As long it isn't leet speek or text speek or a sentence, I'm not too fussed about it.
I won't ever use my full name on a public server but I don't know why it bothers me so much.
You already have part of my first name (Wesley)

When i was going to licence S1 I wanted to call myself "EasyLee"
...the name i often use in FPS online games.

Today im glad i used my real name.

- I like it when people have to use real names in leagues etc.
it feels more serious and not so "game like".

But for the everyday 5 laps jump on server its okay with "game names"

My Name is Mr F. Bear. I have a body hair problem and frighten small children. My hobbies include platting my beard and scaring small children. I drink large quantities of methylated spirits and chew rats. I have a good sense of humour as I've heard women like that and I have been known to cry to some episodes of Lassie.

To be honest all of my Internet dealing involve Mr F. Bear in one way or another. It started with Funnylookingteddybear when I was a kid looking around my room searching for a name to use that soon got shortened to Funnybear as time whent on. But you'll still see FLTB around from time to time. Depends if the browsers let me use the full length or not.

I would feel a bit odd using my real name. Computer land isn't for that. Computer land is for escaping into, to be someone your not. Sure, in computer land I'm still the marverlously witty, intelligent, good natured honest kinda guy I am in real life. But In computer land I'm all those things and a Mr Funnybear too. You don't need to know my real name. This is not the droids you are looking for . . . .

Sorry, went of on a bit of a tangent . . . Even if sim'ing it's still a computer generated world, paid for by me and I shall be whomever I choose to be in the computer generated world. You could say that WoW was a simulation of the fantasy genre. (It is a simulation of something at least and I'mnot entirley sure that this arguement will hold water but we'll see, in for a penny in for a pound.) but you don't find them using their real names in that. But if I played Wow, which I don't, I would still be Funnybear.

So remember kids, I have never seen another Funnybear, so if you see one around then it's usually me. BF2 was Funnybear. LFS it's Funnybear. The only one I don't have set at Funnybear is Eve:Online. It would look a wee bit silly in that universe to cruise around calling yourself Funnybear.

And do be honest if I was forced to use my own name in something then I would have too say that I probable wouldn't go there . . .Just me.

*we all claps*

Im sure that some wouldn't like they do right now. It's just an psychological point.Im sure that some wouldn't like they do right now. It's just an psychological point.

Quote from bo-kristiansen :

When i was going to licence S1 I wanted to call myself "EasyLee"
....

"EasyLee"

I thought about using
April Maijune
or
Rusty Nail


The main problem for me is if I use my real name I want to use it completly
but it doesn't fit with all those funky coloured tag stuff in front of it.

T7R|Bernd Weingart (is too long)
it's then more like
T7R|Bernd Weinga (is not complete)
or
T7R|B. Weingart (how do people call my then. B? or Hey Wineguard or? :shrug

League or not I want to show show what team I'm driving for.
So "T7R| BBO" is easy to remember easy and quick to write and use etc.

I only use the complete name if I have to (or when LFS allows me to use more letters .

Quote from BBO@BSR :

"Wine Guard

You should of used that one Bernd :ices_rofl

Quote from BBO@BSR :

T7R|B. Weingart (how do people call my then. B? or Hey Wineguard or? :shrug

Weingart sounds fair enough to me..? People also call M. Schumacher, Schumacher all the time
I'm being called Kooij a lot lately though, that's worse (pleaaassse add van der ).

Quote from BBO@BSR :

(or when LFS allows me to use more letters .

+1

Quote from csurdongulos :

I always felt it was kinda stupid to stick your age or a date after your login/nick whatever. years go by quickly you may notice

and what have you put after greboth_ ? 2xxx? :P

anyways I don't mind using realnames, use it in GTR and GTL anyways, I have my real name entered in LFS as well on the info page, so if you check my LFS world stats you can find my name there.

btw, csurdongulos hasn't been taken on any forum either...yet. dunno why though

now my email isnt greboth_2XXX anything. I wont give me email address at wehn dont need to so not tellin I have given it out on this forum though
As said above under normal circumstances i will give my name out but on forums and most things online or computer wise people use tags and to me it seems normal, i think it would be strange to see real names everywhere. Also i know someone who lives about 5 minutes away from me with the same last name so could get confusing. Also if you include the small spelling variations on my last names its used alot. Someone on mg has same last name but different spelling lol.

