So I have no idea where else to stick this, sooooo this will work lol.

I was trying to remember my other accounts that I haven't logged into in a while (I have 12 total) and so did a player search on my name Absinthe to see if I could get the IDs so I could have the email sent with my passwords and I saw 2 other players playing under the name Absinthe who have signed up somewhat recently. That's something that has kind of bothered me about SIM games. Often times, you will see multiple players with the same name, thus making it hard to tell the difference between them. For me, as I'm the only Absinthe active in Chat, it's easier. But at the end of the day, I wish I was the only one again. I asked Sam's permission to change my name to Absinthe when the rule about alcohol references was changed. I GOT SPECIFIC PERMISSION FROM HER WHEN I WAS A MOD TO DO IT. And then I see 2 other players just waltz in and take that name? It isn't hard to be original in thinking of a name for yourself. I was Voodoo Doll when I first played here, then became Veritas Aequitas, and now finally Absinthe. 

Dunno if I'm overreacting or what, but I just think, in my instance where I got actual permission to change my name to this, that having other players come in and use the name makes me feel like asking permission was pointless (even though I know it wasn't). I just sort of feel like once a person chooses a name, it's their name. No one else can use it. Since we link our accounts to emails, if we could have it so we can be the only ones with our names (spanning over to spares and all of that) and then no one can use it but us. Like have it pop up with a note that says "That name is already in use". Then another person wouldn't be able to use it. 

Sorry if this is jumbled. I'm not 100% awake lol. But it's just something I've been pondering.

I've never ran into another "trig" so far. I think there was one other "intrigue" back on HL but they weren't active. I put an accent infront of mine just to make it different.

I wouldn't get hung up over them asking for permission. If they came on and read the rules seeing that alcohol refs were allowed then why would they message someone asking? I think as a staff member it was appropriate for you to ask Sam first too. My stance has always been that staff are held more accountable than your average player. Just that's just my two cents.

My name is unique in that it means pink in Icelandic xDD no run ins yet :D

but I feel you, names should be somewhat original 

Obviously there are other Khaleesi's on here lol. However when I first played HP I was dead set on having a unique name. It used to be B.uccaneer. When I came back I wanted to reinvent myself (since I was never really established on here). I looked up the name Khaleesi and saw that there were other users, however none of them are active. So I took the name for myself.

It doesn't bother me at all. It would only get weird if another person was active under the same name. It would get incredibly confusing lol.

It happens. And I totally get that it can be confusing. But it's the same with animal names. You hope that people come up with a unique name, but they don't always. We had Blitz and Blitzkreig and they were both active for awhile.

With regards to making it so that only you can use a name, specifically:

1. No one would be able to have "vote for me in this club!" or whatever in their name, because it would make it impossible for the game to track anyone. And then for multiple accounts it would be an issue. And it wouldn't stop anyone from being "Sam #1" and basically still just using the same name. It would literally have to be like on WoW or Potterore where you get a unique (or even randomly generated) name and it has numbers and whatever in it and then that's your unique name.

2. What if someone was using the same name that you use on all other games, and they used it on one account and then never logged in again, and then you come to sign up and can't use the name you always use? Do they have any more or less right to it than you do because they got here first and used it? Also, you can't search player names before you sign up. So in Absinthe's case specifically, they probably signed up with the name and then never signed in again.

Just some food for thought!

I like this idea, maybe who used the name first gets it? And what if we change our name? I think the old name should be ours for at least a year or more to keep confusion under control. There's no other Delphic or Majora on here, but I'd be pretty pissed if all of a sudden there's a Delphic out there using my old name and no doubt getting recognized as me falsely.