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+--- Thread: The Art of the Alias (/showthread.php?tid=10095)
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The Art of the Alias - Turadis - 03-19-2023
I was pondering what sort of alias to give to my latest character when I caught myself wondering how other players tend to come up with their aliases. My typical go-to is to make an alliterative alias, describing the character with a focus on their personality traits rather than a physical description. Though I do have some exceptions. I've noticed alliteration in general is somewhat popular. I've also noticed that aliases with more or fewer than two words are extremely rare.
So what do you do? Do you focus on a physical description, description of the character's personality, or thematic description? Do you like to employ linguistic tricks like alliteration or rhyme? Do you usually think on it for a while, or just wing it? Do you default to the same style of alias, or change things up from character to character?
RE: The Art of the Alias - Autumn - 03-19-2023
I focus on alliteration too much, but I think that there is no definitive best alias style, some people like 1 word aliases, some people like titles, some just like descriptors. I usually think on my aliases for a bit and decide later if it becomes a bit of a stop in the process of character creation, you can always just change them later.
I've done a plentiful amount of alias styles, such as:
By Alliteration:
Cautious Corbie
By Association:
Cautious Cherub
By Title:
Desert Storm
etc.
RE: The Art of the Alias - Sawrock - 03-19-2023
I prefer physical and vocational descriptions. I heavily loathe descriptions based on personality- while I do sometimes use them myself, I always try to avoid it if possible. I want people to make an opinion of my character from my roleplay towards them specifically, from the lens of their own character. That way the roleplay can be more immersive. I don’t want someone seeing my character’s alias as “Shy Bookworm” and think at the immediate first glance “oh they are shy”, I want to roleplay hiding the bottom half of my character’s face with a book while they peer over it.
Is this position elitist? Absolutely. I understand everyone might not agree with me, and that’s not detrimental- a variety of opinions is what makes humanity so delicious. But as a personal standard, as a roleplayer, I must use every tool to paint the experience to be as immersive and enjoyable as possible. One of the core rules- “show, don’t tell”- is by what I follow here.
RE: The Art of the Alias - Blissey - 03-19-2023
for my most recent character (edenwynn), i took a stylistic and theme trait for her (death) and what she does (combines healing and hexes), and came up with mine that way. stygian for death, glimweaver for combining grim and gleam, and weaving is how she casts magic (quite literally).
though now i use gloamweaver because someone used that for her once icly and i found out 'gloam' not only fits super well, but it's an actual word for dusk or twilight -- which is where edenwynn rests with her magicks.
RE: The Art of the Alias - Poruku - 03-19-2023
I think aliases wildly depend on the character itself. An alias is many things, but most importantly, it's a first impression of the character, like an elevator pitch. It should capture the essence of the character and also distinguish them in a crowd.
In general, appearance/vibe + profession is my go-to. "Lupine nerd", "Wild Clown", "Reckless Scumbag".
However, for some characters, it's fine to go with something particularly evocative or poetic. Like "Shattered Dreams" or "The Hierophant" or whatever, as long as it's powerful and accurate. Like, if you're called "slave", that better be literal.
There's nothing worse than seeing a char called "The Eternal Wheel" and it's just a fairly normal person. An alias should be extremely descriptive and powerful.
I think putting the personality in the alias is fine as long as it's extremely accurate and core to char as well. It's fine to also change it as long as you keep one word consistent
RE: The Art of the Alias - sadbot - 03-20-2023
This is actually a pretty interesting topic.
Personally I've never put a massive amount of thought into it, but there is some sort of rough theme when looking at my past and current characters. It tends to be mostly focused on a physical description of the character, while also trying to include a word or phrasing that gives it some sort of uniqueness and draw to it than something more generic like 'Tall Lupine' or 'Blonde Shaitan' for example. 'Owl Winged Corbie' and 'Shamanic Doriad' are two that come to mind that I think make good examples.
Tl;dr - Usually some sort of non-generic/unique physical descriptor of the character + profession or race.
RE: The Art of the Alias - Snake - 03-21-2023
Alternatively, embracing the meme and just using your class's name is also something that will 100% make others cringe, but give you a smile if you're sadistic enough.
RE: The Art of the Alias - Poruku - 03-23-2023
I'm a sucker for single word aliases when they work, because then you know they embody that word.
RE: The Art of the Alias - Balor - 03-24-2023
The best alias in all of SL2 is; "Human".
Ricky's been winning since day one.
RE: The Art of the Alias - Shujin - 03-24-2023
My personal favorite is "Female Woman". It's straight to the point with no confusion!