Saturday, April 13, 2013

Set Design: Your Codename Here

Although we've decided to develop the set originally pitched under the name Ekkremes, the actual name of the set is likely to change as we work out its flavor. It is possible that our design will draw on elements from real-world cultures, just as Ravnica gets its mojo from early modern Prague and Kamigawa from medieval Japan. If it does, the name of the set will have to fit that culture. (Also, deciding how to pronounce "Ekkremes" is a daunting task for native English speakers!)

For the time being, we should come up with a codename for this design project. Metaghost has proposed "Ice Cream", Jay likes "Macross", and I'm hoping that one of our readers can come up with something snappier. Since this is a standalone set, it doesn't need to be one of a triplet. Any ideas?

27 comments:

  1. I'm guessing that Code names are chosen so that outside people won't understand what you're talking about if overheard.

    In our case, I say we call it the "The Mech Set" because that lets us focus on what it is rather than confuse its identity.

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    1. It might stop being the mech set, though.

      The reason why codenames exist is because details change, so you want a name that doesn't suggest any specific properties of the set.

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    2. Unlike Wizards, we don't have to settle on a product code for retailers a year out, and so its not a big deal if the code name changes.

      How about Mechana?

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    3. An unchanging codename would be nice for blog tagging and archive readability. I'm pretty sure that there are Goblin Artisans readers who only stop by every few months, or even less frequently.

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    4. I like Jay Treat's idea of Mechana. Keeping the idea of a Greek flavor might turn out to be impractical anyway since Theros is clearly ("Nyx" is greek for "night") playing in that area.

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    5. Mechana sounds fine (it feels like it fits, and we can get a more 'exotic' name later)
      Speaking of 'settings' to derive inspiration from - I think we should go Italian clockwork renaissance-era feel. Leonardo da Vinci style ornithopters and stuff.

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    6. I would prefer an English word.

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    7. Mechana isn't quite English, but its meaning is obvious to any English reader, no?

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    8. An English word like Ravnica, Innistrad, Mirrodin, Zendikar, Dominaria and Kamigawa?

      Of course, those are set names rather than code names, but we don't /really/ need a codename, we just need something we can call the set that everyone can pronounce and remember which set it is.

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  2. Some other codename ideas:
    Clink
    Clack
    Whir
    Click
    Hinge

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    1. Or maybe "Clank", as a Girl Genius shout-out? Or "Tesla", in the spirit of mad science?

      Though I don't think the codename has to have anything to do with mecha. It just has to sound cool.

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    2. "Tesla" gets the official Ben-Nassau-Seal-of-Approval.

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    3. Tesla could inspire some awesome designs.

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  3. Technobabble?

    I also want to put out: I would love to be part of our "creative team".

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    1. Pseudoscience (might be hard to spell)?

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    2. Good to know! I'll have a post up soon talking about the roles of "Creative" and "Development" in this project.

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    3. Yeah, I'd love to be on Creative too!

      Technobabble is good, but Pseudoscience doesn't quite capture the flavor of the set right.

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    1. Nice. Or just "Goldberg"? We'll certainly be designing lots of variations...

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  5. For people who see these blog post titles in their MtG feed and try to decide if they want to read it or not, it would be much more helpful if it said something descriptive like "The Mech Set Design" or "Mechana Set Design", rather than "Designing Friends" or "Sinker Development." If it's going to be one word, I support "Tesla" and "Goldberg"

    We ditched almost everything else about Ekkremes as well as the other sets in order to focus on the Mechs and build a set where they shine. And that part is not going to change. While it's fun to assign an abstract name like WotC does, calling this set for what it is will comunicate this new shift of focus on Mechs instantly and automatically, to casual readers as well as participating readers.

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    1. Yes, these are exactly the points I was trying to get across. Codenames are meant to obscure - ours should be meant to draw interest and easily communicate the goal of our set.

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    1. Tesla is nice and captures the image of what we're going for very effectively.

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  7. My ideas:

    Dickens
    Rocket
    Ebenezer
    Treadmill
    Mortis
    Frankenstein
    Bicycle

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  8. Everest
    Kilimanjaro
    McKinley
    Matterhorn
    or my favorite choice
    Rainier

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  9. All right, there seems to be a critical mass that likes Tesla. Done!

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