Guild Wars 2

Okay I keep seeing root/flower and such all over the place.
PLz someone explain to me why.
I mean that is what they made of, but that does not mean you gotta call them that.

I mean in real life you a human but I dont see anyone calling themselves hairy, meaty or humanoids. We made of them, but we never use them as names.

So why do everyone it seems think you gotta name your sylvari base on what they made of.

Second example in real life a rose that is what it is. A tiger that is what it is.
However in a zoo each tiger gets name, that dont got to do with what they are.
A rose to a gardener would usually get a name. That also have nothing to do with the fact that is a rose.

I think you all see my point now and now plz show me why people name there sylvari base on what they made of.

I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Regards,
Jeff Beefyarms

To quote mst3k:

Rip Steakface
Slate Slabrock
Crud Bonemeal
Brick Hardmeat
Rip Slagcheek
Punch Sideiron
Gristle McThornbody
Slate Fistcrunch
Buff Hardback
Bob Johnson (oh, wait…)

It doesn’t really matter what others call themselves, so long as it isn’t offensive. However, to answer your question, it is typical of fantasy to name characters based on personal traits, objects they identify with, or jobs they do. I don’t see the problem.

I recall seeing a Sylvari NPC named Wysteria, so it can’t be that unusual as far as lore goes.

Also, flower and plant based names are not uncommon as human names — Lily, Flora, Rose, Willow, etc — so I am not surprised that they are popular as Sylvari names. Especially as this is a fantasy setting, where nature-inspired names seem more common in general.

Just my 2 copper on the matter!

Sylvari names are generally Celtic, Welsh, and a little Arthurian. Thogu as stated above there are a few with names like Wysteria and Violet. “More violets I say, less violence!”

My sylvari is called Dinnye. It means watermelon :P

I’ve known real life girls named Azure, Indigo, Diamond, Princess, Sapphire, Opal, etc. Also, isn’t there some famous lady named Margarita? Names are getting so ridiculous nowadays. When I see a Sylvari run by called, “Celery”, it doesn’t surprise me.

I can’t recall how many times I see scientific names used in Sylvari names. Examples:

Thymus, Magnolia, Viola, Dianella… the list goes on.

I have a character named “Scrotal Necrosis”, I don’t recommend you google image that term… unless you want nightmares.

To the OP: because naming a plant-based person after a plant is funny to some people, so they go with it, I assume. Same reason there are names like "Winston Charrchill" and "Charrizard", etc.

many latin names used back in the times of the Romans (obviously) meant stuff like baldy, dark skinned guy, etc. so why should they be any different? Heck even today names have something to do with how a person looks or what they do. Any name with Dunn in is for instance means someone in that lineage must have had dark skin.

Yep. Robinson means the son of Robin.
McArthur means son of Arthur.
O’Brien means “of Brien”, short for son of Brien.

And if you ever asked a Chinese person what their surname comes from, get ready for a history lesson lol.

Mine is Cephalanthera…. Which is the name of the Genus for most Terrestrial Orchids. I like to theme my characters so I’m going to pick SOMETHING plant like. I was going to call it Black Amber because my Friends brother had a friend who’s nickname is Black Amber, but ti was taken…. oh well.

Anet sure loves the cheesy stuff, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Sure explains all the skritt…

I chose Byblys, because Byblis was already taken. I picked it because is sounded similar to byblos which is Greek for papyrus (I thought it appropriate for a scholar class) and byblis is a variety of carnivorous plant, which I thought appropriate for a necromancer.

When thinking of the Sylvari race and culture the first time I read about it, I actually had an immediate thought of Native American culture, as opposed to Celtic, Latin, or Roman. I just read it differently than most people, I guess =P

I personally don’t think its that odd that a person derived from a plant would have a plant name. Nearly every human name has a meaning. Kimberly means Warrior in god’s forest. Christopher means child of god/christ like. Angela means of the angels. Then you have the women with flower names…Rose, Violet, lily… Not to mention the women with color names like Scarlet. Wouldn’t surprise me if the first Scarlet was a red head or a read head’s daughter. Names are quite subjective.

edited for spelling.

