naming policy rules... what are they?

[JaVeDK]

"Character renaming can and will occur if a player’s name is offensive. (GM Discretion)"

This clearly states that it is up to the individual GM (and therefore assumingly by extension also guide) to decide what names they find offensive.

The definition of offensive according to Webster is something: "causing displeasure or resentment". If it is the aim of the server to preserve a fantasy environment (which would be logical since this is a fantasy game), then a name that obviously does not fit the setting can be considered offensive to that end.

[Zordana]

Originally Posted by SchadenFreude [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The server rules only reference the word "name" in one place:



The rules say nothing about Roleplaying names, nothing about phrases, nor anything about any of the arguments you used to support your knee-jerk, abuse-of-powers actions. You seem to think that everything in "Classic EQ" needs to be replicated on P99, right down to the guide program that ruined EQ the first time around.

I don't expect you to do the right thing and back off from your crusade. You will probably just change the rules to make your actions "legal" on P99. It would be nothing new; the exact same thing happened to me on the Live servers in the days of "Classic EQ v1.0".

stop posting, it hurts to read that

[Dumesh Uhl'Belk]

Originally Posted by SchadenFreude [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I don't expect you to do the right thing and back off from your crusade.

"Do the right thing"? really?!? You're mustering an awful lot of righteous indignation over the letters that identify your avatar in a game you don't even pay for. Yeah, actually, that's the real point. You don't pay for this. You don't own it.

Someone else set up a playground and said, "Hey you can come use this for free, at my discretion." So, you look at all the toys and slides and think it's a pretty cool looking place to hang out. So you come in and play for awhile, but then you do something that the owner's chaperon sees and doesn't like. The chaperon says, "Change this, or you'll have to leave." Now you have a choice. Is playing in the playground still worth it to you if you have to have different letters above your head? It's a "yes" or "no". The bottom line is that this is not your playground, so you don't make the rules. The owner didn't say, "Hey, I'm making this cool playground thing and I want a bunch of people to come in and help decide what the rules are going to be."

Basically what I am saying here is that you have not been wronged. You are not a victim. If you want to be able to have the name Shadenfreude, then you ought to approach the issue by asking the devs politely and privately if they will allow it. Claiming moral outrage when there is no cause for it just makes you look foolish, or like someone trying to start a movement.

[pickled_heretic]

Originally Posted by Dumesh Uhl'Belk [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

"Do the right thing"? really?!? You're mustering an awful lot of righteous indignation over the letters that identify your avatar in a game you don't even pay for. Yeah, actually, that's the real point. You don't pay for this. You don't own it.

They couldn't charge for it if they wanted to, so I'm not sure what point you're getting at.

The real issue is that cyrius is enforcing a nonexistant naming policy. Fine. Whatever. Let's get it codified and enforced and see how long it lasts.

Right now, we're seeing sunshine enforcement where a few people get their names changed once a month when it is fun and convenient to do so while the vast majority of legitimately offensive names remain untouched and preferential treatment is granted toward some members. The fact that cyrius threatened to begin actually enforcing the rules a few posts ago is proof of this. If the current enforcement was globalized and made consistent, the possibility of enough 'moral outrage' for a 'movement' (if you insist on using those words) is very real.

[Kainzo]

Originally Posted by twincannon [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

lol @ eqdruid76 being the judge on names here [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Eq live was pretty lenient about names, certainly much more than those nazi SoD rules. My friend had a shaman named Safety and he /surname'd Dance, and a GM came pretty quickly and had to change it due to copyright worries. But the GM had no problem changing his surname to "Goggles", lol. Obviously GM's were more of a case-by-case thing back then though and I'm sure someone else might have not approved.

So far this server seems about on par with classic live names as I remember it. Absor and whoever back in the day might have gotten their panties twisted over anyone with a name that didn't sound like it came out of LOTR, but the actual game climate was a mix of clever names and fantasy ones, and no one seemed to mind. I've certainly never seen anyone flip their shit over a surname like "Nicemace", and honestly that's probably more your problem than his if you're going to ignore someone over that. By that ridiculous logic a dwarf with the surname Goodbeard would also be unacceptable.

On Live the naming policy was not lenient, if someone had a problem with a name, it was changed if it didnt meet the naming policy, meaning SOMEONE had to petition it first. Dwarves could easily have the name "goodbeard" because it works into Lore and racial features. Bronzebeard/etc were names of dwarves in EQ lore.

To note: On live, my brother had a mage named "Seyton", it was later changed when he was 53 because it was a common place name for the play MacBeth. 3 years later the name change was reverted back to Seyton, because my brother pronounced it differently and had no association with Macbeth and actually the sound of "say-tan" etc... Strangely enough, I was able to get the name "Disposablehero" without any objection from GM's or Guides. My entire crew on Rathe (cousins/friends) all were surnamed "Disposablehero" and some even had the guide change their existing TO "Disposablehero". At first glance I would think it violated the phrasing policy, but it meets the same expectations that "bronzebeard" and so forth held (in their eyes).

