O, be some other name!

I like this thread. It's neat to see what other people have done with their names.

Personally, I had a sort of identity disorder it would seem. I started out as @Unstable and unstable on the forums. There was another player who had a character named Unstable Ion and was known by that monicker even though his global was something else. I was frequently thought to be him by others. It was mildly annoying but I dealt with it. Then one day he decided to use his global rename token and changed his global to @Unstable Ion. The confusion became greater and since I wasn't actually very attached to the name @Unstable, I changed it to @Onuris and was happy with that for a while.

Eventually I got a second account and rather than name it @Onuris2, I chose to name it @Johnstone in honor of my heritage as Johnstone is my ancestral Scottish clan name. So for a while I was @Onuris and @Johnstone. And not many people realized that I was the two people and it led to confusion. Again with the confusion. And meanwhile I was still going by unstable on the forums since Onuris was apparently taken when I tried to change it back then.

So then they gave out a global rename token one of those times the servers went silly. So I changed my second account to @Johnstone 2 and then changed my primary account to @Johnstone. And then changed my forum handle as well. Now I only cause confusion when people who had taken to addressing me as Onu continue to do so in the presence of new acquaintances.

As for character names, I have been mostly happy with all of mine. I did end up spending money on one rename though. Some of my characters were originally created as people who were thrust into the life of heroics and took to it, but didn't really change very much. One such character was Rebecca Johnstone, an Invulnerability/SuperStrength Tanker. Her story had her as a young woman granted gifts by the Fae to help her discover what happened and get revenge after her parents' untimely death. Long after she hit 50, she sat unplayed for a very long time. One day I dusted her off and pieced together a somewhat respectable build for her. That build ended up leading to me enjoying playing her much more than I ever had and she slowly became my main. She became my first Incarnate, with a fully slotted Alpha slot. At this point, she was so much more than some girl looking for answers; she had become a true hero. To reflect this, I decided that she was deserving of a more heroic sounding name. After thinking on it for a while, I renamed her to Becca Blue. Becca as it is her preferred nickname, and Blue as in "true blue", and both in conjunction because consonance caters to cool sounding call-signs. I am quite pleased with her new name, despite the fact that one person suggested that it sounds like a porn star's name a minute after I mentioned the change in the global channel in which I am most vocal (not literally of course, I suppose it would actually be the channel in which I am most digital since it is my fingers doing the "talking")..

Well, that ended up being rather long for being a "quick reply"...

And an edit to boot. I had forgotten about the gender thing being mentioned. When I started playing, and had the androgynous global name of @unstable I never made it a point to state my gender when playing any of my characters. About half were male and half female. I tended to play the female characters more since I enjoyed their powersets more than the early male characters I made. After a while, it was sort of assumed by many people that I played with that I was a female in real life. I'm not sure what the Guardian channel thought of me back then. When I changed the global to Onuris, I think some people caught on. And by now I think everyone in-game knows that I am male. Everyone on the forums should have realized I'm male by my forum avatar as it is an old self portrait (not that all avatars are to be trusted, but an actual picture of a guy that isn't famous typically means it can be).

Also on the topic of gender, two of the guys that I started playing the game with had very feminine global names and seemed to enjoy acting the part. I realize that by not correcting anyone when they assumed my gender based on the character I played I was "tricking" people, but I wasn't giggling and sending smiley faces to random guys.

And also, yeah, I've totally been pronouncing RedLynne wrong. Been pronouncing Damz wrong as well; I didn't read it as Damnz or Damez, I read it as Dahmz. As for Yydr, I read it as Yiddeer.

Being my online persona, I don't think I've actually ever heard anyone try to pronounce Mavius. Just for reference though its May-V-us.

I also have a habit of adding Maestro in front of a few of my creations. I currently have 4 Maestro Mavius', Maestro Mystical and a Maestro Morbidus (Can you tell I'm also a fan of alliteration?)

I've been referred to as Maestro a few times ingame since it's my global but truth be told, anyone that knows me well enough to say high usually calls me Jason...

As for the gender issue, I'm with Winterminal. Out of the 136 toons I currently have not a single one is female. I've rolled up maybe 2 over the years but could just never get into it, usually ended up scrapping them after the 1st jump.

Everyone's stories have made this thread dozens of times better than just my announcement. Thank you so much for sharing!

I'm also going to work on pronouncing people's names correctly, as it's obviously an important facet of identity for a lot of people. Okay, I don't have a headset so you'll never hear me actually say it correctly, but I'm thinking it as I write!



