What do YOU do with names?

[SoulBlazer]

As anyone here knows, RPG's are my favorite game and I play them more then any other game.

But I was wondering -- what do you people do if you have the choice of re-naming the main charcter and/or the playing party?

Do you rename everyone always? Or always if you don't like the default names? Do you just rename some of the people? Or just the main charcter? What do you use for a name when you have to make one? Ever use your real name? Your handle on here?

If I have to name the main charcter I'll use my name. I like imagining myself actually in the story, and it makes more enjoyable for me. If you can just rename the main guy, I'll usually do that, especily if I don't like the default name. With games with a large party, I tend to leave the default names alone for my first time though, and then for later playthroughs I'll ever rename someone to myself or rename everyone for myself and friends.

And if I play a flight sim game or something else which needs a handle, I'll use Blazer or Striker.

[Malvanus]

I just use the default names given by the designers. I figure they named them for a reason.

Only game I ever changed the name of a character was Cecil from FFIV. I love that game so much I kept imagining I WAS the main character!

Other than that, I use the ones given.

[Cmosfm]

I always keep the default name....I'm really picky about things being "neat and tidy". I like the names to stay the same, I like the inventory organized, I like to be completely healed at any save, etc etc. I'm just a neat freak that transfers over into the game world.

[VACRMH]

Always default. If there isn't one, I check the manual and hope they show a picture of the character with a name ;)

[xenu]

i usually keep the default name too.. except in suikoden 3 i named the flame champion 'xenu' and forgot all about it. then when i got farther in the game it said something like "THE FLAME CHAMPION: XENU". and then i got all excited because i thought the developers named it xenu, and then i realized i was an idiot and that i had put it in manually. i think i only named it that because there was no default, you HAD to specify.

[Avenger]

i always keep the default name...if there isnt one, i use Avenger, i feel it works well for any style of game

[Half Cab Leroy]

I always keep the default name....I'm really picky about things being "neat and tidy". I like the names to stay the same, I like the inventory organized, I like to be completely healed at any save, etc etc. I'm just a neat freak that transfers over into the game world.
Same here.

[Querjek]

I try to keep the same names, although in some games (Like Shining Force on the Genesis), the name isn't given automatically and you're left to wonder (Later I found it out to be Max, but still...).

[Daria]

I rename everyone. Always. Sometimes they're major changes and sometimes I just don't like how the original name was spelled so I tweak it. Call me picky. :P

examples:

Shining Force:
Max: Damion (which is now my default for all genaric blonde swordsmen)

Chrono Trigger:
Chrono: Aaron
Marle: Sarah
Lucca: Mina
Ayla: Yavi
Frog: Ribit
And the time machine was some bastardization of Delorean.

Chrono Cross:
Serge: Sergio
Kid: Leigh

Harvest Moon:
Farmer: Ryan

Princess Maker 2:
Girl: Zalhala Preston

Final Fantasy IX:
Zidane: Felix (thought he was a cat boy at first)
Garnet: Daria >.>
Stiener: Steiner (I liked it already)
ViVi: Blackie
Eiko: Erma
Quina: Queasy
Freya: Vivian
Aramant (couldn't think of anything better)


Anyway you get the idea. :P

[gamergary]

I try to keep the default names unless I am playing through a second time, then I would put in random words like Orange Ramrod.

[maxlords]

Well, I never rename anyone if there's a default name. If there isn't, I only rename my main character, and he's always Max or Maxwell. Ironically, often the default name is the same one I use :D

[Jive3D]

in FF7 I named all the chocobos after my friends. Cloud had my name and all the others were left intact except for Vincent who was unlucky that day and received the name "Cunty"

^_^

I always change at least one name.

[Liafu]

I usually keep the names I like and change the ones i don't like.
When I rename characters I use names from other games, books, mangas etc. most of the time. I never use my on name though, its to boring and most of the main characters are male anyway, so it just wouldn't fit.

[QBert]

Depending on the game, I may use a name from a movie or book like a wizard or stuff like that. Sometimes I've even gone as far as use my own name!! Im so crazy.

Noone else uses their own names?



Qbert

[DDCecil]

I usually keep the character's real names, but games where you have to name the characters yourself (Dragon Warrior 3 and Drakkhen especially), it's ALWAYS the following:

Dude
Cool
Babe
Chic or Rad

[Jasoco]

In Earthbound I give everyone my name and my friends names.

[youruglyclone]

I use default names...I like to think when I die it's not me dying.

but for a game like sword of mana
here's my character names

roah (mark of kri influence?)
lena

[Quintracker]

Main character= Quintracker, Quintrckr, QuinT, Quin, or Qin (depending on # of spaces)

All others are kept at default

[wisekrak]

I like to keep the original names because I usually find myself talking about the game with friends that are also playing it. This makes it much easier to tell who you are talking about in the game.
Although, since my first glimpse of FF IV was the import fami game, I did use a couple of the names form the import instead of the stupid replacements when they localized it.
MASH to SABIN WTF?!?!
Tina to Terra?????

[Crush Crawfish]

It depends for me. I've been keeping the default names recently, but If I do rename the main character, I'll usually use Mike. SOmetimes, though, I'll pick another game or Show and name the characters in the game after the characters in that.

