Blackguard
02-06-2006, 11:58 PM
<div></div>There have been a lot of questions lately regarding the <a href="http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=testdev&message.id=7376&view=by_date_ascending&page=1" target="_blank">server moves</a>. One of the main questions we've been asked is, "what determines whether my character will be renamed?" Gallenite provided <a href="http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=testdev&message.id=8560#M8560" target="_blank">the answer</a> over the weekend, and I'd like to mirror it here just to make sure everyone sees it. <div><font size="2"><p>Evening, everyone.</p><p>There's been a lot of discussion of who's keeping which names as the servers move around next week. Those of us on this side of it are right there with you in feeling that this is extremely important. A number of us, myself included, play on a server that is being impacted by this move.</p><p>In addition to the professional responsibilities we have for doing the best job possible here, we play too. Many of us have dozens and hundreds of personal reasons (the people we know from our own server communities) to make sure that this is all done as equitably as possible. I'm glad to be able to talk plainly about this.</p><p>Earlier in this thread, I had mentioned that I didn't want to get into specifics until we had verified that we'd be able to do a number of things to ensure that this went as fairly as possible.</p><p>Further, I mentioned that we were doing everything we could to ensure that we had an equitable way of handling this that caused the the largest number of established characters to end up keeping their names as a result.</p><p>I'd like to tell you a little bit about what we've been doing in preparation for this, then let you know where we currently stand.</p><p>In the time leading up to the original announcement and continuing through this week, we've been working closely with the datasets from the servers that will be combined. First, we needed to come up with a model that we felt would be viewed as the most equitable, then we needed to verify that it truly was, and finally we needed to make sure we had the ability to carry out that particular set of rules successfully.</p><p>In doing this, we applied a number of models to live character data and then examined that information both mechanically and in performing sanity checks by hand. These models were based on a number of factors and used them in a variety of ways.</p><p>Again, the goal of all of these models is "What will the largest number of people find fair." We tried out a good number of them (some of ours even matched many that people suggested here in this thread) before arriving at the one we are moving forward with.</p><p>When comparing two characters with the same name:</p><ul><li>If neither character has logged in within the past 60 days, the character that has more played time keeps the name.</li><li>If one character has logged in within the past 60 days and the other hasn't, the one that has been online most recently keeps the name.</li><li>If both characters have logged in within the past 60 days, the character that has more played time keeps the name.</li></ul><p>When comparing two guilds with the same name:</p><ul><li>The guild that was created first keeps the name.</li></ul><p>That is the model that was the strongest overall, even compared to models that tried to use combinations of creation dates, adventure levels, and tradeskill levels.</p><p>Further, once this is completed, for those who have had significant activity in the last 60 days, and still end up with their name changed in a case where there is an obvious mistake, those will be handled on a case-by-case basis. We will try to resolve them as equitably as possible by evaluating whether or not the wrong result occurred, and putting it right if need be.</p><p>If you are renamed automatically, please remember that you have options at your disposal. If you have not already moved your character via the Character Transfer Service, you can pack up your shared bank and use the service to move to a server of your choice during the period in which it remains no-charge, or you can choose the /rename option on your new server and choose a new name of your liking.</p><p>For those who view this as a minor inconvenience and do not mind using the /rename option (and we understand this will likely be a small number of people who feel this way), /rename-ing will also grant you a handful of Tradeskill or Adventure bonus XP% potions for your trouble.</p><p>We thank you very much for your patience during this time. Please know that we're doing everything that we can to make sure it goes as smoothly as possible.</p><p>- Scott</p></font></div> <div></div>