{"data":{"id":12960,"title":"Update on naming system","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/comm-link\/transmission\/12960-Update-On-Naming-System","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-links\/12960","api_public_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/comm-links\/12960","channel":"Undefined","category":"Undefined","series":"None","images":[{"id":433,"name":"AerialShot_Terra_Refined.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/zj84wwuxiapucr\/source\/AerialShot_Terra_Refined.jpg","alt":"","size":1218108,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2013-07-19T05:21:52+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/433","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/433\/similar"},{"id":21882,"name":"Namepostmockupexample.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/f9eg61fu0pbe9r\/source\/Namepostmockupexample.jpg","alt":"","size":250096,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2013-07-19T05:21:50+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/21882","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/21882\/similar"}],"images_count":3,"translations":{"en_EN":"What\u2019s in a name? Apparently a new record! 670+ Responses on the post along with the various threads on the forums, and over 16,000 people have made their opinions clear on the polls!\n\nWe want to thank everyone for their various ideas and passionate feedback, and considering my own feelings wearing my \u201cgamer\u201d shoes, I\u2019ve decided to revise the system proposed in Friday\u2019s post.\n\nWhile more than half of the voters (56%) indicated that they would be fine with the ability to pay for a handle early, it seems unfair that people would be at risk of losing their current username in the transition to the new site. The good news is that we\u2019ve worked out a solution that will let everyone keep their display name while keeping the migration to the new site a relatively smooth transition.\n\nThe Challenge\nFirst, a bit of technical background on the current system:\n\nOn the original setup, the intent of the username field was that it would be used for login purposes only and was meant to be kept private.\n\nThe intent of the display name field was to act as your front-facing moniker in all community interactions including the forums, chat, and post comments.\n\nThe intent of both of these fields became inconsistent however when we switched our forum software to vBulletin as it requires that the public usernames be unique. Since the site\u2019s display names were NOT unique, our only choice was to use your login username as the vBulletin username. As a result, many complaints arose regarding identity mismatching as well as the security issues.\n\nWe take the concerns of the community very seriously, which is why we decided that the new site, and later, the game, would feature a public \u201chandle\u201d that would be completely separate from your login username. The difference between this \u201chandle\u201d on the new site and the old display name is that it needs to be unique since we also need to use it for the numerous social features we plan to implement in the site\/game (e.g. your profile URL, friends list, personal messages, chat, and in-game mission tagging). This is precisely why we can\u2019t have handles conflicting with each other.\n\nThe problem is that display names on the current site are NOT uniquely constrained! There are over 20,000 users who have a display name that conflicts with another user. This poses a serious challenge for user migration into the new system. How do we resolve the many conflicts in trying to port this non-unique data into a new unique field? Who should get to keep a particular name when many others want it too?\n\nOur original thought was to have everyone create a new \u201chandle\u201d that conforms to a unique constraint, which lead us into thinking about how to give that process some order, with one option to allow people to pay for an earlier \u201cwindow\u201d to get a jump on a desired name.