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So When Will We Be Allowed to Change Our Names?

1
AuthorMessage
Explorer
Feb 10, 2012
71
I know this has been mentioned before, but seriously. So many people want this, why is it not an option yet?
Every argument against it has been refuted. The vast majority of people seem to want this to be possible. So when will it be?

Mastermind
Mar 01, 2015
307
Soul330 on Mar 25, 2016 wrote:
I know this has been mentioned before, but seriously. So many people want this, why is it not an option yet?
Every argument against it has been refuted. The vast majority of people seem to want this to be possible. So when will it be?
list of reasons this isnt a thing yet~

1. Its about what KI thinks as well, not just us.Sometimes KI doesnt agree with the idea.
2.There might be alot of players that agree with the idea, but there are also alot of players that dont agree with the idea. (including me)
3.As professor Falmea always says, some things with the technology dont allow them to incorporate this into the game.
4. The whole team behind this game needs to agree with these ideas.
5. If the whole team does agree with thesde ideas, they would add it in their next update.

Defender
Jun 06, 2009
167
Unfortunately probably never as KI has stated many many times it will not happen but you never know
i just want the option to add a last name to my character and change the original hairstyle and color but i don't think we will be able to change these things

Geographer
Nov 22, 2015
859
omagicspells on Mar 26, 2016 wrote:
list of reasons this isnt a thing yet~

1. Its about what KI thinks as well, not just us.Sometimes KI doesnt agree with the idea.
2.There might be alot of players that agree with the idea, but there are also alot of players that dont agree with the idea. (including me)
3.As professor Falmea always says, some things with the technology dont allow them to incorporate this into the game.
4. The whole team behind this game needs to agree with these ideas.
5. If the whole team does agree with thesde ideas, they would add it in their next update.
Why don't you agree with it?

Mastermind
Mar 01, 2015
307
Fable Finder on Mar 27, 2016 wrote:
Why don't you agree with it?
I just think it will be too confusing, and I really find it hard to adjust to changes like this.

Defender
Jun 06, 2009
167
omagicspells on Mar 28, 2016 wrote:
I just think it will be too confusing, and I really find it hard to adjust to changes like this.
If you don't mind me asking how would it be confusing it actually sounds more adjustable than some of the other updates the games seen (advanced pets and jewel sockets took me forever to understand)

Astrologist
Dec 26, 2013
1124
The biggest problem with a name change is the chaos it would create with the Friends List. The limited communication available in-game would make it virtually impossible to notify everyone you know that you are no longer who you used to be. Of course, someone is going to suggest that KI build in some sort of notification system that would immediately let all of your friends know that you've changed your name... but then that wouldn't be enough... it would also have to automatically re-configure every one of your friends' Friend Lists so the change would be noted accordingly. This is John Dough, who used to be Mike Dough but wasn't happy with his name so arbitrarily decided to change it... until he's not happy with this new name and decides to change it again... and the whole thing starts again.
I just think it's a lot of work for a less than useful change to the system. There are many, many things that need to be addressed in-game as it is and this would take valuable time away from the programmers who could be putting their efforts into repairing legitimate issues.

Survivor
Dec 13, 2014
25
TucsonWizard on Mar 30, 2016 wrote:
The biggest problem with a name change is the chaos it would create with the Friends List. The limited communication available in-game would make it virtually impossible to notify everyone you know that you are no longer who you used to be. Of course, someone is going to suggest that KI build in some sort of notification system that would immediately let all of your friends know that you've changed your name... but then that wouldn't be enough... it would also have to automatically re-configure every one of your friends' Friend Lists so the change would be noted accordingly. This is John Dough, who used to be Mike Dough but wasn't happy with his name so arbitrarily decided to change it... until he's not happy with this new name and decides to change it again... and the whole thing starts again.
I just think it's a lot of work for a less than useful change to the system. There are many, many things that need to be addressed in-game as it is and this would take valuable time away from the programmers who could be putting their efforts into repairing legitimate issues.
At first when you mentioned this I thought you meant about usernames... But character names are entirely more confusing. TucsonWizard makes a great point, as everything will only get more and more complex. Some people who have lives outside of Wizard101 may get confused when logging into the game, and, if notified about it, they may also simply forget.

