Get Rid of Name Exclusivity

[Library_gremlin]

On 9/30/2020 at 3:45 PM, Jazeki said:

I'm neutral here. I prefer the name wiping/stealing after an extended period of inactivity. 

That would be okay with me.  Otherwise, half the fun of the game is trying to come up with a new name that hasn't been taken.

[Uther_Pendragon]

On 10/26/2020 at 7:55 AM, osmarks said:

What loss do you suffer if another dragon is named the same?

 

Do you actually check this often?

 

Is it fine if it's technically different because of spacing/spelling?

 

 I didn't see these questions answered anywhere, and am really curious to read responses.

I know I've finagled the same name by creative use of spaces, hyphens and apostrophes before. Did that in any way hurt anyone else's game play? Doubtful.

 

 

 

ETA: Imo, name wiping/stealing isn't enough of a help. I, like many, have thousands of dragons to name. I prefer to use words, not key smashes, or using the code, or trying to make up a word within a code. I prefer just regular words or names.

I would imagine the number of inactive dragons will not be enough names to keep me going--even if those dragons are named words I'd choose to use. AND I'd still be fighting every other player for possible names, just as I do now. That doesn't seem like any sort of improvement to me.

  (Bringing back name wiping is also detrimental to long, old lineages and is disheartening to anyone who needed to take an extended break, for whatever reason.

If DC has been moving away from exclusivity, this is surely not the right direction?) 
  
 

 

Edited October 27, 2020 by Uther_Pendragon
Added an eta because I'm wordy

[Pilauli]

1 hour ago, Shadowdrake said:

My final opinion: naming exclusivity is a barrier. Some people enjoy trying to get past that barrier, or being first to get past a specific barrier, or having a specific method to get past the barrier. However, other people find it's just a discouraging and unnecessary barrier, and don't enjoy the required hoops to jump through or specific set ups to get past it.

I think this way of looking at it really makes sense.

[HeatherMarie]

I don't think name stealing/wiping is a solution to this, that would be more along the lines of 'well you want this, but we'll give you this slightly-related thing instead that doesn't actually solve issues'. Name stealing/wiping would 'free up' only a small subset of names and it still wouldn't help *anyone* who has the misfortune of trying to use a name after someone else that's active. It's still very much an *exclusive* naming feature, the first person to 'steal' the name would be the only person able to use it, just as now. Plus it doesn't even address the issue of repeated lines in lyrical lineages. Doesn't actually solve anything. (And it would have to be a significant amount of time, I'd say at least 2 years, of inactivity before the 'stealing' is available, since people *do* take breaks and have lives and such. And it would negatively affect older lineages.)

[_Charky]

7 hours ago, HeatherMarie said:

Plus it doesn't even address the issue of repeated lines in lyrical lineages.

This hadn't actually crossed my mind - I guess I'd assumed names would still be exclusive within scrolls - but this would be another huge bonus. I got around it in one of my lineages by just massively inbreeding (there are only so many ways you can type "tick tock goes the clock"...) but my Embers lineage would be massively improved if I could get rid of the apostrophes.

[11th]

Just leaving my own thoughts on this: I'm pretty neutral, and I can understand parts of both sides' arguments.

 

If exclusivity were removed, it wouldn't have a huge impact on my personal play style. I'm mostly a code collector, so a lot of my dragons go unnamed regardless of whether something is available or not. |D

 

I do kind of like the exclusivity of names, though, regardless of whether they're a real name/word or a silly phrase that takes up the full character limit. It makes individual dragons easier to recognize and find than most would be by code alone because most people don't remember codes well. But there have been some proposed workarounds for that, particularly for lineages where it's important for breeders to be able to quickly spot duplicates.

 

But I also don't like needing to hold names that I might use in the future just so I can actually use them, and then moving them if I do use them and the resulting action log spam... And all of the names that I would like to use that are on long inactive accounts, or are being held by users who aren't even breeding the dragon that it's on, or are trapped on dead dragons (sometimes accidentally). I think most people are here for the sprite collecting & breeding, and adding name collecting & trading (which can only be done outside of the game) on top of that seems a bit unnecessary when they already have a unique identifier.

[ShorahNagi]

I know this will be unpopular and am posting suggestion more as a joke than a serious option (though it could have potential depending)...

 

Why not have the option to pay shards to register a name to make it exclusive [sort of like with thoroughbred race horses - they have registered names that can not be used for any horse but the one it is registered to].

 

Ex. I pay 2000 shards and register my GoN who is named "Guardian of Nature". From that point on, no one could use the name "Guardian of Nature" as is (even if name exclusivity was removed).

 

*2000 was just the first number I though of (just under half a year of shard earnings)

 

Variants would still be fair game, but that name would be locked against use (so even if same names were allowed on scroll...I could never have more than one dragon named "Guardian of Nature". Nor could I take the name from it to give to another dragon)

 

This would solve the problem of those with memorial names, well-known lineage names [ex. Dorkface], or names with a special meaning to the owner...while still allowing a wide name pool.

 

Of course. There is the risk of someone opting to register a fandom name they have (ex. Someone registers 'Monkey D. Luffy' - preventing other one piece fans from having it)

 

Just a thought that crossed my mind after rereading through some of this thread. 

[Keileon]

21 minutes ago, ShorahNagi said:

I know this will be unpopular and am posting suggestion more as a joke than a serious option (though it could have potential depending)...

 

[snipped for brevity]

I know you said it's more of a joke but I'd like it on record that I would literally never support this lol

[dragonico]

I'll be honest that seeing the length of this thread I haven't read most of it so apologies if a lot of this has already been addressed. 

 

Years ago when name wipes happened, I used to stalk names and collect certain ones that I liked that freed up. Some of those names have enabled trades I'd have never have managed otherwise so in a sense, ending name exclusivity would come at an opportunity cost to name traders like myself. That being said, I totally appreciate we are a very small minority and seemingly most of the playerbase would benefit from this change and so I would be open to it.

 

I do use /n/ a lot to find my dragons because a lot of my favourite dragons do have these unique names and this makes navigating to them so much easier so I wouldn't want to see that feature go away. Even that URL instead directing to a list instead of my specific dragon would add a layer of inconvenience, but again I appreciate that it's not huge compared to how much people would benefit from this change.

 

I also enjoy collecting things that are hard to obtain. That's part of the appeal in a lot of games to me. I've noticed on other adoptable games I play where name exclusivity isn't a thing, I name things even less just because the names will always be available so there's no push to try to find one and I'm likely to think of something else and rename it later. Edit: scratch that part, I do more readily at least put placeholder names on creatures elsewhere because I can slap whatever I want on it and come back later, so that would actually be a pro over the current system in that sense.

 

Seeing how many people are in favour I wouldn't mind this being implemented but those are my thoughts for why this wouldn't be a strict improvement for me.

Edited October 28, 2020 by dragonico

[Paintra]

I completely understand @/dragonico's point of view- for a long time, I used to be a name collector/would try to get names that were hard to find- and I really enjoyed doing that- it just reached a point for me where it just wasn't really any enjoyment left in it- I started feeling bad getting names someone else would "enjoy more." I reached a point where I went 'I want these names this person has- is that how other people feel about me hoarding these names I hardly appreciate?' and that's around the time I started going, hey, why should only one person on the entire site get to choose who names their dragon after certain characters?

 

Tl;dr: name collecting was fun for me for a long time but when I started realizing it was keeping other people from naming dragons what they wanted it became way less fun- I just want people to enjoy playing the game and naming dragons what they want.

[Fuzzbucket]

2 hours ago, Keileon said:

I know you said it's more of a joke but I'd like it on record that I would literally never support this lol

 

Yeah - me too. I want to retain exclusivity - but NOT if it would mean payments of ANY kind. The market is as far as I want to take the spending of shards.

[Shala]

Could a poll be added to this thread? It might show a clearer picture of how forum users, at least, feel about the issue. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would weigh in more readily anonymously to avoid further contention. It seems a simple yes or no question, with maybe a 'no, except within scrolls' as a third option.

 

For the record, I like exclusivity, for several reasons already covered, though I can see both sides of it. One of the points I haven't seen made yet, but I keep thinking of progeny pages, and how I like to name dragons for their parents. How silly would it look if everyone named children of pairings the same thing?   <Quietly backs away from confrontation.>

 

Happy Halloween!

