Guild Wars 2

Julie Yann.5379:

I inherited this display name from my wife at launch. She was unable to sync her gw1 stuff at the time so she bought another account and gave me this one. I asked three years ago to have it changed and was told to be patient.

All they have to do is add an option for display name instead of using the account name. It’s not that kittening hard.

Account Name and # = used by Anet for whatever reason they need to use it for.

Display Name = Just a name linked to your Account Name and number and is what shows up on your forum posts, in your friend list when offline.

Character name= self explanatory.

LMFAO!!!

Here is an idea out of supercell’s CoC playbook. A 1 time only name change option. It couldn’t get abused and those who made a poor name choice or inherited a name they don’t care for like me could make the change. Anet would stop getting a bunch check a requests for it.

Julie Yann.5379:

Here is an idea out of supercell’s CoC playbook. A 1 time only name change option. It couldn’t get abused and those who made a poor name choice or inherited a name they don’t care for like me could make the change. Anet would stop getting a bunch check a requests for it.

World of warcraft also has this, ANET neeeds to do it too!

It is of course worth pointing out that “inheriting” a name is technically against the ToS since you are not allowed to share/sell/give away your account.

And while 1 time only is somewhat better (but lets be honest, people are going to come up with reasons for getting more than 1 change as well) but it still doesn’t change a rather major issue with being able to change it: You can troll like mad and then just request a name change and no longer have to stand for what you did.

I’ll just have to live with my display name. It’s not that bad of a name I just wish I used one I actually liked, I thought it was just going to be used to log in with or I could change it later..

Julie Yann.5379:

I inherited this display name from my wife at launch. She was unable to sync her gw1 stuff at the time so she bought another account and gave me this one. I asked three years ago to have it changed and was told to be patient.

All they have to do is add an option for display name instead of using the account name. It’s not that kittening hard.

Account Name and # = used by Anet for whatever reason they need to use it for.

Display Name = Just a name linked to your Account Name and number and is what shows up on your forum posts, in your friend list when offline.

Character name= self explanatory.

You just described almost exactly what is already in place. Your account “name” is the email. Your display name is the one with the numbers added to the end. Character name is character name.

RoseofGilead.8907:

Julie Yann.5379:

I inherited this display name from my wife at launch. She was unable to sync her gw1 stuff at the time so she bought another account and gave me this one. I asked three years ago to have it changed and was told to be patient.

All they have to do is add an option for display name instead of using the account name. It’s not that kittening hard.

Account Name and # = used by Anet for whatever reason they need to use it for.

Display Name = Just a name linked to your Account Name and number and is what shows up on your forum posts, in your friend list when offline.

Character name= self explanatory.

You just described almost exactly what is already in place. Your account “name” is the email. Your display name is the one with the numbers added to the end. Character name is character name.

I was under the impression that your email is just login information that can be changed on a whim. You display name(and following numbers) are your actual account I.D. along with your license key.

Julie Yann.5379:

RoseofGilead.8907:

Julie Yann.5379:

I inherited this display name from my wife at launch. She was unable to sync her gw1 stuff at the time so she bought another account and gave me this one. I asked three years ago to have it changed and was told to be patient.

All they have to do is add an option for display name instead of using the account name. It’s not that kittening hard.

Account Name and # = used by Anet for whatever reason they need to use it for.

Display Name = Just a name linked to your Account Name and number and is what shows up on your forum posts, in your friend list when offline.

Character name= self explanatory.

You just described almost exactly what is already in place. Your account “name” is the email. Your display name is the one with the numbers added to the end. Character name is character name.

I was under the impression that your email is just login information that can be changed on a whim. You display name(and following numbers) are your actual account I.D. along with your license key.

Your display name looks like a real name. Is it your wife’s name maybe?

Julie Yann.5379:

RoseofGilead.8907:

Julie Yann.5379:

I inherited this display name from my wife at launch. She was unable to sync her gw1 stuff at the time so she bought another account and gave me this one. I asked three years ago to have it changed and was told to be patient.

All they have to do is add an option for display name instead of using the account name. It’s not that kittening hard.

Account Name and # = used by Anet for whatever reason they need to use it for.

Display Name = Just a name linked to your Account Name and number and is what shows up on your forum posts, in your friend list when offline.

Character name= self explanatory.

