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Name for an MMO (Browser) Game

Started by Unduli Nov 1, 2014 at 8:49 PM 43 replies 16.7k views
Original Post
Unduli
Unduli

Hello there o/ ,

As title suggests, I am looking for a name for an MMO game. Game will be based on similar concept of eRepublik (if not heard before, it is a browser game that you play as citizen of a country and can work / train / fight and/or have political / journalist career)

When looking at games in this class, there are examples like eRepublik, vNations, e-Sim and cyberRepublik . But considering the game is actually based on citizen , it might be better idea to emphasize that part but though have no authority to say as a non-native English speaker but word "citizen" is hard to work or concile with imo.

So I am stuck at the moment. Words from my tag cloud (including but not limited to) are

citizen, republic, nation, world, (real) life, simulation, economy, politics, strategy, battle, diplomacy

but they didn't lead me to a good name I can live with. (Actually I thought of SimCitizen which guarantees being sued by Maxis (which is cheap publicity tongue.png ) or SimCiv which means Maxis and Fraxis will sue together :) )

So I'd love to hear your suggestions which might either be from tags or concept (actually I am not big fan of names being too obvious like "Farming Simulator 2014" or so) or in fashion of uniqueishness like Travian.

Thanks in advance.

Best regards,

mostates by moson?e | Embrace your burden
NathanRidley
NathanRidley

Have you tried combining those words to invent new words? e.g. economacy, strategomacy. Those sound kinda dumb, but you get the idea. Another line of thought is not to consider the explicit setting, but the emotional and mechanical underlying themes, such as fear, hope, risk, deception, greed, selflessness, activism, etc. that may apply to your game. Come up with a list of those underlying ideas and see which ones fit most strongly.

Unduli
Unduli

Have you tried combining those words to invent new words? e.g. economacy, strategomacy. Those sound kinda dumb, but you get the idea. Another line of thought is not to consider the explicit setting, but the emotional and mechanical underlying themes, such as fear, hope, risk, deception, greed, selflessness, activism, etc. that may apply to your game. Come up with a list of those underlying ideas and see which ones fit most strongly.

My problem is I am stuck with words Simulation and Citizen, so even if I mention one of sub tags , it won't cover entire game, but got point, thanks for reply.

mostates by moson?e | Embrace your burden
StarMire
StarMire

I think Citizen plays much better in English than you give it credit for. Particularly if you add something after. E.g. CitizenX

There's an old Movie called Citizen Cain, and a lot of Hollywood and TV has played off that a little in the past.

Here are a few more words:

Denizen

Civic

-cracy

-crat

State

Combining words, look for something that fits with the letter or sound part way through another word.

Citizone

Citzeal

Although it starts sounding like some kind of medication if you're not careful.

NathanRidley
NathanRidley

Progression?

What about latin?

Progress -> Profectus, Processus

Politics -> Respublica

Simulate -> Simulo, Imitor

etc.

Unduli
Unduli

Maybe I am looking from wrong side , right approach is macro one (world, nation, republic etc) not micro (citizen) , not sure though

mostates by moson?e | Embrace your burden
StarMire
StarMire

Latin works well, since there's a lot of that in law and politics.

Society

Socio-

Order

Contract

Law

Government

Chamber

I think we need to know more about your theme. Is this a modern country, medieval, fantasy, scifi?

Also, what's the feel? Is it dark, like political intrigue and backstabbing, or more neutral?

The stronger and more distinct thematic elements are, the more fodder you have to draw from in creating a title.

Unduli
Unduli

Latin works well, since there's a lot of that in law and politics.

Society

Socio-

Order

Contract

Law

Government

Chamber

I think we need to know more about your theme. Is this a modern country, medieval, fantasy, scifi?

Also, what's the feel? Is it dark, like political intrigue and backstabbing, or more neutral?

The stronger and more distinct thematic elements are, the more fodder you have to draw from in creating a title.

Its modern and without any theme, actually over 90% of content is user generated. It is more like simulation, a parallel universe

mostates by moson?e | Embrace your burden
Unduli
Unduli

I think Citizen plays much better in English than you give it credit for. Particularly if you add something after. E.g. CitizenX

There's an old Movie called Citizen Cain, and a lot of Hollywood and TV has played off that a little in the past.