This got loooooong! But I really wanted to reply to everyone, so please indulge me.


Snowzone - I think a Welsh pronunciation of Llydia would be pretty.


Supernumiphone - If you are happy with the way people identify you, or at least don't care enough to change it, that sounds good enough for me.


Judgement_Dave - Ah, pity! I would have liked to read your alternate lyrics.


Biscuits_EU - Good luck reclaiming @Biscuits. And it's nice that if it's really wanted, even RL names can be changed to what suits best.


Nyx - Similar to how you are fine as long as people can reach you via friend, global, or some other form, IRL I usually tell people they can call me whatever they want as long as it will get my attention. (The unspoken understanding that I will not respond to insults.) I wonder why I care so much more about my online names? Probably because online there are fewer points of interaction.


Shazzie - It's great that Shaz is very much you. How fun to have a nickname of your own creation; most are ones that others create for us.


mousedroid - Because of power proliferations with i21, I'll be rerolling a beloved plant/emp Rosette Briar as a plant/poison. She too is over level 20 so rather than delete the old she will be renamed Mender Perennial with a new backstory and costume.

FYI, to change your global name log into the game and go to Menu > Chat Handle (X). If you only get your name and an Okay button, you no longer have a rename token available.


Samuel_Tow - Sounds like one of my other online names. It was originally created during 5 minutes "pick a name already so we can start" PnP character creation. The source of my favorite smiley face ;-> is her familiar, a miniature dragon.


Angry_Angel - I'm flattered that you read all my ramblings and responded to the good parts to make them look even better.

Have fun fleshing out the rest of Una's backstory! I'm certainly interested in reading more. Yep, most people post their character information in the Roleplaying forum or a wiki. I usually keep my character information in .txt notes, thought I filled out one completely for Zenitheon. While the character is retired, I am still most proud of that backstory/concept. It'd be nice to hear what you think of her since your bio of Exotica had some similar themes.

Tangent: I am trying not to be envious of your badge count. Wow!

When you decide if you like "Are uh" or "Air uh" better, please let me know so I can get it right. Until then, I'll stick with the "Are uh" version of Ara.


Winterminal - Sounds familiar. I tried once to write/play a male alt and it just felt very, very odd. Female characters only for me now. I have a few character designs that use the male or huge model, but they are embodiments of abstracts rather than male characters.

If you decide to go with a naming theme or new global name, just remember to sleep on it first. One of my friends commented that she has been sleeping on a new global name for four years. My response was when she did come up with a new global name to still sleep on it one more night. It's like Infinity vs. Infinity-plus-one...


Adeon Hawkwood - Sounds like you found a unique name the same way I did with how "Llydia Verety" (with quotes) only brings up this thread in a Google search. ;->


Lycanus - Being an entrepreneur is a mountainous amount of work and dedication. I wish you well in your business as Thrythlind, and enjoyment in your CoH playtime as Lycanus.


Beastyle - Another name that now makes me think of The New Alphabet Song! "A is for Aisle. B is for Bdellium. C is for Czar, and if you see him would you mind telling 'em? / Wait, wait, wait, hold on a second. Aisle? / Yeah, you know, like a theater aisle. / Bdellium? / Bdellium - It's a gum-like tree resin. Starts with a silent B. / Czar? / Czar, you know, like a Russian czar. C-Z-A-R. Look, you know, I figure everyone's tired of Apple, Ball, and Cat. Figured we could try something a little more advanced. I mean, these people are advanced, right? / <approving cheers>"

Tangent - Anyone else have names that relate to that song? Any Qat out there? "Q is for Qat. / Hey, hey, hey, hold on. I know how to spell 'cat' and it does not start with a Q. / Well this is a different kind of 'cat'. This is Q-A-T, qat. It's a type of evergreen shrub. You see it's a perfect Scrabble word because it's a Q with no U, and there aren't too many of those. / You have entirely too much time on your hands." Haha!


Rangle M. Down - It's good that you could reclaim a character back into your active repertoire. And yes, I would have misspelled 'repertoire' if not for dictionary.com correcting me. Most of my misspelled names are deliberate, like Lunar Flaire, but I wonder from time to time if eventually I'll have to rename one because its spelling was unintentionally erroneous.


Haetron - Happy Forum Poster would match your avatar perfectly!


Electric-Knight - Sadly no. I lost touch with Lydia's family, but a sibling keeps in contact with them.