You just described almost exactly what is already in place. Your account “name” is the email. Your display name is the one with the numbers added to the end. Character name is character name.

I was under the impression that your email is just login information that can be changed on a whim. You display name(and following numbers) are your actual account I.D. along with your license key.

You can only change your Account Name (email address associated with your game account) through Customer Support after giving sufficient proof you are the actual owner of the account. It is unique, and is never shown publicly.

The Display Name is just that. A name that is displayed in-game/on the forums/etc., and it is your identifier. It does not have to be unique, as a number is assigned to it to differentiate duplicate names.

I remember I when I made my account it said Your Display name/Account name will be Visible for everyone to read.. it was Loud and Clear, it wasnt knee deep in text, I remember b.c I dont read knee deep text.

I just made a 2nd account and again I remember it somewhere saying this is a public name…..

If you are told its a public name and you chose to ignore that, then that is your fault.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

Julie Yann.5379:

RoseofGilead.8907:

Julie Yann.5379:

I inherited this display name from my wife at launch. She was unable to sync her gw1 stuff at the time so she bought another account and gave me this one. I asked three years ago to have it changed and was told to be patient.

All they have to do is add an option for display name instead of using the account name. It’s not that kittening hard.

Account Name and # = used by Anet for whatever reason they need to use it for.

Display Name = Just a name linked to your Account Name and number and is what shows up on your forum posts, in your friend list when offline.

Character name= self explanatory.

You just described almost exactly what is already in place. Your account “name” is the email. Your display name is the one with the numbers added to the end. Character name is character name.

I was under the impression that your email is just login information that can be changed on a whim. You display name(and following numbers) are your actual account I.D. along with your license key.

You can only change your Account Name (email address associated with your game account) through Customer Support after giving sufficient proof you are the actual owner of the account. It is unique, and is never shown publicly.

The Display Name is just that. A name that is displayed in-game/on the forums/etc., and it is your identifier. It does not have to be unique, as a number is assigned to it to differentiate duplicate names.

They must have changed that cause I clearly remember changing my email address without having to contact support.

There was a point I’d really like to have changed mine as well.

Back at launch, I wanted to create all my character names around a central name so that people would easily tell who I am when I cycle through playing alts. From my experience in other games, I thought account name would be something that is used for login and seen only on forums. Standard use in those games was to make an account name that did not identify you in game so that you could keep forum trolls from taking things into the game itself.

I was surprised to find that among guildies character names were secondary because GW2 makes your account (display) name so central. For the most part people seem to ignore character names and use the guild panel and mouseover to identify players through display name.

I would have liked to sync my display name with character names in order to minimize that confusion.

At any rate, that long-winded explanation is not that relevant for me any more as I hardly play enough to really interact with guildies any more.

But it would have been nice.

Julie Yann.5379:

I inherited this display name from my wife at launch. She was unable to sync her gw1 stuff at the time so she bought another account and gave me this one. I asked three years ago to have it changed and was told to be patient.

All they have to do is add an option for display name instead of using the account name. It’s not that kittening hard.

Account Name and # = used by Anet for whatever reason they need to use it for.

Display Name = Just a name linked to your Account Name and number and is what shows up on your forum posts, in your friend list when offline.

Character name= self explanatory.

To be honest. strictly spoken you are acting in violation of the user agreement. An account is personal and if your wife made the account, she agreed to the user agreement and is therefor the rightfull owner. Account sharing is not allowed. In general, support doesn’t make a fuzz out of things, speciall when it is between man and wife. But in the case that (and I wish this not for you!!) that you two get into a fight and split and in case she wants to play it nasty, she can rightfully claim the account as hers, cause she is the owner. That is exactly why a display name change is so incredible difficult. From a legal point of view, it is her account. By letting you change the displayname she would be unable to prove ownership and you would be technically stealing the account.

I’m not at all saying you are a bad person (nor your wife). But please understands that break ups happen, relationships break up and it can get messy. That is why account ownership is such a big thing.

What you should have done is get support to fix the initial name change, or atleast got a refund for the account that was bugging. From the refund money you could have bought a new key, which you activated and would be handled as yours (and you likely would have chosen a different accountname in the first place).

