AO should assign character names

I think Funcom should have gone with a random name generator exclusively, instead of allowing players to choose their own nicknames. There's nothing that destroys immersion for me quicker than seeing players named Kidrock, Damastahh, and Eatpoopoo. Yeah, it really makes me feel like I'm running around on Rubi-Ka when I see that kind of stuff. I've already turned off all chat so I don't have to listen to all the OOC conversation, but I can hardly escape seeing peoples' names.

On the other hand, some of it's admittedly not the players' fault. Most of the more obvious and normal-sounding names have long been taken. Anyway, I'd prefer it if the game assigned random first and last names, more or less like it does now, but with the nicks done away with altogether.

I get annoyed with people (i.e. guys) calling themselves stuff like "CuteBabe" or "Jenna19". It's become sort of a hobby of mine, to ask these characters what their real gender is, and I have never ever been told that they actually were females.

And at that point they often start bragging about how they get stuff for free, how people help them out, and it really makes me wonder, how stupid men can get. Obviously the following idiom is more correct than I thought:

"Only two things are infinite. Time and Stupidity."

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praxiz

name generator? what kind of names? Mike would be a name? what kind of names are names of the future?

I really see no point in getting a name generator- There is already an auto asigned name.

the name you pick is your nickname.

You guys seem to care too much of what other peoples names are... just a game remember?

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Originally posted by praxiz
I get annoyed with people (i.e. guys) calling themselves stuff like "CuteBabe" or "Jenna19". It's become sort of a hobby of mine, to ask these characters what their real gender is, and I have never ever been told that they actually were females.

And at that point they often start bragging about how they get stuff for free, how people help them out, and it really makes me wonder, how stupid men can get. Obviously the following idiom is more correct than I thought:

"Only two things are infinite. Time and Stupidity."

-
praxiz

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To be on the safe side, I only give gifts to atroxes :)

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Originally posted by praxiz
I get annoyed with people (i.e. guys) calling themselves stuff like "CuteBabe" or "Jenna19". It's become sort of a hobby of mine, to ask these characters what their real gender is, and I have never ever been told that they actually were females.

And at that point they often start bragging about how they get stuff for free, how people help them out, and it really makes me wonder, how stupid men can get. Obviously the following idiom is more correct than I thought:

"Only two things are infinite. Time and Stupidity."

-
praxiz

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So what is wrong with playing a Female character? It is a Role-Playing game is it not? Some people prefer, and actually do better role-playing characters of the opposite sex. As far as getting help because I'm a female (and I am in RL), that's crap. I get help because I make friends with good people and give as much as I get.

Oh and BTW, I think it is way rude to ask someone what their gender is, unless of course you ask the question (OOC). I mean, the point of a RP game is to step outside yourself and become your character. Its been that way since the beginning for me...all the way back to the paper and dice world of AD&D.

so is there a problem with role-playing a whore? =) i'll talk dirty to you for 15 minutes for 1,000,000 credits! Am I really female or not? Does it matter? heh.

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Originally posted by GOA
name generator? what kind of names? Mike would be a name? what kind of names are names of the future?

I really see no point in getting a name generator- There is already an auto asigned name.

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And the auto-assigned name is generated by what? A name generator! Damn, you're quick, son. I'd hate to go up against you in Jeopardy.

The point of my suggestion was that players should be limited to those names, and not be able to add nicknames of their own.

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the name you pick is your nickname.

You guys seem to care too much of what other peoples names are... just a game remember?

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Yes, right now it's just a game. A Fisher-Price kind of game. I want it to be a real experience, with adults and authentic roleplayers at the helm. Let the d00dz play D00dquest or Dark Age of D00dalot and leave at least one game to the grownups.

But I'm being kind of harsh. As I said before, we're all forced to wear our one-name badges whether we like it or not, so there's not a lot we can do about it. I'd just like it to be different, that's all. That was the reason for my post.

i don't like the idea of a name generator. by giving a name to my char, i give him personality. and i don't want to miss that.

why don't you see the names as a chance to learn a bit about the person behind it? i think, my behaviour to someone named "killkillkill" would differ from the behaviour to someone named "lovechild" or something.

do this during char creation b/f you enter the nameing room.

/name dokiemouth

and then dont use the name machine just exit that room.

result is you only have a nick.

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Originally posted by Kichigai
The point of my suggestion was that players should be limited to those names, and not be able to add nicknames of their own.

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By doing so you take away the ONE thing I can truly say I came up with when I created my character. Everyone else has the same armor, weapons, nanos, vehicles, pets, and on and on. The only two things I can really say are unique about my character are the way I play it, and my character's name.

Don't blame the game's design for the huge number of poor character names chosen. Blame the unimagnative people who pick the names. Show them how to come up with a better character name than "k3w1d00d69". Funcom's not going to do it -- it doesn't make them any extra money, and people will play the game regardless of how creative their character's name is.

