Why do character names gave to be unique?

[pogie]

Seems most of the time when I plug in a new character name I get the error "sorry, this name is already in use in the message boards". Well, i don't care if it's in use in the message boards nor do I want to use it there. I just want to name my character what I want to. Each character is already identified by a unique pfs number. ####-##. I don't see why name matters.

[Gary Bush]

I think, because of the forum's use of alias and a person can mark their posting coming from a specific character, they have to tie the name to the specific account.

At least that is what I think.

Either way, the decision on how the forums work is outside of PFS so flagging to be moved to a place that will more likely provide a better answer.

[Starglim]

This is not a PFS rule. You can give your character the same name as another character in the campaign, or on the same table unless the GM tells you to knock it off.

It's how the Paizo forums work.

[BigNorseWolf]

Just use

name , last name

name the title

name the adjetive

NAME!

name of location

the other name

["Dragonfly"]

Try quotation marks, like this.

[#66548-38]

Or tildes, like this.

[#66548-17]

Or unique characters, like this.

[Jessica_cabin_girl]

I find replacing spaces with _ works often too.

[Tink_]

Or adding them after the name like this

[UnArcaneElection]

So much for my idea of a PbP in which the party has 2 characters Bob & Bob . . . .

[Ascalaphus]

Or apostrophes, like the Lovecraftian horror Ur'suhl'ah.

[Michael Hallet]

It's just poor design. There was no good reason you could not structure the database to associate aliases with the user account through a parent/child relationship enabling each account to have its own aliases.

The only thing I can think of is to prevent spoofing where user A maliciously copies the name and avatar of user B's alias. But all you really would need is to change the header to name both the alias and user behind it. "Dragonfly" a/k/a Nefreet would easily be differentiated from "Dragonfly" a/k/a pogie when Nefreet tried to cause problems posing as pogie's alias or vice versa.

[Azothath]

A unique name isn't that hard.
I happened to me when I tried to use the name of a character from a famous book and movie, yet others in that same series were not used... aaagh... so a little substitution and viola!
you might try unicode or extended ascii for similar characters with diacritical marks such as; i ì í î ï.
You might also switch the language if the name has a meaning. Google translate is easy to use, latin, quenya(tolkein), klingon(star trek), french, german, russian, esperanto, kanji characters...

I agree that the choice for unique names was due to the fact that you can post in the messageboards with using that name as a unique handle, a PbP necessity.
Yes, a non-unique key in database lingo could have been used but then your PFS# would be appended to each post or a linkback to you username (which is done) or email(spammers dream). A inherited relationship (parent-child) requires extra pointers to the data items.
Unique names makes it obvious and aliases add a little discretion.

[❤ Strawberry Machine Cake ❤]

♫ Sometimes things get out of hand
Maybe not the trip you planned
Like the Idarii you lost your way
Found some place strange to stay
But don't worry, it'll all work out
So it's time to scream and shout
The song the Cosmos's thinking of
Star Sugar Heartlove,
Yeah, Star Sugar Heartlove!!! ♫

Adding a little heart will always make you unique.

[My Life Is In Ruins]

you can always choose something pathfinderish

[Falandar Thornarrow, Pathfinder]

It's really sub-optimal.

[Fuinë Curuvar]

time to get creative with hidden meanings...

[Nefreet]

❤ Strawberry Machine Cake ❤ wrote:

Yeah, Star Sugar Heartlove!!!

I'm running the AP right now and in a certain thematic encounter I introduced the party to the group! Made up a playlist and a secret track and everything.

I'm enjoying taking aspects of the scenarios and incorporating them into the AP.

[The Great Rinaldo!]

BigNorseWolf wrote:

NAME!

Indeed!

[Slim Jim]

A meat snack worked for me.

[Nefreet]

The OP is talking about Character aliases.

[captain yesterday]

I can't help but feel like I may have something to do with that.

Sorry!