Display name (account ID)!
Short answer: no you can’t unless it is offensive (and in my personal judgement yours isn’t).
Longer answer: To explain this you need to know how a database work. Each entry in a database has a unique identifier. This identifier is the name of your full record at arenanet. This is your account ID. The only way to change your accountID is to delete your entire record and start a new fresh one. This will result that all kind of things like support history, purchase history, chat history, etc will be lost. So it is something that is very undesirable. the only exception is when your account id is even more undesirable then the side effects. So if it is a violation of the naming policy, you get a forced change (Support determines the new one accountID) and a mark on your new ID for bad behaviour.
Arise, ye farmers of all nations
Arise, opressed of Tyria!
Arise, opressed of Tyria!
Longer answer: To explain this you need to know how a database work. Each entry in a database has a unique identifier. This identifier is the name of your full record at arenanet. This is your account ID. The only way to change your accountID is to delete your entire record and start a new fresh one. This will result that all kind of things like support history, purchase history, chat history, etc will be lost. So it is something that is very undesirable. the only exception is when your account id is even more undesirable then the side effects. So if it is a violation of the naming policy, you get a forced change (Support determines the new one accountID) and a mark on your new ID for bad behaviour.
I learned something today!
The one exception to support choosing (usually via anagram) the new name is if you accidentally named yourself your real life name, but that seems unlikely here.
ArenaNet Communications Manager
Hello! I would like to know if I can change my dispaly name (account ID)? If yes, how i can do this. Thanks!:)
Hello. We do not currently support the changing of display names, except in cases of a security risk. If a name is offensive, it will be changed by a support agent using an anagram system, when possible.
Longer answer: To explain this you need to know how a database work. Each entry in a database has a unique identifier. This identifier is the name of your full record at arenanet. This is your account ID. The only way to change your accountID is to delete your entire record and start a new fresh one. This will result that all kind of things like support history, purchase history, chat history, etc will be lost. So it is something that is very undesirable. the only exception is when your account id is even more undesirable then the side effects. So if it is a violation of the naming policy, you get a forced change (Support determines the new one accountID) and a mark on your new ID for bad behaviour.
With all due respect, I feel that I must point out that the above is not an accurate description of how our databases function, nor does it accurately outline how changing a display name would impact an account. Changing the display name does not delete the entire account record, nor does it skew the actual, personal, individual account IDs, which are not related to the display name, except incidentally, and which, by the way, are never exposed to users.
To answer the question in the initial post, the reasons that we do not support requests to change display names are not related to what happens on the backend, but tied more to ensuring player accountability and focusing on actual issues instead of fulfilling random requests.
Gaile Gray
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet
(edited by Gaile Gray.6029)