Forum:Character names

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We have a rather big problem about character games from recently released game Call of Duty: Ghosts. As lots of character info was released before the game release, we were constantly updating the names. At one point, Elias Walker was named "Elias T. "Scarecrow" Walker", which was ridiculously long name. And image categories were updated (to one point, now they are in horrid shape). I don't know what happened, but suddenly all of the pages that had middle name in the article were renamed to follow new "tradition" (even Vladimir Makarov was named "Vladimir A. Makarov" (and the category is still named like that), even the article has different middle name (R)). So i have two options here:

1. Use full names (i really mean FULL, with full name and nickname) - e.g. "Elias T. "Scarecrow" Walker", "David E. "Hesh" Walker" etc.
2. Use name with NICKNAME only - e.g. "Elias "Scarecrow" Walker"

Discussion

Voting

Support for nicknames only - As we already have David "Section" Mason, John "Soap" MacTavish and other ones. Adding middle names to these pages would be bad as it would sometimes lead into really long names (also the category problem that would rise after that). -- Slav^Talk 14:52, November 20, 2013 (UTC)

Support Option #1 - I whole-heartedly agree that this needs to be standardized, but I think the character's entire name should be the title of the article. It gives the reader the maximum amount of information possible in a title. Joe Copp 14:55, November 20, 2013 (UTC)

Strong support for nicknames - I agree that the names would be too long.  We need to have an easy to read name for each article.  Adding the middle name might provide more information, but in this situation it might be too much.

Chas1881 (talk) 15:51, November 20, 2013 (UTC)

Support Option #1 - If the article is about a character, the article should be named the character's full name. Nicknames also seem appropriate when a character in-game is consistently referenced by the name, so I think that per option 1, both nicknames used in subtitles and middle initials/names should be used if they are known. http://i.imgur.com/4XBy83R.pngAntiScootaTwo^talk  15:58, November 20, 2013 (UTC)

Support Option #1- Although sounding tedious, the middle initial is still apart of the name of the characters in question. Since that is the case, then they should be on the characters' respected articles. However there are some drawbacks to this as sometimes IW/3yarch aren't so good at continuity and got Vladimir Makarov's middle initial wrong. So unless it is perfectly clear that their middle name is what it is, only initial or not, it should be used. Argorrath _{おしゃべり}23:46, November 21, 2013 (UTC

Support Option #1 Per Argo http://i.imgur.com/GhKJh.pngP90^Deathmanhttp://i.imgur.com/uceaHlB.png23:55, November 21, 2013 (UTC)

Support Option #1 - It seems that having the full name will sound more contextual instead of just its nickname. The nickname should be a redirect and have the name of the page the full name. Also a question, what about people who we know only by nicknames or don't have full name? --Bats a.k.a Rarity Filly  23:57, November 21, 2013 (UTC)

Then we just use the nickname. Joe Copp 05:20, November 22, 2013 (UTC)

Support Option #1 - Because many of the characters, such as those in BOII are credited as such and we should be using the full-full name.

Crazy sam10 • Talk

04:56, November 23, 2013 (UTC)

Support Option #1  - Per Argo.  http://i.imgur.com/GYKM9PK.jpg feargm^talk  17:49, December 4, 2013 (UTC)

Support Option #1 - Per Argo  Kylet357 · talk  13:10, December 5, 2013 (UTC)

Comment — The two don't have to be mutually exclusive. Wikipedia MoS suggests the article title use the most recognizable name for the subject, and allow the introduction to elaborate on the full name or alternate forms. This means article titles would look like:

• John F. Kennedy (not: Jack Kennedy)
• Bill Clinton (not: William Jefferson Clinton)
• Lady Gaga (not: Stefani Germanotta)

We are at a disadvantage considering that, for the most part, the games are effectively the only official lore we have, so pinning down recognizably or commonality is not cut-and-dry. This is further complicated by the fact that we are also dealing with characters with codenames rather than nicknames. However, I think that it can be done within reason for some major characters. For instance, middle initials are largely unnecessary because they are so arcane, so Vladimir Makarov would be a more proper article title (not: Vladimir A. Makarov or Vladimir R. Makarov). Bovell ^{Talk | Contrib.} 03:05, December 5, 2013 (UTC)

Well, when people are simply searching for "Makarov", I think having the middle initial in the title will serve to be an interesting tidbit of information for when the reader gets redirected. Joe Copp 12:26, December 5, 2013 (UTC)

The tidbit could also be included in the introduction. The question is if they should be in the article title, which I might argue should be kept as simple as possible without omitting important identifying information. Makarov's middle initial is not necessary for his identification, but his first name is. Bovell ^{Talk | Contrib.} 23:04, December 5, 2013 (UTC)

Well I wouldn't describe a middle initial as "overcomplicating it," and because of redirects/disambigs I don't really see a downside. Being as objective as possible, there's practically no difference and just the fact that it's getting standardized at all is pretty good. But the preference here is basically just opinion. Joe Copp 00:06, December 6, 2013 (UTC)

Now that really is a downside (redirects and disambigs). For example, there was a page named Masterkey Shotgun (Attachment) that redirected to Shotgun (Attachment) rather to Masterkey page. And when someone wanted to link that or search for it, "Masterkey Shotgun (Attachment)" would come in first, before Masterkey. -- Slav^Talk 12:52, December 6, 2013 (UTC)

Then that's an issue specifically with the redirects. It didn't have anything to do with the article titles. Joe Copp 14:41, December 6, 2013 (UTC)

Support for nicknames only - Page titles like Elias T. "Scarecrow" Walker would be very long. In this case the page title should be Elias "Scarecrow" Walker, and the intro of the page should begin like this: Elias T. Walker (codenamed Scarecrow). Another thing: even if the character doesn't have a codename, in my opinion the middle initial should not be put in the page title. For example, I think it's better to name the page for this character "Victor Ramos" instead of "Victor H. Ramos", and the article's intro would mention "Victor H. Ramos". --Ultimate94ninja (talk) 20:13, December 8, 2013 (UTC)

Now that is what i was talking about. -- Slav^Talk 20:28, December 8, 2013 (UTC)

If we have the characters full name, why should we not put it in the page title?

Crazy sam10 • Talk

20:41, December 8, 2013 (UTC)

It depends on what people are looking for. If you were browsing an encyclopedia, would you look up "Walrus" or "Odobenus rosmarus"? You'll eventually find and read both terms, but the entry will probably use the more recognizable name. "Caffeine" is also a better article title than "1,3,7-Trimethyl-1H-purine-2,6(3H,7H)-dione." I jest, but generally encyclopedias keep the title of their entries only as specific as they need to be. Since it's just the title, we don't lose any information as we can cover any full or more proper names in the introductory paragraph. Bovell ^{Talk | Contrib.} 02:41, December 10, 2013 (UTC)

I don't think your examples fit here since they completely change the title, whereas putting a middle initial in the name of a character still retains that character's recognizability. Joe Copp 16:43, December 10, 2013 (UTC)

Another point as counter argument is that while some characters have full names, such as "Simon Riley" he is more better known as "Ghost", which would allude to simply having the article name as "Ghost" instead of "Simon "Ghost" Riley".

Crazy sam10 • Talk

17:29, December 10, 2013 (UTC)

Closed - Consensus appears to be that we keep pages the same (fullest known name). Therefore, no changes will be made at this time.

Crazy sam10 • Talk

21:12, January 9, 2014 (UTC)