So your case is exactly showing why this is so complicated.
If an displayname change would be allowed, then it would need to be indeed a one time thing with a very secure proof of ownership manually done by support. Cause if the request doesn’t come from the original owner, that person has a lot more difficulty to proof owernship afterwards.

Don’t get me wrong. I actually agree that there should be an option. some of these names, might not fit into the strict guidelines, but are ill chosen non the less. But security has to be tight.

mercury ranique.2170

To be honest. strictly spoken you are acting in violation of the user agreement. An account is personal and if your wife made the account, she agreed to the user agreement and is therefor the rightfull owner. Account sharing is not allowed. In general, support doesn’t make a fuzz out of things, speciall when it is between man and wife. But in the case that (and I wish this not for you!!) that you two get into a fight and split and in case she wants to play it nasty, she can rightfully claim the account as hers, cause she is the owner. That is exactly why a display name change is so incredible difficult. From a legal point of view, it is her account. By letting you change the displayname she would be unable to prove ownership and you would be technically stealing the account.

I’m not at all saying you are a bad person (nor your wife). But please understands that break ups happen, relationships break up and it can get messy. That is why account ownership is such a big thing.

What you should have done is get support to fix the initial name change, or atleast got a refund for the account that was bugging. From the refund money you could have bought a new key, which you activated and would be handled as yours (and you likely would have chosen a different accountname in the first place).

So your case is exactly showing why this is so complicated.
If an displayname change would be allowed, then it would need to be indeed a one time thing with a very secure proof of ownership manually done by support. Cause if the request doesn’t come from the original owner, that person has a lot more difficulty to proof owernship afterwards.

Don’t get me wrong. I actually agree that there should be an option. some of these names, might not fit into the strict guidelines, but are ill chosen non the less. But security has to be tight.

I’ll complicate it even more, I paid for both accounts with my credit card. I see your point, it’s big mess that they don’t have to want to sort through. Although, if my wife decided to leave me, a GW2 account would be the least of my worries.

Julie Yann.5379:

I’ll complicate it even more, I paid for both accounts with my credit card. I see your point, it’s big mess that they don’t have to want to sort through. Although, if my wife decided to leave me, a GW2 account would be the least of my worries.

That doesn’t really complicate it. The person who paid can’t claim ownership. It is perfectly possible that (if you would like me), you buy a code, sent it to me and let it redeem me. That means you have given me the game as a present. As it is given, you can’t just recall that gift. The obvious exception is of course if you recall it in a reasonable amount of time (for example cause I stole your creditcard and illegally bought the game). Then you can recall the money and the account gets closed. But you can never claim that account to be yours. As such a recall period has long gone, this is not the matter. Your wife made the account, so she is the account-owner.

And you are right that it should be the least of your worry’s. sadly some relations go so bad that ex-partners want to destroy everything that is precious to their former lover. Good to see you are much more balanced in this matter!!

Today if a character name is bad , next logon you are asked to change it.

Why it’s not the same for the display name ? ok i had a bad display name but why i was not allowed to choose a new one to fix my error ? But instead , someone at A.net decided my new display name for me and also gave me a generous suspension of 72 hours during the third and last 2012 GW2 BETA Week-end event for this .. so i didn’t play at all.

So yeah .. i want to fix this .. im even ready to pay for it .

Fun times.

Farming Flats.5370:

Today if a character name is bad , next logon you are asked to change it.

Why it’s not the same for the display name ? ok i had a bad display name but why i was not allowed to choose a new one to fix my error ? But instead , someone at A.net decided my new display name for me and also gave me a generous suspension of 72 hours during the third and last 2012 GW2 BETA Week-end event for this .. so i didn’t play at all.

So yeah .. i want to fix this .. im even ready to pay for it .

Fun times.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/support/Name-Questions-Please-read-merged/first#post2087181

An offensive name will be changed — once — and it will be changed by a GM using an anagram system, so the user does not get the privilege of choosing the second name.

It seems Anet does not trust people that chose an inappropriate display name to act appropriately the second time. As also described in the link I provided there is a lot more attached to a display name (namely player reputation among other players and individual accountability) than a character name which anyone can change at any time with a simple name change contract.

Farming Flats.5370:

Today if a character name is bad , next logon you are asked to change it.

