My Cleric Has a First Name...

[arminius]

It isn't O-S-C-A-R, but what it is is beside the point. Also, this isn't a rant or a plea for change or anything of the sort. I just think it is an interesting pneomenon, and one that has been going on for 30 years in D+D, and every other role playing game in which there is a healer-type. So I don't see it ever changing.

Is any other class so often called by their class and not their name? We are so often exclusively referred to as The Cleric.

"Where is The Cleric?"

"How did The Cleric get aggro there?"

"We have to wait for The Cleric to get back from the shrine."

"Please give any cure wands you get from chests to The Cleric."

Etc....

It has always been thus. When I played PnP, I had a DM who would regularly stop action cold when someone asked The Cleric to do something, saying that there was no one in the room with the name The Cleric. It happened in every game (like GURPS) that had a healing type, whether they were officially called Clerics or not. I have no doubt it would occur in Avalon Hill games if it was in any way applicable ("Please send The Cleric to the 24th Panzer Division, it is surrounded in Stalingrad! Hurry!!1!).

I guess I have heard The Rogue a few times, but that is the only other class I can think of for which this ever occurs, and nothing even close to the scale for which it happens to Clerics. I'll leave it to the deconstructionists to discern what this says about how the Cleric class is objectified and oppressed, etc, blah blah yawn yawn. In the meantime, I just think it is interesting to note.

Has anyone else noticed this? What do you think about it? Short of a live DM like I had that actually penalized people for doing it, do you think anything can or should be done to try to counter it? Do Clerics need to hire a Madison Avenue public relations consultant to be seen as anything other than a tool for the use of someone else? Or do you think that it is overly sensitive to see things this sort of thing in this light, and that The Cleric isn't representing any objectification at all? Or do you think we all just objectify each other all the time no matter what we call each other so get over it? Discuss....

_

[Kotter]

Nothing wrong with calling a duck a duck...

[MrCow]

I have seen this a fair amount of times too. You usually get:

• The Tank
• The Ranger
• The Rogue
• The Cleric (or The Healer)
• The Caster
• The Warforged (I'm often the only 'forged in a group)
• The Zerger

and from those who know me well I also get:

• The Cow

Although, my absolute favorite is on my ranger/bard. The group icon is that of a ranger but more often than not once people see a lute in my hands I'm instantly:

• The Bard

[Impaqt]

How often would you need to say "The 'Insert melee Class Here""?

I dont find it rude or disrespectful at all. Especially if I'm in a pug with players who dont know me well.

[arminius]

I dunno, I readily admit that I have sometimes heard The Rogue, but have never heard it for anyone else besides Clerics and Rogues, and it is so much more common for Clerics. I'll grant you that it might happen to Bards, but in my experience Bards are so good at flying under the radar they don't get referred to as anything by anybody! People just come running when the start playing and don't come running when they don't.

Maybe it has to do with how Clerics and Rogues are so often the sole representative of their class in group, due to their rarity, maybe? One can't so often say The Tank because there are usually more than one. Same with The Caster, or The Ranger, or The Zerger.

_

[Freeman]

I do this any time I'm running with players that don't know each other that well. People can get mixed up with names they aren't familiar with, but simply saying "the cleric", "the monk", "the rogue", etc, is easier and faster. When you add in some of the names I've run with that are nearly impossible to pronounce, it just isn't worth it.

[arminius]

How often would you need to say "The 'Insert melee Class Here""?

I dont find it rude or disrespectful at all. Especially if I'm in a pug with players who dont know me well.

Yes I don't see it as rude or disrespectful either, and didn't mean to imply that I did. I just find it really interesting that it happened often in PnP and happened in non-D+D games like GURPS and now happens in DDO too. And, apart from the occasional The Rogue, otherwise exclusively to Clerics, in my experience.

_

[Trinarius]

This tends to be a problem for me only when I'm running in PUGs. When I'm running with guildies or friends from allied guilds, they tend to call me by my current character's name, or more often my my main's name. Which can be quite confusing to someone new to our group, or the odd PUG we've invited to join us. Particularly when I'm running PEBKAC or Sarge and someone calles me Trin. And there's no one else in the group who's name even remotely looks like Trin. I suppose, though, that for someone who doesn't know me, and who can't figure out how to pronounce the name of my character, calling me The Cleric is better than being called "hey, you!" At least my brain recognizes the call for The Cleric. And, it's better than when someone calls out my real name in group, since there are a couple of other guildies and allied guildies with the same first name. *That* can be confusing. Calling me The Cleric is not. /shrug

[ShaeNightbird]

My cleric has a relatively long name, and I don't mind if people call me by some abbreviated version. But I do grow weary of people referring to my character as "The Cleric", or worse yet, when calling upon me for something, "Hey, Cleric!" It does cause confusion when there is more than one cleric in the team, too.
I know, it's an animated character in a created environment. But extending common courtesy to electronic life forms is good karma.

