World of Warcraft®

Ive been noticing a certain amount of roleplayers using slight deviations of names taken from preexisting fantasy realms, i.e Magic the gathering, Game of thrones, and the like. I am interested in what other people feel about the use of such names and am aware that such names may be unavoidable in some circumstances and that my name is even taken from an Independent film by MoB productions. Not sure what im expecting from responses to this topic but Interested in other Roleplayers opinions on said names.

Eh, I don't even have problems with it. So long as they're respectful and not obviously roleplaying the character the name was taken from.

Not something I feel any interest in doing, personally (unless it was for a one-off obvious joke character and not for serious RP) but I'm cool with others doing it if that's what they enjoy.

I... am slightly irked by such names since they comes across as unoriginal. Then again as RPers we have to deal with anti-RP trolls, god modders, ERPers ect... so someone naming their nelf huntard Legolas is pretty low on the list of grievousness.

Now a Rogue with the name ihealxU is a different story entirely.

Call me a Canonite, but I try to be as original as possible when naming my characters. And I'll freely admit, there's a Nelf running around named Drizt <of House DoUrden> and that bothers me.
It's clearly stated in the TOS, under Naming Regulations, that we are not supposed to use any names, terms or references to copyrighted characters, trademarks, etc.
I can understand why people do it, I can. Especially on non-RP realms.
But the naming standards for RP realms should be respected. It's bad enough we're flooded with players who mock and ridicule us for RPing, they could at least follow the rules.
I like rules that make sense. And the Naming rules make very good sense.
Homonyms aside, unique names are wonderful. And it really shows the level of creativity behind the character. I really love seeing the names people create for the more "exotic" races, like Elves and Draenei.
Simple names are good too, don't get me wrong.

I don't think I have a single character named after or for something anymore. All of my character slots are maxed out for both CC and SoE and the only character that does NOT have a proper, RP name is my banker, Alticus.

TL;DR -
Don't violate the TOS. Make your own name. You're not Drizzt, nor are you Jean Grey. Be original! Be you!

But naming an elf Drizt is the epitome of original thought! :o

09/05/2014 08:02 AMPosted by Mormel

I... am slightly irked by such names since they comes across as unoriginal. Then again as RPers we have to deal with anti-RP trolls, god modders, ERPers ect... so someone naming their nelf huntard Legolas is pretty low on the list of grievousness.

Now a Rogue with the name ihealxU is a different story entirely.

This is precisely how I feel about the names. I find the various multi-word names more offensive than someone lacking creativity and borrowing a name from elsewhere.

09/05/2014 08:02 AMPosted by Mormel

I... am slightly irked by such names since they comes across as unoriginal. Then again as RPers we have to deal with anti-RP trolls, god modders, ERPers ect... so someone naming their nelf huntard Legolas is pretty low on the list of grievousness.

Now a Rogue with the name ihealxU is a different story entirely.

At this point I have to admit to creating a Gnome Priest called Meditron, but that wasn't for RP and was on a non-RP server... :)

I think I more or less mirror your sentiment Ketyru. +1!
The really obvious ones that I recognize either make me cringe or eye-roll, but its not anything I take exception with, unless of course they're attempting to RP -that- character. Then I might.

I have to admit however that many (perhaps most) of my -character- names are not too creative (Bånshee, Tînk, even Caileanmor). A few of them are even taken straight from greek or nordic myth (Ødin, Vë, Meduså). By and large I claim "rp-noob'ness" as the culprit simply because most of them were created either before I began to RP or still early on in my RP development.

I like to think that I've made up in part for those shortfalls by way of my MRP usage. I try to be creative with their given name, making their IC name mirror in some fashion (Caileanmor = Cail Liam Mahlr'D); otherwise I just give them a complete overhaul until I settle on an IC name I think fits (Vë = Rachel Reading). Perhaps some day I'll get around to name changing them to make it official as in Ve's case. Until then MRP will have to do. :)

I'll give some names the benefit of the doubt. It's impossible to be familiar with every fantasy name ever that other people might think you're copying. For instance, I had no idea who Drizt was until I started to hear jokes about "oh another elf named Drizt" and I went to look it up.

