124524-forced-to-change-my-characters-name

== Content ==
			
Logged in to my account yesterday to find I had to change my character name before I could log in.  Checked my email to find they deemed the character name I had created for my very first toon at launch to suddenly be offensive.  Double checked the game policies ... nope, no profanity .. nope, no racial slurs, or offensive slang (no slang at all actually) ... nope, no religious terms .. nothing but a name I made up, a name I have used in many of the other MMOs I have played.  I waited on changing her name, and appealed to support.  Got a response today...
 
"I have carefully reviewed the specifics of this incident and I understand that this violation may not have been intentionally offensive. However, we have to look at these violations from the perspective of all of our players when determining whether they should be considered offensive or not.
 
With this warning, we hope that you now understand our position on the violation. Please use more consideration in the future to avoid further actions against your account."
 
What?  What the .. what are you talking about?  So my name has none of the things that have been listed as offensive, or forbidden in your naming policy, but you're afraid someone might possibly be offended anyway?  What kind of outfit are you guys running here?  Seriously regretting my year subscription now.  Nervous that they will arbitrarily deem my next name choice offensive as well.  I wish I could list the name here, but I'm afraid I'll get the ban hammer ... or maybe the game admins/GMs will all implode.  Yeesh.  I'll be spreading the word.
 
As a side note, by saying " ...we have to look at these violations from the perspective of all of our players when determining whether they should be considered offensive or not." they are effectively saying " We have to look at something we have already deemed offensive, to determine if it will be considered offensive.", which makes no sense.	
----
			Now i wanna know what the name was.	
----
			Unfortunately, some words in one language or area of the world may not be considered offensive, however that same word would be very offensive in another area/culture. Because WildStar reaches a worldwide audience, that sort of thing has to be taken into account when looking at the issue. I know it sucks, especially since you've been able to have it but it had to have been reported a time or two in order for it to be flagged for a change which means that somewhere it was offending people.	
----
			
Yeah, I'm gonna need to know what that name was.  I've seen this question asked by people who've said "My character was named Buttshart Colonwrecker, why did that violate the rules?"
 
So some context would rock.	
----
			I will say there were no actual words in the name.  It was a completely made up name.  I have used it in other MMOs without a single issue .. mainly because it's not an issue.  I'm puzzled why they can just tell me that a name is offensive without any real explanation.  I was hoping their reply would clear it up for me.  Maybe I would understand their point, and agree, but instead they gave me a non-answer.  I mean, read that back to yourself.  If gives absolutely no reason why the name was banned, because they can't give a reason.  "sigh"	
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
I will say there were no actual words in the name.  It was a completely made up name.  I have used it in other MMOs without a single issue .. mainly because it's not an issue.  I'm puzzled why they can just tell me that a name is offensive without any real explanation.  I was hoping their reply would clear it up for me.  Maybe I would understand their point, and agree, but instead they gave me a non-answer.  I mean, read that back to yourself.  If gives absolutely no reason why the name was banned, because they can't give a reason.  "sigh"
----
			
If the name was deemed offensive by CS it's best not to post the name here, though I am sure people are curious. CS issues are best to be taken up with CS through our support site here for further discussion, there's very little we can do for you on the forums. 
 
- Team WildStar 	
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
Are you able to post it here?  I've worked alongside game CS and I'm genuinely curious.
----
			I knew nothing could be done here, and It's obvious the devs aren't going to do anything for me, or even give me a satisfactory answer.  I was mostly just venting.  This whole thing is ridiculous, and pisses me off.  I don't like feeling like I've been mistreated. .. Especially by people I am paying good money too.  Might just focus more on The Secret World, or another MMO I guess.	
----
			
This thread is bullshit. Your name is not even an actual English word (or derivation thereof) and yet it's somehow mysteriously "offensive" and cannot even be posted for the rest of us to judge? It's like some Kafkaesque nightmare of being on trial for a crime and not even being told what the crime was. At the very least, Carbine is obligated to tell you why your name was "offensive," and to whom.
 
Not only that, assuming you're playing on an English server, why would they be banning your name for being offensive in some other language? That's just overly defensive nonsense. I'm sure we could all get creative and find a bunch of swear words in various languages and then find players who just happen to have names that sound like them.	
----
			Just change the name, dude! :lol: Oh, and post the old one too. I want to have a laugh/	
----
			the reality is that someone made a complaint about your name.  That is what the CS letter alludes to.  	
----
			
I have several toons who are named after porn stars.  Just change a letter or divide the stage name and I have a name.
 
I often see Aurin with names which are easily associated with nature; ie  Star leaf, Willow Sage, Nova Meadow.
 
I am so tempted to roll a male aurin called 'Morning Wood'.
 
 
 
 
 
...and yes I am over 50 going on 12.	
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
 
 
 
...and yes I am over 50 going on 12.
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
...and yes I am over 50 going on 12.
----
			
Greetings,
 
There are couple things I would like to mention regarding our naming policy (that works for Forums too). Our rules do not list all the possible cases of when a name can be deemed inappropriate. Ultimately that decision is taken by Customer Support (for characters in-game) and by the Community Team (for Forums). As Chillia stated, if Customer Support determine that your name is offensive, then it is by our rules. You don't have to directly fall into one of the category we listed in our User Agreement in order to receive a penalty.
 
Inappropriate Names are treated on a case by case basis. Sometime we don't even agree internally and have to consult our colleagues to determine if we take action or not. Everything is not black or white.
 
The second point worth mentioning is that we don't have an army of Lopps going through all character names to find one that could be offensive. We are mostly using a passive process (i.e. names are reported to us). That explains why there can be weeks, months or even years before Customer Support or Community Team reach out to you and request you to change your name. I often see players asking "why now?", well that is because someone reported you most likely. Not because your name was fine before and suddenly became offensive overnight.
 
We understand that it can be hard for players to determine if there name is offensive or not. It can be hard for us as well. That's probably the part of our Policy which is the most open to debate. Yet once a decision has been taken, we will enforce it and request players to comply.
 
Closing this topic now since it won't go anywhere and mentioning the name that was deemed inappropriate won't help either. It is best to raise complaints directly through Customer Support as Chillia suggested.
 
Thank you for your understanding.	
----