Character names becoming hard to come by

Can I make a suggestion?

What about an option to 'generic' your name in the character creator? Kinda like blurting out a random placeholder name and you can come back and rename the character later, perhaps after playing it a few levels, when you thought of one?

I've actually rerolled half a dozen characters that made it to the mid 20s because 'Oh! I just thought of a cool name! AND IT'S AVAILABLE! Too bad I just threw together a not as cool one because I got frustrated with all my choices being taken...*sigh*'

For me, character look, bio and concept usually come about first with a name being an afterthought so it's more of a hassle for me.

that's why you come up with a name first while playing other toons. you already know what power sets you want so all it comes down to is naming the toon. think about how mad you will be if you get to 25 with a generic name holder only to find out that the name you want is now taken.

You know that we CAN select a name at the start of character generation now, right? I mean... that big bar of tabs across the top of the gen screen means you can switch around if you want to...

We can pay for renames, we can pay for server switches and extra slots. We don't need to get some things utterly free.

but you are still missing the point that while you sit there playing that toon the name you have finally come up with has a 99% chance of being used. name generators, a thesaurus or dictionary can help cut down on the time you spend thinking of a name.

If you don't like the name your character has at level 10, buy a namechange.

If you don't like the name of your character at level 50, buy a namechange.

You have to start WITH a name. It's that simple. It does not make any sense whatsoever to "not" name it at the start. Naming it does more than just put a tag on "your" character.

It makes the character YOURS, and yes, there's a difference.

I'm not going to argue with posters that seriously fail to listen or bother to understand the viewpoints of others, it's not like I'm not giving the same courtesy. And I'm not going to repeat myself further so if you feel the need to, don't bother quoting/post toward me to do it.

Anyway, as far as names go in-game, the competition is pretty lax. I sometimes feel miffed that I create a cool serious character with a rich background and a fitting name yet have to deal with jokes like Senior Shaved-legs or XxxSiffirothxxX. So really, when choosing a name it's probably easier to just relax. If you're RPing, you can put a more elaborate name in the bio section of your character.

I'm reminded of the child born sometime in the mid 70s? I think? Whose parents waited until she was like 4 years old to ask her what she wanted her name to be.

She named herself Purple.

This is why we need to start with names.

I like the fact that, if you see a Claws/Regen scrapper named Claws and Effect on Pinnacle, you know, without a shadow of a doubt, that it is ME.

Not one of any number of people who thought the name was clever and decided to use it.

What Samuel Tow said holds true. People that are well known in this community are recognizable if they are on their signature characters. Yes, we have signature characters, just like the devs take the identity of the signature heroes in the game.

Bill Z Bubba, Friggin' Taser, Claws and Effect, and anyone else you care to name. Those are our identities in the context of this game.

My real name is Chris. A very common name. Within the world of City of Heroes, I am Claws and Effect. There is no other person known as that. (at least not on my server)

I go by Claws for short, because you can type it faster, or C&E. If someone says "Hi Claws" in a global channel, they are talking to me, and no one else. It would suck if someone said "Hi Claws" and then had to clarify who exactly they meant.