I created a new character for the beta today and spent the first 10 minutes trying to come up with a unique name. Why not allow duplicate names?

because then it would be harder to send private message for example

/tell playername

anyway coming up with a good name is one of the fun parts of character creation

Because then it would be tedious trying to sift through multiple character files until you find the right player to message.

How could it have taken 10 minutes? You can have a first and last name separated by a space, or even a middle name too, that makes it pretty easy to be unique. I have named 5 characters and only had one name already taken (Lisl Angesdottir, I changed it to Lisl Gertasdottir and that passed)

I'm sorry but this is the wrong forum for reporting problems with your beta game play. Please refer to the following quote for further assistance. Also please note that the link to the beta forum is in your beta invitation. Please read the invitation carefully before playing the game. If you don't find the link in the invitation please ensure you have allowed your email client to display images and links. Happy testing! Remember, it's a test not a game release.

Don't talk about the beta here in any way, shape or form.