Naming policy clarification

Cunha

Cunha

Dalayan Beginner
First of all. I am not one of those people that kicked around the game until level 20 when I finally got to complete my name "Kickaen Daface" and then had my name changed because it broke the "you are retarded rule". I havent

Is it reasonable for a user to request a GM to actually approve his name? It just seems like there should be a way to have someone say "Yes, your name is not a piece of crap" so you never have to think about it again. I don't want to be playing for a year on a character and then realize or have someone else realize for me that my name is actually the name of a Final Fantasy character spelled backwards with an X added on it. That should be in violation because of rule 5 and 2, right? This is just an example so please don't debunk this and just assume I am through.

Additionally, it doesnt seem like real names are covered in the naming policy at all. Certainly it is obvious that no pre used fantasy names are allowable. If someone had the name John and then chose the last name Longstrider or something that actually makes a unique name instead of John Smith. That would be a legitimate name wouldn't it? There are a wide variety of ethnic names that seem vastly unused but if someone can relate an existing name to someone on Google does that make the name violate the naming policy?

And does popular media in rule 2 mean media that the GM has heard about, or media that someone /petitioning you has heard about?

The first conclusion I jumped to from the rules was "Okay so they want Gibberish long fantasy names no one can say out loud" but then I remembered rule 4.

It simply seems like under the naming policy the actual acceptable names are severely limited. I even read another naming policy thread that suggested disallowing names that are similar to pre existing character names. I think that would leave us with something like 600 names that are pronounceable in english.

I have seen how many of the posters here react to various folks complaining about the naming policy. I understand that the rules are a system designed to remove unwelcome parties from playing this game, and I appreciate that. I know that Rule 8 pretty much makes the rules complete (unless a GM is mad at you, in which case, you are screwed anyways). I understand the spirit of the rules, but in that spirit, clarity is welcome.

I think the rules would make more sense if Rule number 8 was changed to Rule number 1, and the current rules 1-7 were listed as various ways to attempt to be acceptable to the GM's "The rules Below are guidelines..." it would make more sense for this to be reworded and listed as rule 1.

Another thing I dont see mentioned is word names. They arent all stupid, if someone was a wizard named Rock Lightwater that seems like a quality, cool sounding name. Its not a wordplay, and its not stupid. It is a word and it doesnt seem to be in violation of any rules to me. However if I had that name I would be afraid of it getting changed simply because it isnt Jalellynnvallyn or similar. I guess "Rock" could refer to the WWF guy "The Rock" so that might not be any good, but Rock Lightwater doesnt refer to a wrestler. If Rock is in violation because of the wrestler, choose a word that works like "Branch Kingkiller" or something else.

I guess my specific suggestion is

Clarification regarding Real names
Clarification regarding word names
Potential relocation of Rule 8 to Rule 1 place

and the question regarding asking direct GM approval is simply so a user can just be confident some guy doesnt /petition your name after he runs it through google backwards and forwards to find a reason it is in violation. Names are extremely important in a role playing game, it makes a huge difference. Please dont tell me "If your worried about your name, you have problems" That is not an arguement. Some people might say if I play a fantasy role playing game I have problems. I am worried about a name and not because I dont have the spirit of the rules in me either. Its a character and essentially the only thing that makes it mine is the name that I chose, everything else about my iksar is the same as every other iksar, besides the name.

Thanks for reading guys. I expect a lot of flamers but it would be nice to not see that happen.
 
Cunha said:
Werdz
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*Please accept my response as my understanding of the naming policy, and not an official ruling on such.*

Is this post a response to an incident, or are you simply picking out nuances in the naming policy?

Rock Lightwater is fine, and anyone petioning about it would be dismissed and slapped on the hand by myself. Therock Canyousmellwhatimcooking, would summarily be hit with a nerfstick. Rock Smashayouface, again, nerfstick. See the difference? The third one effectively creates a word combination with the first and surname. The first does not. Your reference to real names now, John Furyfist fine, John Bonjovi not so much. Again, see the difference?

No, it would not be reasonable to ask permission to use whatever name from a gm each time a character is created. This would effectively stem the flow of anything new ever being created because we would be continuously approving/denying names, and it is wholly unnecessary. You know what you are doing when you create and name a character, and excercising restraint in not naming them Cloudstrife (or reversing it and putting an x on the end) will get you far. Choose to ignore this, and you know fully well you are skating on thin ice. (In this case 'you' meaning anyone creating a new player, and is not an accusation of past or future deeds of the op)

The naming policy isnt hard to understand.. and isnt as restrictive as you're making it out to be. Relocating rule 8 to rule 1 seems superfluous, as order isnt any indication of importance. They all apply.
 
Ikaa/Osimi said:
Werdz
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I appreciate the response. Rock Lightwater being fine is just about enough explanation to me. and I actually laughed at canyousmellwhatiamcooking.

I just see the rules I can see a way that most names could be found in violation of them, if someone wanted the name to be in violation of them.

I think the policy could be refined and rule 8 should be rule 1 because it just states in the first place that rules 1-7 are guidelines so it makes sense.

But I will trust that the GM's and people in charge will be reasonable so long as I am reasonable. Thanks a lot.
 
From personal experience, even if you do get permission from a GM to have a specific name another GM may find it unacceptable, nerf it, and you're shit out of luck; it seems pretty subjective at times.
 
