This is a really minor point, but one I felt was worth a mention. It would be nice if they included examples of five female, male and surnames in the manual (or character creation screen) for each race in Project: Eternity - I don't know about others but I like to name my characters in the conventional way their race is named so they seem more in synch with the world. Naturally these names wouldn't cover the entire scope of what a race could be called, but it would at least give you an idea of whether a race favours harsh or soft consonant sounds, short names, descriptive names - you get the idea. The TES series has fairly detailed conventions on naming, if Project: Eternity was to do similar I would like to have an awareness of it before I start playing - for me calling a character something ridiculous and having it taunt me all game can be a good reason to restart.

 

Anyone else think this is a good idea - or aren't most people as anal as me?

I'd prefer it if there was simply a very big chunk of lore/ backstory in the manual from which examples of names can be gleaned. They seem to be kinda lax on conventions as far as naming goes though. Edair, Sagani, Aloth, Forton, Cadegund, sound like they could all have the same cultural background, and if there's a pattern there that reflects real world places/ epochs I'm not seeing it.

I think you could get the info you seek just from paying attention to updates and the wiki. They'll probably unveil more important NPCs of various races as time wears on, and you can get an idea from that.

Just roleplay that your parents were celebrities and decided to name you something retarded.

Why not just a random name generator that generates names based on your chosen race/ethnicity/culture?

I'd just like to see the naming conventions printed somewhere, like "X culture likes double vowels and soft consonants (e.g. Aaron)," or "Y culture likes consonant-heavy names ending in a vowel (e.g. Nigako)," or even "Z culture steals all their names from a holy book, so here's the holy book in question for you to browse."

 

That and/or a random, culture/race-based name generator.

Most of my characters are called Bob or Dave, so this really isn't an issue for me.

No reason to not include it, wouldn't hurt anything for a few racial name examples.

 

Personally I'm naming my character Green Machine.

I would prefer that there actually is a manual.

Yes please! I think that letting the player know the culture of the characters they will be playing is a pretty easy thing to accomplish(a few passages in a manual) that has quite a bit of benefit for those of us looking to role-play a character.

I think we'll get enough lore updates by the time of Project Eternity's release to come up with some lore-friendly names. This was never going to be an issue.

I think we'll get enough lore updates by the time of Project Eternity's release to come up with some lore-friendly names. This was never going to be an issue.

But not everyone who plays this game will have originally been a backer, and so will be ignorant of these updates. It's easy to forget that this game will in the future be something greater than the some total of the cliquish sub-society of hardcore fans who originally backed it on this forum. Not that that's a bad thing right now, but in the future the game still needs to provide for those who at first never knew it existed.

I would prefer that there actually is a manual.

 

This. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would spend some time in the john to read the instruction manual after buying a game.

Example names for each race and culture might give the player a better hint as to what sort of cultural-aesthetic a particular civilization has. Also It'd be nice if the game manual was comparable to the Baldur's Gate manual. That thing was quite nearly a 2nd Edition player's handbook.

Most games have random name generators, which usually base the name on culture/race, sometimes class.

I like this idea a lot. Picking names for characters is always a little tough for me. It seems like Josh Sawyer is a language buff, so it would be cool if he/they were able to flesh out the languages/dialects a little bit. I don't expect anything on the level of Tolkein, but names and words that sound like a real language go a long way to making the cultures fel real.