Traska
-
Posts
81 -
Joined
-
Quote:The problem is, by the time I start making the character, the backstory's just about written itself. Name first then backstory comes to me about as naturally as dessert then main course.Originally Posted by badmartialarts
You should do what I do and start with the name. Try the name. Does it work? Great, NOW write the backstory. You're doing it a valid way for a game that hasn't been out for 8 years. -
Quote:Ranks don't work (other than Captain, ad that often sounds pretentious) unless your character is of a military mindset.Originally Posted by EvilGeko
Take your desired name; add:
Ranks (Captain, Sgt., Major, Lt.)
Titles of Nobility (Lord, Count, Duke, Baron)
Adjectives & Adverbs (Sassy; Psycho; Stinging)
I have NEVER been unable to get a name that fits my concept. And usually in the first couple of tries. The game is 8 years old. All the single word easy names are gone. Accept it and move on.
titles of nobility don't work unless your character *is* pretentious, or they're legitimately nobility.
And the adjectives and adverbs idea (especially the examples given) honestly make me think of "The Deadly Bulb". A good superhero name should *never* make me think of The Tick. -
Quote:Such as the Teen Titans cartoon.Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
Well at least they didn't try to use younger versions of the exact same characters. In that they are the children of the original Avengers.
"The children are James Rogers (Son of Black Widow and Captain America), Henry Pym Jr. (Son of Giant-Man and Wasp), Azari (Son of Black Panther and Storm), and Torunn (Daughter of the absent Thor and Sif)."
I'm specifically referring to when they take a character that didn't start as a super hero until he or she was an adult and then retcon an child/teen version like Superboy. -
I would argue that the rights-holders for animation and toys didn't take them seriously, though.
-
Quote:I've been know to use tiaras as magical diadems.Originally Posted by Chase_Arcanum
For what it's worth: I'd buy them- even if priced close to a new powerset ( animation time is a sizable chunk of development time for new sets).
Right now, many of the "magical" explanations kinda assume an innate magical element at play. I like the idea of magical power that is granted through an item. Right now, I'm kinda limited to that item being gloves/bracers/armor (we don't even have many good neck-chain "amulets" in costume creator to use) because the powers appear to come from the body. Handheld items would add a welcome change. -
By the by, it's really telling of how well constructed this game is when this is a thread titled "What I dislike the most" and it's the naming policy. (For me, what I dislike the most is the lack of a cross-server bank, but I digress)
-
Quote:Same. I have a lot of characters... heck, I've got at least half a dozen electricity characters. Give me the option to make them more different from one another and it's a guaranteed sale.Originally Posted by Kurrent
I'd pay for them.
In fact, out of all the choices we now have with CoH:Freedom, my guaranteed purchases remain costume pieces/sets. The only set I haven't purchased at least in part is the Animal set, just because I don't have any animal concept characters. The CoT set I have selected pieces from. All the others I'm pretty sure I've bought outright.
New power animations would absolutely fall into the realm of guaranteed purchases for me. I love choices and options for how a character looks and moves, and I'd happily pay for a set of animations that could be used across multiple powers. -
Quote:This is what I was saying about not all names suit all people... out of that list of names, only Meson Inferno would grab me. There's nothing wrong with those other names, they just don't suit my style. As someone mentioned above, the vast majority of character names I make I try to visualized splashed across the top of a comic book cover.Originally Posted by Arcanaville
In the spirit of the challenge, I was thinking about more conventional "four-color" names and not the sort of names I normally look for. "Deep Friar" is more the sort of thing I would normally be thinking but I threw out any name (without checking) that didn't seem to be of a "Human Torch - Firestorm" sort of vintage.
My names aren't usually quite that conventional, but almost always available. I'm not sure I would even make a name that was as general as "fire-based." I'm more apt to name a fire controller called the Pyronanny (available), or a fire/ice tanker called the Cindercicle (available), or a Fire/Rad corruptor called Meson Inferno (available), or if I was going all fire maybe a Fire/Fire Blaster called Farrah Fireball (available). -
Quote:"Blapper" (Corralker?) powers are notoriously bad for re-animating, but that idea is gold.Originally Posted by dugfromthearth
a player had the awesome suggestion that we be able to buy power animations that we could use for any powerset.
so you could fire a pistol and have the fire blast powerset come from it
or hold your hands to your head and have the fire blast originate from your brain
they tying of powersets to specific animations is certainly an issue for a lot of characters. Fire is particularly bad with attacks all over the place - fire sword, breath fire, fire from hands, etc. -
I'd like to see Ranged Attack powers (most of them anyway; Dark Blast, Electrical Blast, Energy Blast, Fire Blast, Ice Blast, Psychic Blast, Radiation Blast, Sonic Attack, and Water Blast) be given the option to be used from a pistol or rifle. Such weapons are a staple of the superhero genre (Mr Freeze has an ice pistol, for example, and it's not hard to picture an energy blast rifle, or a radiation pistol).
