145 réponses à ce sujet

[Fast Jimmy]

I think the ideas thrown around this thread are fine. No set first name, but instead use a combination of other things during conversations.

Formal dialogue - use the title (Warden, Champion, Inquisitor)
Friend dialogue - use the surname (Hawke, McQuincy)
LI dialogue - use pet name (my love, sugar, poo-poo-kitty-fluck)

This keeps the voiced PC from interfering too much in the name department. Problem solved.

[Nashimura]

I wouldn't mind this, its not like you pick your name in real life right?

[Aetheria]

The way it's been done in recent Bioware games seems like the best possible compromise to me.

Occasionally it does seem a little awkward when NPCs' dialogue skirts around calling the PC by their first name, but not too often. Besides, it's still less awkward than the way it worked in DA:O, where most NPCs didn't even call the PC by their last name, just "Warden".

I wouldn't really mind having a fixed first name for the PC, but it might actually create more work for the devs. There are usually different default names for male and female characters, so any line of dialogue where someone said the PC's first name would have to be recorded twice (or more than that, if there were different origins with different default names as in Origins).

[Sealy]

I like being able to name my protagonist, and I believe my future children will appreciate it cause this way I get any really ridiculous names off my chest before I name my kid Drago or something equally awful.

[Eleinehmm]

Fleshdress wrote...

I like being able to name my protagonist, and I believe my future children will appreciate it cause this way I get any really ridiculous names off my chest before I name my kid Drago or something equally awful.

Heh,  I knew a guy who had Krocodile (sic) as his  middle name (born  before 86, in case you'd ask).  So why the hell not.

[Todd23]

Everything else is. Why not?

[Quirkylilela]

Nah I like naming my own characters I mean honestly 'garret'? If you're just tired of everyone calling you hawke or warden then maybe there could be other ways to make what people call your character more personal. Like your friend Joe calls you by your last name your sister calls you by a nickname( like sparrow in fable 2 except not something as stupid as sparrow) and your boss or subordinates call you inquisitor or commander.

[InfinitePaths]

Why not the Assassins creed 3 style.You will always be Desmond.But you can name your each playtrough.

[Eleinehmm]

Because I don't like all my characters to have the same name, maybe ?

[InfinitePaths]

It's the same thing with Hawk or Shepard,every charather is called Hawke or Shepard,the only difference is in menus.

[Eleinehmm]

HeriocGreyWarden wrote...

It's the same thing with Hawk or Shepard,every charather is called Hawke or Shepard,the only difference is in menus.

RP, ladies and gents, RP. The difference is not  "in menus". The difference is that one character is  called  Athelstan and the other Corvin.

[Deadmac]

KainD wrote...
We had Shepard and Hawke, both voiced, and we could name them, but they were never called by their name. I think it would be better if the FULL name was preset, because it would feel less akward to be called by your friends and companions by your first name and not your family name. Thoughts?

I dissagree. Western roleplaying games are about creative expression. If anything takes away an individual's ability to customize the character, (name, outfits, etc...), the player will dissconnect from the role in which they play. Instead of playing a character that represents your individual personality, the choices you made in "Dragon Age II" defined another person's personality.

"Dragon Age II" suffered because it removed the first person perspective, and the lack of customization limited an individual's ability to creativly express themselves.

"Dragon Age III" should give us a fully customizable avatar, which celebrates individuality and creative expression. If the 'player' reviews say there is a limited amount of customization, I will avoid "Dragon Age III" like its the plague.

After the hell we went through with "Dragon Age II" and "MassEffect III", I am not going to give BioWare any room for error. Its all or none with "Dragon Age III". I didn't buy "Dragon Age II" until it was $19.99. After playing through the dumb demo, I knew exaclty what "Dragon Age II" was about.

Bring back fully customizatble PCs and NPCs, or just burn the game to the ground.

Creative expression and indivduality must win this time around.

Modifié par Deadmac, 26 décembre 2012 - 05:54 .

[samgrave]

Kevin Lynch wrote...

