At times I feel as if I should have deep thoughts on everything. That I should blog for a reason. That my habit of writing about whatever wanders through my mind leads me to write the most random things. Maybe I should look at serious posting. I could focus on wars and enormous topics. I could explain why my Jaguar fit is the best no matter what.
Or I could talk about the random things that interest me me. Like names. I find this much more interesting and shall go about indulging myself.
Having spent more time on coms of late then ever before, I've recently been struck with a familiar feeling of amusement as we talk to each other. There is something amusing to me about how calmly we call each other by our game names. It is not that I want people to call me by my real name instead of my game name. It is more the way we adopt our game name as our own. I've always noticed but being around a larger group it is more apparent.
Sugar is my main and when someone addresses me, no matter what alt I am on, they call me Sugar. This leads to amusing experiences like my wormhole theft with Vov when he calls me Sugar and I call him Vov and neither of us are on our characters named Sugar or Vov.
When Diz came to Vegas last October he insisted that he didn't want to be called Diz. I had no idea why. But we tried and failed to not call him Diz. Because he is Diz to us and the name does not sound odd. We sit on coms with each other day in and day out for days, weeks, months, and years. Our game name becomes our name and with that it becomes normal.
It becomes even more amusing when people develop nicknames for their game names. I'm often called Sug. I even sign most of my Eve mail that way when it is casual. Longer names make sense. DP for instance has a rather long name and thus the reduction. While Diziet is Diz what does one call Altaen when Altaen is easy enough to say. Yet, when someone calls Vov, Vic, I wonder what is wrong with them. It is obviously Vov for Viceorvirtue not Vic. Besides, Viceorvirtue is a perfectly normal thing to call someone and I don't think twice about it.
I also have to be thankful for self naming. Otherwise, sometimes, I'd not know how to pronounce some names. Of course, that goes out the window when they have a different common name then their character's given name. Or, if they are like Ender and constantly exist in a state of three to four character's but they are always considered one to the point that outsiders are frantically puzzled at who and what we are talking about.
Some names even require their own acronyms. That becomes even more amusing when Eve hits the main stream and serious news places must suddenly type "thebigredboat" or one of the many alliance names. I have to give them credit. They plow through the situation but I cannot help but give a bit of a smile when I read news articles keeping to our game names and alliance names. It must be easier for them when someone has adopted a more normal name.
The chances are high that I notice and appreciate this bit of randomness because I have always enjoyed names that reject common conformity. It reflects in the names of my pets. One of my cats is named Hollow. I named one dog Nox after the goddess and a second Nyx after the same goddess. Plus, I was amused to no end that they had the same name.
Eve, however, has another side effect. It forces us to become creative with our names. Unless deleted, names are locked to their original owner. There are no servers which allow for the simultaneous existence of 25 Gordan Icespark or whatever is a common name somewhere else. Everyone has to take some time to figure out what they want to be called. I doubt I am the only one that has a fantastic idea only to get the little red x at the character creator and to be told to reapply a dose of creativity.
Of course, lack of creativity can be amusing all on its own. The owner of the Retriever/Mackinaw fleet where they are all named 1 of many, 2 of many, 3 of many and so forth and so on has gained a lot of attention. Naming conventions become very popular just for the ease of character management. It does make alt identification easier at times. And sometimes people wind up accused of being someone just for name similarity.
Names do matter in Eve but only so far. Some people put a lot of thought into what they called themselves and some little. It is easy to pick a name to amuse yourself and find yourself called Princess for the rest of your Eve career without anyone batting an eye or thinking twice about it. The number of males called by very feminine focused names due to their mains amuses me almost every day. But my amusement does not lay in the fact that the guy has a traditional girls name. I am amused that it doesn't phase anyone. I also love it.
Or I could talk about the random things that interest me me. Like names. I find this much more interesting and shall go about indulging myself.
Having spent more time on coms of late then ever before, I've recently been struck with a familiar feeling of amusement as we talk to each other. There is something amusing to me about how calmly we call each other by our game names. It is not that I want people to call me by my real name instead of my game name. It is more the way we adopt our game name as our own. I've always noticed but being around a larger group it is more apparent.
