Alot of people usually create their current names so that they can quickly get past the login screen and do what they wanted to in the first place, play games. The quickest way to create a name that I know of (Aside from pure gibberish) is to use something you are familiar with and have taken a liking to, and the current craze throughout America and beyond is Anime (Dragonball Z being the first "good" anime released to the public, it became one of the most popular). Usually when you are trying to create a name in such a fashion, the name you want would most likely already have been taken, so the easiest way to proceed is to tack on another piece... be it a street address, Telephone number, anything.

My name was really random when I have created it, I wanted something "NEW" (Hence the "Neo") and at the same time was conversing with a person that used the term "Haxor"... so I thought to myself, put them together and... HA! That was an easy, nice sounding name that seems pretty original.

Names online aren't as important to people as some of you take them to be, alot of people (Such as the "DBZers") have lives outside the games they play on their free time and find little use in an original or important screen name. (As much as you want to deny it, I guarentee the DBZers are the least "geeky" people on BYOND... Look at the topics that come up in the forum *cough*)

~; ){en )3ishop ;~

Gughunter wrote:

But you fail to acknowledge the possibility that he is, indeed, a Super Saiyan! In which case it would be appropriate to take the name of a great Super Saiyan of the past -- appropriate, that is, if he can live up to the name's legacy.

Nah, if he were a Super Saiyan, he'd be known as SSJ Bob or whatever his real name is. Just like all the Super Saiyan wannabes around here!

Hedgemistress wrote:

Funny, I've never had an AIM screen name that I wanted not be available, and yet I've never had to settle for an AIM name (or a Yahoo! name or a BYOND name) that wasn't cool and didn't relate to me.

Lucky you, then...

You can wrap it up any way you like, but what does the name Super Saiyan Goku say about you? Are we supposed to think that you're Goku? Or that you are in some way like him? No, it's just that you like him... but you don't see me going around calling myself Long Walk in the Forest or Pan-Asian Cuisine, do you?

Seriously, how much does that name say about you? You'll admit, no doubt, that there's potentially as many different reasons to like DBZ as there are DBZ fans... I say potentially because I'm sure a lot of fans like the show for practically identical reasons. In fact, the nubmer of reasons is probably closer to 11... point is, there's different reasons to like DBZ.

So does the SSGX name say, "I like watching martial artists pummel each other with cosmic forces", or "I like epic generational sagas that don't translate well", or "This particular character is someone I admire because of his outlook on life and his moral values" or "This particular character is someone I admire because he can like fly and shoot stuff from his hands." or what?

All of the above, and more... Like; "I enjoy superhero stories", "I especially like superheros", "I enjoy the English dubbed version of DBZ (from the English spelling of the words)", etc... But this isn't the point... What I was trying to say was that people pick names that appeal to them, for whatever reason... Yes, those names usually also convey something about that person, but that's only because the name was chosen based upon their personal tastes, not because they chose the name specifically to tell others what they like... That's only a side effect, intended or otherwise...

Granted, the name "Hedgemistress" doesn't say much about me, and there's been some similar confusion over what I was trying to say with my "Lesbian Assassin" screen name... but when I choose my screen name, I choose it for one reason and one reason only: so people in a communication medium will know what to call me.

Exactly... This is all any name really is... And not limited to internet handles, but in real life as well...

I mean, that's the first and most important function of a name, isn't it? A name is an identifier. As a programmer, you should be acutely aware of the advantages offered by unique and clearly marked identifiers that are distinguishable at a glance from each other. You want to tell people that you like Dragon Ball? That's easy. "I like Dragon Ball!" Now, do you want people to remember your identity so that they can associate specific comments and views you espouse with their concept of you in their head, building up a picture of you as an individual over time? Then pick an actual screen name.

You are correct that names are identifiers... But you seem to have it backwards... Names are nothing more than a tag attached to an object in your mind... A name is meaningless until you know what/who its owner is... It's only after the object has some significance to you that the name ever becomes important, and even then, it's still only a convenience... If I didn't know that there was a red fruit that grows on trees that is called an "apple", the name "apple" would be meaningless to me... Only after I've had contact with an apple, does the name have any worth... On the other hand, I'd still know what an apple was, if I had become familiar with them without knowing their name... I could also just as easily adopt a different name for an apple; let's say I speak French, and call an apple, "le pomme"... It's still an apple, the object is the same object, and that's basically all that matters...the name is only secondary to the concept of what an "apple" is...

