The setup, back in May 2016 I created a new character I named "TrumpTower" mainly because I liked to build mini-bases in the game and be a thorn in the side of the enemy forces. The new character was made to join a few of my friends who wanted to play a different faction at that time frame.
Well, this morning I was kicked from the game by an admin which shut down the game client. When started back up I saw that my characters name was changed to "LoyalRoadRunner". I filed a support ticket not too long after seeing this and got a response back this afternoon. What is interesting is the response I got from them.
My Ticket:
I was just recently kicked out of the game by a game admin and when I logged back in I noticed my character originally named TrumpTower was changed to LoyalRoadRunner. Why did this happen because I have had that character for nearly five years and never had a single issue with any terms of service or code of conduct in that entire time? Also why was I not approached by administrators about a potential name issue within this game and given a chance to change the name to something else? I picked the name mainly for the fact I generally build bases using the construction system and it referencing a well-known building.
I'm deeply offended by this as a person who has played this game since Beta.
Their Response:
GM * (Daybreak Games)
Greetings,
Thanks for contacting Player Support. We understand that your name was changed due to a Name Violation (historical figure, copyright building). After review we will be able to offer you a rename for the affected character. Please provide us with a list of 3-5 names you'd like within guidelines, in order of preference, and we will provide the first one available to you.
Please refer to the PlanetSide 2 Naming policy: What's the PlanetSide 2 Naming Policy?
Regards, GM Daybreak Games
Now what is funny is you can't copyright something like TrumpTower or even trademark it to prevent it from being used as a character name for an MMO like this. I'm willing to fight Trump in a legal battle about it and Daybreak is immune to legal action because of section 230 if they comply with a valid DMCA.
Secondly and the important part is their anti-naming thing is not evenly enforced and was seems their naming policy was updated to include this stuff on January 26, 2021 16:37. (Archive of Name Policy Page).
Now what is really funny is the fact they seem to not take a proactive dealing with this issue as I have found several characters with names that violate their police using a player search system connected to their API. Let us have a look at the US presidents list; Obama, Bush, Clinton Nixon. Okay so what about international ones like; Churchill, Merkel, Johnson - Johnson(Active player), Thatcher. Well that seems odd that there are several accounts active and inactive that still have those names.
What about certain religious figures like; Jehovah, Yahweh, Moses/Musa, Muhammad, Brahma, Shiva, Devi, Mars, Zues, Nyx (Also a weapon in the game)
I'm toying with the idea using the aberration clause of their ToS to force push at them to publish a complete list of common terms that is not allowed to be used in a character name that is updated annually and/or restore the TrumpTower name. What are your thoughts?
As for figuring out a new name, I'm looking at T-Censored-Tower, TCensoredTower, and VoldemortTower.
first, you have to document yourself about what this arbitration involves. to know if you can afford it. Usually, if a part of a contract wants to force the other parts to solve eventual controversies with arbitration this requires that the part that forces the arbitration to pay all the fees while the other parts pay only token fees. but it may not be the case depend on where is it. also, arbitration could involve a clause like that; you must present yourself in person or a representative whenever there is an audit. etc.
second, you have to check if the term Trumptower is not trademarked.
once you are sure of the two above and want to proceed with this lulz.
send them another ticket where you say to them pretty much what you wrote here to us, but feigning ignorance, that you have found names that violate the same policy which caused your name to be changed. and that you want a reasonable date for when their names too will be changed. (mark these user ID if possible) then decide a number of days you can wait, (I suggest not less than two weeks). afterward, if the names of these players has yet to be changed you have ground to prove bad faith and can file for arbitration on the basis that your name has been specifically changed because of politically motivated reasons and not for the new policy. and see what happen.
"TrumpTower" is not trademarked and "Trump Tower" is trademarked but only in the area of real estate services. There is no legal way they can impose their trademark on a videogame username that has it as one word.