Roleplay Titles

[Unsun]

Hello there! So, me and my roleplay buddy just fairly recently had a small discussion about roleplay titles! We were about to put up a roleplay and she came up with the title, Illicit Pedagogy, which I had no idea what it was saying. I knew what illicit meant, but I had no clue what pedagogy meant because I'd never heard of the word before.

Therefore, I suggested changing pedagogy to nurture, as those are synonymous, but carry two different meanings.

I explained to her that I tend to find roleplay titles that seem less difficult to comprehend more interesting than ones which have more 'advanced' comprehension if you will and she explained her view on why she found words with more 'advanced' wording to be more interesting. So, I'm curious, what kind of generic roleplay titles capture your attention the most?

Are you more interested in the kinds that have 'advanced' wording or do you stick to something a little less 'advanced' in terms of creating a roleplay title and/or spotting a roleplay down the road that looks interesting?

 

[Diana]

For me, unusual words in titles will catch my attention real quick. O__O It makes me wanna go read what the roleplay is about so I can understand the word and why it was chosen for the title. I love unique words and short titles.

 

[Brovo]

The [archetype] of [important fucking thing] usually suits me fine. There's some variation on this, but the general gist of what the role play is about is generally the objective of the title. Ergo, if my title has nothing to do with the RP, or people can't understand what it has to do with the RP, it has failed.

ex: The Legend of Renalta <- It's a story set based on a legend about a place and idea called Renalta.
ex: The Last Bastion <- The east coast of the United States is the last bastion of civilization after the post-apocalypse. More specifically, Bunker Chicago, where the whole story is set, is the only place that is completely self-sufficient and it is under threat of destruction--last bastion. There's also another force of creatures that exist, where their only home is within a poisonous fog, and that is their last bastion. Themes, are, important!
ex: The Sanguine State <- An RP I put the fail stamp on. Still, the title refers to the nation (United States), it's about vampires (sanguine is a reference to blood), and it's about a socialist dictatorship said vampires have set up for themselves (sanguine state), so... The shoe fits.

Long story short: The best titles are short, well understood, that give the gist of what your RP is about in some way. Maybe it's the setting, maybe it's the premise, maybe it's the whole kit caboodle, but it has to tell the reader, in less than ten seconds, something about your role play. I mean, heck, look at titles for novels and movies. They give you a hint about what the story is about.

Lord of the Rings: Hobbits take an all powerful ring to destroy in New Zealand before Lord Sauron can get his ring back to wreck shit.
Harry Potter: A story literally about a guy named Harry Potter, where the plot revolves around him and his magical forehead scar.
Twilight: Shitty vampires.
Star Trek: They trek across the stars.
Star Wars: They fight across the stars.
Firefly: Serenity (the ship) is a firefly class transport ship. As a double whammy, it's a core theme to the show. I'll let you figure that one out.
Fullmetal Alchemist: One of the protagonists in the show is called the "Full Metal Alchemist" and a core method by which shit gets done is using a pseudo-science magic called "Alchemy."
Howl's Moving Castle: Core theme + literal moving castle owned by a guy named Howl.

See my point?

 

[Minibit]

I like puns >.>

But really, whether it's a staple format like Brovo mentioned, or something else, I want to be able to know at least roughly what it's about from the title. For this reason, using obscure words without obvious definition by context tend to send me skimming past them.

To me, vocabulary in the title should follow the same vocabulary as the body of the work; know the vocabulary of your audience and try to stick to it.

Of course on obscure word, when it is the best word for its place, even over more common synonyms, is no problem. It's when it looks contrived, like the author was just dying for an excuse to use that word, that it's distracting and frustrating

 

[Brovo]

To me, vocabulary in the title should follow the same vocabulary as the body of the work; know the vocabulary of your audience and try to stick to it.

So set to a universal median for late teens to early twenties (which is probably the majority on Iwaku), 7-9th grade vocabulary. There, done.