naming policies

[Draggar]

Originally posted by Apolline
According to a GM friend of mine (Not naming names.. But he is no longer a GM.)...


They're supposed to "tolerate" odd names like that in the bazaar. BUT.. when they leave the bazaar.. they're game. Or if, say, they are super-high level (Ie, a lvl 50 named Selllerzzz, etc), then... go on and /report.

It's reaaaalllyy odd that your name got changed if it was JUST a bazaar mule.. Sometimes they play favorites

*edited - I mis-read the post*

All someone has to do is complain that they find it offensive. "Mistress" could be offensive to some very sensitive people.

[Xabu Temrak]

I believe the naming policies have kind of altered/faltered over time. When my DE enchanter, Anarchy made it to level 20 I went to the Arena to have my surname added. I asked the GM for the surname N`Despair, but he turned it down because Anarchy N`Despair violated the phrase naming rules. Months later I had a different character hit level 20 and it was time for another surname. Correct or not, I had heard that some of the naming rules had be dropped/altered and some things that were not originally acceptable were now ok.

This being the case I asked a GM for my surname (I had to ask because it had a ` in it.) and they granted it. The full name created a phrase, but since a GM had to be the one to approve the name, I felt it was not a violation. After reading this thread I hope I do not find myself looking at a changed surname someday. If it does someday have to be altered I hope they at least give me the option of picking it so I can make it the same as some of my other "related" characters. (i.e. his uncle, my smithing toon)

I also once had a monk named Waxahn Waxauf and an SK named Cekolun Backslash, but I have since deleted them for other reasons.

[Diania]

I had built quite the reputation with Brewmistress/Brewmyst, and in no way did I mean to have "mistress" mean a title.

As for someone taking the name after mine getting changed, I haven't seen it yet, but I know if either I do, or any one of my friends or guildmates do, there is going to be some uproar about it.

[Itek]

*sigh* A very wise and knowledgeable person posted this above.... I'll repost it for him here so we can review it.

2) Guides and GMs hate naming policy violations. Because Guides can't do anything about it except report it to Senior Guides and GMs for action. (Seniors can change names, regular Guides can't)

3) Except for VERY serious violations name changes have to be done "in person" so that the offender can have a chance to pick a new name.

Now pause a moment and think about just HOW MANY people have naming violations on their traders. My rough guess would be at least 100 traders on any given server at any given time violate policy and are under level 35.

Do you think they want to spend the rest of their LIVES walking up and down the Bazaar sending /tells to people about their names?

I've even seen a wood elf (forgot class) named Orchumper. A friend of mine petitioned it, it never got changed (hmm, a friend of a GM perhaps?)

Um... I'll forgive you a lack of knowledge on that one. The FIRST RULE for Guides/GMs is "thou shalt have no friends" AT ALL. Any evidence of favoritism is INSTA-BOOT. And for Full GMs that means "terminated for cause." (Makes it sort hard to find a new job.)

The naming rules seem very inconsistent, which is probabaly the most frustrating part.

Really? The naming policy and the enforcement or lack there of frustrates YOU? Gee... I thought I heard of a Guide on the fast track to Senior who got booted from the program for actually being consistent in enforcing the naming policy... who could that have been?

No, they don't play favorites. They just don't have the authority to do "offline changes" except for EXTREME violations. And most Guides can't even do online changes. Think back to all the times you've seen "Senior Guide SoAndSo" online. If there's a shortage of guides (and there is) the shortage of Seniors and GMs is much worse.

I doubt there's a "bazaar mule" exception. But, as someone pointed out, if they started doing bazaar mules with naming violations several GMs would have a new "life task" set before them. (How do you do a online name change when the person is AFK a minute after they log in and might not be back for 6+ hours?)

Yes, permanent things DO happen if you are caught with a naming violation. It's permanently marked on your account record. If you have more than a couple of them at the GMs discretion they can give you a week to a month "suspension" and if it's a serious pattern of repeated offenses they CAN and DO ban accounts. Naming violation isn't a parking ticket. It's a speeding ticket in a state that tracks "points" on your license.