Naming Conventions

[SentinalBlade]

Recently, i have been looking at the new project sections. Most of the time, i am seeing recycled names, with slightly different effects. Granted their are near limitless words for skills in the English Dictionary, but sometimes, the words chosen feel all to common, and don't necessarily impose any kind of significance onto a skill.

For SoR(yea, its not dead, the forum is just inactive until i am able to devote more than an hour or 2 a day), I was looking into changing the names of many of the skills. Some keywords seem to universal, and every other patch seems to have one or two of them.

So, for a big patch, How do you guys feel about Latin? Not all abilities or classes will involve Latin, mind you, But it would defiantly add some nice flare, and unique feel.

Some Examples:
The base class, Squire, would be:
Tardus Proeliator - Latent Warrior
Magnum Opus - Greatest Work, usually in Alchemy
Medulla Veneficium - Medulla means Marrow(as in bone marrow), and Veneficium means "Poisoning by Magic"
Vitio Iuxtim - Vitio means "Damage" and Iuxtim means "Equally"
Magnanimitas - Greatness of Soul

I have no knowledge of Latin, so prefixs and suffixs were ommited, and i used a translater and dictionary for some and peiced them together(unfortunatly, prefix's, suffixs, and helpers(like, and, to, for, of) would make a skill's name longer, and glitch the screen, or run off the menu)

Thoughts?

[PX_Timefordeath]

No
I have no idea what those abilities would do

[SentinalBlade]

Thats what descriptions are for.

The examples were just that, examples. They sound unique, and could actually be used well. Medulla Veneficium...Well im not sure how to make it clearer, lol. It would poison. MAgnumOpus could be an ultimate skill pretaining to something biological, or chemic
Magnanimitas would make a nice self-buff

Tardus Proeliator(Latent Warrior), i like, and will use, because Squire is lame. Basically, it means your a noob, with potential powers. Which would be a great theme for unlocking other classes.

[philsov]

How do you guys feel about Latin?

Too much of an air of pretense, with a hint of smug arrogance.  Just me though.

[LastingDawn]

In Mercenaries a few skills (very few skills) are based on other languages, and the main villain of Chapter 1 uses Latin in her spellcasting. I never decided to really press it, because as Philsov said it does give an air of arrogance, its great for characters that are meant to portray such, but for just generics it can really harm the presentation.

[Dominic NY18]

How do you guys feel about Latin?

Too much of an air of pretense, with a hint of smug arrogance.  Just me though.

Sentinal, you're going to get a lot of this if you decide to use Latin terms. I'd think most English speakers regard Latin terms or words of Latin origin as being pretentious or over the top. Probably because most of our basic vocabulary is Germanic in origin, but words of Latin origin make up the bulk of the so-called "big words" we may use (and that's because of historical circumstances).

For me, it depends on how you do it. I don't think Latin itself is any more pretentious than English (not after reading some of the things Roman poets and writers wrote) and I think some spell quotes and some ability names here or there can work. You should try sticking to Latin words whose meanings are obvious to most people. I wouldn't overdo it though because then it'd just look gratuitous or pretentious.

A quick example of that is changing squire to Tardus Proeliator. Squire itself is of Latin origin (via Old French) and literally means "shield-bearer."

[Pickle Girl Fanboy]

Naming conventions are just flavoring, icing on the cake.  They should add to the main dish, not distract from it.  If Latin is in some way relevant to the setting, characters, story, or whatever in your hack, then by all means, Latin away, but if not, then find a naming convention that is relevant.

If you're having trouble, then think on the stories and media that influence you and your hack, and steal some names, ideas, and principles for naming conventions from your influences, from the things you love.  Over time, you'll have to change them bit-by-bit to fit in with your hack, and, when it's finally done, you'll find you made something that isn't quite what you intended it to be, which is the point of all creative acts.

[Kaijyuu]

Naming conventions are just flavoring, icing on the cake.  They should add to the main dish, not distract from it.

This.


Your first priority should be getting the point across. Your second priority is making it sound cool.

[Zaen]

I'd love something like this. Latin happens to be my favorite language, although it's not one I have learned. I just love the way it looks and sounds.

[Vanya]

The very first RPG design document I did way back when I was in High School used an elemental magic system somewhat like the one that they used in the first WildARMs. All the elemental terms and spell combinations were in Latin and everyone said it sounded cool.

I honestly think everyone that says it sounds "pretentious, etc." is over analyzing it. It's just flavor.
Plus remember that there are plenty of professionally made RPGs that use completely made up words or Japan-Engrish terms that are little more than gibberish and those work just fine.

[Dominic NY18]

I honestly think everyone that says it sounds "pretentious, etc." is over analyzing it. It's just flavor.
Plus remember that there are plenty of professionally made RPGs that use completely made up words or Japan-Engrish terms that are little more than gibberish and those work just fine.

Everyone basically said as long as it's flavoring, it's fine. As long as it fits, it should work.

The possible issue I see is that Sentinal is working with a language he isn't familiar with. Tardus doesn't really mean "latent" so much as it means slow or sluggish. That's the sort of thing to watch out for.

I have no knowledge of Latin, so prefixs and suffixs were ommited, and i used a translater and dictionary for some and peiced them together(unfortunatly, prefix's, suffixs, and helpers(like, and, to, for, of) would make a skill's name longer, and glitch the screen, or run off the menu)

Thoughts?

Those are some of the most important parts after the root of a word.

I hope I don't sound like I'm saying it's not a good idea to use Latin (I want to learn it eventually). I'm just saying be aware of how you use it. If nothing else, you should make sure the terms you use make sense in Latin & English.

[SentinalBlade]

Well, for the most part, a large portion of the names only mean "close" to what i want. On top of that, the pre/suffixs simply will not fit on ALOT of words. If i use them, more than 80% end up running off screen...

I think im gonna keep it small and few. Such as Magnum Opus, for the Alchemist, and "Fata Morgana" for the Mind Bender

I would love to incorporate some of latin that we see in everyday science(Fata Morgana is the given name to a "Superior Mirage") or history (such as Magnum Opus)... Would anyone care to suggest a few lesser known terms?

[Dominic NY18]

If space is an issue, then I guess it can't be helped. I'd guess using Latin nouns and adjectives would be okay though, as the suffixes aren't more than four letters long for any of the declension categories (so long as the word itself isn't a long one). Verbs are where it can get ugly, with conjugated forms possibly adding anywhere from one to seven letters onto the root word, when they aren't just replacing letters on the infinitive form (but you probably know that already).

As for lesser known terms, what areas are you looking for new terms to use (spells, job classes, abilities, etc.)?

[Skip Sandwich]

I know! You should use Lojban! http://www.lojban.org/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=Lojban

[Dominic NY18]

After looking into it, I've noticed that "Fata Morgana" isn't a Latin phrase at all, but an Italian one. But it works for what you want to use it for.

[Oblivion]

I think it's a good idea SB. I've always wanted to create more interesting sounding job classes in my RPG Maker games or at least an original job. I like in the original Tactics the jobs are Wizard and Priest and not White Mage and Black Mage.