With all the new weapon models out there (and especially with the Retro Sci-Fi set), making animations to make more use out of pistol and rifle models would make them more useful. -
As long as people are dissatisfied with a feature, they're going to keep asking that it be fixed (and yes, from a certain viewpoint, the system is broken).
-
Quote:Calling yourself "Ookillaowapringazing" is original, and you'd probably be the first on your server to have it. Neither of these things makes a good name. And I'm glad that you are able to find names, but the names that suit you likely would not suit everyone, just as the names that suit me would likely not suit everyone.Originally Posted by ClawsandEffect
dingdingding
We have a Winnah!
I have seldom been stumped for more than a few minutes in finding a name. My first choice is frequently taken, but I'm original enough that my second or third choice usually yields results.
The people who say they can NEVER find an original and appropriate name just aren't being original or creative enough, in my opinion. -
By the way, not all of my characters concepts are inflexible. I'll give you an example. I wanted to play a British armored hero named Spitfire (named in honor of the WWII fighter, naturally.) Well, that name wasn't going anywhere... so I made Supermarine Spitfire instead. Although quite honestly, I don't know how many more permutations I could have done if that didn't work.
But some characters are completely tied to their name... If Blueshifter hadn't worked, I likely would have scrapped the whole concept of the character. Luckily, it was free. And of course, I do use the thesaurus quite a bit for some characters, even if it leaves a few with names that are somewhat unsatisfying.
It all comes down to games are supposed to be fun, and spending an hour trying to name a character isn't. -
Quote:Okay, that's funny.Originally Posted by Texas Justice
Just as an FYI, I checked all but Vigilance and Zukunft.
Thick As A Brick was available on all servers except for Freedom and Protector. -
Quote:The thing is, I have never run into anyone with the name I actually want. And I mean never. They're never on at the same time I am. I'm willing to bet that if there were ten Fire Arrows on a server, the odds than any two of them would be playing simultaneously would be pretty low.Originally Posted by Schismatrix
Yeah, because "Fire Arrow@Dancing Squid" looks so four colour and superheroic when i see them run by me. (Edit: How did they pronounce "@" back in the four colour days anyway?)
Or... you hide the "@Dancing Squid" from view and then when you type the name to invite the "Fire Arrow" you wanted it goes out to four different "Fire Arrow" characters.
"No problem, just make it invite whatever "Fire Arrow" is in the zone at the time."
Excellent suggestion. The Fire Arrow(@Dancing Squid) that you wanted to invite already hopped a tram to Skyway while you were typing. Luckily Fire Arrow(@My Teeth Are Sharp) and Fire Arrow(@Herpaderp) are still in zone to get your invite.
See? Global naming is simple and easy, especially all the coding to implement it into the current game structure. Takes just a jiffy. (No, it really doesn't.) -
It's not a problem of creativity (I have near every server filled with characters, so I'm making them), it's a matter of not being able to play the character you want to play.
In non-superhero games, this generally isn't a problem... the chance that you're going to have the same fantasy based name as someone else is remote at best. But in the superhero genre, names tend to run along lines. Flame, Blaze, Fire, Spark.... Ice, Chill, Freeze, Frost... Mental, Mind, Psi, Psy... Using ice as an example, I honestly cannot think of a single comic-book hero or villain with ice powers that doesn't have some version of cold or ice in their name. It's just the genre.
Now, one can break genre (and go with a normal name like "Jenny Lewis" or "Jack Parker"), but I'm willing to wager than most people who play this game are superhero comic fans, and most of those fans started this game with the idea of playing the kind of character they'd read about. The problem is, the game makes it increasingly difficult to find an in-genre four color name. And saying Be Creative is all well and good... but that's precisely what I mean about in-genre. The vast majority of superhero names are:
- Based on main power
- Based on an animal or creature of myth
- Mister/Miss/Doctor/Captain fill-in-the-blank
- Color +fill-in-the-blank
- fill-in-the-blank man/woman/boy/girl -
Quote:A name is part of the core character concept. Change the name, change the character.Originally Posted by Nethergoat
or, just come up with another good name.
*shrug*
Coming up with "another good name" is changing the character concept. No amount of pithy dismissiveness can change that. -
One more thing: Before this goes any further, can we please pledge to break the cycle of how these threads usually go?
