What's My Name? Fuck You! That's My Name

So, you meet this girl, right, and you're chatting the chick up. You think she's hot and easy to talk to. In fact, you think she's great. You take her to bed, and while you're on top of your game, you suddenly cry out, "Fuck yeah, Caroline!", only, she suddenly screams at you, "Stupid fucker, my name's Amanda!" And thus ends any chances of a repeat of the fine program you might have been participating in.

So what's in a name? A lot more than people give credit. A name is a defining thing. It's all-encompassing. In fact, as I have found with people I've run into in life with the same names, certain traits can even be given to specific names. Meaning and definition of character are given by names. Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Well, gotta ask yourself if you'd really like that bouquet of "Shit-buds," since I'm sure everyone wants to stick their nose in that.

The same can be said of the names we choose for the characters we role play. They define our character as they define us, giving a meaning sometimes subtle and sometimes a smash-in-the-face-with-a-hammer subtle. No longer are you simply that guy. The character is no longer that dude, either. The character is now the name chosen for him or her, and it is the symbol that represents the character indicating who they are.

A name distinguishes us from one another in the same sense that it distinguishes our characters from one another, unless of course you're Final Fantasy Fanboy #462 where you've aptly named your character Sephiroth, along with several hundred other rabid-in-need-of-Final-Fantasy-immunization-fanboys. And when that happens, any hope of being distinguished from sheer stupidity is lost.

Names not only define our characters of give meaning to them, and not only do they distinguish one character from another, they can also carry information about the character, a reputation sometimes. It sets the basic qualities of a character, their personality, outlining and channeling the actions we want to go through with the character. They aren't a simple thing, never were. Each name has a meaning rooted somewhere, and those meanings can sometimes imply further implications without our even knowing it.

In fact, the name chosen for my first character was Wolfgang. The name itself is of German descent and means "wolf path." What is a wolf? It's a pack animal, vicious and deadly, but calculating. A thinker. I later changed my character's name to "Amarouk." The word is Inuit, and means simply "wolf", or in the connotation I used for it, "swift wolf." The name defined my character. He was vicious, deadly, calculating and fast. A thinker and not someone to be trifled with. That is what I wanted my character to be, and the name I chose for him was very apt. It defined him to a tee, acting as a symbol for people to understand who and what he is.

So what's in a name? A lot more than people give credit, I think.

 

- W. Visarett

Guns 'n' Swords -- The Latest in Bad Music

I see your sword is bigger than mine--compensating for something, mayhap? Or perhaps, you carry about a big gun, 'cause you know, big guns are mighty fine to have, and I can't help but think of a few women who like big guns. Or maybe it's a small sword you got there, but the size don't matter 'cause you know how to put it to use. But then again, that compact, high-caliber handgun just hits the spot just right.

But in all seriousness, when we duel, it always comes down to two camps: guns or swords. Now, I'm lumping in axes and staffs and polearms (oh my!), etc into a single generic group for the sake of discussion. You either like to "reach out and touch/frag someone," or prefer a more personal approach, where you lip-synch to badly done English acting and say "You kill my father, prepare to die."

But, which is better?

Now that there is the age-old question. Do you like big guns or big swords? You want to be splooging over distance or hitting them down up front? Now, I could say that one is generally better than the other, but in dueling, it all comes down to personal taste. In truth, if this were reality, which weapon being better would depend wholly on the situation at hand. The same could be said of dueling, really. However, the majority of people believe simply that swords are better than guns, regardless of any truth or falseness behind the claim.

A fact is, though, that in forum dueling, no matter how many rounds of automatic fire are directed in your direction, be it laser, plasma or plain projectile, you can evade them all with leet, H4X skillz. Bad dueling, in my opinion. You can't dodge every round. Sure, maybe one or two, but when that many rounds are flying at you, you're gonna be turned into Swiss cheese pretty quick, unless you of course cheeze your way out of it.

But then, you're a sword user, and this means you can hack and slash every bullet out of the air like you're (OMG! Spoilers!) Cloud from FF7: Advent Children. Now you're just lumping yourself up in the category of re-hashed, seen a dozen or more times bullshit that we're all tired of. Sure, you can get lucky and dodge a few bullets, but face it, not everyone has super-human speed. But then on the flip-side, you don't see a gun able to stand up to a sword. And I don't think fencing with a rifle would prove feasible or easy in any regard. Would be rather ungainly, I should say.

Now, I know that everyone wants to believe one weapon is better than the other, but it's not. It comes down to personal taste and the ability to be creative with said weapon. And yeah, I do know that in role-playing we create an alter ego, something to be greater than ourselves, but even in fantasy, some idea and mechanics of reality has to come into play--physics doesn't take a back seat whenever you want to bend the rules of reality, they still exist, and any good role-player will utilize physics to make their attacks both more realistic and just damn cool to see.

But in the end, it boils down to taste. Which do you like better and which are you better at using?

 

- W. Visarett

y helo thar

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Forum Dueling -- A Conceptual Guide