Forgotten Kingdoms Forums

What if like naming a pet, when you buy a weapon you could have the choice to name it, to show uniquely that it is yours?

I think it would be nice to 'name' any weapon, personally.

The reason I say this is that enchanting weapons/armors/jewelry/etc. is not in the game yet and most of the "good" items of the aforementioned will be acquired from quests.

Selveem wrote:I think it would be nice to 'name' any weapon, personally.

The reason I say this is that enchanting weapons/armors/jewelry/etc. is not in the game yet and most of the "good" items of the aforementioned will be acquired from quests.

Right - I don't know that naming purchased weapons would scratch this itch for most people - as Selveem points out, most players' primary weapon comes from a quest.

Perhaps this could be a function of a trade, like weaponsmithing?

Then again, perhaps named weapons should be uncommon, and manifested at the judgment of the Imms - either when they create a weapon, or by application.

I believe I understand your concern, Raona, but I disagree that Imm involvement should be required. Heroes all over fantasy fiction (and possibly real life history!) named their weapons without the involvement of "Gods." I don't think FK should require it.

Also, I doubt it would be too hard to code the weapon to add: <shortname> + <space> + named, "<insert name selected here>".

This will ensure "restring" option wouldn't be abused.

I personally do think names should be reserved for the special and unique weapons.

Larethiel wrote:I personally do think names should be reserved for the special and unique weapons.

I would as well be under the same liking of this idea.

Perhaps if you rp out enough that your blade has a name, mention a few times... well word spreads and maybe you'd be lucky enough for it to catch up to you.

*shrug*

Another issue with this in some respects is that items and mobiles are broken into two parts, a long description of what you see in a room and a short description. Short descriptions have a certain limit to length or they run off the page. If you add a name to a weapon through code, the short description will be too long on certain weapons and look unwieldy. Unlike a pet, which reverses the order and allows for one or two words, I would only think a quarter of the weapons out there would be customizable. And that does not include weapons given as quest rewards with detailed short and long descriptions. The only way I could see this working is with imm intervention to do a complete rename of said items. Otherwise it would look quite ugly.

I'd also add that I don't like the idea of names being included in short descriptions of weapons, if you want your weapon to be famous enough to have a name, I'd just rp as if it was named. There are several weapons in game that work towards this end, who may or may not have names but depend on ic interaction and problem solving to reveal them. This is my personal opinion though.

If you want it named, just rp it having a name. If you want its name to show up on the item, though, I think a rename should be required.

I think we would all be hard-pressed to name, on sight, even the most famous of named weapons. "Oh, there's Gram!" "Hey, he's got Excalibur!" are not exclamations you'd hear. You can role-play the name or, if you've the chance, have the long description changed to reflect perhaps a unique mark or engraving. So, in short, I agree with Oghma, Glim, etc...

To me, this kind of comes back around to what you see when you look at someone's object.

I remember very vividly an object that used to be called, "the master assassin's belt". And this led to so many debates on what was IC to know it was ridicuous:

"He's evil! I can tell because of the belt he wears, it the Master Assassin's Belt"
"Right, how can you tell that? It's a belt with pockets, it doesn't have the name "master assassin" embroidered on it."

It's since been renamed, to something that is plain, which is how it should be. While we all would like the feeling of drawing a weapon, and it bearing a name that everyone knew, etc. Do you draw the sword, and it has "Excalibur" emblazoned on the side? Or is it merely "A gleaming silver sword with an ornate gold handle" to those who see it emerge from its sheath? The IC world would see the latter.

Perhaps to expand a bit more from where you are and where I was.

IC just RP that you've named your weapon. People might start picking up on it and in turn RP out with you about it. Things have a way of catching up through RP and in time perhaps you'll get a rename of the description from say 'A silver longsword' to 'A golden hilted longsword with a gem inset'

One way to get a rename of the item, but without exactly stamping a name on it, like Kregor mentioned. Having a unique weapon descrip would definately get more people to notice it and ask... therefor its name spreads further.

Soon enough you won't be "That guy with 'A golden hilted longsword with a gem inset'", but (insert name here) and his sword (insert RP name here).

Maybe make it part of a trade option. Say if you are a grandmaster in a trade that creates items, armor smithing, weapon smithing, staff/wand making, or as also part of the enchanting process when/if permanant enchanting is coded in:

construct <item> <spell> <material> <name> = A <material> <item> engraved with "Ferrum Pugnus"

OR

cast <spell> <item> <name> = A <item> engraved with "Julthain's Wrath"

And if names that are too long would be an issue, just allow a certain amount of characters available for the naming process so you wouldn't get overly long strings. This would allow crafters/enchanters to have their own "unique" items for trade/sell. Also, this would allow crafters/enchanters to do "custom" jobs for other PC's without the trade:

Say one PC wants a titanium sword named "Goblinbane" or etc... he could go to another PC capable of crafting said weapon and pay for it to be created.

Items that you get through quests or generic items that you buy from merchants/traders should stay as they are. Since the "crafters" of those items have already "named" them as they wanted them to be.

It would maybe spice up the trade skills a bit and allow the crafters a bit of a market for their work.

The biggest problem I see with said code is as thus:

<left hand> Sammy (perfect)

What is a Sammy? Is it a mace? A pike? A child?


Now to counter act this you would have to be able to add the name infront of the item:

"sammy" a leaf-headed spear

However this creates 2 possible problems:

<right hand> "Sammy" "Samy" "samy" "sammmmy" a rusty dagger. <-- multiple names on one weapon.

<right hand> (Glowing) (Humming)"Boneripper - The wickedly awesome Human Slayer" a wickedly serrated sabre with a carved pommel of a black-hand (very good) <-- really long name

To counter these one must put code limitations:

1. Once a name is set on a weapon - You cannot change it.
2. Name is added to short description. Does not replace it.
3. Limit names to <x amount of characters.
3. Limit the number of named weapons per person or set it by level. Why would a level 1 rogue have a "named" blade
/* named weapons imo are weapons of some power or have quite a bit of age and history to them. */
4. Find some sort of quality to qualify for items to be named. Non quest magical weapons/or quest ones. PC crafted, Or some thing else to limit. No rusted short swords found off of wererats.
5. enforce 1-4 through and rp. <- no "xyg626" silver short sword

Easier way to do this, if it is done, is a short addition to the description. We see such additions before, a sentence or two with an empty line seperating it from the default description. Something like: "an etching in the hilt/handle reads: XXXX" Limit the name to so many characters as well to prevent someone from writing a book on their weapon.

As for which weapons... magic flags. Most weapons of 'keeping' value; be it supplicated items, quest rewards, ect have magic flags. Would be easiest to tag this addition to an in-place flag. *shrug* I leave player-crafted weapons out of the loop because this infringes on trade-marks and that is already shaky ground with certain builder peoples.

I see what you mean about copyrights... you know as soon as it was implemented there would be someone crafting a scimitar and naming it Twinkle or Icingdeath... but I've read a lot of FR books where master smiths have created named weapons. Perhaps limit it to grandmaster tradesmen only and implement some way to bar people using the names of known/legendary weapons in the FR setting, those who do manage to bypass the system and name a weapon something they know is IC unappropriate, it would then be strike time.