Pseudonyms vs. Real Names

[Nellie]

I'm known as Nellie online and offline (uni and work name card, among friends and family, etc)... But that's not in any official registries and documents. Probably one reason why I'm not worried that someone might stalk and kill me? (Since they can't find my details from yellowbook or anything xD) Joke aside, as long as I'm not posting any controversial works, I guess I don't mind using my real name =3

[erinism]

Hmmmn, personally I never use my real name online (not even on facebook) in case an employer sees what I wrote and can trace it back to me. It's not uncommon now days for people to get in trouble at work for things they did/wrote on the internet in their free time.

Then again, if you don't do anything wrong then I guess it doesn't matter, but I always have that thought at the back of my mind.

[LVUER]

Even if you use your real name online, it's not like people will suddenly notice you, except when you write your whole full name, your address, phone number, and a lot of other informations in one nice page.

If you don't want to use your real name, but still want to use a "name" on internet, you can use a pen name. Lots of people use it.

[Obscura]

After confiding to someone at work I was working on B/B game and having him laugh his ass off for a full five minutes, I've decided to stick with "Obscura." I would have liked to use a realistic sounding pen name instead...but too late now.

[redeyesblackpanda]

I like to keep my internet persona separate from my "real life" one, because I like having people think that I'm sane

[DeeKay]

I have a few pseudonyms/nicknames online and my real name is out there as well (mostly on job related sites though).
I don't mind sharing my name but as others have said, be mindful about your identity online.

Pen names are a good way to have a realistic sounding name without spilling the beans and still have your work associated with you.

I like to keep my internet persona separate from my "real life" one, because I like having people think that I'm sane

Personaaa !
Um... sorry, I went ballistic for a sec ^^'

[Tsuroika]

Personaaa !
Um... sorry, I went ballistic for a sec ^^'

I was just playing P3P, the MC shouted, "Persona!" right when I read your comment.

My real name is different than my legal name. When I first started school, my teacher introduced me to the class and I immediately asked, "Who's that?" when she said my name...
I don't know why, but some asian parents decide to give their children more american sounding names while keeping a separate name in their native language. Perception is the first thing that comes to mind but, maybe they just thought it sounded cooler?

Personally, I see nothing wrong with using pseudonyms. Everyone puts on a different mask depending on the situation

[Kuroneko_rg]

I hate my real name... And I hate my internet name as well. Sad thing, Kuroneko is soooooo generic you can find a Kuroneko everywhere on
the internet. I always hesitated if I should just suck it up and use my real name, but I hate it so badly I couldn't.
So I said "Hell with it, I'll stuck with Kuroneko to the end!" and here I am.
I also enjoy being a virtual person. If I give my real name I'd feel like trowing away that feeling.
Also, Redeyesblackpanda's point is a good reason to me as well.

[nyaatrap]

I honesty think only adults can disclose some real life information. Kids (junior ~ high schoolers) tend to disclose their real life in the Internet but that's just bad. They are too young to take responsibilities what they've done in the public (and they don't know the internet is the public space. that's the problem)

[netravelr]

Well, I'm kinda a game designer as a career so I don't feel too terribly about having my name out there when I'm working on games. In this industry it is incredibly important to have people be able to find and contact you in terms of possible jobs and the like. While the projects I do in RenPy are passion projects more than anything though, so that's a good question to be thinking of. I think there are good points to both sides. Cheers!

[DeeKay]

I honesty think only adults can disclose some real life information. Kids (junior ~ high schoolers) tend to disclose their real life in the Internet but that's just bad. They are too young to take responsibilities what they've done in the public (and they don't know the internet is the public space. that's the problem)

Right, there's that first and foremost. Disclosure of personal information might get you unwanted exposure if you don't bear the responsabilities that come with it, much like giving out every bit of info about you to the first stranger you come across on the streets. Everybody needs their private space after all. I mean, would you leave your front door open to anyone ? It's a matter of where to draw the line before going too far I guess.

Personally, I see nothing wrong with using pseudonyms. Everyone puts on a different mask depending on the situation

You're still you overall, you're just showing another side of yourself. Cool stuff

Well, I'm kinda a game designer as a career so I don't feel too terribly about having my name out there when I'm working on games. In this industry it is incredibly important to have people be able to find and contact you in terms of possible jobs and the like. While the projects I do in RenPy are passion projects more than anything though, so that's a good question to be thinking of. I think there are good points to both sides. Cheers!

That's a really good point there. In any case, sharing your real name will have consequences, both intentional and out of your control, you just have to be aware of them and whether it would serve a purpose. A name is important regardless.

[Carassaurat]

As an interesting parallel, your avatar can really affect how people see you as well.

Same here - I went with a head at least a decade older than I actually am and a bit of a bottom shot to try and get a picture that looks serious and knowledgeable. I'm used to thinking of myself as a bit of a youngster, even though with 24 I'm probably not on these forums, and I supposed that by looking older I'd get taken seriously sooner. It might also have to do with me looking far younger in the physical world than I actually am.

And then I entered the Worst VN/KN ever created challenge, so my avatar may have been entirely for naught

For me it's complicated - my actual name is not at all hard to figure out if you're looking

From LateWhiteRabbit's list of Pseudonyms of famous people: Papillon / Henri Charriere / Convict .
It seems Sapphi's paranoia isn't entirely without ground...

-

Since I just last week started writing a VN about just these kinds of issues, I'm eagerly reading every word of this thread. Thanks, community .

[Destiny]

I would never use my real name, since it is easy to track me down and I had bad experience with that once already (some sick guy that called me daily and a scary woman that stalked me at home).
People that know me can still track me down easily, but most don't get to know that much and will never know who I am.
And I'm surely not gonna change that (maybe when I marry, move away and get a new surname so all my data is useless anyway).

[TrickWithAKnife]

I don't think I have to worry about stalkers at home. To get to my home, people have to walk down an alleyway where my boxing club is. Big tough guys that I'm friends with, some of which are pro.

How famous do you need to be to get stalked though? I've never really heard of anyone getting so worked up about a VN that they start stalking the creator(s). Online harassment could be a hassle though. I wouldn't want someone hassling my friends of family online.
Thankfully I have a name that is almost impossible to search for. I tried.

[nyaatrap]

Here are many underaged people so we adults should care for them. What we are doing aside, they shouldn't put their personal informations on the internet and we *pretend* we shouldn't.

I know some minors who putted their privates on the internet and be tracked down by 2ch... and that's disaster for their life.