Like you, my forum name and global names were different at first. Then I merged them together since only about a dozen people interact with me more beyond a week at a time and I wanted it to be easier for them.

My professional career also deals with a lot of names. I quickly learned to ask the other person to spell their name as every day a new spelling was introduced to me.


SuperBull - Nice to know I'm not the only one to make a change after six years!


Memphis_Bill - You boggle my mind with that many characters. However do you keep track of all those names, designs, and concepts? No wonder people get confused when you get called by a variety of identities. Yet you seem to handle it well if it amuses you.


newchemicals - You saw it happen? And here I thought I had been all sneaky-like.


Aggelakis - That's a sad reason for a rename, but I'm glad you were able to do so to separate your identity. The 6-slotted A-named character is pretty impressive!


Vexen777 - Ouch. I feel for you. While the forum names could be easily changed I did so for the same reason. I was really grateful when time and Global Ignore alleviated that problem.


Nyx - Yeah, English is rotten in that respect. A perfectly good name one day becomes ruined because a random remark gets mob mentality behind it and no longer represents what was originally intended.


FourSpeed - Frivolous names are some of the characters I get most excited to create, yet annoy me in the end as they tend to go nowhere. Miss Bee Havior is still only level 5. I guess I'm one of those people who have to have a backstory I can sink myself into when I play.


Organica - As with Biscuits_EU, good luck reclaiming Shinobu for your fire/kin controller. Who knows? You just might get to some day. Do you have screenshots of your costumes for Black Unicorn? That name captivates me.


Lady_of_Ysgard - Like with Aggelakis, it's annoying to discover a name has another common meaning than you intended. Abnormal Isotope is a great rename, though.


Starflier - I'm all for choosing renames that you like better.


BeyondReach - Beyond Reach becoming Within Reach is very symbolic. Will you still have the name Beyond Reach as part of the ID description so people can identify him? Good luck trying to get Kurran and Solomon.

Your story about a last name that gets mispronounced all the time sounds really familiar. The only difference is that I grew up learning from my parents the habit of correcting the error as part of an introduction. As I got older, I realized people were understandably confused. Not only did we pronounce the second letter of vowel pairs, distant branches of the family had different ways they pronounced the surname.


Desi_Nova - I think it's great when a name that is thwarted for already being claimed morphs into something unique.


Chaos Creator - One of the reasons the CoH community is so great is when people share their best knowledge on a topic. Thank you!


Redlynne - I remember learning to pronounce your name in your post at What's In a Name? thread. Yep, I had it wrong before. I think it was the double N that through me off, but I know better now!

PS Ms Terry is brilliant, and "Trust your Ms Givings!" is hilarious.


Muon_Neutrino - APoD is my favorite place online outside of CoH. Their images and educational blurbs fascinate me, and usually my desktop image reflect my most recent favorite like it does currently. Also I enjoy astronomy/astrophysics documentaries during my non-fictional video time. My #1 recommendation so far for 2011 is Wonders of the Solar System. Something about astronomy excites and awes me at the same time. Hope that you too always find companionship in the stars!


BrandX - "About time", eh? Still, I'm glad you were able to change it because of your own decision and then had the validation after.


Johnstone - Ah! So that's how I had a rename token; I must have picked it up as a server glitch compensation without needing to use it at the time.

I like that you had an epic, in-character reason for your rename Becca Blue, similar to BeyondReach.


MaestroMavius - You remind me of another related question: Have you (meaning anyone in the CoH game) ever used the science pack to change a character's gender? Is it when you renamed a character? If so, why?

I have, but it's been when a character represents a group, such as my elementals where each costume slot is a different element. Also on characters that have an animal companion, because wolves just don't look right to me on the female base.



Final Tangent - Ms Dynexus is once more Dynexus, as she was always meant to be. Yes, it was a bit expensive for two letters to be added, then removed. But it resulted in a bigger change for the better and a great conversation with all of you. Thank you for making it well worth it, everyone!

That reminds me, I think I might be a little dim, as I never been able to figure out exactly how to change my forum name, otherwise I wouldn't have the EU.

I've only had one name change in my time here and that was my global. And yes, I was very sad to lose it. Even now I still look at it in chat and glare (poor choice on my part, I know). It's still probably the most depressing thing that's happened to me in game since I started playing here.

I think I'd do almost anything to get another chance to change it even if it means finally moving to something completely different. Which'd be a shame given it's how pretty much everyone knows me across the internet, MSN etc.

This thread has been an interesting read.

