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Keldion · **08-18-2013, 01:23 PM**

So, as I was about to create what I believe will be my actual character for release and such, I noticed that I had completely forgotten to come up with a surname for my Miqo'te male...

I'm not really wanting to go with the Nunh and Tia tribal naming stuff (unless theres no way around it of course) what are peoples views on this? and also, the characters first name will be Keldion, any suggestions to naming is greatly appreciated lol.

FreelanceWizard · **08-18-2013, 02:02 PM**

You can definitely name your character whatever you want. That said, if your character doesn't conform to the naming conventions, it's a good idea to decide why -- if nothing else, it's an opportunity to develop your backstory. Since your character already has an unconventional first name (tribal Seeker names start with a letter, then an apostrophe, then the given name), it's worth thinking through how he got that name. Was he raised by a miqo'te family in one of the city-states? If so, are they unaware of tribal culture (i.e., the family moved there long ago) or do they actively choose not to follow it? If they choose not to follow it, why not?

Once you've hammered that out, you can decide what the surname would be. If, for instance, your character's parents are unaware of tribal Seeker culture because their families moved to a city-state long ago, perhaps they've adopted hyur surnames; for midlanders, for instance, those are often based on professions, such as Miller or Boatswain. If they live in Limsa Lominsa, they might have adopted roegadyn surnames. Perhaps they decided to stick with one part of Seeker culture -- using the name of the father as the surname -- but didn't want to do that for the given name, since they're no longer tribal.

All that said, one thing I would avoid is going against the naming conventions, then saying your character is a typical tribal Seeker -- because in that case, he's not. You should have an explanation for why your character isn't "typical," because it has a reasonable probability of coming up in RP. Additionally, it helps flesh out your backstory, giving you a narrative benefit for being "different."

Keldion · **08-18-2013, 02:30 PM**

(08-18-2013, 02:02 PM)FreelanceWizard Wrote: You can definitely name your character whatever you want. That said, if your character doesn't conform to the naming conventions, it's a good idea to decide why -- if nothing else, it's an opportunity to develop your backstory. Since your character already has an unconventional first name (tribal Seeker names start with a letter, then an apostrophe, then the given name), it's worth thinking through how he got that name. Was he raised by a miqo'te family in one of the city-states? If so, are they unaware of tribal culture (i.e., the family moved there long ago) or do they actively choose not to follow it? If they choose not to follow it, why not?

Once you've hammered that out, you can decide what the surname would be. If, for instance, your character's parents are unaware of tribal Seeker culture because their families moved to a city-state long ago, perhaps they've adopted hyur surnames; for midlanders, for instance, those are often based on professions, such as Miller or Boatswain. If they live in Limsa Lominsa, they might have adopted roegadyn surnames. Perhaps they decided to stick with one part of Seeker culture -- using the name of the father as the surname -- but didn't want to do that for the given name, since they're no longer tribal.

All that said, one thing I would avoid is going against the naming conventions, then saying your character is a typical tribal Seeker -- because in that case, he's not. You should have an explanation for why your character isn't "typical," because it has a reasonable probability of coming up in RP. Additionally, it helps flesh out your backstory, giving you a narrative benefit for being "different."

Cheers, wasn't quite expecting such a in-depth answer. You've helped a lot. Laugh

FreelanceWizard · **08-18-2013, 05:18 PM**

(08-18-2013, 02:30 PM)Keldion Wrote: Cheers, wasn't quite expecting such a in-depth answer. You've helped a lot.

Happy to oblige. Smile

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

Noble_Einherjar · **08-19-2013, 08:20 PM**

FreelanceWizard already gave some great advice, but I'm gonna throw in my two cents because naming conventions for my Miqo'te main is something I struggled with.

I didn't want to go with Tia or Nunh, because it would bug me a lot if my Miqo'te's status changed from one to the other. A silly thing, perhaps, but I just know it would. Seeing 'Tia' if my main was a Nunh, or 'Nunh' if he was a Tia would irk me.

So I went with an unconventional name, and basically plotted a story for that name like FreelanceWizard suggested. And since characters don't know meta-game knowledge like the big name floating above peoples' heads, I'm free to introduce my character's status however I want without having to look at a nameplate that may be false.

For me it was a compromise. I don't like not following the convention (this is an insecurity, but I also don't like that some people might look at my name and think I didn't care enough to follow convention), but giving my character a permanent last name, when that name can change, was more bothersome to me.

