Paying Homage-Character Naming Ideas

One of the questions I get asked the most in WoW is "Where do you come up with your character names?".

The most accurate answer would be: I don't.

I'm just more subtle than most people about it.

Running around on an RP server, I've seen plenty of different names. Some good, some weird, some bad. We really don't need more characters named some variation of Aragorn or Legolas. Not much creativity associated with those, and it's pretty obvious what the source is. A quick search of, say, Earendil, also pulls up a ton of names. So, Lord of the Rings names appear to be pretty common.

Of course, some of these names might be brought up by the Random generator as well. There is someone on my server whose character is named "Gehn", who had no awareness that Gehn was the main villain of the game Riven.

However, I usually don't use something that's actually a name. I tend to go dig up the roots, throw them together in a way I like, or just use one word.

For example, I recently got my baby hunter Curu (whose name means "skill" in Quenya) a new pet. A wind serpent. After digging around for a while, I decided on "Abiik", which in Mando'a means "air". Rather appropriate for that pet.

Overall, for names, a more popular source makes it more likely that you'll have to dig to find a unique name. A quick search of the Daedric Lord Malacath in the Armory brings up over a hundred hits, as there is a quest involving him in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Trinimac, the character who became Malacath, brings up eight.

But, I've always found a certain fun in finding a fitting and unusual name for my characters.

Some sites to look at for ideas:

Wookipedia's Mando'a Page
Karen Traviss on Mando'a
D'ni Linguistic Fellowship
UESP Wiki: Ayleid
UESP Wiki: Ehlnofex
Quenya Wordlists

Dear Sentinels

Sentinels,

The problem with our roleplay is the roleplayers. I have never seen a raider going around causing trouble and randomly insulting people, but I have seen it from several people wearing the tags of major RP guilds over their heads.

I've also noticed that the major RP guilds seem to have no interest in the quality of their members. Completely anonymous alts of all things? And if you take people who run around saying they're the brother/secretary/lover/right hand of Kael'thas/Illidan/Sylvanas and then throw a little godmod fit of "I'm so important, so you're arrested now" fit when they're contradicted, why do you think you're such an authority on how to RP better?

Also, why is it so offensive for me to show up at an event in my raiding gear? It matches.

~The rogue/tired old soldier who is too busy fighting the Scourge to care much about your emo/new partner every week belf soap opera.

Observations on moving a text character to in-game

As an experiment, since I now have a functional and not too frustrating PC version of Oblivion, I decided to roll Ashana in that environment. Previously, she was just a character I'd created for a forum roleplay, that I enjoyed and hung onto.

So far as transferring her into the actual game, I had three specific details that needed to match. That she was a Dunmer or Dark Elf, that her class was "Agent", and that she was a Vampire.

The first aspect, I had a reasonable knowledge of; it's one thing I learned from being called scum repeatedly in Morrowind. For the third, I'd played a Vampire character on the Xbox 360 version of Oblivion, and thus also understood.

But the Agent class...well, that's what helped me the most with the character. My usual approach is to roll a custom stealth character with the skills of Security, Light Armor, Blade, and Sneak. This provides a decent level of combat prowess along with the stealth skills.

Agents lack both Light Armor and Blade as major skills. I realized just how fragile Ashana was right about when foes started killing her in two or three hits. Also, she can't carry very much weight, making a small dagger much more practical for a close range weapon.

Another major thing I observed from placing her in game is how the NPCs respond to her. With a solid Speechcraft skill, it's relatively easy for her to charm someone into giving her what information might be desired. Mercantile also keeps her in a decent supply of gold, though never quite enough for all the possible splurges.

But, the biggest thing from this experiment was being able to have a good visual of Ashana. While I'm still not sure about the hair color, I've managed to put the character together in a way I find pleasing. Though I will admit that Oblivion's fugly face generator can be troublesome.


