Name change contracts are a bad idea
So I just bought a name change contract with the intent to rename one of my toon the same name as 2 other of my toons, but with a ì.
That letter isn’t available.
62g wasted.
Don’t you think it’s a horrible idea that we don’t get to see whether a name is available before committing to buy?
Try to add the name to your friends list. If it works, then someone already has it.
Mind you, this won’t work with “illegal” or filtered names, but for normal ones it’s the fast way to see if it’s taken.
delicate, brick-like subtlety.
What happens if you copy paste the name into the character name slot? Will it take it then?
You don’t have the right regional client maybe? As far as I know NA clients can’t use those special accent letters in names. Only European clients can.
Am I mistaken? Have I been missing out on accented letters this whole time?
The accented i is available in the NA client. I have one toon with the accented i in it. Easiest way is to copy/paste it from somewhere else into the name creation.
I think letters like ä are also able to be used (haven’t tried them) and I know you can do Æ because i have that on one of my toons as well.
It says it’s a non-english letter. í works, but ì doesn’t. It happens when I paste it and enter it manually.
(edited by Kasima.8143)
seems like a bug then. I’d report it as such in bug report.
Wow, I didn’t realize that you had one chance (successful or unsuccessful) and then the contract expires. That really isn’t worth the currency.
Is that what OP is saying? If so that’s GOTTA be a bug. Report report report!
Hmmm I guess I did not catch that, the acute accent is accepted but the grave is not. No idea why.
And, no, if you cancel the name change, you do not lose the contact. It is only gone if you accept the name change.
I am from NA, and I can guarantee that all the different i’s work, as I have two characters with them, the ì (grave) and ï (umlaut). More likely than not, someone else had the name already. I don’t think the name change should have went away though.
If that’s what happened, I’d contact support. No reason for you to be out those gems.
Try creating a new character with the name you want first. I’ve done this in the past where I wasn’t sure if the name I wanted would be taken so I first created a new character with my name of choice, found it wasn’t in use, deleted said character and proceeded to purchase the name change contract. No gold wasted and only a little bit of extra time spent.
Champion: Phantom, Hunter, Legionnaire, Genius
WvW rank: Diamond Colonel | Maguuma
I don’t think the OP had the contract used up, I think s/he thinks it’s wasted because the exact desired name down to the specific odd accent is already in use. Others have discussed means of checking the name before buying the contract; I particularly like SpellOfIniquity’s because when you delete a character you then have the name reserved to you for 24 hours (assuming that still holds true from launch). Thus you can grab the name and then use it as a rename or on an alt you take the time to make exactly how you want.
You don’t even have to do the whole character creation checklist. Go into creation, click Skip to End with whatever random race/gender/prof/appearance you have, put in the name, create. Then delete and use the name more cautiously.
I do think there can be issues with accented characters, including a problem deleting since you have to type in the exact name. That is one of many reasons I never use special letters in any online character. But that’s my personal preference.
They ought to remove the item completely, and make it like how you buy bags and bank slots where you just click a spot in your inventory and it asks you if you want to buy it.
Likewise, there could be a spot in the hero menu with your name and a “change name” option where you’d have to confirm the name and then it’d charge you. People that already bought it and didn’t use it would get a free use for each one they have.
for there you have been and there you will long to return.
The accented i is available in the NA client. I have one toon with the accented i in it. Easiest way is to copy/paste it from somewhere else into the name creation.
I think letters like ä are also able to be used (haven’t tried them) and I know you can do Æ because i have that on one of my toons as well.
ä, ë, ï, ü and ö are allowed yes, the proof being in my signature (my character Fäy). That ì should be allowed too, since it’s a normal European letter like all other accents. It must be a bug.
I do think there can be issues with accented characters, including a problem deleting since you have to type in the exact name. That is one of many reasons I never use special letters in any online character. But that’s my personal preference.
I can switch from the European to the American keyboard layout with a hotkey. If you have a keyboard you can do this typing accents isn’t a problem. Turn on the European keyboard layout and type ’ and a for á, ` and a for à and " and a for ä for example.
(edited by Melanie.1240)
If your contract disappeared: Report it as a bug.
If letters that should be allowed but aren’t: Report it as a bug.
If you didn’t check if the name is available (by adding it to your friendlist) or against their terms of agreement (by making a new character with the name or ask a friend to do it if you lack the empty slot) that’s on you and I’d see it as lesson learned.
Generally, if the character is usable in game I would think it should be usable for character names, but I’m just now wondering if they disabled the ì letter in name creation because it might easily confused with other i letters and that could create an issue for reporting players for misconduct. I’ve always thought that was a big factor in why you couldn’t have a Japanese or Chinese or Korean name in GW1 if you didn’t have a client from that region. Because people not familiar with it would have a hard time reporting a person and they’d always have to manage to get a screenshot of the persons name and submit that since they wouldn’t be able to type it out.