\n\nThinking about it some more, there is no reason why we can\u2019t just give people the option to take their current login username as their website \/ game \u201chandle\u201d. The current login usernames are unique, which means there will be no collisions in the migration process, and also since we have already pretty much compromised the privacy of this field by having it display publicly in vBulletin as the forum name.\n\nThe Solution\nBut even if we decide to map the current login usernames as the new handle, most people will still desire for their current display names to be used instead, which would still result in a free-for-all type of scenario where some people would still lose out.\n\nIn order to have everyone retain their current display name and keep the intent of this field consistent in the new site, what we\u2019ve decided to do is introduce an additional non-unique field called the \u201cCommunity Moniker\u201d which will act as your main identity in the community on the new site. Your Community Moniker will be accompanied by your unique handle in order to differentiate any duplicates there may be. What this does is it scales down the importance of your unique handle to mainly determine your profile URL, as well as being something other users can use to add you to their friend list.\n\nWith this solution:\nEveryone\u2019s display names are retained despite there being duplicates\n\nThe intent of the display name is kept consistent on the new site\n\nThe unique handle acts to differentiate any duplicate monikers there may be\n\nAnd In Game?\nOnce in the game itself, the Community Moniker is replaced by the Character Name of the character you have chosen to play in your current session. The constant between the website and the game is your unique handle \u2013 which in the game is your United Empire of Earth identifier, which serves as a way for people to tell that \u201cThe Dread Pirate Roberts\u201d is actually \u201cChristopher Roberts\u201d on the website.\n\nIn closely studying the community feedback, we believe this is the best solution to move forward with considering the challenges we face on our end.\n\nThe Transition Process\nOur proposed solution also eases the transition process, but there are still some challenges at hand. Here is how we plan to tackle user migration:\n\nFirst by default, we will take all current display names and map them to the Community Moniker on the new site. We will also take all current login usernames, and map those to the unique handle on the new site. This leaves one additional field to be specified when logging into the new site: your new Login ID.\n\nWhen first logging onto the new website, you will be asked to specify a NEW Login ID for obvious security reasons resulting from the current site and forums.\nAt this point, you will also have the opportunity to change both your Handle and Community Moniker. For the handle, we will allow you to check to see if the new handle you are considering is available before you give up your migrated login username as your handle. Your community moniker doesn\u2019t have to be unique and is separate from your character names, but similar in concept. When posting on the new website, your community moniker will be shown with your handle below it. For example, my community moniker would be Christopher Roberts and my handle would be croberts68. To friend \/ PM or generally interact with me, you would need to click on my handle or use it to look me up.\nIn order to ease the inevitable load on the new site, we will spread out access to register for the new site during its testing phase. What we plan to do is send out email invites to the community in daily batches that are based on your original sign-up date and modified by your pledge level as well as your subscriber status. Roughly, the idea is that the first 3,000 people having signed up back in September AND are backers would be the first batch invited to test the new site. The second 3,000 the next day and so on. Having a higher pledge level or being a subscriber will move you up in priority. For example, if you\u2019re a Vice Admiral, you would get bumped up two slots (think of the level as a + modifier). Being a Centurion subscriber is also a +1 modifier, an Imperator a +2 modifier. If you don\u2019t respond to the email until a few days later, then the world moves on. You won\u2019t lose your reserved handle \/ user ID, but someone may have taken the new user ID and \/ or handle you wanted.