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Yes, right now it's just a game. A Fisher-Price kind of game. I want it to be a real experience, with adults and authentic roleplayers at the helm. Let the d00dz play D00dquest or Dark Age of D00dalot and leave at least one game to the grownups.

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Much as I'd like to see this myself, I'm not holding my breath waiting for it to happen. Online computer games that revolve only around killing stuff and acquiring better loot (repeat, repeat, ad infinitum) will never reach the level of maturity you desire. If you want an experience like you describe, you're only going to find it on the tabletop with pen-and-paper RPGs. Neverwinter Nights shows promise, but until it hits the stores I reserve my judgment.

shaggy-z is right. for true RP'ing you MUST go to pen and paper games. computer games will never (at least not for MANY MANY years) be able to offer the freedom of choice and action that tabletop games do. the technology will have to progress a LOT before that can happen. neverwinter nights will, IMHO, not be fundamentally any different than AO, EQ, or DAoC in that respect...it simply cannot. also, it isn't Massively multiplayer, unless i'm off my gourd (which is quite possible). oh well, at least when star wars galaxies comes out most of the pubescent "k3w1d00d5" will flock there in droves to be cheapass darth maul or obi-wan ripoffs...maybe they'll all kill each other in some freak jedi-antijedi type reaction. that would be "k3w1, d00d".

ps - i also agree with him on the name being the only really creative part of the char...it can be a RP tool. i think that many people use the name as a hint of something that they want others to ask them about...that could lead to RP'ing, but most never ask "where'd you get the name?" or something like that.

A true roleplaying experience doesn't require a pen-and-paper game. It just makes creating that experience easier. You could create that experience just as easily in a small MUD. You can even do it in AO, if you have enough control over the environment and people participating. All it takes is one jerk to ruin things.

It's difficult to have a good RP experience when you're trying to create it in a game with thousands of people, all of them with a different idea of what the "right" experience is for the game. Some want RP. Some want to socialize. Some want to kill stuff. Some want the best loot. Some want combinations and permutations of all of those things. And all of them will clash on whose experience is the "right" one. Hence, differences of opinion on things like one's ability to name one's character.

I haven't followed Neverwinter Nights too closely, I'll admit. From what I do know, I see it having promise because it isn't a massively multiplayer game. I see it more like a MUD, with a much, much smaller playerbase than something like AO. It'll also have a well-established set of rules right off the bat. Finally, being a D&D game, there's already an RP atmosphere built in. It won't guarantee a better online RP experience, but it's probably a couple of steps in that direction.

How about this. Turn of the "Show names" in the option tab, and besides in a group never click on a person to learn thier name. This does two things. Allows you to not see the person's name unless you choose to and gives you the chance to ask people thier names instead of thier gender.

[sarcasm]
auto generated names.... that'd solve everything.
fantastic idea.

but why stop there, why not have an automatic breed selector, and a profession selector, a side selector and a hight selector... wow, thats even better.

then we could force people to use numbers when posting on the forum, instead of names... then we have no risk of people with dumb names like reelbigfish posting total nonsense. it'd be 315925468 posting stuff.

of course, we could take it one further, and have an autoplay feature, so you check a box at char startup, and the game plays itself!!! wow, you're a genius!

[/sarcasm]

i like being able to personalise my character. and that idea is nearly the worst ive heard all day... sorry.

fish - you left out an automatic board poster that could get upset with gameplay/mechanics or whatever for you and automatically post your favorite flames about FC, d00ds, lame names, etc.

then we could actually "work" at work instead of reading the boards. wait a minute...forget i said that. ;)

This is the REELBIGFISH-bot v1.0

i do not agree with you.
you are a fool.
i bet that you are a uber l33t g4nKz0R, and i do not see why people like you and your guild are allowed to play.

i would also like to point out that all NT's are whiners, and that MP's are gods in Pvp. The root changes are stupid and will ruin the entire game.

REELBIGFISH-bot out.

REELBIGFISH-bot v1.0 takes no responsibility for any flames posted here. now a few words from my creator:

damn, that things still got a few bugs, it thought you were agentofdeath, debug time ;)

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Originally posted by Kichigai

Yes, right now it's just a game. A Fisher-Price kind of game. I want it to be a real experience, with adults and authentic roleplayers at the helm. Let the d00dz play D00dquest or Dark Age of D00dalot and leave at least one game to the grownups.

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So you want it to be a real experience, eh? Or more specifically do you want to force a MMORPG to conform to your personal preferences? I don't name my Characters "K1llz0rz" but I have absolutely no problem with people doing it, because (wait for it...) I can tolerate other people.

You want a game without d00dz (I really hate when people use that term so willy-nilly, but then again I recognize your right to do so)? If so, then get coding and only release it to your friends... then if you want to increase the user base you can create a recommendation system, a player screening process, and ID-check software registration verification.

