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CS Feedback and RP Server character names (or: A visit from the analogy police)
Hey, everyone.
Just got caught up and read through all of the excitement on the above subjects from the last couple days, and wanted to share some thoughts as well as let you know what we’ll be doing from here forward.
1) It’s a great idea to give people a direct line to share feedback on CS performance. That’s something we should definitely keep doing. The only way we can constantly be improving is when people let us know about their experiences, both good and bad. I’d like to repost the original request that started all of this, to make sure people still have it available:
In response to some recent postings, we have created a new e-mail address which can be used to submit GM feedback. The e-mail address is GM_Feedback@trionworlds.com. If you feel as though your issue was mis-handled or that you have received exceptional service then please let us know. Our goal is to set the standard by which other MMOs are judged. If we are falling short of that then we would like to know.That is the company that we have a whole lot of people working incredibly hard to try to be.
2) On naming policies and Roleplay servers. The conversation really went south here. On behalf of all of us, I apologize for that. That definitely shouldn’t have happened.
I don’t want to take up your time recapping what’s in plenty of other threads, instead let's talk goals and what we’ll do from here.
Naming policy is a tricky subject for any MMO company -- Our end goal is to apply sanity and reason, as best as we can, to this inherently subjective topic that’s as much about opinions as it is about facts.
Companies create policies to make sure that our end goals are expressed as objectively and consistently as they possibly can be. Names are one of the trickiest topics around. With many different expectations even inside of individual communities, and many billions of potential names, there’s always going to be room for interpretation.
More potential for interpretation increases the time it takes to resolve issues, as well as increases the potential for inconsistent applications of the rules. That’s much of why people try to avoid it.
Along with consistency, so comes expediency. The trick is, as you all know, issues need to be responded to in a satisfactory way, otherwise the better speed isn’t a win for anyone.
We understand that 100% consistency and the corresponding ultra-speed efficiency isn’t ever going to be possible with some types of reports (those that involve subjective calls – like names), but at the same time we understand that we need to have something in place that serves the needs of the communities they’re supposed to.
All that said – Where to from here?
We will be implementing a modified version of the original rules to the naming policy for Roleplay Servers only.
The goal is to keep the rules in line with the intent of what a roleplay server is supposed to feel like, while trying to improve the amount of clarity they provide.
For example: A person reporting a bad name every now and again – Thank you. We love it, and we truly do want to help. People who report batches of actual violations -- Again, great, and we're truly thankful when dedicated players do this.
On the other hand – Reporting dozens or hundreds of perfectly fine names a person just doesn't care for, when there are only a handful of actual violations -- that ends up hurting everyone. The people receiving those reports are GMs who are having to spend time on non-violations, when they should be helping customers.
Here’s the intent: Names should fit in this world in some explainable way, while individual creativity is still being fostered.
We want to make sure people are able to be clever and express themselves. If they’ve taken reasonable steps to create a name that does fit the world, they shouldn’t need to worry about having it taken from them.
Here are the rules that will be returning for RP servers, with some extra clarification:
9. Comprised of partial or complete sentences that are obviously out of place (e.g., "Getpwned", "Luvtodance", etc), though compound names that are fitting of RIFT, its people, the actions taken therein, and its setting are acceptable. Compound names are an important and valid part of every fiction, and ours is no different.
11. Names that refer to pop culture icons or personas (e.g. "McLovin", "Kylebroflovski", "Catwoman") may be found in violation if they do not also have a corresponding basis in RIFT, its people, its history, its characters, or its setting. While we would strongly like the RP experience in RIFT to be more fictionally pure than not, the fictional purity of Rift is not entirely humorless, and we do not expect every customer to have perfect knowledge of every fiction that exists outside of the game.
12. That utilizes "Leet" or "Dudespeak" (e.g., "Roflmao", "Roxxurboxx", "Lolzumad"); or
13. That incorporates titles in a way that is obviously out of place in Telara. For purposes of this subsection, "titles" shall include without limitation 'rank' titles (e.g., "Generalchow," or “Captkangaroo”), monarchist or fantasy titles (e.g., "Kingloko", "Lordpauleyc"), and religious titles (e.g., "Thepope," or "Reverendrun").
We definitely are interested in hearing your continued feedback on this, as we try to find the right balance between speed/quality of report handling, and the desire to provide a quality RP server experience.
Please do feel free to let us know your thoughts here – Thanks very much,
- Scott Hartsman
Exec Producer, RIFT
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It's great to see a company measure out the responses of it's players and act accordingly.
Originally Posted by Tophman 
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