Character names becoming hard to come by
By
Ad Astra,
Posted on: 2009-09-30 09:22 in Suggestions and Ideas
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This is an easy way to get into difficulty. The worst that could happen is that someone who knows the language a bit better will find your machine translation awkward or ungrammatical, like that Latin is. I know what it's trying to say, but you really want the genitive case there. The English word order makes it sound more like it's ice made of a girl, rather than a girl of ice. Puella glaciei would be better.|
Originally Posted by BaronVonSavage
i think the Thesaurus/Dictionary route is a good one to take. Also, try an online latin converter like:
http://www.translation-guide.com/fre...glish&to=Latin Ice Girl = glacies puella Works for me  |
You could wind up with unexpected double entendres or just look bad. I am especially suspicious of Japanese or pseudo-Japanese names. Remember the classic site making fun of Japanese people trying to write English, or using it for decoration? This works both ways.
I've never run into problems using historical, mythological, or literary names. Some of my more recent characters on Victory include:
William Shakespeare rad/arch def
Madame Nhu widow
Betsy Ross spines/wp scrapper
Spaghetti Monster warshade
Yansan electric/shield tanker
Ranavalona claws/wp brute
All of these names are based on mythological or historical figures, although one is from a slightly more recent mythology.
<《 New Colchis / Guides / Mission Architect 》>
"At what point do we say, 'You're mucking with our myths'?" - Harlan Ellison
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Ditto. |
Originally Posted by stever
Nope.
5 years of heavy altitis, and I just never have hardly any trouble coming up with names. Quit trying for Fire Man, Ice girl and such? Go ahead and put a couple of the names you are looking for here. Many people who keep starting a thread like this have let us help. You will get good suggestions. |
5 years . . . multiple accounts . . . and I have rarely had to try more than twice to get a name. On the rare occasion when the name was the most important feature I was easily able to find it available on one of the eleven servers.
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I got Working Class Hero and Luddite Overlord just last week. There are plenty of good names to be had out there.
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Originally Posted by Jadeus
I have noticed that when I create a new character that the hardest part of character creation has been finding a name that is not already in use. If there is anything a player wants it is unique character with a cool name. I do not like the idea of throwing a number after a name just to have a certain title. How about a name generator or giving veteran players some priority on names. I am sure there are pleanty of dead accounts that are soaking up some very cool names. Just a suggection.
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"Null is as much an argument "for removing the cottage rule" as the moon being round is for buying tennis shoes." -Memphis Bill
I *always* have trouble with names...but then I suck at making names.
I do have my moments though. Just recently created an alternate version of an old character, his concept is his mom created a specialized magitech suit for him. My back-up was going to be something dumb like Magitech-Swordsman but luckily Golden Ronin was available (which describes the yellow electric armor).
Another suggestion, try adding colors to your names. We only recently got color customization so that's a resource not too severely tapped yet...at least I haven't. And there are so many names for colors...
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^^
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Originally Posted by Obsidius
I'm a vet player, and I have no problem coming up with unique names. And they don't even include numbers or weird characters or anything
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Last weekend, I rolled an insect-themed Shield/SS tank. I already had Wikipedia open to look up alternate names, specific species, etc. Imagine my surprise when I got "Shield Bug" on the first try.
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Originally Posted by Lemur Lad
I got Working Class Hero and Luddite Overlord just last week. There are plenty of good names to be had out there.
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@Roderick
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That is an excellent name.
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Originally Posted by Lemur Lad
Working Class Hero
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"That's a full day's work, lad... and don't you forget it!"
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Originally Posted by Lemur Lad
Working Class Hero
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Character index
The "be uniquer, let me help" crowd aside, there are plenty of people who either (1) would like the script to be run more often, in case that might help (though, for all we know, it could be run daily), or even better (2) would prefer a non-unique naming system.
Nothing breaks immersion faster than not being able to get the name you wanted, or even a logical variation of it. And don't even get me started on numbers substituted for letters or extraneous periods. Every time I see one of those walk by, I curse our restrictive naming system.
I'm sure there are brilliant people out there who can think of alternative names, but there really is no point in retaining the status quo. The brilliant people can continue being unique even if the system were changed.
