Talk:Policy:Character names

General Comments

Please keep discussion on this issue to the specific topic of the page title. Other Policy subjects can be discussed on the other appropriate policy pages.

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Discussion

I would like to see meta and self-referential names (think names with the word MULE or PUFF or HEAL in them) prohibited as well as outright joke names like Came and Went. It is a frequent complaint (and I've struggled with it too) to come up with memorable snappy names since so many have come and gone, been used for throwaways and vault and house holders, mules etc - I think it would be fair to do a name purge. If it's possible to generate such a list, perhaps a purge of names of characters that meet all of these criteria: never advanced past 5th circle, associated account has been inactive for 7+ years, and the character has nothing of value in their possession. --NECKHOFF (talk) 22:34, 1 September 2016 (CDT)

Naming policy has been loosely followed through the years, only the most egregious of names would be removed. Honestly I don't see any issue with the current setup, nor do I wish to see developer time spent on changing, monitoring, policing character names. This came up in an OOC meeting last night with Lyneya, and her thoughts (which I agree with) is that stupid does not mean bad. If you want to name your prydean Kitteh McFlufflestuffins, that's stupid, but I wouldn't report you for it. TL:DR If you see something blatantly OOC, report it, otherwise let people do as they want.
In regards to a character purge, it's not currently possible. (I spoke to billing wanting to wipe several old accounts of mine that I will honestly never touch again, it's not doable.) I gave them a few suggestions for how to handle name changes, so that ~might~ be a thing in the future, but this is getting off topic.ASHBOMB(talk) 02:29, 2 October 2016 (CDT)

I'm in favor of a name purge. I posted about it in Talk:Policy:Character purges, as I'm not sure which of these two pages is more relevant. SHELTIM (talk) 11:56, 13 October 2016 (CDT)

I think this part of policy is explicitly about names themselves, but you raise a good point. Maybe purging (if it is going to exist at all) should be a part of the naming policy as a whole. --TEVESHSZAT (talk) 12:25, 13 October 2016 (CDT)

I attended the OOC meeting with Lyneya and haven given a lot of thought to her "stupid isn't bad" comment. It caused me a bit of consternation because stupid names shatter my immersion when I am trying to roleplay. I try to let it go out of respect for people who do not enjoy RP. At any given time typing WHO FULL and being able to find Targaryen's, Hellrazer's, Remorseless, and so on makes it clearly obvious that there has been apathy shown towards naming policy. I don't mean to call anyone out here but it's jarring at the best of times.

I would encourage staff that even if naming policy has been ignored for a long period of time, take the opportunity of a policy revamp to start enforcing it again!

Having said all that, out of all the policies this is also probably the lowest priority. While players can more directly assist staff with enforcing it (via REPORTs, assuming change actually comes from REPORTing the names), there are policies that I think will have far more benefit on the general population of DR. --KLINESDR (talk) 13:44, 12 October 2016 (CDT)