Several years ago, I posted some musings on the importance I place on naming characters. This has mostly (but not always) applied to modern-ish RPGs and MMOs that I’ve dipped into over the years; the ones where you create a character of your own design who has nothing, and then you build them into something. Call it part of role playing, world building, or just a quirk, but there have been times when I’ve anguished over finding the perfect name for my so-and-so in such-and-such game almost as much as I’ve agonized over their looks. This is why, in some games, a mere two words is all it takes to completely derail my efforts and motivation:

“Name Unavailable.”

The phrasing of this dastardliness comes in many forms, and my most recent encounter with it – worded as “This name is already in use” – happened through Throne and Liberty.

Throne and Liberty is a free-to-play MMORPG that was released in late 2024. It was absolutely nowhere on my radar until just recently, when I got the minor itch to jump into an RPG that was something different. No Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Fable, or Fallout, or anything into which I had already sunk significant time. I combed through my backlogs and even looked again at few F2P titles I tried out several years ago – TERA, Star Trek Online, Phantasy Star Online 2. I lightly dipped into the gacha scene by spending a couple hours in Tower of Fantasy, but it wasn’t for me. That’s when I found Throne and Liberty.

If I could offer more about the game than just its title and the fact that it’s a very, very pretty MMO with very, very pretty characters, I would. But, you see, I have yet to make it into the game because I cannot name my character — every name in the world is apparently already taken. Alright, I’m sure not every name has been used up, but I have had the worst time finding one that’s available. One might only imagine that Throne and Liberty must be burning up the MMO charts in popularity, but looking online, that’s not really the case. Oh, I can hear the cries now. Make up a name! (Easier said than done.) Add a last name! (No spaces or special characters allowed, at least on the PlayStation.) Add a number somewhere! (What?) Just use your dang username and quit bellyaching! (NO!) All I would like to do is give my character a regular human name and not some random string of numbers and letters, is that too much to ask??!

It may very well be.

I did a little “research” (Reddit-ed it) on the problem, and I found plenty of company in Throne and Liberty’s name complaint department. Though honestly, nothing I found really explained why I couldn’t have any of the names I had originally chosen. And I’ll grant that my list probably wasn’t the most unique, but was that because the names weren’t available because of my account, the particular server I had had chosen, or the region I was in. For that matter, is there but one, single character across the entire game named “Jane?” Is that how things work?? Maybe I wouldn’t be so grumpy if Thorne and Liberty’s very first quest is essentially naming your character. Without it, you can’t move on.

Hmph. Okay game that looks intriguing enough (seriously, Throne and Liberty’s character creator is phenomenal), challenge accepted. I’m going to find an actual human name that I both like and matches my model-esque “Star-Born” and that no one else in the world has thought to use! I’m going to put my tried and true name generators to the test and  come up with the most unique moniker to end all unique monikers! It’s going to be brilliant! It’s going to be charming! It’s going to propel my role-playing to new heights!

And it isn’t going to be “J4n3IsBestGurl,” I swear.

Lede image taken from igdb.com presskit for Throne and Liberty (© NCSOFT).