Zalanthan names, not just for Arm 2.0, but for today!

[Kyviantre]

I'm not happy.  You're still accusing me of conspiracy to commit some sort of theft.

EDIT: and I still don't understand why you object so strongly, though I'm willing to accept that it may be an irrational feeling you simply can't explain.

I'm not saying you're thieving, I'm saying (in bold so it can't be missed)

I do not want my names copied.

I also don't want to use other people's names unless it is a decided family thing that I'm being invited into.

If everyone else wants to copy each others names, do so with my blessing.  I don't want mine used because it ruins that part of the game (the creative process) for me.  I spend considerable time over my names to get them exactly how I like them, even when they never even get mentioned from my characters lips in the game itself.

Point is, you need a self-updating page which is connected to a form (the request tool?) that people can say, "Okay, my name would be considered 'common' to <my city/race/tribe/gender here>'.  Then people wanting to look for a 'historical' or 'common' name could flick down this alphabetised page and select the name that they feel would suit their new character.

Failing that, in the character creation process, add a notation that says, "Would this character name be considered common (ie would you mind other people using it)? Yes/No", if "No", then thats fine, if "Yes", it gets added to some sort of file/page/list somewhere.

Both require immy help, but best you press for it in 2.Arm than 1.Arm, hmm?

[Marauder Moe]

I do not want my names copied.

I get that.  However, I still think you're being unreasonable.

I don't want mine used because it ruins that part of the game (the creative process) for me.  I spend considerable time over my names to get them exactly how I like them, even when they never even get mentioned from my characters lips in the game itself.

This I still don't get.  How does it ruin anything for you?  Do you really consider a handful of letters stuck together as some sort of artwork?  Some signature style of yours?  How far does your claim to originality go?  I notice all your character's names start with a K.  Are we also forbidden to make our characters' with K names?  What if I want to make ALL of my characters' names start with a K from now on?  Does that tread on your sense of style too?

Help me understand what it is you don't like so I won't accidentally offend you with future characters.  (And perhaps so we can reach a sort of compromise on this matter, though I suppose simply saying "Everybody start reusing names except for those of Kyviantre's characters" might do.)

[Kyviantre]

This I still don't get.  How does it ruin anything for you?  Do you really consider a handful of letters stuck together as some sort of artwork?  Some signature style of yours?  How far does your claim to originality go?  I notice all your character's names start with a K.  Are we also forbidden to make our characters' with K names?  What if I want to make ALL of my characters' names start with a K from now on?  Does that tread on your sense of style too?

Don't be sarcastic, it is unflattering.  The K's are to do with a mud that I played a long while back, and it turned into a horribly obsessive trend (that and I like the challenge).  All my character's real names start with a K, doesn't mean they are known by those names, its just one of those player quirks that makes everyone on the planet so unique.  Joy, no?

It ruins things for me because it does.  It breaks my IC/OOC line, it breaks my immersion, it breaks my interest, ergo, for me, it spoils things, hence, something I'm not interested in participating in.  No problems with everyone else doing it, no problems with 15 other people having the name Amos sitting at the bar with me, thats their choice, its not one I would pick for myself, but you (meaning anyone that wants to) go right on ahead.  If it makes the game good for you, if it keeps your interest, if you stay better immersed, if its something you want to participate in, great!  Fantastic!  Wonderful!  Anything that helps/allows/makes you enjoy the game and your character is always good.

(And perhaps so we can reach a sort of compromise on this matter, though I suppose simply saying "Everybody start reusing names except for those of Kyviantre's characters" might do.)

Go for it.

[Marauder Moe]

I apologize, that was a little snippy.  You haven't been entirely courteous yourself, though.  Can we both agree to try and be more civil to each other?

But I am genuinely confused.  Your objections keep changing.  Now it's an immersion issue?  But, wouldn't having names be reused be realistic?  In real life names are reused.  I know literally about 20 people named Mike/Michael, and have regular contact with about half a dozen of them.