If you want to change your name, go make a new wizard and import your items. If that's too drastic, then maybe when you change your name in-game, there should be a policy where you delete all of your friends and start fresh. I can't think of any reason you may want to change your name. If you're a level 5 and you don't like your name, then delete your character and start fresh–you didn't miss much. If you're an exalted and don't like your name, why not? You must've been playing for ages and liked your name up to that point–why change?

If you made an account long ago and then out of the blue, stopped playing for a year, it's better to make a new character anyways. All of your friends probably aren't on at that point, and you need to get used to the controls again. The only things I think of when changing a name is starting fresh, so why not just make a new character for it anyway?

(Sorry for repeating the phrase "start fresh" too many times–I hope you got my point anyways )

Defender
Feb 22, 2016
137
I know many games where they make it work. It can be made to work in Wizard101.

If capitalizing on something most everyone wants is a waste of time, simply because a few players have too many friends apparently and can't even keep track of who is who...

I mean, come on, they can really rake in some dough with name change/class change/cosmetic change tokens.

Talk about squandering opportunity...oh well, if it never happens, it never happens.

- but people WILL keep asking for it. People will always want these features.

Survivor
Dec 30, 2010
19
I feEl name changes should be added also, with a censor/word bans, for open chatters, or those over the age of 18. Since it's still a kid friendly game, I feel hardcore censorship should be placed for custom added name changes.
I'd love to run around with a custom username. But I also understand the stresses that could come out of this due to protecting our younger audiences.

Mastermind
Mar 01, 2015
307
TucsonWizard on Mar 30, 2016 wrote:
The biggest problem with a name change is the chaos it would create with the Friends List. The limited communication available in-game would make it virtually impossible to notify everyone you know that you are no longer who you used to be. Of course, someone is going to suggest that KI build in some sort of notification system that would immediately let all of your friends know that you've changed your name... but then that wouldn't be enough... it would also have to automatically re-configure every one of your friends' Friend Lists so the change would be noted accordingly. This is John Dough, who used to be Mike Dough but wasn't happy with his name so arbitrarily decided to change it... until he's not happy with this new name and decides to change it again... and the whole thing starts again.
I just think it's a lot of work for a less than useful change to the system. There are many, many things that need to be addressed in-game as it is and this would take valuable time away from the programmers who could be putting their efforts into repairing legitimate issues.
Yes, THATS why I think its confusing to you and your friends. And it is hard to adjust to people constantly changing their names

Survivor
Nov 14, 2012
46
Uncle Sweeney on Mar 30, 2016 wrote:
I know many games where they make it work. It can be made to work in Wizard101.

If capitalizing on something most everyone wants is a waste of time, simply because a few players have too many friends apparently and can't even keep track of who is who...

I mean, come on, they can really rake in some dough with name change/class change/cosmetic change tokens.

Talk about squandering opportunity...oh well, if it never happens, it never happens.

- but people WILL keep asking for it. People will always want these features.
Class changes and cosmetic changes would be a really nice idea. There needs to be better features one can choose from to make their characters more unique than simple hairstyles.

Astrologist
Dec 26, 2013
1124
Uncle Sweeney on Mar 30, 2016 wrote:
I know many games where they make it work. It can be made to work in Wizard101.

If capitalizing on something most everyone wants is a waste of time, simply because a few players have too many friends apparently and can't even keep track of who is who...

I mean, come on, they can really rake in some dough with name change/class change/cosmetic change tokens.

Talk about squandering opportunity...oh well, if it never happens, it never happens.

- but people WILL keep asking for it. People will always want these features.
I don't have extensive friend lists. In fact, I rarely quest with others unless I'm asked for help. I've soloed the vast majority of the game with all of my wizards so the effects of a name-change option really won't matter to me one way or another. I'm merely pointing out that for what might seem like a simple thing to implement there are far reaching consequences. It's not just a matter of flipping a switch and everything will be hunky-dory.
I agree that it could be profitable for KI to allow for such a thing but my question is whether or not it's worth risking the potential chaos and confusion for such a cosmetic issue. And you know as well as I that if this were to be allowed for a price, then there would be a chorus of complaints that the price is too high... and now we want to change our faces too... and we want to change our hair color!