Shala

Edited October 28, 2020 by Shala

[Alwerien]

 

3 hours ago, dragonico said:

Years ago when name wipes happened, I used to stalk names and collect certain ones that I liked that freed up. Some of those names have enabled trades I'd have never have managed otherwise so in a sense, ending name exclusivity would come at an opportunity cost to name traders like myself. That being said, I totally appreciate we are a very small minority and seemingly most of the playerbase would benefit from this change and so I would be open to it.

 

I do understand your trading point of view (and overall really really appreciate you are staying objective about the benefits it brings to others and actually considering offered options) but trading is something that always changes and is never stable. Like was already mentioned, before the holiday biome was created, people owning the old CB holidays had huge trading power. Market also shifted trading powers to some degree. The benefits to everyone else did however outweigh that loss. I think it's the same everywhere though. As things are less rare, their trading power goes down. On DC one of the stablest rare things are probably Spriter's Alts's offsprings and even there you can see a huge gap between the more limited valentine/xmas ones compared to Halloween.

 

2 hours ago, Paintra said:

I completely understand @/dragonico's point of view- for a long time, I used to be a name collector/would try to get names that were hard to find- and I really enjoyed doing that- it just reached a point for me where it just wasn't really any enjoyment left in it- I started feeling bad getting names someone else would "enjoy more." I reached a point where I went 'I want these names this person has- is that how other people feel about me hoarding these names I hardly appreciate?' and that's around the time I started going, hey, why should only one person on the entire site get to choose who names their dragon after certain characters?

 

Tl;dr: name collecting was fun for me for a long time but when I started realizing it was keeping other people from naming dragons what they wanted it became way less fun- I just want people to enjoy playing the game and naming dragons what they want.

 

I really appreciate you saying this because to me it seems like a lot of people defending the exclusivity don't realize how badly they are potentially affecting other people. I have been playing since 2008 and because of some issues had been inactive for a while and when I came back, the names of my dragons were gone. I went looking, found them on scrolls of people who just seemingly hoarded names for the sake of hoarding and probably did not appreciate them as much as I ever did, or at least, that's how it felt to me. I'll be honest, I quit the game for many years because of that. When I returned last year, I checked some of those names. A lot of them - inactive accounts. And I still can't use those names that had a meaning for me. I have matured some since then so I didn't quit again and have actually been playing since but whenever it comes to naming, it just has such a sour taste to me, even if I get a unique name that I'm surprised wasn't taken. It just has this sour taste that days, weeks, years later there will be someone that might feel like I did because I took that name. Even more so if it's just a name that I have in my "Name holders" group of dragons for later use...

 

Which brings me to another point, name exclusivity actually keeps me from breeding this group. At first I bred them, but then when I was transferring some name to a dragon it fit better, I saw someone named the offspring based off the name and had a nice checker going too and I'd ruin that lineage.  So now I try to not breed those name holders at all as to not ruin someone else's lineages. If I could actually just name my dragons whatever and whenever I want, I wouldn't need to set aside to do nothing a bunch of them just because I finally managed to think of untaken name or having to put lyrics down for the next x generations of a lineage I just barely started so they wouldn't be taken when I get to that line.

Edited October 28, 2020 by Alwerien

[KrazyKarp]

57 minutes ago, Shala said:

Could a poll be added to this thread? It might show a clearer picture of how forum users, at least, feel about the issue. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would weigh in more readily anonymously to avoid further contention. It seems a simple yes or no question, with maybe a 'no, except within scrolls' as a third option.

Seconding this. Polls are a fantastic way to get a view on how many people agree with something, because many people have many reasons for not wanting to post in threads. Especially since we're at a point where little to nothing new is being added to the discussion on either side.

 

Name wiping/stealing has the huge, huge issue of if a name is wiped/stolen, and the user returns to see their names gone. I really think that idea is completely unviable.

 

31 minutes ago, Alwerien said:

I really appreciate you saying this because to me it seems like a lot of people defending the exclusivity don't realize how badly they are potentially affecting other people.

Just this one sentence 100% illustrates another major issue I'm having with those favoring exclusivity. There's an empathy issue going on with the side defending exclusivity, in my opinion.