Why it’s not the same for the display name ? ok i had a bad display name but why i was not allowed to choose a new one to fix my error ? But instead , someone at A.net decided my new display name for me and also gave me a generous suspension of 72 hours during the third and last 2012 GW2 BETA Week-end event for this .. so i didn’t play at all.

So yeah .. i want to fix this .. im even ready to pay for it .

Fun times.

Cause your displayname is your ID. Simular to e.g. the US social security number. It is how you are identified. By changing that displayname, you basicly whipe someones record clean. It also has consequences for proving ownership and if done falsly, it means that a victum of accounttheft has a lot more issues to proof ownership.

So it is not as easy as the charactername.

mercury ranique.2170:

Farming Flats.5370:

Today if a character name is bad , next logon you are asked to change it.

Why it’s not the same for the display name ? ok i had a bad display name but why i was not allowed to choose a new one to fix my error ? But instead , someone at A.net decided my new display name for me and also gave me a generous suspension of 72 hours during the third and last 2012 GW2 BETA Week-end event for this .. so i didn’t play at all.

So yeah .. i want to fix this .. im even ready to pay for it .

Fun times.

Cause your displayname is your ID. Simular to e.g. the US social security number. It is how you are identified. By changing that displayname, you basicly whipe someones record clean. It also has consequences for proving ownership and if done falsly, it means that a victum of accounttheft has a lot more issues to proof ownership.

So it is not as easy as the charactername.

I know all that . Im sure it’s doable to change it visually but still have it linked to your old ID so you never disappear for example keeping display name change history. Pretty much like Valve Steam software.. you can change your profile name multiple time but your profile will always have the unique Steam ID number.

There are so many ways to do this better than the current method (look at every other mmo game for examples).

I just bought this game and before I’ve even played I’m already a displeased customer. I like many others made the mistake of viewing this name as an “account name” that nobody would see other than me. Yes in hindsight this seems quite dumb considering it is called a display name, but I figured that just meant for forums/account purposes. In basically every other game I’ve ever played you have an account name, forum name, and character names. The only ones of those that I would refer to as a display name are the character names and the forum name. I always made my account name “shimsham” essentially as a random placeholder that I didn’t care about and since I was being prompted at the creation of my account I wrongfully assumed this was what I was doing. So I am essentially being punished for assuming that this game had an account system like every other I’ve played.

Now I’m stuck in this position where I have to play the game constantly reminded of my meaningless name that I accidentally assigned as my primary means of identification. Either that or go buy the game again, which I won’t do, because I have plenty of other games to play and don’t appreciate being in this position.

I’ve done a search and it’s quite clear that this thread comes up again and again. Why a gaming company would neglect to address what is obviously a recurring concern with their customer base is beyond me. It’s quite clear that you have the ability to modify display names, and it is obvious this happens, so why punish your customers for making an innocent mistake?

You would make a lot of people happy if you gave them one chance to change their display name for mistakes such as mine, maybe even bundle it with purchase of the upcoming expansion. Otherwise you simply leave a demographic of your customer base with a bad taste in their mouth.

I previously had no opinion on the developers of this game and now I am coming out of the gates with a negative one. This is what you are fostering by being stubborn on what would appear to be a simple fix.

Good move.

See my name... I also sent few complaints, but they never allowed it... It is my strongest reason that makes me stop playing tho...

I have to admit, there are times where the system doesn’t do what it should do, and it would be good to have the option.

D1CA33D8-4974-4C84-9EC0-CA7A80CA4803:

I have to admit, there are times where the system doesn’t do what it should do, and it would be good to have the option.

I’ve seen this happen to a few people in the past. That is obviously some kind of error. You should contact support as I’m almost certain they will help you in this case.

I think treemendous is a fine name.

I’d be satisfied with a one time per account name change! Make it so!

Treemendous is a good display name for a max sized sylvari. However, D1CA33D8-4974-4C84-9EC0-CA7A80CA4803, that one could use some minor adjustments.

Faux.1937:

I remember I when I made my account it said Your Display name/Account name will be Visible for everyone to read.. it was Loud and Clear, it wasnt knee deep in text, I remember b.c I dont read knee deep text.

I just made a 2nd account and again I remember it somewhere saying this is a public name…..

If you are told its a public name and you chose to ignore that, then that is your fault.

