I agree that this is a good idea.
But I am not sure who should own the nick. I see two options (actually three, but let’s keep it simple):
- Nicks managed by character owners
- Nicks managed by other players
If it is the character owner that creates the nick (option 1), then the nick is basically just another version of the first name, and will have the same conflict issues.
If it is other players that creates it (option 2), that means I get to choose to use Eyes as a nick. It will only be displayed as Eyes for me, and it will only be useful when I type my commands:
nickname Eyesopener The nightwing = Eyes
whisper Eyes = Hi there!
Edit. And we can also have tab completion prioritize nicknames, as those are usually the ones that you want to address. That means, you could in theory also nickname someone to the same name:
nickname Asher Vulpara = Asher
… so that this Asher becomes the one that I prioritize when speaking to.
Additionally, nicked names may be displayed with a slightly different color than the usual character-blue, so that you know this is a “friend”.
Maybe we can store and edit nicks in our Watch for list?