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the dumbing down of names to bring in new blood?

First post
Author
Kerist Lafayette
The Lafayette Family
#101 - 2012-01-26 15:46:29 UTC
Oh no! My Wonkatronic "Agalup" Inertia Frobulator has been renamed to something less technobabblish! This is the end of civilisation as we know it! Run for the hills! RUN, fools!
Bloodpetal
Tir Capital Management Group
#102 - 2012-01-26 16:24:53 UTC  |  Edited by: Bloodpetal
DarkAegix wrote:
Bloodpetal wrote:

"Nova Torpedo" means "New Torpedo".


The names are stupid. Seriously, straight out. Change them again to something that isn't useless.

A 'nova' is also a cataclysmic nuclear explosion in a star.
Not to be confused with supernova, which is just a much, much, much more powerful variety.



Right, and why is it called that? because ancient people thought it was a NEW star being was born in the sky.

Literally, they were saying "Hey, look at that NEW STAR in the sky!" because the reaction made it glow brightly. They weren't saying, "Hey! That cataclysmic reaction in that star is really making it glow brightly."


Nova means "new" to all romance languages first, way before it means anything else. This game isn't made only for English Speakers.

Look at that new star!

Quote:

Mira que la nueva estrella!
Guarda quella nuova stella!
Regardez cette nouvelle etoiles!
Uită-te la faptul că noua stea!
Olhe que nova estrela!


So, most specifically, to a Portoguese speaker, "Nova Torpedo" literally means "New Torpedo".


And Trauma is still a stupid name, because it is. "Blunt Force Trauma" is not cool sounding. Nor is it something that causes "Trauma" - it is the consequence of being hit. "I'm going to shoot my Trauma Rockets at you!" Sounds stupid.

Where I am.

Dessau
The Scope
#103 - 2012-01-26 16:27:01 UTC  |  Edited by: Dessau
It's not a dumbing down. It's a diminishment of content.

Alaric Faelen wrote:
I can take or leave the overly complicated names. Pretty much everything in Eve comes with this little blue button or a right click and hit 'Show Info' and viola...no real confusion. Most people only memorize the meta 4 modules they use instead of T2. I don't actually care what the names are- it's just something to remember later, and again, comes with a Show Info option......

That said, having actual names for things is more interesting than the bland designations of RL military equipment. Because I have at my fingertips this god-like ability to open a box who's sole purpose is to explain in great detail everything relevant about any given item/ship/module in the game- I really didn't need the dumbing down of item names either.

The words and numbers as arranged before had meaning, a meaning within the context of fictional spaceships. They represented extremely sophisticated technical hardware. They belonged in the world CCP created.

Finding most modules was not hard, because most modules have a Variants tab on the info pane. You are two mouse clicks away from the breadth of available modules for almost any given type. Add two more clicks and you'd have the market details for any of them in your Region. It takes longer to manually search for a module, even with the new names, than to use the previous method described.

The new names represent nothing in the context of fictional spaceships: rather, they represent a loosely-arranged set of mathematical modifiers, tailored for the real-world task of EFT warrioring. These names have very little value in the world CCP created. This is coming from someone who's never RP'd.

These changes were not necessary. They are not an improvement in my eyes. They are not HTFU. They cater to a lazy mentality.

While I find the changes disappointing, in the scheme of things they have an almost negligible effect on EVE... but they fo sho make it less interesting.

Them's my 0.02 ISK.
Ranger 1
Ranger Corp
Vae. Victis.
#104 - 2012-01-26 16:30:04 UTC  |  Edited by: Ranger 1
Bloodpetal wrote:
DarkAegix wrote:
Bloodpetal wrote:

"Nova Torpedo" means "New Torpedo".


The names are stupid. Seriously, straight out. Change them again to something that isn't useless.

A 'nova' is also a cataclysmic nuclear explosion in a star.
Not to be confused with supernova, which is just a much, much, much more powerful variety.



Right, and why is it called that? because ancient people thought it was a NEW star when it was born in the sky.


Literally, they were saying "Hey, look at that NEW STAR in the sky!" because the reaction made it glow brightly.


They weren't saying, "Hey! That cataclysmic reaction in that star is really making it glow brightly."


Nova means "new" to all romance languages first, way before it means anything else.



However, in this context and in common uses it has connotations with a new, or suddenly growing/reacting, STAR (specifically)... which is an apt name for a thermal missile.

View the latest EVE Online developments and other game related news and gameplay by visiting Ranger 1 Presents: Virtual Realms.

Bloodpetal
Tir Capital Management Group
#105 - 2012-01-26 16:37:28 UTC  |  Edited by: Bloodpetal
Ranger 1 wrote:
However, in this context and in common uses it has connotations with a new, or suddenly growing/reacting, STAR (specifically)... which is an apt name for a thermal missile



Context doesn't justify anything.

