Ooo that is a tough call, because I could definitely see someone wishing to place themselves in the story but I could also understand the artist wanting to tell the story of a character, Plus a certain amount of brand equity opportunity is lost when you leave your characters identity up to the audience, but that is the business major leaking out sorry. - Geoff Schultz

Depends on the game; if I have control of a party of adventurers I am less likely to feel "personal ownership" than if I control just one character in the game. - Rachel R.

I never rename -- leave the story as is with characters intact. - Nick

Really depends on the game. Most single player RPGs it doesn't matter. I don't like renaming them. Besides most of the leads are male and it doesn't help this girl gamer any ;) - Lindsey is Fierce!

This is turning out much different than I had originally thought. I figured most people would be more interested in applying their own chosen names. Personally, I usually end up changing the main character's name (if it's a male) and leaving the rest at default. So I guess I should be moderately safe leaving the option out of my own game. - Brooks Bishop

You should name your main character Geoff the Awesomeriffic Guy, No one would want to change their name from that anyways. - Geoff Schultz

I'm thinking something more like, Geoff the Janitor. He won't put up much of a fight, and drop a bunch of keys. - Brooks Bishop

I still say it depends on the game, and it is definitely not a huge factor. But I would say I rename over 50% of the time. - Rachel R.

I renamed the characters in my first RPG FF7 and then could never have a conversation with anyone about it cause we had no idea who the other person was talking about.. since then I've never rename characters... I mostly play for the story though. - Stefan Hayden

Geoff the Janitor I kind of actually like that. Has kind of a Wort's Leg angle to it. - Geoff Schultz

Not at all - I always go with the default names. It makes me feel more part of a living world than a game. - Martin Bryant

Not at all. I go with the default names, if only because it makes it easier to know what other people are talking about when they discuss the game (exactly like like Stefan). - James (@willia4)

I echo the sentiment that it depends on the game. FF1, Dragon Warrior 1? Yes. FF7+, Chrono Trigger? No. Basically, when it's blank slate characters, I like to incorporate my own take on them to add more to the game experience and attachment to the characters. Final Fantasy Tactics, and its ilk, is a little different. Main character I don't rename but new recruits I create, I tend to change the name (if available). - Arlan Koizumi

@Brooks As a fan of any RPG game (console, PC, P&P), I'd say including as many options as possible is a good thing. If it doesn't hurt your production, including the option to alter names of characters might be worth your while. (*edited to remove too many "good thing" >_>) - Arlan Koizumi

One thing I've always considered (despite the fact it's probably not going to happen. Hey I think big!) is voice acting. If you have voiced characters you have two options: 1) Don't rename any character you're going to refer to by name. 2) Stick to pronouns and other language tricks to avoid using a name which the player has modified. I always think the second option ends up sounding weird in the long run. Hopefully the future will bring us better voice synthesis that will make this a moot point. - Brooks Bishop