The name i originalyl wanted to use was gone so and it wouldnt let me have rottweed because of the weed part(though thats understandable if only to stop idiots naming themselves after the narcotic) so i chose shimmerroot which sorta works (though why i then chose necromancer is the strange part), im currently looking into creating another sylvari but this time im gonna try to find something abit more unique for a name.

The same reason cultures with a deep rooted connection to Christianity name their children Christian names- like… well, Christian, Joshua, David, Mary, Joseph, Esther, etc.

The Sylvari have an intense connection to nature and, well, plants. Their entire culture is built around it, so, yes, you’re going to run into a lot of plant/nature-focused names. Seems pretty obvious, to me.

Well, look at some traditional surnames of European descent…
Miller, Smith, Fletcher, Cooper, Mason, Cook, Hunter (professions)
Johnson, Jackson, Wilson (son of x)
Green, Brown, White, Gray (colors)
Hill, Brooks, Reed, Wood, Rivers, Stone, Bush (natural features)

Names have often been drawn from the things associated with someone’s daily life. Why is it so hard to imagine that a plant based culture might have plant-based surnames or first names? They live in nature and it would be part of their daily lives. It makes sense that some might take names derived from it.

Gaianus.5324:

The same reason cultures with a deep rooted connection to Christianity name their children Christian names- like… well, Christian, Joshua, David, Mary, Joseph, Esther, etc.

The Sylvari have an intense connection to nature and, well, plants. Their entire culture is built around it, so, yes, you’re going to run into a lot of plant/nature-focused names. Seems pretty obvious, to me.

But the Sylvari don’t have parents that would “impose” names upon them.

I named my sylvari ranger ‘The Fighting Side’ because he looked like a really good asparagus dish I had once. I can only assume that ‘Tossed Salad’ is taken and was probably NOT intended to refer to a dish of vegetables.

Sialor.7396:

Gaianus.5324:

The same reason cultures with a deep rooted connection to Christianity name their children Christian names- like… well, Christian, Joshua, David, Mary, Joseph, Esther, etc.

The Sylvari have an intense connection to nature and, well, plants. Their entire culture is built around it, so, yes, you’re going to run into a lot of plant/nature-focused names. Seems pretty obvious, to me.

But the Sylvari don’t have parents that would “impose” names upon them.

Ermmm, in a way they….do. Us, the players. I have yet to meet a character that chose his/her own name O.O

Cinder.4865:

It doesn’t really matter what others call themselves, so long as it isn’t offensive.

Why does some one being offended give them more rights than some else?

I know mmos tend to have there own rules to keep the peace that would other wise be unconstitutional.

But this way of thinking is really getting out of hand.

Why shouldn’t the treeople have plant names?

>.>

<.<

what?

XelNigma.6315:

Cinder.4865:

It doesn’t really matter what others call themselves, so long as it isn’t offensive.

Why does some one being offended give them more rights than some else?

I know mmos tend to have there own rules to keep the peace that would other wise be unconstitutional.

But this way of thinking is really getting out of hand.

Agreed. The right to not be offended isn’t in the US Constitution.

That said, there is a difference between the right to speak freely on a public street corner and the “right” to put whatever you want on servers owned and operated by someone else. Especially when the owner might be held liable for the contents of their servers.

XelNigma.6315:

Why does some one being offended give them more rights than some else?

I know mmos tend to have there own rules to keep the peace that would other wise be unconstitutional.

But this way of thinking is really getting out of hand.

I never said it does, for the record. However, ANet has rules regarding character naming. Hence, my comment.

XelNigma.6315:

Cinder.4865:

It doesn’t really matter what others call themselves, so long as it isn’t offensive.

Why does some one being offended give them more rights than some else?

