Character Name Change and Recustomization

[Paksenarrion]

Having sat looking at my character's name and looks since NA PC release, I do feel somewhat less enthused about my looks than I did when I made the character. Moreso, my tastes have changed, and my name doesn't quite reflect any changes to that.

Simply put, allow us (Probably for an extra fee.) to recreate our characters, or even just a rename.

Now I know what you're thinking:

Then that annoying guy/gal I blacklisted will just change his/her name/look and keep harassing me!

My reply to this is "...so?" 16 character slots (I think?). He/She could just make a new character anyways for another $1, and free up that character slot by deleting that one and making a new one. Making this a higher charge than an extra content ID would be a detraction from using that method, or would be a great profit generator for SE.

Read: He/She is going to do it anyways. The only way to solve this issue would be to make blist account-based instead of name-based. That's another topic entirely and one I don't feel comfortable in pursuing or detailing at the moment.

You can already do this! Just make a character on another server with your name, transfer servers, wait three months, and transfer back.

...seriously? Barring the fact that this option does NOT allow recustomization, do you really think that $50 and three months away from friends is a good way to do this? I'd be more likely to pay $20 to get it and not have to be away from friends. Not saying $20 is the price I'd set for this, but that other MMO charges $15 for this service. I wouldn't make it a free service, much like changing servers isn't a free service, but they shouldn't charge an extravagant fee either.

My friends would lose contact with me!

You don't keep very good friends then, you have paranoid friends that don't believe things, or you fail with simple communication.

Achika: Hey Paksenarrion, I'm changing my name!
Paksenarrion: Okay, send me a tell so I know who you are!
Rainbowdash: Hey Paks, it's Achika! Why does my friend list show you as Fluttershy?
Fluttershy: I decided I wanted to change my name too!
Both: /brohoof

Simple and to the point. As also noted in my theoretical conversation with myself, the friend list feature will allow you to see people on their other characters, assuming they don't have that character linked to a different handle.

This would let the people who steal stuff from an LS to continue their thieving ways!

Why doesn't your LS have a simple "Leaders pass last, kick people who don't pass within 3 minutes kicked from the alliance temporarily" rule? Don't put anyone you don't trust in a party lead position. LS leader steals from you? Heck if I know what to do there. Choose your leaders more wisely? Don't let the insane person have any control in your LS?

I bet you're all of the above!

I resent the notion! Terrible and manically insane LS leader I may be, as well as nearly universally hated, but a thief, a scammer, and a harasser I am not! I assure you that regardless of my name or look, I will soon be well known among the community as "Dear merciful Altana, Achika changed his name again" or "Damnitaru Achika, quit giving SE money to change your model!"

And how would this stop someone from changing to a Galka to level a MNK and a Taru to level a BLM?

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see the problem with this. So what if someone wants to pay money so they can be the "perfect" race for a job? Maybe they started as a Taru with the plans to play BLM, but decided WAR was the perfect class for them and they just didn't feel right as a Taru WAR but they had all this time invested in leveling?

And that's all the inane arguments I can come up with for this topic. Feel free to add your thoughts as to why this shouldn't happen and I'll do my best to point out why it's not so bad.

So how about it? Name change and recustomization yes please? =D

[Greatguardian]

I have no particular stance on the topic, but I just wanted to point out that there's a significantly easier way to change your name and only your name (and the way you posted in your OP, ironically, may not even work). Simply deactivate your main character, create a new one on your current server with the same name, and then attempt to reactivate your main character and change the name.

Or, I could be a bit off (never had to do this myself), and it could require deleting your main character, creating a new one with the same name, and then bringing back your main character. I do not believe either one should be a big deal, and it costs $1 max for the second content ID slot assuming you don't already have one that you don't mind deleting/remaking.

[Paksenarrion]

If I recall, it's the second method that's most touted. While that would technically work for one of my two accounts (Assuming I don't ever think I'll need a character restore in the future.), I'd be fearful of the problems that could happen, even if people have done this method for ages. And as mentioned, my second account has had character restore once already.