I also find “idols” to be a strange naming in the game focused around time travelling. Something like “time shard” would suit better.
But EHG cannot just change 2 words, they would need to redo many different things - dialogs, lore, idols design, etc., and this issue is so minor, that, honestly, it’s not worth the effort. Idols it is!
I don’t see any issue with it being called idol in LE’s setting. They are idols that people worshipped and they are imbued with mystical properties that give you character stats.
You could call it something else, but I find idols better suited for this purpose than time shards.
Thanks for your reply. This is a interesting take on the topic. Since the game is based in role-playing your point does make sense but, having something in-sync with the game should of been considered since idols is like a diablo thing from what another user mentioned and that type of system has been explored to its limits kind of. 
In a broader sense everyone in the arpg community seems to be stuck in the past with regards to arpg’s and their mechanics while trying to build something new. LE should bring its own identity TBH so that future arpg’s have a new model to gain inspiration from vs some games our grandpa designed. 
Thanks for your reply. Yes this is very subjective but it is a game so everyone will have different feelings about every aspect right. pretty sure someone will complain even about having endless bags… while other games restrict it entirely “diab” uh never mind.
Thanks for your reply. I agree it could be something i dare say cooler… but, i also agree with the second point that it would be a lot of development work to change something that just works out of the box right now.
Possibly they could implement something in the future. Imagine that spot changed with seasonal releases and they put in seasonal items there or a stash for fragments in the future for a more hardcore mode.
LE could even make it a place to store boss only drops of trinkets or relics that are RNG rolls to keep players farming bosses which would increase play and retention rates and still serve the purpose of allowing players to empower there self without needing to drop 100’s or 1000’s of idols in each zone, it could actually unclutter a lot of the games plumbing by simplifying it.
Imagine the LE team came up with a way to farm these items from bosses that would be amazing since right now the bosses in the game really don’t drop much of anything useful, I know players farm tons of bosses in POE and that’s a huge thing for solo play, It could be here also or something even better.
But then surely that’s an issue with the idol system rather than the name. They’re just charms from D2 with their own dedicated inventory space. Calling them “Dave” wouldn’t change them mechanically.
Apart from boss-specific uniques and blessings (they’re coded as items, believe it or not). Maybe they could/should drop more but you can’t say they don’t drop much.
Just call them “charms”. Having them be “idols” is going to be pointlessly insulting to followers of most major religions. It’s not 1999 anymore where it’s cool to insult religious people.
Thanks for your reply. interesting take on the naming this is true but, just seems like a dated name i like the sound of EV’s vs the sound of electric cars it just gives it a spin to get new interest even thought its technically just a car.
Thanks for the correction, I was referring to target farming bosses for low drop items potentially could lead to some dedicated gameplay strategies. 
Thanks for your reply. Sounds like a interesting take on the post. Correct people in general are a lot more sensitive to things now, I guess its just a new generations take on things of the internets.
I like this idea 
I find ‘Charms’ insulting. Now change it. See, you can’t go down that path, it’s slippery. Especially if you start being insulted on behalf of other things.
If we’re just looking for better names, ‘Artifacts’ might work better thematically, or as Kingmaker suggested, Relics?
Either way, in the end I don’t think it’s enough of a concern to spend design time on over other things…
Archeologists might get offended by that.
Seriously, though, it’s a fantasy story. It tells the story of a world that has multiple gods. If you’re not offended by multiple gods existing (and your own not existing in the story), then why would you be offended by the name idols? Maybe we shouldn’t have statues of those gods in the game either? Or maybe we should get rid of the gods altogether and we’re time-travelling priests? Should we get rid of the Shaman and Druid classes because they’re equated to “pagans”?
Idols make perfect sense in this story. It’s not insulting. If you feel insulted then that’s your own fault and you shouldn’t play, read or watch fantasy stories. I’ll even go so far as to say that wanting to change the name due to religious beliefs, in this context, is censorship.
So the religious people would be offended by the name of an item type but not a core premise of the lore where you
For hundreds/thousands of years, religions have been happy to kill, maim or persecute anyone who disagrees with them being in power their specific interpretation of their holy book but the moment a video game starts using words (not crucifixes, swords, stones, burning at the stake, etc) to be edgy (it’s not always about offending the religious people) they get up in arms, because heaven help it if their fefes get hurt.
Also, the term charm is associated with pagan religions so it should be just as “offensive” to a “truely devout” religious person.
Artifacts/relics could also be offensive 'cause quite a lot of them get stolen from people that don’t have as many big guns & some end up in the British museum.
TLDR, perhaps any religious people who get offended by some words but not others or actions should potentially read their preferred holy book & turn the other cheek (one of them says that) & maybe focus their time on making the world a better place.
What a non-issue this is…
If you are so easily offended by words, most of the internet is a bad place for you.
If you let a word break your immersion, that’s a you problem.
Thanks for your reply. Seems like most players have an interaction with this area or with these items in the game. By offering an alternative opinion on how it can be changed, improved, or modified seems like a fun idea or suggestion that can lead to something cool and impactful changes in the game future.
As far as taking offence to anything said on the internet i almost thought that was a meme for second 
The term “idol” is not exclusive to religious communities. American Idol. Idol Worship. A sports figure/celebrity being someone’s idol, for example(s). It’s pretty dishonesty for a group to use a term, and then claim it as being exclusively theirs.
And where do you think that came from?
Why? It originated with “them”. And I think its usually used in a worship-related manner, worship being the main focus of religion.
Sorry bud, not seeing it.
Not really. Idols is a term that was used by many previous religions way before the current religions used it. In fact, the whole idol worship issue arose from “pagan” religions (which basically just means other religions not “your own”) worshipping them in the first place.
Yes, but it’s a religious term, not a term that civil society or the military or scientists came up with, that was my entire point. It’s irrelevant whether the current big religions came up with the term thousands of years ago or whether a preceeding religion came up with it, doubly so since it wouldn’t have been in English in any event so “we” probably stole the term & Anglicised it & changed it over the past 1-2 thousand years.
I’d be surprised if those original pagans called the things they worshiped “idols” & since none of them are around anymore we can’t go and ask them. And any texts written about them would have been written by “our” lot, not themselves and so highly likely to be a teensy bit biased against the other religions.
You’re probably thinking about celtic druids or similar, but idols are a very well documented case from many religions, like Greek or Roman, which are written by themselves, not from the outside.
Just because a word wasn’t in english doesn’t mean it doesn’t have the same meaning. Germans have a different word for it, but it still means idol. Likewise for Japanese or any other language. Otherwise we would still be living in Babel times.