I'm just joking, you cutie pie. I know you hate NTR and love yandare basement murderers.
Ren'Py Is naming your character important?
- Thread starter Stalker Seducer
- Start date
- Sep 22, 2021
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I know, but figured i should answer anyway.
i'm also trying to make this like a procedurally generated visual novel... we will see how succsessful i am...
No, but it depends on the game.
If it's a mindless fuckfest then I like to use silly names. "Mr. Threearms," "Sir Longstroke" or whatever my capricious nature allows for at that moment.
But if there's a story the dev is trying to tell, I prefer named protags.
If it's a mindless fuckfest then I like to use silly names. "Mr. Threearms," "Sir Longstroke" or whatever my capricious nature allows for at that moment.
But if there's a story the dev is trying to tell, I prefer named protags.
- Jan 19, 2023
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if you allow naming, it is crucial to provide a suggested default name to give an idea what's lore-friendly and as an opt-out from naming. if you throw in custom surnames, using the full name in dialogue somewhere is also very important. beyond that, previous threads on this topic suggest it's a trigger warning territory to some (mc has the same name as your close relative or the person you hate and just the name is enough to make it awkward for you).
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- Jun 7, 2018
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I never name my characters anything special, and I hate when a game doesn't provide a default option for the name prompt. (The worst case it accepts an empty string as a name, like for fucks sake, sanitize user input!)
It also pretty much bars the author from using diminutive name forms, which makes the prose weaker and harms immersion.
It also pretty much bars the author from using diminutive name forms, which makes the prose weaker and harms immersion.
- Mar 30, 2023
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I prefer pre-named characters. What I don't like at all are games that ask for a name without explaining if there's a female or male protagonist. 
- Mar 21, 2023
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As someone who likes to self-insert while playing these games, I do prefer it if the game has the option for the player to name the MC. However, I have played games where self-inserting just isn't possible because of, for example, the way the MC is, even if you can name him whatever you like. It's not like I name the MC after my real name, though, so it's not that bad. It's just that I usually begin playing a game with the mindset that I'm going to become that MC while I'm in that particular virtual world setting, so when he turns out to be a prick then I'd have to deliberately force-quit the start of a mental/emotional connection and then start perceiving the game from the less intimate, third-person perspective instead. That, to me, is the process that can get a bit annoying when that happens. Doesn't happen that often, though, because I try to choose games that have at least moderately likeable MCs (however I do NOT have 100% success rate, LOL).
At the end of the day, I think it really depends on what kind of experience a player wants out of the game. If a player wants to become the MC for the duration of the playthrough, then I feel like it makes more sense to have the option to name the MC. It is an alluring thought because you get to experience romantic instances with various LIs, and if you can find them attractive then the idea of you being the MC becomes that much more appealing which, in turn, may put more importance onto having the option to name the MC whatever you like because, that way, the game feels like it's been personalized to your liking that much more. (Holy shit, that was one messy sentence if there ever was one! lmao)
That is, of course, if you can find the MC likeable in the first place. If not, then all bets are off. The MC could be called Mr. Dingbat for all I care, and I wouldn't be losing sleep over that even if I couldn't change it, if I can't feel comfortable self-inserting as the guy in question.
At the end of the day, I think it really depends on what kind of experience a player wants out of the game. If a player wants to become the MC for the duration of the playthrough, then I feel like it makes more sense to have the option to name the MC. It is an alluring thought because you get to experience romantic instances with various LIs, and if you can find them attractive then the idea of you being the MC becomes that much more appealing which, in turn, may put more importance onto having the option to name the MC whatever you like because, that way, the game feels like it's been personalized to your liking that much more. (Holy shit, that was one messy sentence if there ever was one! lmao)
That is, of course, if you can find the MC likeable in the first place. If not, then all bets are off. The MC could be called Mr. Dingbat for all I care, and I wouldn't be losing sleep over that even if I couldn't change it, if I can't feel comfortable self-inserting as the guy in question.
- Sep 30, 2022
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- Apr 10, 2021
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i feel like having the ability to change the MC's name isn't all that important, well especially to me, if the game didn't allow that, it wouldn't put me off. Most time even if the game allows to change the MC's name I normally role with whatever the dev has decided to use i.e "If you don't want to name character - default name will be Eric" etc.