User Name and Avatars: Origin Stories

[Snarf Zagyg]

There was a thread, started a long time ago, that allowed people to discuss their user names. Why did you choose that user name?

Unfortunately, I checked recently and it appears that it is now buried in the archived threads section. Which is sad, because that it where I first learned the real back story (and pronunciation!) of @Lanefan ... which I won't spoil, both because it's not my story, and because I will continue to mentally use the wrong pronunciation for Lanefan.

KANT TELL ME WUT 2 DO!

Given the inactivity of that thread, I thought I would start a new one. Feel free to talk about your user name and your avatar (that little picture you have, or, you know, the letter if you're too cool for school and you need to blow this popsicle stand before someone tracks you down).

Since I started the thread, I'll start!

Name: Snarf Zagyg
Most people assume it is combination of two things. First, Snarf from SnarfQuest, the Elmore comic that was a mainstay of Dragon Magazine in the 1980s. Then Zagig Yragerne, the mad mage of Greyhawk who to godhood (ZAGYG!), thus making me an insane zeetvah.

Those people would be wrong. It is, in fact, a tribute to Roland Barthes. Didn't see that coming, did you? No one sees the semiotics until its too late, my friend.


Avatar: Aubrey Plaza as the Mad Hatter in Legion
When I first joined, I used the image from the cover of Pharaoh (I3) of the ghostly apparition pointing to the pyramid. I then switched it to the current one. Why? Well, we're all a little mad, aren't we?


That's it! Feel free to tell your stories.

 

[Reynard]

I don't remember exactly why I picked "Reynard" other than waaaaaay back in the day I considered myself something of a charming rogue (boy was I wrong). It stuck and you can find me in lots of places with the moniker.

My current avatar is AI generated.

 

[Ryujin]

Boring. It was the name of my character in an Oriental Adventures campaign when I signed up. Been thinking of switching to just the abbreviated form of my real name for years, just like I use elsewhere.

 

[payn]

All I will say is what I wanted was taken for user name.

Original Avatar long forgotten. Used the fighter from PF1 for a long time. Changed to sick Charlie brown for my frequent use of the gif. Now its usual suspects because of a thread joke about them showing up and I called dibs on Fenster.

 

[Nikosandros]

Nikosandros was a recurring NPC/foil/nemesis/reluctant ally in my longest running campaign. Probably the name was subconsciously inspired by the wizard Nicodemus in the Fighting Fantasy gamebook City of Thieves. In any event, I liked the name and I adopted it as my online handle.

 

[TheAlkaizer]

When I was much younger, I was doing worldbuilding. I wanted to created a cool title. Looked a bit into other languages and learned that Kaiser meant emperor. So I made the title Allkaiser. I thought I was witty. Later, I decided it looked cooler with one L. So, if you had the title, you there THE Alkaizer.

I used it on a few forums and websites, then just out of habit I used it. However, a very popular streamer also used that name and I frequently get asked "Are you THE Alkaizer?".

My picture is a raccoon. Because I love raccoons.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

My EverQuest 1 character name, which I used quite a bit in online EQ communities back in the day and under which name I wrote a widely read piece about the World of Warcraft alpha. (By far the most-read thing I've ever written, which is weird to think about, given that I've been a professional writer since the early 1990s.)

 

[TwoSix]

Man, that old thread is a trip…so many names I recognize but haven’t seen posting in many years.

 

[roger semerad]

I find this thread fascinating. Online monikers are something foreign to me, obviously, so it's interesting to hear other people's thoughts about theirs. I guess I should detail why I use my real name online. First, I was just very late to getting online. I was born in 82, so I saw the internet grow, but my family was very slow to getting a home computer, and even slower at getting an online connection. Then we moved and internet options were even more limited where we were. So I never played online games, or had a smart phone until I got a job. So I never even thought about a nickname throghout my life. On top of that I'm just plain terrible at coming up with names, and finally, I just like being myself wherever I go. I just don't feel a need for anonymity online, so I don't even think about it.

 

[Leatherhead]

My name just means "Idiot."

My current avatar was lifted from the now defunct Dragon+ App. I found the whimsical Trashpunk-adventurer kobold to be eye-catching.