Did you double-check all the ports? There's more information about that here which you probably read already, but best mention it again.
If the name were already taken, a dialog would come up, so it does sound like a connection issue of some kind. Are you behind a server/network firewall or is that a home network you're trying to create a toon from?
Edit: By the way, your name looks odd in the forum thread list, with parentheses: Epyonsam (). As though either those were typed as part of the name, or were not part of a shard. I wonder if that forum glitch is related to your issue.
If the name were already taken, a dialog would come up, so it does sound like a connection issue of some kind. Are you behind a server/network firewall or is that a home network you're trying to create a toon from?
Edit: By the way, your name looks odd in the forum thread list, with parentheses: Epyonsam (). As though either those were typed as part of the name, or were not part of a shard. I wonder if that forum glitch is related to your issue.