Banned Names

[druke]

there are certain names that are indeed used in novels however some ar common place even then

acceptable name
-cyrus
-(names from the DnD player\'s handbook [my fav])
-somewhat commonplace names, that yea maybe a character in a book had it, but its not that obstrusive
-etc.


unnacceptable
-drizzt
-drizzit
-drist
-morpheus
-Neo
-(anything from a damn anime!)
-unique names that really only one person EVER has used

Katt is very disputable, and there would be no debate if the character wasn\'t an enki.

[Cha0s]

I agree. Just because a name is a pun, does not mean it was intended that way. And say it is, does it matter?
I am much more worried about the noob-speak (\"OMG LOLZOR\") people and the ones that use profanities or send messages (\"IHate Enkis\") in their names. I am also worried by people who copy other well-known fiction names in full (\"Harry Potter\"). Puns and other little things like that don\'t bother me at all. Maybe that character\'s parents had a sense of humor, or perhaps it was unintended. If the name is a)not hurting someone else and b)can be considered a RP name, then I think it\'s fine. \"Katt Saphira\" isn\'t doing any damage to anyone and can be considered IC with or without the pun intended.

I do believe that the GMs should have the right to enforce the naming policy. However, I appeal to the GMs: if you are given back this power, please do not be over-zealous in your enforcement. The purpose of the naming policy is to make playing Planeshift more enjoyable by maintaining a nice community environment and upholding standards of good role-playing. So please, keep this in mind when renaming people.

EDIT: @Seytra: Naming an Enki \"Katt\" is not \"ridiculing the game.\" The name is only considered a pun because you choose to consider it so. While outside references (\"McDonalds\") can spoil the atmosphere, I think you\'re taking it too far by decrying all puns. Obvious, intentional, message-names are bad, but puns?

[Seytra]

One pun may not do harm. Maybe not to you. But it will set an example. People will see it and think \"Hey, this is funny, I can be funny, too! Let\'s name an Ylian... erm... Hoomahn! Yeah, I\'m cool too now!\" And soon we will have quite a noticable amount of this sort of \"funny\" things around. And now it does damage. Why must everything become a serious problem before action is taken? Why can\'t things be prevented right from the beginning if it is absolutley clear that without prevention, they will grow into a major pain?

Edit: @ Chaos: Intentional or not doesn\'t matter. It must not matter, because otherwise every want-to-be funny person will simply claim \"It wasn\'t intended\" and get away with that. This is why IRL the same excuse doesn\'t work in court.

Edit2: Oh, and obviously I am not the only one who immediately associated Katt with \"Cat\". So maybe some people won\'t get the pun, but most will, thus it is ridiculing.

[Cha0s]

@Seytra: I\'m not saying that no one will realize that the name is a pun. All I am saying is this:
You have two choices, 1. Consider the name to be a pun and a mockery of the game, ruining your entire PS experience forever (ok, exaggeration, but you get the idea), or 2. Consider the name to be a RP name that happens to be a pun which you can overlook for the sake of RP.

I would understand your complaint if it were something ridiculous, but \"Katt?\" Coincidentally, I don\'t think there\'s anything wrong with your Ylian example either. If the player is serious about RPing, I don\'t think that name is a problem (this is where intent comes in ).

As for your \"gateway to other funny names\" argument, I am skeptical that even you believe that the name \"Katt\" on an Enkidukai will convince other people to make funny names. If they\'re stupid enough to want to make funny names, they won\'t get the pun in the first place. If they\'re smart and malicious, they won\'t need any help making bad names.

P.S. If it\'s unintentional in court, then the sentence is reduced or the charges are dismissed, depending on the crime.

[Cyl]

Hmm if she would actually be willing to call herself Kate, ...

but Katt, hmm seems pretty much like Cat, if she was an elf or something it would not be that bad, because there wouldn\'t be a direct referrence to her race, but I would change it too.

@Gentar: About Name Narzism, ..., I don\'t want to be a jerk but the line between Good/Bad name has to be somewhere...

Hope my \"Cyl\"\'s okay, it actually is meant to be a number (the 5 for those who didnt read my story, and there it is pretty much explained why) so I made it short, but still made it up(Made it short because you wont call your numbers like \"apadorazikunazom\" or sth..).

[Seytra]

The \"overlook it\" argument again? Why does one have to endure that someone else decides they need to be \"funny\"? Its just like people talking in a cinema.
Furthermore, I maintain that I fail to see how someone can be serious about RP if they cannot even make a decent name.

And I\'m not surprised that you don\'t see anything wrong with the Hoomahn.
Yes, this case is pretty much a border case, and yes, this particular one isn\'t the worst there can be. But fact is that a lot of people who might have thought about being \"funny\" but decided against it will take this as invitation or indication of acceptance. Yes, there are people who don\'t need an invitation, but does this mean that we need to hand out invitations now?