On the upside, fleshing out the origins of my Miqo'te's name helped me discover more about who he is as a person. And that's always a plus.

.. okay so that was more like a dollar and change rather than two cents, but there it is.

Keldion · **08-19-2013, 08:45 PM**

Haha, cheers, i'll happily take someones dollar. in the end I went with ''Keldion Aergwilf''

which went along with the roegadyn surnames. ''Aerg'' = Ambitious and ''Wilf'' = Wolf. I still don't know if it feels right, or if people may look at it in a funny way (not as in, oh dear.. he must be bad, but as in.. just generally odd)

I used a Roegadyn surname because I feel like having my character from Limsa Lominsa, I was going to go along with the whole family who moved there and thus, my character is not one to follow the tribal ways that would normally be seen in a Miqo'te...

I kindly ask for your money yet again, as I am completely new to this universe and want to get it right. Cheers.

Noble_Einherjar · **08-19-2013, 10:12 PM**

A surname for your Miqo'te that fits the conventions of another race could be a good icebreaker when meeting new people for RP. It's a story to tell, something that can be recognized at a glance on a meta-game level. =) So even if people do look at 'Aergwilf' and think, 'Huh, that's odd .. ', I think it will be in a curious kind of way that invites conversation.

I also have a lot to learn about the lore of Eorzea. A lot of my time between now and EA is going to be spent studying up.

Keldion · **08-19-2013, 10:20 PM**

(08-19-2013, 10:12 PM)Noble_Einherjar Wrote: A surname for your Miqo'te that fits the conventions of another race could be a good icebreaker when meeting new people for RP. It's a story to tell, something that can be recognized at a glance on a meta-game level. =) So even if people do look at 'Aergwilf' and think, 'Huh, that's odd .. ', I think it will be in a curious kind of way that invites conversation.

I also have a lot to learn about the lore of Eorzea. A lot of my time between now and EA is going to be spent studying up.

Good to know your opinion, I was just unsure and needed a 2nd opinion other than my own.

Jomoru · **08-19-2013, 10:56 PM**

My character Arete doesn't use her "real" name because she feels there's a slight bias against tribals as being backward vs cityfolk. So she came up with a name that she feels makes people feel she's exotic and wise and not tied to such things. She's actually rather insecure about the whole thing.

Khaze'to Zhwan · **08-19-2013, 11:15 PM**

(08-19-2013, 08:20 PM)Noble_Einherjar Wrote: FreelanceWizard already gave some great advice, but I'm gonna throw in my two cents because naming conventions for my Miqo'te main is something I struggled with.

I didn't want to go with Tia or Nunh, because it would bug me a lot if my Miqo'te's status changed from one to the other. A silly thing, perhaps, but I just know it would. Seeing 'Tia' if my main was a Nunh, or 'Nunh' if he was a Tia would irk me.

So I went with an unconventional name, and basically plotted a story for that name like FreelanceWizard suggested. And since characters don't know meta-game knowledge like the big name floating above peoples' heads, I'm free to introduce my character's status however I want without having to look at a nameplate that may be false.

For me it was a compromise. I don't like not following the convention (this is an insecurity, but I also don't like that some people might look at my name and think I didn't care enough to follow convention), but giving my character a permanent last name, when that name can change, was more bothersome to me.

On the upside, fleshing out the origins of my Miqo'te's name helped me discover more about who he is as a person. And that's always a plus.

.. okay so that was more like a dollar and change rather than two cents, but there it is.

Just as a small thing but it seems that there is a way to show only first name, surname or initials in the options, I don't know how they were actually implemented but if it doesn't show your full name then that could be useful for you. Â I turn all name plates of though anyway so I'm a little unsure.

FreelanceWizard · **08-20-2013, 12:49 AM**

(08-19-2013, 11:15 PM)Khazeto Zhwan Wrote: Just as a small thing but it seems that there is a way to show only first name, surname or initials in the options, I don't know how they were actually implemented but if it doesn't show your full name then that could be useful for you. Â I turn all name plates of though anyway so I'm a little unsure.

I don't think that controls how other people see the name, but I could be wrong about that.

