Do really bad character names annoy you?

Dr Zaius

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Have you ever played with someone who made it a habit to name all of their characters something really stupid sounding? Does this kind of thing annoy you or does it just adds flavor to the game?
 

Aries

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I'm sort of guilty of it myself.

But I always make it clear to the player, if they have a dumb name, I will treat them the same way a dumb name would get them treated in the real world.

I just started a game of The World's Largest Dungeon last night actually.
I have a halfling called Jake "the shim". He's an unapologetic B&E pro :) and Chaotic Neutral. He thinks of himself as an enhanced RobinHood type, he robs from the rich, the slightly rich, the well to do, the more or less well to do, those that have more than they need, people that are stingy and people that pissed him off in general. Oh and he only gives to clerics that are nice enough to heal him when he screws up and gets injured hehe. He doesn't waste it on the poor directly (figures the clerics will give it to them anyways :)).

I suspect he will get treated in a predictable fashion.
 

John Given

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I'm annoyed by dumb role-playing names because it usually means the player is not really interested in the game. In my experience, that leads to the player quitting.

Work should go into a name - it should reflect the fact that the character is important. If I'm going to be playing this guy, putting hundreds, or even thousands, of hours into working him up in level, I'm going to give him an appropriate-sounding name.
 

Dr Zaius

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Work should go into a name - it should reflect the fact that the character is important. If I'm going to be playing this guy, putting hundreds, or even thousands, of hours into working him up in level, I'm going to give him an appropriate-sounding name.
Hear hear! If you're the kind of gamer who runs character such as a Half-Orc assassin named "Butt Toast," don't expect to find me at the table.
 

Aries

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Good comments guys. I agree.

I have had one friend make it quite plain, all they expect to do, is show up, make a ultra plain fighter, because they have no particular interest in taking the game any more seriously than a talk show on TV.

If they show up next game session, it's more by accident than intent.

That's really just a contempt for the fact, that a good game doesn't pop out of thin air, the guy hosting it had to actually DO something to make it happen.
It's not like the DM just made his game appear as easily as turning on a tv station and presto show appears.

A dumb name is likely an indication the person's interest is as you say, very marginal. Far better to confront the person, and put them on the spot "are you seriously interested in the game, or are you just holding down the chair with your butt for a few hours?". I'd rather have the person just as a guest that can watch the game if they are cool with that. They can be the one to freshen up drinks if they need a sense of being useful.

In my case, it was a girl, and she was really only there for the socialising. Didn't really give a hoot about the game.
 

Palantir

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I agree with all the above- a player characters name tells you a lot about how the player see's roleplaying.

If they expect it to be a one time deal and are not serious about playing then naming their player something "silly" is a dead give away as to how they will play. As Aries noted, those players rarely return for a second session.

I will comment to players (usually new ones) that "that" name does not fit in this type of world or flatout say - "pick a new one!" I have found out that players starting out with "almost good names" will by the end of a session, if they are serious about playing, will re-name their characters to match those of the other players.

You can tell how interested a player is if by the time the character generation phase is over they already have an outline on their family history! :)
 

teak

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well... I'm GM:ing modern horror/conspiracy/espionage/etc game. There is a chinese NPC named Wenlong Wang...

I must admit that I got the idea from Kentucky Fried Movie...

But lets take a side step. Names on different cultures sound funny to us. For example, when I met a group of Italians they had a small laughter from my name, uomo is man in italian so I was T-man to them :)
I met an Norwegean female named Kari, Kari is male name here... If the name is ok in the culture of the character it should tolerated...

ps. I got so bad imagination that I usually pick out some book who has multiple editors, etc and pick few names from there to create names for (N)PC:s...
 

Aries

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Actually, where names are concerned, one of my pet beefs, is with authors so intent on sounding "different" that they type out names the human tongue can't possible pronounce.

The problem is of course, when reading I try to pronounce the words I read, even if silently. And those pot hole names are a real pain :)

Worst offenders, way to many consonants, not enough vowel sounds.
 

Vinnie

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Depends on how "seriously" Iwish the game to be taken.
For a pick-up 1 or 2 session game then go for what you want. For somethingmopre longterm I encourage 2 part first and family names. I don't like Eric the Troll-basher type names unless they can be supported by evidence that they are a Troll-basher. (Fiona the Pony Smacker is definately out!)
The name should be pronouncable and memorable.
It should have some form of cultural reference available to it.
But then I'll play Paranoia and everything goes (generally with a boom bang or Frazzle.)
 

bpickering

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ps. I got so bad imagination that I usually pick out some book who has multiple editors, etc and pick few names from there to create names for (N)PC:s...
Guilty as charged, somewhat...

Needed a character name for a desert-type, ended up picking up a then-current copy of Time magazine (late '80s at the time), and picked out names from some Middle-Eastern diplomats. :halo:

Brian Pickering
 
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