Hmm, you\'re right about the charges. It will probably up the charges if you intended to be negligent, or make manslaughter murder.

Still, if it indeed was meant to be \"Katherine\", why not make it Katherine instead of insisting on something that is questionable?

[Cha0s]

@Seytra:

The only ones saying the name is funny are those that dislike it. Sounds like a paradox right? I personally don\'t find it funny at all. I\'m not being forced to \"endure\" anything. You\'re only \"enduring\" the horrible name because you choose to see it as an attempt to make a joke. Try looking at it as just a name. It\'s not that hard to get past the pun. Go RP with Katt and then tell me that the name ruined your RPing.

Furthermore, your argument about not having a decent name meaning they can\'t RP is invalid for two reasons. First, the argument is about whether or not the name is decent, so assuming that it isn\'t defeats the purpose. Second, just because someone is bad at picking a name does not make them a bad role-player.

Again, your \"gateway\" argument is weak. People don\'t think about being funny, decide not to, and then go ahead once they see someone else do it. And again, will these people even realize that someone\'s being funny (intentionally or not)?

And finally, maybe it wasn\'t meant to be Katherine, maybe it was, but either way, consider that perhaps this person likes that name; maybe they have a story around it; maybe there\'s some sentimental value, but perhaps they just like it. I see no reason to prevent someone from picking the name of his/her choice as long as it doesn\'t affect the community\'s enjoyment of the game. And as far as a pun goes, I don\'t it think it does.

[mikewsnc]

Ok everyone want to talk about IN GAME right. Well whats wrong with Katt or Cat for that matter. In game in RP none of us know what a cat is anyway. I am an Enki not a cat. How does the name Katt hurt RP in any way. It doesn\'t. This is getting to a weird point for me because I love this game. I too do not wish to see people with names that have nothing to do with a RP world but lets chill for a minute.

I am far beyond losing patients with the obviously thin skin of people in this game world. Ease up please.

Aranis

[Seytra]

mikewsnc, the flaw in your argument becomes painfully obvious if you replace \"Cat\" by \"computer\". Noone ingame knows what a computer is, yet it is unacceptable.
The reason being that the player does the assiciation, not the character. It is the players immersin being ruined, not the characters. I don\'t know what is so hard to grasp about this.

@ Cha0s: I did not say it is funny. In fact, I find it quite lame. Nevertheless, it is obviously designed to be a pun, and thus \"funny\". And making puns is ridiculing whatever is made a pun on.

And if you never got an idea from someone else doing something, or if you never were unsure whether something was acceptable and decided by what you saw others do, then I wonder where you live. And yes, these people will be able to get the pun.

Also, the argument may only be invalid in border cases. In all others, it is pretty good. The name is the most basic yet most permanent part of RP. A decent RPer will realize this and take great care at picking one.

[Cha0s]

@Seytra:

Interesting... You just brought intent into it and you were saying it has nothing to do with this... You said that the name was \"designed\" (intended) to be a pun. You\'re the one who sees it as ridicule. The other person, as I\'ve been saying, may just like the name. And don\'t tell me that someone might just like the name \"Computer,\" as that is taking it to an extreme. We\'re discussing the borderline cases.

Regarding your next argument, it is true that people do look to those around them to establish what is acceptable behavior and what isn\'t. However, I don\'t think people will think, \"Hey, look there\'s a pun in that guy\'s name. I should make a character with a pun in it\'s name so I can ridicule the game.\" Honestly, they may see that it is ok to use puns, but I doubt they\'ll try to use it maliciously. If they do something really terrible, then the GMs can stop it. So far, however, I have seen no example of a really terrible pun that really ruins the fantasy environment.

As for your comment about the name-argument being valid in other cases... We\'re not talking about other cases. We\'re talking about border cases. I\'m not going to argue the obvious ones; there\'s no point, I agree there. I\'m just saying that the border case (puns) people can be good RPers.

P.S. The most basic, yet most permanent part of RP is the character, not the name. The name is simply a small subset of this, and while it is important that the name be unique and well-thought out, a good character can make up for a bad name (to some extent), whereas the reverse is not true at all.

[Seytra]

Originally posted by Cha0s
Interesting... You just brought intent into it and you were saying it has nothing to do with this... You said that the name was \"designed\" (intended) to be a pun.

It has been your argument of saying that since it wasn\'t intended it was acceptable. My argument has always been that intent isn\'t important. Yes, by saying \"designed\" I implied intent, and yes, I think that it indeed was intentional, but still intent isn\'t important.

Originally posted by Cha0s
You\'re the one who sees it as ridicule. The other person, as I\'ve been saying, may just like the name. And don\'t tell me that someone might just like the name \"Computer,\" as that is taking it to an extreme. We\'re discussing the borderline cases.