Mods currently used:

Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul
Ren's Beauty Pack (hair only)
New Face Textures
Improved Facial Textures
Kalikut's Better Glass Armor and Weapons
Fine Weapons 1.0
Unofficial Oblivion Patch/Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch

Oaths Unchosen (Part 1)

As I haven't been doing much WoW related writings lately, I thought I'd post this little piece on a character from some Elder Scrolls RP. I'll finish it one of these days. I think.

Oh, it doesn't like openoffice. Joy.
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"The worthy must seek the Grandmaster, who by tradition lives in the unseen and unlooked-for corners of Vivec City between the blood of battle and the waters of life."

~The Black Glove


Vivec, Arena

The glass of her breastplate clinked together as Ashana lowered the Khajit to the floor, her soft leather boot pushing his tail out of the path.

"The Webspinner sees you, scum."

"S'wit!" Her hand crept towards a concealed dart, then stopped.

Hooded, the figured stood at the end of the hall, the edge of his longsword glinting green in torchlight.

He will go left. A knife flew from his hand, and Ashana stumbled, coughed up blood, as her own dart slipped towards him.

And he went left.

Carefully, she pulled the knife out, then set it next to the slumped figure of her foe. The paralysis will not last long. “You forget Mephala owns me.”

Padded boots made the faintest noise against the floor as she saw the altar. Holding a hand to her side, Ashana knelt, then set three bittergreen petals, and a ruby on the altar. Then, she drew a glass dagger with its black hilt carved into the head of a wolf and slashed it across her palm. Clenched, unclenched. Again, until dark blood stained the blue flesh.

Slowly, slowly, she opened her hand, then pressed it against the front of the altar. Then she placed the bloodied dagger next to the other offerings. A glance over the hand print, and she smiled, then pulled an amulet from one pocket and vanished.

RP-Rules and World Building

One common problem I've observed among the Roleplayers on my server is simple. They don't like rules. It's as if this idea is set in their head that rules or limits would make their character lesser, make them uninteresting.

As someone with an interest in writing Fantasy, this has always struck me as odd. World creation, and the rules of that world always appeared essential to developing such a story. If there are not some rules and limits, there is no real conflict because the protagonist can always come up with some new power to wave their hands and make all enemies turn into cuddly bunnies or some such nonsense. And it is this point that many people I've seen fail on.

They want their characters to be interesting, special, unique. In practice, this tends to end up as them playing invincible characters who aren't much fun to roleplay with. Such aren't exciting to read about either, in my opinion.

This applies to a existing setting such as World of Warcraft of course, we're just not the ones making up the rules

But, some rules to look at.

How does magic function? Does it require speech, some sort of sacrifice, specific rituals?

What interactions are common with the gods? Are there visible blessings from speaking to them, or are they more of a nebulous power?

What are the legal and political systems like? Are things corrupt or mostly honest? Is free speech a right, or is the monarch a (benevolent?) tyrant?

How is the current world faring? Is warfare common, or does peace tend to hold sway? People struggling for their lives will tend to focus on that.

What races exist, and how do they interact?

Now, on to a couple more specific ones that I tend to use in WoW, which aren't as universal and thus don't seem to work for everyone.

I will not claim anything exclusive, especially not some sort of prominent event. This means no claiming that my group killed Kel'Thuzad, or Varimtharas, etc. With such things, I tend to keep them more ambiguous, perhaps stating that the character has been helping drive back the Scourge at Naxxramas or was stationed with the Scryers troops at Black Temple at one point.

Second, I try to avoid saying my character has done anything that is available in game and which she hasn't done.

This has led to me needing some capacity for quick thinking at times. When my rogue was being set aside for a bit in favor of levelling another character, I explained some of her slowness in engaging in the battles of Northrend as her being reassigned to handling some intelligence work as well.

Personally, I find a character's limits very helpful for any stories involving them, along with the limits of their world. My rogue wouldn't be near the fun if she didn't wind up tired and cranky from overwork, if she didn't have to struggle for her personal victories.

And now, I shall go practice my skills at dodging rocks and misshaped paperclips.