I know mmos tend to have there own rules to keep the peace that would other wise be unconstitutional.

But this way of thinking is really getting out of hand.

Simple, you are causing discomfort to another player. Anet would like to keep players happy. You might be slightly displeased to have to pick a reasonable name but less likely to quit than someone that sees Anet not fixing offensive things.

Unconstitutional does not factor into the argument in the slightest. A private company like Anet gets to say what does and does not go on their game. The freedom of speech applies only to the government.

As for the plant names… eh, it’s pretty typical stuff for any game where you can name your character. The about of Tauren (for those that don’t play wow, they’re cow people) named something with “beef” in it is staggering.

TWMagimay.9057:

Sialor.7396:

Gaianus.5324:

The same reason cultures with a deep rooted connection to Christianity name their children Christian names- like… well, Christian, Joshua, David, Mary, Joseph, Esther, etc.

The Sylvari have an intense connection to nature and, well, plants. Their entire culture is built around it, so, yes, you’re going to run into a lot of plant/nature-focused names. Seems pretty obvious, to me.

But the Sylvari don’t have parents that would “impose” names upon them.

Ermmm, in a way they….do. Us, the players. I have yet to meet a character that chose his/her own name O.O

But we don’t exist in Tyria Players who don’t treat their character like, well, characters notwithstanding.

Sialor.7396:

TWMagimay.9057:

Sialor.7396:

Gaianus.5324:

The same reason cultures with a deep rooted connection to Christianity name their children Christian names- like… well, Christian, Joshua, David, Mary, Joseph, Esther, etc.

The Sylvari have an intense connection to nature and, well, plants. Their entire culture is built around it, so, yes, you’re going to run into a lot of plant/nature-focused names. Seems pretty obvious, to me.

But the Sylvari don’t have parents that would “impose” names upon them.

Ermmm, in a way they….do. Us, the players. I have yet to meet a character that chose his/her own name O.O

But we don’t exist in Tyria Players who don’t treat their character like, well, characters notwithstanding.

How about this: the sylvari just know their name when they emerge from their pods, they don’t really know how they know, but they do. So they do not seem to just choose their name, but that something (the pale tree? the dream?) impose it on them. I find some plant names to be quite fitting actually and I would likely use one (if there was a good one left) could I not find a gaelic/celtic one that was good.

Also all names essentially mean something, just for most names the majority of people no longer know the meaning off them. Further distanced to us since some names are variations of older names that means something.

Shawtell…..That’s not a plant name

I based my male Sylvari (Cathaír) on a Gaelic name meaning ‘battle man’, but my female Sylvari is called Susánna, which is Gaelic for ‘Lily’.

So I admit I used plants as a contributing factor for one of my Sylvari as well.

Unless you are part of the RP community, the names of other characters shouldn’t bother you at all. In fact, there is no official RP server, so as long as they follow the general naming policy by A-Net, there shouldn’t be a problem at all.

I couldn’t think of a name for my Sylvari ranger on the fly, so I borrowed from Tolkien lore and went with “Quenyari” (and was a little surprised it was still available on Tarnished Coast).

It’s quite simple, when you get a surname like “Blacksmith” it symbolizes that one of your forefathers was probably a … well, a blacksmith! and was kind of.. smithing stuff here and there So it’s typical. Although i also see your point. I think it can be easily explained by the tree-“hive”-mentality. Everyone is a person but still a part of the general folk.