\n\nWe think this process is the most fair and allows the most flexibility in transitioning to the new site and setting up your eventual game account. Hopefully you will agree, but if not, I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll hear from you!\n\nFinally, I would like to address a few concerns that some had about the handle system being \u201cimmersion breaking\u201d. As you all know, I\u2019m very big on immersion, and for me, I think it\u2019s very likely in the future that identification would be similar to how we propose. You already have user IDs for various websites \/ online sites that are exactly like the system we propose \u2013 things like Skype, but also more official sites and accounts \u2013 your local electric utility\u2026 or much more on point \u2013 my local Department of Motor Vehicles. None of these insist I enter a series of numbers, and while a US Social Security Number may be all numerical today, who says that your United Empire of Earth ID will be all numbers? Almost all license plates or aircraft tail numbers are a combination of numbers and letters. I think the Skype handle analogy is probably much more likely than a purely numerical one like the US Social Security Number, mainly because it affords more variety and can be easier for an individual to remember. I also think that this handle would be something you could broadcast or hide, or other people could try to ferret out \u2013 again much like a Skype handle. I think the nuance of this will afford a lot of possibility and challenges in gameplay which for me is exactly the kind of system I am looking to bring to Star Citizen \u2013 I want to blur the boundaries between the Roberts Space Industries website and 2942 in the United Empire of Earth.\n\nAs a small gesture of my appreciation for helping us through this seemingly \u201cunsexy\u201d process, I\u2019d like to share with you some of our latest and more exciting concept art. This depicts the approach to Prime, the capital city of Terra. Prime will be a major player in the overarching story we hope to tell in Star Citizen. This conceptual \u2018look and feel\u2019 piece will be used by the team to create the ground levels you will visit when you land on Terra. Please note that it isn\u2019t quite finished: we just sent notes back to the artist for laying out the buildings differently and adding some additional air traffic around the city\u2026 but it was impressive enough that I thought it worthy of sharing with you today:\n\n\u2014 Chris Roberts","de_DE":"Was ist ein Name? Anscheinend ein neuer Rekord! Mehr als 670 Antworten auf den Beitrag zusammen mit den verschiedenen Themen in den Foren, und \u00fcber 16.000 Menschen haben ihre Meinung zu den Umfragen deutlich gemacht!\n\nWir m\u00f6chten uns bei allen f\u00fcr ihre verschiedenen Ideen und ihr leidenschaftliches Feedback bedanken, und angesichts meiner eigenen Gef\u00fchle, die ich mit meinen \"Gamer\"-Schuhen habe, habe ich beschlossen, das in der Freitagspost vorgeschlagene System zu \u00fcberarbeiten.\n\nW\u00e4hrend mehr als die H\u00e4lfte der W\u00e4hler (56%) angaben, dass sie mit der M\u00f6glichkeit, einen Griff fr\u00fchzeitig zu bezahlen, einverstanden sein w\u00fcrden, erscheint es unfair, dass Menschen Gefahr laufen w\u00fcrden, ihren aktuellen Benutzernamen beim \u00dcbergang zur neuen Website zu verlieren. Die gute Nachricht ist, dass wir eine L\u00f6sung entwickelt haben, mit der jeder seinen Anzeigenamen behalten kann, w\u00e4hrend die Migration zur neuen Website ein relativ reibungsloser \u00dcbergang bleibt.\n\nDie Herausforderung\nZuerst ein wenig technischer Hintergrund zum aktuellen System:\n\nIm urspr\u00fcnglichen Setup war die Absicht des Feldes Benutzername, dass es nur f\u00fcr Login-Zwecke verwendet wird und f\u00fcr die Geheimhaltung bestimmt ist.