Edited October 28, 2020 by KrazyKarp

[dragonico]

37 minutes ago, Alwerien said:

Like was already mentioned, before the holiday biome was created, people owning the old CB holidays had huge trading power. Market also shifted trading powers to some degree. The benefits to everyone else did however outweigh that loss.

That's a good comparison imo, and when you put it like that, would absolutely be for the better to open it up to everyone rather than leave it just to those individuals who were well-timed in getting 'the goodies'.

[HeatherMarie]

When I support a suggestion, especially a suggestion that might not directly impact me much, I focus on what's good for the game as a whole. I always try to vocally support suggestions that I think would help the game moving forward, or would make the game more enjoyable for more people, or makes the most sense for a growing evolving game like DC. 

 

Name exclusivity didn't really matter much the first handful of years of DC, I'd say, simply because of the vast amount of name possibilities out there. But now, after well over a decade of tens of thousands of users collecting, naming, signing up, leaving, returning.... Name exclusivity is a hindrance to gameplay at this point in time. It's a *fact*, as stated first-hand from multiple people, that name exclusivity makes naming feel more like a chore, more burdensome, than fun. People are put off from naming in general because they can't name the way they want, they can't enjoy naming because millions of dragons already in existence have taken so many of the names that people like. People don't *want* to have to use random letters/spaces, deliberately misspell names that they like, use ridiculous-looking work-arounds like S p a c i n g  o u t letters, etc. Users are being limited in their gameplay through no fault of their own, simply because someone else at some point in time wanted that name and 'got to it first'. 

 

What does name exclusivity do *for* the game? It makes the game feel more elitist, it makes some long-time users feel more special because they have a name that no one else can have. Frankly, that doesn't seem like such a good thing. Some people enjoy the 'challenge' of trying to find a name that hasn't already been taken, which is totally valid, although again that 'challenge' is a hindrance to many instead of something to enjoy. The details, like what to do with the /n page, don't really matter to me. I'm sure TJ could figure something out for that. But I do believe that, for the better enjoyment of the majority of users in an evolving game, name exclusivity is no longer a positive thing. 

 

(This is really just me attempting to summarize my earlier posts into one post.)

[missy_]

I like name exclusivity and I support the continuation of it. I like seeing dragons with exclusive names and continuing their lines. I don’t want to see multiple dragons named the same thing.

[DragonLady86]

3 hours ago, Shala said:

Could a poll be added to this thread? It might show a clearer picture of how forum users, at least, feel about the issue. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would weigh in more readily anonymously to avoid further contention. It seems a simple yes or no question, with maybe a 'no, except within scrolls' as a third option.

 

For the record, I like exclusivity, for several reasons already covered, though I can see both sides of it. One of the points I haven't seen made yet, but I keep thinking of progeny pages, and how I like to name dragons for their parents. How silly would it look if everyone named children of pairings the same thing?   <Quietly backs away from confrontation.>

 

Happy Halloween!

Shala

Polls are highly unreliable. Only a small percentage of people even visit this section of the fourm, less would vote, and if someone changes their mind due to arguments presented, they can't change thier vote. 

[Tetelestai]

2 hours ago, KrazyKarp said:

Name wiping/stealing has the huge, huge issue of if a name is wiped/stolen, and the user returns to see their names gone. I really think that idea is completely unviable.

 

^ This.

 

While I haven't since 2013, I have taken breaks before from this game. If I had come back and found my names wiped/stolen due to me needing a break, life, or whatever the reason for my absence, I would be devastated.

[Daydreamer09]

I honestly would rather the site get rid of name exclusivity. I believe I started playing 3 years after DC first started and it was a LOT more fun trying to nab cool, fun names before someone else did. It was a fun little gem to discover you could name your cheese dragon "Swiss" or a daydream "Parfait". However, this site is now 14 years old with tons of veteran players and inactive accounts. The old system just isn't practical anymore in my opinion. I've personally grown attached to how my dragons are named, but I want newer players to enjoy the fun process of naming their pixel pets too. Me being the reason a name is unavailable for them doesn't sit well for me.

