AMIA ARCHIVE • View topic

Is it just me or has there been an increasing population of characters named by famous/taken names recently?

There's been at least a Jack Sparrow and a Gorath (Raymond E. Feist's 'Krondor' -saga) within a few days.

Not sure if it's really that serious in the way of playability of RP, but these kind of rip-offs bother me.

and hugh "the hand" a Deathgate cycle char

In the last couple of months there's been a huge increase in disallowed names in general.

And yes, there WAS another Chuck Norris about a month ago on Amia A.

And Azathoth or something alike, forgot the correct spelling right now. That being of course the Devourer of the Worlds from Call of Cthulhu

Sometimes I'm happy I haven't read a lot of all that nerdy stuff. Makes the game so much more enjoyable for me. :wink:

Chuck Norris is the extreme rightist douchebag, right?

Rip-off names are, in general, not allowed and will be dealt with by a DM.

And you can't call 'Gorath' necessarily a rip off. I found numerous examples of the name, including Planet Gorath, a Japanese film, and Gorath a character by Robert E. Howard.

Edit: It's also a Belgian Heavy Metal band, a space ship from Star Wars and a game on the iPod.

I once made a random character with a random name (or so I thought), that turned out to be some porn stars name. I had absolutely NO IDEA that it was, I even had to google it after been told by a DM, cause a couple players complained. Love to find out who seen who ever the ramdom chick was in action. Funny as. :lol:

My tendency when I create a character and get challenged on the name is to google it and find half a dozen possible sources, and then continue to insist I was being original.

"Originality is the art of hiding one's sources."

Note: I made up all my characters names, 'cept Tanafriti which is an Egyptian name

Yup. I have seen several names from the NWN single player campaigns too.

Mishy Moo wrote:

I even had to google it after been told by a DM, cause a couple players complained. Love to find out who seen who ever the ramdom chick was in action. Funny as.

Maybe the player was the actual Porn Star and that's why they complained.

I don't really see any reason why players would complain over a name given to a character which isn't allowed for being someone's who is famous or whatever, it's nothing to do with them, it's really between the maker and the DM('s). Sounds like Buseh-bodehs more than someone who genuinely cares.

Anubis wrote:

Mishy Moo wrote:

I even had to google it after been told by a DM, cause a couple players complained. Love to find out who seen who ever the ramdom chick was in action. Funny as.

Maybe the player was the actual Porn Star and that's why they complained.

I don't really see any reason why players would complain over a name given to a character which isn't allowed for being someone's who is famous or whatever, it's nothing to do with them, it's really between the maker and the DM('s). Sounds like Buseh-bodehs more than someone who genuinely cares.

Because it can break immersion, and someone needs to bring it to the DM's attention.

Sounds like a good way to tell the DM's someone you dislike has a character named the same as a famous person/Character, or to be a busy-body. It reminds me of the whole RP police thing a little.

I'm not saying that is how it is, just can come across that way, or does to me atleast.

Anubis wrote:

Sounds like a good way to tell the DM's someone you dislike has a character named the same as a famous person/Character, or to be a busy-body. It reminds me of the whole RP police thing a little.

I'm not saying that is how it is, just can come across that way, or does to me atleast.

Well, beyond breaking immersion there are also problems with defamation of character and copyright laws. Although I'd imagine the immersion to be the prominent reason.

Could have been taken like that, But I certainly didn't take it that way. Honestly, I didn't care enough to make a scene about it or even think about it enough to draw that conclusion. Can't be friends with everyone. But then that's just my laid back nature, good thing it didn't happen to some one paranoid I guess. :lol:

Reminds me of the time when I saw a Sasuke on the server. Fun times.

At least we don't get any xXxSlayerofUxXx or similiar.

What, no mention of Drizzt?

If you get an elven-framed Jack Sparrow who goes 'Yarrr' half the time, I'd call it a rip-off.

And that Gorath-thing....he was an elderly human-model 'drow' with a beard and white hair, wielding a rapier. Direct rip-off from Krondor.

Oh, well that is a rip off then.

Jan wrote:

What, no mention of Drizzt?

Drizzt is so like, 90's. Its all Harry Potters now.

Silvarus wrote:

Jan wrote:

What, no mention of Drizzt?

Drizzt is so like, 90's. Its all Harry Potters now.

Harry potter is so '00's. It's all sparkly vampires now.

I had a "Will Smith" once, it was generated by the name generator on the character creation page, before I found out who that was >.>' It was on another server on another Username

I think I once got Alec Baldwin on Arelith, but it never got into a game.

