The Daily Grind: What's in a name?

By Krystalle Voecks
We recently talked over some of the games we are playing amongst the team, and we found that everyone's take on names was quite varied. Some of our staff like to go for authenticity in regards to whatever character archetype they're making, and thus won't start characters until they have the perfect name. Others of the staff like making up silly names, and jump in with wild abandon. Some of the rest of us take names we've either used before, or names we've picked up along the way — from popular culture, books, even history.

For me, personally, I tend to be fond of names gleaned from books and history, with a particular leaning towards Egyptian names or cyberpunk novels. I have friends that I know who have carried the same names from game to game. On the other hand, there are those poor folks who use the most common elements in gaming/pop culture and name themselves one of the "new-player-alert" names, such as Sephiroth, Drizzt, Gimlii, or Legolas — or any variants thereof.

How about you? What's your favorite character's name, and where did you take the inspiration for it? Have you ever refused to group with someone due to an overused or goofy name (such as "Dethrouge" on a rogue) or have you found yourself complimenting people on using cool names? Is naming really that important to you, or do you just kind of smack whatever on your character so you can get into the game?

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