[MUD-Dev2] [TECH] Randomly-generated Faction Names

[John Buehler]

Cruise writes:

> Randomly generating character names is nothing new - but has anyone
> attempted generating names of in-game factions?
> 
> The faction name naturally has to match it's function - there's no
> point calling the king's guard "The Dark Avengers" or a thieves
> guild "Knights of the Dawn." While I do know the general alignment
> and goals of my randomly generated factions, it's judging the
> alignment of the name so I can match them up that seems a little
> trickier.
> 
> I suspect that the way the name is generated will make this easier or
> harder, so I'll leave the entire question open in expectation of some
> clever and inventive suggestions :P

Pick what's prominent and distinctive about the factions.  Colors worn, age
of the faction, strong ties to a powerful individual or family, methods of
operation, physical traits, and so on.  By doing that, you end up with an
assassin's guild called "The Dark Avengers" and a king's guard called
"Knights of the Dawn".  The assumption is that the knights actually have
some relationship with the dawn and that it's not just another meaningless
name that the developers thought sounded appropriate to the fantasy genre.

Me, I'd rather that they be called "The King's Own" or "The Royals" than
some silliness that ends up having little or nothing to do with the actual
group.

JB