Running in the Special Olympics

Discussion of the Evolving Nature of the MMO Industry from an Outsider's Perspective

Author: PhatWOP

Welcome back for (mercifully) the last time on this topic. Naming.

Today, I thought I would talk a bit about the evolving nature of the Name Police. Before that though, let's review our four main species of Namer. 1ee7 Kids, Funny Namer, Same Namer and Name Copiers. I should also note that in discussions with various people,  many have said "I tend to name things funny, but sometimes I will also reuse a name" or something similar. The point they are driving at is that they never fall completely into one single psychographic profile. Well of course. In practice, at the moment you are staring at the character creation screen, watching your freshly created digital self stand around and stare back at you, begging for an identity through those sad 1's and 0's, your motivation may be any of myriad possibilities. The groupings just state what you will do in the long term. That is to say, if you name 100 MMO characters (as I am sure I have, creating heroes in CoH may have been more fun than the game itself), the profile is the way you will act most of the time.

That being said, let's move onto the topic I brought you here to discuss. Naming policies. In the early days, naming policies were pretty loose. The l337 d00Ds flouished and I remember several great articles online doing things like having "an actual interview with a 1337 d00d", etc. As time has progressed, the poor 1337 dudes have suffered the most. Naming policies mostly ban numbers and strange capital letters from names. Funny namers will suffer depending on how serious the lore-nazis are of that particular world as will the name copiers.

The only group that has escaped the stricter naming policies more or less unharmed is the Same Namers. They can happily continue on, repeating their palatable name over and over through multiple incarnations. It seems, as a sub-culture, MMO enthusiats have spoken and the consensus is that we don't like those shenannigans!

At least, that is what the game-makers seem to think. They have changed their naming policies to respond better to market forces. They have no incentive to apply random rules or restrictions and drive people away, so they must honestly feel that this is what people want. But is it really?

As I have stated, 3 out of the 4 "main name species" I have identified have their tendencies restricted under the trend of modern MMO polices. I submit to you that this is not because we all want to use lore-appropriate-names, or have a character, I submit to you, that this is another case of racing for the bottom, the Lowest Common Denominator theory if you will.

Let me explain.

Each group can generally be annoyed by at leat one other group (maybe more in the case of the 1337 d00d). So the funny namers complain about the 1337 d00d (that's not funny, it's just stupid), the Same Namers complain about the Funny Namers (because its not in character), the Funny Namer's complain about the Name Copiers (because, again, still not funny, just stupid, jeez these people are lame) and then everyone complains about the 1337 d00d (because they just got ganked by them). The whole time the only thing that no one is complaining about is the Same Namers (because they are not standing out enough to draw ire for their monikers).

To the developers however, all they see is alot of complaints that eventually pile up. They ban one type of infraction, then another, remove a certain option from names, then another. Until eventually, all you have left is vanillia. Boring, cardboard, lore-palatable names. Many people may ask, "Is there a problem with that?" My answer is "I don't know".

Maybe that isn't a problem, perhaps that is really what the market wants. My concern is simlpy that things are being removed from name possibilites because of a vocal minority when if the name was held up to the majority, most would find it perfectly acceptable. At the very least, we have progressed, in the digital world, to far stricter naming regulations than exist in the real world, where parents are naming their kids Winner, Loser, Orange Drink and other assorted craziness (see Freakanomics if you want to see a real indepth and fascinating examination of modern real world insano names).

I worry about Circus Freak(EQ), Kermit DaFrog (DAoC), Imature (UO), Middle Manager (CoH), Papa Smurf (DAoC), BigGreenPuffball (WoW) and so many more character's I have created and laughed at in the past and wonder if that type of name is walking that final Green Mile. I certainly hope not.

Until Next time

If someone insults your name, just tell them it's french they are insulting your cultural heritage, its pronounced Cer-coos - Fru-eak.