Don't have time/talent/resources? Well guess what? Suck it up, because a lot of OTHER people have also paid to play this game and have the right to enjoy it in their own way (sans Cheating and Exploiting). If you really need to get yer RP on... just RP that they are morons, or better yet annoying robots(!), and return to your fantasy and get on with it.

I really hate when people want to force people into their frame of mind and their ideals of how the game should be played. I think I'm going to go make a character named "B4ByK1ll4r" right now and wear only tattoos and polka-dot underwear.

Zoobei, MMORPGs are social games whether you like it or not, and always have been from inception. You should read comments from what the original UO team intended when they created that game, or look at MUSHes from before that. The intention behind making the games "massive(ly)" is so that virtual societies appear and complex interplayer interactions can arise. That this has not yet been very effectively implemented to date in any MMORPG is due to the immature state of the art; MMORPGs will become much more socially-oriented.

MMORPGs, including Anarchy (ironically) were never meant to be free for all wastelands were the law of the jungle prevails and it's every man for himself. Some amount of adherance to social conventions is envisoned, and what Kichigai is asking for is nothing more than what the designers of these games had in mind from the start.

Kichigai, you had to expect a bunch of flak over your suggestion, but I totally agree with your point, just not your method. I too CAN'T STAND to see names like Iwantayalm. I mean, what the hell is that??? You're absolutely right that it breaks the immersion. Just when you're drawn in, caught up in the game, some yahoo named Mrpoopypants comes running by shouting about how uber he is. However, a name generator would take away an important aspect of creativity. I however, wouldn't have a problem at all if Funcom instituted more rigid rules regarding naming conventions beyond the typical "you're name can't contain bad language" thing. Then, over time, those people would be forced to change their name to something more in line with the atmosphere of the game.

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Online computer games that revolve only around killing stuff and acquiring better loot (repeat, repeat, ad infinitum) will never reach the level of maturity you desire.

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Shaggy-Z, you are so right-on here. Sad, but true.

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Originally posted by FeloniousPunk
Zoobei, MMORPGs are social games whether you like it or not, and always have been from inception. You should read comments from what the original UO team intended when they created that game, or look at MUSHes from before that. The intention behind making the games "massive(ly)" is so that virtual societies appear and complex interplayer interactions can arise. That this has not yet been very effectively implemented to date in any MMORPG is due to the immature state of the art; MMORPGs will become much more socially-oriented.

MMORPGs, including Anarchy (ironically) were never meant to be free for all wastelands were the law of the jungle prevails and it's every man for himself. Some amount of adherance to social conventions is envisoned, and what Kichigai is asking for is nothing more than what the designers of these games had in mind from the start.

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I don't recall saying at any point that I did not like the social aspect of the game. I, in fact, enjoy it quite a bit. However, my enjoyment is not limited to those of the hardcore RP ilk. I enjoy the goofy folks, the foul-mouthed kids and everyone else that these games attract. Sure, I'm not to fond of griefers, but then again these games with PvP aspects allow them (especially with the new PvP reward changes coming).

My point was that what Kichigai is suggesting is "adherence to social conventions" which happen to be the social conventions he, himself (and those likeminded), prefers and enjoys. If you open the doors to the public with a game that allows anonymity and no real means of revenge, you better be ready for what will inevitably happen... induction of griefers, jerks and morons.

Maybe it's because I'm from NYC, but you need to learn to deal with others you don't like. In real life there are the exact same people that will do anything they can think of provided they (think) can get away with it. This is an aspect of our society, and it's foolish to think that it will not follow to an MMORPG.

I could care less about what the Origin conceptualized during UO's creation. Their concept created the greatest grief-fest in the history of gaming, and all products that have followed have had fundamental design aspects created for the sole purpose of preventing the atmosphere in UO (non-PvP zones, level checks, carebear servers, inability to take items/loot from other players). Don't get me wrong... I loved the game... but to draw on it's basic concepts to dispute a functional reality will get you no where. At least not with me.

These are social games... and like everything else social, people are going to do things that tick each other off... sometimes intentionally, sometimes accidentally. This is also inevitably the product of your "complex interplayer interactions." Restricting player character customization is a negative no matter how I look at it. I HATE not being able to pick my name in AO... I'd hate it a lot more if I had NO choices in the naming process besides what some generator spat at me.

Sorry that people with the name "cutebabe23" tick y'all off, I really am. You know what annoys the hell out of me? Some herb who does nothing in group except RP-speech. But I ignore it and let them enjoy themselves (because they too are paying to do so)... so perhaps you can learn to ignore someone's name. If it violates the EULA then report them, but even that is weak if you are not 100% sure they are doing something else wrong. If they are behaving themselves, then it is YOU (IMHO) that's infringing on THEIR right to enjoy themselves.


-Zoob