I didn't like this game. I hadn't played it, hadn't read anything about it hadn't even watched so much as a youtube video about it. In fact the only reason that i did end up preordering it was to get a friend of mine to shut up about it.I didn't like it because I played an MMO for 9 years and it left it's mark on what i thought an MMORPG should be and over and over again game after game did not live up to that idea.

I didn't like this game so much that when I did create a character I didn't make the race I like and I didn't use the name that I have used in MMO's and P&P rpgs and offline adventure games for 16 some odd years because I didn't want to further the disappointment of what I new would be another late night of heavy petting with no payoff as so many other MMO's had been. I didn't make a character with a jacked up or offensive name; no Tits Mcgee or Princess Thunderballs. I didn't care enough to be creative about my eminent disgust. I just made a character i didn't care about.

Then, after all of this built up disappointment I actually logged into the game. I love it. Yeah the content is a little lacking on the high end and there are some class balancing issues that need to be addressed but I love this game. I felt like I was playing an MMO again instead of a single player action game that let you brag to your efriends. Stuff killed me. Stuff killed my friends. Stuff killed my friends and me and then laughed at our dead bodies! I was in dangerous waters and it felt good again. In fact it felt so good the only thing I could think was, man I wish I was playing my old character. I wish I was me.

Right about the time this idea crept into my head my subscription came due and I received a character overhaul potion in the mail. I gotta tell you that moogle made me happier than turn 4. I thought "Holly crap I can do it! I can remake the character I love in the game I love!" I began looking through old zip drives trying to find my old sigs with my name on it. I found old wallpapers and forum icons. Then I found out that in fact no, I couldn't remake my character. Sure I could make my character look like him but I couldn't change his name. I couldn't be him.

I have read through forum posts looking for an answer as to why this is the case and to hear out the argument against name changes and I would like to answer a few of the most common reasons given against it.

1. "You can't change your name irl so you can't do it here"
==== Actually yes I can change my name in real life, it's a simple process that doesn't cost much and doesn't take very long at all. P.S. I can't throw fire balls or raise the dead either but I have yest to read a post saying we shouldn't have spells in game.

2. "The decisions you make when creating your character should matter."
==== They do matter. They matter to me. I'm not trying to change your characters name. So my question is why should the decision I make with my character matter to you? P.S. The race/gender/facial features and server don't matter but we gotta draw the line at a name? get real.

3. "If you didn't want a stupid name maybe you shouldn't have been a smart ass when creating a character."
==== My name isn't stupid it's just not one that i am particularly attached to. P.S. I find it ironic that this point of view usually belies a sense that people with stupid names ruin the game for others and therefore they should be stuck with those stupid names and continue to ruin the game for others.

4. "Names carry weight in the community and you shouldn't be able to change your name and drop a bad rep."
==== This might be a somewhat valid point if the grouping system didn't cross servers and therefore open the community to such a large degree obscurity is the norm. P.S. So you put the word out on your server that someone has a bad rep, like this happens, in a game were server transfers allow them to go to other servers? Fact of the matter is your opinion of another player just doesn't matter to much of anyone but you.

Finally to S.E. I say this. How ironic is it that if I had made some offensive or trademarked name to play your game with I would have gotten to change my name for free but since I am only a loyal player that wants to relive old times with an old name and maybe have a chance to make some new ones with it I'm not allowed to?

Please put in a name change system.