AxlLeigh wrote:

Silvarus wrote:

Jan wrote:

What, no mention of Drizzt?

Drizzt is so like, 90's. Its all Harry Potters now.

Harry potter is so '00's. It's all sparkly vampires now.

I stand corrected.

The illegal name trend annoys me as well, but sometimes it passes under the DM radar because A: no one is DMside at the time, or B: the DM on duty doesn't recognize the name for not being acquainted with the source material. So if you see a questionable name either say something over the DM channel or send one of us a PM with the character name, account name, and source material.

Ekka Deepshaft is a wholly original name...! *cough*

Well the main problem is exactly there: If one happens to catch a DM in such a situation and that DM doesn't recognise the name in question, the informer's required to go through a truckload of work just to make a small contribution, and even then it can be still argued whether the name is allowed.

I can't imagine how seeing a name taken from fiction decreases anyone's enjoyment, except some vicarious ego thing where reading a work makes you feel as if you were the author and/or some semi-religious belief in the idea of intellectual property that compels one to crusade for it. A thousand Drizz'ts is one thing, but someone using a name from an, ultimately obscure in mainstream terms, fantasy novel really should not be getting under anyone's skin in a sane world. I'm not trying to be deliberately insulting, but I see this as such a remarkably petty thing in light of all the other issues the server has. Is it really any different when someone uses the name generator in terms of "creativity"? What if I named my character "Egil"? Am I "ripping off" a few thousand Scandanavians who've had the same name, and how could one know I was even "taking it from" the saga of the same name? Furthermore, are names really that much of an artistic object anyway? A rose by any other name and so on...

BloodNAshes wrote:

I can't imagine how seeing a name taken from fiction decreases anyone's enjoyment, except some vicarious ego thing where reading a work makes you feel as if you were the author and/or some semi-religious belief in the idea of intellectual property that compels one to crusade for it. A thousand Drizz'ts is one thing, but someone using a name from an, ultimately obscure in mainstream terms, fantasy novel really should not be getting under anyone's skin in a sane world. I'm not trying to be deliberately insulting, but I see this as such a remarkably petty thing in light of all the other issues the server has. Is it really any different when someone uses the name generator in terms of "creativity"? What if I named my character "Egil"? Am I "ripping off" a few thousand Scandanavians who've had the same name, and how could one know I was even "taking it from" the saga of the same name? Furthermore, are names really that much of an artistic object anyway? A rose by any other name and so on...

It has nothing to do with ripping anyone off.

Its just so lame it hurts.

I'm not as concerned with names taken from fiction, as with names that aren't actually names. (Then again, I probably wouldn't find it reasonable to have someone named "Gandalf")

But names like... "Blood Dog"... or... "Spunk"... or... "Big Momma".

Been a lot of those as well as of recently.

More lame than what Silvarus? What if I named my character "John"? Is that lame, and why or why not?

I don't really have a problem with a character named "Big Momma" for instance either, as long as the player plays up to the name. For example a fat dwarf or horc female I could definitely imagine having a moniker like that.

Big Momma works as a nickname. Not as an actual name.

But I'm a bit hardcore when it comes to naming characters.

Mr Mago wrote:

Big Momma works as a nickname. Not as an actual name.

But I'm a bit hardcore when it comes to naming characters.

I find myself in agreement with this. Seeing names from, say, Warhammer 40,000/Fantasy, for instance, tends to kill my immersion. Yes, they're cool (To me, anyway), but leave them where they are. Please.

Every time you touch someone else's IP without asking, God kills a kitten.

Please, think of the kittens.

I don't generally stalk the playerlist to weed out strange names but when it is mentioned to me I will get it changed.

The name rules haven't changed so if you spot a name and find it fishy, get a hold of a dm who can get it fixed.

BloodNAshes wrote:

More lame than what Silvarus? What if I named my character "John"? Is that lame, and why or why not?

I don't really have a problem with a character named "Big Momma" for instance either, as long as the player plays up to the name. For example a fat dwarf or horc female I could definitely imagine having a moniker like that.

Is there a reason why this even has to be argued? I thought it was written in stone that you have an originally named character and you could not blatantly and deliberately pick names from other sources that people might recognize? What's the big deal? Be original! :shock:

I'm Richard Rahl whom wields the sword of Truth which allows me to rage whenever I want to! Giving me +5 Enhancement damage while I wield my sword of Truth which glows like a holy glowy thingy and can kill evil aligned characters with one hit! Plus, I can dev-crit with longswords and I'm a weapon master with a DC of 40!

