What I dislike the most

While I acknowledge the flaws in the current naming system, I used to toss my hat in with the "be a little more creative and it isn't an issue" crowd. Experience has changed my mind-- sometimes "being creative" means finding a particular inspiration and following it through. Sometimes the right name is the most critically-defining element of a character.


I have a character in a story- an older guy... a hero who's had other monikers over the years but now just goes by his real last name, which happens to be "Shepherd." He's a callous character with people issues- a personality that's meant to contrast against (and sometimes compliment with) the idealized mental image many think of (the "good shepherd" ).

Another character in that story is a reporter trying to get Shepherd's story. He resorts to tagging along in the circles that Shepherd frequents as a kind of "embedded" reporter, slowly earning the trust of this the hero crowd. Having explained once that he was "working freelance" on this one, "Freelance" became the moniker that the others used for him. Another double purpose. A freelancer usually doesn't stick around. He's there for a specific purpose/goal/employer and when the task is gone, so is he. The name doesn't just describe his job, but might reflect his loyalty (or lack thereof) to the group.

Neither of these characters' names could be changed without significantly altering what the name contributed to the story. Appending a color ("Scarlet Shepherd") or rank ("Captain Shepherd" ) or full name full name ("Tom Shepherd") won't convey the same meaning. The names may not be good names by some peoples' standards, but they help define these two in a way that no other name would. I won't even go into some of the supporting characters like "Tabby."

Had I ever wanted to bring these characters alive in City of Heroes (I don't), I'd be hard pressed to find a free server with those names available (I checked).


I know many people aren't going to give nearly the thought or planning into their creation. For them, the techniques mentioned by others to assist in name creation will serve them well, but don't dismiss others as being lazy when they don't. This game's character designer is phenomenal at letting you follow your muse and create something truly yours in every way except one: the name.

If you're creative enough, no one will ever have the name before you grab it.

If you can't think of the things that could go wrong with having multiple people with the same character name running around, or having large, ugly character names with globals (which some people like to keep to themselves) or server names (still won't solve multiple people wanting the same name), there's no point trying to convince you to think of a different way to come up with character names.

"All the Good names are taken" is never valid. There is no reason to fix the naming system that's worth the effort or the grief it would cause to players who get along just fine with the current model.

Saying things like "If I want to make a Flash character" tells us you're not creative enough. Be more original.

I would love a system that allowed the freedom to make duplicate names.

I don't mind a system that allows duplicate names IF the person who had the name first sees no alteration of THEIR name.

In other words (not that I think anyone would choose my name but using it as an example)

My main toon is: I Burnt The Toast

If someone else came along and wanted that name I think their name should appear as:

@Global:I Burnt The Toast

If this were the system.. I would make damn sure I never had a name that had @Global:Name because frankly I think that looks about as stupid as it comes


If a new naming system came that made all my current toons have @Global:Name even though I chose the name first... I would be a lil upset. I personally think such naming systems are stupid looking and take away more from the individualization of the game than anything. But hey if Joe Schmoe is happy with @Global:Mecha Man then so be it.

I truly am tired of all these "name" threads though...and wish they would just go away. I see people create toons on a daily basis with some very cool names and a lot of the time I think to myself "Wow... I am surprised no one had that name before...."

I'm not saying people who support new naming procedures are lazy or unimaginative, but I just hope IF something ever happens to allow more "diverse" names that it does not affect me and my already unique names. I take great pride in my names...and if a new policy were to come along that butchered them ala putting @Global in front of them... I'm not sure if that would be the final nail in the coffin for me, but I do know it would push me away from this game.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paladiamors I love you, I Burnt the Toast!

Personally, I'm against the idea of allowing multiple uses of the same name on a server because doing so would break the genre this game is supposed to be emulating. In comic books, a character's name is their identity. With a few very specific exceptions, there is only one person per comic universe using any given name. When someone says, "I saw Superman today!", everyone knows exactly who they mean. Nobody has to ask, "Which one?"

The simple fact is all the easy and obvious names are in use. Many of the easiest you can't have, period, because they're copyrighted. You need to be flexible with the name when coming up with a character's concept. Don't fixate on a particular name. Let the back story suggest multiple possibilities.

Perhaps this is just me, but I think the game would loose a lot of it's appeal if there were 16 dozen Capt. Incredibles running around.