Hero "real" life names

Just a non-distinct data entry, basically.

Look, heroes in Paragon (and some villains) are well-known. Some have signature names, some have "private" names. My suggestion is this, keep the toon's name the signature or "stage" name for the toon. But, provide a secondary field (that is NOT distint) for a in-game non-heroic name. it would be nice to also have a toggle to determine if that name is known only to the police/registrars or known to everyone, but, here goes:

For example, my main's name is "Myrdinn" in game. It would be nice to assign him, oh, "John Smith" as his real-life name. If he is talking to something on his factional side, hero-to-hero or villain to villain, there would be a chance that the npc would use the "real" name instead of Myrdinn. Or, when contacts get to know you well, instead of "Myrdinn, go arrest ten thousand Nemesii from PI" he or she would say "Hey, John, can you knock down about ten thousand fake Nemesii from around here? Make the place a whole lot nicer. Less steam, you know. It's hot out."

However, this field is non-distinct... thus someone else (say, "the Grey Eye") could also have that "real" name... hate to be more restrictive on names than we already are.

The otherside (excepting Nemesis) would always still call the toon by their signature name. Thus, when camping down anything, when they do call out your name, it will still be the signature name. "Oh, noes! Myrdinn is here with the smakage-downage!" would still be shouted by Malta forces, when the sniper attack hits, for instance.
(Nemesis, of course, would know one's real name. The accepting of heroic names on registry cards IS, indeed, a part of a Nemesis plot. How else could he get all the heroes in one spot, after all... just make one city on the planet the only legal place to run around with a name that isn't one's legal name. Perfect bait. That's also why the heroic name is unique...)

A good number of characters either don't have a "real name" or they don't have a "hero name". I run characters of both types - H'zardus is not her name, but she has no other title. Razi Sanger is an archaelogist, not a hero...

I understand the idea, just I don't think it's really necessary. Most RP characters I've seen have their stats including their name and such, written in their bio or linked to a web page.

I'd be a bit cross with contacts who blurted out my real name while I'm in my Costumed ID. You can never be sure who is listening.

Or those pesky citizens just walking around blowing your cover by telling everyone they know that their cousin's husband's sister in law was rescued on a top-secret mission of yours.

My Trollers name is Maxx Powers.

But why is this needed? Why cant you just put it in your biography?

I have 'em in my bios, too. Just had a random hair, that's all.

I could get behind this. I'm always in favor of adding a little extra meaningless flavor to the game. But as was said, not everyone has a secret identity, some people just use their real name or don't have a real name. Even so, it would make for a nice optional addition.

My only concern is that I typically don't come up with a real name for my characters until after I've played them a little while. I didn't assign Emerald Dervish his false human identity until he was around level 30. So I'm not sure I'd agree with it being set in stone from creation.

Also, it would be nice to have three sections to fill out: First name, Last name, and title. For example, my Blaster's full name is Dr. Henry December. With the three seperate sections, NPCs could refer to him as either "Henry", "Dr. December", or "Dr. Henry December" (Incidentally, Dr. December is his hero name). Leaving the title blank would default to Mr. or Ms. depending on gender. For some added flavor, you could allow contacts to use your name only after you have run a few missions for them, representing the growing trust between you.

One more thing...Now that I think about it, this would be one helluva task to code. It would require rewriting all the NPCs to recognize flagged characters and respond appropriately.

My sonic/devices blaster's name is Marshall Stack. It sounds superheroey, what with being a reference to a very loud guitar amplifier and having connotations of being both sound and devices related.

Except....it's his real name. His parents are Irwin and Elizabeth Stack. He is a distant relation of the actor Robert Stack. His parents named him long before his powers became apparent, and were unaware of the Marshall amplifier company. He makes no secret of the fact that it is his real name.

My main and namesake scrapper Claws and Effect has a secret ID that he does not share. Teammates and people close to him (but not close enough to know his real name) call him Claws for short.

I'd like to see a feature where you could choose a name for contacts to call you after a certain level of familiarity. Marshall Stack would insist that once you become his friend you just call him Marshall or Marsh. Similarly, almost no one uses Claws's full name (not even me ) My fire blaster, Return to Cinder, goes by Cinder most of the time if he doesn't know the people he's with that well. His friends call him Kyle, because that is his real name. Contacts would not get close enough to him to call him Kyle, so they would call him Cinder.

It would be optional, if you don't want the contacts getting more familiar with you, you can leave that field blank. But if your hero ID is your real name, you can set it to where they drop your last name in conversation, as most people would do after working with someone for a while. Or even if your character's name is John Smith, and he insists on formality in a professional setting, you could set it so they call him Mr. Smith.

I say only contacts because A) it wouldn't be as difficult to code as every single NPC in the game, and B) they are the only NPCs I can think of that would have any real reason to call you by a more familiar name. Your average hostage isn't going to call my scrapper Claws. Superheroes are larger than life figures, your average citizen stands in awe of them. Most would not presume to refer to someone of that stature in such a familiar manner.

Just like if you met a celebrity and you happen to know that his close friends call him "Headache" in reference to an amusing accident he had in his youth. You would not say "Hey, Headache, how's it goin?". You're not a personal friend of that celebrity, so you don't have their permission to call them that. A superhero would be much the same.