Easter Eggs and Puns in DDO

[brian14]

Hmmm, good point. The unicorn and virginal thief teamed up to take out the rest of the party for whatever reason.

Became envious when the rest of the party were no longer virgins.

[brian14]

Anyone who remembers H4x0r1f1c might recognize the name of the mind flayer in the beginning of Acute Delerium.

I googled H4x0r1f1c, and all I got are posts from someone who used that string as a usenet/forum handle. Who is it?

[junior_w]

Anyone who remembers H4x0r1f1c might recognize the name of the mind flayer in the beginning of Acute Delerium.

I googled H4x0r1f1c, and all I got are posts from someone who used that string as a usenet/forum handle. Who is it?

The enemy is called Haxxorrax, I doubt it's a reference to H4x0r1f1c.

[mojobie]

Isn't the item "Kargon's Tasty Ham" a reference to the poster Kargon?

[junior_w]

Isn't the item "Kargon's Tasty Ham" a reference to the poster Kargon?

Yes, and one of the pre-made Brabarians path is also named after him: Storm of Kargon.

[dkyle]

I googled H4x0r1f1c, and all I got are posts from someone who used that string as a usenet/forum handle. Who is it?

That's him. He was infamous on these boards for his love of PvP, and wildly unpopular suggestions, often related to PvP (like, nerfing Arcane Archers because they're "overpowered" in PvP). Some thought he was simply a forum troll. There was some controversy over his extremely negative Rep, and how he appeared to suffer no ill effects from it, raising questions about the purpose of the Rep system. He left, came back under a new name, but now has been gone again for while.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

Or more correctly, daughter of a builder. And I am amost sure that datter means daughter in one of Scandinavian languages. Norge maybe? Or Dannish.

Could be. I can only argue from the perspective of my own language.

Besides : http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=haxxor

[aelbshadecrafter]

Well if ...

Or more correctly, daughter of a builder. And I am amost sure that datter means daughter in one of Scandinavian languages. Norge maybe? Or Dannish.

and ...

The word "bauer" means in German language simply "farmer, although an (hardly ever) interpretation as "builder" is possible, too.

Wouldn't it be the farmer's daughter?

[Delssar]

Not sure whether this counts, but the level 20 hireling cleric, Wyoh?

(W...??.) You Own Healer

I think its a refrence to the Priests in Age of Empires, they would make the sound "wy-oh" when they were converting enemy troops.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IgAVQdHJQ4

[dean.rys]

although the etymology of many of the npc names in DDO is interesting, i don't think they were meant to have too much meaning.

if the npcs getting attacked by orcs out in the cerulean hills were all named jack bauer (i.e. the obvious pop reference to 24 and the fact that they are farmers) then i can see them as a little tongue-in-cheek.

generally in america, many of these european names are a dime a dozen. little meaning, however, is associated with them.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

Well if ...

and ...

Wouldn't it be the farmer's daughter?

Well, yes, I'd think so.

generally in america, many of these european names are a dime a dozen. little meaning, however, is associated with them.

Yes, but being a European myself, I alwass find it fascinating when I find out out the hertages / meaning of American names based on European Settlers ... Like Stephen Spielberg, for example (my favouite example). His name would literally be translated as "Playhill" or "Playmountain".

English-language names are hardly ever translated into German language, by he way. If I see a dwarf called "Firebeard", then this name means nothing to me - unless I translate it. Similar to Drexelhand to English-speaking people. Or Bauerdatter. Or Spielberg.

[Milikki]

Only at page 2 so far, but has no body else noticed john lennon in the bar in. the cityscape
Chronoscope?

[dean.rys]

His name would literally be translated as "Playhill" or "Playmountain".

that's funny because my mother used a few yiddish words when i was young since she grew up in brooklyn and spiel was one of them.

i was under the impression that berg meant a fortification of sorts. but that would make sense as many were on hills or mountains for the geographic security it would render.

i remember when i was young and first realized many names actually meant something like an ancestors occupation or area of settlement. (since that's generally not the goal for namesakes in america)

blew my mind..

[dean.rys]

Only at page 2 so far, but has no body else noticed john lennon in the bar in. the cityscape
Chronoscope?

yes, that was noted already along with the ringo reference.

[jwdaniels]

i remember when i was young and first realized many names actually meant something like an ancestors occupation or area of settlement.

Like Smith, Taylor, Plumber, Hancock...

[dean.rys]

Like Smith, Taylor, Plumber, Hancock...

cooper, mason etc. yeah, well i was young..

but being from a diverse area i found out a lot of parents name their kids "king" in their native language.

talk about ego! lol

[Xymox]

Clarice Roden (bottom of the right stairs as you come in to the market from the harbor) is a moth collector.

Silence of the Lambs.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

that's funny because my mother used a few yiddish words when i was young since she grew up in brooklyn and spiel was one of them.

Yiddish is related to the German - you'd be surprised on how many Yiddish words are there in the German language !

was under the impression that berg meant a fortification of sorts. but that would make sense as many were on hills or mountains for the geographic security it would render.

A Burg, as far as I know it from Germany, is often built on hills and mountains. That obviously gives it an advantage over enemies attacking the Burg.
The word "burg" can sometimes be used for fortifications as well, usually, because a Burg often *is* some sort of an fortification (on a mountain or hill).

i remember when i was young and first realized many names actually meant something like an ancestors occupation or area of settlement. (since that's generally not the goal for namesakes in america)

Yes. Some names just don't make much sense. Especially nowadays, assuming their names have become somewhat distorted throught the centuries. And some names just sound plain weird.

I do know, however, that there are a lot of (at least bigger) town names from the U.S. that mirror town names from Europe. I know of a few towns, for example, in the U.S. which have the same names as some German towns - or areas.

[GrampaBill]

i think this is the closest we have ATM

http://ddowiki.com/page/Comedic_References_in_DDO

Thanks Dean. I had searched for Easter Egg since that's the usual term. I see from that page that they already knew about the XYZZY reference. I guess they have a lot more to add now, eh?

Thank you everyone for what you've contributed, I am quite amazed at the number of things I didn't know about and how some of them are ever so subtle yet many have recognized them.

[dean.rys]

Yiddish is related to the German - you'd be surprised on how many Yiddish words are there in the German language !

...

I do know, however, that there are a lot of (at least bigger) town names from the U.S. that mirror town names from Europe. I know of a few towns, for example, in the U.S. which have the same names as some German towns - or areas.

yeah, i think the majority of yiddish words have a german or cyrillic source aside from the hebrew ones of course. but, i'm no linguistics professor.

the majority of names in the US come from other countries.

nothing is new over here.

maybe diabetes... we may have invented diabetes.