Here are a few more words:

Denizen

Civic

-cracy

-crat

State

Combining words, look for something that fits with the letter or sound part way through another word.

Citizone

Citzeal

Although it starts sounding like some kind of medication if you're not careful.

State may be game changer but is State similar to Nation/Country? Or is something under them as United States suggests?

Btw, does using iso (equal) as prefix make sense in your opinion?

mostates by moson?e | Embrace your burden
Thaumaturge
Thaumaturge

"State" can be used to mean (more or less) either "country" or "province", I believe.

From Dictionary.com:

7.
a politically unified people occupying a definite territory; nation.
8.
the territory, or one of the territories, of a government.
9.
(sometimes initial capital letter) any of the bodies politic which together make up a federal union, as in the United States of America.

Wikipedia goes into more detail here.

(Use of the term "state" can be seen in the name of the game NationStates (TV Tropes link), for example.)

As to "iso", to my mind that feels somewhat technical--it brings to mind thoughts of measures and standards.

As a suggestion, what about "Citizen of the State"?

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! My Twitter Account: @EbornIan
Unduli
Unduli

"State" can be used to mean (more or less) either "country" or "province", I believe.

From Dictionary.com:

7.
a politically unified people occupying a definite territory; nation.
8.
the territory, or one of the territories, of a government.
9.
(sometimes initial capital letter) any of the bodies politic which together make up a federal union, as in the United States of America.

Wikipedia goes into more detail here.

(Use of the term "state" can be seen in the name of the game NationStates (TV Tropes link), for example.)

As to "iso", to my mind that feels somewhat technical--it brings to mind thoughts of measures and standards.

As a suggestion, what about "Citizen of the State"?

SimStates are available but not sure if its a good name (not sounding as good as SimNations etc imo) , also SimuCitizen (Sim-U-Citizen ?) is available but something doesn't fit in :/

btw, seems iso isn't a good idea as you mentioned.

And for suggestion, thanks but I try to avoid words like "the" whenever applicable , only if it will lead to a good domain (TheSimCitizen ? :P )

mostates by moson?e | Embrace your burden
Avalander
Avalander

If you want to focus the name on the citizen part, and want to consider an approach than sounds a bit funnier than the names and words already proposed, why not use "John Doe"? Some examples that come to my mind:

  • Life of John Doe
  • John Doe in the Republic
  • Hello Doe
  • A day in Doe's shoes
  • Citizen D

I definitely would give a try to those games. If you want a name that sounds serious they won't work, though.

(this is for those who don't know about John Doe)

Thaumaturge
Thaumaturge

SimStates are available but not sure if its a good name (not sounding as good as SimNations etc imo) , also SimuCitizen (Sim-U-Citizen ?) is available but something doesn't fit in :/

Hmm... I'm not a lawyer, but it might be worth checking that the owners of the various Sim- games (SimCity, for example) don't have some form of protection on game-names using that pattern.

And for suggestion, thanks but I try to avoid words like "the" whenever applicable , only if it will lead to a good domain (TheSimCitizen ? tongue.png )

Fair enough--although I'm curious: if I may ask, why do you try to avoid words like "the"?

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! My Twitter Account: @EbornIan
Unduli
Unduli

SimStates are available but not sure if its a good name (not sounding as good as SimNations etc imo) , also SimuCitizen (Sim-U-Citizen ?) is available but something doesn't fit in :/

Hmm... I'm not a lawyer, but it might be worth checking that the owners of the various Sim- games (SimCity, for example) don't have some form of protection on game-names using that pattern.

And for suggestion, thanks but I try to avoid words like "the" whenever applicable , only if it will lead to a good domain (TheSimCitizen ? tongue.png )

Fair enough--although I'm curious: if I may ask, why do you try to avoid words like "the"?

Well, I am not a lawyer either ( so had asked http://www.gamedev.net/topic/651212-name-similarity-and-trademark-coverage/ here before) but although SimCitizen rings the bells , I don't believe in a mechanism every SimX games are automatically under their IP. Not an expert once again, but wonder even if X's SimCitizen (ACM's Walking Dead) would work.

Main problem with SimX approach is absolute lack of creativity apparently :)

And for avoiding "the" , it is the last resort ( TheFacebook.com ) imo, doesn't add any value.

