They are "characters" not "toons"

[Flutter]

Seeing people post about their "toons" on this forum makes me want to poke my eyes out.
rolleyes:

 

[Lynk]

What if my character's name is toon?

Is it a toon then?

 

[Flutter]

What if my character's name is toon?

Is it a toon then?

No.

 

[Specialshoes]

Seeing people post about their "toons" on this forum makes me want to poke my eyes out.
rolleyes:

OH GOD I AM NOT ALONE!



Where did that come from anyways?
I blame the communists.

 

[WarUltima]

OH GOD I AM NOT ALONE!



Where did that come from anyways?
I blame the communists.

People calling their characters toons majorly came from our favorate World of Warcraft kids.

I cant say people have never used the term "toon" to refer to a character in game. But I know those damn wow kiddies made that term very stupidly popular. And many people followed thinking it's cool(?). Same **** with the whole tank/buffer/healer and dps. Oh and some WoW geekish terms like "aggro"~~~ WTF is an Aggro (can I eat it?) is it even in the dictionary? oh and I know what aggro means.

 

[Nexus]

People calling their characters toons majorly came from our favorate World of Warcraft kids.

I cant say people have never used the term "toon" to refer to a character in game. But I know those damn wow kiddies made that term very stupidly popular. And many people followed thinking it's cool(?). Same **** with the whole tank/buffer/healer and dps. Oh and some WoW geekish terms like "aggro"~~~ WTF is an Aggro is it even in the dictionary? oh and I know what aggro means.

It's got nothing to do with WoW, Me and a bunch of my friends were calling our characters Toons while WoW was still a twinkle in Blizzards eye....


And Flutter, you might want to check out this site http://www.eyepatch.net . I got a feeling you'll been needing their services soon, I've been calling my characters toons for 11 years, I'm not stopping now.

 

[Yen Sid]

It's got nothing to do with WoW, Me and a bunch of my friends were calling our characters Toons while WoW was still a twinkle in Blizzards eye....

Indeed, never played WoW, never will, idk the terminology they use but I still call my characters "toons."

 

[Trevelyan]

Totally agree. Stupid terminology!


And I've never heard anyone call their characters a toon before. Since when did they ever look like (car)toons? And why would you use the term "toon"? What does "toon" mean?

Character = the entity that comprises skills, stats, an inventory, stable slots and a world presence
Paperdoll = where you equip and unequip stuff from your character
Avatar = world representation of your character. Obvious reason behind meaning: the "Avatar" from Ultima games.

 

[jack flash uk]

i feel the same way about ALTS

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

And you don't "roll" your character in UO... "Rolling" implies a RANDOM set of attributes to start with (which may or may not be able to be "re-rolled". UO allows you to set your beginning attributes, thus /= "rolling".

 

[gunneroforgin]

I don't like the term toon either . I prefer to use the term character.

 

[Flutter]

Thank GOD there are other people who feel this way about the whole "toon" thing.
I've come to the point where if I am reading a post and someone uses the word "toon" I stop reading. I just today realized I do this. I tried to go back and reread the post but couldn't do it.

 

[Viper09]

What if my character's name is toon?

Is it a toon then?

No no. The character must be named "a toon," then it is a toon.

 

[It Lives]

The only character my toon's have are the crusty underwear they been wearing for 10 years.

 

[Lord Chaos]

Thank GOD there are other people who feel this way about the whole "toon" thing.
I've come to the point where if I am reading a post and someone uses the word "toon" I stop reading. I just today realized I do this. I tried to go back and reread the post but couldn't do it.

But calling it a doll is somehow ok? lol! (aka paperdoll, since when is UO made of paper)

You can call it an avatar, but then again, thats wrong too.

Could call it "the humanoid likeness pixel representation of my numbers on <XXX> server", or THLPROMNOXS for short.

 

[Shelleybean]

Seeing people post about their "toons" on this forum makes me want to poke my eyes out.
rolleyes:

I hate it too. Running a close second is players selling ruin books.

 

[Nexus]

I hate it too. Running a close second is players selling ruin books.

You've never hopped one of my gates have you? I've got books that will just ruin your day....

 

[Felonious Monk]

But calling it a doll is somehow ok? lol! (aka paperdoll, since when is UO made of paper)

You can call it an avatar, but then again, thats wrong too.

Could call it "the humanoid likeness pixel representation of my numbers on <XXX> server", or THLPROMNOXS for short.

Isn't "Paper doll" a term developers coined while building game interface?
If Toons isn't acceptable how Packet O Pixels?

 

[GarthGrey]

Nexus is really Al Gore.....on topic, I hate "Mobs" too. How can 1 of something be called a Mob?

 

[Mapper]

Nexus is really Al Gore.....on topic, I hate "Mobs" too. How can 1 of something be called a Mob?

Short for mobile I think, Unless I'm getting too geeky for my own good.

