Game titles: What not to do.

[Holkeye]

I was looking through some of the threads that people made about the games they're creating, and I noticed a few trends. Don't hate the messenger.

1. There are a lot of games being made based off already created game franchises. Predictably, there are a lot of Final Fantasy sequels, prequels, and branch offs. Why don't people try to have some original ideas? And, ok, so your Star Ocean spinoff has some innovations. Awesome. Why wouldn't you just make your own story? I really don't care if Radix meets some lame wooden character that you created.

2. Most of the titles are very cheesy and contain cliched/overused words. I'm not going to give specific examples, as to put down people and their work, but here are some overused RPG words:
     Dragon
     Eternal
     Crystal
     Magic
     Fantasy
     Tales
And so on and so forth. When I see a RM game that has the word "Dragon" in the title, I skip right past it.

3. Most titles are extremely pretentious, especially for games that people work on for like 2 weeks and then forget about or give up on. If it takes longer for me to read the title than it does to beat the demo, I don't even want to waste my time. Again, no specifics, but:
     The Preternatural Asphyxiation Part I: Dilapidate Requiem
     Venerated Champion: Darkness Chapter
     Eternal Crystal Tales Of The Magic Fantasy Dragon
     Analingus Andrew and the Malfeasant Coprophile - Act IV: Epinephrine Anal Plugs (Beta Version)
Naming your game something long and obnoxious doesn't make it better. Oh, and seriously. We're never going to see the completed "Part I". Don't make it sound like there will be a part II.

[tSwitch]

Holk, you just succeeded in making me laugh harder than I have all week.

     The Preternatural Asphyxiation Part I: Dilapidate Requiem
     Venerated Champion: Darkness Chapter
     Eternal Crystal Tales Of The Magic Fantasy Dragon
     Analingus Andrew and the Malfeasant Coprophile - Act IV: Epinephrine Anal Plugs (Beta Version)

that just made me laugh my ass off.

[Esmeralda]

Even if I didn't really find myself laughing I do agree with everything you've said

[Nightwolf]

Anal Plugs lol.

But you're right, there are such words used often.
So from now on, instead of dragon, add Prophet/Heaven/Dreams/Dungeon etc.

[Malson]

Eternal Crystal Tales Of The Magic Fantasy Dragon

Thank you for being a member of this place.

[zxm]

Totally move this topic to the rpmaker part of the forums.

[modern algebra]

Yeah, this could totally be a sticky in Game Creation General Chat

[Moss.]

Keys of Saeus.

[Arrow]

Mr. Mooooojooooooo riiiiiiiiisiiiiiiiiiiin'

That has nothing to do with anything.

Anyway, Analingus Andrew is an awesome name. He could totally be the ass to mouth mascot in a safe sex video.

[Holkeye]

lol, thanks guys. I don't know why people make these ridiculous names. Maybe it makes them feel more powerful.

Move it to another section if you want~

[tSwitch]

Pretentious Monotony: Cacaphony of the Derelict

[Leventhan]

lol Eternal Crystal Tales Of The Magic Fantasy Dragon
Thank you Holk :3

[tSwitch]

http://www.gamerevolution.com/feature/worst_names

[modern algebra]

That's an awesome list.

[tSwitch]

AWESOME POSSUM KICKS DOCTOR MACHINO'S BUTT!

[modern algebra]

I'm Awesome.

[tSwitch]

lol, I love how he reminds us of that

[modern algebra]

I think my favourite was either "Beyond the Beyond" or "Divine Divinity"

[tSwitch]

Irritating Stick

[Nightwolf]

Ok holk, i'll listen to you.


So, i'm gonna name my game :

Dragon Tales Of The Magical Crystals of Eternity

[Holkeye]

Ok holk, i'll listen to you.


So, i'm gonna name my game :

Dragon Tales Of The Magical Crystals of Eternity

I think you've not only missed the point, but ended up on the other side of the world from it.


Ps. Dragon Tales is already a game, lol.

[Nightwolf]

Come on Holky, you're fighting for nothing. These titles are classics.

[modern algebra]

Make it Dragon Tails. People love puns.

[droginator]

Gate of Light

[Nightwolf]

Tales of Crytsal Dragons? =D

[tSwitch]

Slash Bulk

[Leventhan]

Knight of Light Crystals

[tSwitch]

Macrophallic Epicaricacy I: Schizothemia

[seskaa]

im making a game called mocha

[dragonmagna]

I'd like to see "The adventure of the knight who met a king and got a sword and fought the dragon who was bad and rescued the princess and then saved the world by looking at a crystal in a cave and then fought a long and impossible boss because the maker is probably new and even if not is a poor game designer"

I'll bet that game has tons of plot twists.