This was not always the case.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/support/Name-Questions-Please-read-merged/first#post2087181

We have improved the account creation process to make it clear how display names function, and we even have expanded the User Agreement to accomplish the same objective. If players know that your display name is actually displayed in the game and on the forums, they’ll be less likely to use a name that poses a security risk.

I don’t dislike my name, but if I’d known it was the name by which every player in game would know me I’d have picked something different. And that fact was not made clear in the account creation process back around launch.

This is why once I found a screen name I liked I stuck with it. It threw me a bit when I was asked for an account name for GW2 because GW1 didn’t have that, but there was no question of what it’d be and, since I’ve used it for about 15 years now, little chance I’d regret the choice.

Only problem is it’s hardly unique to me so every time I go to sign up on a new site there’s a good chance it’ll be taken. Not an issue here though.

I also support changing display name. There are many reasons why people want to change theirs, and I think most of the reasons would not hurt the policy. I strongly suggest Anet needs to distinguish those reasons, and selling change display name like change character name is also a good idea to solve people’s wants. Maybe many people are waiting for it. Additionally, checking Blizzard’s example is very meaningful to satisfy customers’ needs. (They finally allowed one-time change.)

+1 support the idea…

(I know the frustration of wanting to change my PSN ID)

i like how people still try to push the matter when Gaile gave valid reasons not to

Selling change display name can be very profitable for Anet actually. Few years ago, people who were playing Blizzard’s games had complained about this for a long time. And many people of them wanted to ‘buy’ change their name(battle tag). Even though Blizzard chose one-time change policy, I think selling change name will not be seen like “We are trying to earn more money from our policy.” Even it will be a great convenient product like many account-upgrade products.

And the policy has a definitely right reason for being the policy, but ironically, it neglects many other reasonable reasons. I think Anet already has collected those reasons from many support tickets. So I hope their right judge will come soon for supporting people who are feeling inconvenient.

DragonSlalyer.5786:

Selling change display name can be very profitable for Anet actually. Few years ago, people who were playing Blizzard’s games had complained about this for a long time. And many people of them wanted to ‘buy’ change their name(battle tag). Even though Blizzard chose one-time change policy, I think selling change name will not be seen like “We are trying to earn more money from our policy.” Even it will be a great convenient product like many account-upgrade products.

And the policy has a definitely right reason for being the policy, but ironically, it neglects many other reasonable reasons. I think Anet already has collected those reasons from many support tickets. So I hope their right judge will come soon for supporting people who are feeling inconvenient.

Isn’t it always the case with policies? Inconveniencing a lot of good people because a handful of aholes could abused it.

Julie Yann.5379:

DragonSlalyer.5786:

Selling change display name can be very profitable for Anet actually. Few years ago, people who were playing Blizzard’s games had complained about this for a long time. And many people of them wanted to ‘buy’ change their name(battle tag). Even though Blizzard chose one-time change policy, I think selling change name will not be seen like “We are trying to earn more money from our policy.” Even it will be a great convenient product like many account-upgrade products.

And the policy has a definitely right reason for being the policy, but ironically, it neglects many other reasonable reasons. I think Anet already has collected those reasons from many support tickets. So I hope their right judge will come soon for supporting people who are feeling inconvenient.

Isn’t it always the case with policies? Inconveniencing a lot of good people because a handful of aholes could abused it.

But if it needs some costs like $20 or more, it is hard to be used only for abusing. People who want this service will pay it very definitely, and some other people who try to abuse it will not easily abuse it because of the price. And I believe Anet has an ability which can have another policy that can cover bad using with this.
I think this season (before the expansion) is good to offer this service. I hopefully hope they offer this soon..

I have read many of threads about changing display name(not about character name), but my conclusion is it is currently totally impossible.
I also sent many tickets about this, but Anet always responded “We can’t do this for you for now.” with their policy. But I don’t request that I just want it without any of efforts. I want to pay for it. I want to buy it. Here are my wants, and I guess many other people are also thinking about this. So I think Anet needs to offer something for this wants. And they can make more money because there is demand & supply. And this is very ‘look like service’, so it won’t make them seem like ‘We are trying to gather your money.’ I actually assure it will be much more profitable than any outfits, and, in my view, outfits are actually making Anet look like a merchant.
I’m gonna pay for it whatever its price $50 ~ $60 or more. I purchased my standard account by $59.99 (NOV 2012), and I think it is reasonable to pay $59.99 one more for the change because I have played freely for almost 3 years(I have purchased some gems though.)
And one more thing about its timing, I think it is quite good for now. This season, I mean before the expansion, is actually good to refresh people.
I really wish someday Anet will offer service for this. I believe Anet has an ability cover people’s wants like mine.
Thanks for reading.