As some of you guys say, i've would have used my real name (Fredrik Enersen :wave23d if i was asked to do so in a league or whatever. But on publics and such, i prefer to use my nick.... Yahh has been my online nick for a looong time, and i want to stick to it as long as i can

everyone who thinks that his/her real name is more personal than his/her nick name never had a real nick name. you cannot compare some name you just made up to disguise your identity with a nickname you have answered to for more than a decade.

everyone should do as he/she likes but don't mistake a realname for professionalism. it counts what you do on the track.

my nickname is an abbreviation of my real name - most people in real-life know me under this name, in fact, i know enough who don't even know my full name.
And "Michael Herkommer" would be quite long for a username, "M. Herkommer" with a team-tag would be to long, too, I guess, so I'll stay with the name most people know me ... "herki"

Quote from Fetzo :

everyone who thinks that his/her real name is more personal than his/her nick name never had a real nick name. you cannot compare some name you just made up to disguise your identity with a nickname you have answered to for more than a decade.

everyone should do as he/she likes but don't mistake a realname for professionalism. it counts what you do on the track.

But using your real name gives more professional impression than just some "Turbo-GTi" or "Killer-Bill". To me it tells that the competitor is more serious about what he does and gow he does it. If you watched an F1 race and all the driver names were replaced by nicks like Schumi, Iceman and Rubinho, would it sound as professional or interesting?

Quote from Hyperactive :

But using your real name gives more professional impression than just some "Turbo-GTi" or "Killer-Bill". To me it tells that the competitor is more serious about what he does and gow he does it. If you watched an F1 race and all the driver names were replaced by nicks like Schumi, Iceman and Rubinho, would it sound as professional or interesting?

1. The point is that the name doesn't make your driving professional. Yes, some people who drive well and in a good mind have their real life names as nicknames. But, would changing the name of "Killer-Bill" to "Bill Green" make him a better driver? It would just make him seem like a better driver. But his driving wouldn't change at all. It wouldn't improve your experience on the track.
2. I already elaborated on this in my post somewhere up in this thread. Real life names look professional. If you want to do something with professional looks (f.e. because of media-attention) you will want to go for real life names. But does that matter in our normal 5 lap races? How important is the athmosphere of the race? Again: Real life names improve the professional looks of a race. Not the professionalism of the driving.

Vain

Quote from Vain :

1. The point is that the name doesn't make your driving professional. Yes, some people who drive well and in a good mind have their real life names as nicknames. But, would changing the name of "Killer-Bill" to "Bill Green" make him a better driver? It would just make him seem like a better driver. But his driving wouldn't change at all. It wouldn't improve your experience on the track.
2. I already elaborated on this in my post somewhere up in this thread. Real life names look professional. If you want to do something with professional looks (f.e. because of media-attention) you will want to go for real life names. But does that matter in our normal 5 lap races? How important is the athmosphere of the race? I don't drive for the athmosphere or something like that, but for the racing, the challenge. This isn't a role-playing-game.

Vain

Did you read my post? I have never said that you gain or lose speed if you use your real name or real nickname or some internet alias. All I said was that using your real name gives a more professioanal impression. It effects to the atmosphere as well.

"How important is the athmosphere of the race?". Good racing = good atmosphere. Real names = more likely to have proper races and less idiots.

Quote from Hyperactive :

Real names = more likely to have proper races and less idiots.

Sorry, but I dont see that. And imo, you contradict yourself. First, you say, the drivers dont get better, if they drive with real names. But how is it more likely to have a better race then, if the same drivers drive, only with their real names?

