Priestess SIRI? Really? Really?

Well I guess we already know what she looks like.

Unless she turns out to be the ancient goddess whom Apple used to name their product, which is explained at the conclusion of the game, please change. If this is some attempt to link this to the dark past of this world, that would be bad.

If you change the name of Siranto to Cortana then the story would make a lot of sense!

 

You know it's an actual, real name people have right?

 

Of course... but think about it from an immersion perspective. What if we did a word association game. Tell me that it won't come to mind the first time people hear it. Even if not, there is no reason to include a name that has such an obvious connection to the real world. It's the same reason you would never call an NPC Ronald McDonald, although there are several real live Ronald McDonald's out there.

 

Maybe its Siri Cruise!

 

They all eat at Taco Bell too!
EDIT - Added: The name Siri does not bother me.

 

The issue is not whether it bothers us or not. We can all get used to anything.

Part of creating a rich, immersive world is that you don't create immersion breaks. This is a real part of game design, not just a matter of personal taste.

PC's can be expected to choose immersion breaking names. Named NPC's should not have them.

Siri just has far too much presence in the common mindset not to be an immersion break. There are more. What would you think if an NPC was named Jared? Is he fat/thin? Connections to the real world are not the only immersion breakers. E.g., absurd names like Fightme and such.

It has nothing to do with whether these are good or bad names in general, or personal taste, it has everything to do with game design. Unless the only concept of game design we consider is how to balance PvP.

 

Then all names must be thrown out because any name can break immersion for anyone. Let's use numbers only.

Jared is a good name. Why discriminate? I know a local guy named Jared. He is overweight and works with computers. A great guy who would give his shirt off his back to help someone. So what Jared is also the name of the Subway guy? Not breaking immersion for me.

Signing off now as Duke 867-5309

 

Your attempt at a reductio ad absurdum argument presumes that what I said was: anything that breaks immersion at any time for anyone cannot be tolerated. You set up a straw man to argue against. It's a common thing people try to do on the forum, and most people don't recognize.

Where you fail in your argument is that there has to be a pragmatic way to apply some standard toward things that break our attention. Hard to think of a more recognizable name these days. I bet more people know Siri than the name Barack Obama, and I hope they wouldn't call a character Barack.

Why don't you put your money where your mouth is and let me name the places/NPCs in your Celtic Holdfast? What does it matter if they fit or not? Why discriminate? To say it more positively, what would be the standard by which you name things in your holdfast?

 

Ah, ok? With you hating on Apple's Siri name and offering Microsoft' Cortana name instead as a better option made me think you just don't like apple or their products.

I don't think my Jared example or using numbers was absurd like you pointed out ( http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_absurdum ). To each their own.

At the end of this argument with reading your posts I think you did not like the name. Siri because it made you think go a computing/mobile platform you really dislike.

I on the other hand support Apple and Microsoft.

 

Personally, I don't like game designers giving in on perception issues like this because all it does is solidify an association the public might have, even when its silly for them to have it. There are a lot of other things that people can pick on in the game too; for instance the "Illuminati symbol" of the eye in the triangle.

Siri is not just a name some people have, its not even an uncommon name in some countries. So whatever association people make with the Apple product, should be lessened.

I don't consider it similar to Ronald McDonald, because, first, that's a jokey sounding kind of name for an NPC to have in the first place. And I'm sure its copyrighted.

You know Chuckles the Clown was a famous character on the Mary Tyler Moore show? But it was also not an uncommon name for a clown to have.

 

I have nothing against Apple, I've had an IPhone before. I'm suggesting this solely on the disconnect I had when I encountered it.

It's not a question of what I support or not - I don't get emotional about tech, except when it doesn't work! The references to cortana were an attempt to make light of the situation. Have you seen the Cortana commercials on TV? And after all, Sirtana is close to Cortana, a strange coincidence I'm sure not planned. It was an attempt to be lighthearted. Someone when the game goes live will make the joke anyway.

I'm glad you quoted that Wikipedia article because even though wiki is a so so source on these things it does describe the straw man argumentation you used. It's there in the article if you want to read it. Straw man takes a proposition similar to what was stated and then performs a reductio ad absurdam. The reductio based on your straw man was to say then we can only use numbers.

 

Everything beyond a technical bug is a perception issue. Is it silly after hearing Siri so many times that anyone would make that association? People are not picking on the game when they make suggestions. I guess we're not supposed to share anything about our own experience of the game?

When I saw the name "Priestess Siri" it broke my attention on Ardoris as a world unto itself. Perhaps that aspect of the game is not important to you. I want it to be a world that captures my attention and doesn't divert it in unhelpful ways. And "giving in" means changing a letter or two. If I just didn't like a name, like Sirtano (although I do), I would never say they should change it.

The Chuckles the Clown association is probably an association the clowns were trying to make, they are entertainers after all and it could have been a marketing ploy and a good association. It's not a similar situation.

 

@Vyrinor,

I'm never said you're picking on the game, just that I don't feel its something that should lead to a big issue if they choose to release the game with a character with that name. Its not jarring to me because I was familiar with the name Siri before Apple decided to use it, or even before Siri Cruise got her name. So its not that this aspect of the game wasn't important to me. Its just that I don't think the name "Siri" should be off limits just because a tech company decided to use it.

I'm sure Siri/Sirtano wasn't coincidental, and you can consider that a different issue, because they're heightening the association for people. Whether that's a big problem, I don't know.

 

Actually, I like the occasional tip of the hat to popular culture. The name Siri isn't an immersion breaker for me.

 

But I think it was changed to Khasi in R11.