[A.I.am]

What about
- All My NPCs

That is not a joke, I am making a game and that is the name.

[Alexa_miyagi]

everything you said up there is totally right, i laughed a little on the long titles thingy, but i think all you said up there really is true. even me seeing a dragon on the game title bores me.

[Raiden]

Yes about the names...
Mine was going to be Voyage of Silence.
That good, something you'd be interested in? 
Thanks,
-Raiden

[the_mantic]

I'd like someone to make a "Game Titles: What to Do" thread, I think it would be helpful (if not as funny). I'd consider doing it, but I feel like my current project's title is flirting with cheesiness as it is. And hypocrasy is a crime if you are even acused of it. *Sigh*

Very apt in any case, Holk.

[Grafikal]

Just don't do what this thread says and you'll do fine. Make it unique and creative.

[the_mantic]

Oh, absolutely.
But there are some fun tips to create capturing titles. Like...

• Fragmented prepositions (To Kill a Mockingbird, Until I Find You)
• Adjectives following nouns as to suggest action (Paradise Lost)
• The work's motto or theme (All's Well That Ends Well)
• Alliteration (Palace of Pleasure)
• Commands (Look Homeward, Angel)
• Second Person (The World Ends With You)

The last two are especially powerful, as they specifically address something (even better if it is the reader. . . as in "you"). Supposedly titles with direct address are better for marketing.

[Esmeralda]

Wow, I suggest you really do make that topic. That sounds great~

[Grafikal]

I like your new av and sig rasse :3

[Esmeralda]

Heh thanks, it's thanks to Irock though. I suck at av/sigs.

._. Irock<3

[the_mantic]

Wow, I suggest you really do make that topic. That sounds great~

As you wish, http://rmrk.net/index.php/topic,32255.0.html
Thanks!

[SolstICE]

we made a fun little rpg name generator with help from this post & replies it makes crappy jrpg names. usually all awful just to laugh at

good post Holk. sick of seeing all same names too

[Holkeye]

Who is radix?

[Owlsey]

I'd like to see "The adventure of the knight who met a king and got a sword and fought the dragon who was bad and rescued the princess and then saved the world by looking at a crystal in a cave and then fought a long and impossible boss because the maker is probably new and even if not is a poor game designer"

I'll bet that game has tons of plot twists.

What about "The extreme game where the knight goes to a bar and his friend comes in and says there is a dragon killing everyone and he goes outside with a rock and throws it at the dragon which then roars at the top of his lungs then flies away and the knight for some stupid reason gets knighted and the king is killed by a cheese-puff."

Best. Game. Ever.

[Exer0]

• Second Person (The World Ends With You)

Isn't that a Nintendo DS game?

[jingles]

Hey iv'e always been really good at making original story and if i'm tracking too close
to some other game some one usually informs me so i'm not worried about that

even names i feel i'm good at but one problem iv'e always had because iv'e never put forth
the time is titles. . . .

so for my new game i have a small list and i was hoping if some people could inform me if they are cheesy or not (Which they probably are) so here we go (FYI: Neverender is a place in the game and if thats cheesy im willing to deal with it because towns people can be stupid some times):
Nights in the Neverender
Forever winter nights
Forever snow
Cold Knights of the Neverender
The White swords

And if some need a small back ground to determine if a names cheesy for some reason
Summary: A small town forced to fight off vicious dragons wolves and other northern winter creatures, So this small town has several men and women train from when they are kids to grow up and defeat these monsters, but Tragedy falls as your father along with three other parents of your friends go off and die from one horrific beast, So as you grow you try to replace your fallen parents and in a chain of events find your self reaching your skills farther than just your winter wonder land. . .

also sorry if that sounded a bit cheesy too

[Sirius]

Forever winter nights

That sounds a little bit like Neverwinter Nights, but other than that, there's not much wrong with those titles. I would probably suggest rearranging/deleting words, though, but maybe that's just because I tend to prefer shorter titles. I actually think a simple Neverender would suffice; people probably don't know what it means/is, and it sounds ominous enough to draw them in.

[jingles]

Alright thanks but does it affect the title to add in small things like the or of
basically is there a difference between
Neverender
and
The Neverender

[Sirius]

As long as you don't overdo it (The Splended Knights of the Neverender who always are of the Fight), articles work. Heh, articles actually add to the effect sometimes, too (Last of the Mohicans). Maybe experiment with that. Picking a title is like photography: take a bunch of pictures & then pick the best one.

