Who cares about Otiluke, Mordenkainen, Rary and whatever geezer names they trot out.

[Herschel]

2. Is there a good reason that changing it improves the game?
...So, no thanks- I'll keep Bigby's grasping hand, Tenser's floating disc and Nirrighan's dismemberment as they are.

I'm not saying change the names, I'm saying give us some freaking blurbs/stories/whatever to initiate EVERYONE who may only know the name (or not even that) with them.

Give us something to make them meaningful again instead of "just that name on that spell."

 

[Elf Witch]

I care because it is a reminder of the game's long roots. When a new player asks about them I tell them they were named after the first players PC in the game. I have never had anyone feel that it ruins their enjoyment of the game.

 

[billd91]

Right, but all those names mean something, at least to the educated/informed. IOW, If you know those theories/principles/concepts/etc. you most likely know some basic knowledge about those names as people/historical figures.

And for those educated/informed about the history of the game, those names mean something as well.

It's all about context. My grandmother probably didn't know anything about Euler's number. Its context wasn't important to her despite the fact that she was educated, thank you.

 

[Herschel]

I care because it is a reminder of the game's long roots. When a new player asks about them I tell them they were named after the first players PC in the game. I have never had anyone feel that it ruins their enjoyment of the game.

I never said they ruin the enjoyment of the game. Again, I'd like to see something that actually brings those names back to the front again. Let people know a bit about them who aren't familiar with them.

 

[Herschel]

And for those educated/informed about the history of the game, those names mean something as well.

Right, but why not give people who haven't seen the old Greyhawk stuff (as well as those of us who do know it but haven't seen many of them mentioned in over a decade) a frame of reference. To me this is important fluff and something I miss in later editions.

 

[Elf Witch]

I never said they ruin the enjoyment of the game. Again, I'd like to see something that actually brings those names back to the front again. Let people know a bit about them who aren't familiar with them.

You are not the only one commenting about this either.

Though calling them Mary Sue was a little insulting. But then I have never met a PC that was not a Mary Sue.

 

[billd91]

Right, but why not give people who haven't seen the old Greyhawk stuff (as well as those of us who do know it but haven't seen many of them mentioned in over a decade) a frame of reference. To me this is important fluff and something I miss in later editions.

I think things like sidebars with details about the history of the game, prominent NPCs that helped define elements of the game, and other tidbits of information would be a great idea. I've been a proponent of the game preserving more of its history for a number of years now.

 

[Ahnehnois]

Who cares about Otiluke, Mordenkainen, Rary and whatever geezer names they trot out.

I neither know nor care who these characters are in the Grayhawk canon.

What those spell names add to the game, though, is a sense of history and specificity. The idea that someone invented the spell, that it isn't some generic power that fills a mechanical niche. Flavor.

So if the choice is between Melf's Acid Arrow, Acid Arrow (boring), or Acidarrow of Ongoingdamage (stupid), I don't see any reason not to go with the classic. All spells don't need this; just a few to spice things up. Worst case scenario, the proper noun doesn't work for you, and you ignore it. Best case, it makes you think about the game in a new and interesting way.

 

[Herschel]

You are not the only one commenting about this either.

Though calling us the Mary Sue was a little insulting. But then I have never met a PC that was not a Mary Sue.

What "us"? Unless you were the person to create and play those characters in Gary's old group then there's no reference to you. That reference was in response to those who complain the iconic characters are Mary Sues, which yeah, I can see that but it's still important flavor. Elminster is still an important character to the FR lore for a whole lot of people too, he just has current content.

 

[Jacob Marley]

I never said they ruin the enjoyment of the game. Again, I'd like to see something that actually brings those names back to the front again. Let people know a bit about them who aren't familiar with them.

Which version do you choose? Rary the Mage or Rary the Traitor? Do you include information about them that occured in Living Greyhawk? Even is many, many players of D&D didn't participate?

Or, perhaps instead, we just say something like "Tenser is an anagram of Ernest, son of Gary Gygax, and was one of the first characters played in the early days of D&D. We are including him and other of the early characters' names throughout these books... yadda, yadda, yadda."