[Zenako]

Easy to understand. Not many groups have more than one cleric in them at a time, so calling out the function is pretty certain to get the attention of the right player. Just as calling out for songs etc from "The Bard". Rogue stuff is a little less clear since you can be a darn good trapmonkey (and not show up with any Rogue symbol on the party list).

While on the other hand, if I was to just say, "The Fighter" should take the Boss while we clear out the drek, you often end up with confusion while the Barbarian, Paly, Ranger and Monk all are not sure which of them filling the figher role are supposed to do that. Most groups have multiple characters performing that function.

That is part of the reason....

[Eudimio]

I hear these often:

Wait for the bard to sing.
The rogue will disarm the traps.

Those two classes are most-likely going to be the only two of their type in a regular party. In most of the groups I'm in, people don't refer to the cleric, they ask them directly for things. I don't think I've every heard, "Can I get a heal from the cleric?".

[Aranticus]

how would i pronounced the first name of a cleric named "assfedghsl" ?

[Samadhi]

I hear these often:

Wait for the bard to sing.
The rogue will disarm the traps.

Those two classes are most-likely going to be the only two of their type in a regular party. In most of the groups I'm in, people don't refer to the cleric, they ask them directly for things. I don't think I've every heard, "Can I get a heal from the cleric?".

Agreed - although I do hear it in regards to cleric - I hear it far more with bards/rogues.

Or maybe just because my cleric is always called "the zerger...."

[darthmaul121783]

i say it when i can't pronance the name or cant remember what the guy said it was. also most people just shorted the names of toons that they can't say or find it to exosting to say like forerunner gets shorted to fore or delean get to del

i find nothing grong with when the cleric gets in troube for some one to say some one go help the cleric that helps make sure that ev ery one knows who needs help rather then saying delean needs help and everyone trying to figure out who needs help

Just my thoughts

[Gunga]

It isn't O-S-C-A-R, but what it is is beside the point. Also, this isn't a rant or a plea for change or anything of the sort. I just think it is an interesting pneomenon, and one that has been going on for 30 years in D+D, and every other role playing game in which there is a healer-type. So I don't see it ever changing.

Is any other class so often called by their class and not their name? We are so often exclusively referred to as The Cleric.

"Where is The Cleric?"

"How did The Cleric get aggro there?"

"We have to wait for The Cleric to get back from the shrine."

"Please give any cure wands you get from chests to The Cleric."

Etc....

It has always been thus. When I played PnP, I had a DM who would regularly stop action cold when someone asked The Cleric to do something, saying that there was no one in the room with the name The Cleric. It happened in every game (like GURPS) that had a healing type, whether they were officially called Clerics or not. I have no doubt it would occur in Avalon Hill games if it was in any way applicable ("Please send The Cleric to the 24th Panzer Division, it is surrounded in Stalingrad! Hurry!!1!).

I guess I have heard The Rogue a few times, but that is the only other class I can think of for which this ever occurs, and nothing even close to the scale for which it happens to Clerics. I'll leave it to the deconstructionists to discern what this says about how the Cleric class is objectified and oppressed, etc, blah blah yawn yawn. In the meantime, I just think it is interesting to note.

Has anyone else noticed this? What do you think about it? Short of a live DM like I had that actually penalized people for doing it, do you think anything can or should be done to try to counter it? Do Clerics need to hire a Madison Avenue public relations consultant to be seen as anything other than a tool for the use of someone else? Or do you think that it is overly sensitive to see things this sort of thing in this light, and that The Cleric isn't representing any objectification at all? Or do you think we all just objectify each other all the time no matter what we call each other so get over it? Discuss....

_

Play some more and people will get to know your name. Then you'll wish they would just call you the cleric.

[DoctorWhofan]

I've heard "Trissa" or "the Goddess" no matter what character I play!

[Galapas]

It's not so bad, being called the cleric, as long as they don't make it possessive. My wizard groups with and happily heals warforged. This generally results in them referring to me as, "My wizard". It's tolerable because it's usually something like "Get off my wizard!" as they save my butt.

[ShaeNightbird]

how would i pronounced the first name of a cleric named "assfedghsl" ?

Fed?

[arminius]

Fed?

Lol.

Better: A-Fed.