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Old 06-17-2010, 10:51 AM
SchadenFreude SchadenFreude is offline
Skeleton


Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 18
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The whole concept of "names should not be a phrase" is about as non-roleplaying an idea as you can possibly conceive. It is only in the recent history of humanity that names became a jumble of Firstname-Surname combinations.

Look at the American Indians, for example. They didn't have names that translated to "Bob Smith".

Until recently, surnames were based upon job occupation, and were not handed down via parental lineage. Exceptions were surnames like Johnson, which literally mean "Son of John".

Names that form phrases, names that describe the role of the toon, and names that show a recognizable lineage are as RP as you can possibly get. GMs who wave the name-change hammer are either hopefully clueless, or, more commonly, merely jackasses on a power trip.

And yes, I have had my toons' names changed by GMs on Sony servers. A lot. Once, due to a huge backlash from the community, Sony had to amend the name policy rule to specifically include my old name in the list of unacceptable names. (I can point out the name in the amended policy, and show where that name was not in the printed policy just a few weeks prior). Every single time a guide changed my name they did so on behalf of a friend of theirs who had an axe to grind. And, every single time they did that, Sony stood behind their guides -- right or wrong.