If I might put forward an argument in favor of unit name exclusivity (bear with me here). The points Grimm, ogre, and devilman have put forward are valid, and make a lot of sense. My one concern with such a free system is reputation. Granted, this is a rather esoteric worry, as we know very little about contracts (computer based at this time, but who knows in the future), or how merc corps will work. That doesn't mean that a unit's reputation within a game means little or nothing.
One problem I can see is recruitment. If there is the Grey Death Legion, the Gray Death Legion, the GrayDeathLegion, and the GreyDeathLegion all running around in the game world, it may be very easy for one group of yahoos to bring everyone down. As the game progresses, and corps want to expand, or attract new recruits, word of mouth might become an important faction to a unit's reputation, and if there are rumors or lone wolves going around saying that the GrayDeathLegion, are a bunch of jerks - it could impact the Grey Death Legion's recruiting. Already there is a website launched for Lone Wolves to go and talk about merc corps, and generally rate the best employers. I'd hate to see a good unit's name sullied by a few bad apples.
Limiting unit names to Battalions, or Companies would pose problems for the reasons outlined above, which isn't great - but I think it is the best solution. I don't want to see anyone excluded from their favorite canon unit because they signed up after the game was released and that unit was no longer recruiting - that's no fun for anyone. I just don't think minor name variations should be allowed either, for the aforementioned reputation issues.
It's definitely a sticky situation, and I'm not trying to throw a wrench into anything - I just figured I'd voice a potential issue that I thought of when reading the thread. Anyone else have any thoughts on this?
Edited by Listless Nomad, 27 April 2012 - 06:59 AM.