wellllllllllllllllllllllll, most of it's on record. But explaing never worked.

i'll make sure to credit you as bob in future ba-Bob.

Because it's easier????

Like others have said, if someone credits a mod made by and posted under vurt, as bob, but nobody knew vurt's real name, there'd be no real point.
I assume there's far less webcomic makers than modders, and that many just use their actual names rather than joining a username based forum, usernames in modding is just far easier.

I've cleverly disguised my real name by adding three letters...they'll never find me hahahahaha

Some people hide their gaming-affection like snake its legs!

You Kertonius?

Rather, his last name is probably Pinkerton.

I dont see how actual real name is needed for a mod. A game mod is strictly internet-only, so signing it under internet-only names is perfectly logical. You are not registered under your real name on forums, so finding the author if his nickname is different from his real name would be a big problem. Personally, I just dont at all care for my real name... why would someone want to know it? Its a useless information. To contact me with any questions regarding the mod, knowing the nickname I go by on forums is perfectly enough.

Fascinating! So the consensus seems to be that it stems from forum culture... convenience and privacy... I only pop into forums from time to time.
Webcartoonists, on the other hand, release their work off of their own websites and often make it their careers.

I'm not listed in the phonebook, as I do not have a phone. I'm accustomed to releasing my work off of my own website... not exactly thrilled with the idea of working hard on something only to hand it over to someone else so that they can earn ad revenues off my work. Even in webcomics, there are sites that will host your work and earn ad revenue off of it for themselves, but those sites are generally for those that don't know how to build their own website. The only time I ever had my work on someone else's system, it was through keenspot.com, and we had a contract in which I would get paid for my share of ad revenues. I don't need to be paid for my Morrowind work, but my webcartoonist perspective feels weird about someone else getting paid for it.

My mod isn't even done yet and I've had some people trying to boss me around and suggesting that they will "rate me down" or telling me that I'm "doing it wrong." But, most people have been very, very supportive and awesome. I've had to prepare myself for the irrational haters that are going to come out of the woodworks when I release Keening and someone disagrees with a plot point... I'm ready to just say, "Hey, this is my fan fiction, and you can play the thing or not play the thing. Have a nice day."

Anyways, I'll be crediting people however they want to be credited. Considering my background, I was surprised that no one on any of the read me files is credit like "Dana Darko / Superkitten." It's all just user names, universally. Like, 100% of the time. In a forum culture, where people will pick fights over nothing, it amazes me that there is agreement on this way of doing things. Once again, I'm the oddball that does it differently, lol.

Oh, we sure take our work very seriously. It's our *names* we don't put as much weight into .

Seriously, in Internet we all are exactly what we choose to represent. No more, no less. Real names or photos have nothing to do with that.

That must be the point. Most of us don't have real world careers based on our internet activities. Our income won't depend on whether people identify a handle with a real name or not.

And, as other people said, it's much wiser to separate our real and web life between those to whom it matters. I'm sure your RL acquaintances are proud of you doing webcomics, but I wouldn't be thrilled if my parents (or my boss) learned about a certain Morrowind mod I released, even if in *this* part of my life I'm reasonably proud of it.

Well... "Dienst ist Dienst und Schnaps ist Schnaps" would be my saying for that meaning something like "You shouldn't mix business with pleasure". My real name has nothing to do with my pleasure of modding and my nickname has nothing to do with real life. So why mix it?

As someone already said if I'd start to release mods under my real name people would be confused. Well I think people would be confused if I'd release anything usable at all for that matter. Haha but seriously. Chaka already is my "real" name, that is it's my real life nickname and everyone calls me like that. Sharing what it derivated from would probably end up being weird symbols in some people's readmes (as nick derivated from my last name ?aki? and I imagine many people ain't gonna see these letters well). And modders I talk to on skype know my real name and I know most of theirs, some of us are even friends on facebook so we mostly know who looks like what and I personally don't see a problem with that. I don't mind sharing that kind of info as I highly doubt my friend from England or Australia or whatever is gonna come to my town and slit my throat.

And people, calm down, no one is gonna track you down, you released mods for some ancient game, you didn't brought up some law that takes the food off of people's tables. No one who doesn't play Morrowind cares!! And besides this forum is one of the most normal places I've seen on the internet, at least our MW section. Sure we have childish kiddies, clowns, stuck ups, borind people and even asses, but we all love each other, so light up that bong and share the love. Not hate. Or was it war? Whatever..
*typing all this down on my cellphone in front of Dana's doorway holding a chainsaw*

I'm afraid I don't understand what you're getting at there.

...