For myself, I did change my global at one point. I don't remember why, exactly, but the old one was a lot longer (Guardian Lion), so people who send tells to my global are probably a lot happier.

Funny thing is, both names have characters associated with them, but neither one is or has ever been my main. In fact, they're both failed tanks that rerolled as scrappers. New people I meet and exchange globals with are probably surprised to find that Gorgar the character is a mid-level non-IOed scrapper with nothing particularly special about him.

My inner circle of mains and near-mains have long, pretentious names, so I'm reluctant to change to one of them.

And the stories continue! This has become the highlight of my week. Thank you everyone!



Coolio - Even better than what I was going to say, thank you for locating that post from Avatea!


rsclark - Good question. My answer probably is from too much thinking. When I don't know someone, I'll use 'him'/'her' based on their character. But in those infrequent cases that I team with someone multiple times in a short period, I like to address them more as the player than the character if I can do so correctly. The reason it ended up being a big deal in my story for this tread was when people still addressed me as 'him' because they thought I was faking the female persona. I then did too much thinking about their reaction, then over-reacted in turn. Looking at it that way, I'm really, really lucky things ended so happily on all fronts.


Dante - Hmmm, not a bad idea at all. If you would like that strongly an option to change your global name after you've used the one rename included, try posting a suggestion in the Beta forums for it to be added to the Paragon Market. If they put some limiters on in, say a twelve month cooldown between each global rename purchase, it could be a great addition to the game.


Gorgar - If your global name works well enough for you, no reason I can see that it has to be your main. About half the people I met do match their mains, and half the people like myself have their global name be something else. If it works for you, that's the important part.


BeyondReach - Names really are funny things. Maybe that's part of their appeal. I hope sometime I'll get to team with Within Reach once they get blueside, which will probably be before I get an alt to Vigilante. I keep meaning to do so, but get distracted by new character concepts to roll up instead.


Redlynne - Very clever. One of those characters that the bad guys know exactly who they are facing without her having to say a word because of the sound her attacks make. ;-> Does her backstory include tie-ins to the CoH version of Tuatha de Dannan?


BrandX - Ah. So to them it was just easier to recognize you as they already knew you. Sounds good!


Tenzhi - Yeah, misspelling is common. I'm guilty of it, and am grateful most people generously pass it off as typing too fast.

My global and forum name have been the same since I started four years ago. At the time, I was under the impression for some reason that your forum handle and your login name could not be the same thing, so Samuraiko became my global, and I named my forum handle for my first real character, Dark Respite.

I got a lot of crap about how to pronounce that when I introduced myself at HeroCon (I pronounce it 'REH-spit', while others pronounce it 'reh-SPITE' - it's MY name, so MY pronunciation is the one that matters, colonial heathen, and for the record, they're BOTH correct). So now I answer to:

Samuraiko
Dark_Respite (and Dark Respite)
Sam
Samu
Ko
Dark
D_R
Johanna Sinclair (videographer character)
Jo
That Chick Who Makes Vids



Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

I've used the Free Transfers to rename a couple of heroes which I oddly enough haven't played for a long time.

My Global started off as Sparrow1 which I had for a little over a year. I spent a lot of time considering a name change and after one too many drinks on a Friday night summoned up the gumption to become Bashful Banshee.

I changed it again this spring to Sin Sation, because after all it is tough to sin if you are bashful.

In a year or two I am sure I will change it again.

Yes yes...I have been told many times now that I am stuck with this name but I sototally don't believe that for a second. Since I arrived here (just got my 48 months) I'm pretty sure I have counted 3 (maybe it is just 2) Global Rename tokens. Anothe will come along or they will start selling them in the Paragon Market thing.

Am I happy with my new name? Well for sure other wise I wouldn't have done it. I was happy with BB as well though, just wanted a change.

Dark_Respite - That is very generous of your to allow us so many nicknames for you. For the longest time I knew you only as Samuraiko from your videos. It was while doing the trivia contest during Real World Hero 2010 that I learned many of your alias. From the Community Coffee chat frenzy is how I learned to call you D_R, since it was quick to type. Whatever name you go as, your video work is phenomenal!


BashfulBanshee - Sounds more and more like a Global Rename token would sell well in the Paragon Market.


Arcanaville - Arcana Country Safari... While a mouthful for a forum or global name, that does sound like an interesting destination. If you ever open it up, let us know!


Redlynne - Note to self: Do not anger Sidhe Bang or withhold any information about her lost family.