Going off on a bit of a tangent, I don't like specific and universally applied names for every creature, race and/or faction in existence. If creatures are rare or unheard of to the people sighting or discussing them then naming by subfamily, occupation, social status or in a foreign language doesn't make any sense. RPGs are usually guilty of this.

Different characters and groups should come up with their own naming conventions; or these names should be more general (at some expense to uniqueness and creativity); or names shouldn't be shown.

[Edited by - abstractionline on December 27, 2009 12:16:14 AM]

Quote: If creatures are rare or unheard of to the people sighting or discussing them then naming by subfamily, occupation, social status or in a foreign language doesn't make any sense. RPGs are usually guilty of this.

Different characters and groups should come up with their own naming conventions; or these names should be more general (at some expense to uniqueness and creativity); or names shouldn't be shown.

I'm behind you 100% on groups coming up with their own naming conventions. That's a great move for showing their values and getting to know them.

For everything else, I agree to an extent. Unique names can be used for groups easily, and there are fewer factors to concern yourself with on what name fits.
I'm still scraping the barrel here, but one of these parameters seems to be how often you hear the name. Hearing a group name over and over is less forgiving to me than an individual's name. Remember that naming a group may mean you have to try and name features you notice in each entity categorized under that name. Here's an example for names that are easy, but one doesn't just touch the surface of the character. Obviously, the latter feels like it is actually addressing a culture rather than making a derogatory nickname.

Brute - Big, Ugly, hits you in the face really hard.
Zora - Elegant fish-like people that enjoy music.

The stories in games that use these names also vary greatly in depth, but Unreal used "Nali" and "Skarrj", so I figure there's no harm is tossing out Brutes, etc in favor of better names. I don't need to stop and try to get to know characters I'm out to kill, but damn it, I've killed Brutes and Hunters before. I'd like to at least think I'm terrorizing something new. Even the craziest of shooters seem to put in just enough story to make me implicitly look for a little more depth.

I still make exceptions for linear games that barely have a story like Left 4 Dead, since the gameplay can call for very easy names that can actually help you pick a certain entity out of a crowd even the first time you hear it. But honestly, that's the only shooter out of the many I've played that makes me feel that way. Despite that, I would have gone with the name "Animal" for their Hunter given L4D's naming scheme. ;)

[Edited by - zyrolasting on December 27, 2009 9:10:59 AM]