You Want Sparkles with Your Summoner Name? A Guide to Failing (Gracefully) at Including Special Characters in League of Legends
Let's face it, the standard alphabet can feel a little...vanilla for your glorious League of Legends persona. You crave something more. You crave pizazz. A name that screams, "Behold! A legend in the making!" (Except maybe not literally screaming, that's usually reserved for Tryndamere players).
Enter the glorious world of special characters! Unicode butterflies and musical notes dancing in your username, right? Hold your horses, aspiring Yasuo main, because things aren't quite that simple.
The Relentless March of Progress (or Lack Thereof)
Back in the day, League of Legends was a wild west of usernames. Tildes (~), accents (à, è, ì), even the occasional emoji (RIP pool party Fiora with the :P in her name) - anything went. However, in a move that still brings a tear to the eye of old-school players, Riot Games decided to streamline things. Standardization! Consistency! Booooring!
Now, for the most part, you're stuck with the good ol' fashioned letters, numbers, and underscores. But fear not, fellow champion! There are still a few tricks up our sleeves...well, maybe not sleeves, but you get the idea.
Workarounds: The Spice of the Forbidden
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Numbers Can Be Your Friends: Sure, Xx_RivenGod_xX might be taken, but what about R1v3nG0d? A little creative number substitution can go a long way (as long as it doesn't look like leetspeak gone wrong).
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Underscore Emphasis: Sometimes, a well-placed underscore can add some oomph. Think Shadow_Wolf instead of just ShadowWolf. Just be careful not to overdo it, folks. Nobody likes a name that looks like a password generator threw up on it.
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Foreign Language (on a technicality): This one's a grey area. While technically you can't shove Cyrillic characters in your name, some champions have names with accents in other languages. So, if you're feeling the urge to channel your inner Fiora with a fancy "Fíora," it might be worth checking if that specific spelling is available. Just remember, some accents might not display properly on all systems.
Remember: These are just workarounds, and there's always the chance you might get a friendly message from Riot asking you to change your name if it gets flagged.
Embrace the Ordinary, or Go Rogue (at Your Own Peril)
Look, at the end of the day, a cool name is nice, but it's your skills that will truly make you a legend (or at least get you out of Bronze). So maybe focus on those fancy outplays instead of fancy fonts.
However, if you're feeling particularly adventurous, there are some workarounds you can try at your own risk. We won't mention them here (plausible deniability and all that), but a quick Google search with terms like "special characters for League names" might lead you down a path of potential trouble. Just remember, with great power comes great responsibility (and the possibility of a forced name change).
The moral of the story? Keep it clean, keep it clear, and focus on being a legend through your gameplay, not just your name. Unless your name is actually "The_ one_and_only_Legendary_Pro_Gamer," but that might be a bit much, even for us.