character-names
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The Daily Grind: What's in a name?
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?
"Secret vote" changes one of the worst NPC names
Xella found an extremely fascinating change in 2.3 over on LJ-- Warden Iolol is no longer known by that name. Instead, he is known as Warden Moi'bff Jill. He claims that a "secret vote" was passed around, and that his name was changed.Secret vote? The only place I know of where Iolol's name got mentioned negatively was in our own "Forum Post of the Day" about worst NPC names, and the forum post that accompanied it. Of course, there could have also been a "secret vote" somewhere else, and I don't remember Iolol drawing all that much ire-- the most hated names, if I recall, were Nutral the flight master and Haris Pilton.And of course "Moi'bff Jill" ("my best friend forever, Jill") isn't that great a name either. Although I guess going the way of Corki (who got shipped off to live with the Night Elves) wouldn't have been that much fun, either.
Got a bad reputation in World of Warcraft? Change your name for 10 bucks
Blizzard is issuing new World of Warcraft character I.D. name tags for a whopping 10 dollars on select servers. If it's bad, you know really bad -- your named drag through the mud sort of deal over random guild's cyber scandal -- you can transfer right away and get a name change! Behind every name is a story, you couldn't help the formula, it went (anonymity + online gaming = instant jacktard). You did the math wrong and very bad things happened. You tore your last guild asunder, made a few people shrivel up in a corner and shed tears, and caused people to lose brain cells spewing Chuck Norris jokes in Barrens chat. There, there, it happens to best and worst of us. That's not it -- fate is cruel -- you are the worst Paladin on your server because you didn't realize classes had talents until level 70 and life just plain sucks. You need a little identity switch-a-roo if you ever want get into a guild group or even find a guild for that matter. If you are like me and had no idea what you were thinking when naming a character, you probably want to change your naming etymology around from "trollbawlerinas" to something more sophisticated and fantastical like "paincakes." Oh, and if you have trouble thinking up a name check out this lovely gallery for a few ideas over at our other blog, WoW Insider. Yes, I know that there are practical and legitimate reasons why a player should have the ability to change their character names and I support Blizzard's decision to allow it. The Warden will beat down the hackers and Blizzard's Game Masters have all sorts of crazy tools at their disposal to track and penalize dastardly profiteering gold farmers -- make ban hammer go faster. Some players might want to change their character name if some weirdo is harassing them because you know stalking is bad. Official announcement and list of server test-beds after the jump:
