[Interactive Guide] Having trouble creating a character?

[Nivm]

I don't see why I need to, but; why would the people of Yliakum avoid certain names that are easy to say or have bias towards ones that are hard to say?

[Geoni]

What I mean by "Fantasy name" is that it would be a name nobody on Earth (the big blue planet you live on) would have. I've simply made this guide by what I have experienced, and I named one of my characters Krissi and it had to be changed. I don't know anybody named Krissi but I could see where somebody could name their child Krissi on Earth. I put that "John" line on the guide because I know players would have to change their name or have a GM change it for them. If anybody has any other questions please PM me about it and we'll have a discussion, thanks.

[lilura]

http://www.thenoobcomic.com/headquarters/comics/00141.jpg


my char might think 'wow who would name there kid THAT!?'

[Nivm]

 Yeah, I guess that thing (Lilura's) can be a problem on games with tens of thousands of people playing. We don't have that problem. But that does not answer why or how the planeshift characters would be able to avoid certain names. How do they know of earth? Is that why the "Book of Names" is called such?

 The only limits on what name a person might call their child is how easy it is to say and what cultural influences it has. Naming people after people, places, objects, concepts, all possibly in another language the namers don't really know. None of these would exclude terran names, and they even encourage them (since the races are so close to humans, or actually human).

Edit: Why do you think this topic should be transferred to PMs?

[Geoni]

Yeah, I guess that thing (Lilura's) can be a problem on games with tens of thousands of people playing. We don't have that problem. But that does not answer why or how the planeshift characters would be able to avoid certain names. How do they know of earth? Is that why the "Book of Names" is called such?

 The only limits on what name a person might call their child is how easy it is to say and what cultural influences it has. Naming people after people, places, objects, concepts, all possibly in another language the namers don't really know. None of these would exclude terran names, and they even encourage them (since the races are so close to humans, or actually human).

Edit: Why do you think this topic should be transferred to PMs?

Can you please re-word those first, second, and third sentences in your second paragraph (that means all of it). I have a feeling that your repeating information in different sentences. I did somewhat get what you mean though, so here is my final answer to what I was able to decipher: People in PS have no idea about the culture outside of the stone labyrinths, that means Earth, so they wouldn't have earthly names.

I want you to use PM's because talking about this may confuse newbies, which was not the purpose of this thread. 

[Nivm]

Two in a row.

Edit: Actually, leaving this conversation as it is, suddenly bringing it into PMs, will only cause more confusion. I'll be clear as best I can.
 What I mean is that the only way the Yliakum races could avoid terran names was if they knew them. Most of them have, as far as I can tell, the same lips and vocal chords that we do, so similar sounds would evolve. From those similar sounds, words and names that are easy to say would also evolve; likely in a similar way to terran speech. Even if they evolved those words and names very differently, they would still use at least some terran names by pure chance. You could say that although it's annoying (ref. that comic) when everyone obviously copies their name from something else, it's also annoying when any old string of letters is used except "normal" ones. One's mental eyes are drawn to the empty space.
 As for rules, no mod should demand that a name be changed just because it reminds them of something or someone, or strikes them as "normal". The reason for the change would need to be based on how the player involved uses the name.

[LigH]

I see the point you are poking ... How shall the in-game characters know that "Arnold Schwarzenegger" is a VIP out there in the player's real life? In Yliakum, he could be a successless weakling instead.

Unfortulately, player and character share the brain (usually; I don't know how much a real schizophrene is able to separate characters on purpose...). Therefore real life and virtual life usually cannot be parted completely. And a game character with the name of a famous real-life person (or literature character) will be biased in the virtual world too.

Having characters with a completely unknown (random) name is probably the best chance to avoid biasing due to similarities with real-life names.

[verden]

It is a simple consideration to the players, designed to enhance the gestalt of the world. It is a game. It is a game. It is a game.

[Geoni]

Having characters with a completely unknown (random) name is probably the best chance to avoid biasing due to similarities with real-life names.

Mind if I use this line in the guide instead so we don't all have to argue about it anymore?

@Nivm: What in the world is "terran"? 

As for rules, no mod should demand that a name be changed just because it reminds them of something or someone, or strikes them as "normal". The reason for the change would need to be based on how the player involved uses the name.

As for this I agree, but the mods still do it. Unless all the mods view this discussion and have an in depth conversation about it, agree on something (however the mods do that), and comment on this thread saying that they all agree with this quote, then I won't advise newbies to choose a "normal" type of name. I don't want newbies to have to go through a name change because they thought they could pull it off. 

[LigH]

@ Geoni:

I don't mind.

[Geoni]

Thanks, it was just the perfect follow-up line for the only sentence I had in the name section of the guide.

[Nivm]

 "Terran" is an adjective that has appeared in modern sci-fi that refers to anything from Earth. Derived from "terra", even if that doesn't automatically mean "planet Earth".

 So it's not at all normal for the players to segment their mind when playing? I thought that's what they mean when they say "immersion".

[Geoni]

"Terran" is an adjective that has appeared in modern sci-fi that refers to anything from Earth. Derived from "terra", even if that doesn't automatically mean "planet Earth".

 So it's not at all normal for the players to segment their mind when playing? I thought that's what they mean when they say "immersion".

Okay I'm not into sci-fi's so I wouldn't have had an idea what "terran" meant.

Anyways, players have to use their mind when roleplaying. Immersion isn't about not using the mind. Immersion is becoming part of something you are not used to, which takes a great deal of creativity. The player has to use the imagination to feel a part of the world of a game, which is not easy to do for some people so they have to put their mind to it. This is getting off topic.

[Nivm]

 Really? We've charged into player mentality; which includes newb mentality! I only have a clarification though; I meant whether or not they "segment the mind", not whether they "use the mind". I'm talking about splitting off the memories of a part of yourself for the sake of creating another personality. Like the disorders except you can control it.

[LigH]

The more you go into deteils, the more you refine your rules, the less fun will stay left for the beginners.

Be tolerant. Allow mistakes. Don't enforce correction. Players who want to be part of the community will learn over the time they play. Trolls will stay trolls.