Dark Age Of Camelot: Over Outlook of Another Opinion

Two days ago, my fellow columnist Deina expressed some outrage over a friend's decision to leave the game. This decision to leave, she cited, hearkened to the actions of Mythic's customer service representatives, who changed a name that her friend felt should not need changing. I encourage you to read her column here.

After reading her piece, I found myself respectfully disagreeing with her point of view. Unable to form a completely fair opinion with the information presented, I wrote to her and gained her permission to write my own contrasting article. I also asked her to give me further information, so that I could present as fair a counter as possible. I want to say up front that I respect her opinion and her feelings. I simply have a different view.

As she stated, no permission has been given to release the name of the individual. I will, however, note that this all occurred on a roleplaying server, making it further near and dear to my heart. You see, I am what many call a "Name Nazi". The first thing we ever see about a person on a roleplaying server is their name. You can hardly miss it, floating over their head, and even if you have names off, their name remains the first thing you can note in their spoken statements.

Names are the first step to true immersion in a roleplaying environment, even one as loose as Dark Age of Camelot. Many of us make great efforts to keep our names not only within Mythic's guidelines, but true to the flavor and spirit of the realm we play in. I have no less than five Norse naming convention sites in my bookmarks, as well as a good half dozen general Medieval naming sites. I am proud of my characters' names.

I also know that my first judgement of anyone is based on what he's named himself. If I see Kittybooboo Litterbox running about Midgard, my immediate thought is, "This person is a complete idiot." Oh, they may not be. We've all been told never to judge a book by its cover. But I find that I cannot help it. It implies not only that they do not mind everyone they meet referring to them that way, but that they cannot read. The rules are clearly stated when you log onto a roleplaying server for the first time.

As infrequently referred to as they may be, as widely ignored as they are, roleplaying servers do have rules, and you do agree to them each time you play on one, whether or not you care to pay attention to them. To refer to the pertinent section here, found on this page: "Mythic Entertainment offers Role Playing servers as an alternative to the standard DAoC servers. Players who opt to participate on a Role Playing server must agree to far more specific rules regarding naming, conduct and behavior. This is done to maintain the integrity of the experience offered on a Role-Playing server."

Given this statement of policy, I cannot agree that this player was driven off because of "shameless and unreasonable changes." This player agreed to these policies. If he or she did not read the policies, Mythic is not responsible for that. We each have a free choice when opting to play this game. We can play on a server where no one cares what your name is (past keeping it within the vulgarity policies), or we can play on a server where a certain level of immersion is expected.

The name in question falls into what I would consider a borderline area. I should state that I have no idea what realm this name was made in, so I will be broad. In Albion, I likely would not give it a second glance, although I might inwardly wish that the person had put more thought into it. In Hibernia, I would cluck my tongue and shake my head. In Midgard, I would roll my eyes and ask myself if this person knew the first thing about the realm. Would I have appealed it? Probably not.

But I do make frequent use of the /appeal command. I do not consider it a waste of my play time. In fact, I consider it good use, because if I can see one more rotten name removed, I have saved another roleplayer a wince and a moment of unhappiness as well as added to the roleplaying community. I will say it again: I play on a roleplaying server because I want to roleplay, and I want to enjoy a place as free of out-of-genre names and behaviors as possible.

Deina said, "It disheartens me to know that I play a game and support a small company that doesn't care about the thoughts of the customer." I support the same company because they do care about the thoughts of the customer. They care enough to take the time (although not as frequently as I would like) to uphold the policies they have put in place. As a roleplayer, they care about my thoughts and feelings enough to change the name of someone who has chosen not to follow the rules.

I do not mean to sound unsympathetic. We become very attached to the names of our characters. They signify, in a large way, who the character is. But I cannot help but feel that people should follow the rules of the servers they have chosen to play on. To return briefly to the policy: "Remember - you are on the Role-Playing server in order to have the most immersive experience possible within the world of DAoC. If you are asked to change a character's name, it is because the staff at Mythic is dedicated to maintaining the believability of the experience offered on the Role-Playing servers - not because they 'don't like' your name. If you do not wish to change your character's name, you are welcome to move to a standard server with that name (so long as it follows the standard naming guidelines addressed previously)."

Mythic states that names should not only refrain from referring to things which exist outside the Medieval world, but that they should fit within the realm the character lives in. Albion players should not have Viking names. No Norsewomen named Guinevere. Again, I consider the name in question a borderline name, but I also do not feel that the customer service representatives acted wrongly. The name was not a name. It was a descriptive noun.

Deina concludes by saying, "And if a Mythic staffer does catch wind of this, I hope you do read the whole article and realize that this is just one opinion of many and would like to see a change for the better. I would hate to see your entire player base be run off by the effects that you bring upon them based on flawed and faulty decisions!" I agree. I would like to see a change for the better. I would like to see the naming policies more strictly enforced. I would like to see the rules for roleplay conduct more strictly enforced.

Players on roleplay servers should have compelling reasons to follow the rules they so casually agree to. In these cases, I submit that the flawed and faulty decisions are not the ones that Mythic makes. It is the decision made by the player who selects "Percival" instead of "Pellinor".