Naming Policy

[Alawen Everywhere]

Originally Posted by Estu [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

It's not a matter of being offensive so much as it's a matter of taking people out of the game. One of the great things about EQ, at least to me, is the immersion. There are a lot of factors that contribute to it - the difficulty, the large zones and relative lack of fast travel, the actual landscapes and sound effects, and so on. If you see someone with a cheeky name that doesn't make sense in the context of the game, it takes you out of it a bit and can be irritating. I know not everyone feels this way - a lot of people don't care - but I believe that this is the spirit behind the naming policy. For the record, I'm not into MMO roleplaying either, at least not in the sense of talking like my character is supposed to talk or something (although I try to kill things that make sense for my faction).

After the naming policy was released, I started reporting people for having names that violated the policy when I ran across them. I don't think I reported Taxi Driver, but sure, it's the kind of name I would have reported. Why did I do this? Like I said, the names took me out of the game, and there was an actual policy in place, saying "these are the rules", so I figured that the GMs and administration were interested in having a server with game-appropriate names.

At first when I did this I would get tells back from Uthgaard saying something like "fixed" shortly after; the person's name was changed. Some time later, I got a tell from a GM (don't remember which) along the lines of "we don't really care about name violations except for the really obscene ones", so I stopped reporting those and just reported names like "dickbutt" or what have you. Then finally a couple days ago after a petition about a name like that, I got a tell from Uthgaard like "we really don't give a shit about these names, there are more important things to deal with". So fair enough, I've stopped reporting entirely. Granted, this might have just been because they were dealing with the DDOS madness, but fuck it, it's clearly a minor issue and if the GMs don't really care about it then it's not my place to spam them with petitions about it.

Now, am I obsessed with these names? Do they piss me off? Not really. The obscene ones kind of do, just because it's so stupid and tasteless to name a character "suxdick" or whatever it might be, like scrawling swear words into a desk at school. It's such a middle school mentality. The non-obscene ones take me out of the game somewhat, enough that when the naming policy was put up on the forums, I took the effort to report them when I saw them. But if the GMs are saying that they don't care about the naming policy after all, I'm fine with that. It doesn't matter that much one way or the other, honestly; it's kind of a minor issue from any perspective. The reason Taxi was banned was because (apparently) he insulted the GMs, not because of his name policy-violating name; that's just what triggered it. Whether or not we have an enforced name policy? not really a big deal.

Is having a giant log lodged up your ass part of the application requirement for Life Alert?

[Estu]

Originally Posted by Alawen Everywhere [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Is having a giant log lodged up your ass part of the application requirement for Life Alert?

Well, to be fair, our guild leader IS gay.

[Evilmog]

I somehow feel compelled to post something relevant.

Just going back to the original post here:

Originally Posted by Uberom

However, I don't see how a name like Taxi Driver is offensive? Why would a name like that be subject to the policy? It is my earnest opinion that a name change like this, trivial, takes something away from the community. I like to see clever names. It's almost a form of art.

Originally Posted by Nilbog

The following types of names are considered unacceptable:

Common words and phrases that would not be found in the time, place and setting of EverQuest (e.g. Switchblade, Phaser, Toaster, Cannabis).

Find me a Taxi Driver in EQ and I bet the GMs will look into it when they finished with everything else important. Druids / Wizards don't count. Technically any Druid / wizard that offer 'Taxi' services should be banned, same with the ones claiming they're airlines.

Boats are Ok, Give people Cruises!!!

[Evilmog]

Oh, since I can't edit, I didn't bother reading pages 3-8, got boring.

[Uthgaard]

Originally Posted by Evilmog [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Boats are Ok, Give people Cruises!!!

motorboat, imo.

[epicentre]

Personnally, I've used to be very frustrated when participing to various forums, inline games, guilds, allies and privately run communities.

Then I finally understood and accepted that such a community isn't a democracy, but is rather something like a monarchy. Once you get it, when you understand these rules and play according to it, you have a better online life.

My 2 cents, do whatever you want with it.

[Yak]

It is my understanding that as long as it's not an offensive name than you are fine. However, it is what the GM's determine is offensive since they own the server. This is rightly so as they are the owners. It's not about money but they want to have a good community in general. However, being that we allowed to cus and say woulds like "fuck" on the forums, I would imagine they would be adult about it. Again it's their server and I respect they have the final say. I can't speak about the Taxi Driver name as we are missing the entire story. However, I would love to hear it as I am sure it's more complicated then that.

[Estu]

Also, to maybe make a useful analogy, think about single player RPGs like the Final Fantasy series or Fallout or Morrowind or what have you. If you saw NPCs with cheeky names in those games you might get kind of irritated; you're trying to enjoy the world of the game, and these names break the fourth wall in a sense. It's like J.K. Rowling and her contrived character names, though she's not as bad an offender. The reasoning is similar for character names in MMORPGs.

[Lazortag]

I'd just like to point out that it's sometimes really unclear what kinds of names kill immersion and what don't. I'm okay with that standard, but I think it's a nebulous standard. For instance, there are NPC's named "Bait Masterson", "______ Deeppockets" (some halflings in Rivervale), "Ekim Nottap" (Mike Patton backwards), etc. I think these are amusing to see in moderation and so I don't cry myself to sleep when I see them. I guess seeing such names all the time could kill immersion. I'm pretty neutral on this whole issue and so I just err on the side of supporting the naming policy because it's classic.

[Uberom]

Some good responses so far, however, I'm almost positive the naming policy says nothing about "disturbing the game immersion of another player". If Taxi Driver broke any naming rule, it would be the one about trademarked products, since "Taxi Driver" is a Robert DeNiro movie. However, that would also call into question why IB's guild name hasn't been changed. Plus, a taxi driver is also an occupation, so an argument can be made that it has nothing to do with the movie.