I used to think people used toon instead of saying character, But 'char' is just as long.

 

[Nexus]

Short for mobile I think, Unless I'm getting too geeky for my own good.

I used to think people used toon instead of saying character, But 'char' is just as long.

Yea but saying it just doesn't sound right. I know back years ago we used to use "I've got to switch toons", when talking to each other (Me and Friends), I don't know why we used it, only thing I can think of is it just seemed to flow better in the sentence, and well that lead to us always referring to our characters as Toons.

 

[Hannes Erich]

You can call it an avatar, but then again, thats wrong too.

Not ENTIRELY correct, though I'm splitting hairs, in a sense.

We citizens of Britannia, time and time again, have had to do the Stranger's job for him, as he was unable to assist our shards after defeating Mondain!

BUT ANYWAY (/lore dork).

People who identify with their "characters" (or protagonists/antagonists, or even "personalities")--either through RP, or just in the way you identify with a character in a book or movie--almost NEVER use the word "toon" to describe their characters, as it kind of detracts from the sentiment.

Whereas players who are simply out to play a fun video game often refer to their characters as "toons" or "alts".

I give each mindset its due respect. Ultima Online is a big sandbox, there's room for all of us, and any play style except griefing is welcome in my book.

P.S. And Mapper, MOB stands for Monster Or Beast. (Beast, referring to animals.)

 

[Sturdy]

I loved how everyone in WoW spells Rogue, Rouge. Though I suppose reddening things could be in the Rogue job description.

I personally use char or alt to refer to my characters/ other characters. Or just refer to them all creepy like, by their names.

In the business I used to be in everyone called everything "product" since we sold food I liked to use the word "food," but it never caught on.

Going forward I will call all toons product, and all food tunes. rolleyes:

(Whoever thought "going forward" was a catchy phrase should be locked up forever.) (Going forward)

 

[Lord Chaos]

A little education:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mob_(computer_gaming)

 

[Mapper]

A little education:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mob_(computer_gaming)

Oo I was half right.

 

[Beastmaster]

P.S. And Mapper, MOB stands for Monster Or Beast. (Beast, referring to animals.)

I'm with Mapper on this one. Mob is short for mobile. Even NPCs can be mobs.

 

[Flutter]

P.S. And Mapper, MOB stands for Monster Or Beast. (Beast, referring to animals.)

Actually the Origin of Mob is "Mobile" as a element in a game (or MUD) that acted/moved "on its own" or are "self mobile" (As opposed to a PC or player character)

Edit: Sorry I posted late :/

 

[Hannes Erich]

Actually the Origin of Mob is "Mobile" as a element in a game (or MUD) that acted/moved "on its own" or are "self mobile" (As opposed to a PC or player character)

Good spelunking, there! I concede defeat (but for the orcs, I'm NOT referring to my feet).

Turns out, MOB in the sense I used it is a "backronym". According to Wikipedia (hey, must be true since it's on...), Backronyms for "MOB" such as "monster or beast", "mere ordinary beast" and "mean old *******" have also been coined.

Which makes sense to me, since I picked the term up in Earth and Beyond, where it had apparently already been BACKRONYMIZED.

 

[Taylor]

I use the terms interchangeably. Never used the word "toon" until I joined Stratics. So, I guess what I'm saying is...I blame everyone else for my misuse of terms. I try to blame other folks whenever I can. :nod:

 

[siyeng0]

"Character" implies characterisation and personality.

If the player is not a roleplayer, I see no reason why they shouldn't call them toons. It may not be a traditional UO term, but it's short, convenient and easy to type.

 

[DevilsOwn]

(Whoever thought "going forward" was a catchy phrase should be locked up forever.) (Going forward)

have been holding the keys for this far too long, perhaps we should mount a posse



as far as the 'toons', Flutterbug..... for me, it began in either Kesmai or ImagiNation, don't actually recall which, carried over to The Realm but here, for me anyway, the term just never seemed to feel right, so I generally call them all by name... the other places were cartoon-ey, but the characters in UO never looked that way to me

 

[Jhym]

I don't remember seeing "toon" used before 2006 or so on the boards, though I don't read every post and every board.

In any case, my characters are my characters. If I'm in character, then I speak as them and use their names, otherwise I tend to third-person them.

Since I've known my characters longer than some friends, and probably spent more time with them, calling them "toons" just doesn't hack it for me. Sort of like calling your dog or cat "the furry".

I've let the mobs designation go, though I tend to go by monsters/animals/npcs when I'm speaking of something. I know some of the devs tend to use it when they're talking to us... I just ignore the term if replying.

But I agree with you Flutter, I know it's politically incorrect to argue against what people say but I just don't like seeing a discussion broken up by toon this and toon that. It mostly implies to me the speaker doesn't really care about their characters at all, which tends to make me less likely to listen to their arguments.