\n\nDie Absicht des Anzeigenamensfeldes war es, als Ihr nach vorne gerichteter Spitzname in allen Community-Interaktionen zu fungieren, einschlie\u00dflich der Foren, des Chats und der Kommentare.\n\nDie Absicht beider Felder wurde jedoch inkonsistent, als wir unsere Forensoftware auf vBulletin umgestellt haben, da es erfordert, dass die \u00f6ffentlichen Benutzernamen eindeutig sind. Da die Anzeigenamen der Website NICHT eindeutig waren, bestand unsere einzige Wahl darin, Ihren Login-Benutzernamen als vBulletin-Benutzernamen zu verwenden. Infolgedessen ergaben sich viele Beschwerden \u00fcber Identit\u00e4tsinkongruenz und Sicherheitsfragen.\n\nWir nehmen die Bedenken der Community sehr ernst, weshalb wir beschlossen haben, dass die neue Website und sp\u00e4ter auch das Spiel \u00fcber einen \u00f6ffentlichen \"Handle\" verf\u00fcgen sollten, der v\u00f6llig unabh\u00e4ngig von Ihrem Login-Benutzernamen sein w\u00fcrde. Der Unterschied zwischen diesem \"Handle\" auf der neuen Website und dem alten Anzeigenamen besteht darin, dass er einzigartig sein muss, da wir ihn auch f\u00fcr die zahlreichen sozialen Funktionen verwenden m\u00fcssen, die wir in der Website\/Spiel implementieren wollen (z.B. Ihre Profil-URL, Freundesliste, pers\u00f6nliche Nachrichten, Chat und In-Game-Missions-Tagging). Genau deshalb k\u00f6nnen wir keine widerspr\u00fcchlichen Griffe haben.\n\nDas Problem ist, dass die Anzeigenamen auf der aktuellen Website NICHT eindeutig eingeschr\u00e4nkt sind! Es gibt \u00fcber 20.000 Benutzer, die einen Anzeigenamen haben, der mit einem anderen Benutzer kollidiert. Dies stellt eine gro\u00dfe Herausforderung f\u00fcr die Migration von Benutzern in das neue System dar. Wie l\u00f6sen wir die vielen Konflikte beim Versuch, diese nicht eindeutigen Daten in ein neues eindeutiges Feld zu portieren? Wer sollte einen bestimmten Namen behalten k\u00f6nnen, wenn viele andere ihn auch wollen?\n\nUnser urspr\u00fcnglicher Gedanke war es, dass jeder einen neuen \"Griff\" kreiert, der einer einzigartigen Beschr\u00e4nkung entspricht, die uns dazu bringt, dar\u00fcber nachzudenken, wie wir diesem Prozess eine Bestellung geben k\u00f6nnen, mit einer Option, die es den Leuten erlaubt, f\u00fcr ein fr\u00fcheres \"Fenster\" zu bezahlen, um einen Sprung auf einen gew\u00fcnschten Namen zu machen.\n\nWenn wir noch weiter dar\u00fcber nachdenken, gibt es keinen Grund, warum wir nicht einfach den Leuten die M\u00f6glichkeit geben k\u00f6nnen, ihren aktuellen Login-Benutzernamen als Website \/ Spiel \"handle\" zu verwenden. Die aktuellen Login-Benutzernamen sind eindeutig, was bedeutet, dass es keine Kollisionen im Migrationsprozess geben wird, und auch, da wir die Privatsph\u00e4re dieses Feldes bereits ziemlich stark beeintr\u00e4chtigt haben, indem es in vBulletin \u00f6ffentlich als Forumsname angezeigt wird.\n\nDie L\u00f6sung\nAber selbst wenn wir uns entscheiden, die aktuellen Login-Benutzernamen als neues Handle abzubilden, werden sich die meisten Leute immer noch w\u00fcnschen, dass ihre aktuellen Anzeigenamen stattdessen verwendet werden, was immer noch zu einem Frei-f\u00fcr-Alle-Szenario f\u00fchren w\u00fcrde, bei dem einige Leute noch verlieren w\u00fcrden.\n\nDamit jeder seinen aktuellen Anzeigenamen beibeh\u00e4lt und die Absicht dieses Feldes auf der neuen Website konsistent bleibt, haben wir beschlossen, ein zus\u00e4tzliches, nicht einzigartiges Feld namens \"Community Moniker\" einzuf\u00fchren, das als Ihre Hauptidentit\u00e4t in der Community auf der neuen Website fungiert. Dein Community-Mensch wird von deinem einzigartigen Griff begleitet, um eventuelle Duplikate zu unterscheiden. Was dies tut, ist, dass es die Wichtigkeit Ihres einzigartigen Handle verringert, um haupts\u00e4chlich Ihre Profil-URL zu bestimmen, und dass es etwas ist, das andere Benutzer verwenden k\u00f6nnen, um Sie zu ihrer Freundesliste hinzuzuf\u00fcgen.\n\nMit dieser L\u00f6sung:\nDie Anzeigenamen aller werden trotz Duplikaten beibehalten Die Absicht des Anzeigenamens wird auf der neuen Website konsistent gehalten Der einzigartige Griff dient dazu, doppelte Namen zu unterscheiden und In Game?