Context is used to give perspective. In fact, specifically citing context proves that you need to reasses why this name has to be IN CONTEXT to understand it.

BANE has nothing to do with explosions, and Mjolnir has nothing to do with EM, so there's no reason to have to justify NOVA has anything to do with Thermic reactions. And Trauma has nothing to do with applying Kinetic damage, and sounds stupid.

It means "New Rocket" in that context, because the context of damage type is clearly irrelevant to the damage types naming scheme.


Using the type of damage applied to justify any naming method means that all Hybrid ammo should just be renamed to "Nova-Trauma" ammo because they all do the exact same damage profile. Range doesn't matter in the name, so the naming scheme is broken in hybrid and crystal ammos.

All ranges of all hybrid and crystal ammos should have exactly one name to share amongst them all using the logic of "my ammo has to have the same name for the same type of damage". The whole naming scheme is broken from a Categorical point of view.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categorization#Miscategorisation

Literally, the way that you are perceptually PORTRAYING these ammos and weapons to the pilots and new players implies they are ALL THE SAME. Again, simply because you work at CCP does not strip you of your identity. It is not "more complicated" to tell people apart based on their name. It in fact is how humans EXPERIENCE their world around them everyday. Down to the point of naming their pets and creatures whatever the hell they randomly feel like. People memorize whole baseball teams and leagues of players.

It is not a difficult task to remember the names of something. We expect different things to be named differently.

Where I am.

Katrina Oniseki
Oniseki-Raata Internal Watch
Ishuk-Raata Enforcement Directive
#106 - 2012-01-26 16:42:57 UTC  |  Edited by: Katrina Oniseki
Bloodpetal wrote:
Mjolnir has nothing to do with EM


Mjölnir was the legendary hammer of Thor, the Norse god of thunder. Thunder.. lighting.. EM?

EDIT: I don't see why you're arguing about this, Bloodpetal. there are plenty of names that have been ingame for years that don't make a lick of sense.

Katrina Oniseki

Alaric Faelen
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#107 - 2012-01-26 16:46:24 UTC
oh please, people can't get enough of what I'd call Brand Names in RL, but suddenly it's 'cryptic' in a game?
RL example- my antelope rifle isn't called Antelope Rifle II - Long Range....it's a Weatherby Vanguard Deluxe, shooting .257 Wby Mag 120gr Nosler partition.
Sound EXACTLY like an Eve name for something. The scope I use has a name, even the pretty leather sling had some catchy model name. If you take your advice from your neighbor's demonic talking dog (your Son of Sam reference for the day) then you chose a Charter Arms 'Bulldog' firing .44 Special Semi-Wadcutters....oh so hard to remember in a game tho, huh?

Being an Eve player, I can do the same for modules. It's such an non-issue to me. People freaking live for that kind of branding and sense of a name making a product somehow unique among the competition.

It's not so much 'dumbing down' as it is removing the polish. It's stripping off the 'game' around the set of coded mechanics. In the end, it's all random number generators and number crunching- but what makes it a game 'world' is all that useless fluff.

This is all Dungeons and Dragons in the end. Geeks and oddly shaped dice. What made it more than the dice, the percentiles, the sheer math of it all- was the RPG, the world which made knowing all that useless crap worthwhile. Now we have Eve with all the dice under the hood (but the geeks never change) with the most 'real' game world going-- but it's too complicated...oh noooo.
Other than the tweaks and new content in expansions and patches, Eve's 'world' of name brand items is like the menu at McDonald's......if after the third time you've been there you don't know it already, then the problem is you, not the menu calling a Ground Meat and Rat Feces Sandwich I - by a 'cryptic' name like Big Mac.

(how many name brands can I offend in one post?)
Bloodpetal
Tir Capital Management Group
#108 - 2012-01-26 16:49:30 UTC  |  Edited by: Bloodpetal
Katrina Oniseki wrote:
Bloodpetal wrote:
Mjolnir has nothing to do with EM


Mjölnir was the legendary hammer of Thor, the Norse god of thunder. Thunder.. lighting.. EM?

EDIT: I don't see why you're arguing about this, Bloodpetal. there are plenty of names that have been ingame for years that don't make a lick of sense.


Exactly, they don't have to make sense.

To most players, they don't have a clue about Mjolnirs context, just like they don't have a clue about Novas context. Mjolnir doesn't have anything to do with EM damage. It refers to CRUSHING damage. Thor wasn't Zeus and didn't throw lightning, he used a hammer. It's represented as a hammer for a reason, and not as a lightning bolt.

Mjolnir, in that vein would be more appropriate for Kinetic damage than for EM damage.

