Premonitions

I'm not going to listen to a woman with bunnies in her bra!

I was getting "In a huff" because anytime the subject comes up, the majority opinion is "You're just not creative enough" which leads to an annoying argument instead of an intelligent discussion.

I always change my characters, not just the names, but change the character to suit the new name, as I've said before. Does'nt mean I'm not allowed to be annoyed with the process, and it does'nt mean I'm less creative.

The general tone of your post was rather sarcastic, it was'nt you offering a friendly option for those having trouble naming their characters, of which there are many already. The title of it implies insult to people who find the names they want taken.
Once again, the tone was'nt helpful or encouraging, it was just sarcastic.

*reaches in and pulls out a rabbit*
What's so glorious about that?

Well then I guess I just disagree with you there

So a person who creates a character who has chosen or is designed around one name is uncreative because they... created something? If they never created anything else, then sure, but if that particular character was put together very tightly, and maybe even all of their characters were, I don't see what's uncreative about that.

Yes, but the general context of the use of original in this thread has been as a synonym of creative, accurate or not, this compunded with posts like. Emphasis mine.

Generally the argument being made here is that people here are not creative because they create something that has a similar element to something someone else made. And that them being displeased about being forced to change their idea is just senseless whining because they are "Uncreative/Unoriginal" there are no original ideas, and very few original combinations of old ideas.
So only ideas that have multiple interpretations are creative?

I beleive I was still arguing the other point when you came in, which caused my confusion. It should be noted that I made a similar point here.

It's one thing to say it's not an original name within the context of this game by the dictionary definition, which is as I see it not the argument being made. It's entirely different to say I'm not being creative if I have the same name.

The argument I'm seeing by the majority is
"You're copying me!"
which has absolutley nothing to do with anything, something I've been trying to say this whole time.

So I'm probably seeing you making the same argument of
"no, you just suck" which has no logic in it.

So... wait, you're trying to say there's something wrong with two people having similar elements?
Every person who wants a taken name is'nt trying to copy the person who has it. In fact I'd wager the overwhelming majority have no idea WHO has the name or care in any capacity. The remaing mniority are most likely griefers. This is a very weird argument. Is it unoriginal in the sense that it already exists? well, yes, but so is everything else, "No new things under the sun and all that". I've been using the phrase "Non-unique" since the beginning. And yes, I'm VERY stubborn. Don't see how that makes me wrong.

So if you think of another name, and don't like that you were forced to?

This has nothing to do with only being able to think of one name, as I've proposed a mechanic that would make everyone think of at least two for each character, All I'm trying to convey right now is that this stubborn resistance to any change in the naming system does no good for anyone.
The problem is'nt
"I can't think of a name" It's
"I thought of a name, and then someone made me do something I did'nt want to"

This is'nt even about "common" or "Unoriginal" names. I can make up a word or name, and someone else could have got it three years ago under completely different circumstances, and now something I completely pulled out of nowhere is unavailable.

No, you limit THEIR creative process by enforcing YOUR creatiive process on them.

No, not really, not with people.A chair is a chair is a chair. But two Jonhs are not alike. A human is a human is a human, but two Johns will still not be the same.
Again, there are technically no truly unique names, just unique people and characters. Names are a part of those characters and can be signifigant in different ways. Right now, anybody else who has X name is stopping me and anyone else from having X name. Does'nt make them unique, it just makes them first in a system that does'nt allow for two characters with the same name, despite all the Johns out there in real life.
So I should just go away? (Opening myself up for that one, Internet Kookie for the best comeback)
Yes, but every super-hero comic focuses on the star, and I'm not the star of this show. I have to coexist with lots of other people, and should respect their rights and freedoms. The current system does'nt allow me to do that, even though I want to, by forcing me to limit others, and be limited by others, every time I create.

