When Ideas Collide

[TheOtherTed]

So this is in part a request for help with a naming issue (not a forced re-name; I'll explain below).  However, it's also a request for stories from folks who may have experienced a similar dilemma - or maybe its opposite.

 

One thing I love in MMOs is coming up with cool names... or, at least, names that sound cool to me.  For me, names inspire character concepts at least as often as the reverse, and it's especially gratifying when the name turns out to be available.  For the first time, however, I find myself with two names from different sources that point at the same general idea - but I really, really want to use both names without the characters stepping on each other.  The shared concept is pretty much a mashup of "The Heroic Trio," and Melinda Mays from "S.H.I.E.L.D." - a highly trained superspy or quick figher who can kick butt in high heels.  One of the two names has sort of won out, at least for now, but, as I've said, I would like to give the other name a home.

 

I don't mind sharing the names, as I've nabbed them both on the one server I'm likely to play on, and I'm not likely to use either for other MMOs.  The current winning name is "Tianshi," a Mandarin Chinese word for "angel" or "messenger."  For whatever reason, this name inspired a more professional-looking outfit (body armor mesh and pattern, with a Tactical belt, the Stealth chest piece, and the Praetorian police visor), and it somehow feels right with the powersets I've chosen (Dual Pistols / Ninja Training Blaster - and, no, I don't really care if it's optimal).  So, boom, job done.

 

(disclaimer - I have no idea if Tianshi has some hidden cultural meaning that undercuts the concept.  I basically found it on Wiktionary.org and thought it sounded cool.)

 

The other name is "Lee Three."  I came up with the name while researching what other countries use instead of "John Doe" for an unidentified person living or dead (also known as a placeholder name).  That research itself was prompted when I heard or read somewhere that "James Bond" is a common British placeholder name (or at least was, when Ian Fleming started writing the books).  One way that placeholder names are constructed in China is to take a surname and slap a number on it as a given name.  So I took that idea and anglicized the heck out of it to produce "Lee Three."

 

For some reason, I've struggled to come up with a character that fits Lee Three - I've tried Archery or Dual Pistols paired with Martial Training, Energy Manipulation, or Ninja Training, and I've tried a few martial artsy varieties of Scrapper as well.  I even dipped my toe into the Sentinel AT to see if something would grab me.  None of them really "took."  Plus, the name never evoked a costume idea, the way Tianshi did, so she's stuck with a blue "Kill Bill" style jumpsuit which I've come to hate.

 

But I love the name.  There may be a way out in that "Lee Three" sounds more "Heroic Trio" to me and less "rogue government agent," but I'm not sure how to follow that thread.  I thought Archery / Martial Training would do it, but I had another character idea that sort of "stole" that combo out from under Lee Three.  Any suggestions?

 

Edited July 4, 2020 by TheOtherTed

[Redlynne]

Lee Three = Mind Control

 

Even if you know their name or their face, you won't be able to confirm their identity as being Lee Three.  The closest you can come to being someone that no one will recognize is to go with Mind Control.

 

"This is not the Lee Three you're looking for..."

/em hand wave

 

Rather than being "a man of a thousand faces" you just simple edit the minds of those who see you so they don't know you for who you REALLY are.

 

 

 

I suppose you could get away with Illusion Control instead for Deceive instead of Confuse in Mind Control, but Illusion Control won't let you get away with "ghosting" through your missions in quite the same way that Mind Control can or will.  The way that I personally like to play my own Mind Controller is "they never saw me coming and never knew I was there" before every opponent gets defeated.

 

The supporting counterpart to this idea is that when you defeat an opponent you leave no trace yourself in evidence at the scene.  There aren't crumbly bits of rock scattered around, or ice fragments that have melted into anything and everything, or scorch marks all over the place ... etc. etc. etc. ... instead, on site security just "fails" to stop Lee Three and no one can figure out how Lee Three keeps doing it.

 

If you want to go Controller I would recommend Mind/Kinetics in this case.

However, if you want to play a Dominator instead, Mind/Energy would certainly fit the bill.

 

 

 

Who is Lee Three?

No one really knows ...

Which means that that kind of anonymity and "I didn't see anyone" ought to be the way to go.

 

 

 

Then again, if you want to take that thought to its logical conclusion, you might wind up with a Kinetic Melee/Ninjitsu Stalker instead who quite literally "ghosts" through missions "like a ninja" that no one ever sees and therefore can't be identified.

 

And at that point, it basically comes down to ... what are you more keen on playing?

[TheOtherTed]

Heh, sounds a lot like one of my SG-mates back on live...  He was basically playing "The Shadow" (even named his character Lamont Cranston), and interpreted him as an Ill/Kin controller.

 

Unfortunately, I'm already playing Mind and Illusion controllers that I'm very happy with, and I had to give up on Kinetics (as a def primary) for my own mental health back on live (I was an angry, angry young Kineticist).  Regardless, I get that I may have to shake off my "natural blapper/scrapper" thinking for Lee Three and play a wider field.

 

...that said, I hadn't considered Kinetic Melee.  I've never tried it.  I'll give that a test drive next time I'm on and see if it "clicks."  If I can tone down the flashiness of it, it might even be a better fit for the "Heroic Trio" side of the character's inspiration.

[EmmySky]

Many unidentified persons bearing placeholder names are deceased.  I would suggest a necro MM with a zombie theme.  

[TheOtherTed]

Thanks, all, for the input.  Turns out I just needed to rework the costume and hairstyle for Lee Three, make her more "street" and less "flair," and she's plugging along just fine now as a Martial Arts / Ninjutsu scrapper.

 

That said, I am filing away the ideas you all expressed for a rainy day (and names to go with them).  I might even try a Mastermind again.  I mean, it's been 15 years or so, and I didn't even wait that long to start watching Seinfeld (I hated Seinfeld when it first came out).