Here’s my idea: whenever you claim an Aavegotchi, a name tag comes with it. You write a name in the name tag, and you can assign it to a gotchi you own, becoming its name: the name tag acts like a wearable! It is transferrable and it is tradable in the baazaar; it is an asset that you own. Not two name tags can have the same name at the same time and name tags can be edited, just like how it works right now. Regarding existing Aavegotchies, they simply would automatically get equipped with a name tag with the name that they have in that moment.
Why all this? Because the name you pick can be a rarity in its own, and it makes sense for it to be transferrable separately from its gotchi. It also solves a problem that I believe is going to get worse with time: if you want to transfer the name from a gotchi you own to another, then necessarily there is going to be a short amount of time in which the name is available to anyone. This means that someone lucky could steal your name or, even worse, people could set up bots that perform this kind of attack automatically. Soon it is going to be impossible for people with a rare name to transfer it to another gotchi they own.
Further topics of discussion that could come from this implementation:
Name tags are permanent: unlike how it works right now, we could have that once you choose a name for your tag, that name is permanent. I think that it would bring more interesting dynamics, and also it might be easier to implement code-wise, because this way name tags would just simply be a nft themselves.
Does claiming a gotchi need to be the only way of acquiring new name tags? We could have sales for newly minted name tags without the creation of new portals, which would imply having more name tags than gotchies in circulation. I think it could make sense; people might want to reserve a name that they think is really worthy and sell it to someone that owns a gotchi.
I’m not sure I like the idea of a name being a transferrable asset by itself. To some extent, I think a lot of the name squatting we’ve seen so far (I’ve done it myself) is fine, but a little silly, and I’d personally rather encourage the use of naming as something integrated with the gotchi itself, rather than a separate and purely speculative asset. Just my opinion, and I understand that others will feel differently, but I think the rush to claim random CT influencers and odd ways to spell Satoshi and the names of acquaintances who might have used Elon Musk’s toilet at a dinner soiree in 2017 is a bit separate from the spirit of Aavegotchi, and while I don’t suggest that we try to discourage it, I’d personally prefer not to inject steroids into that speculative market.
I understand this point of view, and I might even agree with it, but if this was the case then names shouldn’t have even been unique in the first place. Since they are unique though and people obviously give them value, and I think it makes sense for them to be treated as an asset.
That’s a valid point. I actually love the fact that they made the gotchis uniquely nameable, and I love the fact that it potentially contributes to their rarity. I’m struggling to come up with a good analogy, but the best I can manage is the difference between selling a website and selling just the domain name. The former is something that you created and integrated to some extent, and the other is just something that you happened to snipe before someone else and are purely flipping for profit.
This isn’t exactly the same situation, but I think of it in those terms.
I’m also not saying the naming mechanics couldn’t be refined. I haven’t really thought through what feels off about them as-is, but it does seem like there’s room for improvement. All I’m saying is I personally wouldn’t prefer to treat them as transferrable assets.
And to your point about the wearables, their value lies more in their ability to buff stats, and their rarity is intentionally designed more or less directly in relation to their perceived utility to the gotchi itself (of course people will also think stuff like a sushi knife just looks cool and they want it, but even then they value it for what it brings to their particular gotchi). I think they’re fundamentally different from a name in that regard.
I see what you mean about wearables, and indeed they can’t really be directly compared.
Your argument makes sense. Right now names are in an awkward spot I think, and it will come down to what direction most of the community wants them to take.
For sure. And for the record, your idea is cool and creative, and I hope you keep pumping them out, even if they don’t always align with how I view the “spirit” of the game!
Name should stick to the gotchi and should not be able to be changed. I mean a name should mean a specific gotchi in the universe. Everyone should know what is talked when someone says “Hope” or “Einstein” you know, the legends. It should not be a generic gotch with a nametag
I like that names can be changed, but a cool feature could be the ability to permanently link, or bake a name into a gotchi, for those who know that they’ll always want that name linked to the gotchi they own. I personally think it would be a shame to be unable to change the name of your gotchi, but to be able to have the choice yourself to make that name immutable would be a really cool feature, and might be the best of both worlds as far as flexibility for those who want it, and the assurance of permanent rarity for those who want it.
Permanently baking the name would make sense if you wanted to make sure that the name remains attached to the gotchi even if it were to change owner. I like the idea, can be effortlessly implemented. @mikkop’s approach is worth considering as well, permanent names by default could create interesting dynamics.
Anyway there should be a function to switch names between two gotchis that you own without risking becoming the victim of the attack I described in the main post; should be pretty easy to do with the current implementation.
On the concept of permanence, it would be really cool if there were the possibility of permanently attaching a wearable to a certain gotchi, with the advantage of further boosting traits and/or kinship. There might be implications that I’m not seeing right away, but otherwise it seems to me like a good step further toward the characterization of unique gotchis.
I really like the idea of baking a name into the Aavegotchi, making it impossible to change. I would support it.
I don’t think a separate NFT for the name is necessary. If people want to switch names, someone should build a name-changing dapp like Hashmasks that lets you atomically swap names.
I think steps toward characterisation of unique and (eventually famous) gotchis is a super cool idea and something that should definitely be implemented in some form. But attaching a wearable permanently I think could have as basic affect on the want/must-have dynamic as not liking the particular items… Maybe thats totally negligible for the collector avenue of high tier stuff but would none the less have an affect.