[Kyviantre]

You keep asking me for -more- reasons, my reasons aren't changing, I'm just -giving- you more reasons, as requested!

And I know one other person (excluding a fictional person) with my first name, one person with my second name (my mom), know of two with my third (but saw them once and never again), and two non-family with my surname.  Since out of that, three of them live in the wrong country, and two in the wrong part of the country (north/south there), that means I know of one person with a similar name to me...who is family.  If its family, then shared names is fine in my book, since you probably know each other anyway, and can ask!  Family therefore is irrelevant in this situation.

My characters tend not to be the happy-go-family sorts, ergo, their names probably wouldn't be common.  There you go, yet -another- reason.  I don't play famous people, mythological people, or people with thousands of offspring, why therefore, would their names be considered 'common'?  Until I play an Amos, their names are part of their uniqueness.  It is something I like.  It is part of the reason I play this game (it is pretty darn unique!), and part of the reason I play MUDs in general.  Its fantasy dear, if I wanted to be called Mike, I'd go turn myself into a boy and go deed-poll myself.

If you want your characters to all have similar names, fine...choose common ones.  Make an Amos, make a Tek, make a namesaked Lord-Templar-Blangarang.  That is your choice, and there is nothing wrong with that!  If you want to be called that, great!  If the character turns out to be awesome, and makes the name famous, huzzah!  I just don't think that any odd name should be 'up-for-grabs'.

Common names, famous names, mythological names, names of plants/beasts/objects, yes!
My names (and whoever else doesn't want to share for whatever reason, be that they are specifically choosing uncommon names - you don't know that this isn't in their frigging background, don't assume!)), no!

I thought we came to a middle ground somewhere before...why am I still repeating it?

ps: Going to put into all of my backgrounds from now on that their parents named them weird things because they 'liked the sound of the letters', so the names can't be swiped 

[Mood]

Am I the only one who gets the urge to start naming characters after Kyviantre's?

[flurry]

Her objection sounds perfectly reasonable to me, even if I don't share it.

I think perhaps a (relatively short) list of common names for each region and race, along with a doc on naming conventions, would be the best solution. That would give a cultural feel to names that I don't think the OP's suggestion, taken by itself, would.

[ale six]

Am I the only one who gets the urge to start naming characters after Kyviantre's?

Me too.

[Kyviantre]

You do, I'll make a dwarf with the focus of "PK all characters with names starting with K"...and enjoy it! 

And Flurry, I like...he/she is my friend (poor person...), I like the short list of common names idea...if fact, lets just take that whole two sentences as being golden.

I think perhaps a (relatively short) list of common names for each region and race, along with a doc on naming conventions, would be the best solution. That would give a cultural feel to names that I don't think the OP's suggestion, taken by itself, would.

That, I like.  That is good!  Makes sense, shows the cultural differences in the same ways as the clothing-type file (which is good!), and adds insight into -why- these are common names, not just "Name after me plx!"

[aeshyw]

I've seen characters over the years named after famous templars like Ihsahn and Sathis and Eunoli. I think this would be a normal thing for commoners to do. Naming after famous bards (Holten, Methyas, ... ) or famous arena champions/badasses (Paryl, Sujaal, ... ) or famous merchants (Pearl, Sargax, ... ) would also probably be pretty common, I'd expect.

Have their really been more Eunolis? I remember there was another Pearl while I was still around, but I always thought that was a fluke and not a character named after Pearl Terash.   Ironically, back when I was playing Pearl I took to carrying a silt pearl around to just absently hold when people started giving me a hassle about Pearl not being a good in-character name, and now I see it in a Zalanthan name thread. 

[Gimfalisette]

I know of one character who had Eunoli as a middle name, yes. I've never seen it (at least not yet!) as a first name for anyone but Eunoli herself, though.

[Fathi]

When I was playing a character that could be considered, I guess, relatively "well-known" and was fairly long-lived, somebody made a character with the same name as mine.

