The Original Name Team

Don't let the name fool you. It is a sarcastic play on the rather unimaginative names that are littered all over online gaming services such as Xbox Live. I came up with the concept of The Original Name Team (yeah!) a few years ago while playing Halo online. These unoriginal names either make me laugh or fill me with anger, depending on the mood I'm in and how bad the tag actually is. It appears to be a common complaint on the Internet as well.

To be inducted into the ranks of The Original Name Team (yeah!), a gamertag, profile name, or other such symbolic pseudonym must meet one of the following two properties:

Requirements to be part of The Original Name Team (yeah!)

1. The username or gamertag must match one of the following archetypes.
• The name is a single word. Self-explanatory.
• The name contains a word that was obviously misspelled, usually to accommodate for the tag having already been taken. Examples include asassin and killa. (By the way, I'm not the only one annoyed by this.)
• The name contains a word that is overused in usernames and gamertags. You know the ones I'm talking about; those words that people use in order to make themselves sound cool. Such as words that implies the person
• has a dark side: dark, shadow, night, demon
• is good at shooters: snipe, sniper, scope, reflex
• is good at getting kills: assassin, killer, ninja, fatal
• is better than they really are: king, master, chief, god, pro, MLG
• is trying to mock your lack of skill: fail, noob, lose, own, pwn
• is associating him or herself with a "cool" animal: beast, snake
2. The username or gamertag uses a method to make the name look cooler or become acceptable as a non-duplicate.
• The name includes 1337 (or leet for those of you who live under a rock.)
• The name has a number appended to it.
• The name includes an overly used method for bypassing the system's uniqueness checks.
• The use of x's, i's, and/or l's on either end, both ends, or in place of spaces on a gamertag such as on Xbox Live.
• The use of Unicode characters like ñ or ß like in some MMORPGs.

As I stated before, the level of unoriginality ranges from slightly hilarious to rage inducing. These requirements can help deduce what level a name falls under. For example, take my old tag: MeleeMaster12. It meets an archetype from requirement one (the use of master) and a method from requirement two (the number 12 appended to the name.) Not that bad, but still laughable or groan-inducing.

Now if you happen to have a name like xXx Asa55in32 xXx that meets every archetype and alteration in the list, then you're probably that person who jumped off a bridge when everyone else did. Or maybe you should unless you decide to change it.

Eventually I will start putting some names for The Original Name team (yeah!) here. It's only a matter of time after all. There are plenty of usernames and gamertags out there that fit the requirements!