Hydaelyn Role-Players
Naming - Printable Version

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RE: Naming - Jomoru - 11-13-2013

(11-13-2013, 05:36 PM)Kismet Wrote: I have mixed feelings on this front.

On one hand, I know not every single individual is going to fit the conventions for their race. To assume so would be silly. Yet, on another hand, there are some names I see that just... I don't know. They really grind my gears. I'm talking about blatant references to various media (older FF games, other SE games, Game of Thrones, etc.), horribly constructed Japanese names (that I typically see on Miqo'te)... I swear, if it weren't for the Edit Search Info feature, there are a decent handful of people I never would have known were RPers.

My mini-rant aside, if you have an IC justification for it... do what you want.


I will say again Female Keeper have no naming structure limitations in Lore. Faux Japanese as readily works as anything else.


RE: Naming - Kismet - 11-13-2013

(11-13-2013, 07:00 PM)Jomoru Wrote: I will say again Female Keeper have no naming structure limitations in Lore. Faux Japanese as readily works as anything else.

I believe that Female Keepers typically take on their mother's surname. (I'm getting this from what is on the RPC Wiki, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.) I consider that a naming structure limitation. Not that it matters much either way, because I've seen more Seekers with Japanese names than Keepers.

But that's all besides the point I was getting at. People can do as they wish whether its lore appropriate or not. Doesn't mean I can't roll my eyes at it anyway, though.


RE: Naming - Freemoon - 11-13-2013

(11-13-2013, 02:35 PM)Darien Cadell Wrote: Most roleplayers I know with a counter-conventional name have a constructed IC reason for doing so. If they don't, then I might raise an eyebrow. If they do, doesn't bother me in the least.

This is the case with my Miqo'te.  Right now, her name reflects the family that found and raised her and she has no idea what her true birth name is (she has almost no memory from before being found by her adoptive parents, save a few brief flashes).

However, I do plan to give her a proper name at some point, even if it isn't reflected in the character name as seen in world.  But I expect her search for who she is and her history to be a long one with so little info to go on, and it didn't make any sense to me to name her by a Miqo'te name if it takes more than a few weeks or months to learn who she really is.


RE: Naming - Jomoru - 11-13-2013

(11-13-2013, 08:47 PM)Kismet Wrote:
(11-13-2013, 07:00 PM)Jomoru Wrote: I will say again Female Keeper have no naming structure limitations in Lore. Faux Japanese as readily works as anything else.

I believe that Female Keepers typically take on their mother's surname. (I'm getting this from what is on the RPC Wiki, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.) I consider that a naming structure limitation. Not that it matters much either way, because I've seen more Seekers with Japanese names than Keepers.

But that's all besides the point I was getting at. People can do as they wish whether its lore appropriate or not. Doesn't mean I can't roll my eyes at it anyway, though.


and how would you create a Keeper family name? Would you throw some letters together at random and hope for the best?


RE: Naming - Qhora Bajihri - 11-13-2013

Keepers actually have a relatively small number of family names. You can see them in the random name generator at character creation. Things like Tayuun, Polaali, things you see around on multiple people and wonder how they all ended up making related characters. Of course, that didn't stop me from making up my own family name for my Keeper.


RE: Naming - Kismet - 11-14-2013

Yup, pretty much what Darien said.


RE: Naming - Faye - 11-14-2013

A lot of role-players didn't bother to look up the naming conventions before creating their characters and/or claiming the names they usually use. More often, though, role-players know the naming conventions and choose to ignore them because everyone wants to be a special snowflake. It's all right in concept--there will always be exceptions and people who are different, black sheep so to speak. But almost everyone wants to be the exception to the rules, and thus people breaking the rules becomes the norm and following the rules becomes the rarity--so the "special snowflakes" actually achieve the opposite of what they're striving toward.

People are welcome to role-play however they please. In the end, I suppose it really doesn't matter what someone chooses to name their character, especially if there's an in-character explanation, but I think the game's lore would make a lot more sense if more people strove to follow the preset conventions rather than constantly bending/breaking them. There are enough people breaking the rules. I think we'd be better off trying to abstain from increasing their numbers whenever possible.


RE: Naming - Zope - 11-14-2013

Quote:There are enough people breaking the rules. I think we'd be better off trying to abstain from increasing their numbers whenever possible.
Well said. Much better than how I was trying to word it in my head. 

I remember when I first started RPing in WoW and I joined a small guild and hardly anyone went with a typical or race appropriate name. Like, trolls with human names and tauren rocking that night elf druid NPC name. And their IC reasons were almost all "nickname" or "adopted". I actually got removed because they were petty and got upset that my character kept making jokes about how everyone but her and a few other people didn't have an Alliance-y nickname and real parents.


RE: Naming - FreelanceWizard - 11-14-2013

On the topic of Keeper surnames, the devs have indicated that the ones you see in-game are simply the most prominent families that came over the frozen seas in the Fifth Umbral Era. There are, however, many other families that are lesser-known, more reclusive, or arrived later. So, you can create a name of your choice or use one of the ones in-game or in the character generator (dev post).

As for surnames, yes, Keeper surnames are matrilineal (dev post).


RE: Naming - Magellan - 11-14-2013

If having a non-conventional name makes me a 'special snowflake', then I don't know if I want to be taken seriously.


I want to be taken as someone who is fun to rp with. For the most part, the name holds little relevance to me, if they can spin an entertaining yarn, and enhance the time spent gaming.

Almost everyone gets reduced to a four letter nickname anyway (at least in my experience) so I just don't see the big emphasis on names. Yes, I understand names like Super Man, or Spongebob Squarepants would be hard to rp with, so.... don't. It was there choice to have that name, and all that comes with it.

But I also find following naming conventions to a T pretty limiting. It makes sense if I'm playing a very traditional character who would therefore bear a traditional name. But in teh city-states themselves I tend to thiink a lot of cultural melting pot is going on, with a lot of experimentation with names.

There are many, many, many, many, many, many npcs with non-conventional names. To have a traditional name doesn't make you anymore legit or better, to have a non-traditional one doesn't make you anymore special or unique. We are all here to RP, period. Our focus should be on our shared love of storytelling. I fall in love with people and stories, not with names.


RE: Naming - Erik Mynhier - 11-14-2013

My name is Erik because my real name is Erik. In fact most mmos I play I use my real name, first and last. How can I not use a real name like Eirikir?


RE: Naming - Khloe Akhabila - 11-14-2013

Yeaah, when I made my character, Minghao it didn't sound very Miqo'te for a Moon Kitty.  So, playing around with the FF14 name generator I found a name for her, when she ICly discovers her real real name (hopefully in the future).  She wasn't raised by her kind when she was young.


RE: Naming - J'ruzho - 11-16-2013

I've changed my mind on the whole naming thing. In just walking through The Quicksand, every single Miqo'te I saw had a non-Miqo'te name. It irked me...

It makes me look at my name too, and wonder if it's a decent Miqo'te name or not...


RE: Naming - Chakha Malqir - 11-16-2013

I'm kinda glad that Hellsguard Roegadyn use strung-together English words. Definitely makes naming a lot easier, and makes names like "Burning Passion" quite lore-friendly where it otherwise wouldn't be.


RE: Naming - Wombat - 12-01-2013

I hadn't even known about the naming conventions until I had hit level 15 again after recreating my Miqo'te (I moved from Gilgamesh to Balmung) and now I feel a bit silly around players who followed them. By outrageous circumstance, however, it fits perfectly with Lalafell naming and the more I play him, the more I try to build background and dialogue around this. Alliteration always amuses, almost as much as assonance.