Do you care about naming your characters?

[MrFriendly]

At minimum I need to be able to name the MC. This allows me to avoid playing a character that may have the same name as an IRL friend, frenemy, or enemy. In addition there are first names I just don't like.

Otherwise I don't really care about naming anyone else. In fact naming a lot of characters can be frustrating because I don't know what names are used within the game. Say I name the Landlord/Dad "Phil" but then it turns out his boss is named Phil. So unless the developer lists all names used within the game it is just best if the MC's name is the only one I can change.

 

[Anonimed]

If is male MC, all are named "Player".
If is female MC, all are named "Queen".
If has last name, is "Badass".

 

[baneini]

I presume naming a game character comes from dnd tabletop times where you role play a character and invent story and events for them.
When the story and setting already exist and you don't change anything naming a character makes no sense, it wont fit the setting.

 

[Glorified_ignorance]

Always. I have my eternal favorites from other games, mangas(animes) or my own original. Both for males and females, if game allows.

And no it's not xxXkiritoXxx

 

[Uncle Grabby]

If it's male, yes. Mostly for immersion. If the MC has hair, even better. Coz I'm bald and I miss having hair.

If it's female, also yes. Coz I wanna name her Liz. I like the idea that people will think it's short for Elizabeth, but no - her real name is Lizard. Cracks me up every time.

 

[Biceptual]

Nothing would make it harder to enjoy the game than the MC having a name of a close relative or coworker.

 

[HentaiHerald]

I really like to be able to rename the characters. I think its a must to have the option to name your MC at the start. I also think that games should have an option in settings or whatever, to change the names of other characters in the game. There have been a few times where girls in the game share the same name with my mom/sisters and it kills me. I just can't play the game.

 

[pontus100]

I always name the MC after myself since I really like to self-insert. When a character already has a design and personality, I sometimes name them, but the immersion is already gone.

 

[Adabelitoo]

I change the MC's name to Qwerty in all games and then I'll use the default name for the rest.

 

[Jofur]

I appreciate having a default name, otherwise I kinda go blank and end up using the same name every time, but not being able to change character names can get awkward, especially when you associate it with someone you know, having a MC with the same name as a close friend, or god forbid, a female main character with the same name as my mother is a pretty big turn off. I've even had to straight up stop playing some games because of it.

 

[Deleted member 1684328]

If I am prompted to name the relationship and how to call the characters, I always skip those. I like how the developers named their characters (unless I really dislike the name, but that hasn't happened yet). One part of the problem is that I can't seem to come up with original names, and to be honest most of the time I don't even care what their names are.

 

[Bucketbot89]

I don't self-insert, so I prefer not to have to.

 

[moskyx]

If I were developing a game I'd include the option to rename at least the MC. As we all can see here, it's a huge deal for lots of people. Now, I don't particulary mind and I would say I even prefer to not having to stop and think and type a name once the game has already started, so most of times I just go with the default name. So, again, if I were developing a game, I wouldn't include that option a few lines after the start, but rather in a splashscreen before players even get to the main menu

 

[Omae wa shinda]

If character got default name i use that
If not i use troll ass name lol

 

[Staimh]

As someone else has already said
Only want to name the MC to avoid having a name I associate with someone I am close to or dislike

 

[hakarlman]

I'm curious, is it safe to say that if you want to name the MC, you're trying to self insert?

If the game plays from a first person pov, I'd always want to name the MC, because I'm self inserting as much as possible for immersion.

If the game refers to the MC from a third person point of view, then I wouldn't change the name. Like Kingdom of Deception for example, I wouldn't want to change Sabia's name.

 

[God3333]

I think it really helps with the immersion, although it depends what type of game you're playing. I've got a very rare name (outside of the small area I live) but even then I'll sometimes have issue where a side character has my name, although spelt wrong.

 

[yooheenn]

Actually I prefer to play with defined characters because naming a character not enought to feel like its me or someone else.

 

[PinkUnicorn666]

Yeah, I'll even try to name the other characters because some of the names these devs choose are so weird, like Georgina in DMD, wtf is that, what century is that name even from

 

[MrFriendly]

Yeah, I'll even try to name the other characters because some of the names these devs choose are so weird, like Georgina in DMD, wtf is that, what century is that name even from

My new go to example for bad MC names is Erol. I don't understand why anyone would think that was a good name for a MC. If people are supposed to identify, sympathize, or immerse themselves in the story why give them such a jarring name?