\nEinmal im Spiel selbst, wird der Community Moniker durch den Charakternamen des Charakters ersetzt, den du in deiner aktuellen Sitzung gespielt hast. Die Konstante zwischen der Website und dem Spiel ist Ihr einzigartiger Griff - der im Spiel Ihr United Empire of Earth Identifier ist, der den Leuten als M\u00f6glichkeit dient, zu sagen, dass \"The Dread Pirate Roberts\" eigentlich \"Christopher Roberts\" auf der Website ist.\n\nWenn wir das Feedback der Community genau studieren, glauben wir, dass dies die beste L\u00f6sung ist, um die Herausforderungen, vor denen wir stehen, zu ber\u00fccksichtigen.\n\nDer \u00dcbergangsprozess\nUnser L\u00f6sungsvorschlag erleichtert auch den \u00dcbergangsprozess, aber es gibt noch einige Herausforderungen. Hier ist, wie wir die Benutzer-Migration angehen wollen:\n\nZuerst werden wir standardm\u00e4\u00dfig alle aktuellen Anzeigenamen \u00fcbernehmen und dem Community Moniker auf der neuen Seite zuordnen. Wir werden auch alle aktuellen Login-Benutzernamen nehmen und diese dem eindeutigen Handle auf der neuen Website zuordnen. Beim Einloggen auf der neuen Website muss dann noch ein zus\u00e4tzliches Feld angegeben werden: Ihre neue Login-ID.\n\nWenn Sie sich zum ersten Mal auf der neuen Website anmelden, werden Sie aus Sicherheitsgr\u00fcnden, die sich aus der aktuellen Website und den Foren ergeben, aufgefordert, eine NEUE Login-ID anzugeben.\nAn dieser Stelle haben Sie auch die M\u00f6glichkeit, sowohl Ihren Handle als auch Ihren Community-Men\u00fcpunkt zu \u00e4ndern. F\u00fcr das Handle k\u00f6nnen Sie \u00fcberpr\u00fcfen, ob das neue Handle, das Sie in Betracht ziehen, verf\u00fcgbar ist, bevor Sie Ihren migrierten Login-Benutzernamen als Handle aufgeben. Dein Community-Mensch muss nicht eindeutig sein und ist getrennt von deinen Charakternamen, aber im Konzept \u00e4hnlich. Wenn du auf der neuen Website ver\u00f6ffentlichst, wird dein Community-Mensch mit deinem Handle darunter angezeigt. Zum Beispiel w\u00e4re mein Community-Mensch Christopher Roberts und mein Griff w\u00e4re croberts68. Um einen Freund \/ PM oder allgemein mit mir zu interagieren, m\u00fcsstest du auf meinen Griff klicken oder ihn benutzen, um mich nachzuschlagen.\nUm die unvermeidliche Belastung der neuen Website zu verringern, werden wir den Zugriff auf die Registrierung f\u00fcr die neue Website w\u00e4hrend der Testphase verteilen. Was wir vorhaben, ist, E-Mail-Einladungen an die Community in t\u00e4glichen Abst\u00e4nden zu versenden, die auf Ihrem urspr\u00fcnglichen Anmeldedatum basieren und durch Ihre Zusageebene sowie Ihren Abonnementstatus modifiziert werden. Grob gesagt, ist die Idee, dass die ersten 3.000 Personen, die sich im September angemeldet haben UND Geldgeber sind, die erste Gruppe w\u00e4ren, die eingeladen wurde, die neue Website zu testen. Die zweiten 3.000 am n\u00e4chsten Tag und so weiter. Wenn Sie eine h\u00f6here Verpf\u00e4ndungsstufe haben oder Abonnent sind, haben Sie eine h\u00f6here Priorit\u00e4t. Zum Beispiel, wenn du ein Vizeadmiral bist, w\u00fcrdest du zwei Spielautomaten nach oben gesto\u00dfen werden (betrachte das Level als + Modifikator). Centurion-Teilnehmer zu sein, ist auch ein +1-Modifikator, ein Imperator ein +2-Modifikator. Wenn du erst ein paar Tage sp\u00e4ter auf die E-Mail antwortest, dann geht die Welt weiter. Sie werden Ihre reservierte Handle \/ Benutzer-ID nicht verlieren, aber vielleicht hat jemand die neue Benutzer-ID und \/ oder die gew\u00fcnschte Handle genommen.\n\nWir denken, dass dieser Prozess der fairste ist und die gr\u00f6\u00dfte Flexibilit\u00e4t bei der Umstellung auf die neue Website und der Einrichtung Ihres eventuellen Spielaccounts bietet. Hoffentlich stimmen Sie zu, aber wenn nicht, bin ich sicher, dass wir von Ihnen h\u00f6ren werden!