Character naming question

[Godfrey]

When creating a character, when you click Next from the first screen, it displays a warning containing, among other things:

Please make sure, before
clicking next again, that your
character name is not abusive
in any way, does not sound
like a real name or the one of
a well known person.

(Emphasis mine.)

Does this mean I shouldn\'t create a character named \"Godfrey\" (the name I\'ve gone by on MUDs and forums for years), because it is in fact a real name?

Thanks,
Godfrey

[Drey]

kinda makes it sound like you shouldnt, no?

[Keyaz]

from what I am aware of names like that aren\'t liked much, but do not breach the rules, as they are infact real names, many people have come along thinking they can be excused from our naming policy because they had the name \'supersexyted\' or whatever for god knows how many immature years they\'ve played games.

I personally appreciate your effort to clear up your confusion on this point, I for one wouldn\'t change your name, if it dons a nice healthy medievul style surname, and I am/was the great name nazi so heh, your pretty much in the clear

[Godfrey]

Originally posted by Drey
kinda makes it sound like you shouldnt, no?

It does -- which is why I created a character with a different name, just to be safe.  However, I asked (for future reference) because such a rule is not mentioned in the Character Naming Policy here on the Forums.

I was curious, because I\'ve seen a number of characters (especially Dwarfs) running around with real Norse names (the last names tend to be anglicized, true, but I\'ve seen a few genuine first names).

Originally posted by Keyaz
from what I am aware of names like that aren\'t liked much, but do not breach the rules, as they are infact real names, many people have come along thinking they can be excused from our naming policy because they had the name \'supersexyted\' or whatever for god knows how many immature years they\'ve played games.

I\'m not quite sure I\'m understanding you... names which should fit into a medieval setting (because they were actually used during medieval times) aren\'t liked?  Why is that?

[steuben]

one of the more frequent arguments against a forced name change, in the past, has been \"i\'ve used that name for [insert time period] in [insert mmorpg]. and they never complained.\" which is what keyaz is refering to.

[DaveG]

I think the main point, is we don\'t want any names that don\'t fit into the world.  For example, having the name \"Dave\" hovering over my head at all times would be against the rules.   However, that being said, \"Godfrey\" wouldn\'t be that bad, in my opinion.  But, that\'s why we have problems with these things, now isn\'t it?    So, it\'s up for debate amongst the GMs.  I\'d vote yes, but I\'m going to deffer to their decision on this one.

[Godfrey]

Originally posted by steuben
one of the more frequent arguments against a forced name change, in the past, has been \"i\'ve used that name for [insert time period] in [insert mmorpg]. and they never complained.\" which is what keyaz is refering to.

Oh, okay.  Yeah, I should\'ve been more clear in my post, that Godfrey (which I\'ve been using for ages) is in fact a very old name, even though it still enjoys some small currency today (sometimes, as Keyaz has noted, as a surname as well as a given name).

It\'s not a big deal -- as I said, I used a different name for my character.  I just like to know where the boundaries lie.  

[Seytra]

Originally posted by Godfrey
I was curious, because I\'ve seen a number of characters (especially Dwarfs) running around with real Norse names (the last names tend to be anglicized, true, but I\'ve seen a few genuine first names).

I think (or in fact hope) that they weren\'t changed because no GM knew about the origin because the GMs were from countries where the myths aren\'t well known.
Another thing is that bad names can go unchanged for some days before they are spotted and taken care of.

I severely dislike names from things remotely known, and also the lastnames like \"Wolfhunter\" or whatever should IMNSHO not exist. Sadly, this isn\'t the stance of the GMs.

So you have some room to stress the bounds of the rules, and several people sadly exploit that to the utmost extent.

The best way to go about these things is AFAICS \"If you have any doubt about whether it\'s acceptable, don\'t do it.\". I see you thinking likewise, so welcome to PS.