I've had some people think that my character Ketlan is supposed to be an alternate spelling of "Caitland," which is something I never considered until someone in guild voice chat kept saying "Caitland" and it took me a few minutes to realize he meant me.

So overall, I'm willing to be a little lenient.

However, very obvious celebrity names/lore names/word phrases make me twitchy. I don't mind people using words and phrases for things like forum handles, but not for the name of a character. That also applies for people who just name their characters "NamePriest", "NameLock," and etc. There's a modicum of utility in that naming scheme for pure PvE servers where it's a quick way to identify alts, but it annoys me to see that on an RP server where those names aren't supposed to be used.

My friends have heard me relate my absolute favorite Dumb Name story. When I was leveling, I did a random dungeon where I had a:

druid tank

in feral form

named "Healzforever" (or something similar.)

/facepalm.

09/05/2014 03:36 PMPosted by Alelsa

At this point I have to admit to creating a Gnome Priest called Meditron, but that wasn't for RP and was on a non-RP server... :)

Well at least she was a priest... unless if she happened to be a shadow priest. If that were the case then /smack.

09/05/2014 04:39 PMPosted by Derscha

I've had some people think that my character Ketlan is supposed to be an alternate spelling of "Caitland," which is something I never considered until someone in guild voice chat kept saying "Caitland" and it took me a few minutes to realize he meant me.

You're not supposed to be Caitland!? I... I don't even know who you are anymore!!! ;_;

Ah hah!
Is to be THIS great galloping pile of knot-flop again?
I am Mage, I know maaaany things, one is this;
If the name works in context, get not your underthings in a twist.
Roll with it! Is in name if what we do, yah? Roll Play?
Hah! I tell funny jokes!
Now....where did stupid two-tone bear go with my drink?

It really depends on how well you use it, really. The names of two of my major characters have come out of the Myst series, one from Star Wars, one from Star Trek, one from the Dragonriders of Pern, at least one or two inspired by Warhammer Fantasy and 40K in some form, so on and so forth. The trick is to not use ones that are horribly obvious. (Some people don't even know what Myst is, for instance, so I've gotten away with that one for ages, heh.)

Some people just like the name...groovy. Good for them. Some "already coined fantasy names" are pretty darn awesome and catchy, although Legolas just makes me think I should be watching something about Legoland. (I kid I kid! Well, sort of. :)

TOS of Doom: Pretty sure I was reported a few times back in Vanilla in BC for Silent's name. Some people like it. Some people hate it. /shrug It still fits the character though, and that's all that really matters to me. Some people though, just want to report anything that doesn't fit into their ideal box.

Personally, I've always just cringed more at the "Normal" realm names that run around on RP servers. In BC, I was constantly amazed at how long this Horde Paladin had the name "Bubblehearthz" on CC. Especially since the RP realms are different with the naming conventions to keep us from having a multitude of toons named "Iluvlamp." It was really out of place at the time. Bouncing between the normal realm I play on with other friends, the names and chat sends me back to CC more often than not.

But really, CC isn't too bad with the names lately.

Any who, before cat ran away with what I was originally thinking about, I did have a nugget of something to think about. One day we're going to run into a point, or maybe we're there already, that there is a character in a book somewhere with the same name. Maybe it isn't as well known as Drizzt or Legolas or what have you. But perhaps it really is out there. I believe someone stated that as long as they aren't playing that same character, it really shouldn't be too big of a deal. In theory, someone out there might have come across that character in a book somewhere, so they'll know.

That to me is a wonderful incentive to make the character you play your own. To make a new story. People deserve a chance to try and do that.

I remember my brother's name got reported and he was forced to name change. The odd part about that is, his name is completely original. (Mine isnt as he just changed a single letter just so we could confuse our guildmates). Any Glormon you see will generally be my brother's.