Character names have to be unique to allow /tell [name] to work without duplicate solutions. Whether this name is first, surname or composite is irrelevant.

The easiest non-immersion breaking mechanic is on a duplicate solution being found to present the user a 'sticky' preferred solution - e.g.

USER: /tell Fred Hi
SYSTEM: Duplicate solutions found - select:
SYSTEM: 1 - Fred Dibnah
SYSTEM: 2 - Fred Flintstone
USER: 1
SYSTEM: Name alias 'Fred' set to 'Fred Dibnah'.
SYSTEM: You tell Fred Dibnah 'Hi'.

It just means a longer string comparison, and some (client side) storage checks for name aliases.

So you just want another, hidden, unique name tacked onto the end of a character's name?

I named my EVE character "Reggie". It's a good name for a hard-working miner. "Hey, Reggie! Put a laser on that jaspet, I can't reach it from here!" Believe it or not, some dude already had the name "Reggie". So I named my guy "Reggie Stoneloader" (isk donations welcome), and it works out fine.

So why is this a suggestion for a game design feature and not just a rule of thumb for naming your character? Nobody calls me "Mr. Stoneloader". The last name is meaningless, unless I'm putting it on a recruiting letter.

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Original post by Anonymous Poster Quote: Original post by superpig Why do names have to be unique at all? You don't have to use the character name to login; as such you can differentiate characters by the account used to create them. If someone's looking for you to friendlist you or something, support an 'account profile' system that lets you check on who a character belongs to, then people can see that Evil_Greven is Brett Jones and not someone else. (Of course, it'd be up to you how much info you make publicly available). A character's name only need to be as unique as an MSN display name (i.e. not at all). One reason would be Help desk support. When you get a report that "joe" is harrasing or otherwise grieffing people, how do you know which of the 50 "joe"s you should check. Sure they could have looked at his unique profile, but if he was in and out before you could check. That makes people upset.

Says the person posting from an Anonymous account... :)

Quote:

Original post by Anonymous Poster Quote: Original post by superpig Why do names have to be unique at all? You don't have to use the character name to login; as such you can differentiate characters by the account used to create them. If someone's looking for you to friendlist you or something, support an 'account profile' system that lets you check on who a character belongs to, then people can see that Evil_Greven is Brett Jones and not someone else. (Of course, it'd be up to you how much info you make publicly available). A character's name only need to be as unique as an MSN display name (i.e. not at all). One reason would be Help desk support. When you get a report that "joe" is harrasing or otherwise grieffing people, how do you know which of the 50 "joe"s you should check. Sure they could have looked at his unique profile, but if he was in and out before you could check. That makes people upset.

This could easily be fixed. As long as the game has some sort of console, when they send a message you could log it to that in the form [USERNAME]CHARACTERNAME: MESSAGE.

In fact, this could the regular format to show their name.

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Original post by Anonymous Poster I've always thought the easiest thing to do is copy what ICQ does. They have a master ID (your ICQ number) but you can still use whatever handle you desire. If something like this was done in a game you could have two characters named John Smith, but clicking on either one of them would give you the info of the master account for communications, ingame email etc. All you're doing is adding an additional layer of identification that can be displayed like a title or level etc. but by doing so you your players have more options & are less restricted, which is a good thing IMO.

I like that. This would also give the option of changing your name from John Smith to something else at certain NPCs ingame if you desire, but still have a ICQ.