Idiots also have names, so they will still be there.

Quote :

Idiots also have names, so they will still be there.

LMAO

i don´t really care whether i use my real name or a nick or how the others call themselves.

i personally play lfs to overtake the other drivers, having nice fights and some fun with them, not too look how their friggin name is

of course it would all seem a bit more serious if we used realnames, but there will always be people who just keep using a nickname.

Quote from Biohazard :

i personally play lfs to overtake the other drivers

Lol and your good at it.

Sorry for Off topic...

i kinda find that whole simulation argument funny to begin with ... if lfs was a flightsim people would probably start complaining if youre not using a handle

Quote from Becky Rose :

I gave up using a "handle" online when I got into this thing called adulthood. To me the whole nickname thing works much better in things like CB radio, but in a text format they're rediculous because people use symbols and capital letters in an unreadable way. I sometimes look at the driver list in LFS and think of drivers not by their name, but as "The two white characters and four red characters driver", or just "him".

to me using a proper handle (one written in normal latin characters (and others for people from different language families as long as it makes sense and isnt just there to look cool)) is no less mature than using your real name

Quote from kurent :

I know that there are 8 people in my country with the same name and surname

which can be a hige problem with common names i personally couldnt tell which of the five bob smiths wed probably have if everbody used his real name (yes i do know bob smith isnt his real name) im racing against

I think this is just a matter of your "e-origin".
People that play/have played fps/rts are likely to have a nick they used since the dawn of time, whereas people that (before lfs) where never that involved in internet gaming probably won't. For most of "us" (speaking for the first group) it's not just a nick, it's part of your identity, given it is a bit unique (unlike "Killer" or something like that).
I for example have never used a different nick. (Well.. sometimes the abbreviation "tdc"..).

Having said that, I don't mind using my real name when appropriate.
As to why nearly nobody uses them in public races - I guess that's because the game simply doesn't ask you for your real name. When I signed up I didn't even thought about using my real name.

edit: the lfs.net-signup form has it as optional fields, but they're not used in-game anyway..
That actually cries "Put your nickname in the username field"

My e-origin stretches back to BBS', I used a handle/nickname then - but that's not suprising really as I was up to no good. When I moved to the internet (or rather, when the internet outgrew fidonet) I just carried on with a handle that lasted until the late 20th century when I figured i'd had enough of geek culture and started to take myself seriously. I've been using my real name ever since, given that I output a lot of stuff to the internet it seemed unfair that some nickname was getting all the credit.

LFS' isn't the first game i've modded, but how do I take credit as "Jaguar", "Smurf" or "Banshee"?

In one forum I had to change my name away from my real name to a handle again because some of the simpler boys couldnt handle it.

Quote from Becky Rose :

when I figured i'd had enough of geek culture and started to take myself seriously. I've been using my real name ever since

....

Quote from The Forum :

Racername: Miff

! Presumably this is for the very same reason, as above, but when its being advertised is it really effective? Or is that just to throw people off the scent?

Quote from Becky Rose :

LFS' isn't the first game i've modded, but how do I take credit as "Jaguar", "Smurf" or "Banshee"?

Well, you could always use 'Becky "Banshee" Rose'
I myself have no problem with my work being considered TheDeppchef's work, because.. well - that's me. But then that is maybe just because the nick is unique enough so I don't have to fear to be confused with someone else?

I used to runbars and the like and alot of the time we would have to wear nametags. . . I never used my real name. I hated complete strangers calling me by my name it's like 'Do you know me? Then why are you using my name?'. I was using 'Charlie' for years. And anyway. What is to stop me using a real sounding name on these 'real name' required races and servers. I could use Tony Robinson and you wouldn't know any differenct. It's still not my real name and it won't make be behave any different from how I would normally.

I loved that line from up there somewhere . .

'Idiots still have real names' . . .great.