The Naming of Toons

The naming of toons is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games...

I love making new toons, as I'm sure you're all aware. The single hardest part of creating a new toon is naming it. I thought maybe you folks out there might be interested in some of the resources I use for finding the perfect roleplay name.

The first stop is your typical baby name website. The one I prefer is Baby Names World, because you can search by origin or by meaning and filter by gender. I like Gaelic names for my Dwarves. I often try to come up with a meaning that is nature or element related for my Shamans and Druids. I'm rather fond of the names that come from different cultures as they are often quite unique (therefore typically not taken).

I go someplace entirely different if I'm making an Elf. Whether it be a Night Elf or a Blood Elf, I always go to The Arèthane Name Generating Page. Now, don't ask me exactly what Arèthane is or how I found it. I bumped into it years ago when I was still playing Neverwinter Nights, and strangely the website persists while many other name generator pages have fallen.

If I'm still stuck for a first name (I tend to get stuck on Draenei and Gnome names) or if I'm searching for a surname, I go to Az's World of Warcraft Name Generator. Sadly it has not been updated to include Worgen and Goblin names, but for the most part Worgen names are like Humans and Goblin names are like Gnomes.

By no means does the buck stop here. I'm sure there are a billion other resources out there. Heck, the standard Blizzard name generator in the character creation screen isn't half bad itself. Have fun naming your toons. And don't be like me and fall in love with names so that you have to make new alts just to use them.

How to Choose

Class
Which class should I play? Tanks try to attract the attention of the monsters and can take quite a beating. Healers can heal, duh. Pure DPS is a damage dealer. They may not be able to take a beating, but hopefully they can kill faster than being killed.

Tanks - Death Knight, Druid, Paladin, Warrior
Healers - Druid, Paladin, Priest, Shaman
Pure DPS - Hunter, Mage, Rogue, Warlock

All classes have the ability to be dps. Ranged stand at the back and shoot or cast at the monsters. Melee get up in the fray and stab, whack, bam.

Ranged - Druid, Hunter, Mage, Priest, Shaman, Warlock
Melee - Death Knight, Druid, Paladin, Rogue, Shaman, Warrior

Each class has a preferred armor class. Cloth wearers are the squishiest, with Plate wearers having the strongest armor (and consequently the higher repair bills).

Cloth - Mage, Priest, Warlock
Leather - Druid, Rogue
Mail - Hunter, Shaman
Plate - Death Knight, Paladin, Warrior

Race
How do you choose which race?

First you must ask, which Faction. Then you must see which races can be your chosen class. Then, you could play around with Min/Maxing and choose based on racial attributes (you're better off going to Elitist Jerks for this information). Or you could be like me and choose by looks or role-play-ability.

ALLIANCE

HORDE

Racial Bonuses to Professions may also make a difference to you.

Alliance

Draenei - Jewelcrafting
Dwarf - Archaeology
Gnome - Engineering
Worgen - Skinning

Horde

Blood Elf - Enchanting
Goblin - Alchemy
Tauren - Herbalism


Profession
Which professions should I have? Gathering professions are just that, professions that consist of simply gathering things. Production professions rely on gathering to craft different items.

Gathering - Herbalism, Mining, Skinning
Production - Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Enchanting, Engineering, Inscription, Jewelcrafting, Leatherworking, Tailoring

Well matched pairs:
Herbalism/Alchemy
Herbalism/ Inscription
Mining/Blacksmithing - ideal for plate wearer
Mining/Engineering
Mining/Jewelcrafting
Skinning/Leatherworking - ideal for leather or mail wearer
Enchanting/Tailoring - ideal for cloth wearer

In the end, play what you enjoy. I encourage all of those new to the game to try out every combination that appeals to you, but then you might wind up an altoholic like me. This "guide" was written purely as an aid to myself in making choices. I post it here in the event that it may help others.