What’s In A Name?
by FEMAELSTROM, HSM team writer
My name is FEMAELSTROM.
I have had that name since I began here. There were times in the beginning that I did not like it very much. In fact there were times I down right hated it. As a man it sounded too feminine and still gets misunderstood to this day, especially when I dress with my female avatar. I have talked to some people and found something out, there are a lot of people who want to change their gamer names. It has gotten to the point to which people will try to change them by means suggested in videos online with methods not approved by Sony. There are rumors on the Internet, and I have to emphasize that they are only rumors, that this is available to PlayStation Plus users, but that was dismissed. However, users continue to call for the ability. What is the motivation for this? Why is it that people want to change their names so badly? Let’s take a look at some things I have discovered.
There are a forest of reasons that people have for wanting to change gamer names.
Jump-on names: This is the fact that for some people names are not so well thought out because we had to choose one just to get on the network. In some haste we chose a name that in hind sight we don’t really want. Even though we are told in advance that this cannot be changed, we forge ahead with our name. Not knowing how people will respond, or if it is truly a name we want to live with. It is important to remember that our names are our calling card here on Home. My name gets varied a lot and I am fortunate to have a name that breaks down well for the most part. Variations are Fema, Strom and Mael. So for me the names worked out. If you make or have a name that you are not fond of, yet have invested money into that account, a name change might be what you desire.
“We’re fighting over the name ‘DemonLoveGodofWar666-2360983xxx’, think it’s taken?
Association names: These are names that we want to use that may associate us with groups or clubs. This may be rare but I have heard of it. People whom want to be associated with a fam, club or group and want their name to reflect their connection. To many the only easy option is to get an alternate account. That means that one has to start over on another account and start spreading their money between the two as well as get friends on both accounts. This can be a hard method just to join a group or fam with a name one wants, that in the end can be temporary.
Names change in relevance: I met a girl with a certain name, then she sent me a message that she was abandoning her account and going with her new account where she was able to use her real name. There are times that an old name just does not fit us any more in the way it did in the past. The meaning may have shifted to a way that we don’t want to reflect anymore. I know another girl who is in a relationship and she started an account to reflect her love of the man she is with, so when seen the two of them have matching names. It is a good guess that these kinds of situations could have been aided if these people had the ability to change their names. Let’s look at it this way, if my screen name was ‘singleguy’ and I get married, I may want to change that name.
Account takeovers: I recently saw in the Hub’s activity board that someone was selling off their account. If another person were to buy it, they may be inclined to change the name. Taking over an account is also possible when people move on from the PS3 and no longer plays it. They may simply hand off the system and its contents to a friend or relative never to be looked upon again. The recipient may want to change the name to reflect the new owner’s name or affiliation. This may be against the terms of service agreement but would help from the users perspective considering it probably happens more than expected since one only needs to sell a password and email, given the transaction can happen without anyone really knowing.
(Editor’s Note: HSM does not support or condone any actions that violate of the Terms of Service Agreement.)
“Oh no, you can’t change your names there in America? We can.”
A name change could benefit Sony if it is a choice for pay, and serve the user to a very simple end. There is money to be made here. It could make some money for Sony as it does for Microsoft, as it is a ‘for pay’ option for Xbox360 users. At about $10 per change this is available to Xbox Live users, and the owners are willing to spend money to do it. This seems to serve a great purpose to Xbox users if simply to please the user base to satisfy those who want to change their name. With Sony’s ability to do it already in Japan, it would seem like a natural choice to simply open the option to North American and European users, even for a fee.
Would many people change? This is a relevant question that should drive a business decision. Sony can not be expected to begin an endeavor if there is no profit in it. Sony is in business for profit, and doing something that makes them money is their first goal. Let us not vilify them for this but remember that as a business they want to grow and expand their brand and name. Bear in mind this is something that people can already do. The programming and technology is already in place. Not to beat a drum too loud and hard, but if the Japanese region can already do this, it would seem like it should be easy to implement here and in Europe.
“MOM! I told you my screen name is ‘pixie_of _doom100!”
What would be the down side? Of course there is always a potential of there being some sort of vast and technological panorama of reasons, but the simple fact that it is alive and well in Japan makes us assume that the roadblocks it faced have been seen and dealt with already. Making it possibly ready to use in all regions. It seems like this should be a clear and clean case of aiding the public.
Any risks? This question always has to be asked. I don’t think there are any, at least not big ones, and the fact is Xbox does it, and so do the PlayStation 3 users in Japan. The simple question is this: why not in North America and Europe? Users here would love the same opportunity to do something as basic as change their user name as users in Japan. It would be just another step to making all the users satisfied.
Change my gamer name? Would I? Would you?
September 15th, 2012 by FEMAELSTROM | 13 comments
FEMAELSTROM came to Home in June 2011 and never wanted to leave, even at weekly maintenance when he usually gets booted. The sand box environment appeals to the explorer in him and often is out and about as he ‘geeks’ out dressed like some sort of sci-fi character, while he people watches in popular public spaces. An artist and writer, FEMAELSTROM loves making friends and meeting people. He loves sci-fi and decorating Home estates and loves to respond “here” when people ask “where are you from?” in public places.