The same applies to the names of others... You don't look at someone's name, remember it with some significance, and then wait for them to give you content to attach to that name... You absorb the content first, and then attach the name to it... The name is just a convenient label for your mind's "filing folder" for that person...

Even though you do often learn the name before you know the person, through first introductions and such (or reading it at the top of a forum post before reading the post), it still means nothing until you've got something significant for it to point to... It means nothing to you until you learn more about that person...

I could call myself anything I wanted to, yet I'd still be me... Anyone who knew me (online or otherwise) would still know it was me, even if I had a different name... The name is not necessary for others to know who I am... It's only a convenience for them to be able to refer to me...

And having an unoriginal name doesn't hinder this process in the least... Sure, my tag might blend in with countless others, but I do not... And like I said above, my tag isn't important until after someone knows who I am... Once they know me, learning my name becomes extremely easy, regardless of how many others have ones that look like it... You know who "SSGX" is, now don't you (not to a great extent, of course, but you'd know who someone was refering to if they said that, and you know who typed a post with this name at the top)? Was it any harder to learn than that of anyone else around here with a non-DBZ name? I doubt that it was... I stick out enough that learning who I am should have been easy, which in turn, makes the name easy to remember...

Again, the name isn't important until after you know who the person is... And it doesn't have to be original for that to work... the person has to be original enough, but the name does not...

Heck, my name in real life is "Dan"... How original is that? Not a single bit... There's millions of "Dan"s out there... I've known at least 4 others personally during my life (including my father... yes, I am a "Junior"... and two of them were in my grade throughout school), and we all know at least one around BYOND itself, now don't we?

Does it tell anything about me? Not a bit... In order for my name of "Dan" to mean anything, someone has to know me...and then "Dan" will call up that image in their mind...

So, see? Names aren't important in knowing someone... They're only a convenience...

In summary, by proclaiming your deliberate unoriginality, you are openly declaring war on the very concept of "naming".

While I disagree (as overstated above), I will say that myself declaring war on common conventions is nothing new... Heck, I've been a mortal enemy of proper punctuation for a few years now...lol

I used to be a DBZer. I hated it. So sue me. I already have! I owe myself $1000! But, back on topic.

When I first decided to make an internet name, I decided I didn't want a DBZ, despite the DBZer in me. I didn't wanna get embarrassed about being a DBZer. So, I became Tiko.

Original names show the creativity in you. You don't have to have a SSJ934MajinBobVegetaBebi46465 to showe your fandom.

-- Tiko

...I still think I should make the key 'L33tHaxor'.

Kunark wrote:

Why do people like having keys that sound like everyone elses just with different numbers? I know that alot of them do it because they like shows and such, but truely, I would think a name people could remember you by would be a lot better.

I can remember stuff like "Stealth 2k", and "GoodDoggyTreat" a helluva lot easier than "Majin_Chibi_Goku_Gohan" or "Skateboarddude6969".

I’m guessing they don’t want to be well known. Either that, or they are just creating a key name so they can play BYOND games. In my opinion, if you don’t plan on becoming popular, your key can be: Super_Mario_Goku_666996


RaeKwon

Gughunter wrote:

Me, I just hunt Gugs.

So that's what a Gug is, I was wondering about that. =) I should get around to reading H.P.Lovecraft sometime. During the day. ;-)

Don't insult Mario.

When I went to make my key name, I had just read about the legendary wolf Fenrir, and thought it'd be pretty cool, the xiii just came outta nowhere in my mind, i guess as a natural impulse to make the name unique. My main purpose with names is to use something that not everyone uses, as to be easily remembered. I sometimes change my character names in games, if someone has the same name, and i avoid using popular names, because seeing a name over and over just seems to wear out any cool-ness the name had before. Like KEnshin, or the Battousai. It's been used so much it's lost all meaning of coolness. I believe it's now the same way with all those linkin park midis....by the way people, it's not cool anymore, it's old....(repeating the 2 songs over and over in crappy midi format on chat games...>:O)

*ends ranting, Stands up strait and brushes off shirt, walks off*

I prefer to read it all as this:

People who use names based on TV shows, movies, books, games or something someone else has created are "fans", or "players". They enjoy getting immersed in other people's work.

People who use original names prefer to create their own things, rather than getting involved in someone else's creations.

Simple as that. People with original names make money off people with unoriginal names. :)