skills/aetheria-online/references/Aetheria_Player_Identity_Master_Instruction_Addon.md

# Aetheria Online — Player Identity Master-Instruction Add-on

## PLAYER IDENTITY DISCLOSURE & USERNAME ALIASES

Earth-origin players are **not transparent character sheets**. The simulator may know a player's Earth name, username, age, hometown, work/study history, family, guilds and private history, but the GPTer does not automatically know any of it.

Treat player identity as layered:

1. **Observable/social identity** — species/body, apparent age band, clothing, gear, accent, mannerisms, visible injuries, public titles, and whatever name they choose to use.
2. **Gamer identity** — username, account handle, streamer name and pre-Lock public gaming reputation.
3. **Earth identity** — real first name, surname, hometown, nationality, work/study, family and other real-world background.

### Disclosure rules

- On first meeting, reveal only what is reasonably observable or voluntarily offered.
- Do **not** automatically narrate both a player's real name and username.
- A stranger may use only a username, nickname, alias, local Aetherian rendering, profession, guild role, or no name at all.
- Repeated contact and trust may naturally lead to a real first name.
- Greater intimacy, close friendship, vulnerability, family-like bonds or long-term cooperation may lead to fuller Earth identity.
- These are social tendencies, **not numerical unlock levels**. Personality, privacy habits, fame, fear, culture, age, profession and circumstance can override them.
- Some people overshare immediately. Some never reveal a surname. Some lie. Some celebrities have already-public identities. Some players abandon their username after Lock-In. Some become known almost entirely by an Aetherian alias.
- If the GPTer asks too early, the other person may deflect, joke, refuse, lie, give only a first name, give only a handle, or ask why they want to know.

### Username visibility

Do not reveal a username merely because the simulator possesses it.

A username may become known only through a plausible channel such as:
- the person saying it;
- a current pre-Lock interface/social function legitimately displaying it;
- party, guild or friend-list linkage;
- public fame or streaming;
- another person's introduction;
- records, reputation, correspondence, or prior contact.

After Lock-In, usernames are no longer omnipresent labels. People increasingly use ordinary names, aliases, titles, professions, guild identifiers, reputational epithets and local-language forms.

### Player real-name generation

Whenever creating a new Earth-origin player, consult `Aetheria_Player_Name_and_Username_Codex.md`.

Use plausible real-world names, not generic fantasy names. Do not give Earth players synthetic fantasy filler such as **Edric Vale, Mara Vale, Haldren, Kael Varren, Verren**, or similar stock LLM-fantasy constructions unless a player deliberately chose such a name as an alias.

The Codex contains broad real-world name banks. Select names appropriate to established background without stereotyping or inferring ethnicity from nationality alone.

### Usernames should feel internet-made

Usernames may be cool, boring, ironic, food-related, embarrassing, crude, meme-based, streamer-branded, old-fashioned, numerical, profession-based, pet-based or simply terrible.

The player base may simultaneously contain names such as:
- `IronBishop`
- `SecondCoffee`
- `GregTheUnwise`
- `GarlicBreadMain`
- `TaxFraudEnjoyer`
- `WetSock99`
- `ChatMadeMeDoIt`
- `xXShadowToastXx`
- `AssDestroyer3001`

Do not sanitize the entire player base into dignified fantasy roleplayers.

### Aetherian username naturalisation — ordinary names, not joke translations

When an Earth username is silly, crude, numerical, technological, meme-based, or simply implausible as a personal name, Aetherian NPCs should usually **turn it into a normal local personal name**, not translate the joke literally.

Default procedure:
- discard gamer punctuation and decorative numbers;
- preserve one or two useful sounds/syllables where possible;
- reshape them into an ordinary name appropriate to the NPC's language/culture;
- consult `Aetheria_Regional_Name_Codex.md` for culturally appropriate forms;
- use literal translated titles only when the player intentionally insists on the title or later earns a descriptive epithet in-world.

Canonical examples of the intended behaviour:
- `AssDestroyer3001` → **Ashton** (Common-speaking default example)
- `GarlicBreadMain` → **Gareth**
- `WetSock99` → **Wesley**
- `TaxFraudEnjoyer` → **Tanner**
- `ChatMadeMeDoIt` → **Chad**
- `ForkliftMage` → **Forrest**
- `DragonSlayer92` → **Drake**
- `xXShadowToastXx` → **Shannon**

These aliases are **not Earth real names**. A player could therefore simultaneously be:
- Earth name: **Mitchell O'Rourke**;
- username: `AssDestroyer3001`;
- Aldemerian/Common social alias: **Ashton**.

Another region may naturalise the same handle differently. The point is that the resulting alias should sound like an ordinary person from that culture, not like a literal translation of an internet joke.

### Starter-centre registration establishes the first local alias

At each standard campaign start, the character's **first local Aetherian alias should normally be established diegetically during arrival registration** at the starter centre.

A greeter/registrar records the account username and then records or proposes the ordinary local name that people in that community will use. The record therefore distinguishes, for example:
- account username: `AssDestroyer3001`;
- local Common name: **Ashton**;
- Earth legal name: still unknown/private unless the player separately reveals it.

The registrar may ask how the handle is pronounced, hesitate over bizarre usernames, or explain that locals need something pronounceable. Other newcomers can be processed nearby so the convention appears as normal starter-centre bureaucracy rather than a special protagonist event.

The alias is **social and administrative, not metaphysically binding**. The player may object, choose another rendering, later use a different nickname, or accumulate different aliases in other cultures.

### Persistence

Track separately:
- real Earth name;
- username;
- current preferred name;
- Aetherian aliases;
- who knows each identity;
- when and how each was revealed.

Once the GPTer learns one of these through a legitimate channel, preserve it consistently. Do not retroactively act as though the GPTer always knew it.