\n\nAbschlie\u00dfend m\u00f6chte ich auf einige Bedenken eingehen, die einige gegen das \"Immersionsbrechen\" des Griffsystems hatten. Wie ihr alle wisst, bin ich sehr an der Immersion interessiert, und f\u00fcr mich denke ich, dass es sehr wahrscheinlich ist, dass die Identifizierung in Zukunft \u00e4hnlich sein wird wie unsere Vorschl\u00e4ge. Sie haben bereits Benutzer-IDs f\u00fcr verschiedene Websites \/ Online-Sites, die genau wie das von uns vorgeschlagene System sind - Dinge wie Skype, aber auch mehr offizielle Websites und Konten - Ihr lokales Elektrizit\u00e4tsversorgungsunternehmen... oder vieles mehr auf den Punkt gebracht - mein lokales Kraftfahrzeugministerium. Nichts davon besteht darauf, dass ich eine Reihe von Zahlen eingebe, und w\u00e4hrend eine US-Sozialversicherungsnummer heute alle numerisch sein kann, wer sagt, dass Ihre United Empire of Earth ID alle Zahlen sein wird? Fast alle Nummernschilder oder Flugzeughecknummern sind eine Kombination aus Zahlen und Buchstaben. Ich denke, dass die Analogie des Skype-Handels wahrscheinlich viel wahrscheinlicher ist als eine rein numerische wie die US-Sozialversicherungsnummer, vor allem, weil sie mehr Abwechslung bietet und f\u00fcr einen Einzelnen einfacher zu merken ist. Ich denke auch, dass dieser Griff etwas sein k\u00f6nnte, das man senden oder verstecken k\u00f6nnte, oder andere Leute k\u00f6nnten versuchen, aufzusp\u00fcren - wieder \u00e4hnlich einem Skype-Handle. Ich denke, die Nuance davon wird viele M\u00f6glichkeiten und Herausforderungen im Gameplay bieten, was f\u00fcr mich genau die Art von System ist, die ich Star Citizen bringen m\u00f6chte - ich m\u00f6chte die Grenzen zwischen der Roberts Space Industries Website und 2942 im Vereinigten K\u00f6nigreich der Erde verwischen.\n\nAls kleine Geste meiner Wertsch\u00e4tzung f\u00fcr die Hilfe bei diesem scheinbar \"unsexy\" Prozess m\u00f6chte ich Ihnen einige unserer neuesten und aufregenderen Konzeptkunst vorstellen. Dies zeigt den Zugang zu Prime, der Hauptstadt von Terra. Prime wird ein wichtiger Akteur in der \u00fcbergreifenden Geschichte sein, die wir in Star Citizen zu erz\u00e4hlen hoffen. Dieses konzeptionelle \"Look and Feel\"-St\u00fcck wird vom Team verwendet, um die Bodenebenen zu schaffen, die Sie besuchen werden, wenn Sie auf Terra landen. Bitte beachten Sie, dass es noch nicht ganz fertig ist: Wir haben gerade Notizen an den K\u00fcnstler zur\u00fcckgeschickt, um die Geb\u00e4ude anders anzulegen und zus\u00e4tzlichen Flugverkehr durch die Stadt zu bringen.... aber es war beeindruckend genug, dass ich es f\u00fcr w\u00fcrdig hielt, es heute mit Ihnen zu teilen:\n\n- Chris Roberts","zh_CN":"What\u2019s in a name? Apparently a new record! 670+ Responses on the post along with the various threads on the forums, and over 16,000 people have made their opinions clear on the polls!\n\nWe want to thank everyone for their various ideas and passionate feedback, and considering my own feelings wearing my \u201cgamer\u201d shoes, I\u2019ve decided to revise the system proposed in Friday\u2019s post.\n\nWhile more than half of the voters (56%) indicated that they would be fine with the ability to pay for a handle early, it seems unfair that people would be at risk of losing their current username in the transition to the new site. The good news is that we\u2019ve worked out a solution that will let everyone keep their display name while keeping the migration to the new site a relatively smooth transition.\n\nThe Challenge\nFirst, a bit of technical background on the current system:\n\nOn the original setup, the intent of the username field was that it would be used for login purposes only and was meant to be kept private.\n\nThe intent of the display name field was to act as your front-facing moniker in all community interactions including the forums, chat, and post comments.\n\nThe intent of both of these fields became inconsistent however when we switched our forum software to vBulletin as it requires that the public usernames be unique. Since the site\u2019s display names were NOT unique, our only choice was to use your login username as the vBulletin username. As a result, many complaints arose regarding identity mismatching as well as the security issues.