Edited October 29, 2020 by Daydreamer09

[BeLovE]

I don't fully agree with it, it's true that I would like to name my dragon like I want and not be forced to use spaces etc cuz all names I want are taken.. BUT it's also true that there is many players like me that often go in hiatus cause of rlf problems or other stuffs. So if u guys add something that will wipe or steal names from inactive players I'm sure that it will be really bad for many. Plus it will be stressful to always must login every tot months or years cuz of it or remember when the time come near to must login. 

I often go in hiatus for few years and I don't see myself rename every single dragon. I would prefer quit at this point lol

Why not do something like FR where all can name their dragons like they want? The names aren't account bound and everyone can use the same names.. Anyway u can't give away hatchlings that are named, so it won't be an issue for the game itself. 

I also don't think that wipe/steal names will help much at all to solve this issue. Cuz only a small part of players will can get these names and after a long time too. So u will anyway must check all times if a name still taken or if he/she is inactive. 

So as conclusion I think that or they add an option that u are free to name ur dragons like u want as the name won't be account bound or is better to let things as they are. TOTALLY disagree on steal or wipe names. 

[orphaned]

For me, name exclusivity is important and part of the enjoyment of my scroll.

 

The dragons are all the same in appearance .. at least let us have  exclusive names.

[Paintra]

2 minutes ago, orphaned said:

For me, name exclusivity is important and part of the enjoyment of my scroll.

Sorry, but I don't understand- if you want to name your dragons all individual names, that's totally fine. But why should what you name dragons affect other players? If it's just your scroll, then name exclusivity would not matter, no?

[thalassophobic]

23 minutes ago, orphaned said:

For me, name exclusivity is important and part of the enjoyment of my scroll.

 

The dragons are all the same in appearance .. at least let us have  exclusive names.

 

I assume you're making a point about customization. Because we can't customize the appearances of our dragons, we should at least be able to customize their names, right? But exclusivity prevents players from customizing with the names they want if it's already taken... And describing your dragon is also an option if you REALLY want your dragon to be unique. Does someone having the same name as your dragon make you enjoy your scroll less? But someone having the same name spelled differently or with weird spacing doesn't have the same effect?

 

Besides, doesn't name exclusivity as it is right now have a bias towards older members? New members who join will have a much harder time working around exclusivity than the ones who joined when so many names weren't taken yet. I'm quite new myself, so it's only from reading through this thread that I found out that hoarding/reserving names is a thing. That doesn't sit well with me to know that older members who've had the time to reserve names effectively have more naming freedom than members who are just discovering the site. It's also very sad to know that some of the people who do reserve names feel the same guilt about blocking the name from other members, but have no other choice if they want to use the name.

 

I understand that many proponents of keeping exclusivity have good reasons to do so, but I also believe that even small barriers skewed against new members hinders the growth of a community. This has been a very interesting thread to read! Who knew name exclusivity could be tied to so many aspects of the site and the way its players use it?

[FoxintheBox4]

Everyone should be able to give a name they want - not even in real life someone can claim a name and make it exclusive 🙄 ...  I see this game dragons as pets who everyone should be able to name as they want... and if it's thousands Lunas/Doctor Whos/Taylor Swift songs, dragon breed name, dragon spriter's name etc.

 

And if people have over 10.000 dragons on scroll all named ... wow...  I gave up long ago, because I can't name them with what I like, since it's all taken anyway ~ fandoms/music/creators/tv stuff....  

 

I don't understand how it would be such a big deal if more people used same lyrics, names etc. Names are not special - not even in real life - thousands of people with the same name exsist - what is special is the meaning to every individual behind that name and that stays and differs from others (I enjoy these yrics because my deceased family member listened to it/I just discovered this song and blast it everywhere/ listened to it helped me through a hard time.... Jack was my old friend/Jack is my brother/Jack is my dog....)

SAs, badges, CB hybrids/alts is already enough exclusivity in exsistance and you can still check if you have original "Thuwed,Dorkface" by seeing the owner of CB one.... Who cares if a Flamingo by someone else would also suddenly be named "Penk" as the Tinsel...  DC veterans still know what's up and why one name was special in the past ⏳

I mean you're not the only player in the world that likes something specific that is out there for everyone to show appreciation for it - even if it's just putting a name to a pixel art🤦‍♀️

 

And with exclusivity promoting misspelling, shortenings of words and wrong letter/word orders and wrong punctuations just to get something similar you want especially among young players is bad enough as it is.