Armiger
Jan 11, 2012
2497
I would love to be able to change my wizards' names to match a single name scheme. I've done it with newer wizards, but have 2 of 5 that could use a rename. It has been suggested before that when you do a name change, it should wipe your friends list. This would totally eliminate the confusion of other people's friend's list. Many people, not all of course, would take this option easily. It's not a perfect solution, but it does solve most users' issues

Astrologist
Dec 26, 2013
1124
dayerider on Mar 31, 2016 wrote:
I would love to be able to change my wizards' names to match a single name scheme. I've done it with newer wizards, but have 2 of 5 that could use a rename. It has been suggested before that when you do a name change, it should wipe your friends list. This would totally eliminate the confusion of other people's friend's list. Many people, not all of course, would take this option easily. It's not a perfect solution, but it does solve most users' issues
If a list wipe was part of the deal then problem solved. I think from a programming perspective this would be the easiest way to accomplish it. No residual issues to contend with... done and done.

Defender
Feb 22, 2016
137
TucsonWizard on Mar 31, 2016 wrote:
I don't have extensive friend lists. In fact, I rarely quest with others unless I'm asked for help. I've soloed the vast majority of the game with all of my wizards so the effects of a name-change option really won't matter to me one way or another. I'm merely pointing out that for what might seem like a simple thing to implement there are far reaching consequences. It's not just a matter of flipping a switch and everything will be hunky-dory.
I agree that it could be profitable for KI to allow for such a thing but my question is whether or not it's worth risking the potential chaos and confusion for such a cosmetic issue. And you know as well as I that if this were to be allowed for a price, then there would be a chorus of complaints that the price is too high... and now we want to change our faces too... and we want to change our hair color!
Like I said, cosmetic changes (aka hair, skin and face), class changes, the works.

This is the standard.

It has been done. It can be done.

In fact, this is probably the ONLY game community I have seen that has made such a big fuss over such a detail.

People are asking about them, they have been asking about them, and they will continue to ask about these things, again, and again, and again, and again- ad infinitum.

If an online MMO doesn't have it, they'll be asked to add it. If it doesn't work for whatever reason, they'll be asked to change things to make it work. I'm just saying. It's inevitable.

I don't see the supposed cons outweighing all the pros. That might be due to different values and perspective, but that's my take.

The inconvenience of having to more diligently keep track of who is who isn't a strong enough complaint to really earn my sympathy.

Pardon me if that seems harsh. I'm not a harsh person.

I just happen to feel a lot more for all the people who chose a name they absolutely don't like anymore, something they chose years ago maybe, or something they've wanted to change for years and would have started over if they weren't already so far in the game.

Defender
Feb 22, 2016
137
dayerider on Mar 31, 2016 wrote:
I would love to be able to change my wizards' names to match a single name scheme. I've done it with newer wizards, but have 2 of 5 that could use a rename. It has been suggested before that when you do a name change, it should wipe your friends list. This would totally eliminate the confusion of other people's friend's list. Many people, not all of course, would take this option easily. It's not a perfect solution, but it does solve most users' issues
It's even more unreasonable this way.

Then they'd have to find everyone again and re-friend them, which unless they know the player outside the game like on Facebook or Twitter and can ask where they're at, and on which realm, will be one heck of a feat.

(unless they have your true friend code)

This just eliminates the mild inconvenience for everyone else, but creates a major dilemma for the player having his or her name changed. This doesn't fix anything.

Seriously, I've played so many different MMOs, all of which had name changing as an option. Very rarely I'd see someone in my friends list whose name I didn't recognize and of course I knew it was someone who had changed their name.

Simple logic was usually enough to figure out who it was, like trying to figure out who was missing

(example: "Everyone is accounted for except Jack Frost, so this new name must be him.")