Sugar is my main and when someone addresses me, no matter what alt I am on, they call me Sugar. This leads to amusing experiences like my wormhole theft with Vov when he calls me Sugar and I call him Vov and neither of us are on our characters named Sugar or Vov.
When Diz came to Vegas last October he insisted that he didn't want to be called Diz. I had no idea why. But we tried and failed to not call him Diz. Because he is Diz to us and the name does not sound odd. We sit on coms with each other day in and day out for days, weeks, months, and years. Our game name becomes our name and with that it becomes normal.
It becomes even more amusing when people develop nicknames for their game names. I'm often called Sug. I even sign most of my Eve mail that way when it is casual. Longer names make sense. DP for instance has a rather long name and thus the reduction. While Diziet is Diz what does one call Altaen when Altaen is easy enough to say. Yet, when someone calls Vov, Vic, I wonder what is wrong with them. It is obviously Vov for Viceorvirtue not Vic. Besides, Viceorvirtue is a perfectly normal thing to call someone and I don't think twice about it.
I also have to be thankful for self naming. Otherwise, sometimes, I'd not know how to pronounce some names. Of course, that goes out the window when they have a different common name then their character's given name. Or, if they are like Ender and constantly exist in a state of three to four character's but they are always considered one to the point that outsiders are frantically puzzled at who and what we are talking about.
Some names even require their own acronyms. That becomes even more amusing when Eve hits the main stream and serious news places must suddenly type "thebigredboat" or one of the many alliance names. I have to give them credit. They plow through the situation but I cannot help but give a bit of a smile when I read news articles keeping to our game names and alliance names. It must be easier for them when someone has adopted a more normal name.
The chances are high that I notice and appreciate this bit of randomness because I have always enjoyed names that reject common conformity. It reflects in the names of my pets. One of my cats is named Hollow. I named one dog Nox after the goddess and a second Nyx after the same goddess. Plus, I was amused to no end that they had the same name.
Eve, however, has another side effect. It forces us to become creative with our names. Unless deleted, names are locked to their original owner. There are no servers which allow for the simultaneous existence of 25 Gordan Icespark or whatever is a common name somewhere else. Everyone has to take some time to figure out what they want to be called. I doubt I am the only one that has a fantastic idea only to get the little red x at the character creator and to be told to reapply a dose of creativity.
Of course, lack of creativity can be amusing all on its own. The owner of the Retriever/Mackinaw fleet where they are all named 1 of many, 2 of many, 3 of many and so forth and so on has gained a lot of attention. Naming conventions become very popular just for the ease of character management. It does make alt identification easier at times. And sometimes people wind up accused of being someone just for name similarity.
Names do matter in Eve but only so far. Some people put a lot of thought into what they called themselves and some little. It is easy to pick a name to amuse yourself and find yourself called Princess for the rest of your Eve career without anyone batting an eye or thinking twice about it. The number of males called by very feminine focused names due to their mains amuses me almost every day. But my amusement does not lay in the fact that the guy has a traditional girls name. I am amused that it doesn't phase anyone. I also love it.
I just had a conversation about this with my girlfriend (a non-eve player) the other day. I know the real names of most of my corp mates and they know mine, but if somebody said that [real name] needs reps, I would be very confused and not know who to rep without stopping to think about it. However, if they said their in-game name, even if it is their main's name and I am repping the alt, I would have no trouble. There have been times where people have been trying to talk to me on comms and I haven't noticed because they used my real name as well. It is an interesting psychological issue to do with identity of some kind. Anyway, just my experience with this.
ReplyDeleteI have an alt which was actually my first character in EVE. The name is my RL nickname, with over 40 years of history. However, I created another alt, which because of a quirk of fate, is now my main and the name by which I am called regardless of which alt across 3 different accounts I am in.
ReplyDeleteIt was amusing to discover that "Kung" is King in Swedish, and I suspect that this was the early EVE point by which my identity solidified.
Our given names are just that: given to us. It make sense that we would identify more with names we choose for ourselves.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it is strange when friends or family (who don't know me as Araziah) hear me responding to that over Mumble with corp mates.
Widespread pseudonymity is a fairly recent inclusion into our society due to the rise of interaction over the internet. And it seems strange to those who don't participate in the internet subculture. I wouldn't be surprised to see somewhat of a broader acceptance of self-naming over the next generation or two.