Ever wonder how a name is pronounced?
I know i have
with this new Phonics option you can say those hard to pronounce names too!

i just think it be cool to have an optional thing where you can put in the phonetics of your name
for instance mine would be
rah-lahn-bek
simple enough but maybe the command would be PHONICS RALANBEK

what do you think?
cool? lame?
be gentle with me.

I think this would be a pretty cool idea. I've always wondered how to pronounce some of the players. I'd like it if you could put phonetics on some of the mobs in the game too. I've always wondered how to pronounce the names of some of the demon lords....

There are two (related) problems here.

Unless the coding of this feature includes the complete, from-scratch introduction of the phonetic alphabet into the game (ie. re-writing it in a different programming language from the ground up so as to include new character sets), there'll still be ambiguities about how to pronounce something - or, at the very least, incorrect pronunciations based on mutually different accents. (Reference: the recent discussion of the pronunciation of "Necromentate", whereby some people insisted that 'men' and 'min' represent identical sounds. They, of course, do not.)

The second problem (really a corollary of the first) is that some sounds can be expressed with the latin alphabet but aren't present or are pronounced differently in English, like the consonant in the German word 'ich' or the final 'r' in French (in words like 'être'). Many English speakers have no hope of pronouncing these correctly without both careful instruction and the specific knowledge that a particular name is meant to be pronounced differently. Consider the 'French' denizens in Delport, or the character Wuylinfe, whose name I still can't say properly (I'm sure) even with a detailed explanation his signature.

Good idea in principle, though.

So, uh, phonetically, how would you write a trilled "r"?

And there'd have to be a HELP PHONETICS file so that everyone could be on the same page.

E as in bed.
A as in father.
O as in other.
U as in utter.
I as in fifth.

'E as in see.
'A as in hay.
'O as in mow.
'U as in mule.
'I as in fife.

Or something like that.

ah i see. yeah i figured all the ACTUAL work like programming and all would be difficult, but since i dont know anything about that it was easy to overlook she's just an idea though. Also i wasnt really thinking phonetic lettering like you'd find in a dictionary but more of the whole sound out business like i did with my name Rah-lahn-bek. But you are correct this too would undoubtedly be up to the person reading to interpret and possibly mess up the pronunciation anyway. But i suppose its like that in the real world with different accents and all. I.E. George in english v. George in spanish.

I don't actually know a whole lot about phonetics, just enough to know that it's much harder than Ralanbek --> "Rah-lahn-bek" would imply. Even "Rah-lahn-bek" isn't clear: RAH-lahn-bek? rah-LAHN-bek?

The problem with the vowel scheme you've listed is that people in different places say those words differently! We also need a way to represent a schwa - the unstressed vowel like the end of 'sofa' or the 'a' in 'furnace' (and the beginning of the word 'other', at least how I say it. Perhaps 'otter' would be better?) I understand the motivation, but I think this is one for the Too-Hard Basket.

Now, a database of .wav files with people saying their names, I could go for.

That's rather sad, I don't know HOW I would prounounce my own name

Shaw-dus?
Shay-dus?
Shah-dus?

Just go with Shaddy, then.

Sha-dus

With the A like in Apple.
And the U like in Us.

Sha-dus.

Then again, count be my accent, am from NYC and all.

I've always done the third one...I was hoping you would know though, 'cuz yours was secretly on the mental list of names of people I didn't know how to pronounce.

Shad-dis.

Casilu knows how I pronounce hers.

Murr-Kir for Myrkr (The "i" is prounounced like "ea" and "i" had a child. Like Leer, but more "i"y)

I got "murr-krr." If you emphasised the y at all it'd be mear-kurr if anything.

Nothing can be as awkward as Soll or Caoimhe.

I think I'll stick with calling it the "Kevin Dell".

Soll was easy! Regardless of what he says.

Shuyin decided to rename the Dell "cowbell" though...damn celtic languages.

I pronounce the dell Cow-eem-he

Doman is pronounced doughmen

Mear-kur - Myrkr

Aie-rie - Arix

Our-tie - Orti

Nah-rhoo-toe - Nejii

Holy crap Corinthian remembered

/thread

Pronuncucation is not needed.

I thought Arix was Air-icks.

Oar-tea

I lol'd for Nejii.