To alter your name without disabling the chat redirect, use the settings... > identity... > name: (your name) menu option.
Alternatively, you can change your name with by sending the command @id name <name> in local chat, where <name> is the new name to use.
What should you be called?
Since ARES is an object, not an avatar, the name is limited to ASCII characters only—that is, the letters and symbols that can be typed on a basic US English keyboard. This is limiting, yes, but also an opportunity to invent a new robotic name for yourself. Here are a few common styles that many people use:
NS style: The official Nanite Systems naming format for civilian robots is to take an existing first name or word, convert it to lower case, and replace one letter from the middle with a digit (e.g. e = 3, o = 0, a = 4). These names are easy to remember, sound the same as normal human names, and are deliberately deferential by virtue of being written without any capitals. Examples: r4chel, j0seph, c3tirizine
drone serials: Many drone hives favor a @-### or @-#### template, where @ is a letter and # is a number. Shorter numbers indicate a more important role in the hierarchy. Examples: A-5150, X-401, E-69
coincidental name: These names are popular with old-school roleplayers, and are great for a vintage sci-fi motif. They are essentially serial numbers that, coincidentally, happen to correspond to human names, and are found on units that, also coincidentally, seem to have a spark of sentience. To make one, just convert your name to capitals, substitute as many numbers as possible, and add random hyphens. Examples: ST3-V3, M4-R-G3, 4LC-47R-42
NS serial: Military NS units are simply referred to by their serial number, which you can find by looking at the bottom right of your menu. Traditionally this is in the format ###-##-####. The first 3 digits reflect your controller's model and the last six are unique to your SL account. (ARES usually doesn't show the first three digits, though.)
partial UUID: Some find the literalism of reusing their SL avatar ID number entertaining. This can be found in Firestorm (and some other viewers) by opening your Profile and looking for the "Key" field. You'll probably only want to copy a few digits from the start, though, as the whole UUID is fairly long.
Changing the name prefix
As explained during the Setup Wizard, having a few special characters in front of your name is an important cue for other roleplayers to help them recognize that you are participating as a robot, not a human. However, for various reasons you may want to change this. This is a bit more work than changing your name, but only takes a second.
- Send the command @db id.prefix
<prefix>to local chat, where<prefix>is the new prefix you want to use.
If you want to get rid of the prefix, type @db delete id.prefix - Send the command @id regen to local chat to reload the prefix.
Careful: If you've modified your serial number, then typing this will change it back!
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