, and it's stupid if someone from 2011 has played for 5 minutes and it would block it until today. And Shadowstarkirby wouldn't have his nice name.

Shamanala wrote: "I was there in December 2011... and I doubt this is a good idea... I mean... use your logic... what is more time and money consuming... finding another name?

Demanding OOO to put a name filter system

..... think about it for one sec before crying out loud on the forum -_- "

So, this means you were 2 years inactive and blocked the name and you came back? Or that you were active all the time? Of course it's easier to find another name (I know!), but that's a lazy solution. I don't support laziness, especially if it's paid. And this isn't a cry topic, my god. I have more time wasted thinking about this problem and topic than you have spend thinking about it (probably something like 2 minutes, right?) And with your logic, why are you worried? With your shiny creativity you would be able to choose another name, or do I have hit the nail on the head? As Shadowstarkirby wrote: "I see absolutely no reason why the name database shouldn't be cleaned. People can argue that one guy from two years ago will be very offended when they find that their name they used for at most, what, an hour? is taken when they just happen to want to log into that very game they tossed away years later. No one should feel entitled to a good name just cause you played for 5 minutes"

Thanks for reading, and bad grammar and insults (if there are any) aren't intended :P

Thu, 11/07/2013 - 13:38

#37

Fallconn

If this ever happens I demand that I be given the name "Falcon"

Thu, 11/07/2013 - 13:42

#38

Krakob

I demand that you're given the name "Eagle".

Thu, 11/07/2013 - 15:24

#39

Skyguarder

I demand that you're given the name "Crab".

Sat, 11/09/2013 - 15:37

#40

Whimsicality

With all the miraculous ways people have mispelled 'Whimsicality', and that it would be millions of times easier just to write 'Whimsy', I'm hoping in the back of my mind that this does inevitably happen.

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Clean the name database please