To change or not to change 'generic' terms like Mana in games

[dragoonwys]

This was a little discussion I had with a few friends over coffee and thought it would be an interesting topic to bring up.
One of them says that they're a little annoyed seeing Magic Points and Mana listed as the energy for skills used in most games, "Why not more games use Spirit or Astral or something different naming other than Mana?" Same can be applied to spell and item names, do you feel the pressing need to change Heal into Patch or are you fine with keeping it as it is if the generic term does the job?

On the specific example with Mana. I placed my opinion that it's an old tradition in games that has a typical medieval fantasy theme, and because of that it automatically sets the setting tone for the player from a first glance. On top of that, since MP or Mana is such a well known term in the gaming community for a some sort of magical energy or life energy, you don't have to waste even a sentence explaining what it is and go on your merry way explaining things that are more relevant to your story. Sure in a technical standpoint, players will automatically understand that the points stand for the energy pool where you draw skills from eventually after one battle, but it could make them stop for a second to wonder why is it called 'Feng' or 'Go Points' in your game.

I personally think that if changing a term like that makes sense to your game then do it.
Such as turning it to 'Stamina Points' in a more realistic non magic setting or 'Fuel' if all your actors are robots, or especially if it is theme/story important such as 'This world works on Spiral energy' and spiral energy is consistently brought up or shown throughout the entire game. If it's something that is very insignificant or only brought up once when it's introduced and never brought up ever again, it's fine if you go with MP or Mana instead of changing it.

 

[Milennin]

I prefer it if games stick to the standard terms, unless there's a good reason for them not to. It's annoying when a game needs to change everything just for the sake of it. Why use a difference currency when G, GP or Gold does the job just fine? Why use a different form of magic when MP, Mana or Magic works just fine? It makes it harder for me to get into it and remember stuff if all the standard terms have been given unique names.

 

[Trihan]

I'm with Milennin; at the end of the day, people more readily recognise established tropes and when you break it down to its component parts, whatever you call it it's still an abstraction for a number representing a finite resource. There's no point in changing terms around just for the sake of having a different term.

 

[Ms Littlefish]

I think more important than a name is the explanation and how it fits into the lore and worldbuilding of a game. A name change can be beneficial if it's not easily explainable why "mana" (just continuing the example) would be in the game, but a name change can also backfire if there isn't an explanation to call it anything different, or no exposition of how it ties to the story or mechanics of the game. So, world building comes first, name comes second in my opinion.

 

[XIIIthHarbinger]

I think the thing that really needs to be considered, is that language is an exercise in utility. The words used to explain an idea, are often used because they were the words used by a given group to most expediently & clearly communicate that idea.

"Fireball" makes sense, for the very simple reason that the first person to throw a "fireball", is probably going to name it after what most readily comes to mind when looking at it. Namely a ball made of fire. It's a term that's easy to understand, & conjures an image to mind, even for someone who has never seen a "fireball".

A healing spell, same thing. The first time some proto wizard of antiquity came up with a healing spell, he or she is very likely going to name it after what the spell does, namely it heals, therefore "heal". & forever after when some wizard apprentice went home to boast to their parents about learning the spell "Heal", never to follow was the question "Really, well what does that do?".

So I think the question you or anyone else for that matter needs to ask themselves, is why is this rather obscure or odd term used, rather than more predictable terms. For example, perhaps in your game's world this ancient race of shiny ****ers discovered magic first, so most spell names & magic terms are in high ****erese; & nobody bothered to change it because the filthy peasants couldn't understand the words, which gave all the aspiring ****ers a little thrill.

The traditions, customs, mannerisms, religion, & politics of your game world exist for a reason. The more cognizant you are of those reasons as its creator, the more alive your game world feels to the player.

 

[kaukusaki]

Depends on the game lol. Having a Thesaurus helps. Instead of Fireball why not blazing sphere or burning gobule or heated orb etc... In my Japanese inspired fantasy game im working on it's hinotama (fireball).
I love flavor. It spices up the world

 

[Chaos Avian]

The setting and mechanics of the game altering generic terms makes sense as well. In a sci-fi setting with alien technology and machines, "Mana" or "MP" would stick out a bit. Plus some games (like early Fire Emblem) have ATK and MAT merged into one stat, or maybe having two separate stats used for damage (like RMXP, there was Strength which was your innate power and Attack which was the power of the weapon itself. So if your Strength wasn't up to par, the weapon's Attack really won't serve you much).

