theworldofdreams.com

Have I done something to offend the powers that be?
Again my name has been changed from Odysseus to Ody!
I researched this name as I did TopKnot, Am I missing something, or have I not read something in the player guide? I do understand that admins have the power to change names as they choose, and if I am not happy about it I am welcome to go play elsewhere. I do like playing here, but I am not sure why my names of choose are not correct. Odysseus was a Traveler, Ody is a dog from garfield the cat cartoon! TopKnot was a type of head dress, Tom Knotts makes Jellys and Jams. Where have I failed??

It is true that the admins do have the power to change your name at will if it violates the name rules.

Something to keep in mind when choosing a name, is that it mustn't come from movies, tv, literature, or any pop culture.

The Rules state, and I

What is an inappropriate name?

An inappropriate name is a name that one of the GMs, Player Relations or the Lead Admin thinks is inappropriate. If you choose an inappropriate name, you'll be renamed to Bob, or Joe or Fred or Sue (or anything else the GM decides to name you).

In general:

Don't name yourself after a fictional character from any popular sci-fi or fantasy adventure novel, movie, or game.
Don't name yourself something kewl.
Don't name yourself something that makes you sound like the evil-dude from a bad D&D novel.
Don't name yourself after a comic book superhero or supervillain.
Don't name yourself something stupid.
Don't name yourself something that is funny the first time you see it, but then gets less funny each time you see it after that.
Please note: The "Do not give yourself an inappropriate name"-rule applies even if you see some other player's character with a name that you feel is inappropriate. If a GM has decided someone else's stupid name is permissable, this does not mean that you can name yourself something stupid.

Hope this helps.
-Malachai

Odysseus is the main protagonist of Homer's Odyssey (hence the name) and a well-known character in classical literature. I think you might as well have tried to name your character Oedipus or Orestes, for they all are unique literary figures that could hardly be mistaken for 'common' names. With the recent release of Hollywood's version of the Trojan War (Troy) I wouldn't be surprised if we witness a renewed 'interest' in classical characters and history (fictional or otherwise). If Odysseus is not an acceptable character name to our Admins, I don't see them making any exception for 'Achilles,' 'Agamemnon,' or 'Priam' (Hector and Paris, though, you could make an argument they have become more 'common' and are not necessarily the product of the lattest fad).

Yesterday, shortly after I posted (within 30 mins) I was contacted concerning my post. I was very impressed by how kind, and thoughtful the admin was (not to mention any names) and how well he explained why Odysseus was not really a good choice of names-me, being a newbie here, I had no idea this name has only been used about 20 times (not as orig. as I thought)LOL.
I wanted to post a a follow up, to say thank you again, for your Kindness and for providing such a great place to play for free. Kindred,Jonesy,Odys.
[/i]

I know this is an older post, somehow I missed it. Why is Odysseus not allowed but Herakles is? (Sorry Herakles!)

:OP

I could be wrong but I think it is one of those 'we-missed-it-the-first-time-around-and-now-it's-too late-to-change-it' kinda things. I can think of a few other character names we have or used to have that perhaps should not have been allowed. Hey, it happens

that means both my names need changed
*starts to cry*
its not fair!
there isnt any name that isnt used somewhere else.
you cant use bob cause thats from a movie Titan AE. thats what they named the new planet...
and any name i can think up is either silly or stupid
help
*cries*

Pick a consonant. Pick a vowel. Pick another consonant (or vowel).... and so on like that. That's how I got my names for all my chars. :O)

but look Malachai is a charecter from these movies children of the corn(how ever many there are) The burbs it is alot of songs. and if he couldnt use those names im not realy sure why you and i both can use Malachai.

btw i have a mule named Malachai atticus i think it is spelled with a y not sure lol

Actually you can pick almost any name so long as you pick it correctly, I try to make all my characters have a last name, my chosen last name ofcourse is Darkfire. With the last name, though Bob Darkfire would sound really stupid, it is unique because I dont believe there is any Bob Darkfires anywhere in anything I have ever read or seen. I've heard alot of others state that everyone should have a last name, I agree because I have seen several names (wont mention them) who I have seen before but if you had added a last name, poof suddenly its not so common!

heh

Some things never change.

I swear I read this thread 3 years ago.

Longshadow wrote:I swear I read this thread 3 years ago.

Point being?

Not everyone who joins up rifles through the thousands upon thousands of posts that are about; they ask questions instead. I fail to see any relevance or usefulness of the [above] post, save for some sort of superiority assertion.

And dammit, that's my niche`!

As far as I know, "Marius" is a Latin/Spainish-derivative sort of name, but I'm sure there would be great concern if I was "Jesus the Black" insofar as looking at the subjective (which it is) nature of names in WoD.

What really gripes me is that there are no consistent standards. There can be a Caramon, but no Belthasar. There can be a ShadowStone, but not a TopKnot. There is great incosistency in the naming conventions, because each name is judged according to the perspective of the judge, without any precedence taken into account. Verily, "old names" are not changed, because apparently, even though the *same* rules were in place, a name that would be innappropriate now, was not then, or vice versa.

With such great inconsistency, the means and measure by which [the Admin] judge names perhaps need some revision, or at least a single figure to do so. It is unfair practice to apply rules only to a portion of the playing body of WoD, for whatever reason.

-M

it may be somewhat unfair Marius but a formal naming policy would constitute a fair amount of hassle for a very minimal gain. As it is GM's have broad discretion and a set of guidelines to go by. Given that gm's are volunteers spending their own precious free time on other people's entertainment you cannot really ask much more of them. It's a bit free form but if you trust in the gm's character the system will work. If a person feels put upon there are avenues of appeal he could try.

Would you like to have to submit character names to a committee for approval for instance?

Ehran wrote:Given that gm's are volunteers spending their own precious free time on other people's entertainment you cannot really ask much more of them.

I refuse to accept that this allows for gross negligence. Even volunteers are accountable for their actions and performance. I also refuse to allow that we're supposed to accept whatever we get, just because it's free. I would hope that WoD would like to maintain a set of standards that made gaming fair and equitable for everyone.

We don't even get to vote in our admin.

If the "volunteers" are incapable of doing a job and doing it well, then perhaps that needs to be reviewed.

-M

Marius the Black wrote:I refuse to accept that this allows for gross negligence. Even volunteers are accountable for their actions and performance. I also refuse to allow that we're supposed to accept whatever we get, just because it's free. I would hope that WoD would like to maintain a set of standards that made gaming fair and equitable for everyone.

We don't even get to vote in our admin.

If the "volunteers" are incapable of doing a job and doing it well, then perhaps that needs to be reviewed.

-M

You are a dumbass.

I think that really needed to be said.