Quote:
Mjölnir simply means "crusher", referring to its pulverizing effect.



Nova Torpedo is a bad name.

Trauma Torpedo is a bad name.

I've explained above already. They are misleading, sound bad to different groups of people. They don't sound "cool" and are particularly difficult.


If I was speaking italian in voice comms and I said, "Mette gli N/u/ova Torpedo" - you'd literally be saying "Put in the New Torpedo".

Which the response would naturally be "Que Nuova Torpedo??" - Which new torpedo?


And don't give me that **** about context.

Where I am.

Ranger 1
Ranger Corp
Vae. Victis.
#109 - 2012-01-26 17:01:42 UTC  |  Edited by: Ranger 1
Bloodpetal wrote:
Katrina Oniseki wrote:
Bloodpetal wrote:
Mjolnir has nothing to do with EM


Mjölnir was the legendary hammer of Thor, the Norse god of thunder. Thunder.. lighting.. EM?

EDIT: I don't see why you're arguing about this, Bloodpetal. there are plenty of names that have been ingame for years that don't make a lick of sense.


Exactly, they don't have to make sense.

To most players, they don't have a clue about Mjolnirs context, just like they don't have a clue about Novas context. Mjolnir doesn't have anything to do with EM damage. It refers to CRUSHING damage. Thor wasn't Zeus and didn't throw lightning.

Mjolnir, in that vein would be more appropriate for Kinetic damage than for EM damage.

Quote:
Mjölnir simply means "crusher", referring to its pulverizing effect.



Nova Torpedo is a bad name.

Trauma Torpedo is a bad name.

I've explained above already. They are misleading, sound bad to different groups of people. They don't sound "cool" and are particularly difficult.


If I was speaking italian in voice comms and I said, "Mette gli N/u/ova Torpedo" - you'd literally be saying "Put in the New Torpedo".

Which the response would naturally be "Que Nuova Torpedo??" - Which new torpedo?


And don't give me that **** about context.


Context is everything. It provides accurate meaning when different interpretations are possible. Thus why it is called context.

Thor was the god of thunder, and did throw lightning.

As for Nova, it's use usually always has a stellar connotation. If you aren't happy with that you'll have to take it up with Gene Roddenberry (or his estate) who made the term "Nova Bomb" iconic with it's use in the Andromeda series.

View the latest EVE Online developments and other game related news and gameplay by visiting Ranger 1 Presents: Virtual Realms.

Katrina Oniseki
Oniseki-Raata Internal Watch
Ishuk-Raata Enforcement Directive
#110 - 2012-01-26 17:02:40 UTC
You're being obtuse, but I'm not going to bother arguing with you over the meaning of Mjölnir and Thor in a thread about the module names for internet spaceships.

I think everyone in this thread should take a step back, breathe deep, and relax.

Katrina Oniseki

Taipion
Adeptus Petrous
#111 - 2012-01-26 17:07:25 UTC
CCP Lemur wrote:
Vera Algaert wrote:
there is complexity that revolves around decisions and trade-offs.

then there is complexity that revolves around memorizing random stuff.

One type adds to the game, the other doesn't.


This fine lady hits the point home. Yes, people love the old names and we all got accustomed to them since back in the days. But I like the new system way better since I don't have to go through dozens of clicks and comparisons to find the thing I want. So no meaningful complexity at all is lost only a naming scheme that was based on randomness alone.


No, Mr Dev, you miss a clear point here!

Scourge for instance, would mean 1.) Heavy Missile AND 2.) Kinetic, in one word!

This gives those advantages, that use certain items more often, and makes EVE feel even bigger, as you happen to stumble upon things you dont know, even after a long time of playing.

It was good as it was.

And now, on top of this, you did choose names that are horrible, don´t you have a trauma from this?
james1122
Perimeter Trade and Distribution Inc
#112 - 2012-01-26 17:08:13 UTC
Conditional or questionable fallacies

Slippery slope (thin edge of the wedge, camel's nose) – asserting that a relatively small first step inevitably leads to a chain of related events culminating in some significant impact[63]

Wiki


This thread is stupid and should be locked >.<

....

Renan Ruivo
Forcas armadas
Brave Collective
#113 - 2012-01-26 17:13:22 UTC
Ris Dnalor wrote:
I PLAY THE GAME FOR YEARS ON MY OWN WAY SO I'M A VETERAN AND I KNOW ENOUGH STUFF TO TALK ABOUT STUFF I MAY OR MAY NOT KNOW SO MY OPINION SHOULD BE HEARD BECAUSE WHAT I SAY IS THE TRUTH AND CCP SHOULD KNOW BETTER AND LOOK AT ME

The world is a community of idiots doing a series of things until it explodes and we all die.