Finny said:
From personal experience, even if you do get permission from a GM to have a specific name another GM may find it unacceptable, nerf it, and you're shit out of luck; it seems pretty subjective at times.
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R.I.P. Pharaun :(
 
That is what is sort of disturbing. Ive read other threads where the new name is more obviously (to me) in violation of naming policy than the original name.

I am not saying the way the server is run is bad or that I dont respect the bosses around here, I just believe the naming policy could use another look.

What was wrong with Pharaun? Oh, googled it, Pharaun Mizzrym I guess that one fits as a violation pretty easily.
 
It was from a book, after having the name for like 3 years, going to 65 and getting 250 AAs, someone reported him and a GM nerfed it. :dumb:

edit: I had heard that his name had already been deemed acceptable, but dont quote me on that.
 
Cunha said:
Just edited the post. I dunno, that one has to be called your fault.
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I was just saying that I had heard Pharaun was deemed acceptable by whatever committee determines such things, but got nerfed somehow anyways.

also, I am not Pharaun. :hmph:
 
My mistake then. Thread has already digressed, bummer.

Naming policy could use some refinement, many agree. It isnt broken, just isnt fixed.
 
volvov2 said:
It was from a book, after having the name for like 3 years, going to 65 and getting 250 AAs, someone reported him and a GM nerfed it. :dumb:

edit: I had heard that his name had already been deemed acceptable, but dont quote me on that.
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The name would have been a bit more acceptable if he didn't adopt the surname as well... lol...

On topic... I also think the policy could use a tad more clarification, especially regarding gimmicky names as a deviation of both 3 and 6
 
Finny said:
I think it's inconsistent.
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Pretty much.

The fact that you can ask a GM if a name is ok, use that name for months and months, and in some cases years, then it be nerfed out of nowhere is pretty odd to me.
 
Heh.... I got 'Solurus' nerfed. The reason I was given? It was too close to 'Solaris' which is an operating system. I argued that it's phonetically not at all similar ( sahl-YOO-ruhs was my pronunciation) and I hardly saw how it would really cause any degradation of rp-goodness... But I lose the name anyway. I don't really play the character any more... he was a Solurus...

Anyway, yeah, it's inconsistent at best; there have been times in the past where they've been VERY strict... there's been times where they have been more lenient. I'm FAIRLY certain that Solurus could have gone a decade without incident... but, let one over-worked Unix admin log on and have to deal with something that is phonetically about 30% similar to the OS he has to work with all work week and I guess it's gonna get nerfed. Anyway, not QQing about it... just sorta wish that name nerfs didn't also include 'anything the GM thinks could potentially have some similarity to something that they once think they heard about' and focused more on making sure it just doesn't disrupt the ambiance. Had I surnamed him such that his name was 'Solurus Runsbetterthansco'... I would have been retarded for not making more attempt to make 'Solurus' sound more like 'Solaris' (Celehris would have even been closer)... but I would have expected the nerfstick then. Oh well... what's done is done.
 
I was half expecting mine to get nerfed anyways after other people with names from the same series started getting nerfed.
 
Your name is just a bad example of a name that blatantly violates the naming policy though.

The ambiance as far as names go does not exist at all. There a ship loads of names that are certainly violating the policy all over the place.

I am just not the kind of guy that can be at peace knowing my name can be modified as soon as a book is written that includes my characters name or as soon as someone discovers that a famous persons name is a homonym to my name. Are we supposed to google every name that get accepted and make sure there arent any decent results? (and also try and guess all of the potential homonyms?)

Are we all supposed to be called Yeallynniet?

Nevermind, that sounds a lot like reallyneat if you say it just right, plus it even looks like it because of the LLY.

I have never ran into a problem with the naming policy on SoD or any other game for that matter, but I would rather confront the issue before more problems occur.
 
Honestly, just about every complaint I've ever seen about a name was about one that made me go "man, that was dumb." There is definitely a gray area, but imo it's really not difficult to stay out of it.
 
Solurus isnt bad. Most people that know their name is asking to be changed are not surprised when it is finally changed. Other people think "great, thanks for destroying mychracter" because when they have a new name they might as well be playing someone elses character. I am sure i can find a ton of literature with a main or important character named tyrone, are you in violation of the naming policy?
 
Cunha said:
Other people think "great, thanks for destroying mychracter" because when they have a new name they might as well be playing someone elses character.
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Exactly.

My mage's name used to be Brimztone. It was flagged for change and it has been Brimz for some time. When it was changed it wasn't too tragic because everyone called me Brimz anyway.

Arraz' name was once Chaseum. At 20, it was Chaseum Down(completely violating the naming policy). It was only nerfed once the character hit 65 and about 100 AAs. It was nerfed to Chaseum _. This was fine. The name completely violated the naming policy and needed to be dealt with and the _ stopped the gimmicy-ness of the name. About 6 months later it was nerfed to Arraz and still had an underscore. Why? I have no idea. The name Chaseum was approved by multiple GMs both before the Down surname, and with the _. The reason was for "consistency in the policy".

Other gimmicky names have just been given an _ and not had to change their first names.
Finny said:
I think it's inconsistent.
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I guess GMs get bored too.

Unless your name is totally obvious like friggin Frodo Baggins or Hamburglar they should just give it a rest. If you want to get down to brass tacks.. there is virtually no names you could make up unless you simply refuse to use vowels.

My next character will be named Grrvyln Hnmtrn.
 
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