Character names should not be required to be unique

I'd like to ask that the devs reconsider forcing character names to be unique, and instead add numbers at the end, like account names, so that more than one person can roleplay as the character/persona they want to.

Forcing characters to be unique encourages name-squatting, especially since PoE2 has yet to launch, there will be plenty of people who claim the names of characters they want to play as - both now in and in the future - out of fear that if they don't claim it now, they'll never get it.

Full disclosure - I'll be doing this, name-squatting. The reason why is, there's a few names I always use in games like this, and I rotate between them depending on my mood, and depending on who I'm roleplaying as. In games with UUIDs after the name, this is pretty easy - name changes can be done anytime, for free, so I change them depending on my character. "John" will become "John Strongarm" at lvl 20, then "Ironarm" at lvl 40, "John Grim Ironarms" at lvl 60, and "OverDeath" at lvl 80. It's how I mark my character progression. And when I play a witch, I use a different name and progression system. It's a fun way to roleplay with my friends. And when the seasons change, my names change too.

But none of this is possible in PoE unless I claim the names first, and change them out later. So I basically need to squat on these names or else I'll never be able to use them for as long as the game exists.

TL;DR: Please add a UUID to character names behind the scenes. Make it unseen in-game, and only seen when whispering someone, since it breaks immersion to see OverDeath487274 hanging over your head for 3,000 hours, and it's incredibly frustrating to not be able to use a long-time roleplaying name just because you got to the party late.

Thank you for reading this far, have a nice day

I see your well-articulated point about character names. However-

I DON'T WANNA SEE RANDOM NUMBER STRINGS AFTER MY CHARACTER NAMES! =>[.]<=

Thank you. ='[.]'=

I think the simple solution is to have the backend server add #wxyz to names so when we chat we see and need them, but in game outside of chat the UI should only show the name before the #
The other possibility is to just allow names to be repeated (more than one with a name) and all chat (ans account is shown under character name) is done to account not character.

"

Raycheetah#7060 wrote:

I see your well-articulated point about character names. However-

I DON'T WANNA SEE RANDOM NUMBER STRINGS AFTER MY CHARACTER NAMES! =>[.]<=

Thank you. ='[.]'=

I also don't want them on the end of my account name... nor do I want my login and my account name to be the same... I also want to be able to put spaces in a name and have a first and last name for the character to help differentiate and not be 11 characters max.

Not sure why videogames seems to get these points wrong almost 100% of the time... like all of them at least since the OG grand daddy of online gaming UO.

In 1999 I made a character in Ultima Online that had first and last name with spaces, a generous amount of characters for either name, My account and forum name where not shared (tbf most people used 3rd party forum called stratics), and for some reason since then, over countless MMO's and online games I've encountered this fundamental and objectively correct way to do online character names approximately 1's of times.

I really don't care if someone can have the same character name as me as long as the admins don't get confused and start banhammering the wrong people.

I also don't want a random string of numbers that means (presumably nothing) on the end of my name, If it was our join# then maybe it would be cool but even then still a bit of an eyesore if you're the 10,000,0000th player to join.

/shrug Just keep it this way but make it not visible on the forum in the future and only have it show up where it needs to.

Here is the issue as I see it.

I, like many others, use Global, Trade and Guild chats in-game. Not being able to differentiate between players would cause no end of frustration. Likewise, an equal amount of frustration would be caused by a mess of visible UUIDs. Public chats are cluttered enough.

So what is the middle ground? How can I tell that the Vel I talked to on a Monday is the same Vel I'm talking to on a Tuesday? Moreover, if there are 3 guildless Vel's talking in Global chat at the same time, how do I actively tell them apart? And what if one of them is a troll intent on upsetting you or damaging your reputation?

Food for thought.

"

WaywornExile#0835 wrote:

Here is the issue as I see it.

I, like many others, use Global, Trade and Guild chats in-game. Not being able to differentiate between players would cause no end of frustration. Likewise, an equal amount of frustration would be caused by a mess of visible UUIDs. Public chats are cluttered enough.

So what is the middle ground? How can I tell that the Vel I talked to on a Monday is the same Vel I'm talking to on a Tuesday? Moreover, if there are 3 guildless Vel's talking in Global chat at the same time, how do I actively tell them apart? And what if one of them is a troll intent on upsetting you or damaging your reputation?

Food for thought.

Yup, Don't even get me started on misclicking in the ever-scrolling global chats too xD

"

WaywornExile#0835 wrote:

Here is the issue as I see it.

I, like many others, use Global, Trade and Guild chats in-game. Not being able to differentiate between players would cause no end of frustration. Likewise, an equal amount of frustration would be caused by a mess of visible UUIDs. Public chats are cluttered enough.

So what is the middle ground? How can I tell that the Vel I talked to on a Monday is the same Vel I'm talking to on a Tuesday? Moreover, if there are 3 guildless Vel's talking in Global chat at the same time, how do I actively tell them apart? And what if one of them is a troll intent on upsetting you or damaging your reputation?

Food for thought.

You raise a good point. While I don't have all the answers, I will say that I've seen some games handle this by using numbers after the names in-chat or while DMing, while others handle it by showing the true name after right-clicking the name/character or hovering the mouse over the name/character.

That is, other games have tackled this exact problem, it's not new. There are ways to find out the actual username relatively easily, to prevent the exact scenario you describe, but while walking around in town, or just playing the game in a party, you'd only see the character name hovering above someone without the numbers after it

NO F....... WAY!!!

At least the character names must stay unique. The number behind the accountname is already more than bad enough!

I want my character name back that someone stole while I was in the middle of creating a new one, but I don't want it if it turns into NecromanceIfYouWantTo#8008135