There's a well known former modder for Morrowind named Alien Slof (well, she may not be as well known by the current crowd because she stopped modding for Morrowind years ago). She loves men, so much so that she created sixy outfits for them that sometimes left little to the imagination. Because of this she was loved and reviled. She even got death threats. Now, even though she lives in the UK, do you think she would be safe if she released her mods under her real name and not her Internet handle? I don't, which is why I don't release stuff under my real name. Sure I doubt we'll have issues with people coming to our door asking why Jasmine doesn't have a same-six romance like Elaura mentioned, but like my wife said, when the computers are off, the games are off and it's our time, not someone else's. I've done web pages for a small company here in town and for a charity and a non-profit organization that I signed with my real name, but the users of my mods and members of the communities I visit don't need to know what that is. No offense to anybody, but like Sister, I like to keep things separate.

Wow, seriously? People can make a living off webcomics? I had been told it didn't generate enough income for that, that's really intriguing.

As for the original question, I just don't think my work is that good so I don't attach my real name to it. If I were to create a modding masterpiece, then I would consider it, but I only make small mods. I like to be credited because it's the polite thing to do, and for that my username is more than enough.


edit: Alien Slof received death threats? That's crazy, I didn't know it had gone that far. :/

Yea you'd be surprise how many webcomic artists make a killing off of merchandise, clothing, books and various other things, but being a webcomic artist won't make you rich.

And yea I've heard slof has gotten death threats because of their taste in modding.

@ Mandamus: Not surprising, really. There are people in this world who have trouble distinguishing between real and fantasy. I recall a couple of articles I read in the last couple years. One man killed another (IRL) over a sword in a MMO. People pay exorbitant amounts of real cash for virtual gaming land, objects, etc. A couple allowed their real infant daughter to die of neglect while they raised a virtual "child".

Ah, I can only speak for myself and my experiences, as I do not consider myself an artist, who certainly has a reputation, if not a career, to think of. That's really the thing, I think. I consider modding games as strictly not-for-profit and I have no real intention of using the writing I've done for various mods in a portfolio to support my non-existent career as a writer. If there is no real life benefit to stamping my work with my real name, then I see no reason to brave all the "what ifs". On the other hand, if I saw it as a means to further my position in real life, I believe I would.

That's no more odd than someone making a living off of newspaper comics.

In fact, given that newspaper is very much a dying/dead medium, it makes *more* sense.

Just wondering how that's pronounced now . At a guess Ch-ahk-hich?

Mark Twain wrote a lot of books, his real name is Samuel Clemens.....

My nick is a lot less common than my real name which i share with thousands just in this small country. I could just as well be credited as "Anonymous" as using my real name heh

First time I came across the idea of people using "handles" which weren't their real names (to keep their identities distinct) was in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_Zero by William Gibson. Back then it really was cyberspace. I always assumed that he'd picked up on a trend in early Usenet (or whatever) and run with it.

There are some people who've published mods under their own names (Charles J. DeVito and Illuminated Order, as already mentioned; Leon 'pancreas' Medado and Morrowind Sound Enhancement; Matthew Frost AKA Luminar... and now I'm scratching).

I don't use my real name as I like to keep this persona and my meatspace one separate. After all, no-one knows I'm really a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Internet,_nobody_knows_you%27re_a_dog.

Handles has been used by coders, crackers and hackers since forever, i think that's where handles come from, at least in the way we use them (usually something from a book, movie etc, unlike authors or artists under pseudonyms).

Exactly. And since my "handle" is far more unique (and a legitimate nickname for my real name, actually... and I'm not giving away my real name now just to make people wonder ), I can use it on almost every site I've found, particularly for the Elder Scrolls, and set up an email account with that name where mod and game-related emails won't get lost in the dump of ordinary, real-world stuff. It assures that anyone with questions about my tiny single mod can actually find me, and that when people run across me on other sites, they mostly recognize that it's the same me as here, if you know what I mean.

Although I have to say, in response to Elaura, as someone who IS trying to make my living with my writing (eventually... ) I wouldn't use my real name for exactly that reason. Anything I am going to do in a mod, or as fan fiction or whatever, is by necessity not-for-profit, and it's purely for fun. I do not need some ambitious future agent or whatever googling me and coming up with something I did years and years ago as part of my learning process, or did for fun and was just "letting my hair down", so to speak. I choose what they judge me by, not them.

Well, personally I have no qualms about people knowing my real name, some of the modders here know it, and I know a couple of their names as well. To me however in this community you are not who you were born as but who you have made yourself to be. My real name is highly unusual, I would be shocked if someone elses parents were cruel enough to give their child the name I bear, but actually I kind of like my wierd name. All the same, my username is a far more accurate representation of my pyschology. It sounds elvish to me and I would much rather people remember me as a Dunmer then some random guy. Also I have used this username for so long that if I abandoned it for my real name those few people that do know of me would be left wondering. When I do use my real name I am not worried about random creeps, I would pity anyone foolish enough to track me down, and for those that did wish to know who I am as a person I would happily obligue if they approached me in a respectful manner. All the same I am sure you will all find that my username is more convenient at any rate- my real one is a little overlong.

-Satori Adrian Hendrix Ivy.