If I couldn't deduce who it was, I would just message the person and ask. It's not rocket science.

If you've got a hundred "friends" on your friends list, sure, that sounds like it could get difficult, but really, what the heck?

Even without their names changing, how do you keep track of over 50+ people, let alone 100?

Reducing your friends list to people who you actually consider your friends is probably the simplest solution of all.

*sigh* whatever. Que sera sera!

...Aw, now there's an idea. Some Doris Day oughta perk me right back up.

Armiger
Jan 11, 2012
2497
Uncle Sweeney on Apr 1, 2016 wrote:
It's even more unreasonable this way.

Then they'd have to find everyone again and re-friend them, which unless they know the player outside the game like on Facebook or Twitter and can ask where they're at, and on which realm, will be one heck of a feat.

(unless they have your true friend code)

This just eliminates the mild inconvenience for everyone else, but creates a major dilemma for the player having his or her name changed. This doesn't fix anything.

Seriously, I've played so many different MMOs, all of which had name changing as an option. Very rarely I'd see someone in my friends list whose name I didn't recognize and of course I knew it was someone who had changed their name.

Simple logic was usually enough to figure out who it was, like trying to figure out who was missing

(example: "Everyone is accounted for except Jack Frost, so this new name must be him.")

If I couldn't deduce who it was, I would just message the person and ask. It's not rocket science.

If you've got a hundred "friends" on your friends list, sure, that sounds like it could get difficult, but really, what the heck?

Even without their names changing, how do you keep track of over 50+ people, let alone 100?

Reducing your friends list to people who you actually consider your friends is probably the simplest solution of all.

*sigh* whatever. Que sera sera!

...Aw, now there's an idea. Some Doris Day oughta perk me right back up.
If you dont want to worry about refriending everybody, then dont name change. problem solved before it starts. I understand it can be a huge ordeal, but KI rarely gives us something without a cost, and this would be a suitable cost. In MY case, I wouldnt have a problem with a list wipe, but I also understand you're not me and YOU might have a problem with it. That's fine, but I think if they did do this, it would solve many more problems than it would cause. Just my $.02 USD is all

Defender
Feb 22, 2016
137
dayerider on Apr 1, 2016 wrote:
If you dont want to worry about refriending everybody, then dont name change. problem solved before it starts. I understand it can be a huge ordeal, but KI rarely gives us something without a cost, and this would be a suitable cost. In MY case, I wouldnt have a problem with a list wipe, but I also understand you're not me and YOU might have a problem with it. That's fine, but I think if they did do this, it would solve many more problems than it would cause. Just my $.02 USD is all
Like I said, it fixes problems so minute they can hardly be called problems and creates major problems, actual problems.

I might actually like a name change sometime down the road, and I'd rather not have to perform the frankly herculean task of finding the people on my friends list again to re-add them.

Without knowing their friend code or how to reach them elsewhere online, it will be nigh impossible.

This can't be the "cost" even if you are okay with it.

Save your two cents for the five to ten to fifteen dollars it'll cost to have your name changed, should they ever decide to implement it. It would be better spent.

Seriously, a gajillion games, and this has never been a problem.

It boggles the mind, the fuss being made over this.

Defender
Feb 22, 2016
137
Honestly, I think a complete overhaul of the naming system and the social interface is long overdue.

I'm glad I don't ever have to worry about the name I want being taken, like so many other MMOs, and I won't ever run into players with lame names like "Sasuke1020n" or something equally horrendous...

At the same time though, clearly the system we have is far from perfect.

Perhaps Wizard101 should do what Champions Online and Neverwinter does, and have there be a unique "account name" (that you can't change except under extremely extenuating circumstances with help from support) that differentiates you from everyone else.

That way if I were to change my character's name from Morgrim to, idk, Malorn ShadowStrider, or Jack SoulStealer, or Devin UnicornBlood, my account name would make it clear who I am.

Your character name could change but people will still know exactly which player you are.

Survivor
Feb 15, 2009
1
I would really appreciate it if KI would add an update to allow people to change their names. I have a level 110 wizard with a name I no longer like. I was actually going to start over completely by making a new wizard with a different name that I would like. Hopefully there will be an update to change names in the near future.

