Characters with the same name

[Nevre]

I havent been playing for all that long but I am starting to notice a trend of characters with almost the same names appearing not long after their namesakes disappear.

It could just be luck or fate but I suspect, deep down, that people are doing it on purpose.

I find it particularly jarring, and I am not really sure why the immortals seem to be allowing it as a trend.

Whats the general thinking on this one?

[Djarjak]

The general thinking is that you should report this to the staff with the request tool "player complaint" so that it can be properly investigated.

There's little use in putting something like this in the forums, typically, because speculation is often fruitless without evidence and tends to venture into territory at the border of the IC/OOC covenant.

The official policy is that characters must be different. Once dead, you're dead, never to play again in another incarnation. If the name's too similar to a recently dead character, we will often reject the application. If the character itself is different and the name is similar to some other person you met who was on a different account, that's fine.

But breaking the "identical character but with a different name to get around a death" rule is subject to disciplinary action.

[Barzalene]

Some names have always been popular. Like Amos and Malik and names that sound like Alera for women give or take a few i's.

Some long lived pcs might have lived long and colorful enough lives that people would name their children in hommage.

Other than that, if people are just trying to remake old pc's then they're big old dookieheads.

[Beux]

I thought it was impossible to create another char with the same name?

Do you mean other people are taking not-long-dead characters name?

[Marauder Moe]

I think we should be encouraged to recycle names.  Obviously not twice with the same player (I think the code can't even handle that, actually), but just have a bank of previously used Zalanthan names.  That way we get more of a naming tradition instead of practically every name being randomly generated.

[Barzalene]

I love that idea.

[Beux]

Yeh. I kinda agree. It makes sense. Maybe a bank of names from different cities, because certain names will be more popular in different places.

I personally know 6 different people called 'Steve'.

[Djarjak]

Feel free to do so. As long as the characters themselves are different, I don't see a problem.

You already have an astounding start with Malik, Amos, and Joram.

(No, seriously. It's scary)

[Pantoufle]

Joram is a common one, really?  Wow.  I think it's a hero from some franchised fantasy series.

[EonBlueApocalypse]

Joram is a common one, really?  Wow.  I think it's a hero from some franchised fantasy series.

http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0826127.html

This fantasy series?

[spawnloser]

Yeah!  That's one of the best fantasy series I've seen in a while.

[Barzalene]

Logistically how would the name bank be handled? Is it a thread that could sit on one of the forums, is it something that someone would want to host? How long does a pc have to be dead or does a pc have to be dead to put their name in the bank? I think it's a megacool idea.

[mansa]

I always want to add mansa as a keyword to all my characters.

I think it would help you all out.  You sheep.

[Dakkon Black]

I never mind at all when I meet pc's with the same name as dead pc's. Just because I've got two friends named matt doesn't mean I suddenly think that the RL gods have been lax.