For myself, I wouldn’t change it. It’s an acronym of sorts that takes the First 2 Letter’s from my First, Middle & Last name along with the Japanese honorary “San” added on the end of it. A friend & I were joking around one evening some years back about Hideo Kojima & the name just conjured up out of nowwhere, I used it on GameSpot.Com as damigi*****, then modified it after I purchased the PS 3. To this day, I don’t regret my choice of my Playstation network user ID; DaMiGiSan. Some people say DaMi, some say MiGi, some have even said DaM & one has even said MiG. It works for myself & I’m proud of it cause, not only is it my user ID, but it’s my actual name of sorts.
I wouldn’t. I’m one of those guys that will sit at an input screen for an hour (if I have to) to come up with a decent name for something. Names to me are VERY important, this was a harsh lesson learned from Sim City when I was a kid. I just wanted to play my new game see, so I hurriedly called my first town (and main game file) PoopTown. Boy did I regret that after 50 hours of growing my city.
When I was asked to provide a name for my PSN account all those years ago, I managed to stay my eager gaming fingers long enough to think of KrazyFace; a description my best friend used for drunk people (really me) and a homage to his dyslexia (spelled with a K). I’ve been using this name EVERYWHERE online since, and even accept it as a nickname in real life too now!
Another good read from HSM, well done.
My name was thought out and it is one I have used for many other things before I came on Home or the PSN. It has to do with a few things, one, I live in the suburbs, hence Burbie and it is also a part of my real last name as well. The 52 is simply the year I was born and that has come in handy a few times when people don’t believe my age when I tell them. It is easily remembered and simple to type, with Burbs or just Burbie being the predominant usage to shorten it.
I can see where some people might want a name change though and this option, if already available on PSN elsewhere as you say, should be available everywhere. Great read as always Strom.
I wouldn’t change my name either. I take time in deciding a name for whatever. I think the names have as much meaning as the way we dress our avatars. Or in games, a play style. You have the freedom to spend some time thinking about this before you go into a thing. Take it.
Above all be true to yourself in what you call yourself. It is very possible you will have to answer to that name more than once.
I think Terra once wrote something. It caught my eye. Becareful of what you pretend to be….I wished she would finish that, as my memory slipped.~TERRA~
But that was such a true thing to say.
I would change my name if I could. I’ve spent too much on my account to just start over in another one. But I would only remove the numbers that follow. Actually my name sort of came by accident. I wanted Bonzo, after the Drummer from Led Zeppelin, but it was taken, I’ve learned Home has a lot of Zep fans -- I tried multiple variations. even with the last 4 numbers I have now, so at the last minute I had to switch the z to an x. I tried so many variations that as soon as it told me it was available I just proceeded without removing the numbers. I wish i had tried, but I am stuck with the 4 numbers after the name. Now I actually like bonxo better than bonzo, but I’d like to remove the numbers at least. I like the various shortcuts people take with my name. Bon. Bonx. I just want to drop those darn numbers. I guess if you can’t change names, would be cool to at least transfer account inventories from one account to another.
I would probably change my psn id in a heartbeat, i originally wanted KLCgame but 4 and a half or so years ago it was taken & I picked KLC_KILLER, unfortunately I never knew that the prefix KLC_ was for Kings of Liberty City (aka GTA4) so i used to get bugged from messages all the time. But really what I’m trying to say is this, any name that you go by you have to “own it” even if you are a 40 year old man with the handle of “Pony_Princess469″ because you were drunk when you made it.
I have often thought about changing my name. But I don’t know for sure if I would. I received my nickname, back when I was in the police academy. The first part of it is almost my last name, and the second well I guess it speaks for itself. My fellow officers, thought it sounded like McGruff the crime dog. But I get people who can’t pronounce it and end up saying it like corn dog, which I despise. I too spend hours trying to think of a “cool” name and once it hits me I put it in only to find someone else had the same idea. I remember when I was having my first child my grandmother told me,”when you’re picking your child’s name, go outside and yell it at the top of your lungs three times and if you like the way it sounds then use it, but remember, you’ll be yelling it for the rest of your life”. I don’t go to that extreme when picking a name for a video game, okay, I do scream it in my head, but I like to have names that fit my character both in game and real life.
I THINK PS HOME SHOULD ALLOW A ONE TIME CHANCE TO CHANGE OR ALTER AN AVI’S NAME, C’MON SONY, WHAT DO YOU SAY?……………….
I think that would be a great feature to implement!!
I love my on-line name. My real name is Ted and the 2112, come from a certain Canadian band’s 1976 album, that I love.
Oh! Not the date for the end of the world then!?
Hahaha! Sorry Ted, I couldn’t resist. : P
It’s hard to say. It depends if there was a price involved. On Xbox live you could change your gamer tag for about $8. This name I have now I kind of thought of really quick. I was playing around with different names but a lot of them were already used. So I just kind of came up with this one on the fly, because I was really anxious to get my account started so I could log onto Home. But everyone knows me as Bob now so it would be pointless to try and change it.