Vitality, Came, Went, Kimberlouiseanne, Rayndrop, Daydance, Doge, Creszendo Refraines to name a few

Don't think they're making fun of them, just saying they are bad names that use to have to be sent back through the name generator. Obviously I kinda agree on some of those.

>>Feral34: What is up with all the Bad Names?

You should report disruptive names. Most likely, nothing will happen, but there are rules on the books.

http://www.play.net/dr/info/whatsinaname.asp

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I hope I'm not spoiling the magic here... but long ago in my mentor days, we saw all the new arrivals, and had a tool to question the name. I guess with less mentors (and others) looking, a few more colourful names slip through.

That being said, none of those names would have prompted me to object.

I've had a fair bit of grief for my choice over the years... but when I joined up, it was my first RPG and I had no idea how seriously folks took things. Most folks that have known me, see me for the character I play and not for my name choice. Name doesn't (have to) define character.

Oh, and I guess I'm 'lucky' the Potter Books (or at least that chapter), hadn't been released in the US yet when I popped into existence.

Az

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Azkaban UiNeill, Bard of Therengia, an Elf
https://elanthipedia.play.net/mediawiki/index.php/Azkaban

Letting it all hang out, since 312.

Does it really matter? Shouldn't a character be judged by how they are played, not some arbitrary 'I think you is stupid' name standard? This is at least nominally a role playing game. Sometimes, stupid names are part of a character on purpose.

Sometimes, they're simply something someone thought was funny. As long as they're not OOC and/or disruptive, I could care less if I think they're stupid.

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I'm a badger, I be badgerin'

Came just came through a low opening.
Went just went west.

Isn't your character named 'Copernicus' or some derivation thereof?

Hardly room to be throwing stones about original or stupid names.

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I'm a badger, I be badgerin'

Simply because something is 'stupid to you' doesn't mean that the name violates policy.

If you think that something may violate policy, report it once, and then move on.

Annwyl
Message Board Supervisor

If you've questions or comments, take it to e-mail by writing me at DR-Annwyl@play.net.

It should be pointed out that names that interfere with other characters are off limits as well. None in the above list apply, but I vaguely remember someone having the name 'Shirtsian' or something along those lines, and it causing all kinds of issues with people trying to interact with their shirts.

They're not the most common names you might expect, but none of those names really violate any of the naming guidelines.

Solomon

I think some of the names are absolutely dreadful. There's a lot of OOC references slipping through like Benzaldehyde and Morpheen. And Came and Went are almost in that grey area somewhere between mech abuse and disruptive by using their names to make a two person message for comedic effect. So I would argue that they are worthy renaming.

>Said their names are short for Camelia and Wentworth. I say let them stay.

Why wouldn't they just take those names and tell people to call them "Came" and "Went"?

>disruptive by using their names to make a two person message for comedic effect

Because that's the real reason we all know.

>I'm surprised Angelweapon works because BACK IN THE DAY I had to change my character name because it had "god" in it, and I could have sworn Slaughterangle had his name the way it did because angels don't exist in DR

And the MM named Angel.

And the Empath named Ahnjel (I think that's the right spelling).

>Benzaldehyde and Morpheen

Those two and other chemical names aggravate me. Not only is it lazy to just pull out a chemistry textbook for a name but because it's hard science, about as far as you can get from high fantasy.

How about I make a character named Ferric. Ferric Oxide? With a brother named Cupric?

Benzaldehyde might have made it through, but how was Morpheen not sent to get renamed?

Kaeta Airtag

"I have faith in the current crop of GMs to not screw people over"

>>Actually an opinion cannot be changed or corrected. Nice try back of line.-VERATHOR
>>But it can be wrong.-Starlear

>The argument that they're borderline mech abuse had not been brought up.

Wait, how are they mech abuse?

>Why wouldn't they just take those names and tell people to call them "Came" and "Went"?

I'd wager that, like most normal names, they were taken.

>How about I make a character named Ferric. Ferric Oxide? With a brother named Cupric?