I'm on the fence about this. It's frequently awkward to have absolutely no one in the game world mention the PC by their first name. It something I think they always have to work around when writing the dialogue and having a first name would make it easier to manage. On the other hand, I replay the game and like making the distinction between characters by name.

I whole-heartedly agree with the OP. It feels kinda like a shallow and superficial compromise with the games of yore which were solely text-based and thus allowed us to name our charachters by their full name, and the new games with voices and what-nots, where it is (currently) impossible to have our own names mentioned by the other NPCs. I am willing to accept that games of today have mpoved beyond that point and we now need to have charachters that are fully named as it really hjampers realism by only being referred to by ones last name or some obscure title.


I do get your second point regarding the ability to make a distinction between charachters, but this does not need to be a problem.Many games in the past have effectively circumvented this problem by allowing both name customisation and pre-set names for their charchters. Off-hand, I can think of the "Wing Commander" series, especially part 3 & 4 in which your charachter's name was "Christopher Blair". However, you were able to create a "call sign" name that was never referred to by the other charachters but was only visible on score boards, in journals etc. Likewise, the first "Deus Ex" game had you playing the charachter "JC Denton". This was the name he was ALWAYS referred to in the game. Usually "JC" by his friends and "Denton" by the rest. However, before the game began, you were able to write the "real name" of your charachter, although this was never reffered to by the other charachters in-game.

Perhaps this could be a way to go for DA 3? Creating a "nickname" for the PC? That way the players will always know which charachter they are playing. 

[Pcmag1]

Yea, I guess it is cultural thing, unless your's surname is your nickname, in Czech Rep. your's friends would never call you by your surname. It felt strange at beginning but I got over it by blocking out fact that it is my character's surname.
I never thought of this but OP has a valid point, your's first name is never used in-game BECAUSE it is modifiable. I guess it wouldn't make any difference if the first name was hard set and was actually used.

[Mark of the Dragon]

I would not like this. Maybe its just an illusion but I like naming my character and it makes me feel more connected to him/her.

[Shadow of Light Dragon]

Navasha wrote...

Shadow of Light Dragon wrote...


It grated in DA2 because Hawke is the only person referred to by surname. In that sense it was awkward to me. Had the rule been applied to other characters I could have accepted it more readily, but it wasn't, so it was obvious for what it was.

Yes, but honestly if my last name was Hawke in real life, that WOULD be how most of my friends would likely call me.     Hawke is a surname that lends itself easily as a nickname.    Being called by your surname isn't as likely if it also isn't something easily said.

For me, Hawke was just as much a nickname as a surname.   Varric called pretty much everyone by a nickname.  

The nickname thing is fine, except it's not only your friends addressing you thus. And if your non-friends calling you Hawke is merely a sign of respect, then why do none of your companions get the same treatment when they are being spoken to? Surely Aveline, at the very least, would have this. Vallen is even easier to say than Aveline!

Eh, not a big deal. It just stood out to me, like I said.

[Provi-dance]

Nashimura wrote...

I wouldn't mind this, its not like you pick your name in real life right?

You don't pick the color of your eyes either.

It's not about being the character, it's about role-playing a character you chose to rp.

[DarthLaxian]

Upsettingshorts wrote...

I would be happy if they fixed the full name. Because I only care about choices the game actively acknowledges, and they don't acknowledge custom names.   Text games did, and those were objectively different, because of CHARNAME flags.  Voice acting can't do that, so custom names seem vestigal to me.

The only use I personally have for the custom name is differentiating save games, and referring to the character specifically with other people. But this could be accomplished with middle names just as easily, and with First/Last name fixed, the script could have the voice actors use those, or the title, or whatever, when they deem it appropriate.

I've never understood arguments that say he/she "doesn't look like a [name]" or that "[name] doesn't fit the character." In real life - Muhammed Ali like changes aside - your name is picked long before you even have a character.