The naming policy for EQ are much different from WoW. A lot of players do not understand this. WoW's naming policy / restrictions are almost nil. If its not racist / swearing then its A-OKAY! EverQuest guides and GM's had a different take on it. They believed that the naming conventions should be appropriate for the GAME and not the RL era/year they players hailed from.

A name such as "Tindel Oakenleaf" would be alright. However, if someone chose ChrisM Peepants, it was a direct violation of the naming policy. Common sense is the best use for naming your character. I know you may think its witty and smart to name yourself phrases such as "Ilikeyou Butnotinthatway" but it's really just a cry for attention from the player. Have some respect for yourself and dive into your character, take pride in what you name yourself.


I was the Senior Guide (Asmog) for the Bertox server and then later SWAT team CSR program. I know the naming policy quite well and if I dug around enough, I may even be able to find the old manuals on when and why to change player's name and surnames. Only a SENIOR guide+ could change the FIRST name of a player.

[Taxi]

Originally Posted by Kainzo [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

.

A name such as "Tindel Oakenleaf" would be alright. However, if someone chose ChrisM Peepants, it was a direct violation of the naming policy. Common sense is the best use for naming your character. I know you may think its witty and smart to name yourself phrases such as "Ilikeyou Butnotinthatway" but it's really just a cry for attention from the player. Have some respect for yourself and dive into your character, take pride in what you name yourself.

Why does anyone not in favor of names meaning something have to pick the most retarded and immature names to try to prove their point? My name isnt "Vagina Smasher" allrite? "Astro Physics" isnt "Brown Buttnugget"

[Ihealyou]

While I'm fine with GMs changing names, I agree that the official rules need to be updated. I played on other emu servers before coming here, and they all have pretty much the same naming rules as the "official" one here. On those servers, as long as your name wasn't racist, overtly sexual, or a bunch of swear words, it was fine. Names like Dpsftw, Freehugs, Ihealyou, etc. were perfectly acceptable and not uncommon.

As its written now, there's no way for a new player to know the official naming policy without digging through an eight page thread to find a GM comment on it. The first time I even thought about my name violating the policy was when it was changed. If I knew it violated the naming policy, I would have chosen a different name when I made the character.

Save the GMs and players time and trouble by making the naming policy more conspicuous. If you're following the SOE naming rules, put that in the rules in the FAQ. Changing people's names takes up GM time, as well as destroying the reputation built up by the player. Make it easy for new players to know what an acceptable name is, and save everyone a lot of headache later.

[Kainzo]

I believe that the name policy should be clear, but in the end it is ALWAYS up to the GM/staff on what is appropriate and what is not for the server THEY host.

"Hitme Harderbitz" was a monk on Rathe back in 2000, he had his surname removed but they let him keep his first name. At times, when a player leveled all the way to 50 and no one had a fuss about the name, the GM's let them keep the name. Due to friends listed issues, if a level 50 player was renamed, it was as if he was a ghost on the server. However if it is was extremely offensive or controversial, you can bet your ass it got changed, despite them being level 50.


Here is another case of the naming convention. Names created BEFORE the copyright or product was released were allowed to be kept and grandfathered in. Also on Rathe, there was a cleric named "Redbull". The GM's hit him hard about his name because around 2003-2004, The drink became really big. However, upon further investigation, they allowed him to keep the name because the player "Redbull" had created the name in '99, back when he knew NOTHING about the drink/product line.

These occurrences happened a lot and were taken on a case by case basis. Something that you can associate with your class and race as a roleplaying name, can have phrases. Leons Bronzebeard, would be an acceptable name on the EQ live servers, where as Leons Phelps, probably would be shot down, considering its celeb status to "The Ladies Man."

[Pheer]

Originally Posted by Kainzo [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I believe that the name policy should be clear, but in the end it is ALWAYS up to the GM/staff on what is appropriate and what is not for the server THEY host.

I'd like to hear from people on this, has anyone had their phrase/"means something" name changed by any gms apart from cyrius? So far hes the only one Ive heard of nerfing names that weren't offensive. And if its been only him, he doesn't host shit. He's a volunteer gm, its not his server he just helps out with gm services on a volunteer basis. There has been little to no talk from rogean or nilbog about this topic and as it is now it appears we're being held to a policy that doesn't exist in any tangible format except because a particular GM 'says so'. How would you like it if you were penalized for breaking an invisible rule and when bringing it up on the forums you were antagonized by roleplayers that think everyone should have a fantasy name like theirs?

[Combo]

This all needs to be codified. Having some "if I feel like it" name changing guide running around with his own unwritten laws is one hell of a slippery slope and your players are going to hate you for it. I mean, this guy is apparently getting his name changed because the German guide is offended by the player's use of "German" words. Since there are no clearly stated naming rules, in this case the guide (expressly) changed the name (literally) out of German nationalism. The irony is so thick it's actually hurting my teeth.