Nicknames and server merge

[Clarie 78]

Hi all, 

 

we're all super excited for the incoming server merge, but this also goes along with some certain problems especially when it comes to our nicknames. 

 

It's not a secret, that APB got a serious nickname problem. I don't want to go further into details here, but to make it short: Pretty much the majority of decend nicknames are already taken especially by all those inactive and unused accounts. This is going to be a serious problem for all the new player, that kinda want to keep their names without using random numbers instead of letters and stuff. After the merge the pool of taken names is going to increase even more, which is going to make it even harder for new player to use their names. 

 

I've started this thread, that people can come up with some suggestions which is going to make it easier to find a proper solution for this problem. 

 

My suggestion are:

• Wipe all the old and inactive accounts in order to free some decend, but actually unused, nicknames
• Using hidden prefixes like the #number which is used in Discord for example. (Any key, value based database should be able to implement this )

 

At last but not least I also have a question: What  is going to happen with our nicknames after the merge ? And how exactly are you going to handle name collistions, since I don't really want to loose my APB nickname just because there is an inactive account whit my character's nickname somwhere in the deeps of the database. 

 

Greetings

 

Edited August 25, 2019 by Mikarity

[WhiskeyTangoFoxX 280]

Quote

EDIT: We are also going to do something special with character names to avoid collisions this time. Anyone who hasn’t logged in their character within the last year will have their name released so that new and existing characters can use it both during and after the merge.

From yesterday's thread. As for collisions of names that are both in active use, we have not been told yet, though I can see it going something like oldest character keeps the name. We'll likely find out soon

[Mightyena 28]

I like the hidden numerical suffixes route, myself. Add it once and you can see when someone gets online on any of their characters, block it once to block all of a person's characters for good, and no issues with name conflicts ever again. How likely are two people to have the same name anyway? Not very, so it's highly unlikely that it would ever create an issue with confusing one person for another (unless it's a common or shared name, like naming something after a TV show or video game character).

That said, otherwise they should keep the "oldest character gets the name" route imho

[Benguin 141]

Hopefully they will take into account name age instead of character age. I can just change my 2011 characters name and steal a name that way.

[Clarie 78]

I don't think "the oldest character gets the name" route is a good idea. Just imagine there is someone actively playing since 2015 and another one with the same nickname just created his/her account a few months before and comes back to the game in a yearly routine just in order to check if "there is sth new in APB". 

 

Using the actual ingame time would be a better solution to be honest.

[Guest]

Agree with Mikarity.

[Glubbable 41]

Sadly due to human nature, opening up the possibility of multiple characters using the same nickname would result towards users impersonating others to take advantage of the less fortunate. And despite how much information you can throw at the user base to keep them informed, there'll always be a portion of them that actively fall for it.

 

Honestly, they just need to come up with a better way of determining who gets priority of the rights to a nickname if the timescale between them is so close. Neither total playtime or character age is going to cut it in these cases I am affraid. But regardless of it, this is not an easy or careless call to make.

[Clarie 78]

32 minutes ago, Glubbable said:

Honestly, they just need to come up with a better way of determining who gets priority of the rights to a nickname if the timescale between them is so close. Neither total playtime or character age is going to cut it in these cases I am affraid. But regardless of it, this is not an easy or careless call to make.

Ye there ain't actually a proper or "fair" solution for this. I've started playing APB back in late 2015 (which is nothing compared to the most veteran players, who started back in 2011 ) and have actively playing the game since then. Also got the perfect nickname, that I ever could imagine. 

 

I'm going to  be completely honest: If I'd getting forced to change that name, its almost the same like banning my account and I'm 100% sure, there are many APB player who also think like that. Fact is: When they "merge" the server, there will be key(name) collisions and whenever someone is able to keep the name, there is another one who has to change it. 

 

The main goal should be to keep all the names, even after the "merge" and one of the easiest solutions is still to work with prefixes. Let's just not let them force us to change our beloved APB nicknames.

Edited August 26, 2019 by Mikarity