Jump to content

a word of advice to oc/rom hack creators, regarding naming


side bee
 Share

Recommended Posts

have people test read the names you choose. a name, especially of a main character, should be quick and easy to read. a player/reader/whatever they are thats consuming content you made, should not have to stutter or sound out a name because its difficult. they should not have to think that hard about how to say it. note that this does not mean they have to pronounce it correctly, but that they should mispronounce it in 100% confidence that their pronunciation is correct. an example of a name thats easy to read but hard to pronounce would be caeda. nowadays, i expect most people know her name is pronounced see-da, but in the early days of the fandom, many called her cay-da. the reason this is ok is because the people who called her cay-da didnt need to stutter or ask how to say her name.

an example of a bad name in fire emblem, if one is aiming at an english speaking audience, is kjelle. im aware its a norwegian name, i know how to say it, but i had to look it up. most of my friends still say it wrong, because most english speakers are probably going to be unfamiliar with the name, and most native speakers are going to look at that combination of 'kj' and have no idea what the hell to make of it, and the answer doesnt really make sense to an english speaker. the reason kjelle is bad is because it will catch a player off guard, and theyll have no idea how to say it, and theyll get pulled out of the experience.

my advice would be for you to get test readers and have them read some sample dialogue in which character names are used. if more than one or two readers stutter or ask how a name is meant to be pronounced, or they take more than 5 seconds to get a name, change it. even just a little. cut the name off at the syllable just before the reader has trouble. change how its spelled so the pronunciationis more clear. or just replace the name wholesale. but, it should take no time at all to read a name for the first time, and to get some pronunciation down.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, here's an idea: Why don't we rename/repurpose this Thread to be about test-reading character names that people are unsure of? That way, writers on here have access to a place where other writers and/or readers can offer name feedback/ideas, fixing the problem the Thread Creator was trying to address, without having to create another Topic on it. Not necessary, no, but it might be helpful.

Incidentally eclipse, I don't know that you care about sig links being up-to-date, but the Write Your Butt Off thing moved to a new thread...and then another new thread, which can be found here. Just thought I'd let you know in case you were still trying to promote such things.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...