I don't need to rely on name alone to make them unique and complex, they're character's, real people(as far as fiction goes :P) with different personalities, appearances, and abilities and skills. The name is a part of that, but not the only aspect. I already share Costume peices, powers, available colors, and the same setting and even story to a certain degree, with everyone else. How I use all of those elements together is what makes my characters unique.

I'm having a hard time understanding your logic here.

What I'm saying is:
If I eat a sandwhich, you can't have it, because I ate it. If I take a name, noone else can have it, because I took it and the game won't allow two people with the same name. My having the name, by the very nature of the system, prevents anyone else from having it.

That very much means I limit what others can do. The same goes for forums. I have prevented anyone else on this forum from having the username Premonitions, by getting it first. Creating characters in CoX is a creative process, and naming is part of that. We all limit each other's creative process by the simple act of choosing names for our characters, that then prevent each other from having said names.

This has nothing to do with trying to copy someone else. The idea seems to be, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, that I'm accusing you of being a big' ol meanie by not allowing me to make my unoriginal character. And that's not it. It's not a personal thing at all. It's the system of one person, through expressing themselves, preventing anyone else from using the same element to express themseles differently. Names are one element of character creation, and I'm sure you have more than just names to make your characters original.
I think the issue here is that the terminology incites too much emotion and confusion.
"Non-unique names" makes it sound like everyone's gonna be Superguy. And that's just not the case, the people who are primarily interested in making unique, obscure, or very specific names, will be able to do that, and it's likely that few people will have said name, and if so, they'll probably rarely see each other.

How many Cecity's are going to be running around? not very many.
And if ther are a lot of them for some odd reason, who cares?

My ability to create the name I want is'nt hindered by someone else's in a system that allows two people to have the same name. Right now, the only thing making one person's name "unique" is the fact that other people are prevented from having them. My names are'nt unique right now, I just don't have to share them.

And with a free system, they could freely create the names they want, and it would be a fully creative process, and not a process of finding what's available.
Sure, if I don't want it to be. If I decide to go look up a name that has a complex, unique, and interesting meaning, then it still will be complex, unique, and interesting, the only thing is the chance will exist that someone else will have the same name, and might use it the same way I do, or completely differently.
and once again, who Cares?
How?
Exactly, right now the naming process begs the question
"what am I allowed to do?" not "What do I want to do?" or "What can I come up with?"

Right now we Get names or Find names, I'd like to be able to create names.

OHHH I lOOOVE bringin down fliers with my web grenade, especially with fighting and Sands of Mu

Longbow: HAHAAH! You can't get me!
MM: MINIONS! BRING HIM DOWN!
Henchman:.......
MM:*sigh* gotta do everything myself
*Web Grenade*
Longbow: HAHAHAAHAHAH-Oh-AAAAHHHHH!
*splat*
I'm okay! I'm still alive!
MM: *Scary face*
Longbow: Crap

Like I said, that's very rarely the case, usually I have to change quite a few things to suit a new name, and rarely, The amount of things I have to change becomes so great that it ceases to be the same character, usually the same concept, but not the same character, and so I drop it. I generally make very... "Tight" I suppose would be the right word, characters , where nothing is extraneous, everything in the character's design and concept matters, and there's very little wiggle room.

I am of the opinion that a name is one of many important elements of the character, and how often a single feature is done does'nt matter as much as the character as a whole.

There's lots of fire-shooting characters, I don't reject a flame-powered character because it's been done to death, I take in every aspect of the character and how all those things go together.
I don't have problems creating names, I just don't like having to create a new name after the fact because someone else got it the first time.

That really does'nt have anything to do with my point.

You might think it's good for the game, based on what you think (and it may be true) others want, but the people you're thinking about can very well have the opinion that they want the unique name, and are'nt too concerned about someone else wanting it.

Selfishness is'nt necessarily an insult, Having primary concern for one's own goals and desires can be a positive thing, when one is trying to do something that benefits others, but primarily oneself, or when your own goals are to help others, and you have no concern for the people who don't want you to do such a thing.

