Allowing renaming of party members

[AphoticAmaranth]

What do you think about allowing the player to rename party members (other than the protagonist)?

Some games like Pokemon allow it, and while I think it might be a good way to give the player more customisation options, I fear it may also undermine the thought put into the original name.

 

[HarlekinLehl]

I never use that feature unless a default name is not provided. I prefer each character having their original names. Most of the time I don't even rename the MC unless, again, no default name was given.

Ultimately tho, having the option is not a bad thing. You don't need to care about any undermining. Giving the players more options like that is always good. And if they decide to rename your elven archer thysolborn into gertrude, why would you want to stop them?

 

[MarxMayhem]

For me, as long as there's no lore-related importance to the name, I don't mind being able to rename party members. There will always be people who would not take advantage of such a feature, so if it doesn't break immersion, why worry about having that option on?

 

[pawsplay]

It depends. For a tight story with thematic meanings, probably not. For a light-hearted game with lots of customization, probably. For a game where you can completely build and customize your party, it's mandatory.

 

[Ami]

for the silent character,is fine for me

 

[dennis_the_tennis]

I think this comes down to whether you are 'creating' your character, or 'inhabiting' them. In most western RPGs, you start by making your own character, and it makes sense to choose your own name in that case. JRPGs, on the other hand, traditionally feature pre-made characters with their own personalities whom the player is merely guiding through the story. In that case it makes sense for the writer to choose their name, not the player.

 

[pawsplay]

I think it's nice to at least be able to rename the main actor, in case the name is terrible.

 

[Milennin]

No strong opinion about it. I don't really see the downsides to having it, but I also don't see it as a plus in games that have it.

 

[Franz_Pantalon]

I like to see the feature even though I almost never use it, maybe because I see it as a kind of "tradition" in RPGs. In some rare cases where characters have really weird sounding names in a language I speak, I prefer to edit it.

 

[ShiraCheshire]

It doesn't work for some games since names can be tied to story significance, and you don't want to take the chance in a really serious game that you might end up with the player creating a moment like "My gosh, he's dead... [Farts Mcgee], how could you betray [Team poobutts] like this? How could you kill sweet, innocent [Sheriff Stinky Sam] in cold blood?"

But outside those scenarios, I looove when games let me rename random characters. I love doing it for absolutely no reason. Your name is Matt? Nope now you're Tim. Jason? What about.... Jacob! Just because I can. In the early versions of No Man's Sky you could literally name rocks and I would name every single one I saw. It was great.

 

[TheoAllen]

Can I customize the appearance?
> Yes: "Then I would like to name my character if possible"
> No: *proceed to the next question*

Does it have a default name?
> Yes, it does: "Then I would use the default name"
> No, you have to name it: "I think I will spend my time playing other games"

 

[LightBorneX]

You could have a feature in the game where the main character you play gets a chance to keep calling people nicknames, and after a while they start referring to themselves as that. If done well, it could somewhat mimic real life where people know their own names, but they also acknowledge the inside jokes and connections they have with others. You could even have it where in normal convos with outside npcs, the normal name is used, but in cutscenes among the party, the nickname is used.

 

[Bex]

Final Fantasy 7 allowed you to rename the Chars.
I had Playthroughs with the standard Names and Playthroughs where i renamed them after some
Friends.
Them having Names and being able to rename them was ok to me.

 

[ZombieKidzRule]

Nice question!
Is it just me or have other people actually sat for quite a long time, trying to think of a great name that you like for the game you are playing? Maybe I am the weird one, but while I like picking my own character name, I will often sit and agonize over my choice, just like any of my other choices for a customized character.

That being said, I like the option of choosing a name as well as a lore friendly option of changing a name later on when you decide you hate "Bob" as a name and want to go with something more game world friendly.

I also particularly liked a Mod in Morrowind that added a lore friendly way of actually changing your character appearance in game. For me, as long as it is lore friendly, I like having the option, even if I never end up using it.

 

[SwordSkill]

I'm currently implementing that on my game to all non temporary playable characters.
So, I couldn't agree more with it.

Though on my playthroughs in games I almost never use it because when when I go to wiki pages (Which usually use the default name for characters.)
I want to remember what was the original name so I can use it when I search for them online.