But I acknowledge people are attached and fixing the name would seem like yet another needless restriction on agency, so I don't argue the issue too strongly.

well it might be off topic:

but i hate this (being forced to live with a name i did not chose - imho it should be like this: parents give you a name, but it is temporary, till you can choose a "real" name when you are of age - i would love that, even more because i hate it that names are used by so many people...i mean, so many people are calle John, Jack or whatever that those names are no longer individual...i would want my own unique name and that is why i have people call me LAX (that is at least a lot more uncommon then Thomas, my given name)

as doing that ingame:

no way, i want my unique names to stay (i could live with a give name of course, but i do not want that to happen)

greetings LAX

[Skye Evergreene]

JerZeyCJ2 wrote...

@Dr. Dpctor that's what I did with one of my Hawkes in DA2, I just named 'em Sera(or however it's spelled).

 Oh my god that is so incredibly smart why didn't i think of that?!

Also to add, I feel like the full name thing is just unneccisary and frankly a waste of Biowares time

Modifié par Skye Evergreene, 28 décembre 2012 - 04:19 .

[Foolsfolly]

Doctor Moustache wrote...

I've never seen any issue with being called by the surname.  In many cultures including American, a person of high status is called by their surname already.  Politicians, Military, etc.  Its not awkward at all. 

Hell in my group of high school friends we all called each other by last name. It started because we had two Allens in our group and calling them by the last name was less confusing. But then they started calling us by our last names... and by the time we were all seniors we just called each other by last name.

It's not that ackward. Besides I wouldn't want to lose the option to name a character.

[Swagger7]

I can see why getting called by the surname bothers people, but I can't think of any solution that wouldn't just be worse.

Naming the character Serah was a stroke of genius though JerZey.

If it's too bad, how about giving your PC a thoroughly embarrassing first name, thus justifying why you go by the last name..... (I know that would limit roleplaying, but like I said: there are no good solutions to this).

[nightscrawl]

Allan Schumacher wrote...

Doctor Moustache wrote...

I've never seen any issue with being called by the surname.  In many cultures including American, a person of high status is called by their surname already.  Politicians, Military, etc.  Its not awkward at all. 

And high school.  At least in my neck of the woods....

I noticed this in my high school too, although it seems to be a trend among guys.

As far as having a set name in a game like Dragon Age, I actually liked it, even if it did seem odd when my LI called me Hawke. It made conversations more natural because there are places in real dialog where you do use a person's name. It also goes well with the whole voiced dialog, for both PC and NPC, which I'm fond of.

Modifié par nightscrawl, 28 décembre 2012 - 07:53 .

[Nerys]

Nette wrote...

The only thing I found a little akward was when the LIs used Sheps and Hawkes last names the same as all the other characters did. They should just add a nickname the LI uses when they become a couple, like they did with "Siha" for Thane in ME2. It makes the connection between Shep and Thane feel a lot more personal and deep, I always loved that about his romance.

That is an excellent point, and something I loved about Thane's romance arc as well. For me, The only time it gets awkward for companions to use our title or last name is when your romantic partner is using them. Sounds to me like Nette found the perfect solution 

[Parmida]

Nerys wrote...

Nette wrote...

The only thing I found a little akward was when the LIs used Sheps and Hawkes last names the same as all the other characters did. They should just add a nickname the LI uses when they become a couple, like they did with "Siha" for Thane in ME2. It makes the connection between Shep and Thane feel a lot more personal and deep, I always loved that about his romance.

That is an excellent point, and something I loved about Thane's romance arc as well. For me, The only time it gets awkward for companions to use our title or last name is when your romantic partner is using them. Sounds to me like Nette found the perfect solution 

Parmida approves +100

YESS! let them put a cute nickname on the PC when they're in a romance with him/her.

[Chaos Lord Malek]

Just give us a normal name. Maybe we could have name based on background we select - so that if we are from Orlei we have a french name, if we are from Ferelden we have english name, if we are from Anderfels we get germanic name. So yeah, they would have to do all the lines with name multiuple time, or they could use name insertion (as a separate sound file)

That would be like - "Hey, Jack! We got to go" - would be : "Hey!" , "Name" multiplied by regional backgrounds, and "We got to go".