They even had a similar sdesc, which is very weird, because my character's sdesc was fairly unique.

It caused a lot of drama and people thought my character had been horribly mutilated when they contacted this person instead of her.

I dunno if it was done as a tribute or if it was just a fluke, but I found the whole thing hilarious.

[AmandaGreathouse]

When I was playing a character that could be considered, I guess, relatively "well-known" and was fairly long-lived, somebody made a character with the same name as mine.

They even had a similar sdesc, which is very weird, because my character's sdesc was fairly unique.

It caused a lot of drama and people thought my character had been horribly mutilated when they contacted this person instead of her.

I dunno if it was done as a tribute or if it was just a fluke, but I found the whole thing hilarious.

This one, except the mutilated part. It was pretty funny, both ICly and OOCly it led to a lot of laughs. 

[Delstro]

That could have been me. I stopped playing for 2 weeks until I came up with a character. I log in and someone has a near identical sdesc as me and they had my name. Wow. I killed my PC off.

[Kiri]

As long as the rule wasn't absolute, it might be cool.  I don't mind recycling PC names, but someone once ran a character with my GDB name which pissed me off.

There was once another Kiri IG, which I found amusing, as it wasn't me, though that was my first PC, a long time ago.

I think it might be interesting to compile a list of famous PC names (templars, merchants, etc) to offer to people. My grandfather's name was Woodrow Wilson Dunn, and my father was Perry Commodore (after Commodore Perry). My brother was named after the doctor who delivered him, both my daughters have middle names of a maternal grandmother.  It used to be traditional to name children after famous people just as much as after figures of royalty or in the Bible, and I suspect it would be similar in Zalanthas.

I would suggest it be optional, of course. And I also apologize for coming in waaaaay late, apparently, with things other people have been saying!


As for getting upset with people using a name you came up with... well, just for the record, sometimes it happens -completely- unintentionally. A bizarre and rare coincidence, to be sure, but it does happen.

Also, imitation is a form of flattery.  I quite unabashedly stole the name of a character in another MUD that I admired very much. Sadly, her namesake was a diva, and a drama queen, and a wild-tempered bitch. Thankfully she didn't last long!

[brytta.leofa]

I double-dog dare y'all to name a southern character after a famous northerner, or vice-versa.

[Kiri]

I double-dog dare y'all to name a southern character after a famous northerner, or vice-versa.

I swear I am going to name my PC's first child after a certain famous person in the other city-state.

[Gimfalisette]

I double-dog dare y'all to name a southern character after a famous northerner, or vice-versa.

Been done, you know that

[brytta.leofa]

The gruff, stubble-eyed templar asks you, in sirihish,
  "New recruits, eh, sergeant?"
You exclaim, barking out, in sirihish,
  "Recruits!  Fall in tight an' speak yer names for th' Lord Temp'ar!"
Gulping, the tall, muscular man exclaims, in sirihish,
  "Mukupet, Lord Templar!"
The rugged, avuncular male exclaims, in sirihish,
  "Winterthrall, Lord Templar!"
The eager, warbeaded lass exclaims, in sirihish,
  "Lyra Than, Lord Templar!"

The gruff, stubble-eyed templar just stares at you.

[FantasyWriter]

The gruff, stubble-eyed templar asks you, in sirihish,
  "New recruits, eh, sergeant?"
You exclaim, barking out, in sirihish,
  "Recruits!  Fall in tight an' speak yer names for th' Lord Temp'ar!"
Gulping, the tall, muscular man exclaims, in sirihish,
  "Mukupet, Lord Templar!"
The rugged, avuncular male exclaims, in sirihish,
  "Winterthrall, Lord Templar!"
The eager, warbeaded lass exclaims, in sirihish,
  "Lyra Than, Lord Templar!"

The gruff, stubble-eyed templar just stares at you.

That's hilarious!