Thaumaturge
Thaumaturge

And for avoiding "the" , it is the last resort ( TheFacebook.com ) imo, doesn't add any value.

Ah, fair enough; while it doesn't add much to a URL, I do think that it can change the flow of a title--however, if that change isn't to your taste, then I won't argue against that.

(For example, consider "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant", as opposed to "Chronicles of Thomas Covenant"--the former, to my mind, has a more "definite" feel than the latter)

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! My Twitter Account: @EbornIan
Unduli
Unduli

And for avoiding "the" , it is the last resort ( TheFacebook.com ) imo, doesn't add any value.

Ah, fair enough; while it doesn't add much to a URL, I do think that it can change the flow of a title--however, if that change isn't to your taste, then I won't argue against that.

(For example, consider "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant", as opposed to "Chronicles of Thomas Covenant"--the former, to my mind, has a more "definite" feel than the latter)

I agree, I avoid "the" whenever possible not always but point taken.

Btw, I decided to look from macro view, so citizen or such oriented names are eliminated, still not sure of SimStates (doesn't sound fitting to casual gamers imo, its like SimClans against Clash of Clans :) ) , also thought of DominaTerra but seems to fitting sci-fi or so themes better.

So I am stuck again :)

mostates by moson?e | Embrace your burden
Thaumaturge
Thaumaturge




I agree, I avoid "the" whenever possible not always but point taken.

Erm, I think that I worded my post poorly (or am misreading your response): I was arguing that the word "the" can be quite useful at times, especially in making the modified term more definite. For example, "the Chronicles" implies (to my mind) that these are not merely a version of the story presented, but the only (correct) version.

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! My Twitter Account: @EbornIan
Unduli
Unduli

I agree, I avoid "the" whenever possible not always but point taken.

Erm, I think that I worded my post poorly (or am misreading your response): I was arguing that the word "the" can be quite useful at times, especially in making the modified term more definite. For example, "the Chronicles" implies (to my mind) that these are not merely a version of the story presented, but the only (correct) version.

Sorry for (very) late reply, although I am no expert in English , I got your point :) I am not in no the no cry mood, just avoiding unnecessary ones like TheFacebook.

Btw, still have no idea what name will be :)

mostates by moson?e | Embrace your burden
BasicName
BasicName

Hey Unduli,

Sounds interesting with what you are trying to do. How far along are you with your project?

Anywho, I agree with a lot of other posts to combine names and roots, but it also has to be something that will capture your audidence's attention. I mean, what they are looking for are things like government simulation, being a leader, getting political power, becoming a military leader with influence, being a business magnate to get all sorts of influence and support.

So something with leadership, politics, war, business.... power, influence.... it has to be something that capture these themes. It has to be a name that INSTANTLY draws the attention of people that google search stuff like "political browser game" or "government social strategy online". So keep that in mind when you're thinking of a name. Also, the thesarus is you're best friend here.

Unduli
Unduli

Hey Unduli,

Sounds interesting with what you are trying to do. How far along are you with your project?

Anywho, I agree with a lot of other posts to combine names and roots, but it also has to be something that will capture your audidence's attention. I mean, what they are looking for are things like government simulation, being a leader, getting political power, becoming a military leader with influence, being a business magnate to get all sorts of influence and support.

So something with leadership, politics, war, business.... power, influence.... it has to be something that capture these themes. It has to be a name that INSTANTLY draws the attention of people that google search stuff like "political browser game" or "government social strategy online". So keep that in mind when you're thinking of a name. Also, the thesarus is you're best friend here.

Hi,

I am somewhere between GDD and TDD , have no problem with core idea but finishing details. So theoretically name isn't an urgent issue yet but I want to create some hype with devblog and teasers.

The first game (afaik) based on this concept, eRepublik , suffers of favoring personal glory instead of collabrative one atm. It was based on nationality and sense of being part of something great. This is the path I want to follow so I tend to avoid themes like "power, domination, occupation" etc.

Currently I am wondering variations like Starbound, Citybound ( x bound ) although I have no idea what bound means here or even makes sense :) . I sense that there can be a not so super meaningful but easy to pronounce and remember name can pop up (not limited to bound postfix)

mostates by moson?e | Embrace your burden

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