Personally, considering how often this complaint comes up, I think that non-unique naming would be a financial boon for the game. Not only would people be more inclined to stay in the game if they could have their desired name, but renaming tokens would sell like hotcakes.
At least, I'm assuming hotcakes sell well. I see Waffle Houses and IHOPs everywhere, but I have no hard sales data on hotcakes.
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This is the perfect example of how people just see this problem differently. You see the naming examples above as the solution, and a good one. I see it as a symptom of the problem. |
Originally Posted by treboreleets
When I have trouble getting a name I want, I usually just misspell it and it gets me the name.
Examples: Desired name = Crimson Angel. Name I used = Krimzon Angel Desired name = We Are Legion. Name I used = We R Legion Desired name = Chaos Black. Name I used = Kaos Blak |
I really, really dislike deliberate misspellings, numbers substituting for letters, etc., and consider those names immersion-breaking.
Meanwhile, other people would have a big problem with non-unique naming in that seeing a second Crimson Angel down the block would grate on their nerves. However, I think its a bit of a fallacy to think you would see the latter happen often - I can't recall the last time I saw two similarly-named characters on the same day.
All I can say is that a feature like non-unique naming would be a draw to me, and I suspect others. Except in extreme cases, I can't see it driving people away, even if they don't see the need for it. I hope the developers consider it as a future feature.
I very seldom have trouble coming up with a name that I like.
Examples within the last few months:
Snowstrike, Magmaflow, Magnetic North, Realityburn, Amplified (that one surprised me)
All good superhero names, and all were available when I tried, spelled correctly even.
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Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
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Then you should have no problem renaming all of your characters when someone takes the names you chose away.|
Originally Posted by Johnny_Velocity
The "be uniquer, let me help" crowd aside, there are plenty of people who either (1) would like the script to be run more often, in case that might help (though, for all we know, it could be run daily), or even better (2) would prefer a non-unique naming system.
Nothing breaks immersion faster than not being able to get the name you wanted, or even a logical variation of it. And don't even get me started on numbers substituted for letters or extraneous periods. Every time I see one of those walk by, I curse our restrictive naming system. I'm sure there are brilliant people out there who can think of alternative names, but there really is no point in retaining the status quo. The brilliant people can continue being unique even if the system were changed. Personally, considering how often this complaint comes up, I think that non-unique naming would be a financial boon for the game. Not only would people be more inclined to stay in the game if they could have their desired name, but renaming tokens would sell like hotcakes. At least, I'm assuming hotcakes sell well. I see Waffle Houses and IHOPs everywhere, but I have no hard sales data on hotcakes. |
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| All I can say is that a feature like non-unique naming would be a draw to me, and I suspect others. |
Another point about non-unique names is that, for no fault of their own, people with one of the more popular ones may well find themselves lumped together.
By which I mean:
I team with Drizzt79, who turns out to be an idiot.
I then team with Drizzt21, who unfortunately also turns out to be an idiot.
The next day, I have a chance to team with Drizzt34 (who is actually an excellent player and all round good egg) but pass because of the association in my head with the others of the same name.
However, it turned out that Smith was not a time-travelling Terminator
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Agreed. I had a technology based energy blaster on Protector named TC-0918. It had absolutely no meaning, but looked cool for a toon that half cyborg. |
Originally Posted by Captain_Photon
Technology characters are especially easy in this regard, because you can always apply car-manufacturer-style code numbers, which look cool and are pretty much infinite. "Prototype" is probably taken, for instance, but I bet "Prototype M590" isn't; and if it is, well, there's always "Prototype M591". And so on.
I freely admit that's kind of a lazy way out, but it beats being "xXxWolverinexXx" and then getting genericked anyway. |
Oh, and if I see one more toon with the xXx______xXx type name, I think I'll poke my eyes out with a stick! There was a toon on Protector with that name type who got mad at me on a team when I referred to him as "Triple X" instead of the "______" that came between the multitutude of X's.
However, it turned out that Smith was not a time-travelling Terminator
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Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
Then you should have no problem renaming all of your characters when someone takes the names you chose away.
Then you should love CO. |
Huh? Who said anything about taking names away? I'm not sure what that means.
Regarding CO, yes it does have such a feature. However, one feature does not a great game make. Given time to mature and add content and get everything balanced, CO could be really good. But I've become convinced that the first year of any new MMO is skippable.