With best regards,
Sprout Oaksfeld.

i dont see the problem, its not your characters name so why do you care? (i suppose you could argue that it ‘breaks immersion’ – but thats a silly arguement anyway… everyday i see people in chat talking about RL, ore maps and petty arguements – immersion like that would only exist in a single player game)

i have 2 sylvaris; nightwither and withershroom (named so because of the mushroom adorning his head)
picked the names because all my characters have wither, night or grim in their names (except my norn) and it was too much effort to work it into a sylvari sounding name

… just re-read and it sounds a bit aggressive… wasnt the intention; but too lazy to rewrite (so please dont interpret it as such)

Zeefa.3915:

How about this: the sylvari just know their name when they emerge from their pods, they don’t really know how they know, but they do. So they do not seem to just choose their name, but that something (the pale tree? the dream?) impose it on them. I find some plant names to be quite fitting actually and I would likely use one (if there was a good one left) could I not find a gaelic/celtic one that was good.

I think that’s true. I’m not sure if my memory is entirely correct, but there’s a Sylvari NPC in the Grove called Pherick, who basically sings his own name all day. He says when he awoke, he just had that name in his head and he likes it so much he can’t stop saying it.

Not sure either, particularly when I saw a prominent character in the Sylvari story was called “Gavin”. If you’re from where I’m from, that name’s as common as muck. It had me wondering when we’d see Dave, Darren, Matt, Colin, Tracy and Lexi.

Hehe guess I was weird and didn’t go with a plant based name, I went with Saya Of The Dusk :P

Ba air.1372:

As for the plant names… eh, it’s pretty typical stuff for any game where you can name your character. The about of Tauren (for those that don’t play wow, they’re cow people) named something with “beef” in it is staggering.

Don’t forget HolyCow what with Pallies and priests.

Because people want to, there I saved you all a lot of explaining. Also Every character I have is Sylvari and none of them are plant names, however they do all begin with Sy…

On an official RP server, I agree that such names would be in poor taste. However, there is no official RP server, and therefore you can’t expect people to avoid immersion-breaking names. I’m sure plenty of people rolled on Tarnished Coast without knowing that RPers decided to congregate there and just couldn’t think of a creative name that wasn’t taken.

EsLafiel.4517:

Okay I keep seeing root/flower and such all over the place.
PLz someone explain to me why.
I mean that is what they made of, but that does not mean you gotta call them that.

I mean in real life you a human but I dont see anyone calling themselves hairy, meaty or humanoids. We made of them, but we never use them as names.

Bergman
Foreman
Freeman
Hofman
Goldman
theres a **** ton of human names that use man in them. so why wouldnt u see plant creatures with plant in them

Because it goes with them, matches them, they are plants, so why can’t we give them plantlike-names? My sylvari’s name is “Floriee”, I can’t see any reason why I shouldn’t named her like that. Is that offences you? o.O

LittleZoe.4970:

My sylvari is called Dinnye. It means watermelon :P

Way off topic, but that is (almost) my real name.

I… never knew.

Time to embrace my inner watermelon.

I have 2 sylvari i just named them whatever sounded good at the time Wynter Moonboow (ranger) Earenya Seasong (mesmer) she was blueskinned and had the white leaf hair that reminded me of a wave. On a side note i once saw a charr named Charmin Ultra…

Consider, for a moment, where the Sylvari get their names.

Presumably, they’re named by The Pale Tree.

The Pale Tree is a tree that is pale, and is so grand in appearance that there can be no doubt she is the one being referred to when saying THE Pale Tree.

It’s a pretty unimaginative name, really, however fitting it may be.

So perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising if she is similarly unimaginitive in naming her children.

One of my sylvari, a female necromancer, I named Phae Telfloria. A play off of “Fatal Flora.” And then I realized that sylvari don’t have last names… =/

I named my Sylvari Venus Heliamphora because I referenced her from a Heliamphora, which is a carnivorous plant, one of my favorite plants. And, Venus is obviously from the Venus Flycatcher and it makes a nice surname. I think plant names fit Sylvari very well, considering, they’re, well, plants. Human names are often a reference to being a human too, as New Virtue has pointed out.

synk.6907:

To the OP: because naming a plant-based person after a plant is funny to some people, so they go with it, I assume. Same reason there are names like “Winston Charrchill” and “Charrizard”, etc.

I still think Charrman Meow is the best.