Name Changes

[brandonb1029]

I feel like keeping names non-offensive was enough. The rest of the naming policy is ridiculous. If it ruins your immersion, mine was ruined knowing there cannot be two people with the same first name.

Might as well just force all random names since the whole naming policy limits you to just about that.

[loramin]

Originally Posted by brandonb1029 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I feel like keeping names non-offensive was enough. The rest of the naming policy is ridiculous. If it ruins your immersion, mine was ruined knowing there cannot be two people with the same first name.

Might as well just force all random names since the whole naming policy limits you to just about that.

A lot of people seem to misunderstand "immersion". The point of trying to preserve "immersion" isn't to try and make it so you log in to Project 1999 and never think of the real world. The point is that you log in to Project 1999 and you never think "this Project 1999 ... not classic EverQuest".

Did you play back in the day? Here's the screenshot I have from that time (or maybe just after classic, but same difference) with the most character names in it. I took this screenshot to document a GM event, not to prove anything about names 15-odd years later, but it perfectly illustrates my point:

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Consider how many names violate the name policy: arguably zero. Even the names which might violate it are still mostly kosher (eg. Dome Nytewulf, Tuttas Frutt).

I strongly suspect that if you go through old group screenshots from the classic EverQuest period (or even several years after), and you don't cherry-pick, you will also see very few name violations.

So, just like everything else here, the point isn't to remake the best (or most immersive) MMOG ever: the point is just to recreate classic EverQuest. And classic EverQuest simply did not have a ton of people with names like "Papp Smear" running around.

P.S. Yes, that is the original live version of Loramin Frostseer, or at least his name and (tiny family) guild tag, down at the bottom [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[brandonb1029]

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

A lot of people seem to misunderstand "immersion". The point of trying to preserve "immersion" isn't to try and make it so you log in to Project 1999 and never think of the real world. The point is that you log in to Project 1999 and you never think "this Project 1999 ... not classic EverQuest".

Did you play back in the day? Here's a random screenshot I dug up from that time:

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Compare the ratio of "real" names" to fake ones ... and notice that even the names which might violate the naming policy still mostly look like real ones (Dome Nytewulf, Tuttas Frutt).

I strongly suspect that (unless you cherry-pick) if you go through old group screenshots from the classic EverQuest period (or even several years after) you will see very few name violations.

So, just like everything else here, the point isn't to remake the best (or most immersive) MMOG ever: the point is just to recreate classic EverQuest. And classic EverQuest did not have a bunch of Papp Smears running around.

The whole immersion point was in reference to the few of you that took joy in reporting every name you see. I do not log on a game and think my day, gameplay or life is ruined because someone named themselves Capncrunch or Cereal Killer.

[daxchunjae1912]

@loramin, Hi I read through many of the responses but if "immersion" is really misunderstood then what about the guild names? Surely there's many right now that wouldn't fit at all with the lore and rpg fantasy. And if you really want to go a step further, then links shouldn't be available for the auction and it should've been where you had to 'godforbid' type the whole stats out and etc...

To me I think this whole "immersion" thing is very subjective because everyone has their own ways of playing the game, whether it's casual or hardcore roleplaying. For the naming policy it should simply be held as a case by case basis.

[Spyder73]

Fighting with the staff over names is one of the most pointless endeavors you can possibly pursue on P99.

Source: I fought the law and the law won

[Smaxx]

I personally feel the problem is the cherry picking. Change one, change them all. Not those you want to change. I still see names out there that are not even close to being legal, yet they are ok.
Saw a Guide standing next to a guy named Ibeblazin and nothing happened. But Stockmarket is in violation. It doesn't make sense.

[brandonb1029]

Originally Posted by Spyder73 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Fighting with the staff over names is one of the most pointless endeavors you can possibly pursue on P99.

Source: I fought the law and the law won

I'm pretty sure that is actually how things change...

Source: Fought the law for being wrong and I won.

[Muggens]

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

I personally feel the problem is the cherry picking. Change one, change them all. Not those you want to change. I still see names out there that are not even close to being legal, yet they are ok.
Saw a Guide standing next to a guy named Ibeblazin and nothing happened. But Stockmarket is in violation. It doesn't make sense.

Agree - Ive also been petitioning one of my own char names in violation of the policy but to no avail.

[loramin]

Originally Posted by daxchunjae1912 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

@loramin, Hi I read through many of the responses but if "immersion" is really misunderstood then what about the guild names? Surely there's many right now that wouldn't fit at all with the lore and rpg fantasy. And if you really want to go a step further, then links shouldn't be available for the auction and it should've been where you had to 'godforbid' type the whole stats out and etc...

Technical limitations are not developer cherry-picking. While everyone (including the devs) agree item links aren't classic, they come from the Titanium client. Just like true night blindness, item links are difficult/impossible to fix without switching clients. (I've also heard they reduce scamming a lot, and I'm certainly in favor of any changes, even non-classic ones, that are needed to allow our all-volunteer to fully serve Project 1999 players).

As for guild names, EQ has historically been more forgiving when it comes to guild names that are borderline (eg. in the above screenshot "Ill Tempered Sea Bass" might violate the naming policy, but the guild was on Bristlebane for years without a name change). But I also know for certain that they did police them (eg. "Club Fu" on Bristlebane was originally rejected; they had to convince the GMs that "Fu" was for Chinese good luck, not fuck you).

Again, you have to remember that this server doesn't have paid GMs like on live: it has an entirely volunteer staff, and they have lots of other duties besides changing names. Their recent "crackdown" didn't target even 1/100th of the server names; it was a shot across the bow, not a master fix. They've basically said that's because they don't have infinite time to fix everything.

If, in a year from now, the staff still haven't fixed many egregious name violations (player or guild), then maybe people will have something to complain about. But for now, anyone complaining about "boo hoo they fixed some names before fixing every name, or fixing every guild name" is really saying "I don't like the exact order of every action taken by the all-volunteer staff on my 100% free server" [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Originally Posted by daxchunjae1912 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

To me I think this whole "immersion" thing is very subjective because everyone has their own ways of playing the game, whether it's casual or hardcore roleplaying. For the naming policy it should simply be held as a case by case basis.

You really missed the point of my earlier post. When it comes to "immersion", it's not subjective, it's like anything else on this server. In other words, it isn't about doing anything for casual players, or hardcore role-players, or handling anyone on a case-by-case basis. What it is about is recreating classic EverQuest (modulo things like unfixable technical issues). If that fits a player's casual playstyle, or hardcore desire to role-play, or choice of name, then that means classic EverQuest, ie. Project 1999, is for them.

[maskedmelon]

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

Logic doesn’t apply to the world run by emotional beings. Learn this, live this.

^ wisdom