 

[Zosimus]

Dont play that crappy pvm of a a game WoW but the graphics to me look like cartoons so can see why WoW people would call them toons. I am guilty of using the word toons for my characters in UO but I also played Daoc and still warhammer online. Just habit from those games.

 

[[JD]]

never played wow and have used character, char, and toon interchangeably for the games i've played.

its just pop vs. soda, chillax red

toon
toon
toon
toon

 

[five oclock]

I call my characters, Pixles I run around with using a mouse and a keyboard and the only reason they are even alive in there little world is because I pay to make them that way...

btw I hate toons too. I hear toons I think of Bugs bunny or Roger rabbit..

 

[Old Man of UO]

Toon and Trammy (or Trammie)... both insults to me.

 

[Beleg Megil]

Toons are too cartoony, yeah. I never heard it until Neverwinter Nights.

Mine are Characters. Chars for short. I hate when people type "Charicter".

 

[Hannes Erich]

First place I heard it was City of Heroes (never played World of Warcraft, UO has always satiated my fantasy MMO needs). And, well, I suppose it's hard to argue against the word "toon" in a comic-book inspired MMO.

Hard, but not impossible; all of my characters over there are HEROES, dammit, not toons!

I tend to form connections with all my stories and creations (which includes characters in virtual worlds), so I'll probably never utter the word "toon" in UO; but it doesn't bother me that other people are playing the game their way, too.

 

[magicmule]

"toon" go ahead poke your eyes out. really? make a big deal of it. create a post on how much you hate it. who cares, what other people call their toons/characters/avatars. yeah, assumeing someones arguement isnt worth listening to when they use the term is just rediculous. let freedom reign

 

[Metalstorm]

I have never referred to any of my characters as "toons".

They are and always shall be "chars".

I don't don't really mind people calling their chars toons though. To each their own as long as it doesn't hurt anyone and calling a char a toon certainly doesn't hurt anyone



But it is nice to know I'm not the only one who isn't overly fond of the term "toon" in UO

 

[phantus]

Seeing people post about their "toons" on this forum makes me want to poke my eyes out.
rolleyes:

like

 

[Obsidian]

It doesn't matter to me. Either way, I know what they mean when they say toon or char.

-OBSIDIAN-

 

[northwoodschopper]

i've only heard people refer to them as 'toons' once toontown was in beta. around that time was was a lot of cartoonish mmo's getting popular.

 

[Zalan]

Haven`t you ever heard of TOON EA!

 

[Zooithion]

Seeing people post about their "toons" on this forum makes me want to poke my eyes out.

I agree. Toons may be ok for some other game. I could see that name more for the wow chars that I used to have years ago because they where cartoonish and every class is basically the same.

But never for UO ( and personally never period.)

Besides, my chars, (that's what I call them, "Char/Chars" ) are really characters in UO. They are unique and so much time and history in them. Especially after all the years I've had them and all the changes and history with them. Years and years and even more years.

But I digress ...

Anyway, yes, it bothers me too!

PS. I wouldn't say "Poke my eyes out" cause that kinda makes me shudder too

 

[Uvtha]

Nexus is really Al Gore.....on topic, I hate "Mobs" too. How can 1 of something be called a Mob?

I hate "toon" and also "mobs". I always have.

 

[Gidge]

i say chars, or char. it aggravates me when people say toon, what makes me want to poke my eyes out is when someone says "hon".

i picture some southern woman with a cigarette hanging out her mouth. yee haw.

okaaayee huuuuunn? you are so darlin' and i'm seeww sickly sweet....!!!

*pukes*

*skin crawls*

 

[Nexus]

Nexus is really Al Gore.....

I take offense to that, if I was Al Gore I'd have beaten GW........


Ok Back on Topic.....
Obligatory reference link
The use of Toon for a character has been around since UO Started, it's even older than that as well with the earliest reference I can find coming from "The Realm Online" which launched in 1995 when it was simply called "The Realm".

The Term Character is a carry over from MUDs which naturally adopted it from D&D, but when "The Realm" launched players often called their "Character" a Toon, because of the graphical nature and limitations of technology of the time. When many came to UO they brought the term "Toon" with them.

Avatar on the other hand was adopted for an "On-line Persona" back in the mid 80's making it much older, and had nothing to do with the Ultima Series of games at the time. It was used in the commonly used sense in relation to a game called "Habitat" an on-line multi-player game launched in 1986.

So since the phrase "Toon" for a character in an MMO is older than UO, I take that as making it as proper as using the term "Character" or "Char".

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

its just pop vs. soda

You mean "coke".

 

[Tukaram]

This ain't Toon Town. I can't stand it when people call their characters toons. (it makes me want to poke Flutter's eyes out) Glad I'm not the only one! I only started noticing it in the last few years. They use it a lot in City of Heroes/Villains, but it fits better there.

toons, alts, mobs, pve. Can't stand em. Never could.