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Gamasutra examines character names in World of Warcraft
What does your character name say about you? Gaming website Gamasutra asked that question while performing a massive investigation on player names in World of Warcraft, and came up with some interesting answers. Obviously a game like World of Warcraft is going to have a ton of unique character names, simply due to the limits on names per server -- but WoW boasts a whopping 3.8 million unique names, which actually makes the game far more diverse than real-world names. As can only be expected, there was a much larger variety in names on RP servers -- while on average, 58% of names were unique, on RP servers that number jumps to a staggering 83%. But what is unexpected is the correlation between class, race, and name ultimately chosen to represent the character you play. Other information painstakingly investigated included represented regions, name origins, common threads between popular names, and an all-too-interesting look at the differences between negative, positive, and neutral names. It's a fascinating glimpse into one of those things that players tend to take for granted. While you may think you're creating a name that's completely unique and carefully chosen, there's a strong likelihood that somewhere out there in the far-flung reaches of the global playerbase, there's at least one person who's had the exact same idea as yourself. Take a look at the full article for more interesting tidbits about the curiosity of character naming on Gamasutra's site.
The Daily Grind: Do you play on a roleplay server as a non-roleplayer?
Most every new MMO has a roleplay server set up specifically for roleplayers to do their thing. Presumably, this RP server would be kinder and gentler than your average PvP or PvE server. This is the reason many players -- including myself -- seek out these RP servers on day one, even if we're not roleplayers ourselves. I tend to not interrupt in-character chat and generally respect the atmosphere of roleplaying while not actually participating. So for you non-roleplayers out there, we're curious to know if this is something you've done. For roleplayers, does it irritate you to see non-roleplayers using your server? We want to know! [Image: Lotrogeek] Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Anti-Aliased: Don't make roleplaying servers if you can't handle it
For those of you who don't know, I'm super in to roleplaying. No, I'm not a Shakespearean nutjob who spouts "I shall put my sword betwixt thine evil heart!" No, nothing like that. I'm just a guy who likes getting into the setting of game. When you go into Naxxramas and see Anub'Rekhan, you see a boss where I see a commander of Anub'arak, the traitor king.It's because I know the lore so well that I like to play around with it, involve my character in it, and really keep the fantasy of the world intact around me. But I've learned something over my course of 12 years of MMOs. It's something that happens in every single game that I've played and a problem that I've found insurmountable when it comes to roleplaying.It's really hard to roleplay when a thirteen-year-old is thrusting his virtual crotch in my face, screaming "LULZ GUYS! LULZ! Lolololololol!!!!11oneeleven"
Anti-Aliased: Don't make roleplaying servers if you can't handle it pt. 2
...and totally doesn't want to enforce the rules. The roleplayers are roleplaying in the streets, until a naked guy runs by and starts dancing suggestively in front of the guild's princess, singing the latest song by Kanye West. The guild begins to furiously slam the GM button, still trying to go on with their improvisational acting scene, but finding it extremely difficult to do so when something is so obviously breaking the scene into 10,000,000 pieces. The GM comes down on his magical wings, looks at the situation and says, "Sorry, he's not saying anything that's covered in our harassment section. He's not saying anything that is considered offensive. He can dance naked all he wants," and then leaves with fair wishes to all while the roleplaying guild stands there, slack jawed and completely confused as to what just happened, while Kanye West is sung loudly in the background. Yet the solution isn't hard, and ultimately benefits you, the developer, in the end Roleplayers get frustrated by this seemingly simple stuff. It makes us wonder why you even bother to make these servers, when they are completely the same as the normal servers. We get it, your support team doesn't want to ban anyone because that's "bad business." That guy who's griefing everyone is still paying the 15 dollars that you want, so you'd rather keep your mitts off of the paying customer. "But no one wants to hear that. No one wants to push the ban button. Yet the solution isn't some magical means, and it's something that would work wonderfully when implemented -- localized bans." Here's a loud wake up call guys -- MMOs are a service, not a one-time purchase. We keep saying that, yet somehow no one seems to realize it on a business level. By letting this guy go, you're angering about 20 other customers, and potentially losing more money in the process. You let this one guy go, you lose 5 other subscriptions. What's better, 1 person being forcibly asked to leave, or 5 people leaving of their own accord and spreading a unsatisfied opinion to their friends? But no one wants to hear that. No one wants to push the ban button. Yet the solution isn't some magical means, and it's something that would work wonderfully when implemented -- localized bans. If you have a guy who is seriously griefing a roleplaying server and violating the rules of that world, then ban him from just that server. If he complains, tell him he's got 20+ servers to choose from. If he complains that he lost his character, then transfer his character to a new server. Your roleplayers don't have to deal with him, they stay happy in their own little world, the griefer gets to keep his stuff, you get to keep your money, and literally everybody wins. If that's the way things swung, roleplaying worlds would probably much more tolerable. Support people will probably feel that pulling a ban on someone being a jerk is more justified, as they're not removing them from the system entirely. All of the people interested in roleplaying now have an environment to do so, and they start spreading word to their friends that finally, a support staff has stood up for roleplaying. Maybe roleplaying wouldn't be waning if the players who did it felt supported in their endeavors? Now if only I could do something about people who roleplay vampires... Colin Brennan is the weekly writer of Anti-Aliased who does "teh arpeez." When he's not writing here for Massively, he's rambling on his personal blog, The Experience Curve. If you want to message him, send him an e-mail at colin.brennan AT weblogsinc DOT com. You can also follow him on Twitter through Massively, or through his personal feed.
