Aliases/Nicknames

[Forest Junkie]

If you give an alias to someone, please be nice about it and addkeyword <alias>. It's hard enough as it is to try and target someone amongst a group of other cloaked individuals, especially when the alias they give you isn't a coded working one.

Pretty please?

[mansa]

Aliases / Nicknames ?  I was confused with the general post, FJ, so maybe add a / nicknames to the subject?


As per nicknames - You don't have to.  But it makes things easier for us to target you in emotes, to contact you, and to lessen mistakes.

If you're worried about trying to make your character as mysterious as possible, why not just make a long and confusing nickname with multiple characters?  Or pick a common name like Shade, Smoke, or Amos, or something like that.

[Forest Junkie]

Changed, sorry.

How is it okay not to addkeyword on nicknames? If that's how someone knows you, don't you think they should be able to target you/contact you with it?

I think it's a little twinkish, honestly.

[touringCompl3t3]

Changed, sorry.

How is it okay not to addkeyword on nicknames? If that's how someone knows you, don't you think they should be able to target you/contact you with it?

I think it's a little twinkish, honestly.

This has gone back and forth in another post.

Personally, I have a somewhat moderate opinion but I disagree with you.  I'd like to be more accommodating and fall into line with your request, however I find your choice of tact to be questionable.

Here's how I view the logic that you're using:

"There is a pattern of behavior that inconveniences me.
Because it inconveniences me, it bothers me.
Because it bothers me, I'm going to insult the role-playing of people who indulge in this pattern rather than try to reason with them or ask nicely."

In other words, I disagree that it's twinkish and until the four or five people who are calling this twinkish adopt a more conciliatory stance, I personally am not likely to change.  I'd love to add keywords, etc. in order for us to enjoy the game more but I don't appreciate it being implied that I'm a twink.

-Melvin

[Tisiphone]

Changed, sorry.

How is it okay not to addkeyword on nicknames? If that's how someone knows you, don't you think they should be able to target you/contact you with it?

I think it's a little twinkish, honestly.

Not directly addressed to the question, but you can file a player complaint about keywords, requesting that the person doing this get their keyword added. Now that the staff have removed the capability to remove our own keywords, this should fix things up, in specific instances.

[Forest Junkie]

How do you even know I'm talking about your pc? I just want to have the ability to -target- said pc when speaking to them amongst five other cloaked figures.

If you don't think it's twinkish, then I hope you'd admit it's rather rude not to add a keyword at the behest of another player, especially if you have given them a name to call you by.

Your line of reasoning above is flawed as well. I never once followed the aforementioned steps you listed to come to my conclusion. It was more along the lines of:

"There is a pattern of behavior that inconveniences me and potentially other players do to the player in question's ability to be untargetable and thus safer in instances where actions might occur."

"Because it inconveniences me and potentially other players, I feel that said players in question should be courteous, especially when asked politely, to add the keyword they've offered IC."

"Because it bothers me, I'm going to insult the role-playing of people who indulge in this pattern create a post and politely ask them to add said keyword."

Read my first post please. I did ask politely. I said "please." What else do you want me to do, kiss your ass? I really don't think I'm asking for too much here guys.

[Riev]

Even JUST earlier, someone decided to start calling my PC by a nickname he may or may not actually enjoy, but I was nice enough to addkeyword "nickname" because, shit, its another name I can go by.

[jstorrie]

If you identify yourself with a certain nickname then you really ought to addkeyword it, yes. Not doing so is out-of-character trickery. It's a question of whether or not a player can target your PC with commands, and deliberately trying to make yourself untargetable in order to enjoy in-game benefits is pure twinkery.

If another PC starts calling you a certain name, not of your choosing, it's more of a grey area, I suppose. There are definitely good reasons why you wouldn't want to addkeyword your Byn-granted nickname of 'little jozhal' or 'Gortok Gord', after all.

[Delstro]

If you introduce yourself as KTHXBYE, then please add the keyword.

If I start calling you gith-bite, then I don't care either way, because I probably have your name already.

[Yam]

I feel no compulsion to addkeyword aliases that I may use for characters and I do not believe it to be OOC trickery.

[Lizzie]

I remember another thread about this. I still think the same about it. It's very frustrating when "the tall dark man" says in sirihish, "I'm Amos."

and then you try to

tell amos Hello

and you get:

There's no one like that here.

So you think, ok, maybe I spelled it wrong.

tell amso Hello.
There's no one like that here.

tell dark Hello
You tell the figure in the dark hooded cloak who had snuck in and has been lurking in a corner, watching, in sirihish, "Hello."

ooc misdirect

tell tall Hello.
You tell the tall skinny elf who just walked in, in sirihish, "Hello."

ooc misdirect.

say (to no one in particular, but hoping that someone specific might actually notice she was talking to him and add "amos" to his keyword list) Hello.

[flurry]

I would be interested to hear an explanation how it's not ooc trickery.  It sure seems like it is.

[flurry]

If you're worried about trying to make your character as mysterious as possible, why not just make a long and confusing nickname with multiple characters?

Because, ICly, the Way doesn't involve typing.

[Sokotra]

I'm not sure about this one.. I guess it would depend on the situation.  It would make sense that you should be able to target the 3rd dark figure standing in a row of 4 dark figures if that 3rd one said "yeah, I'm Amos, I killed your father".  But then again, if they are moving about sneakily and being confusing on purpose (in an IC manner) then that might be another story.

[Forest Junkie]

How about if you're talking face to face with them and they say "Hi, I'm Amos."

>l amos

...

No dice.

