So, I know we are a bunch of salty cynical gamers here, but one thing that bothers me just a little bit is people with stupid character names. Now, I don’t mind clever names like a frost mage named “icetomeetu,” a Tauren druid named “moofausa,” or my favorite classic name a Tauren druid named "Chucknourish, however I can’t stand outrageously bad names like (and I’m making these character name up), Smellybuttz, “someorcdude” “toast,” etc.
So this will be a creative writing crash course on coming with better character names. You are playing a fantasy MMO, not creating a Xbox, Steam or PSN account.
The first thing that I recommend is study the language and character names of the game you are going to play. For example, after listening to “Arthas, My Son,” lyrics from the wotlk trailer, I wanted to do something like that. I came up with my own language for just a random character and story idea in my head real quick. So basically I tied in the greek myth of Persephone, (who was abducted by Hades), and the story of Sylvanas. (The story I came up with was about an evil elf princess before she became evil.) Anyways here is the song I came up with for this random character. I made up a language, then did an English version. The song is based on Arthas, my son."
O Sypri agor loth rasyar
Ran karyi raka taya ri Srieyn
O Valeyna ri Srieyn agor lotha lar’un
karum oshorana
agor lotha la’run syra dalor ka dosara
raka hiysa ri dosa ran Valeor’seryi kora
agor lotha wesa salan
dalayn oshorana
Nokra sa falor
O, spring, may you bloom
And usher in the child of summer
O princess of summer may your light
Shine eternally
May your light chase away the shadows
In the hearts of men and high born alike
May your gentle spirit
Rule eternally
Never to fail.
Let’s start. I generally follow my own naming conventions, but I try to make the character sound like something you would find in the game, and that is the best tip I have. Study the characters already in the game.
Orcs, for example should have hard sounds, “k,” “x” so names like Krigar, Kragor, Azgor, Rozath, etc. For trolls, I generally roll female using soft sounds, “Razua,” “Gaelka,” “Raika” “Ryzaya,” “Rakaua”
For undead, I generally use human names, that I make up, “Anyri,” “Mogreth,” 'Morbid," (he cast off his living name), Mordei,
For elves (I mostly roll females), I like to use a bunch of “a’s” and “y,'s” So “Areyla,” “Lyraeya” “Arlaye” “Lreaya”
The second tip I have is study poetry. Listen to sounds of the word choice and style. Study how the author uses sound. Also, study creative writing. Writing is hard, exceptionally so, but coming up with a quick sketch of story in your head isn’t. You will have people yelling at you for: telling, and not showing. You will have people yell at you for using passive voice. You will have people yell at you for plot, too many characters on the page, etc, and everything else. The best comparison, I cam make is video games. Somewhere out there someone is going to think that game is crap, even if it is really good.
The third tip that I have is read a lot of fantasy novels. You can’t go wrong with Martin or Tolkien.
