I apologize if this is common info but I couldn't find it in the first few pages of posts, nor on a Search.

Basically I was wondering whether we will have unique names or not.

Back in the day, other MMOs would restrict it so that if Joe were called Dovahkin on server #1 then Bob could be Dovahkin on server #2 but if Bob wanted to play on server #1 he could NOT choose the name Dovahkin because it was already "taken".

With so many games going to megaservers, now, the question has arisen as to how to make names unique. In some games like Champions Online, you CAN have multiple people with the same "display" name, because they attach your account "handle" to the name. So Joe could be "Dovahkin" and Bob could also be "Dovahkin" but if you wanted to send a tell you would have to send it to Dovahkin@Joe or Dovahkin@Bob, to specify which Dovahkin you meant.

I am perfectly content to have the meta "tag" of an account handle attached to a display name --- it's not visible IN GAME, except perhaps in the form of meta-gaming events like /tells and mails. Also, IN GAME I see nothing wrong with seeing two different people named "Bobslayer". It helps immersion, if anything, since there is no logical in-game reason for someone to be forbidden to use a given name because someone else, on the other side of the continent, of a different race and gender and faction has the same name.

However, if they DON'T use some kind of meta-tag to allow us to differentiate two characters who want the same name then we may be restricted to one unique name on the entire mega-server. Which is to say, if I am named "Bobslayer" then no one else who plays ESO can have that name.

In a fantasy setting it's not AS restrictive as it would be in a superhero MMO (like Champions Online) where names are more colorfully descriptive and use common everyday words instead of proper names. And with the ability to use up to, I think it was FOUR punctuation marks and spaces and other tricks to break up a name I guess it won't be SO bad.

If I wanted to be Bobslayer but it was taken, I could be "Bob Slayer" or "Bob The Slayer" or "Slayer Of Bobs" or "Bob'slayer"....

In any event, if anyone's run up against an error message that "That name is already taken, pick another" or otherwise knows whether we'll have unique names, I'd be interested to know.

Unfortunately, if anyone who knows tells us, they'd be breaking the NDA. Except for devs, of course...

One idea I hardly ever see out there is letting characters have a two- or three-part name (like a given name plus a surname, plus maybe a middle name). The entire name would have to be truly unique, but each component needn't be. I think this would greatly reduce the odds of name collisions, while letting people have natural-seeming names.

I hope we will just be known by our unique account names and we can name our characters whatever we want, within reason of course.

There were times when I was trying to make up names for over an hour while stuck at character creation because EVERYTHING was taken. Just get rid of that, it's annoying, when I want to call my character Elizabeth I don't want to end up as Ylyzebethh.

I like the two names idea, and the second name to appear only in chat example: My name would be Necris Moonmoon and in chat Necris M., even if this nick ain't taken by many there are still Unreal Tournaments veterans out there

Although I agree that it should be a feature, I think it should be an optional one.

OP: Its very true that people of the same name do exist but even they are identified by things that seperate them like fingerprints, social security numbers, etc. Back in those times in discussion it was surnames &/or provinces (might be more).

But like you also stated it would be plausible for those from different regions to have the same name.

Maybe your name can be associated with your province of origin &/or faction only?

I also respect the fact that you took the time to think outside the box.

Very curious about this as well, I sent a similar question to the Ask Us Anything, but it has not been featured yet. If anyone knows anything (that may be spoken of freely), info would be most appreciated

YES, this. Arandil is the name I've been giving my rpg characters for years...I'd hate to have to completely ditch that for TESO, go with using special characters, or even worse, go with Arandil493948258293432490230942384902358935.
I don't play a *ton* of MMOs, but I know Dynasty Warriors Online had a megaserver (at least when I played it) and their system was that a character would have their "home" as their tag...for example, my character was from Xu Chang, so I appeared as LuZhong.XC1

I really REEEAAAALLY hope there will be a system for unique names for this game, so that we can all get the name we want...afterall, in the real world we don't have to all have different names, but be prepared to see about a million "God"s in game.

well the game is supposed to be on a megaserver, so I would expect all names to be unique.. Now that says nothing about "improper spellings"..

Dovahkin, Dovakin, Dovahkine, Dovakine, Dhovakin, Dhovahkin, Dhovakine, Dhovahkine, Dovahkinn, Dovvahkinnn, etc.