Referring to people by their class/job

[Gramul]

Not even a little. It's quick and efficient.
Now, if it where outside of a duty, that would be weird.

[micropanther7]

Ok, ahem...

[snip]
Holding back, every run the same
Don't wanna be a loner
Listen to me, oh no
I never say anything at all
But with nothing to consider they forget my name (ame, ame, ame)

[Chorus:]
They call me 'Bard'
They called me 'Archer'
They call me 'DD'
They call me 'dps'
That's not my name
That's not my name
That's not my name
That's not my name
They call me 'quiet'
But I'm a riot
Warrior-Of-Light
Always the same
That's not my name
That's not my name
That's not my name
That's not my name

LOL genius! I'd love to see a bard do this in DF As for the topic, I type very fast, so typing people's names isn't an issue. I don't mind being referred to as WHM, it depends on the context. I'm more likely to be annoyed if someone is using it as an insult, or to be derogatory towards me.

[Lucke]

I always make a point to use names. If they are super long or crazy spelled, I'll use the first 3-4 letters so they know who I'm talking to. I do get annoyed when people call me "Tank" or "PLD". "Hey tank, provoke this mob." I have a name, and it's not even that long. You can look at the party roster that's always visible and see my name if tags are off.

When it comes to strats, it's kinda different:

"Ok, I'm tanking Midgard over here. He'll use a bunch of AoEs so make sure you are ready to move. When the first add spawns, DPS it down... If I get debuffs, please Esuna me right away". It's like I'm talking to the party as a single entity instead of individuals.

I don't refer people by their names over the strat, rather than what should happen: "DPS the adds down, keep everyone topped off". Should be obvious who I'm talking to. HOWEVER, if anyone has any questions about the strat, I'll refer to them by name. "Yes <healer name>. Make sure I'm topped off and free of any debuffs by the time the boss is 50%".

I'll use the BRD's name when asking for a song: "Hey <bard's name>, I'm running low on MP and there are still mobs around, could I please have Ballad for 10 seconds?". I can say all that AND keep mobs on me hehee, quite proud of myself.

Guess it boils down to: If I'm talking TO you, I'll use your name, if I'm talking about the strat, I'll talk about what each role is supposed to do.

[Niwashi]

I don't see an issue either way. Using a person's title is more polite, but using their name is more friendly. Either works well enough.

There's also the fact that something like:
/p Bard, could you sing a ballad for me.
can be put into a macro. If you wanted to add their name to such a macro, then it would require targeting them first so you could use <t>

[dejavutwo]

I was in a group where the tank's name was "Monk." That caused a little bit of confusion there as I didn't see his name until it was pointed out.

[Deculture]

This thread is great. It seems like people get offended or annoyed by anything nowadays.

[Noxifer]

I was in a group where the tank's name was "Monk." That caused a little bit of confusion there as I didn't see his name until it was pointed out.

Yeah, I remember one run where we had a dragoon named Monk (forget if it was first or last name), AND we had a monk in the party. That run was... confusing XD


Generally I don't actually use labels or names in combat, usually because I don't have time to type that much ^^; So usually it's stuff like "TP phone home D:" or "Goat please ♥" (the second if I have my FC member going ninja, since 'Goad' quickly changed name for us XD If I have another ninja, I'll usually remember to say Goad properly.)
In between combat, I try to use names as much as possible. Unless there are some people eager to run ahead and leave me behind XD

And... as for using <t> or <3> for name replacers... for me, that involves hitting the key in between shift and z, plus once with shift+that key for the <> symbols. Which is painful to do in a hurry due to finger contortions. Plus I need to look at party list and see which job I want and what number they are, and then hit the right number as well without looking at keyboard. I can type fine while looking at keyboard, but the numbers, they confound me. ^^; So that option's not always as "easy" as some people would have it be.

[Kukajoo]

i can't relate but i feel i would be a slight offended if if people called me by my job rather than my character name.
but as a white mage people don't really talk to me, they just expect me to perform. if they want me to perform a specific action they generally just say something like "use (action)" without specifically addressing me at all.
at the end of they day were all just a bunch of nerds behind a computer, with our own ingame goals in mind so at the same time i can understand if some people aren't interested in getting close or personal with other players. some people just want to get it done and over.

[Fensfield]

This does indeed get up my nose. And it's one thing saying it's normal for the Japanese players, but Japanese works differently - in Japanese, it's polite. I'm sure there are reasons but.. nonetheless it's depressing, at least when (and this is more often than not) it's flippant or.. blah.

Still there's a pretty fine line. For instance, if I'm feeling like being moderately in-character on a run I actually will address people by their discipline .. but then it'll be phrased politely and come with a 'miss' or the like so.. >.>

[Niwashi]

Japanese works differently - in Japanese, it's polite.

The languages do work differently, but in regard to titles, it's mostly in the fact that it's much more common in Japanese. In the situations where a title is used, though, it tends to be more polite in both Japanese and English. Doctor, Professor, any of the military ranks, these are the sort of cases where a job title is often used as a term of address even in English, and in those cases, using their title is the more polite and respectful way of addressing someone. In fact, the higher ranking a person's job and the more respect it's apt to have, the more likely the job title will be used as a term of address.

I've always regarded addressing players by their character's class or job title as equivalent to addressing a military member by their title of rank. You can call them by title to sound more polite and respectful, or can call them by name to sound closer and more friendly.