Renan Ruivo
Forcas armadas
Brave Collective
#114 - 2012-01-26 17:15:37 UTC
Bloodpetal wrote:
to a Portoguese speaker, "Nova Torpedo" literally means "New Torpedo".


It actually means only that the person can't speak proper portuguese.

New Torpedo would be "Novo Torpedo" tbh.

The world is a community of idiots doing a series of things until it explodes and we all die.

Grey Stormshadow
Sebiestor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#115 - 2012-01-26 17:25:15 UTC
Razin wrote:
CCP Lemur wrote:
Vera Algaert wrote:
there is complexity that revolves around decisions and trade-offs.

then there is complexity that revolves around memorizing random stuff.

One type adds to the game, the other doesn't.


This fine lady hits the point home. Yes, people love the old names and we all got accustomed to them since back in the days. But I like the new system way better since I don't have to go through dozens of clicks and comparisons to find the thing I want. So no meaningful complexity at all is lost only a naming scheme that was based on randomness alone.

Simplicity isn't the same as convenience.

The "lady" may be right, even if 'her' statement is a bit of a strawman, but your method of achieving convenience through extreme simplification leaves a lot to be desired. Instead of giving everything the same generic name you should have tried to make the current unique names more meaningful. You've had several posts in the test forum section describing exactly how something like that could be done. Yet you decided to ignore them.


Simplifying things too much will **** of plenty of players who are at the moment for example specialized to trade or other way benefit from different meta mods. Obviously they have spent ages to learn their thing and know the module names better than most of the devs.

Me nor my alts do this kind of stuff, but I do know many who do.

In the end you're still trying to rename banana to tomato and get away with it as it was good thing.
It really is not...

When I loot random stuff and gather it to containers, sorting it out is part of the "fun" (part of the game at least). Some people benefit from other people who don't have time or will to sort our their loot, but either reprocess it or sell it directly to highest buy order no matter how low it might be... That is part of the market complexity of this game. No real world items explain in their names how expensive they are either. Why should Eve do so?

This entire renaming campaign is really bad idea and it isn't even hard to see...

Get your brains together.

Get classic forum style - custom videos to captains quarters screen

Play with the best - die like the rest

Tres Farmer
Gallente Federation Intelligence Service
#116 - 2012-01-26 17:25:48 UTC
Reilly Duvolle wrote:
*snip*

Personally I support thses changes, for reasons given by Greyscale. Complexity is good, but only if it enhances gameplay. One point though Greyscale, if you are still monitoring this thread, is that once again CCP fails at communication. The player reaction to this change - given that people are heavily invested in the game for years - should have been pretty predictable. Yet you just do it, without prior communication.

But since you are planning to do this change all across the board, I strongly advise you to train player commiunication to level 5. Come on mate, you dont want to leave an essential support skill like that at level 2.


And here we got the WINNER, people at CCP.

You AGAIN fail at communication with the playerbase...

WTF?

Why was there never some kind of consultancy blog about this?
Don't you plan those changes?
Is there no Dev, that could have.. you know before investing ANY WORK AT ALL sit down, write a blog about what you have in mind and THEN let the players voice their concerns?
Are we such a fearfull lot, such an unorganised and soulcrushing horde to deal with?
Is it so hard to test the air before you do stuff like this?

God!
Grey Stormshadow
Sebiestor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#117 - 2012-01-26 17:27:39 UTC
I am starting to see the NEW ccp here and actually it is worse than the old one.

Get classic forum style - custom videos to captains quarters screen

Play with the best - die like the rest

Renan Ruivo
Forcas armadas
Brave Collective
#118 - 2012-01-26 17:30:28 UTC
Its threads like these and some of the posts contained here that makes me almost 100% sure that most of the trolls in this forum are indeed CCP alts venting out frustration that they build up when having to deal with some people.

The world is a community of idiots doing a series of things until it explodes and we all die.

Callic Veratar
#119 - 2012-01-26 17:31:24 UTC
Allow me to take on the persona of a new player using the logic of the OP:

"Hey! I just saw that in one of EVE's new patches they changed the names of all the missiles, I'm totally going to subscribe now!"
Steve Ronuken
Fuzzwork Enterprises
Vote Steve Ronuken for CSM
#120 - 2012-01-26 17:37:26 UTC  |  Edited by: Steve Ronuken
So... A BPO/BPC is a license to manufacture and sell someone else's brand name missiles, under that brand name? Blink

< strawman>
This is what the American Patent system will lead to!
< /strawman>



Oh, and:
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/obtuse

It's a recognized, if not fully accepted, definition. Welcome to a living language. Dictionaries are descriptive, not prescriptive. *asbestos suit on*

Woo! CSM XI!

Fuzzwork Enterprises

Twitter: @fuzzysteve on Twitter