I haven't been playing for a while, but figured I'd give my 2 cents. I hope it helps, if only a little bit.
On the one hand, I feel for those who have been asked to rename their characters lately. Doc's and Dylan's warnings probably gained the most attention (because there's a lot of quality RP associated with those names), but it would be unfair to stop just at them; I recall a warning about LotR references, and maybe a few others. Personally, I consider it going too far. On the other hand, I do see where the staff are coming from. And I don't envy their position of having to decide between the spirit and the letter of the rules. All of that on their own free time, instead of playing the game or doing something else.
Regardless of the staff's choice, there would've been disagreements: either this one, or one over "favoritism" and "What about faction/person X?". That's because compassion, justice, and doing what's right aren't always the same. I've actually enjoyed this example:
The Lane Hackers have been using pop-culture references as their "public identities" for longer than a decade. By the letter of the rules, they need to rename most of their characters as well. But would that be a right thing to do? Definitely not, for it would ruin the identity of the most immersive faction out there. Ironic, considering that "war on references" is all about RP and immersion.
That does leave the question: "Where do we draw the line? What's more important? Maybe it's the transparent and unambiguous rules that apply to everyone. Or the immersion of people playing the game on the server. Or maybe it is us being accommodating to all members of the community." Any of these answers draws a different line and carries certain risks if overdone. A sanctioned player might leave the server. Rules with a lot of clauses could be too intimidating. But a lack of them could lead to diminishing RP (which, arguably, is the thing that's been keeping Disco going) and make a new arrival disappointed with what they thought was an RP server.
What complicates things even more is that every member of this community draws the line at a different place. I'd consider "Darth.Vader" inappropriate for the setting as well. But Elite: Dangerous allegedly has NPCs like "Mace Windu" or "Hotpants" (either to emulate "real players", or simply because a Commander just so happened to pick that callsign). So the people who name their characters that way on Disco either don't know the rules, aren't checking the forums, or find it appropriate. Some even went through that phase towards being some of the best RPers out there, all without sanction notices in their hold.
I don't really have any "right" solutions here (because "right' is subjective as well). Even the obvious "Consider how and why decision will benefit or harm the community" might lead to different answers. I guess I just wanted to offer words of support: not only to those affected by the newly-enforced policies (these "warnings" kind of look ridiculous), but also to the staff. Being in charge of anything important means getting some flak, whether or not the decisions you make are ultimately wrong or right. So I just wish you to weather through it and find a solution that works best for the community and its individual members.
