The major problem with the way /who works

[groundhog]

I have no problems with the game itself, but the way /who works is bad for the game.

When you use the /who command it lists the names of the people by the oldest account first. Now this is seen probably by older members as a good thing because they can judge if their character is the oldest in a region.

The problem is though /who is being used also to discriminate against some people. It's used to assess if someone with a new character is an alt spy (faction wise) for instance, and if you are not forth-coming with your previous characters and history you are treated with suspicion.

If you make a new character on an old account you get the same problems, continually probed for for who your old character was. Even questions asked such as 'Are you a new player?' when they already know the answer because they've done a /who already.

If people make a new character they have usually a good reason to. So to have a tool that can be used and is being used to discriminate is a really bad thing. And you can't say it does not happen because I've seen it happen over the years time and time again.

Answer appears to be simple, just have a randomly generated /who list. Don't know how easy that is in practice.

So as the system stands at the moment if old players return to the game and you want to start a new character. Then the only way to do it if you don't want to have to keep talking about your old character is to make a new account.

I'm at that stage at the moment, do I make a new account or just give up on the game.

p.s. Just a note for older players thinking about returning to the game. Based on a recent conversation ingame. If you were in a guild that was not popular probably best not to mention it as some players hatreds run deep even after years.