Old Character Deletion System

[ArcAngel]

So recently i'm seeing that a lot of names are getting more obtuse and using spelling such as Johnn or Jonn because Most John's are taken.

I think it would be great if administration could set up an automated system for accounts that have been created but never logged in to be deleted.
Maybe there could be a warning 2 weeks prior, then the character (Not the account) could be deleted.

This would make it easier for new players joining to create characters without having to use farfetched names.

[CaesarSeizure]

-1

I really think people just need more imagination, as you can have 1 million johns with a million different last names, without having to resort to changing the spelling of john.

[QuentinS]

+1

I would work it differently however. Firstly, i would place the timer on 3 months and if a login is made onto the account itself then the timer resets. I would also make it that you can request an extension on time if you are going for long periods of time. For example, in Switzerland you have to go to the military for 4 months. When an account is deleted i would factor in EXP, so if they have less than 50K EXP then i would simply delete it. If the person has more, prior to deletion i would look at the amount of houses of value, businesses and supercars (or cars that cannot be bought). Then i would proceed to do an auction on those said items.

In addition 1 month prior to deleting i would send an email to the owner and again 1 week before.

Edited July 30, 2021 by QuentinS

[Pazz]

I could get behind a system that cycles out incredibly old names with extensive periods of no activity, but I do not believe that the catastrophe that is the names with a repeated letter like "Johnnn" should be the justification. It is unfortunate that their name of choice was already in-use, but it is their laziness or lack of imagination in thinking or searching up another suitable name to use in lieu of an already taken first- or last name that has caused them to create a ridiculous character name like triple-n John.

With respect to the suggestion above, a system that is managed in such a manner that an extension of time could be requested is a system that is flawed from the beginning and open to an inevitable failure from an administration perspective (not "administration" as in game administrators or the moderation of the game and forums). I personally believe that a system that cycles out old character names should not at all be automated, but instead be something that can be ran by the development team whenever necessary, and should only affect those that have not signed in for X year(s). This would allow for proper prior notice in advance as well.

[Judge Judy]

-1

As someone who initially got approved to play on the server 2+ years ago but never played regularly until recently, I would find it very frustrating to come back after a long hiatus to find my character had been deleted just because someone wanted to use my name.

I agree with CaesarSeizure that this boils down to people being too lazy to come up with a creative name so they decide to just go with Johnnn, which already goes against the character creation rule of names needing to be realistic and resemble real world names.

Additionally, this issue of using repeated character names like Johnnn could be attributed to the former bug that causes the character creation process to become unresponsive if a character name was already taken. Previously, new players would have to quit their game and restart the character creation process from the beginning and try a different name. As of 9 days ago, this bug is stated to have been fixed. Assuming this is actually the case, players would now have immediate feedback that a particular name is taken and would be able to come up with an alternative without needing to restart the whole process.

Ultimately, with character deletion not currently even possible by request, implementing a system that deletes characters after a period of inactivity simply creates another barrier to entry for players, like myself, who want to get back into the server but don't want to necessarily start from scratch just because someone wants to use my name.