There is an odd thing I've noticed when interacting with my online friends.
I've been playing now on Cenarion Circle long enough to make people I'd really call "friends"... something that never happened despite playing for just a long on my old server.
It was a little odd when I first started hanging out with the new social group, particularly because people had a habit of referring to someone by a name that wasn't the toon they were currently playing. Or occasionally, even by their real name. But I started to pick up on who was who. Making a handy alt-list to refer to helped.
It was a little odd for a while, too, when I'd change social circles and the name I was called changed. If I were playing with people who primarily knew me from Horde side, they'd call me "Kezrin." It was a bit jarring, since most everyone else at the time called me Derscha, or very occasionally, Ketlan. I am now pretty used to being called multiple names based on circumstances.
But the truly odd thing that caught my attention several months ago was that it didn't bother me to think of people in terms of multiple names. I will just as easily refer to my friend Arietha with any of her other names. I have even switched which name I've called her in the middle of a conversation.
This has caused me to think a lot about the meaning of names, and the etiquette of names online.