The Daily Grind: Do you roleplay?
Plenty of MMOs have servers that are supposed to be for roleplaying, but when you log on, you find that a lot of people just act as they would on a normal server. However, you will run into those that embrace the roleplaying aspect of the game, and things are significantly different for them. A run-of-the-mill instance clearing ending with a boss kill can become an epic adventure, culminating in the slaying of a legendary beast and the discovery of rare and valued treasure. Their avatar isn't merely another Night Elf Rogue -- they might have a back-story, a fleshed out history of how they arrived at their current situation, and may rarely ever break from character.Do you enjoy the immersion of roleplaying, or do you tend to just play the game for what it is and leave RPing to the folks that are into it? Is it something that you will occasionally slip into, or are you dedicated to your in-game persona? Something we're interested to know is, if you roleplay now in MMOs, did you do it before you started playing video games, or did you pick it up since entering a virtual world?
Sunwell griefing runs rampant
Patch 2.4, much like most other things in WoW, has managed to bring the worst out of some people. The mask of anonymity strikes again!No, I don't mean the node-stealing, ninja-tapping, mob-training stupidery(which is a word as of right now) you see all over the Isle of Quel'Danas. I refer to the standing-on-NPCs-while-PvP-flagged griefing. If you're lucky and haven't seen this happen on your server, what most servers are seeing is a bunch of Blood Elf and Draenei players standing directly on top of Shattered Sun Offensive NPCs, so players accidentally, unknowingly, right click on them instead of the quest NPC. This results in inadvertently hitting the player, and then getting destroyed by the SSO guards.
All the World's a Stage: Joining the right circle
One of the most common difficulties many roleplayers face is that of finding other people to roleplay with. To help overcome this challenge, All the World's a Stage presents a guide to finding roleplayers in three parts: "finding the right realm" for roleplaying, "joining the right circle" of roleplaying friends, and "wearing the right mask" to attract other roleplayers to you.So, here you are. You decided that you want to give roleplaying a try, so you picked an RP server and started leveling up. You even tried roleplaying with one person you met along the way, saying "Hail, traveler! Would you like to undertake this task with me?" Things were going along quite nicely for a few minutes until the other person said, "Dood, this quest suxxors, lol," and you realized that something had gone horribly, terribly wrong.A mystery baffles roleplayers everywhere: why is it that even on a space like an RP server, set aside for roleplaying, it can be so hard to find other people to roleplay with? Even if you have thoroughly researched the question of which server is the best place for roleplaying, still you will not be happy there until you find a circle of friends whose roleplaying you can appreciate, and who appreciate yours in return.
All the World's a Stage: Finding the right realm
One of the most common difficulties many roleplayers face is that of finding other people to roleplay with. To help overcome this challenge, All the World's a Stage presents a guide to finding roleplayers in three parts: "finding the right realm" for roleplaying, "joining the right circle" of roleplaying friends, and "wearing the right mask" to attract other roleplayers to you.Due to reasons we have discussed earlier, RP servers can vary widely from a very few who maintain their immersive roleplaying atmosphere, to the majority which often seem little different from a normal PvE or PvP server. Although Blizzard takes their RP server guidelines "seriously," they cannot enforce these rules wholesale, and rely on the players themselves to do much of their own policing and reporting where necessary. RP servers thus vary a great deal in terms of how many people there actually make roleplaying a priority, how many will report someone breaking the RP rules, and how many will strive to maintain that precious gem of mass cooperation: the roleplaying atmosphere.It may not be obvious to a new player, but there are tools roleplayers can use to find the realm that suits them best. There may be no standardized way to group up for RP, but the fact holds true: "seek, and ye shall find."
