What's in a name?

I started to work on this highly interesting post on hunter pets (quit yawning) and I started venting to myself about pet names, and character names in general.  So I've decided to share because I'm just a sharing kind of gal.

I'll be very up front, I'm not all that imaginative.  My name came from the random generator in DAOC.  I saw it and I liked it.  Cheres is short, easy to type for group invites and would most likely not be shortened to something I did not intend.  My pets have big "I'm a giant geek"names.  My cat Maethor's name is Sindarin for warrior.  My wolf Draugluin is named after a warewolf in The Simarillion.  Yes I am a geek. I'm okay with that.

The first major long term decision any gamer has to make when they create a new character its name.   Do I expect people to take days coming up with a character name and a backstory?  Oh hell no.  But picking your name can be very tricky.  Names make impressions. That's why you should spend just a little time thinking about them.

l33t d00ds

(Insert Porn Actress Name Here)   You probably download said actress' film catalog from questionable sites and have contracted a horrible Trojan.  Your account will most likely be hacked and your guild's bank drained.  Good job sport.

Yo adolescent male who thinks being named DeadlyAssassin, xxKillerxx, SilentKiller, Backstab, Stabbymcstab or Ipwnyou makes you cool.   Yeah you.  Just by looking at your name I can tell you are more than likely, rude, inconsiderate, selfish, a bit spoiled and a lot ignorant.  Trust me I'm not alone in my thinking. 

Hey you with that ASCII in your name.   Was that name so important you resorted to Säþ because Sap was already taken?  No really, was it?  You were obviously last in the queue when imagination was being passed out.  The good news is, you are now part of a large and ever-expanding family of similarly named players who discovered the actual name was already taken and couldn't be bothered to think of anything original.  Grats.

The Uninspired

Gandalf, Drizzt, Voldemort, Legolas, Arthas, Illidan, Slyvannis and all variations on this theme.  Just no.  

Drag Queens

CuteGrrl, Swordvixen, BustyAmazon.  Its okay we know you're a male with the mental age of about 12.

Umm?

 

Dear Adjbdrsddaa,

The other players in World of Warcraft think you are a gold farmer.  Have a nice day.

Love,

Cheres  

The Clever

I never ever look down on fun names, even if they miss the mark.

Back in DAOC when you died to a MOB or a player it spammed it across the zone (yeah thanks Mythic).  Best names came out of that fact:

Darwin was killed by a cliff beatle. 

Cheres was killed by Somebody

Jethrotroll makes me giggle.  I'm always amused by Mankrikswife.  My all time favorite was a hunter named Kabob and his pet Shish.

Let me leave you with this.  Please always remember and never forget....Palarina!  Ha! I kill me!