Wouldn't care. It's a name. Whoopty. I'm offended by stereotypes. Everyone rolling a Tog to be a barbarian should have to reroll because it doesn't meet with my exacting standards. It's too cliche and stupid. No Elothean MM's either. And no humans at all. They're just dumb. Oh, and no cats who purr. Or eat mice. And no Rakash who make dog jokes or bark.

I realized a long time ago that names are just stupid fluff bits. It's the players who make or break it, I don't care what they are named. I've had a ton of fun in MMOs with characters named stupid things like Crayon or FrogZombie or Mr.XsSecretIngredient or similar. Anyone who gets elitist about names really just doesn't have enough to do with their life.

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I'm a badger, I be badgerin'

>DragonRealms is a role-playing game

This is a washout. I've played a ton of RPGs, tabletop included, with characters who have jaring and deliberately stupid names. Ironbottom, for example. Or Grunt. Did it magically stop the players from role playing? No. It was a part of the character concept and they roleplayed around it deliberately.

>This includes blatantly out-of-genre names. Even those who are not interested in role-playing are expected to avoid disrupting the role-playing environment.

How are we defining 'out of genre'? That's a very wide net, and you could catch anything you wanted to with it. Everything from 'Bob' to 'Drizzt-the-black-elf-thing-people-love-to-name-themselves' could be out of genre because reasons. I, as a player, don't feel 'Came' or 'Went' or 'Pherric/Ferric' are out of genre. Morpheen? Sure, whatever, falls under the drugs heading just like Weedlord Mc'Potsmokery. How about famous mathemeticians? Anime characters? Writers? Characters from plays? My Aunt? Foreign languages? The 'out of genre' stipulation is so mind bogglingly wide and narrow that it's not really useful. Plus as you (and Solomon) mentioned, there are rules for names already set up.

For that matter, what is DR's 'genre'? High fantasy? We've got giant cybernetic dragons. And Hibi has electricity and a functional power grid. Steam punk? We've got the spider, but most of the realms is pretty bog standard. Period drama? There's Theren. DR has so many odd things crammed into it in 20 years it doesn't really fit in a narrow genre anymore.

Like I said, disruptive or offensive names, sure, kill those. But to get bent out of shape over stupid names? That's just as tiresome as being upset about people using the 'purple eyes' option in the character generator.

How many of you people have sat down and tried, really, to come up with a name you like in prime in the last year? It's hard to come out with one which isn't nonsensical or SSSSBobSSSS or something where 'oh the first thirty letters are silent', or looking like you just put a Slavic name in the blender and added some extra consonants for giggles.

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I'm a badger, I be badgerin'

>>Kroonermanrevenge: How are we defining 'out of genre'? . . . For that matter, what is DR's 'genre'? High fantasy?

There is definitely some overlap in the concepts of out-of-genre and out-of-character. A common definition is anything that doesn't fit in with the genre DragonRealms uses, which is officially described as "medieval fantasy." I think that still fits the overall tone of the game, but there are some exceptions, as you noted.

"Please remember that DragonRealms is a product designed to be enjoyed by people of all ages, and harsh language is clearly inappropriate. This also applies to the names chosen for your character. Obscene names will not be tolerated. Please endeavor to keep names within the genre of DragonRealms (medieval fantasy). Names such as 'Chainsaw Laserman' or 'Klingon Fuzzbuster' are inappropriate." --POLICY 6

>>Kroonermanrevenge: How about famous mathemeticians? Anime characters? Writers? Characters from plays? My Aunt? Foreign languages?

Those names may or may not be out-of-genre; it depends on the name. Some names sound too modern for medieval fantasy. Some names may sound OK for fantasy, but due to how well known they are, still seem jarring to some players.


>>Kroonermanrevenge: How many of you people have sat down and tried, really, to come up with a name you like in prime in the last year? It's hard to come out with one which isn't nonsensical or SSSSBobSSSS or something where 'oh the first thirty letters are silent', or looking like you just put a Slavic name in the blender and added some extra consonants for giggles.

In the last year or two, several times. Unfortunately, I ended up retiring the characters, because I never played them, but I really liked their names.