However, I seem to have lost my mind when naming my final fantasy 7 characters. I have one file that has them all named after beanie babies and diddy kong racing levels!!!!!!! I have another file where they're all named after pokemon!!!! I NAMED BARRET CATERPIE FOR GOD"S SAKE!!!!!!!!!

[Captain Wrong]

Back when I was trying to like RPGs, I played one (FF Tactics, I think) as "Lil' Poopie" (ran out of characters for Pants.)

When it reached that point, I could tell I was barking up the wrong genre.

[o2william]

I usually use the default name, but sometimes I enter something that'll look funny in game dialogs:

Dork
Evil
fool
blah
ewww

In Dragon Warrior, this makes the Princess say things like, "Thou art brave indeed to rescue me, Dork!" and "Please accept my love, ewww."

I think I used to use the name "Evil" in Zelda: ALTTP. I seem to recall this makes a lot of the game's dialog -- where characters are praising your goodness -- come out pretty funny. (What can I say? I'm easily amused.)

[-hellvin-]

I'm all about using the original names. Except for one time. In Final Fantasy IX, I don't know why I thought this, but I thought that the princess was going to only have name change while she was in the town, so I'm like, ok, you can be "A Whore" for a little while. By the start of disc 2 I realized she was going to be a whore for a long time indeed.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

It's no RPG, but I used to rename the computer players in GBC Monopoly after my cats and my horse. Now there's a picture for ya. :P

[tholly]

for things like zelda games...i name the character Link....for RPGs and stuff like that where a name is put in already i use that name....for games that just have Default or Player 1 or something like that i usually use my own name and for games that require you to name a profile i either call it Tony (my name) or Professor (nick name i use in Halo)

[Daria]

It's no RPG, but I used to rename the computer players in GBC Monopoly after my cats and my horse. Now there's a picture for ya. :P

Heh I do the same with my Genesis copy of Monopoly... well the cats anyway.

[Johnny Black]

I usually change the character names, unless they've got a name that I really like. If you keep the default it could get confusing if somebody else has a save file. Also, it makes it more... how can I put this... personalized.

[Aussie2B]

I always leave the default names. It just feels icky to have them changed. If there's no name in-game but one in the manual, I'll use that. However, sometimes I don't have the manual, so I find out later on that the main character actually has a name. :/

When I MUST name a character, I don't tend to use my own because main characters tend to be male, and giving them a female name is also icky. I remember naming the dude in Dragon Warrior "Tina", and then the princess talked about how much she loved "Tina". I inadvertently turned the princess into a dyke. :(

So instead, I have named the main male characters after rock stars and celebrities I like (such as "Paul" AKA Bono of U2), and then I had a phase in which I named them after boys I liked. :/ (All 2 of them. :P ) Doesn't work anymore now that I live with my boyfriend because we share games and naming a file after him when he frequently uses his name in games gets MIGHTY confusing.

Sometimes I don't know what to name characters so I just get silly. I named the dog in Secret of Evermore "Chicken Noodle", I have often used "asshole", "poop", etc., and when I first played Shining Force 2 I named the hero "Findsaw" because I bought Milon's Secret Castle the same day, hehe. :P In Secret of Mana, I always name the sprite Joey. For some reason he reminds me of a baby kangaroo or wallaby. o_O

When I have to name a whole bunch of people at once (such as in RPGs where you create your party at the beginning), I'll usually name one dude Andreas/Andy, one chick Kristina/Tina, one freaky little guy Tweeter (an online friend), and then something goofy for the last guy like Jesus or something.

[DigitalSpace]

I always go by default names. Doesn't feel right to me to change them.

[Dave Reinquest]

I generally leave default names. except where I like the Japanese name better. FF7 Aerith in place of Aeris...I know it's pronounced the same almost but it just sounds better to me. (EXCEPTION: I didn't like Steiner's name in FF9. I used Meioh cause it sounds better.)

Flight sims I am always "Longdong" .. Long Story.

Board Games I name peeps weird things. like Sonic, Bob, you name it.

Bob is pretty generic, and fits almost anyone male.

[NE146]

I've written about this before, but usually I put in my name like "YOU ASS" or "YOU SHITHEAD" etc. That way when they refer to me it comes out "Retrieve the sword of light YOU ASS" etc. or "come here YOU FAG" etc..

If it's other characters, I generally give them names that match their looks. Like in FF2 I know I had a character named "Faggy" (the bard), and Baldy (the kung fu guy). I name the girl characters stuff like "toots" or similar. Or in Chrono Trigger I named the prehistoric chick "Farah", the robot "C3PO", the chick with the glasses "Dyke", and the frog "kermy" (I think). For regular names I sometimes do like to name fighters ODIN in reverence to Phantasy Star 1. But in general I just like to make it as stupid as possible.

[anagrama]

On the rare occasions that I play an RPG, I'll always name my main character 'Boris'. I'm not really sure why :o

[Lemmy Kilmister]

I always go by default names. Doesn't feel right to me to change them.

Ditto. The only time i use a real name is in a game that i have to name the main character.

[calthaer]

I prefer RPGs that don't have any default names - the Might & Magic series, Bard's Tale, Morrowind, etc.

For the Square RPGs (i.e. - all console RPGs or the ones that imitate Square), I just leave it at the default. There are only so many ways to "personalize" an interactive movie.

[charitycasegreg]

I always change the names, I just love rpgs and how you can name them whatever you want... jk, I never play rogs, but if I did, I would probably change the name... :-P