A: "I think that we should have a more open naming system."
B: "You suck."
A: "No, I just think that with the age of the game, we should take into account that the perfect name is no longer sitting out there."
B: "That's because you're stupid, unimaginative, and you suck." -
Quote:It's the very definition of being destructive: tearing down what you've built and building something different. Which is usually inferior due to being hastily slapdashed together.Originally Posted by Nethergoat
Actually, it is the very definition of being creative.
-
Ah, yes. I forgot I:
i) You suck at naming (and I am awesome at naming), so the naming system is perfect.
My "shortcomings" include a vivid imagination where the character virtually writes itself. Thus, having a character concept in mind, going to make said character, and finding out that because the game is eight years old and therefore the name is taken, that I can't name the character is something of a wet blanket on the entire process.
A name is important. If The Flash had been named "Runs Really Fast Man", or if Cyclops had been named "Laser Eyes Man", who here would take them seriously? A superhero name is more than what other people call you... it's insight into the character. Thing, Superman, Juggernaut. All three have immense strength, but all three are utterly different characters. The Thing is unsophisticated, Superman is more than just a pile of muscle, and the Juggernaut is unstoppable.
A name is part of the core character concept. Change the name, change the concept. -
Quote:Again, only speaks English and is thick as a brick (which is a valid character concept), why would they have a name in a language they likely can't pronounce?Originally Posted by Texas Justice
Feuern Sie Werfer isn't word salad, it's German.
Vider Le Lanceur isn't word salad, it's French.
Licenziare Il Lanciatore isn't word salad, it's Italian.
Surely you don't consider those obscure languages that no one knows.
Very few people born in America have a family tree that didn't originate from somewhere else in the world.
Why wouldn't someone want to honor a revered ancestor by naming them self in the language that ancestor spoke? Perhaps that ancestor was a hero as well and the brute is carrying on the family hero tradition and honoring that name. Perhaps it's for some other reason.
That's not a kludge. It's called a back story. Or part of an Origin story.
And yes, when you have a character concept already in mind (I very, VERY rarely start off with the design and then think of an origin story, it's usually that I think of an origin story and the name comes to me), then it's very much a kludge to have to change your character concept to fit a name you don't want in the least. -
Quote:"Florid Uvula" was the Be Creative one. That's vague enough that I don't have another example for that.Originally Posted by MisterMagpie
Just gonna throw that out there that you could, perhaps, use another option like the be creative one?
-
Quote:There's nothing creative about using a name like "Florid Uvula" for a fire blaster. It's just word salad. And just why would my born-in-America, only-speaks-English, thick-as-a-brick Brute have a name like "Douleur brutale"? It's a kludge at best.Originally Posted by Texas Justice
Be creative.
Use a Thesaurus.
Be creative.
Use a foreign language.
Be creative. -
Quote:I agree with you. But you're going to get a number of responses:Originally Posted by Power_NA
So, I decided to try a dark controller... Now, I am waiting to find a good name. I hate that part sooo very much. I think we should have what ever name we want. I don't want to sit around for 30 minutes to 1 hour lol. So any chance of the name limit being lifted? I woulld like this game ALOT more. I am ok with doing old missions, since at least I am playing. But this I am staring at my outfit trying get a name.
I also don't want to do this
dfaadfads
Someone Slap Me
So I guess I will do a name and put a period at the end of it :P
a) I like names like "This Is A Dark Troller LOL", so the naming system is perfect.
b) I like names like "Susan Walker", so the naming system is perfect.
c) I like using words from an obscure South Pacific Islander language that only three people with internet access int he world even know, so the naming system is perfect.
d) If the name "Darkness Rising" is taken, I just go down the list until I get to "Darkness Rising 312", so the naming system is perfect.
e) You can just add your account name after it already, like .traska, so the naming system is perfect.
f) There's nothing wrong with the naming system, so the naming system is perfect.
g) It's not going to happen, so don't even bother posting this.
h) I've got mine, so the naming system is perfect.
i) You suck at naming (and I am awesome at naming), so the naming system is perfect.
The thing is, I like four-color superhero names. And there's a limited pool of them to go around. (Don't believe me? Try making someone with a fire themed name that sounds even vaguely superheroish. Good luck!) Personally, I'd like to see a system where you can choose an "@accountname" name, or go without and use the more limited pool, knowing your name will be unique. Everybody wins!
EDIT: Forgot to include H.
EDIT 2: Adding I as well. -
Here's the funny thing. I made a few Praetorian characters. Haven't made a one since they opened up all classes to both sides.