New Name For Oerik Server !

[Bjond]

This may sound rude, but lets turn the tables for one moment, just to make an example... could one not also make the same claim about your name? It is Bond with a random J thrown in? or it is blond with the L replaced with a J? What's next, Bjob and Sjue, or would it be a more like Bjake pjaying with Cjetus?

Oh, not at all. A large portion of rudeness lies in the eyes of the beholder; ie. it says more about the person taking offense than the supposed offender -- especially these days.

If you're curious, I was *very* surprised at all the "Bjond, James Bjond" jokes. It literally never ever occurred to me when I was making the name. Funny and makes sense, though. BTW, it came from making names with several constraints:

• simple, one~two syllables maximum
• easy to type, easy to pronounce
• slightly matching theme of game

"Bjond" came from wanting a Scandinavian (sounding) name back in EQ1 for a monk and yes, actually, it does mean "Blonde" (in Albanian, iirc). I'd have made it Bjønd, but that kills the easy-typing constraint for US keyboard folk. The double entendre with the pronunciation was deliberate.

BTW, I almost wish I'd thought of that when naming my alts -- Bjob and Sjue, that is. It would help people recognize me when I'm on a different character. I have too much fun making names, so maybe / maybe not -- might have felt like a challenge, too.

And, if you would like to share your thoughts about making up "Vrxnr", I'd love to hear 'em. I like reading about how others come up with unusual names for their characters.

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If you're want a serious evaluation of the Greyhawk names; they're unfortunate. Funny names are great when running a campaign if you want a Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchet feel for it or even just for comedic relief. Sounds like that's how these names were born with the problems only arising from the novelization promoting it as "serious" fantasy.

The only thing I know about Greyhawk comes from seeing the novels on shelves and instantly panning them as "bad/trash" due to jacket, titles, and cover synopsis. They sounded to me at the time like juvenile wish-fulfillment fantasy (they still do).

 

[Fizban]

What should the new name for Oerik be?

There should not be a new name. Oerik is fine.

 

[Fizban]

What should the new name for Oerik be?

Your poll should have really included the option for players to choose Oerik.

 

[vryxnr]

And, if you would like to share your thoughts about making up "Vrxnr", I'd love to hear 'em. I like reading about how others come up with unusual names for their characters.

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The only thing I know about Greyhawk comes from seeing the novels on shelves and instantly panning them as "bad/trash" due to jacket, titles, and cover synopsis. They sounded to me at the time like juvenile wish-fulfillment fantasy (they still do).

Many of my character names I like to take a short phrase or a few words that describe them, then translate it (often poorly) into a non-english language. I have a warlock, for example, who's name is Black Bible very loosely translated into Finnish to become Musta Raamattu. The danger of this of course is sometimes I get people going "OMG I know what that means, are you Finnish?" and are saddened when I explain that no, I am not, I just took something that I thought sounded cool and used it. Sometimes I'll mess up the syntax or spelling to make it less obviously a language swap.

Vryxnr, pronounced V-ricks-ner, as in V (just the sound of v, the consonant portion) - ricks (as in you've just been Rick Rolled - ner (as in nerd but without the d) ... it's actually less creative and potentially even disappointing. It's an import of a character from a real life / tabletop d&d campaign, who himself stole the name from a minor villian NPC (it was an evil character campaign, so my character decided to steal this identity and erase all records of his former life and name to make tracking down his past all the more difficult), but the original vryxnr is, iirc, actually from the very old deluxe boxed set adventure Dragon Mountain (1993).

Yeah, I'm an "evil" person who has no qualms about being inspired by other works, whether it be novel or anime or movie, etc.

As for the books... remember the expression: never judge a book by it's cover.

Though to be fair, I find most fantasy novels to be kinda lame. I have a few forgotten realms ones that I didn't really enjoy, and some that were okay. I have a few greyhawk ones that were also kinda meh, and even downright bad... but I personally did enjoy the "justicar" trilogy (justicar is in quotes because they are not named in a way that would let you know they are a trilogy) and actually put it in my "good" list. It's the 3 books by Paul Kidd, in order: White Plum Mountain, Descent into the Depths of the Earth, and Queen of the Demonweb Pits. There are some "juvenile" moments, sure, but I found the overall style/writing, characters, and story to be one of the better ones (even the characters you love to hate *shakes fist at Polk*). Of course, it's still nothing compared to the likes of the Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion (yes, I do like the Silmarillion... only the first chapter was a hard read and what scares away most readers, but the rest I think is quite enjoyable)... but few if anything can compare to LotR.

 

[Bjond]

As for the books... remember the expression: never judge a book by it's cover.

nothing compared to the likes of the Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion (yes, I do like the Silmarillion... only the first chapter was a hard read and what scares away most readers, but the rest I think is quite enjoyable)... but few if anything can compare to LotR.

Heh, true about art, but synopsis should give the gist. Piers Anthony was the one that suckered me. He comes up with amazing concepts and then proceeds to trash them with the worst writing you can imagine. The synopsis, of course, has the concept and makes the sale -- kinda like movies where the trailer has the only good scene in the whole movie.

My favorite recommend for genius fantasy is Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea. It's true "bugs-bunny" multi-level work. Unlike LOTR, they're all short. Kids can read for juvenille plot, but the thematic content is astounding. So, adults can read it for that, much the same way kids catch the slapstick in Bugs, but watch as an adult and whoa, can't believe they're making those jokes in front of kids!

One tip about Earthsea, typically only women instantly understand the theme of the 2nd book. I had to have it pointed out, but it's obvious in retrospect even to a man. Had to reread to catch the nuances, though.