EDIT: Forgot to respond to the OP. Smile

I think your name is great -- it's an icebreaker, too, as Noble_Einherjar noted. It'll grab people's attention and can help start up some IC conversation after the initial introductions. Thumbsup

SinFlux · **08-20-2013, 01:07 AM**

here is something i need help with:

26 tribes, one for each letter.Â

now does that mean there is only one tribe with "J'" ? Â If so, that would mean that people with the same letter prefix would have to be in agreement with each others lore to keep consistant with the tribe, right?

Hope not, but need to know so i can get started.

Also, cool name!

Azthran · **08-20-2013, 01:25 AM**

Awesome that you've been able to find a name you like. Smile

With that said I'd still like to share my thoughts on the Nunh and Tia titles. I think, and I could be wrong, that some people sort of look down on the Tia title. Not exactly their fault as some of the lore I've seen kind of puts the Nunh in a better light as the tribe's strongest male and being able to make babies but that's sort of it.

Tias on the other hand can do all sorts of things in the tribes and the tribal leaders will carry the title of Tia instead of Nunh most of the time.Â

Personally I'm also not too fond of seeing a bunch of players running around with the Nunh title since the Nunh's job is to protect the tribe and make babies it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me for them to be running around having adventures in the far reaches of Eorzea. That isn't to say that they aren't the Nunh to a smaller sister tribe that's starting up and haven't found a place to settle yet as I'm sure it happens now and then.

As for the title changing from Tia to Nunh or Nunh to Tia I don't think it would happen very often and I'm talking years possibly decades since there are only two ways for a Tia to become a Nunh and that's either to beat the tribe's current Nunh or to get the favor of enough women to leave with him to make his own sister tribe. Nunh to Tia would happen even less I think since it's hinted that often the end of those challenges to become Nunh ends in a death. Not saying it always ends in a death but it wouldn't shock anyone in the tribe if either the current Nunh or the hopeful were killed in the challenge.

Think I started to ramble on again... sorry about that.

Jomoru · **08-20-2013, 01:58 AM**

(08-20-2013, 01:25 AM)Azthran Wrote: Awesome that you've been able to find a name you like.

With that said I'd still like to share my thoughts on the Nunh and Tia titles. I think, and I could be wrong, that some people sort of look down on the Tia title. Not exactly their fault as some of the lore I've seen kind of puts the Nunh in a better light as the tribe's strongest male and being able to make babies but that's sort of it.

Tias on the other hand can do all sorts of things in the tribes and the tribal leaders will carry the title of Tia instead of Nunh most of the time.Â

Personally I'm also not too fond of seeing a bunch of players running around with the Nunh title since the Nunh's job is to protect the tribe and make babies it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me for them to be running around having adventures in the far reaches of Eorzea. That isn't to say that they aren't the Nunh to a smaller sister tribe that's starting up and haven't found a place to settle yet as I'm sure it happens now and then.

As for the title changing from Tia to Nunh or Nunh to Tia I don't think it would happen very often and I'm talking years possibly decades since there are only two ways for a Tia to become a Nunh and that's either to beat the tribe's current Nunh or to get the favor of enough women to leave with him to make his own sister tribe. Nunh to Tia would happen even less I think since it's hinted that often the end of those challenges to become Nunh ends in a death. Not saying it always ends in a death but it wouldn't shock anyone in the tribe if either the current Nunh or the hopeful were killed in the challenge.

Think I started to ramble on again... sorry about that.

Of course city based Miq are probably not exactly going to follow the ancient tribal lifestyles and might be prone to call themselves Nunh to say they are virile. Â With the push to the cities from the Calamity and the problems beforehand one might see the tribal society as.. dying.

FreelanceWizard · **08-20-2013, 10:20 AM**

(08-20-2013, 01:07 AM)SinFlux Wrote: now does that mean there is only one tribe with "J'" ? Â If so, that would mean that people with the same letter prefix would have to be in agreement with each others lore to keep consistant with the tribe, right?

Hope not, but need to know so i can get started.

The 26 tribes are like Native American tribes; they consist of a variety of different living groups in a wide variety of locations. Since one of the approved ways to become a nunh to is to expand the tribe's territory, every tribe has innumerable branches ("subtribes," perhaps) that make up the tapestry of the tribe.

So, in short, no, you don't have to worry about what others are doing with their characters. Smile

A miqo'te sharing the same tribe as yours is at minimum an extremely distant relative, but that's all.

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