\n\nWe take the concerns of the community very seriously, which is why we decided that the new site, and later, the game, would feature a public \u201chandle\u201d that would be completely separate from your login username. The difference between this \u201chandle\u201d on the new site and the old display name is that it needs to be unique since we also need to use it for the numerous social features we plan to implement in the site\/game (e.g. your profile URL, friends list, personal messages, chat, and in-game mission tagging). This is precisely why we can\u2019t have handles conflicting with each other.\n\nThe problem is that display names on the current site are NOT uniquely constrained! There are over 20,000 users who have a display name that conflicts with another user. This poses a serious challenge for user migration into the new system. How do we resolve the many conflicts in trying to port this non-unique data into a new unique field? Who should get to keep a particular name when many others want it too?\n\nOur original thought was to have everyone create a new \u201chandle\u201d that conforms to a unique constraint, which lead us into thinking about how to give that process some order, with one option to allow people to pay for an earlier \u201cwindow\u201d to get a jump on a desired name.\n\nThinking about it some more, there is no reason why we can\u2019t just give people the option to take their current login username as their website \/ game \u201chandle\u201d. The current login usernames are unique, which means there will be no collisions in the migration process, and also since we have already pretty much compromised the privacy of this field by having it display publicly in vBulletin as the forum name.\n\nThe Solution\nBut even if we decide to map the current login usernames as the new handle, most people will still desire for their current display names to be used instead, which would still result in a free-for-all type of scenario where some people would still lose out.\n\nIn order to have everyone retain their current display name and keep the intent of this field consistent in the new site, what we\u2019ve decided to do is introduce an additional non-unique field called the \u201cCommunity Moniker\u201d which will act as your main identity in the community on the new site. Your Community Moniker will be accompanied by your unique handle in order to differentiate any duplicates there may be. What this does is it scales down the importance of your unique handle to mainly determine your profile URL, as well as being something other users can use to add you to their friend list.\n\nWith this solution:\nEveryone\u2019s display names are retained despite there being duplicates\n\nThe intent of the display name is kept consistent on the new site\n\nThe unique handle acts to differentiate any duplicate monikers there may be\n\nAnd In Game?\nOnce in the game itself, the Community Moniker is replaced by the Character Name of the character you have chosen to play in your current session. The constant between the website and the game is your unique handle \u2013 which in the game is your United Empire of Earth identifier, which serves as a way for people to tell that \u201cThe Dread Pirate Roberts\u201d is actually \u201cChristopher Roberts\u201d on the website.\n\nIn closely studying the community feedback, we believe this is the best solution to move forward with considering the challenges we face on our end.\n\nThe Transition Process\nOur proposed solution also eases the transition process, but there are still some challenges at hand. Here is how we plan to tackle user migration:\n\nFirst by default, we will take all current display names and map them to the Community Moniker on the new site. We will also take all current login usernames, and map those to the unique handle on the new site. This leaves one additional field to be specified when logging into the new site: your new Login ID.\n\nWhen first logging onto the new website, you will be asked to specify a NEW Login ID for obvious security reasons resulting from the current site and forums.