While ANet has a point in not wanting people to change their display name to escape the consequences of their actions, the people who wish to change their display names due to misspellings or names choosen that they now regret also have a point. I think ANet should reconsider its position and allow a one time name change and charge a fairly substantial sum, say $50, to discourage frivolous changes or changes to avoid consequences.

While people may still use this to avoid ingame consequences for bad behavior, is this such a common problem that it overrides the wishes of those who want to change a display name? Other games have display name changes, how do they handle people who are trying to avoid consequences?

Yes, there are many examples for this. Many MMOs are doing this and they are managing it fairly well. And I believe Anet can have this ability to offer the service because Anet is also a quite good company competitively.
I think Anet already collected many of tickets which are not in the policy and they know there is something people want. But maybe there are some hardness about security and some kind of political reasons in them.
I hope they can overcome it well and manage it someday. I hope…
And I am ready to pay for this.

About the examples…
1. As you guys already know, Blizzard offers one-time battle tag change service.
2. In case of The Elder Scrolls Online, I brought an example msg from their support team.
“Greetings Adventurer!

Thank you for contacting The Elder Scrolls Online Team.

You are in luck because we would definitely would be able to change your userID.
If you wish us to go ahead with changing your UserID, we will have to verify account information for your security. Please provide the following for verification purposes: – First and last name – Email Address – Last 4 digit of credit card OR PayPal transaction ID"

I responded to the email providing the details they asked for and then got no response. So I then opened another ticket saying that I need to change my UserID and again provided the security details they asked for and got the following response:

“Greetings!

Thank you for contacting The Elder Scrolls Online Team.

A player can now have the UserID on their account changed. In order to complete this change, a player must contact Customer Support and be able to verify their account. Often, this type of change is requested maliciously in an effort to steal an account, so the utmost security is in place to ensure the security of each player’s account information.

Once the account has been verified, a player will be able to work with Customer Support to make updates to the account information. It is a good idea to have a few UserID options ready prior to contacting Customer Support. This ensures that you leave the interaction with an acceptable UserID (in case your first choice is already taken). Please keep the following in mind when selecting a new UserID:

The UserID will be shared with other players in-game.
Must contain 3 to 20 characters and start with a letter.
May contain alphanumeric [a-z, A-Z, 0-9] characters. Each character can repeat no more than 3 times
A single period, hyphen, apostrophe, and underscore are allowed.
UserID cannot start or end with symbols.
UserID cannot contain spaces."
- So, in my view, ESO just requires some security questions but not many things very much.

Those two are offering free service for this anyway. But I even just want “pay” service, and I’m ready to pay this. Please please consider this, Anet.

It sounds like ESO doesn’t have two separate IDs for accounts. Display Name and Account Name. No one could usurp a GW2 account with a Display Name. And GW2 offers free Account Name changes, as long as you provide the same information ESO is requesting.

So, that may be the difference.

Good luck.

I also bring something from Wildstar. I am not sure it is totally like GW2’s display name and I never played it before, but they also allowed one-time change.

I actually think this season (before the expansion) is good to do this. It can be one of the things which can make people come back to play again.

I’m happy with my display name (my old GW Ritualist name and fave char - SoS Rit ftw!).

I do seem to remember reading somewhere when I made my account my display name would be the most dominant and char names would just link to it. This is especially true when people have lots of alts, whereby you’re either known as your main char name or your display name. (Guildies even call my alt account chars by my main char name).

Having said that and looking at some display names I can understand why some people are not happy with their choice, especially as in some cases that name may have been chosen ’on the hoof’ by a person eager to start playing and not paying enough attention.

To me this is a QoL issue and ANet should allow a one time only display name change without question. Maybe link to the original name for a month or so after the change, i. e. XXX (formally YYY) to combat people wishing to ’escape their history’ as they put it.

A way like showing their previous names is a good one. The point of the policy is some people are trying to hide their history, BUT if Anet can reveal this like showing their previous names for a while, I guess it does not over the policy. Maybe Anet can think other ideas like this.