I think you miss my point. I'm advocating that this one feature - a really good one - be considered for this game. Much like power customization - you know, that really popular feature that got added right when CO was going live.
Such an addition would support the mini-business model that has been helping this game stay healthy for the past year or more: low-resource additions that promote optional RMT transactions, in this case, rename tokens. Not much different than costume packs.
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You are describing a problem that (1) is a problem that exists under the current naming system, and (2) is a product of your bias, not of the naming system. How is this a "point about non-unique names?"
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Originally Posted by Kiken
Another point about non-unique names is that, for no fault of their own, people with one of the more popular ones may well find themselves lumped together.
By which I mean: I team with Drizzt79, who turns out to be an idiot. I then team with Drizzt21, who unfortunately also turns out to be an idiot. The next day, I have a chance to team with Drizzt34 (who is actually an excellent player and all round good egg) but pass because of the association in my head with the others of the same name. |
Personally, I love toons whose names are painfully self-descriptive. I've run into a Heatroller, PBlapper, and my personally favorite, the reknown hero CONTROLLLER (the triple L is essential. I think Controller was already taken). Creativity right there.
That aside, I do have problems coming up with unique names, but I don't have a problem with having a problem. Sounds weird? Let me explain:
I see it as an excercise in creativity. There's just some things that are obvious. I like being unique, but I don't have a tome that lists all the obvious names, and even if I had, I'd be too lazy to check up on it every time. It might take me ten or twenty tries, but when I come up with a name, I can proudly say that it is MY name that I came up with. I can be confident in the knowledge that I am the only Battle Ballerina in town!
Though I am not strictly opposed to purging names of unused accounts, it does make me feel rather uneasy. Much as I like CoX, it DOES get repititive eventually, and you'll just end up taking a break. I'd hate to come back after half a year and find that half my toons now need new names. It'd just break my heart after coming up with those names in the first place. I guess you just can't have your cake and eat it, too.
More pointless anecdote time! So yesterday I rolled a new toon, a Mind/Fire Dominator. I went with that classic Tempter Devil angle, lulling you into all the wrong choices with clever rhetoric and empty promises and the like. Because I like the idea of that kinda devil wearing white simply because it's a 'good' colour and it fits a manipulator to wear something 'good', I eventually tried the name 'White Lies'. Naturally, being on Virtue, the name was taken.
After about half an hour of brain-storming, I came up with the name Honest Fiend. I quite like that name, even if I may have preferred White Lies. It's unique, though, so I'm proud of that.
So I've been playing my Dom and reached level 5 and did a Mayhem Mission, yadda yadda, etc etc, you know the drill. I picked Mr Bocor as my first proper contact. We are wearing the same exact outfit.
At that point, all Game Show failure sounds from the sixties onwards to the present played in my head.
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I think another fundamental difference of the people on the opposite sides of the non-unique naming issue is the value we place on being unique. For you, not being unique in avatar and name was a total failure. It would not affect me the same way.|
Originally Posted by Noxilicious
At that point, all Game Show failure sounds from the sixties onwards to the present played in my head.
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I was wondering why a few days ago and I realized: my real life name is John. My name is as far from being unique as it can possible be in the English-speaking world. My uniqueness comes from within, and it has always had to.
I don't want to cross the line and tell you "how to feel," but you may want to reconsider how much to value uniqueness of appearance or name. Doesn't your real value come from other sources - resourcefulness in battle, personal relationships you have forged, knowledge of the game, etc.?
(By the way, there was one game show with a uniquely different "failure sound" - The Gong Show.)
Names are easy to create on your own are with one of the name generators on the internet.
I usually use names of people that I met over the years and slap a color, number or verb, noun or adverb on a I'm in the game playing my newly monikered toon. One of my toonz is named NEO OEN which shows that you can come up with a name by just reversing a word.
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Valid as those are, most of these sources are more concerned with me, the player, rather than the toon at hand. My toon's name, costume and to a greater extend bio are the first, and often last measures of individuality they have. Short of the occasional light-hearted RP, my toons are just avatars for me to interact with the names. |
Originally Posted by Johnny_Velocity
I don't want to cross the line and tell you "how to feel," but you may want to reconsider how much to value uniqueness of appearance or name. Doesn't your real value come from other sources - resourcefulness in battle, personal relationships you have forged, knowledge of the game, etc.?
