Forums » Suggestions & Development Discussion » "custom name" suggestion

This suggestion is a weird idea that's hard to describe in brief terms. The basic thing I want is to be able to enter some custom text each time I make a post, and that text shows up as the character's name. Maybe the text would still link back to a character profile, or maybe it doesn't but still has the (played by Heimdall) after it. This would allow people to post as NPCs, one-shot or otherwise very infrequently used characters, random plot characters/situations, etc.

I'm trying to think of a way this could be done without being abused. I don't want to constantly be making and deleting characters, and nor do I want a single character slot called "NPCs and one-shot characters" or anything like that. It definitely does have potential for abuse and it might be tricky to code, but I assume posts are linked to character or player ID rather than the actual name string, so... maybe it's workable. I think ways to avoid abuse could be:

Only being usable on IC threads
Only usable in groups/by the group owner or mods (this would be drastic though)
Linking to an existing character profile

I'm certain this will be a popular suggestion, because there are clear uses for it. You're also right that there are major abuses available for it, and for most people it's a fringe/uber convenience feature rather than an essential. You might not want a slot called "NPCs", but you can always just post as your main character and only write about NPCs in that post.

But if we did this, it would DEFINITELY be a group only thing, and restricted to admins and GMs within the group, and toggle-able by the group admin. This is a UI and moderation nightmare I'd like to dodge as much as possible.

I gotcha! Fully understood!

Thank you for suggesting it, though. It's a clever idea for power GMs.