\nAt this point, you will also have the opportunity to change both your Handle and Community Moniker. For the handle, we will allow you to check to see if the new handle you are considering is available before you give up your migrated login username as your handle. Your community moniker doesn\u2019t have to be unique and is separate from your character names, but similar in concept. When posting on the new website, your community moniker will be shown with your handle below it. For example, my community moniker would be Christopher Roberts and my handle would be croberts68. To friend \/ PM or generally interact with me, you would need to click on my handle or use it to look me up.\nIn order to ease the inevitable load on the new site, we will spread out access to register for the new site during its testing phase. What we plan to do is send out email invites to the community in daily batches that are based on your original sign-up date and modified by your pledge level as well as your subscriber status. Roughly, the idea is that the first 3,000 people having signed up back in September AND are backers would be the first batch invited to test the new site. The second 3,000 the next day and so on. Having a higher pledge level or being a subscriber will move you up in priority. For example, if you\u2019re a Vice Admiral, you would get bumped up two slots (think of the level as a + modifier). Being a Centurion subscriber is also a +1 modifier, an Imperator a +2 modifier. If you don\u2019t respond to the email until a few days later, then the world moves on. You won\u2019t lose your reserved handle \/ user ID, but someone may have taken the new user ID and \/ or handle you wanted.\n\nWe think this process is the most fair and allows the most flexibility in transitioning to the new site and setting up your eventual game account. Hopefully you will agree, but if not, I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll hear from you!\n\nFinally, I would like to address a few concerns that some had about the handle system being \u201cimmersion breaking\u201d. As you all know, I\u2019m very big on immersion, and for me, I think it\u2019s very likely in the future that identification would be similar to how we propose. You already have user IDs for various websites \/ online sites that are exactly like the system we propose \u2013 things like Skype, but also more official sites and accounts \u2013 your local electric utility\u2026 or much more on point \u2013 my local Department of Motor Vehicles. None of these insist I enter a series of numbers, and while a US Social Security Number may be all numerical today, who says that your United Empire of Earth ID will be all numbers? Almost all license plates or aircraft tail numbers are a combination of numbers and letters. I think the Skype handle analogy is probably much more likely than a purely numerical one like the US Social Security Number, mainly because it affords more variety and can be easier for an individual to remember. I also think that this handle would be something you could broadcast or hide, or other people could try to ferret out \u2013 again much like a Skype handle. I think the nuance of this will afford a lot of possibility and challenges in gameplay which for me is exactly the kind of system I am looking to bring to Star Citizen \u2013 I want to blur the boundaries between the Roberts Space Industries website and 2942 in the United Empire of Earth.\n\nAs a small gesture of my appreciation for helping us through this seemingly \u201cunsexy\u201d process, I\u2019d like to share with you some of our latest and more exciting concept art. This depicts the approach to Prime, the capital city of Terra. Prime will be a major player in the overarching story we hope to tell in Star Citizen. This conceptual \u2018look and feel\u2019 piece will be used by the team to create the ground levels you will visit when you land on Terra. Please note that it isn\u2019t quite finished: we just sent notes back to the artist for laying out the buildings differently and adding some additional air traffic around the city\u2026 but it was impressive enough that I thought it worthy of sharing with you today:\n\n\u2014 Chris Roberts"},"links_count":0,"comment_count":331,"created_at":"2013-04-15T00:00:00+00:00","created_at_human":"13 years ago"},"meta":{"processed_at":"2026-05-15 18:51:57","valid_relations":["images","links"],"prev_id":12959,"next_id":12961}}