There's also the chance that a game could use stats in an completely different way that what we typically expect.

 

[HexMozart88]

Well, there's a game I know that uses Mana as the currency. There are sometimes where it gets confusing if a game shows you a million different new terms all at once, but if you can use some familiar ones mixed with new ones, like Undertale for example, or just have synonyms for those words, that'll be enough to spice things up enough not to confuse the player.

 

[ShadowHawkDragon]

Two things to consider are setting and functionality.

If for example you are using a traditional fantasy world. Here, magic and mana has been magic and mana since the beginning of all RPGs. People are used to it and automatically understand it at a single glance. It usually fits in perfectly with the world's lore too. Basically changing it would have more cons than pros.

But if the spells in this world are instead cast by spilling vials of dragon blood (DB ) that are refilled only at blood-fountains then calling the resource mana (MP) is just odd. Not to mention it would be a missed opportunity to drill into the player's mind the sacrifice in which their magic comes from.

next is functionality, we are back to the traditional setting but this time the MP gauge fills with each cast rather than depleting. It gradually drops each turn and the higher it goes the more unstable your magic becomes causing increased chances of misfire, i.e. Dissonance (DP). Calling it mana in this case would just be confusing because its treated entirely differently.


The same applies with every other term, would you use G/GP as currency in an oriental Japanese/Chinese type setting?
But I will say, a name change for the sake of name change with no lore/functionality reason to back it up is often a bad idea.

 

[Wavelength]

For general terms like "Mana", "Tech Points", "Attack" (command), or "Agility", I usually stick to the default names for most items, and I rename them where it makes sense because I've changed its function. For example, in one game I have TP start low, charge over the course of a battle, and substitute for Mana in its skill use - so I call it "Adrenaline" (AP), which perfectly describes the way that it builds up in the frenzy of combat and lets you do things you otherwise couldn't. In another game, I repurposed Luck (LUK) to influence Critical Hit rates rather than state resistances, so I renamed it Dexterity (DEX) which the player can more clearly equate in their mind to crits. I do think that "Energy" is generally a better rename for Mana than "Glavace" or some random made-up word, but if your world is rich in invented concepts, it's okay to use a few as key gameplay terms. Be really careful not to overdo it.

For skill (and item) names, I like to get descriptive and flavorful. "Searing Kiss", "Ignis' Regards", "Palms of Flame", or "Cataclysm" all sound much more evocative than "Fire", "Fire 2", "Firaga", or "Fireball", and offer the designer more room to get clever with different special states/effects. The icon and especially the description should confirm that - yes - this is a fire spell, in case player wasn't able to infer that Ignis (the latin word for fire, as in "ignite") might be the name of some fire spirit. I find this kind of flavorful naming especially important if the designer doesn't have the resources to (or doesn't want to spend the time and effort to) make battle into a very visceral, visual experience.

 

[Pine Towers]

The name changing must be coherent within the setting.

As your own examples, magic in a western setting may be chi in an eastern, even psy energy for some. A resource pool to spend on abilities might be magic/chi, or stamina in more realistic games, or fuel to robots, or ammunition for guns.

Just doesn't change the name only for sake of changing (I'm looking at you, TES, with your Thalmor and other elves).

 

[Vox Novus]

I think everybody has sort of covered what I would say. Something doesn't need to be changed just for the sake of change. Its got to fit with the setting of the game. If Mana fits, mana fits; no need to change it. If something else is more cohesive, do something else.

 

[OwMeEye]

I think keeping certain terms standard helps the player get into the game much easily, be less confused and not stumble around as much. Learning what this or that new term means in every game, when people sometimes play hundreds of games constantly, would be very confusing and tedious. When you call things mana and hp or magic and health, you generally don't need to explain things to the player, they can get right into playing rather than be distracted by tutorials.

That is not to say that you can't or shouldn't do it, I think in the end it comes down to your personal artistic choice, what terms you think fit your artistic vision. I think keeping your artistic vision wholesome is the most important thing, or one of the most important things.