Character names

[Terageld]

I've gotten a little confused about what makes a character name acceptable or unacceptable. Yesterday, in the "who" list, I found this character: Sarah Smythe, Pegasus Calvarywoman. Though her profession is cool, I don't see how her name was accepted. Why are some "average" names like "Natasha" and "Sarah" acceptable but other names like "Jill" unacceptable?
Naming character after kings was not unheard of in the game. "Arshak" was an acceptable name. The name I planed to use for a new character was "Suliman," but that was unacceptable for some reason.

[Lirith]

Various factors come into play with names. Searches are run for obvious famous people or characters, does it sound out of place (e.g. "Starfox64bro" obviously not suitable), and does the person checking the name know that it sounds very similar to another existing character. Different people do authorisations. While one person might see that Arshak was a king after a search but had never heard of them before so not particularly famous and therefore acceptable for FK, someone else might instantly recognise Suliman as being the name of an extremely famous ruler and therefore immediately associate the name with the historical person without even having to check. If it's the name of a very famous ruler or historical person, the majority of people who are checking the name will deny that under the guidance we're given.

My advice is, Google AND Wiki search your own choice of name. If it turns up a first page hit with a very famous or well known historical person or fictional character, chances are it probably won't be authorised. It's okay to choose names of historical people, but by using the more obscure ones, there is more chance of it being considered fine and might add flavour to FK as a whole.

[Tortus]

e.g. "Starfox64bro" obviously not suitable

As I had to find out the hard way... :/

[Benorf]

Sadly, PeppyRules, Slippydrools, FalconTheJerk and FoxForLyfe also were turned down.

[Terageld]

What about the thumbs up for "Natasha" and "Sarah" but thumbs down for "Jill" and "Slippy"?

[Tyeslan]

Those are names that were authed years ago. I personally would have authed Jill unless it was close to another name in game, like Jillian, or Julian, but someone else might have not. Slippy is a nonsense, and kind of a name out of place for an FK setting, but again, each authing member has a set of standards they look at. Some are more strict compared to others. It's luck of the draw, and makes our job easier if you follow the guidelines that Lirith has stated above. If your name is nonsensical to start, it is going to get denied, and usually very fast.

[Yanorvos]

Some of the names mentioned above were authorised almost a decade ago by admins that no longer play or followed different guidelines. The current naming situation follows the guidelines of the helpfiles available.

[Benorf]

I also think that it depends on the race of the character.

For example, I could legitimately see a goblin named Slippy. But I definitely could not see an elf or dwarf being named as such.

Mind you, I don't authorize names. This is just my opinion

[Mele]

- Futuristic or modern, such as 'Laser,' 'Jill,' or 'Eddy'.

Natasha: http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager#p ... xact=false
Origin: 1950. Neither modern nor futuristic.

Sarah: http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager#p ... xact=false
Origin: 1880. Neither modern nor futuristic.

There is a difference between a modern name and a COMMON name. Just because you hear a name a lot does not make it MODERN.


Please do not put people's names on blast like this again. These players chose names, had them authorized and have played these characters for years while contributing on the whole to our community. The question on the whole is fine, but using specific players is unkind and unnecessary. Lirith, a staff member, answered politely clearly and accurately the first time the names were mentioned. It should not need to come up again.