I always hear the argument of people liking certain names, or always using them, etc.. However, these arguments have no value whatsoever, because different contexts mean different rules on what is OK and what isn\'t.
No, I wasn\'t going to say that one might like the name \"Computer\". However, people would argue they do in order to get to keep it. However, that wasn\'t what this example was supposed to show, it was supposed to counter the \"It doesn\'t exist in PS\" argument, which I think it does nicely.

Originally posted by Cha0s
Regarding your next argument, it is true that people do look to those around them to establish what is acceptable behavior and what isn\'t. However, I don\'t think people will think, \"Hey, look there\'s a pun in that guy\'s name. I should make a character with a pun in it\'s name so I can ridicule the game.\" Honestly, they may see that it is ok to use puns, but I doubt they\'ll try to use it maliciously.

Precisely. People might get the idea that it is OK to do it while it isn\'t. And you know that one can get into a mood that lets make you a new char for the sole purpose of being \"funny\" if you think it would be acceptable.

Originally posted by Cha0s
If they do something really terrible, then the GMs can stop it. So far, however, I have seen no example of a really terrible pun that really ruins the fantasy environment.

Every pun detracts from it a bit. As I said, one or two don\'t do real harm, but lots do. Like ants. Which is why they must not be allowed to stay, even in little quantities.

Originally posted by Cha0s
P.S. The most basic, yet most permanent part of RP is the character, not the name. The name is simply a small subset of this, and while it is important that the name be unique and well-thought out, a good character can make up for a bad name (to some extent), whereas the reverse is not true at all.

No, it is not. The character of a character can and often does change over time. The name stays the same. Also, the character of a character will, contrary to a name, not be noticable on all occasions. The char name is an RPer\'s visitor\'s card.
The only way a decent RPer can make a bad name is being unintentionally misguided and misinformed. The presence of a randomiser makes uncreativity inexcusable.

[mikewsnc]

Ok lets have a look....

\"Lesitune, Sares, Naniari, Noir, Tkarr, Janner, Murdy, Yaren, Axe, Seavereth, Lila, Bludgeon, Tayah, Fanchion, Benican, Gholmyrr, Kiall, Auroe, Laath, Ganinos, Adaribe, Xerba, Gentrom, Bodacher, Reemay, Gressen, Akbar, Huli, Rikiki, Julian, Constrabus, Krull, Justeclair, Noxide, Cvirus, Anoria, Assassimon, Devorn, Mugey, Ayshe, Crimsonsky, Gellelile, Ralas, Mudd, Shane, Waemaiy, Balendilin, Miurirey, Wigenele, Aesry, Shinzo, Thorin, Ogu, Urza, Savkiller, Verrliit, Drool, Sbf, Blaze, Uthavar, Thorn, Tusika, Heroro, Lindrae, Valhalla, Degomon, Nemacil, Kingzter, Heydulf, Marcus, Lneptunes, Rafail, Yvus, Niklas, Evest, Mslug, Shamey, Helda, Arris, Morthis, Moorlocke, Invaginius, Tarel, Darkwing, Proteous, Epyonite, Kephira, Orenorie, Aranis, Melazyboy, Ariem, Gwen, Cacorere, Varel, Cad, Tar, Erutuf, Vespa, Zerafin, Lordbug, Relun, \"

there are many names there i would change before katt.
oh lets count the names
1:Axe
2:Assassimon
3:Crimsonsky
4:Mudd
5:Savkiller
6:Sbf
7:Heroro
8:Kingzter
9:Mslug
10: Darkwing
11:Melazyboy

Now all these names in some way could be argueed against. Not saying I would but they could be stripped of there names. (some should be) but all these names are worse than Katt.

Aranis

[Kiern]

Wait...

You all are having a discussion as to whether or not the name Katt, Katt, is acceptable?

That\'s just...I don\'t...gah

It just seems so incredibly stupid, I can\'t even think of a counter-argument.

Seytra, you would really compare the name \"Computer\" with that of \"Katt Saphira\"?  That\'s simply the most ridiculous thing I\'ve ever heard, if you can\'t see in shades of gray, there\'s zero point in trying to change your mind about it.

[Seytra]

Originally posted by Kiern
Seytra, you would really compare the name \"Computer\" with that of \"Katt Saphira\"?  That\'s simply the most ridiculous thing I\'ve ever heard, if you can\'t see in shades of gray, there\'s zero point in trying to change your mind about it.

Hello? Care to read the entire thing? The sole purpose of \"Computer\" being here was to counter the argument that things that don\'t exist in PS are OK as names. Nothing else. :rolleyes:

I think I have made it more than clear that Katt is by far less bad as Computer.

As for the names mikewsnc posted: Who says that I would not change these?

[Kiern]

Originally posted by Seytra
Hello? Care to read the entire thing? The sole purpose of \"Computer\" being here was to counter the argument that things that don\'t exist in PS are OK as names.

You can\'t counter an argument with an over-the-top example.

It\'s why the argument \"If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you?\" doesn\'t work.