I'll admit the connotations of the word, and my usage of it, are insulting, and for that I apologize.

The issue comes in when what you want, and do, prevents me from doing what I want to do. Especially when what you want is to explicitly limit others to suit your needs. You want to keep people from making what they want, just to suit your needs, If me and you have the same name, you still have the name.

I can't have a name or hairstyle because you have it? That's just plain wrong.

Sam's Post was
"I got a name that I like, and people say they can't get the one's they like, HA!"

And I use those frequently, My argument has been from the beginning, People create their characters differently, having to fit how they make their characters just because someone used a name before them, sucks, and there should be a fix for it.

Me? I create my names usually somewhere in the middle, after concept, and how to express that concept through the powers in-game. So, by the time I hit the actual naming portion, further elements of the character, the costume,the signifigance of the indivdual costume elements, the background, and the name, are intrinsicly connected. I get to the end, and the name is taken? If I really want to play with that concept, I come up with a new name, then go back and change the character to suit it. Or sometimes I don't, sometimes I just come up with a new name because I had already decided how important the name was to the character. If the name is'nt that important, I can change it with no extra changes. If it's too tied in, I'm not making the character that day, sucks for me.

I've got three Character's who's name's are actually nicknames given to them by a fourth character of mine who is kind of a jerk. Thus, they're names with somewhat mocking meanings. These characters always introduce themselves by their birth names, but the nicknames might come up in conversation. If "Two-Faced killer" was taken, I'd come up with something similar for my Split Personality, mask wearing assassin.

It's not an essential part of the character, because I decided in advance how important the name was to the individual character

And sometimes I just throw the character out of the window, because the name was too important.

It's still annoying, and it's still a problem..
I'm not gonna argue against more features. I doubt I'd ever USE a random name generator, I've got the internet, I can search for names I like and fit what I'm doing. But hey, cool beans.

I'm trying to conceptualize an idea that makes names both unique, and not limited to the same character at the same time. Under this system, you and another character would still be unable to have the same name, but you would share the same parts of a name if you so chose. Functionally, two people would have completely different names, but they could use similar parts to identify themselves. I've already been over it further up in the thread.

I need to add that this has nothing to do with Character@global, Because I dislike it myself, when I played champions and saw it, it ticked me right off.

My point is, that your original post was just more of the "There's no problem, you just suck, shut up" mentality. People say that the naming system causes problems, and others say "No, you're just a bad name/character creator, see how good I am at it?" No problem or disagreement has ever been solved by one party denying that the problem exists, and then insulting the other one.

A method that allows two people to have the same name would solve this problem, and only hurt the people who're being needlessly selfish, and it would only hurt them in that they would'nt be able to infringe on others people's freedoms.

Right now naming is very much a game of claim-jumping, whomever gets it first, gets it, regardless of how they plan to use it.

But I DID have an idea, it came to me in the shower. :P

Allow each character to have two names.

The game would recognize both of them as one full name, similar to a first and last name, but the player would choose which name had priority, in other words, which name was the "first", and which name was the "last", and thus which one would be shown over their head, and in most capacities under circumstances where there are'nt two people with the same "first" name in the same area, team, or zone.

The only time the "Last" name would show up is on the team search, when two people with the same "First" name were in the same zone, on the team list when two people have the same "First" name and are on the same team, on the Supergroup Roster under the same conditions, and when you bring up their profile

Ideally you would be able to switch back and forth for which name has priority, so, for instance. When I'm fighting crime, people would see Superman when they searched me or looked at me, but when I put on my glasses, I can go into my Character ID, and switch the priority, and be Clark Kent.

The game itself would recognize the full name, so two people could have one of the same names, but not both, and niether of their names would be considered taken.

So if I have, say

Name1:Ben Reilly
Name2:Spider-man

and another person has

Name1:Peter Parker
Name2: Spider-man

We can co-exist, even on the same server, and not have any problems.

Rename tokens would apply for both names, so you would'nt get only one name changed when you rename.