That being said, under 1.8+ if you are logged in as staff, and click new ticket it will bring you to the user selection/search pop up so that you can select who to open the ticket for.
If you are logged in as a client, and click on "Open New Ticket" it opens a ticket as the client that is logged in.
Yes, that is what is happening. I guess it is just a confusing UI to me. I am creating my own tickets, so I wouldn't expect it to do this.Strange.