seems strange that most stories don't have this option, as it only takes a few seconds to Implement. is there a reason writers are selfish enough not to add a Customize option? these might be just characters names, but they could have a major effect on the reader mental state, and improve his experience. "the story belongs to the writer and we must respect his choice" doesn't cut it. being able to customize character names on interactive stories should be a given.
I think it is more difficult to write a story with immersion variables as you have to replace the name with the variable each time it occurs. Also, other writers have to use the same names and the story owner has to take care that they do it. (It is quite disturbing if a new name appears in the middle of a scene.) If you want to do some special things with names like jokes or shorten it to several nicknames you will have problems with customized names. To make things slightly easier, I use {m} for the male protagonist and {f} for his wife, though while writing I don't think of {m} and {f} but "Jack" and "Cathy", replacing it sort of automatically. (Another way would be to write the chapter with the names and search and replace the names after finishing)
Mostly? Because I rarely see it work for other authors. Any big story I have seen with customizable names has one of three things happen: 1: authors start forgetting to use the variable names. There's nothing more frustrating for me as a reader than having set the variable for the characters name to "James" and suddenly having it change back to "John". 2: There's not enough Variables. Nicknames, Last Names, Names for the town, Names for the band, Names for your spouse, Names for the kids... 3: There's Too Many Variables... Nicknames, Last Names, Names for the town, Names for the band, Names for your spouse, Names for the kids: after about 10 variables it just becomes clutter... Since two of those form a Catch 22, mostly I just don't use those kind of variables. Also, some stories don't really NEED variables: in a story written in 2nd person present tense how many times will someone actually say the protagonists name? Depending on the writing style it could be a lot, but the way I write most of the time, not so much.
It does force the characters to be more generic to fit the descriptions given in the customization blocks. That would make sense if you were writing an immersive second person perspective story about the reader, but when you want to build up character traits or even change features in story, the custom filters will hinder what you can do with those characters. Mainly, I avoid it because I want to use adjectives that may not pertain to the custom description. e.g. fiery redhead, sunny blond.
I think part of it is a difference of opinion, and another part is the cast size. In order: To touch on what Artican said, the descriptions get so monotonous. It simply defies logic in a sense: to facilitate imagery, we have to generalize the descriptions and let the reader tilt it their own way. In the grand scheme of things, what difference does it make for my character to have red hair while I have black hair in reality? Am I or am I not ultimately the personality of the role? And is this or is this not fantasy? Because last time I checked, I don't actually own secluded acres of cannabis, nor was I involved in a production of The Phantom of the Opera. So why should it matter if my hair, eyes, measurements, and location match? If I write a second person, I'm seizing control of the character description, knowing full well it means diddly in terms of personality - which is where it counts - and find myself closing those that place too much emphasis on generic text due to both the logic and the staggering number of variables that requires. And yet there are people who do believe this matters and make these stories with generic descriptions that close those stories that ask them to fit a hard appearance. As such, what's the right answer? How does immersive text best appeal to other writers and readers in the face of this divide? Even if we restrict ourselves to simply using immersive text for names, where do we say we need to stop creating variables? Am I really going to be involving all those characters throughout the entirety of every plot line, even if just to make them observers for certain actions or isolate them for a few threads in the interest of a subplot? Or am I just going to be using them in shifts for individual plots of a central story that aren't necessarily going to involve the remaining cast? For an example let's look at a CHYOA story: The Fourth Floor of a College Dorm. Excluding the player character, the story has 14 different immersive characters, but most of the story-lines never use even half of those characters until a certain arc resolves itself, and usually quickly dips right back down. Since I could make choices that result in me never meeting the entire cast, what value was there in having me name all of those characters? An immersive character should dominate the whole story, being sidelined only for character or plot development with the understanding that it will circle back, and yet the variables are used to name any little thing we might use. Additionally, even if all of these characters appear, do we really know who should get what name? My example story gives a brief description of each character, but some don't and also fail to describe the characters in the opening thread. In the case of those some, how am I sure I gave the right character the right name before I get into the story? Perhaps I wanted the sociable character to be named Alex while the loner should be named Sam, and I gave each one the other name. If it's just two characters - the reader and a love interest - then no big deal, but anything higher, and we've got ourselves a conundrum. The underlying drive of immersive text is to close in on each reader's fantasy, and if the opening thread doesn't facilitate the fantasized names, the immersive text doesn't facilitate fantasy. The second is a little easier to fix in my opinion just because it's a matter of pure logic: assign only characters who are immovable, and be sure to describe them before readers click anything outside the sidebar. The most difficult part is going to be alerting the other users to this principle. The first, however, is far more subjective, and many would rather stay out of that debate.
Me? It's easier to say "The main character's name is John" than "The main character's name is <first_name>. Especially when I decide to use a touchscreen instead of a desktop.
Names are important. They are part of a character's identity, and can be a part of the story. I have a story where the main character starts as Vanessa, and stays as Vanessa, but as events unfold she becomes 'Nessa' and 'Nessie' under some circumstances, and suffers several riffs on that including 'Messy Nessie' and '****** Nessie'. If I had started the story with the mentality of customization = good then it would have ultimately limited my creativity, writing, and character and setting building. Customized variables is a nice feature to have available, and works for some, but by no means is not including them selfish or lazy on the author's part. They can be a downer on many author/story styles.
We really could use tied hiddend variables there. As a reader, i must say that sometimes is nice having the chance to change a truly unappealing or bland name in something that tickles my fantasy a little more. As a writer you all have already said everything, the more the conditional text grows the more writing turns into a pain.
The others have more or less said what I'd say, but here are my two cents: 1 - It's a pain in the ass to write with generic terms between these { }. 2 - The names become part of who the characters are if you really built them, otherwise they would be really generic and bland, not to mention it would make it hard to use nicknames. After three years of my story, I can't see my characters having other names. Conclusion: for quick, stroke stories, variables for names are fine. But for longer, thought-out stories, an author has to have the freedom build the characters the way he sees them, and that includes picking out a name and sticking with it.
