Posted by Another critic on December 31, 1999 at 13:15:34:
In Reply to: Trying not to flame...really hard... posted by Umguy on December 30, 1999 at 10:18:53:
> Unique. As in, not copied from a book, movie, video game, etc. I don't see why people can't understand this, as simply as possible. The whole point of the lame name thing is to avoid distractions to roleplay. It's hard to pretend to be a giant warrior who likes to eat only meat and beat on gnomes (for example) when a guy named Shaitan comes walking in and he's like a storm giant paladin. (For those who don't know, Shai'tan is the name of the Dark One, the ultimate source of evil, the big head bad guy, in the Wheel of Time series, by Robert Jordan). A more obvious example would be a guy named Jamesbond who plays a bard and walks into the Inn and asks for a Martini, shaken not stirred. Since you can't fill some sort of database with every single name anyone has heard of from a book, movie, tv show, or what have you, the Imms have to police it based on their own feelings. That's probably why a name like Pikel got through (I myself hadn't ever heard of it, but obviously some people have) and a name like Aragorn won't. > To say that it isn't fair or right for a name like Chris to be around is inane. To say that it shouldn't be there because 2 years, 1 month, 3 weeks, 5 days, 6 hours, and 3 minutes ago some Imm denied you for having a mathematical equation for a name (exaggeration, but my point stands) is worse than inane. Names like Chris, John, James... or whatever that are common and used into todays world should not be used in my opinon. I dont care if they are 'unique' they detract more from the fantasy roleplaying atmosphere more than an obscure name that does not fit your 'unique' specification.