Explorer
Feb 10, 2012
71
Uncle Sweeney on Apr 2, 2016 wrote:
Honestly, I think a complete overhaul of the naming system and the social interface is long overdue.

I'm glad I don't ever have to worry about the name I want being taken, like so many other MMOs, and I won't ever run into players with lame names like "Sasuke1020n" or something equally horrendous...

At the same time though, clearly the system we have is far from perfect.

Perhaps Wizard101 should do what Champions Online and Neverwinter does, and have there be a unique "account name" (that you can't change except under extremely extenuating circumstances with help from support) that differentiates you from everyone else.

That way if I were to change my character's name from Morgrim to, idk, Malorn ShadowStrider, or Jack SoulStealer, or Devin UnicornBlood, my account name would make it clear who I am.

Your character name could change but people will still know exactly which player you are.
That's a great idea, and it sounds like the easiest solution to the problem!

Armiger
Jan 11, 2012
2497
Uncle Sweeney on Apr 1, 2016 wrote:
Like I said, it fixes problems so minute they can hardly be called problems and creates major problems, actual problems.

I might actually like a name change sometime down the road, and I'd rather not have to perform the frankly herculean task of finding the people on my friends list again to re-add them.

Without knowing their friend code or how to reach them elsewhere online, it will be nigh impossible.

This can't be the "cost" even if you are okay with it.

Save your two cents for the five to ten to fifteen dollars it'll cost to have your name changed, should they ever decide to implement it. It would be better spent.

Seriously, a gajillion games, and this has never been a problem.

It boggles the mind, the fuss being made over this.
wont cost me a thing to change my name. if it costs actual dollars, I wont do it; end of story. I think you're being a little over-dramatic about how it would influence the game.

Defender
Jun 06, 2009
167
Uncle Sweeney on Apr 2, 2016 wrote:
Honestly, I think a complete overhaul of the naming system and the social interface is long overdue.

I'm glad I don't ever have to worry about the name I want being taken, like so many other MMOs, and I won't ever run into players with lame names like "Sasuke1020n" or something equally horrendous...

At the same time though, clearly the system we have is far from perfect.

Perhaps Wizard101 should do what Champions Online and Neverwinter does, and have there be a unique "account name" (that you can't change except under extremely extenuating circumstances with help from support) that differentiates you from everyone else.

That way if I were to change my character's name from Morgrim to, idk, Malorn ShadowStrider, or Jack SoulStealer, or Devin UnicornBlood, my account name would make it clear who I am.

Your character name could change but people will still know exactly which player you are.
Wait so what your saying is that on your friends list instead of the wizards name you have that persons account name(tell me if i misunderstood your post) i think that would remove a part of the family safe game that KI has been advertising since day 1

Armiger
Jan 11, 2012
2497
Uncle Sweeney on Apr 2, 2016 wrote:
Honestly, I think a complete overhaul of the naming system and the social interface is long overdue.

I'm glad I don't ever have to worry about the name I want being taken, like so many other MMOs, and I won't ever run into players with lame names like "Sasuke1020n" or something equally horrendous...

At the same time though, clearly the system we have is far from perfect.

Perhaps Wizard101 should do what Champions Online and Neverwinter does, and have there be a unique "account name" (that you can't change except under extremely extenuating circumstances with help from support) that differentiates you from everyone else.

That way if I were to change my character's name from Morgrim to, idk, Malorn ShadowStrider, or Jack SoulStealer, or Devin UnicornBlood, my account name would make it clear who I am.

Your character name could change but people will still know exactly which player you are.
There have been suggestions in the past to make the friends list tied to account names and not wizard names. The argument FOR it was, "It wont matter which wizard they're on, I can always find them" and "It would multiply, by a lot, how many wizards we could have on our friends list because one account can hold 6 wizards". The argument AGAINST it was the security issues, that if people chose poor passwords,m they could get their wizards stolen. All in all, changing a name should be easy to do (the process to change it not necessarily the process to program it into the game)

1