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Name Cameos in Jeff's Games


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But that would still be pretty good, for an autonomous widget running in the cloud. Better than most spambots. So why be unhappy? Sway with the punch, offer no resistance, lower your expectations like water flowing downhill, and find peace.

 

I think I need to start selling a self-help book on Spam-Fu. Or maybe an iPhone app.

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Originally Posted By: Arancaytar
I'm not even sure about Karnold, Midori, Footracer and Bigail. For the most famous cameo series in Exile 3, two out of six is a poor statistic. Did Jeff ever claim this theme himself, or was it simply inferred from the two known references?

I knew I had read it before, and it turns out it was hiding here.

Quote:
RSteele323 : How do you come up with names for towns and creatures? books you read or what?

SpidWeb : Omigod, I'm glad someone asked that. Everywhere I can. Friends. Books. Movies. Place names I get from atlases. The provinces in Exile III are named after women I've been ... ummmmmm .... intimate with. (Does that violate AOL TOS?) (Or just the bounds of good taste?)

AFL Rod : almost but not quite

SpidWeb : The turth is, when starting a new game, I need to come up with like 500 names. I get them anywhere I can. Once I was designing a town in a restaurant, and made my waitress one of the characters. GA


Dikiyoba.
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Originally Posted By: Nikki.
Originally Posted By: Slarty
Cordelia the character predates Cordelia the infant, though. (I think. Right?)


One would hope so, what with the nipples and all.


If you prefer the idea that Jeff named his daughter after a character from his games, sure.

(Or maybe, he just likes the name...)
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Originally Posted By: Slarty
Bjorn Lynne's earliest SW credit is G4, which was released 11 years after the Halls of Chaos were created. So this seems unlikely.


A4, which features "Under the Bard's Tree" was released (for Mac) one year before G4. Avernum 2 also features music, but it may not be Bjorn's.

The point remains, however, as long as the Halls of Chaos were in the Exile series, which predate music and sound effects more complex than "Rar.".

Edit: MobyGames' Bjorn Lynne profile (erroneously?) dates his A4 credit in 2006. It still predates G4 by just a bit...
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Once again, neither one seems particularly likely. Patrick was named all the way back in Exile 1. He may have been named after thousands of Patricks, or after no one at all. We have no way of knowing, and listing Patricks won't help unless there's more than a given name to link them. Rone is also common enough that without a better tie name similarity doesn't show a cameo.

 

—Alorael, who will go ahead and add the Jeff Vogel cameo in A3. It's obvious as being hit by an anvil spell, but it should be included for completeness.

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Ow, my poor eyes! I knew Taygen was evil, but I had no idea how deep his (her?) depravity went...

 

—Alorael, who at least learned that Taygen is a real, though uncommon, given name. What's more, it appears to be much more common as a girl's name. Probably all of Sage Taygen's issues come from taunts he received as a small child.

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I was just researching mythical English Monarchs and just thought I'd mention that both Cordelia (of Shakespeare fame) and Pinner were both on the list. Could just be a coincidence, but a more knowledgeable Spiderweb player might want to check it out when they have time to see if they can recognize anyone else on there.

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Jeff named Cordelia after the character in King Lear, so it's likely he's fond of Shakespearian names. Shakespeare adapted Lear and Cordelia from English mythical history, but it's also quite likely that the Cordelias in the games are named after his daughter, who is named after the Shakespearean character, who is named after the mythical person.

 

—Alorael, who finds it interesting how legends evolve. Macbeth and Lear and others have been absorbed into the Shakespeare versions. And audiences don't pick up on Shakespeare's own cameos of the contemporary English dynasty. Nor should they.

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  • 1 month later...
Originally Posted By: The Great Plague


"Meteorology

* Tropical Storm Linda (1985)
* Hurricane Linda (1991)
* Typhoon Linda (1997)
* Hurricane Linda (1997) - A powerful Category 5 hurricane, the most intense East Pacific hurricane.
* Hurricane Linda (2003)"


Heh, seems to fit. smile
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In that case, you could also say Erika's name came from hurricanes, if there's a link to Linda there;

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Erika

 

 

Quote:
The name Erika has been used for three tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean where it replaced Elena in 1985 season.

1991's Tropical Storm Erika - lost tropical characteristics before passing over Azores, no damage or casualties reported.

1997's Hurricane Erika - came near Lesser Antilles but turned away. Drowned two near Puerto Rico.

2003's Hurricane Erika - weak storm that caused two deaths by flooding in Mexico.

 

The Erika storms are kinda weak though, so I don't know if they really suit the character. The timing for the first hurricane should be about right though, if it was a name he heard at the time (I recall Erika being mentioned at least in name in A1- presuming it was the same in E1?).

 

Also, I can't remember all of the characters off by heart, but here's a list of retired hurricane names, maybe someone recognises a character there? (that is if we're looking into some being based off of Hurricanes).

 

- Archmagus Micael

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Originally Posted By: Yoga Firebolt! Yoga Flamestrike!
*facepalm*

Just because you find a name on google does not mean it has anything to do with the character's name.


To expand: It is pretty clear that for Exile 1, all of the names used either were acquaintances of Jeff's, or were normal, modern-day names (in contrast to most fantasy RPGs).
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I haven't read the whole thread, I admit, but I do want to correct a few things.

 

Erika and Prazac are named after friends in High School.

 

JR, Aimee and Hamer were named after friends in grad school.

 

Patrick Padraig and Hathwisa are named after friends in the SCA. Along with Bevan and Anastasia.

 

Bjorn is another friend.

 

These days, I try to give most of my names a sort of generic fantasy twist. It's bland. I will do something much better when I write my new engine/world.

 

- Jeff Vogel

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  • 2 weeks later...
Originally Posted By: The Almighty Doer of Stuff
Also, your first contact in ASR is Vonnegut. I believe Jeff is a fan of Kurt Vonnegut, so the character is probably named after him.


Originally Posted By: Andraste
You forgot to mention that Lavern and Shirley are in the towns Lennis and Squiggus. Don't remember which one is where though.


These were mentioned in the thread but aren't on the list. Also, the show is called "Laverne & Shirley", not "Shirley and Laverne".

One other possible cameo I found, although kind of a stretch, is in Exile 1. In Formello, the innkeeper is named Vermeers. There is a famous Dutch Baroque painter by the name of Johannes (or Jan, or Joannis at various points in his life, according to Wikipedia) Vermeer, who owned an inn. It's not in the Wikipedia article, but I believe I learned in a Renaissance To Modern Art course I took that the inn, rather than his paintings, is what kept him out of abject poverty (he was always poor though). As I said, it's probably a stretch.
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I did see that. It's certainly possible, but it just seems like a really weird reference to me. Linda had just started working for SW while G1 was being written, I believe, and that seems like a weird and unflattering cameo to welcome somebody with. I'll add it to the suspicious category, which I should have before.

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