From: abriggs@lucy.claremont.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.mud.lp
Subject: Re: Names and Aliases
Date: 12 Nov 92 16:52:21 GMT
Organization: Harvey Mudd College

In article <bHC=gC#@engin.umich.edu>, jfine@engin.umich.edu (Jonathan Fine) 
writes:
> In article <BxKnF8.603@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> andersts@mentor.cc.purdue.edu
> (Something Ghastly) writes:
> 
>>  Ok... here's the deal: Whenever I play a mud, I generally steal my alias
>>from a book (generally one of Tolkien's works). However, when I log off the
>>mud, I want the name to leave me... ie. I'm just role playing...
> 
> Very good point.  
[some stuff deleted]
> I went to a party to meet various players and wizards from a local mud,
> and while it was enjoyable and interesting to meet these people, it also
> pissed me off (and worried me) when conversation would begin like this:
> 
>     Them:  Hi!  I'm <some fictional name stolen from a book>, who are you?
>     Me:    Hey, what's up?  I'm Jon, nice to meet you.
>     Them:  Haha, no, really, what's your real name?

Ok, maybe it's just me, but when you meet someone from a mud for the first time
in person, usually you don't know that person's real name...you only know his
fictional one...so when you're trying to find out _who_ it is you're talking
to, his real name means nothing to you. I mean, I can understand not wanting to
be called by your mud name in rl, but it's not so hard to say "I'm Jon, I play
Shadowjack, but I'd prefer it if you don't call me by my mud name." I have 
several friends (*coughKiwicough*) who don't like to be called by their mud
names, and I'll respect their wishes, but I really don't have a problem with
someone calling me Shadowcat in real life.

> 
> I'd much rather meet a real person, than be re-acquainted with an imaginary
> mud persona whom I already "know" (or detest, as the case may be).  So
> when others would rather meet my mud character than myself, it both
> pisses me off because I'm *not* my mud character, and it also worries
> me because I wonder which reality this person is still caught in.
> 
> Role-play and fantasize all you want on a mud, but as soon as your
> session ends, your character should be closed with that connection.
> (And hopefully, it's not infrequent that your sessions end.)
> 
> Muds are involving and fun, the bottom line is: it's just a game!
> 
> Jonathan H. Fine
> aka The Shadowjack
> 
I'm not gonna start up the "mud's are more than just games" controversy, but I
disagree with some of what you say. I know there are people who are really into
role playing and can be quite different in real life, but I really do think 
that no matter how much you role play, you still put a part of yourself into 
it, so when you talk like there's a great difference between a "real" person
and someone you meet on a mud, it kind of offends me because I put a lot of 
myself into my character (meaning that my character is a lot like my real life
self), but I am most certainly _not_ "caught" in a mud reality. I am capable of
differentiating between fantasy and real life, and when I want to meet a mud
friend in person, it's because I want to know what he's like in real life. You 
may not be exactly like your mud character, but your mud char is still a part 
of you, and it's you mud character that makes someone want to know what you're 
like in real life. If I hate you on a mud, I'm not gonna want to meet you in 
real life. I guess my point is, your mud character is a part of you, you're not
two separate people. 

My $0.02 on the matter.

Alisa 
(Shadowcat@LPSwat)

PS - sorry for leaving practically the whole post intact but I thought it was
     needed.
Newsgroups: rec.games.mud.lp