*facepalm*

[Riev]

I just don't see the issue with adding a ton of keywords if necessary. If five people know you by five different names, is there a problem -with- adding that many keywords? Lets keep the Way out of this, I don't believe it belongs in this conversation. I want to know, if someone tells you their name, but you can't even target them with that name, you are fucking up. Its like giving someone your phone number, only instead of a phone, they're just standing in front of you macking on your girlfriend.

There are some things that you should do as a courtesy to other players. If you don't want them to have your name, say "People call me.... Tater Salad" and then immediately addkeyword Tater;addkeyword Salad

There. They don't have your name, and they only know you by the name Tater Salad. Other people that know the character will think you're dumb, ended.


Honestly, I would like to see staff opinion on this, rather than all the players being unable to solidify the argument.

[NoteworthyFellow]

Remember also that, if you introduce yourself by an alias and someone can't immediately target you with that alias, it's going to be glaringly obvious that you're lying and you'll plant that nagging OOC doubt in the other player's head that you risk having enter into their character's actions.  Yes, yes, I know, it's bad form to let OOC things influence IC things, but don't pretend it doesn't happen, and for all the possible advantages one could have from non-keyworded aliases, I'd prefer to lose those than to risk another player immediately knowing that my character has reason to lie to theirs.

[Mood]

The tall, muscular man says, in sirihish:
     "I'm Amos."

>tell amos (with a lopsided grin) Hey, Amos.
You don't see that person here.

>think Something's odd about this guy.
You think:
     "Something's odd about this guy."

>subdue muscular
You subdue the tall, muscular man, despite his attempts to struggle away.

>tell muscular (smiling sweetly) How about we try this again, huh? I'm Malik.
Smiling sweetly, you say to the tall, muscular man, in sirihish:
     "How about we try this again, huh? I'm Malik."

[Jenred]

I'm usually in favor of addkeyword... but the problem is, sometimes I give people aliases that, should you call me by that 20 minutes, an hour, a day, later I would:

A) Not remember giving out that alias, and hence, not be associative with it should you yell it out in the bar.

B) Am giving a false alias, with in-character pretense, entirely for the purpose of confusing you.

The notion that, I should be associated with the aliases I give, implies that -I actually would respond should you refer to me by my alias-.

The fact is, I may not, and its not bad roleplaying if I throw out an alias that I myself will forget come tomorrow.


But for the most part this is not the case, and in situations to the contrary, I always addkeyword. Im just tired of being associated with "code trickery" when I do something, that inconveniences you (the other player) with perfectly sound, rational motivation.

[Armaddict]

Actually, it depends on if you're talking from an ooc or ic perspective.

Sure, it may be a hassle to not be able to use the name they gave you for emotes and such, but if you're talking about not being able to reach them through that name, or so on and so forth...then that is not ooc trickery.  In my opinion, this is only reinforced by the only way you realize it's not their real name is because of keyword mechanics.

I posted an example that has actually happened to me on why I am sometimes hesitant to add one of various aliases to my keywords.  It screws you over when your name becomes hearsay in a certain group, and that group decides to test out the name through the way, and Lo and Behold, they find out this person is this other person they know.

Yes, it may be polite to do it so that emoting such is easier.  But if you're using fake names consistently for the sake of having some anonymous status...then having each of those keywords accessible for use at any time defeats the purpose of an 'alias' in the first place...whereas the description of the one you're looking for is still solid for use in the Way.  If you've never seen their short description, then perhaps you don't know them well enough to have easy, direct access to their mind at your whim in the first place.

[Yam]

If my character is going to use a name to just placate someone and doesn't actually want to be known by that name, I wont add the keyword.

If I plan on being Amos to a variety of people for an extended people of time, I'll addkeyword Amos.

[mansa]

If my character is going to use a name to just placate someone and doesn't actually want to be known by that name, I wont add the keyword.

If I plan on being Amos to a variety of people for an extended people of time, I'll addkeyword Amos.

You're thinking about it too much.  It's not about you being called by your name, but allowing the players to interact with you. You don't have to anwser when people call your fake name, and you can always say that they have the wrong Amos.

[Desertman]

Actually, it depends on if you're talking from an ooc or ic perspective.

Sure, it may be a hassle to not be able to use the name they gave you for emotes and such, but if you're talking about not being able to reach them through that name, or so on and so forth...then that is not ooc trickery.  In my opinion, this is only reinforced by the only way you realize it's not their real name is because of keyword mechanics.

I posted an example that has actually happened to me on why I am sometimes hesitant to add one of various aliases to my keywords.  It screws you over when your name becomes hearsay in a certain group, and that group decides to test out the name through the way, and Lo and Behold, they find out this person is this other person they know.

Yes, it may be polite to do it so that emoting such is easier.  But if you're using fake names consistently for the sake of having some anonymous status...then having each of those keywords accessible for use at any time defeats the purpose of an 'alias' in the first place...whereas the description of the one you're looking for is still solid for use in the Way.  If you've never seen their short description, then perhaps you don't know them well enough to have easy, direct access to their mind at your whim in the first place.

I think this man just said all that needs to be said on the topic.

[Forest Junkie]

Armaddict, what if the code were tweaked so that one could not contact with an alias, but rather had to use your sdesc or truename?

[Yam]

If my character is going to use a name to just placate someone and doesn't actually want to be known by that name, I wont add the keyword.

If I plan on being Amos to a variety of people for an extended people of time, I'll addkeyword Amos.

You're thinking about it too much.  It's not about you being called by your name, but allowing the players to interact with you. You don't have to anwser when people call your fake name, and you can always say that they have the wrong Amos.

I'm thinking about it just enough.