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Difference between revisions of "Character Name Policy"

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m (Too many newlines. Compacted it)
(Put up notice for August, 2007 re-enactment. Re-worded article to refrain from using past tense.)
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{{Historical|type=article|game=hv}}
 
 
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==Overview==
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== Overview ==
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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The character name change 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 accounts that simply haven't been used.
  
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 ==
  
==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 disabled in some way, such as payment expiration or account suspensions. Accounts that are still being paid for, but simply have not been used for 90 days, are not affected.
  
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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Any character on such an account less than a certain level has its name moved over 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.
  
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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When "unreserved" status is assigned to a name, the following changes are applied to the affected character:
When "unreserved" status was assigned to a name, the following changes were applied to the affected character:
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*A new character name needs to be chosen (if existing name has been taken)
*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 will be cleared
*The character's description and battle cry were cleared
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*The character's Friends list will be cleared
*The character's Friends list were cleared
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*All Mail received will be deleted
*All Mail received was cleared
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*The character is removed from their Super Group, if any
*The character was removed from their super group, if any
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*Characters affected will be missing from other peoples' friends lists
 
*Characters affected will be missing from other peoples' friends lists
 
*Any and all mail that other players have received from an affected character will have reverted to having been sent from "Unknown"
 
*Any and all mail that other players have received from an affected character will have reverted to having been sent from "Unknown"
  
  
==Links==
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== Upcoming Enactment ==
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On August 29, 2007, this policy will be put to use. There is no official word yet how long it will be enabled. The timing of this enactment may very well indicate that the character transfer and rename functions will become available before too long. Currently, those features are in testing on the public test servers.
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During this enactment, eligible characters will be below level 6.
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== In The Past ==
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{{Historical|type=section|game=hv}}
 +
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.
 +
 
 +
During this enactment, elegible characters were below level 35.
 +
 
 +
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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== External Links ==
  
[http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=info&Number=5450271 CoH Forum Post announcing this policy]
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*[http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=8836713&an=0&page=0&gonew=1 CoH Forum Post announcing the August '07 enactment of the policy]
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*[http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=info&Number=5450271 CoH Forum Post originally announcing this policy]

Revision as of 23:25, 31 July 2007

Overview

The character name change 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 accounts that simply haven't been used.


Policy Details

The policy change affects all accounts that have 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 are still being paid for, but simply have not been used for 90 days, are not affected.

Any character on such an account less than a certain level has its name moved over 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 will be cleared
  • The character's Friends list will be cleared
  • All Mail received will be deleted
  • The character is removed from their Super Group, if any
  • Characters affected will be missing from other peoples' friends lists
  • Any and all mail that other players have received from an affected character will have reverted to having been sent from "Unknown"


Upcoming Enactment

On August 29, 2007, this policy will be put to use. There is no official word yet how long it will be enabled. The timing of this enactment may very well indicate that the character transfer and rename functions will become available before too long. Currently, those features are in testing on the public test servers.

During this enactment, eligible characters will be below level 6.


In The Past

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 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.

During this enactment, elegible characters were below level 35.

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.


External Links