Call them whatever you like to call them

[Aleksandr]

Actually the term toon has been around since 1981, in the novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? the term toon was used to define the cartoons that inhabited the real world. They literally called them toons. When graphical mmorpgs came out (in the late 90s) people started referring their characters to toons because the worlds their characters lived in looked increasing more realistic, yet their characters still resembled cartoons.

Even though the term toon has become so widely used, most people have absolutely no idea about the real origins of the term 'toon'.

Also, for anyone not familiar with the book, it was adapted for the big screen in the late 80s as the movie titled Who Framed Roger Rabbit? which I'm sure most of us are familiar with. I'm also pretty sure they use the term toon in the movie as well.

So in reality though, the OP is actually only half correct in his assumption, the actual visualization would be a cartoon character in a realistic background.

I played Ultima Online when it came out spent a lot of time on it and nobody used the term toon to refer to their characters, nor did I hear people refer to their characters on Everquest as toons, or even the playstation MMO (Adventures of Everquest). First time I heard the term was WoW (pre their first graphic update) as their characters appeared cartoony.

[MrObject]

I played Ultima Online when it came out spent a lot of time on it and nobody used the term toon to refer to their characters, nor did I hear people refer to their characters on Everquest as toons, or even the playstation MMO (Adventures of Everquest). First time I heard the term was WoW (pre their first graphic update) as their characters appeared cartoony.

You are partially correct, Ultima Online your characters were usually refered to as 'chars', but other graphical muds like The Realm and Neverwinter Nights people called them toons. In Everquest Online Adventures they used a lot of terms like char, av/avatar, and toon. The majority of the crowd using the term toon played The Realm, Neverwinter and to a lesser extent M59.

[Aleksandr]

You are partially correct, Ultima Online your characters were usually refered to as 'chars', but other graphical muds like The Realm and Neverwinter Nights people called them toons. In Everquest Online Adventures they used a lot of terms like char, av/avatar, and toon. The majority of the crowd using the term toon played The Realm, Neverwinter and to a lesser extent M59.

if you are referring to the old Bioware community Neverwinter and Neverwinter 2 (The former made by obsidian) the multiplayer persistent world servers are still up and active and still lack the term 'toon'.
a list of a few hundred active servers may be found at: http://www.nwnlist.com/

[whilke]

if you are referring to the old Bioware community Neverwinter and Neverwinter 2 (The former made by obsidian) the multiplayer persistent world servers are still up and active and still lack the term 'toon'.
a list of a few hundred active servers may be found at: http://www.nwnlist.com/

I'm pretty sure he's talking about Neverwinter Nights from around 1991. It was a text MUD that ran on the AOL servers. The Neverwinter nights 1/2 games that you're talking about came about because of that old MUD.

[whilke]

I played Ultima Online when it came out spent a lot of time on it and nobody used the term toon to refer to their characters, nor did I hear people refer to their characters on Everquest as toons, or even the playstation MMO (Adventures of Everquest). First time I heard the term was WoW (pre their first graphic update) as their characters appeared cartoony.

I played UO, EQ, and even the playstation EQ version. Toon was used in all of those games, along with several other terms. Toon really gained popularity during EQs rein.

When EQ2 and WoW came out, and everyone left for newer games they took those terms with them. They became the lexicon for both of those games and then with WoW's popularity it filtered into almost every other MMO.

[rtpsoulx]

Actually the term toon has been around since 1981, in the novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? the term toon was used to define the cartoons that inhabited the real world. They literally called them toons. When graphical mmorpgs came out (in the late 90s) people started referring their characters to toons because the worlds their characters lived in looked increasing more realistic, yet their characters still resembled cartoons..

I can tell by your beard the level of your wisdom, good info to know because i personally had no idea XD

[Errors]

I can tell by your beard the level of your wisdom, good info to know because i personally had no idea XD

I have to totally agree with Tikara, MrObject you're beard is on epic levelness. That's got to be one of the best Lala' profile pics. XD

[diulalasing]

I once was using DF, and someone was called Big Toilet...

I didn not know what to say...

[Mythrella]

I once was using DF, and someone was called Big Toilet...

I didn not know what to say...

I think I've seen him around on my server. I apologize on the behalf of Leviathan if our players are stinking up your groups ♥

[Kallera]

I'm a toon, now spend 3 hours drawing me! /doubt OP