Then why didn't it state that out right?

I got stumped from the start having used my forum name in the first field

for security reasons they cant have your username be the same as your forum nickname

oh I understand that, the problem was I thought my forum name was my user name....its the name I typed into the field when I accessed the forum after all and it was the name given to all my postings on the forum

I just don't understand the purpose of the changeable nickname. I'm the only person who will ever see it seeing as it only comes up in account management and the top of the main page.

nickname is your forum name... the other one is useless and should be removed from the signup imo.

Wait only I can see my nick name?

no, the nickname is your forum handle, im pretty sure... but the other one is literally just the thing at the top of the page.

It said I wasnt allowed to use the same name. Hence I went from being BridgetFisher to TheBridgetFisher in search of an origin story now.

hmm, that was just for the username. (for security reasons)