It's only hard to get a name you like if you insist on borrowing from well-known real-world examples. One of my favorite naming methods is to use the racial dictionaries and/or Language Imitator. I don't think any of my racial names have been unavailable.

Racial names aren't for everyone, however, and I wouldn't be opposed to seeing more name purges for characters that are inactive and were not played much. (That would have to be balanced against customer services issues, such as the potential to purge a name that a returning player wants to continue using.)

However, even with regular, vigorous name purges, it's still likely that many players won't be able to get the popular names they want. If a name is desirable enough that even 20 players want it, that means that 19 players will be told "that name is not available," while the one lucky player who tried first will get it. Even if Simutronics freed up those popular names (let's assume no one was using them anymore), one person would get to be "Drizzt", and 19 others would either have to come up with spelling variations or choose a different name. The odds of disappointment go up when you consider that people who play medieval fantasy games often have similar interests in books, video games, and movies.

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>>Kroonermanrevenge: it all boils down to very hand-wavy vagueness. How do we define 'medieval fantasy' appropriate names?

There is no hard-and-fast definition, unfortunately. Simutronics uses the same vague, hand-wavy language, prohibiting "modern names" (defined as "any modern connotations, out of genre, or out of character names").

In short, it's a subjective and context-driven evaluation of whether the name fits in the setting. The obvious examples are usually ones that feel excessively modern or futuristic, a "You know it when you see it" kind of issue.

Personally, if you have to rationalize why your name isn't really as OOC/jarring as it seems to be, you're probably in that "grey area" already.


>>Kroonermanrevenge: The very structure of our names violates the fantasy guidelines if we want to be purists.

I'm not really sure what you mean by this. Are you saying that "fantasy" by definition has no structure, so anything goes? That isn't true in the context of specific fantasy worlds. In Middle Earth, for example, Elves' names follow certain patterns, even though Elves and Middle Earth don't really exist, and Tolkien could have chosen to name them differently.


>>Kroonermanrevenge: Names are so arbitrary that to say 'Ferric' is any more or less out of genre than Jessica is goofy.

Even though the name was invented by Shakespeare in the sixteenth century, "Jessica" actually feels more OOG to me simply because Jessica is now a very common modern name. I actually don't have a problem with "Ferric" as a standalone name. (Obvious chemistry names like "Ferric Oxide" are a different story.)

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>>Kroonermanrevenge: But...how are you defining 'real-world examples'?

That seems fairly obvious: any source of inspiration outside of DragonRealms, be it actual people or works of fiction. (I'm not saying that all such names would be out-of-genre. This is just in response to your question implying that it is too hard to get a name you like. All I am saying is that if the name you want is a common given name or a main character from a popular book or video game, you're probably going to be disappointed simply because many other players have the same idea.)

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Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall rank!

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I'll just leave this here, care of the in-game name suggestion tool when you roll a character...

Generating name suggestions...Here are some name suggestions: Real, Versachi, Cum, Chunt, Sult, Bearholahn, Maqquier, Tarwihyadd, Toltumies, Cartokof

Remember folks, just because the game tells you something is okay, doesn't mean it's okay!

- Starlear, Warrior Mage and Lieutenant of Ilithi's Crystal Vanguard -

- I maintain the Warrior Mage Beginner's Guide at:

https://elanthipedia.play.net/mediawiki/index.php/Beginner%27s_Warrior_Mage_Guide

>>Isn't it better to find ways to enjoy the game rather then ways to get unnecessarily mad over something you can't control?

No.

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Uzmam! The Chairman will NOT be pleased to know you're trying to build outside of approved zones. I'd hate for you to be charged the taxes needed to have this place re-zoned. Head for the manor if you're feeling creative.

>>Id wager most of your names mean something stupid in the language they were christened in!

My given name (rather than the nickname almost everyone IRL goes by) translates one way into "uncouth." Thanks, mom.

-Armifer
"In our days truth is taken to result from the effacing of the living man behind the mathematical structures that think themselves out in him, rather than he be thinking them." - Emmanuel Levinas