[Holkeye]

Nights in the Neverender - No
Forever winter nights - Neverwinter Nights
Forever snow - Not bad, but a bit generic
Cold Knights of the Neverender - No
The White swords - Zelda

"Forever" is a generic word to use in any title, and Neverender is a Coheed song.

[jingles]

really huh never knew that and i thought i knew most of their songs
well alright like the guy before you ill test and try and see whats the best i can make

[skaraflame]

Darkness of the Crystals: Wisdom Chronicles

^Cheesy name, that

[Miriku]

Wow. That was funny.

Ah, you won't have to worry about any of that in the game I'm currently creating. In fact, I can't even think of a title at this point. I usually save the titling for last. Kinda like most authors with their books. It's more fun that way. But so I can distinguish from one another, I gave it a working title. That working title being 'Taurus'. Why? Because that is the name of the town you start in.

...but, yeah. I see that a lot in RPG titles, too. And you know what else is funny? Japanese titles. I take Japanese class, so I know what I'm talking about. I once saw an RPG called "Shichimenchouken: Sword of the Seven-Faced Bird". They got that part right. But you know what's so funny about it? Shichimenchou...it means Turkey. Yes. In Japanese, Turkey is literally translated as 'seven faced bird'. Why? I don't know. I just had to laugh at the title because it looked like a person who knew almost nothing about the Japanese language made an entire game based around Japan.

[Nessiah]

Oh man that game, kinda sad that it was named Turkey O_o

[Miriku]

Blade of the turkey, more accurately. It's incredibly hilarious when people who know only the Japanese words 'kawaii' and 'sugoi' (most people think it just means 'terrific', but in proper context it means 'terrible') try to use the language.

[Mishka]

I always thought "Legend" and "Chronicles" were severely overused, too.

[Mad Klown]

Legend is over used, even in commerical games. I have not seen to many Saga ones.

[Very Fairy Tail.]

How about...

"Fairy Tail(Yes i know i wrote "tail") I:Darkness of Springvale"

And no. that between the Brackets is Not part of the Name.
If it was , God help us.

But anyway. That name Up there is a One hour Worth of thinking.

[Arrow]

Bumping, just because the article linked on the first page caused me to make this.

[SJ.Wolfe]

Not entirely sure if this is the right place for this but.. Well, never know until you try.

Anyway.. I was thinking of 'Death Wish' for a game title, but I changed my mind a bit and decided 'Dark Wishes'. Are either of those names good for a fantasy RPG with a storyline that vaguely revolves around wishes?

[Leophard]

After reading this topic, I'm having doubts about the name of my project: Legend of Chaos...

So, any comments about it, or any advice to make a better name? 

[pacdiggity]

Well, it could be a lot worse:
i.e. "Eternal Tales of the Magic Chaos Dragon Legends - Act 1: Fantasy of the Eternal Crystals"
So yeah. Short and sweet, only one stupid word in it. Although, it would help to know what the game's about. Chaos Legend doesn't say much, but don't put the entire plotline in the title.

[Holkeye]

Now that Pacman has basically rehashed my first post, you should know what not to do.

[pacdiggity]

Sorry Holk.
It's just that your words are so wise...
I have to use them myself.

[Leophard]

Although, it would help to know what the game's about. Chaos Legend doesn't say much, but don't put the entire plotline in the title.

Well, since I don't want to spoil the plotline just yet, I'll send you a PM with the information. Perhaps there you can help me out a bit! 

[RefresherSpray]

There goes Lost Dark Fantasy of the Ancient Runes of Mana...

[pacdiggity]

It should not have been there in the first place.
Usually, I'd never play a game that has more than one conjunctions or prepositions in it. Try to make a title that wouldn't take the player the amount of time it takes a snail to move a parsec to say. My current project has a single 4-letter word title. Lost Dark Fantasy of the Ancient Runes of Mana is not only painfully long and annoying (like some of my posts), it doesn't say much about the game. I think the point is to get some ambiguity out of it, not only ambiguity.

[skaraflame]

How about... Chronicles of the Dark Crystals Part I: Dragon Chaos?

[Holkeye]

How about... That joke was already made in the first post?

[skaraflame]

How about... yes it was.

[RefresherSpray]

Doesn't make it any less worthy.
So...

Magic Fantasy Tales of the Eternal Crystal Dragon

[Gracie]

Tales of the magical epic hyper kawaii super crystal dragon guardian.