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As much as I want them to be unique, they are not supreme works of literary genius, nor did I ever intend them to be that. That's just a wee bit too much work for just a game character. It's a bit disappointing to see that even a contact wears the same outfit as I do, but it's hardly a total failure for me and I'll keep playing that toon and having fun.
It's not like I run home and cry myself to sleep every time I see someone wearing the same top as I do.
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If my value did in fact come from those things, then a unique name should be more important to me than less, especially since two of those things involve relating to other people. Anything that increases the chance that my feats and skills will be confused with someone else means that they immediately get genericized. I'm not the Lemur Lad people ask to team, or the one they ask questions, I MIGHT be that one, or I MIGHT be the one people avoid like the plague. Or someone who goes to find me may find someone impersonating me by mistake and I may end up getting blamed for things I didn't do or say.|
Originally Posted by Johnny_Velocity
I don't want to cross the line and tell you "how to feel," but you may want to reconsider how much to value uniqueness of appearance or name. Doesn't your real value come from other sources - resourcefulness in battle, personal relationships you have forged, knowledge of the game, etc.?
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What I really value is feeling secure. A system that makes it easier for people to spoof or be spoofed does not add to that.
"Null is as much an argument "for removing the cottage rule" as the moon being round is for buying tennis shoes." -Memphis Bill
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Figures I'd take heat for posting what I did, but I'm afraid I still stand by what I said - there is no shortage of good names, there is a shortage of obvious names. There will never be a shortage of good names with the player base we have even if the game lives to be 100 years old. Changes to the game's underlying infrastructure aside, you can choose to view this as a problem, throw your hands in the air and give up, or you can choose to view it as a limitation to work around.|
for thinking that if *you* don't perceive a problem, then there isn't one -negative reputiation |
The fact is some of the greatest works of fiction have come about exactly because creators didn't have complete freedom. The scary, tension-building first part of Jaws where you don't see the shark is a good example, brought about not as an artistic statement, but because the mechanical shark wasn't working and they had to keep filming. The teleporter pads in Star Trek are another example. Originally, they were supposed to use a shuttle, but because of budget constraints, a cheesy effect would have to do, ending up becoming a cult symbol.
Names are a lot like that. Yes, sometimes it's easiest and most convenient to just pick the first name you come up with, but oftentimes NOT having the name and looking for a different, sometimes even more creative alternative leads to a superior character overall.
And before people line up to jump on my head, I'm not really interested in uniqueness, and certainly wouldn't want to keep all my names to myself so other people can't use them. On the contrary - abuse aside, let people use my names if they want, long as I get to keep them. It's the fact that you need SOMETHING to identify different characters by, and all of the suggestions for this that I've seen over the years are both ugly as sin and STILL highly impractical. Champions' misbegotten practice of appending your global name to every character's name is NOT something I want to see here, nor are all the different "phone number" appendix identifiers suggested otherwise. You need to tell the different players using the same name apart, and there is simply no way to make this both convenient and not ugly.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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If we had a name system like CO's, I'd be running around with my level 50 Tanker Blue Bunny, rather than the far more classy and unique Lapin Lazuli. I'm glad someone had taken my obvious and unoriginal name so I could come up with something far more clever.
In a game where there are so many quadrillions of combinations of character image potential... getting a unique name IS as important as getting the right look.
If you - whoever - want to have "Super Fire Dude" go right ahead. You are indistinguishable from the others who have a similarly dull or uninspired name.
My first 50, Retail Retali8r, got so many compliments on the name and story (she's me, so I'm happy about that) that I'm glad I carried the 8r 'thing' onto the next generation: her ingame kids are Procrastin8r and Oblivi8r.
They would not be even close to as meaningful to me - and probably many folks who know me and my characters - without the little tweak 8r.
But by all means. Be average and common. Just be aware that if you can't find a version of the SAME NAME ALL YOUR FRIENDS WANTED... it's because it's average and common.
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
Repurposed
Every now and then I see a character with an "obvious" name and a low level. Sometimes I'll shoot them a tell, asking if it's a reroll of a placeholder or other old character. Quite often, it's not.
My characters at Virtueverse
Faces of the City