This is my conclusion in my view in this thread;

The points of the policy
1. If it is allowed, bad people can abuse it. So, for the community, it can’t be.
2. If it is allowed, it can cause some security problems in GW2 system. And it even some costs. So it can’t be.

Alternatives
1. One-time change like many other games.(e.g. Blizzards, Wildstar)
2. Paying for the change. (I support this.) ; It needs some money because it will cause security costs.
3. Another name system like Screen name or choosing representative character’s name. Basically, it means hiding your original account’s display name for the security and let’s use another visible name.

Reasons of the people, who want to change their name
1. Many kinds of mistakes like misspelling; see my name…..
2. Just personal preference(I want another my beautiful and meaningful name!)

And my opinion is “Yes.. if it is allowed, bad people can lie with reasonable reasons and can abuse it. But all of the people, who say the reasons, are not the bad guys. Some of them are really just hoping this…”
Even, in reality, some people changed their name from their parents or from their decisions. But it usually does not hurt their real communities. (Yes, it can hurt the community. But, basically, the reason, why the government allowed it, is its benefit is much bigger than its hurting… I guess.)

+ One more another example: Black Desert
It is one of very highly anticipated games in the future. It is being offered in only S. Korea now, but it will serve NA/EU soon. Anyway, about the account name, they offer “You can choose your name as one of your character names.” So it is representative name system. How about this? I think it is good to hide their original IDs for security and also satisfy people’s name-wants.

Is it possible for you guys (Anet) to allow us to have account name changes with the coming expansion? Some of us have made some stupid account names. 3 years is a long time to keep to one account name, and with the expansion hopefully lasting another 3 years, I would really like to change it.

I doubt it will happen, for the same reasons as why we’ve not go it in the first place. To quote Gaile:

Gaile Gray.6029:

I want to change my display name

• This is not a service that is available, either through a purchase or through Support. Unless there is a specific privacy issues — that is, you used your real name or your email address for you in-game and forum display name — the name is permanent. If you fall into the small number of people who did use your real name or email address, contact Support for assistance. Please do not write Support asking for exceptions, for they will not be made.

More about Display Name Changes

There are very good reasons why we do not offer the changes as a service at this time. It’s important in any game — and especially in an MMO with the high number and visibility of player interactions — to create a “personal history” for an account. I don’t mean your in-game “personal story” but a history of your account as viewed in the game.

If we allow changes of display names, a person who has been harassing another player will be hidden from that victim’s sight. A person who has built up a reputation for cheating, or botting, or doing other breaches of the UA, becomes invisible to those players who were aware of the issue and were awaiting action on the matter. Several other factors of “individual accountability” can be negated by simply hiding behind a new display name.

I take on board things like typos in making a name. But assessing the difference between a change and a correction can be difficult, and at this time, we’re holding firm on the “no changes” policy. There are two reasonable exceptions:

• An offensive name will be changed — once — and it will be changed by a GM using an anagram system, so the user does not get the privilege of choosing the second name.
• A display name will be changed to prevent the disclosure of personal information. For instance, the display name is the player’s real name or even email address. We have improved the account creation process to make it clear how display names function, and we even have expanded the User Agreement to accomplish the same objective. If players know that your display name is actually displayed in the game and on the forums, they’ll be less likely to use a name that poses a security risk. If they know that using an offensive name results in a randomly chosen name, they’ll be less likely — one hopes — to choose an unacceptable name.

Some of the same arguments about display name changes also applied to character names, but as you know, we made that option available when the feature could be properly developed. At some point we may make a feature available that allows a player to change his/her display name, but if we do, I am confident it will take into consideration all the risks of those changes, and address them effectively.

In the meantime, and with all due respect, we will decline to change display names unless they involve one of the two exceptions cited above.

From the topic: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/support/Name-Questions-Please-read-merged/first#post2087181

Thanks!
It’s a shame but I understand

But I hope too. And it’s technically possible. That’s why many other games are doing this. One more support here.

I’d love a one-time display name change so people have another chance at using a name they want, rather than one that is a mistake, etc.
My display name is pretty identifying because it’s rather uncommon and I’ve used it a lot in my past. Really wish I could change it to a more general nickname :/