When it comes down to it, the biggest issue with our naming policy is the (lack of) consistency of enforcement. When policy threads like these arise, and when bans concerning them do, too, there's always the people that call for a looser naming policy to fix the issue, or a stricter one that puts too many regulations on things. Whenever naming policy gets changed, though, the issue never seems to get fixed. /tg/ has been arguing about naming policy for so many years now. So, the way we can go about minimizing the trouble that players run into with choosing their names is by leaving less things to interpretation, so players know exactly what to expect when they want to choose a name.
In practicality, this means defining what we mean by "excessively OOC", because that's usually what it comes down to. Most names that get struck down are labeled "excessively OOC", because a group of admins think the name is stupid or ridiculous. In combination with the "admins may get involved if your name is dumb" clause, this has allowed for the removal of names on a per-admin basis, where one admin may think that something is acceptable, while another thinks that it is not. The problem this results in is that admins who approve of a name will never bwoink the person for it, until an admin who disapproves comes along and has them change it. The player could have had the name for a great deal of time, but they would've never known that their name was a point of contention until the second they were asked to change it. I'm not even referring to Lady Ari when I say this, because that name is an entirely different case. This has happened many times to players who have had names that were unusual.
We've chosen to edit the naming policy accordingly as to define what is expected of names better to players and admins alike.
I'm going to go over this new policy, piece-by-piece, as to dispel concerns about how it will be applied. You'll notice that it's similar to the old one, but with some key changes and additions.
The precedent has been divided into three parts: 1, 1.1, and 1.2, for the sake of organization.
The first change you'll notice is that we defined species-specific naming expectations. "Firstname Lastname" has always been the rule for humans, yet other species never had to follow this. It wasn't written down anywhere, it was just expected.Rule 3, Precedent 1 wrote:Excessively OOC names fall under rule 3.
Make a minimum effort to have your name fit in a setting involving a wacky space station in the future. A firstname lastname minimum is required for humans and felinids; other species may instead choose to use the default names assigned to them, such as those given through random names, or otherwise any name that is species-appropriate. Honorifics and nicknames are not allowed. Admins may get involved if your name is dumb and can approve or disallow names at their discretion while in-game.
The standard that we will hold other species to is the default names for their species, with one caveat: other species-appropriate names are accepted as well. What we had in mind while writing this portion is that the default Argonian names assigned to lizardpeople is the standard (as per the randomnames in the code), but the popular Verbs-The-Noun format is acceptable as well. The "species-appropriate" clause applies to all species, not just lizardpeople, but you should be cautious and reasonable when deviating from the standard.
Another change you'll notice in this section is that nicknames are no longer permitted. Honorifics are still not allowed. The reasoning for this one is pretty simple. The quality of a nickname is even more subjective than the quality of a person's IC name, which leads to a lot of shitty and unrealistic nicknames, which technically couldn't be changed because, well, you can create any sort of justification for having a nickname. It was for this reason that nicknames were disallowed about a year and a half ago - to keep them allowed feels like repeating a mistake of the past. (Admittedly, names similar to the lines of, "Janice 'Foxy' Lean", while funny, were among the reasons why this had to be implemented).
Before I move on to the next point, I'd like to mention that we did decide to keep this part of naming policy, despite its somewhat controversial nature:
This is because, much like our other rules such as rule 1, naming policy cannot cover everything. Try as we might to make it consistent and well-defined, people are always thinking up new names, and some of them are just terrible.Rule 1, Precedent 1 (excerpt) wrote:Admins may get involved if your name is dumb and can approve or disallow names at their discretion while in-game.
While empowering admins to remove names because they are "dumb" is contrary to the goal of consistency, every broad policy needs a catch-all, and this clause is what serves as that for naming policy.
When in doubt, remember: rule 7 applies to naming policy, too. If your name(s) are consistently borderline, you will be asked to change them.
This is the next addition to naming policy. It's our way of defining just what exactly we mean by "excessively OOC". If your name falls into any of these categories, you can be completely certain that an admin will ask you to change your name. If your name does not fall into these categories, your name probably isn't excessively OOC. Examples are given for what a "nonsensical name" constitutes, but it's not an exhaustive list. If your name is similar in nature to the nonsensical names listed, perhaps it's time you find a new name.Rule 3 Precedent 1.1 wrote:Excessively OOC is defined as names which are intentionally hard to read/spell, references to in-game mechanics or OOC terminology, and any form of nonsensical/bad-faith name (ex. Adolf Hitler, FAGGOT PUNCHER, Poop Boy, xXrobustspaceman420Xx etc).
[!!Important!!]
This change may seem like yet another restriction, but in fact it opens up what players are allowed to name themselves. In the past, many otherwise acceptable names were removed because they were "excessively OOC", when really no one but the admin saying so knew what that meant. Now, so long as your name follows what is expected of your species, isn't excessively OOC (as defined above), and can be reasonably said to not be dumb/bad-faith (i.e. not line-toeing), your name is acceptable. Consider that this has a strong relevance to human/felinid names in particular. If your human/felinid name fits the criteria that I just listed, you are OK to use it. Do be aware, however, of the following: citing a baby name website, or other real-life examples does not make your terrible name any better. There are an infinite amount of terribly stupid combinations of things that people are named these days, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's a good name.
This is just another clarification of something that went unstated in previous versions of naming policy. You have more leeway with choosing your name in these roles, but if it's something utterly awful, we still reserve the right to ask you to change it.Rule 3 Precedent 1.2 wrote: 1.2 Clowns, mimes, silicons, wizards, and nuke ops have significantly more leeway in choosing their names, but try to be reasonable.
Misc.
I'm going to update this section with stuff as questions arrive and are answered.
For now, I'm just going to say this: no names will be grandfathered in. While this policy allows for a great degree of openness for some names, we still expect that humans/felinids follow a firstname lastname format.
Human names which do not follow this format, some of which were previously allowed, will no longer be grandfathered in.
Conclusion
That's a lot of words. I'm not going to write a TL;DR, that can only end badly. The writing I put here is meant to act as a basis for what the policy is intended to accomplish, as well as clarifying a few things. The policy speaks for itself, though.
You probably have a good deal of questions and clarifications that you want answered. This thread should serve as a general-purpose places of questions and feedback.