#0 - Feb. 3, 2009, 11:09 a.m.
Recently I paid for three different characters (My 3 "Mains") to have all of their names changed. You see, over the past 2 years, I have been the GM of two different guilds (one was a leveling guild that couldn't transition to raiding, and the current one was attempting to build in to a raiding guild). In that time, I have had many people come and go in to my guilds, have been a member of a few others, and have burned a lot of bridges along the way.
I don't really think I have done anything too terribly wrong, except be outspoken in my beliefs, and stand up for myself against a relentless assault of childishness, vindictiveness, and general "I'm on the internet so I can be a jerk to people and not get punished for it" type of behavior.
I was seeking to simply start fresh... start anew with a new identity, without losing all of the hard work I had put in to my characters. I have a lot of time and effort invested in to my characters that I don't want to lose.
Similarly, I have a lot of friends on this realm, so transferring servers just didn't appeal to me. Thus, I went for a name change.
This decision to change my name has already resulted risking my new guild's viability, as I have had to leave my own guild just to protect my new identity from being discovered. (It doesn't take a brain surgeon to look at the guild they know I was GM of, see a character as GM of that guild with the same class, spec, and gear, and conclude it's the same character after a name change.)
So imagine my shock when I find out that after I paid $30 to get this fresh start on 3 different characters, ANYONE, even people whom I can only describe as being some of the most vile and vindictive people I have ever met, can see my brand new name in their friends list, and on the armory!
My old posts under my old name link to the right page, with my old name right there in the URL... but what does it show my name as on the page? MY NEW ONE!
If someone had me on their friends list prior to the name change, the friends list now shows my new one! I know for a fact that some of the people that hate me the most have me on their "friends" list just to know when I log on. And believe me, word will spread!
I was not WARNED of this when I paid for this service!
In the "Restrictions & Disclaimers" page of the name change service, it says exactly the following:
# The Paid Character Name Change process is not immediate and may take several hours to complete because of the approval process involved. Your character will not be available for play during this time.
# Each Paid Character Name Change costs $10.00 USD (not including applicable taxes). This covers a single name change for a single character.
# A character’s name may only be changed once every 30 days.
# The name you choose must be available on the character’s realm, and must be within the World of Warcraft Naming Policy.
# A Paid Character Name Change cannot be reversed once completed, except by a second name change operation (subject to the above costs and limitations). This transaction is non-refundable.
# Once the name change is completed, your character's old name will be locked from use on the realm for 90 days. After that time, the old name becomes available again and can be claimed by anyone on a first-come, first-served basis.
# You understand that you retain no implicit or explicit right to your character’s old name.
NOWHERE does it say that this process does not guarantee anonymity, or that its purpose is NOT to completely create a new idenity for you where people can't tell who you used to be!
For my guild roster, even though prior to the name change I transferred ownership of the guild to someone else, it shows MY NEW NAME as guildmaster! That's just completely unacceptable!
I'm to the point where I'm so desperate to be away from the harassment of people who simply won't let me play in peace, that I must demand satisfaction here... if a name change won't protect my new identity from being associated with my old one, then I MUST demand transfers for at least my two level 80 characters to a new server.
I know for a fact that these BUGS IN THE SYSTEM will reveal my old identity to those who wish to cause me grief, and that my $30 that I paid for the name changes will have been for NOTHING.
At that point, I will simply have no other option but to cancel my account, and remove myself from this game's community entirely, simply to get away from the jerks that insist on belittling me, spreading lies about me, and otherwise causing me so much grief.