Awesome, I can't wait for the next person to come along with that name. Moving on!

Taking a name from a character and trying to play that character are two very different things.

Ya never know! Aaaaanyways, who in the greatest of minds gets a character for a DnD server called 'Jack Sparrows'?

I think one time when I was playing my cozy Drow Underdark a player joined who was called "Dark Angel" or "Angel of Light" or something like that, makes you wonder really. What next? Terry Pratchett?

BloodNAshes wrote:

Taking a name from a character and trying to play that character are two very different things.

It's all a question of whether you understand the character. If you don't understand them, then it will be difficult to portray them well, or at all. They wouldn't have auditions if just any actor could pick up a script and play a character.

Not that I'm saying you should rip off someone else's original character, but part of the reason why it's lame is because hardly anyone does more than a half-assed job of it.

I don't believe one should attempt to play a character from fiction on Amia, because the settings will not match and thus the character could not really be the same person. However, my point was that I have no objection whatsoever to just using a *name* taken from a fictional character. This isn't the same thing and it's ridiculous to get in a huff about names alone.

Except that if someone does recognise the name, it will be very difficult to take anything that character says or does seriously. You can't honestly say that if you saw a character with the wizard hat and grey hair and a staff, who introduced himself as Gandalf, that you wouldn't laugh just a little.

"Gimli Where is Gandalf?"
"Pown'en Mobs-o-Gobs on Amia B."
:lol:

People get very hostile over names. I have 'ruined characters', 'destroyed RP' and straight out cuased people to leave the server for good because I made them take a "Real Name".

It's rarely worth the effort, and even back when I bothered doing names i full force veryvery few of the other DMs did. It became not worth my time to keep up with them all, and if you can't beat them, join them.

I change the very obvious ones but I just can''t be arsed to do anything about the rest unlesss someone directly says something to me in game.

I've been under the opinion since I started the server that it was only well known names to general society, and names of famous characters. A guy from Raymond E. Feists books isn't well known enough to justify a name change, and thus is probably going to be used.

Gandalf on the other hand is a world famous name of a character globally known, and thus shouldn't be taken. Same goes for Homer Simpson or Bruce Willis. Also names such as Drizzt Do'urden and Wulfgar are famous within' the campaign setting Amia is based off, thus off limits.

Quite frankely I personally think it would be amusing to allow people to use the character's name. If they try to take the famous characters personality, that character turns up as an NPC and pwn's them. As they will eventually hear about that other guy named Baldur, who is masquerading.

Alternatively, having a character that is named after a famous hero within' Faerunian/Amian timeline would be fine. But in these circumstances I would suggest getting DM permission, making a note of it in the characters Bio, and giving an very different last name to the character. This covers all bases.

The rule seem's to me to be another one of those "common sense" rules. Something the majority of the world's population seem's to be lacking these days.

I'm with Selves. Some stuff is just too horrible, like Gandalf, Bruce Willis, etc, but it still wouldn't ruin my experience. I agree that those should be changed, but if I see a dude named Christopher Snow, I won't bother complaining.

Gandalf isn't anyones intellectual property fyi.

Neither are most of the Dwarf names.

Tolkien stole them all from the Eddas, and the copyright on the Edda expired nine hundred years ago.

Selvec Darkon wrote:

Quite frankely I personally think it would be amusing to allow people to use the character's name. If they try to take the famous characters personality, that character turns up as an NPC and pwn's them. As they will eventually hear about that other guy named Baldur, who is masquerading.

Like Drizz't in baldurs gate 2!

I laughed hard when that happened.

If you see something that's out of place, report it please. We've been a bit lax about names that would otherwise be alright even if they're not just within the letter of the rule (as long as they're within the spirit of the rules, it's good as far as I'm concerned), but obvious ripoffs should be changed.

My understanding is that names are an OOC tag that has no bearing on the game whatsoever and that this topic should be stricken from the record

O'Raghailligh wrote:

My understanding is that names are an OOC tag that has no bearing on the game whatsoever and that this topic should be stricken from the record

Your understanding is wrong insofar as part of the game is the rules enclosed therein, which do limit what can be put into that tag. Also, it's about immersion .. if you saw someone with the name "im haxorz" or "Hellen of Troy" it's hardly immersive.

Another Jack Sparrow?

Who is online