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| Hello, my name is _____. |
[ Monday, January 26, 2004 | 11:38 a.m. ] |
Something's been gnawing at me lately. I installed a new game on my PocketPC the other night and when I started it up, it prompted me for a name. I didn't know what to do, so I quit, for the moment. The problem is that I don't have a real handle. I can't say, "My name's Terri, but online I'm known as Eladriela or 4c|d P1@Gu3." If I ever logged on to IRC (heh), what would I call myself? (Hmm... What did I call myself that one summer? I wonder if I can dig that up. It was probably just Terri, though.)
"My name's Terri, and online I'm known as Terri."
Unlike nicknames, which are only legitimate when someone else gives them to you, you can assign yourself a handle, as far as I know. (They still have more cachet when they're bestowed upon you by others, though, particularly the community in which you'd be using them.) However, I've always had a hard time deciding on names. When creating an account at some web site I usually use some variation on my original nickname, Terri the Terrorist of Sheep, a.k.a. Terri C. Sheep. For naming characters, such as my EverQuest characters, I often start with a random name generator for inspiration, or sometimes a dictionary. They're all names I like, but they're the characters' names, not mine, and they're chosen to suit the characters.
Apparently, it's harder to choose a name to suit myself. I suppose it's easier in RPG's. For example, if you're making a wood elf ranger, you can stick together an elvish sounding name and a nature-themed name, e.g. Tinendil Forestwalker or Elaldur Earthstalker, and you're done. Given gender, race, class or occupation, alignment, and maybe a little back story, coming up with something reasonable isn't too hard. The thing is, in games you usually assign character names at creation. At that point, the characters have no real personalities. As they're played, the names become part the characters. Maybe it's finding a name that fits someone with an established identity that's hard.
In any case, I'm at work, and I seem to be at an impasse, so I guess I'll just go back to mulling over it uselessly. If anyone's got any ideas, drop me a line.
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[ Monday, January 26, 2004 | 11:25 a.m. ] |
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Okay... I haven't posted anything here for almost two months now, but as usual, I've got all of these snippets sitting around in different files on different systems that I never seem to finish or post. So in an effort to get out of my slump, I'll just start tossing them out, finished or not. Onward!
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