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Difference between revisions of "Character Name Policy"

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{{Historical|type=article|game=hv}}
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== Overview ==
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The '''character name policy''' is a tactic for recycling used player names from inactive accounts so that other players may use them. The policy only applies to ''accounts'' that are currently ''deactivated'', '''not''' characters on active accounts that aren't logged in frequently.  Additionally, accounts that are still being paid for, but simply have not been used for 90 days, are not affected.
  
==Overview==
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Long before [[City of Heroes Freedom]] launched, the development team decided that running the scripts wasn't freeing up an appreciable number of character names, and has not run the script since the second wave.
On October 27, 2005, the character name policy in City of Heroes and City of Villains was changed in order to allow names used by inactive accounts to be used by new characters created in active accounts. This was done as a maintenance procedure to cull out the vast collection of idle character names leftover from the past in order for new, active players to be able to use them.
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On May 4, 2006, the character name policy was changed again to lift the previous inactment, which once again means all character names are reserved and new characters need a unique name upon creation. Any accounts already affected by this will still have their characters "unreserved" until said character is logged in though.
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== Policy Details ==
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The policy change affects all accounts that have been inactive for over 90 days. This only applied to accounts that were ''deactivated'' in some way, such as payment expiration or account suspensions.
  
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Any character on such an account less than a certain level has its name set to "unreserved" status, which allows any new character on the server to be created with that name. In the event this happens, the original character under the name will be prompted to choose a new name upon login. In order to return a character's name to "reserved" status, the user must log the character in question into the game. As such, it ''is'' possible that a player can be actively using an account with characters whose names are still set to "unreserved" status.
  
==Policy Details==
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When "unreserved" status is assigned to a name, the following changes are applied to the affected character:
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*A new character name needs to be chosen (if existing name has been taken)
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*The character's description and battle cry is cleared
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*All mail received is deleted
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*The character is removed from their Super Group, if any
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*The character's Friends list is cleared, and the character is removed from others' Friends lists
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*Mail other characters have received from an affected character reverts to having been sent from "Unknown"
  
The policy change affected all accounts that had been inactive for over 90 days. This only applied to accounts that were disabled in some way, such as payment expiration or account suspensions. Accounts that were still being paid for, but simply not used for 90 days, were not affected.
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=== Current Policy ===
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On August 29, 2007, this policy was brought back. The re-enactment of this policy came in time for the [[Character Transfer]] and [[Character Rename]] features. This is a manual process run infrequently during a [[Technical Issues#Server Maintenance|server maintenance]] period. [[Paragon Studios]] and [[NCsoft]] does not guarantee that the process will be announced before it takes effect, only that notice will be given if the policy is going to change.
  
Any character on such an account that was less than level 35 had its name moved over to "unreserved" status, which allowed any new character on the server to be created with that name. In the event this happened, the original character under the name would be prompted to choose a new name upon login. In order to return a character's name to "reserved" status, the user must log the character in question into the game. As such, it was possible that a player could be actively using an account with characters whose names were still set to "unreserved" status.
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For this version of the policy, only characters that are level 5 and under are eligible for unreserved status.
  
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=== Previous Policy ===
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{{Historical|type=section|game=hv}}
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On October 27, 2005, the character name policy was changed in order to allow names used by inactive accounts to be used by new characters created on active accounts.
  
When "unreserved" status was assigned to a name, the following changes were applied to the affected character:
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During this enactment, eligible characters were level 34 and under.
*A new character name needed to be chosen (if past name had been taken)
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*The character's description and battle cry were cleared
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*The character's Friends list were cleared
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*All Mail received was cleared
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*The character was removed from their super group, if any
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*Characters affected will be missing from other peoples' friends lists
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*Any and all mail that other players have received from an affected character will have reverted to having been sent from "Unknown"
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On May 4, 2006, the character name policy was changed again to lift the previous enactment, which once again meant all new characters needed a unique name upon creation. Any characters already affected will retain "unreserved" status until said character is logged in though.
  
==Links==
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== External Links ==
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*[http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Number=8836713#Post8836713 2007 Official Forum Announcement]
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*[http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Number=3845194#Post3845194 2005 Official Forum Announcement]
  
[http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=info&Number=5450271 CoH Forum Post announcing this policy]
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[[Category:Game Background]]

Latest revision as of 16:58, 19 May 2012

Badge time.png This article contains information that no longer applies to the current version of City of Heroes Freedom. It is provided for historical purposes.

Overview

The character name policy is a tactic for recycling used player names from inactive accounts so that other players may use them. The policy only applies to accounts that are currently deactivated, not characters on active accounts that aren't logged in frequently. Additionally, accounts that are still being paid for, but simply have not been used for 90 days, are not affected.

Long before City of Heroes Freedom launched, the development team decided that running the scripts wasn't freeing up an appreciable number of character names, and has not run the script since the second wave.

Policy Details

The policy change affects all accounts that have been inactive for over 90 days. This only applied to accounts that were deactivated in some way, such as payment expiration or account suspensions.

Any character on such an account less than a certain level has its name set to "unreserved" status, which allows any new character on the server to be created with that name. In the event this happens, the original character under the name will be prompted to choose a new name upon login. In order to return a character's name to "reserved" status, the user must log the character in question into the game. As such, it is possible that a player can be actively using an account with characters whose names are still set to "unreserved" status.

When "unreserved" status is assigned to a name, the following changes are applied to the affected character:

  • A new character name needs to be chosen (if existing name has been taken)
  • The character's description and battle cry is cleared
  • All mail received is deleted
  • The character is removed from their Super Group, if any
  • The character's Friends list is cleared, and the character is removed from others' Friends lists
  • Mail other characters have received from an affected character reverts to having been sent from "Unknown"

Current Policy

On August 29, 2007, this policy was brought back. The re-enactment of this policy came in time for the Character Transfer and Character Rename features. This is a manual process run infrequently during a server maintenance period. Paragon Studios and NCsoft does not guarantee that the process will be announced before it takes effect, only that notice will be given if the policy is going to change.

For this version of the policy, only characters that are level 5 and under are eligible for unreserved status.

Previous Policy

Badge time.png This section contains information that no longer applies to the current version of City of Heroes Freedom. It is provided for historical purposes.

On October 27, 2005, the character name policy was changed in order to allow names used by inactive accounts to be used by new characters created on active accounts.

During this enactment, eligible characters were level 34 and under.

On May 4, 2006, the character name policy was changed again to lift the previous enactment, which once again meant all new characters needed a unique name upon creation. Any characters already affected will retain "unreserved" status until said character is logged in though.

External Links